This post is incredibly late (sorry!) but better late than never I always say, and it's just in time for #ThrowbackThursday! Today is all about the best omakase experience I have ever had and it took me going to Maui to enjoy the best sushi I've had so far. As you may or may no already know, I am a huge fan of omakase where one leaves it up to the chef on what is eaten. My visit to Koiso Sushi Bar over in Kihei, Maui was the best I could have ever asked for in a whole dining experience and Chef Hiro-san made the evening all the more enjoyable.
Koiso Sushi Bar is an extremely small location, ran by only two people, Hiro-san and his wife (I believe). They only open for 4 hours a night (6-10pm) with only 12 seats around the bar and a table of 4 to the side. It is extremely popular and walk-ins are almost ALWAYS turned away because of the limited seating and the fact that people make reservations weeks out in advance. They only are really able to do about 2 rounds of meals (2 hours for each one) per night and you would have to be extremely lucky to be able to walk-in when someone just so happens to cancel last minute.
It just so happened that the night we went there, everyone at the bar wanted to try out the Omakase! We didn't even ask for the pricing or to see a menu. We knew what we wanted and let the chef got to work. His hand work and knife skills are incredible. It was a pleasure to be able to watch him work behind the counter. Since he was making a set for everyone, it took a while, but it was definitely worth the extra wait!
I can't tell you exactly what we had since it has been a while and I was too excited to eat I didn't take notes, BUT there were many memorable pieces of sushi here so I will let you guys know my favorites (in no particular order). I will also say that everything we had was extremely fresh and foodgasmic.
1) Otoro - Tuna belly, extremely fatty and buttery and melt in your mouth goodness
2) Blue Fin Tuna - lean and full of flavor with a bit of fatty texture.
3) Snapper and flounder with Calamansi - the white fix balanced perfectly with the unique citrus flavor of the calamansi
4) King Salmon - The best King Salmon I have ever had. So flavorful and rich in texture. It was a smooth piece of salmon that wasn't overly fatty.
4) Anago/Sea eel - Delicious broiled sea eel with the sweet sauce. This was another fattier piece but extremely delicious.
6) MY favorite piece - Uni! I have had a lot of Uni in my life time but I think this one was bar far my favorite. The Uni was extremely fresh and creamy and had the slightest sweetness to it.
All the other pieces were incredible too but the ones mentioned above were my definite favorites.
We decided to order a bit extra since we had a little more room to treat ourselves so take a look at what we ordered below!
Natto - Gunkan style. I should have asked him where he got this natto from because unlike other types I have had, this one wasn't too slimy. But hey, you can't go wrong with natto and I was just craving it.
A regular customer had ordered a King Crab hand roll and my brother had to try it out. He also order a spicy tuna hand roll. The spicy tuna hand roll was probably one of the best one's we have tried. It was so simple: just with a bit of sriracha, but the way Chef Hiro-san paired it with the fresh tuna in the right proportions made it all the better. The King Crab roll was a delicate treat with a generous portion of both the succulent crab meat and avocado slices.
I loved the Uni so much I had to order another two! I feel like the chef gave me an extra piece (hehe) but I don't mind! It was a delicious ending to an amazing dining experience.
The hole-in-the-wall vibes paired with the fact that the restaurant is in a Mom & Pop style made this experience even better. The Chef was friendly and chatted with us which made the setting very comfortable. We got to know about his background and share information on how we heard about his place! I have to shout out to Kristen from Silver Fir Farms for recommending this place along with other beautiful places in Maui to visit.
If you're going to be on the island of Maui in the near future, I HIGHLY recommend making your RSVP NOW to Koiso Sushi Bar and enjoy a nice omakase dinner experience. To all the people that gave bad reviews because they couldn't get seats because they didn't call in advance or because they don't do take-out, shame on you! I have nothing but praises for this place and the food prepared here and would make reservations here every chance I could. Plus, this one actually one of the more affordable omakase we have had! Including our extra pieces of sushi and drinks, the total was surprisingly a lot less than what we anticipated. I can't recommend this place enough.
Readers, do you like sushi? Have you experience Omakase before?
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