Island Style Sushi

Ever since the tender age of 3, I've been wolfing down sushi like nobody's business. My expensive, yet expansive palette has brought me to sushi bars of all shapes, sizes, and quality. I find that I am an equal opportunity eater of sushi. I give equal respect to both large rolls slathered in sauce and ocean fresh sashimi and nigiri sushi. Whenever there's a debate about where my next meal is going to be at, it is safe to say that my default choice will always be a good sushi joint.

During my venture out to the Kokua Festival in Waikiki, Oahu, my friend, Mark and I found ourselves searching for a simple, yet fulfilling dinner on our last night. Upon browsing some local websites, I uncovered a seemingly decent joint called Akasaka Sushi. According to local reviews, the place was everything you'd expect from your local sushi bar: typical, traditional Americanized menu, 10 tables, in a small strip mall. With a couple clicks and an address, we were on our way to the restaurant in our classy rental car (a beatup green Geo Tracker for $25 a day).

Just as we were driving down the main street, rain drops fell onto our barren car top and I crossed my fingers that we would find the place soon. Sure enough, we turned the corner and I saw the signage for the sushi bar with a couple of other notable business surrounding it. To the left of the sushi bar was a billiards hall complete with a bar, dark lighting and a kind of sleazy slum feeling to it. To the left of the billiard hall, was none other than a strip club! Most excellent! Could you ask for a better setting for an amazing sushi joint? I think not!



Remaining optimistic, Mark and I entered the restaurant and sat down at the sushi bar. A host resembling a used car salesman served us our drinks and immediately went back to his cubby hole where he seemed to be conducting business unrelated to the restaurant. Despite the shadiness of it, we proceeded to order our sushi from the man behind the bar. In a matter of minutes, Toro (fatty tuna belly), Amaebi (sweet raw shrimp), and Saba (marinated mackerel) appeared before us. I took a sip of my favorite sake and then proceeded to dive in and devour each piece of fish like nobody's business. Each piece of fish was excellent and was prepared just as I knew it back in the states. Unbeknownst to me, the saba took me by surprise and whisked me away to heaven on Earth. The fish was amazingly tender and velvety with an amazing flavor that I will never forget. The fish literally took my breath away to the point where I ordered 6 pieces for just myself! I had to know what made the fish so amazing and luckily my shotty Japanese (3 years in High School, thank you very much) and the sushi chef's muffled English was enough to get me my answer. He informed me that they marinated the mackerel onsite instead of purchasing it pre-marinated. The process of flavoring the fish was very simple, involving only fresh seaweed and salt which enhanced the fish's natural fatty goodness. I'm a self-proclaimed saba afficionado and hands down, this was the best saba I'd ever had in my life.



The rest of our meal was rounded out with more sushi and a decadent salmon belly shioyaki (grilled with salt). The richness of this meal definitely hit the spot for the night and both Mark and I went home happy! I was thorougly impressed with this local joint nestled in between a bit of sleaziness! It was a great gastronomical experience that really epitomized the cliche, "don't judge a book by its cover."