Happy Thursday! Today's post is a little bit of a #ThrowbackThursday from recent trip to Hawaii. We had the chance to try out two delicious Japanese restaurants while in Hawaii (this one on Oahu, the other one in Maui) and today I'll be sharing my insights on this place called Sushi Sasabune located in Honolulu. We went for the Omakase (leave it up to the chef) for our dishes which is always our preference when it comes to good quality Japanese food since they usually choose their freshest and best catches of the day.
There was a total of 13 rounds, each plate with some sort of seafood creation that the chef has come with. The seafood came from all over the world and I wish I would've brought a notebook since I can't for the life of me remember where each fish came from. I remember the taste of them, for the most part, but I'll do my best to give my review!
1) Sashimi carpaccio with two types of tuna in a ponzu dressing with green onion. The ponzu was just right, and didn't mask the natural flavors of the fish. The fish was fresh and smooth and sliced to perfect pieces. A definite nice starter.
2) Calamari stuffed with snow crab topped with eel sauce & sesame seeds. This was a a lot different than any dishes I've had and I loved it. It was so tasty without being overly fishy. The squid was nice and tender, not chewy in the slightest bit. The sweetness of the eel sauce added a nice touch of flavor to the dish.
3) Two types of tuna cuts; toro and chutoro (tuna belly). No additional shoyu or wasabi needed. The tuna melted in the mouth and was definitely a drool-worthy two bites.
4) Flounder and another white fish. I for the life of me have the hardest time remembering white fishes so I can't say if I liked these honestly or not.
5) Two types of tuna from Hawaii, Hamachi aka yellowfin tuna and Aku ocean bonito with negi. Nice firm pieces of sushi, but my favorite one was the Aku that had a slight smokey flavor to it.
6 ) Salmon with a homemade soy cream cheese topped with ikura and sea scallop topped with a homemade jelly. The salmon piece with the pops of ocean flavor from the ikura was a nice play on texture and the soy cream cheese added a nice mild balance to the saltiness of the salmon roe (ikura). The sweet scallop was so nice, but I could've definitely done without the weird jelly thing on top.
7) Oysters on the half shell. One is baked, the other is raw with some grated daikon. I love oysters and I liked the raw one better. Not much else to say bout thsee two!
8) Sweet shrimp slightly grilled and black cod. Both a different play on sushi since both pieces were mainly cooked. They were good but not my personal preferences.
9) Snow crab with homemade wasabi aioli and seared horse mackerel. Loved these two! The crab meat was succulent and the horse mackerel was smoked so it added a nice layer of rich fragrance and flavor to the piece!
10) Ahi tare tare. Chopped tuna that melts in the mouth with some green onions on top. A signature dish of Sasabune, I believe, so they gave us 2 pieces of it. Since the tuna is chopped so fine, you don't have to really chew it since it just melts like butter. Definitely different than anything else I've ever had and a different texture in the mouth.
11) Baked lobster from Jamaica. This was baked to a nice brown without being overly dry. The meat was first and juicy and they did a good job of not masking the lobster flavor.
12) Sea eel (anago) on seasoned firm tofu. This was so good! The eel was just right, not too tough, and the tofu was packed with a sea flavor and complimented the sweetness of the eel perfectly. Glad for two pieces of this as well!
13) Last bit was a cooked tuna hand roll to end the meal. It kind of felt like a 'whatever' piece since it wasn't anything special and probably meant to just fill your stomach up if it wasn't full previously. I would've preferred a different hand roll to this like ume shiso or something.
I can't not NOT have Uni aka Sea Urchin when I'm at a Japanese restaurant. Since it wasn't on the menu for the omakase, I ordered it separately for myself. this was uni from Santa Barbara, CA (closer to me, I konw) but it had a nice sea flavor and that nutty creamy texture more on the mild side. It came with a cream sauce you could dip into but I prefer it by itself.
Overall, Sushi Sasabune was a unique experience, mainly because the idea behind their dishes were to infuse old and new, and infuse different regions together. For the most part I didn't mind it since it was different, but for a true 'omakase' experience, it probably wasn't what I expected, especially since my aunt and uncle might have hyped it a bit too much for me. Plus, it was a bit pricey too compared to some other omakase dinners I've had, probably the most expensive one ever. If you are looking for some good quality sushi and don't mind the new age thinking behind this, I would try it out for a nice splurge or treat to yourself if you're in the Honolulu area!
Readers, do you like sushi? What's your favorite style of sushi and seafood to have?
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