Sansei Restaurant and Sushi Bar – Waikiki, HI

Do I have to give details about Sansei? Have you all not heard about this restaurant? Great restaurant and they give a pretty generous parking validation for self parking (though their parking lot is junk)…free is free! I know you just wanna see the pictures so here goes…

Panko-crusted Fresh Ahi Sashimi | $14.25
Island fresh ahi tuna wrapped with arugula and spinach, panko crusted and flash fried, served with a soy wasabi butter sauce

This dish is an award winner for a reason. It is absolutely delicious. And that sauce? That buttery rich soy wasabi sauce? It’s to die for. I wanted a whole bowl of rice to lather in the sauce but ended up eating a bunch of gari ginger with it…I was desperate to scoop up that sauce. Funnily, it went pretty well with the gari ginger. A must get dish.

Otoro Sashimi (half-order) | $23.00

You only live once and we always get otoro at the good restaurants. Was it good? Sure. Honestly, it’s much better than the Otoro at Katsumidori. I’m sad about how bad the quality has gotten at Katsumidori, they used to be great quality and a great deal. The best otoro I have had? I would say it would be from Izakaya Torae Torae. I’m just waiting for the quarantine to be done…patiently. Maybe. Anyway, you can pass on this dish.

“Ora King” New Zealand King Salmon (sashimi) | $18.00

This was good. Not mind blowing, but good. Once again, I think Torae Torae has the best King Salmon. Am I just hungry? But am I always hungry? Moreso hungry in this quarantine….I would get this again if I was craving sashimi. If not, you can get it better elsewhere.

DK’s Crab Ramen with Asian Truffle Broth | $19.25
with crab, cilantro, Thai basil and mild jalapenos

Another must have dish. I love noodles. I love crab. I love truffle. How could I not get this dish? I shared it, I’m so nice and they were pretty generous with the crab! I would definitely recommend trying this dish.

Tempura Fried Macadamia Nut Ice Cream | $9.50
vanilla ice cream, buttery pound cake, roasted macadamia nuts, chocolate-caramel sauce

This wasn’t my dish but the diner was expecting little breaded ice cream balls…nuggets if you will. This was just a big serving of ice cream in a big pastry and you have to rush to eat through it or end up with vanilla soup.

Sansei’s “Granny Smith” Apple Tart | $9.50
buttery puff pastry, granny smith apple slices, sansei’s homemade warm caramel, vanilla ice cream

Why is Granny Smith in quotation marks? Are they making a pun? Okay, nice try. This was my dessert. I’ve been on a caramel apple pastry with vanilla ice cream kick lately. Anyone who knows me can tell you, I do not like plain vanilla ice cream but coupled with a flakey apple pastry and caramel sauce (DO YOU SEE THE AMOUNT OF CARAMEL?)…you can’t go wrong. I would definitely recommend this dish!