Oahu`s Sushi Sasabune, my omakase review (long)

[BO]

After much recommendation/research, I decided to take the plunge and went over to Sushi Sasabune with my fiancee this past Saturday night in Oahu Hawaii (Honolulu actually).
This sushi bar claims to serve "traditional style" sushi, but I noticed a few things that somewhat contradict this. Anyways let me go on with the review and get back to this later. observation was the layout of the sushi bar. Maybe I`m following the A.F.S FAQ and other "what should be a traditional old school sushi bar" to a T, but I did notice that the bar sat way more than 10 to 12 people. In fact I counted at least 16 to 18 seats. About 6 seats that faced in front of the counter/chef, then 6 seats each to the left and right. It was literally overkill...
We were seated directly in front of the head chef (draped in blue garb and a blue itamae hat), and to his right was the assistant chef (his garb was all white). I was immediately reminded of this character from the Japan TV drama series Shota No Sushi (going off tangent here...the character that resembled the looks/garb of the Sushi Sasabune itamae was the one who challenged Shota`s father at their own family sushi bar to a competition judged by this guy who judges a lot of sushi competitions. Shota competed with an octagonal shaped [cross section] fish, while the competitor chef in blue took out a huge slab of toro in attempts to impress the judge...but I digress).
Anyways, before the meal began we were given hot tea. My fiancee is a huge fan of soups, and when I tried to order miso soup through the waitress, she responded with "normally we serve soups after the dinner". I thought this was rather weird practice, but knowing how strict this guy is by reputation I temporarily shrugged it off and said "ok that`s fine". We chuckled a little bit when we saw the sign above the itamae that read "Today`s Special: Trust Me".
The itamae was busy preparing sushi nigiri for other customers. A few people sat at the tables (who had the privilege to order what they wanted) but being sushi bar customers we had to eat what the chef gives us. I totally forgot to ask the chef "no wasabi on my fiancee`s order" but luckily he wasn`t too heavy in the dabbing.
The chef hardly does any introductions to his dishes/sushi. Rather he lets his assistant bring them over, and serves them to you in addition to explaning where the fish is from, and how to eat it (e.g. with or without soy sauce, eat in one bite, eat it right away, where applicable...). The first dish he prepared was a sashimi/tataki (sorta). Albacore and Spanish blue fin tuna sashimi (about 4 to 5 pieces of each, thinly sliced, and covered in a citrus-y and sweet ponzu sauce that was rather thick). I seem to recall the maguro having some bits of green onion on top of it. Very delicious, and the sauce was a nice touch, although I am a strong advocate of bare minimal sauce on fish just to taste the freshness of it.
Next item was the same Spanish blue fin tuna in nigiri form, brushed lightly on the surface with the same sauce, but at least it wasn`t overbearing. This tuna was really soft and tasty. The sushi rice however was the thing that was non traditional so to speak. The rice was warm, almost bordering on hot. The fish was much colder than room temperature, but the combination of hot vs cold was quite interesting (although it wasn`t something I was used to or somewhat comfortable with).
Tai and Hirame (one piece each per person) followed. At this point I`d like to remark that all the sushi was served on small circular white plates. Hmmm where were the pretty Japanese style sushi/nigiri plates?? I noticed the itamae squeezed lemon over one of them (forgot which one). The assistant said that both of them came from Japan. At this point my fiancee noted that this was probably a marketing technique, tricking us psychologically into thinking that "oh, fresh fish imported from all parts of the world, so it must be exotic and fresh." Sorry if this is sacrastic to some of you, but some of the best sushi bars I`ve been to don`t do this. At most they would write the specialities of the day and from where on a white board, or the itamae would tell you only if you had asked. OK end of rant for now.... the two shiromi`s were quite good, but I think I`ve had better tai before (probably madai imported from tsukiji/tokyo fish market).
Upon finishing the white fish nigiri`s the assistant brought us two pieces each of Japanese hamachi, which was very tasty. Then that was followed by another plate each with one piece cooked scallop (from boston) with a light brush of dark sweet sauce (similar to unagi sauce), and a piece of salmon with a lemony flavored kelp on top (looks like transparent yet tinted green skin), with some sesame seed on top. The scallop was pretty good, but the salmon was nothing to rave about.
The next item we got threw us off a bit. We each got one baked oyster. It was pretty good, but I felt this didn`t belong here as it was too "Americanized", especially with the thick mayo layer on top and all (despite the chef being extremely anti "rolls"). My fiancee was reminded of this baked scallop dish we had at this more westernized sushi boat place. "Traditional omakase sushi"? We started having some doubts...
Japanese Aji followed. Not bad, but I`ve had better quality aji elsewhere. At least this satisfied my Aji craving for now... Next was amaebi (from Santa Barbara). Despite the darkened somewhat light brownish color of the flesh, the shrimp was very sweet. No fried heads were served with the amaebi unfortunately. This was followed by Shimaji and Kanpachi (one piece each). Then "negi-toro" which was highly recommended by the chef (as my fiancee was getting full and wanted to stop). The waiter informed us when he overheard my gal that we needed to tell the chef when to stop, otherwise he will keep serving! The chef, upon me telling him that my fiancee was full and should stop serving her now, convinced us to make room for one more item (the negi toro). So we said "sure why not".
The toro was served in a very similar manner to the spanish blue fin nigiri. This was literally melt in your mouth, but I had noticed the fish was just barely thawed throughout. Luckily the warm sushi rice helped quite a bit. My fiancee was daring enough to just take the fish and put it in her mouth, leaving the rice ball behind. I quickly grabbed it from her plate and ate it, but too late the chef saw me. Fortunately he didn`t put up a fuss or comment as I have heard numerous "soup nazi" related behavioral stories about him. Maybe it was the fact that he knew I knew all the Japanese names of the fish he served tonight or something.
I told the chef I could still eat some more, so he then gave me a handroll. Not the cone shape one, but an uncut maki, almost sloppily made with haste. Inside was blue crab salad. Very tasty, but then again I was reminded of his claims of being traditional, and yet this was one of the most untraditional things he served (next to the baked oyster). I still had room to eat, and the next item he served was really sweet and filling. It was chinese eel (one huge piece), plastered over a very mushy and hot Japanese style omlette (we could say tamago yaki, but it is not so, and it`s not even close to dashimaki but it has a similar texture). Oh well I have little idea what it is, except it is made of egg, and the assitant chef told me to eat it all together (the eel was hot, but the egg was cold). Tasty, but another non traditional kind of item, too sweet for the tastebuds.
Finally the chef asked me if I could eat more, and I said I had room for one more item. He then kindly asked if I wanted to order something (wow!) or he can fix something for me. I had a craving for tekka maki yotsu giri (4 piece cut), so I requested it (hey it`s not a California roll or anything). The chef responded with a weird look on his face, but not one that resembled an insulted one....but he said "oh we don`t do tekka maki here". Then I said "ok let me have another order of spanish blue fin nigiri", to which he smiled and proceeded to make my final order.
My fiancee specifically made room to have some soup, so we asked the waitress for one, making note to her that my fiancee`s order was done so she can have soup. When it was brought to her, the chef saw the soup, and said "oh I didn`t know you ordered soup". He seemed a bit surprised but we thought his comment was weird and somewhat inappropriate. He was probably upset that he couldn`t squeeze more cash out of us, but I already dreaded what the bill might be. Her miso soup was quite good, but had a sharp ammonia like aftertaste...probably because the soup base had a lot of shrimp/shrimp shells in it to enhance the flavor. There was a huge piece of shrimp in the soup though.
Before the check arrived, we had a choice of azuki (red bean) or green tea ice cream. We gasped when the bill arrived, but tried to hide our emotions (although difficult). Two people and it came to $176 without tips... Obviously you get rimmed when you order omakase, but I thought overall it was a bit outrageous compared to the prices/quality/rice to fish ratio I`m used to in California (I`ve topped $120+ before one person for non omakase and ate white board specialities fed ex`d from Tokyo Fish Market too...no complaints). The toro was easy money for them that night...$15 per order, and instead of giving us one order to share, we both got 2 pieces each, so that was an instant $30.
I paid the bill, gave my thanks to the chef via gojiso sama deshita (who returned with a very happy smile and thankful greeting/bow) then walked outside to read the reviews on the board. It said that the itamae serves "traditional style sushi", that he uses warm rice because back in the old days sushi was served in the streets and ..

