On a recent trip to Honolulu I had the pleasure of dining at Maru Sushi. It is an omakase only experience. Upon arrival, you enter through a traditionally minimalist Japanese doorway and into a small dining room with sushi bar only seating for about 8.
This is omakase dining in its purest form and ensures you get a front row seat to all the action, and maximum interaction with the chefs. This creates a very memorable experience.
First, the chef started us off with some sashimi. Including blue fin tuna and octopus. The octopus was perfectly cooked and served with some salt on the side. The chef proudly told us that everything we were about to consume that night, except one item, the abalone from Kona (the Big Island), came from Japan.
After this, we were given two pieces of nigiri. The first, if I remember correctly, was mackerel with a thin layer of kelp on top, and Hokkaido scallop.
I don’t know what the rationale for the chef’s serving order was, because after these two pieces, they switched back to appetizer style dishes. As I look at the pics now, it seems like this back and forth went on throughout the meal. We were served an incredibly flavorful and clean dashi broth after.
Followed by the abalone with what I believe was liver sauce.
After the pieces of abalone were eaten, the chefs placed a small ball of rice to eat with the remaining sauce:
Then back to nigiri. Personally, I would of preferred the nigiri all as one course.
The next two dishes were very delicious and exciting. Fried shrimp and uni.
Followed by king crab topped with crab fat
…and this beauty….don’t let the looks fool you as it did me. I thought we were being served wagyu but it was actually seared otoro!!!!!!!! Very creative touch.
Watching the chefs work in front of me was a real treat. At this point, I was starting to get full.
Some nice chawanmushi.
anago
Miso with the head from the prawn nigiri. A very welcome sight.
..and the traditional finish to this type of meal, a couple of tuna rolls and tamago.
There were two options for dessert. I had the ice cream.
Overall, this was a great meal. The service was fabulous. From the chefs to the servers, everyone was friendly and very interactive. The food was delicious. I would definitely recommend checking this place out.