Mar 10, 2011

Food La La: Checking out SushiSan

BY LINDSEY MURAOKA / Special to the Star-Advertiser

Hi Everyone!

My name is Lindsey. I’m really happy to be blogging for Honolulu Pulse about food, events, and all of my other fun adventures.

This past Sunday I went to check out the grand opening of a new sushi restaurant called SushiSan. It’s located on Kapiolani Boulevard, next to Bank of Hawaii’s Ala Moana branch.

This week they are having a 25% off special so it’s a really good time to go!

It’s similar to Genki Sushi and Kuru Kuru Sushi with the conveyor belt (Kaiten style) and colored plates. Red ($1.50), Blue ($2.20), Yellow ($2.80), Pink ($3.20), Green ($3.80), and Black ($4.80).

However, SushiSan feels much more upscale with their nice interior.

They have fancy wall panels.

The conveyor belts go in opposite directions so that you can get a better selection. You can also order off the menu as well. Another thing that I liked was the self serve hot water faucets at every seat!

We were so excited to eat!

But first here’s some eye candy… cute sushi chef’s.

Okay here’s the food:

Hamachi

Chicken Kaarage ($2.80)

Pumpkin Tempura ($2.20)

Spicy Ahi ($2.20). It was fresh and had the right amount of spiciness and mayonnaise.

Garlic Salmon ($3.20)

Avocado Roll ($2.20)

Udon

Deep Fried Beef

Combination Cold Donburi ($5.80). My friend Kelly ordered this. I wish I did too. It’s so pretty! She said it was really good. The rice on the bottom is mixed with sesame oil, fish cake, and kamaboko.

Philadelphia Roll. I had to get this because it was so cute in the shape of a triangle!

Seared Ahi ($3.20)

Chu Toro ($4.80) My friend Travis said it was good and melts in your mouth.

Me with Jay Kim, the owner of SushiSan. He was really nice and took the time to greet all the customers.

Group picture with my friends Kelly, Mel, Travis, and Gene.

Overall, I liked this place. The quality of the fish was really good for the price. I was surprised at how fresh it tasted. The service was also very good as well. Everyone was nice and friendly. I will definitely be coming here often whenever I have a craving for fresh and affordable sushi.

SushiSan

1409 Kapiolani Blvd.
(808) 944-0670
———
Lindsey Muraoka can be reached on Twitter (@lalalinzy) and by email foodlalablog@gmail.com.

Electricbamboo

Congratulations on your first post!
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Thank you! =)
Lizetteachang

sounds great lindsey! i’ll have to try it!
http://twitter.com/jknakas1 Jacob Nakasone

Congrats on your blog! :D The food looks so good!
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Thank you!!
thelotuspond

im there!
Marktrc

two belts going different directions! thats genius =)
nice blog.
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  It really is and the the hot water faucets!
Mucha

Good review! can’t wait to try this place
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=19501610 Jennifer Lieu

Nice pictures! :D Looks good! congrats on the new blogt!
http://faleafine.com NEENZ

Linzy: Congratulations, I’m so happy for you! I have this restaurant on my list of places to grind! I’ll be sharing your posts to my community! :)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Sugiura/508990631 Brandon Sugiura

How dare you guys…working your ‘mojo’ there without us.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Sugiura/508990631 Brandon Sugiura

Oh yeah…this was Frankie’s idea for me to say mojo on this blog. He also adds ‘how dare they’ on to this comment.
kaimana

Yay! Looks good, will visit! Congratulations on the blog :)
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Thank you Kaimana!!
KiwiniD

The pictures are wonderful. Making me hungry.

Congratulations on your blog. I will look forward to more reviews.
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Thank you for reading Kiwini!
trav808

awesome review! and great pics! i really liked those personal hot water things for the tea… reminded me of eating sushi in japan.
- Newbyfisher
  
  Looks like my Wish for Fish come true!
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Ya! Wish all restaurants had it.
Hanakokolele

Gotta try this place!
Mikegtradersllc

Awesome sushi – so much better than Genki..
Huge difference in the freshness – PLUS – sushi created by Sushi Chef’s not by machine like some other competitors. The staff is attentive and their to help you through the process – as the variety is huge. Got to try the poki nigiri – it’s the bomb.
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Sounds good.. I’ll try it next time I’m there!
Anonymous

You forgot to mention their hours. I wanna go!
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Hi! My friend went last night and he said they don’t have set hours yet since they are so new.
  But I will call them tomorrow and try to find out. Thank you!
Katteru

Fabulous photo’s!!!
Ono fresh food and beautiful people.
What more can you ask for!
joy

Sushi San was so ONO and FRESH!!! Staff was very friendly and service as superb. You must try it. It is better than Kuru Kuru and Genki, try it for yourself you will agree.
Villageidiot

So who pays for these reviews (“review” being a complete stretch – this was a pretty poorly written piece)? Just wondering about the objectivity. Also, why did certain items not have prices?

Shady stuff.
- Hmmmm
  
  Color of the plate tells the price fool.
Anonymous

Wow, fish cake AND kamaboko??
http://twitter.com/russkar russkar

This is exciting. Keep up the good work.
- Lindsey Muraoka
  
  Thank you!!! =)
OB21

This “review” reads like it was written by a 10 year old. Sorry to be so harsh but when you’re writing for the only newspaper in town a certain level of professionalism should be expected. Here are several points:

1) Always use complete sentences.
2) The plural of “chef” is “chefs”.
3) If the price is going to be listed for some dishes they should be listed for all. Consistency is important.
4) Too many commas.

I look forward to more of your food reviews and I hope there is improvement.
- OB21
  
  Sorry…just reread my comment. It came off mean spirted and harsher than I had intended. I actually enjoy the light and fun tone of your blog. I was just trying to offer some constructive criticism in hopes of reading more polished entries in the future.
  
  I will continue to look forward to your future entries.
  - Lindsey Muraoka
    
    Thank you for the feedback.
http://twitter.com/colin800 colin800

Read your blog and decided to try it. I wasn’t disappointed, the fish was fresh, I think its better than Genki and very reasonable. Gotta go back!
Guest

Food is good but the service needs improvement. We were seated pretty quickly considering how busy they were, but we waited 20 minutes for an order while sitting at a table and had to keep asking about it. It was busy, but they would have better table turnover if they filled their orders in a timely manner. The sushi chef gave one of our orders to the people next to us, TWICE. We had to speak up to get it to the right table.

They said they were out of a lot of items (what seemed like half the menu) because of the tsunami. We waited for a beef tataki we had ordered and it took them 15 minutes for the waitress to finally tell us that they had “just run out.”

Unless you want to take advantage of the 25% off special, I would wait until they get their act together. The sushi was for the most part good though.
GUEST

OB21 talks about having a “level of professionalism” then goes hyperbollic and says this blog was written by a 10 year old? Really? (<—-incomplete sentence) OB21 then apologizes and says that he/she was only trying to help. If OB21 really wanted to help he/she would've emailed the blogger privately, instead of publicly humiliating her. Real classy. (<——-2nd incomplete sentence. Choke on that.) If OB21 is so sorry then have the comment deleted. I am not connected or related to Lindsey, nor am I defending the quality of her blog. I agree that the writing and content could be better, but I am bothered how people get these "internet muscles" and start thinking they can say anything to anyone online. If you wouldn't say something to someone in-person then don't say it online either. If the blog is so bad then complain to the Star Advertiser directly or contact the Pulse and make the effort to put up your own blog.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Thomas-Jackson/100002365279337 Thomas Jackson

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http://www.facebook.com/people/Thomas-Jackson/100002365279337 Thomas Jackson

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