[MaGNuS_Z]

Thanks for your review MahnToh. It seems as if you had a very standard menu for the omakase sushi. And I for one like the warm rice, cold fish combo. Thinking about the list of things you were served, I usually get the blue crab mixture stuffed in a par boiled squid head as my second serving. It`s covered with a thick sweet soy sauce and sesame seeds.
Most of the rest of what you were served is standard although there`s usually anago from Japan where you got served the Chinese eel. Once you get past the negi toro and blue crab hand rolls you`re pretty much on your own. I usually order a monk fish liver after that followed by either ikura or uni. If I`m with guests I`ll usually order abalone sashimi if it`s available.
Just noticed that you got two servings of hamachi. During the summer it`s Japanese pampano and the hirame. The Tai is usually served with another white fish but I can`t remember what it is right now. I`ve had the scallop once in the dozen or so times I`ve been there in the last couple of years. As for the salmon, my girlfriend loves it. It`s much better than any other sushi bar I`ve been to in Hawaii. I guess it`s pretty hard to get live fish into Hawaii without a permit. The agriculture department has some pretty strict rules about importing fish here even if it`s for consumption.
I know most of his fish is flown in from places around the world. We have farms that grow cold water Japan hirame here in Hawaii but most of the other fish he serves can`t be found in Hawaii waters. Even the ahi tuna here doesn`t compare to something caught off the coast of California. The water is too warm to produce the right fat content for really good sushi. Same goes for the aji. It can be caught locally in Hawaiian waters but it taste a whole lot different from the aji from Japan. I believe the fish is picked in Los Angeles by the owner of the original Sasabune and flown to Hawaii for the restaurant here.
As for the price, I agree that it is very costly but there aren`t many places here that serve the quality of sushi that you find at Sasabune. Believe it or not, Sasabune was listed as a moderately priced restaurant

like Yanagi Sushi and would be curious to see your review if you get there on your next trip. Or maybe Nona could do one when she`s here in January.
Thanks again for the great reviews.

[msutera]

MahnToh, another superb review. You outa think about doing this for profession! $176 for two may be too high for my budget on this trip as I will be treating 4 people. always practiced by all. Usually sushiya`s miso soup is something to rave about. My best miso soup ever tasted has been at sushiya. Normally all the ones I`ve tasted had clams with very dark to dark red miso paste. too cold. I detest any fish presented as sushi or sashimi being too cold. BTW, I also heard the same story of sushi being street food in old days. The story I heard was that vendors often sold sushi near bathhouses (ofuroya) to cater to patrons after soaking in ofuro with appetite. This always happen to me too whenever I stay at ryokans (tractional Japanese inns). First you soak then go eat. Food tastes much better this way.
The fingers were clean after taking their baths and so eating sushi afterwards was quite popular - or so I heard. The patrons would eat sushi standing up served up by vendors in moving carts. some of my favorite izakayas though and have never been disappointed although I have been surprised by the final $$$$$.
Great review!
Nona (another foodie and hapa)

[BO]

right after the sashimi. I thought I had written everything down, but I guess I forgot that one. :-) informed by him that there were other "specialities" (didn`t notice the monk fish liver). Anyways I thought the spanish blue fin was decent enough to order again. You can get fairly full by the time the toro is served. Sasabune was not bad...probably the best out of the 4 sushi places I ate during my trip. recall anything I`ve had that was local (California), aside from hirame maybe. I think there was a health warning about hirame from California not too long ago. Off topic...I also remember a few years back, a Japanese businessman died after eating oysters from a sushi place, somewhere in San Mateo California.

[BO]

reviews, and hopefully getting paid to do so without paying for the meals!! Yes I could live like that.... can someone hook me up?? there`s Jimbo`s not too much further down the blocks from Sasbune, which is quite popular amongst the Japanese locals. Unfortunately their best nabeyaki udon doesn`t even come close to what I`ve had before in Japan, but probably the best they have there. I still highly recommend Yabusoba (a bit pricier) and they serve udon too. a sushi place (can`t remember the exact location...somewhere around Tokyo/Shinjuku)..I believe it`s on the upper level in a building or mall and it`s super popular amongst locals. There`s always a huge line outside, and the review raved about the good fish to rice ratio, and good value for good quality. There was a must try recommendation for toro tattaki (seared toro with green onion, ponzu). I think that place seats 10 to 12 max.
In a different article from another magazine, the author wrote that he was visiting some friends and they took him to a sushi bar around the Tokyo fish market area. It was literally 2 to 3 in the morning, and the bar was packed with regulars (mostly fisherman). From a tiny photoshot the bar sat maybe 8 to 10. Must have been a very special feeling, dining with the guys who put the food on the table (so to speak), during their "dinner" time! best miso soup ever. My favorite place Sakae Sushi in California ( www.sakaesushi.com ) charges $6 a bowl for asari shiro miso, but the clams are meaty and the soup is very flavorful. San Francisco`s Ino Sushi has a mixed miso soup that has tofu, seaweed, golden mushrooms, and if I remember correctly one to two more kinds (nameko being one of them). Another famous eatery called Gombei (one in Menlo Park) has a very nice miso soup that appears to have a lot of fish based materials in the broth.
My fiancee prefers clear soup or suimono. One of her favorites is Tai Suimono, a clear broth with a nice fatty cooked piece of red snapper and sometimes one or two other condiments that go in it. We also have had Tai miso soup...slightly larger bowl than normal, but cooked with nice chunks of red snapper....it really brings out the flavor...oh my somebody pay me to write soup reviews and eat.... ;-) the Waikiki area, there are tons of free tourist guides/magazines, several of them in Japanese. That should give you a good idea where to go eat! One of them lists a website www.aloha-street.com and I`m sure that will be most helpful to you (make sure your web browser or operating system can decode Japanese characters, for those non

the 5 Waikiki area ramen shops (3 of which I have tried), as well as listings for some Italian restaurants (I should have tried Angelo Pietro!!! This is a famous Japanese style Italian restaurant that has some locations in Japan, and the first one in the US in Honolulu!)