Jacy Oshiro & Sushi Chef Roy Kaneka holding a Chirashizushi Bowl -Nihon Restaurant-Hilo
One of the `long-time' landmarks in the Hilo area is the Nihon Restaurant located in one of the most beautiful spots of our city. Sitting on it's vantage point overlooking Hilo's scenic bay and the Queen Lili'uokalani Gardens, the Nihon Restaurant has been offering a blend of good food and Japanese culture along with wonderful sushi
for the last 23 and half years.
The restaurant which was opened by Hisashi Ueda in November of 1983 and sold to a local concern about 10 years ago has seating capacity for 120 guests at any one time between the cocktail lounge, the dining areas and the sushi bar.
The main lobby shows a collection of Japanese artifacts in glass cases, with cards of explanation. It also provides a cozy sitting area, perfect for enjoying a pot of tea and looking at the displays.
The restaurant's atmosphere is light, clean and airy with ample space between tables. Movable screens and plants for privacy can separate all the different areas and a separate facility is available for private parties as well as a dining balcony and lanai overlooking downtown Hilo and the bay.
Sushi Chef Roy Kaneko is one of the original employees and has been a fixture at the sushi bar since the Nihon first opened its doors to the public. Roy tells of how Mr. Ueda brought a professional sushi chef from Japan to teach him for several months of intensive apprenticeship before the restaurant opened.
Today the menu at the sushi bar is a mixture of traditional classic Japanese sushi and more modern California style sushi. "I feel that eating sushi is a wonderful way to share a leisurely meal with friends where everyone gets a little taste of a variety of
selections" says Chef Roy.
The Nihon's sushi bar was the first place winner in the professional category at the very first Sam Choy Poke contest back in 1992 when it was held in Waimea about 14 years ago. Their winning entry was the Ahi Poke Temaki handroll, which is still available on the menu.
The Nihon Restaurant's sushi bar under Chef Roy's direction has also won many Readers' Choice Awards several years in a row in the annual Hawaii Tribune-Herald's Readers' Choice Award Contest.
Our favorite place to sit is at the sushi bar, which features a refrigerated glass case on the counter displaying the freshest seafood available. The bar can sit 8 to 10 people comfortably at the counter and the atmosphere is so friendly that it's not unusual to
see patrons striking up conversations with each other and comparing their orders.
We like the way Chef Roy and Jacy Oshiro, his sidekick and assistant for the last 9 years pamper and interact with their charges at the bar. It's fun to place your orders and see them show up in an unhurried way, giving you plenty of time to enjoy each little morsel.
The menu is quite extensive and prices run from $4 for a single order of rolls A la Carte but also features larger combination platters that can provide fare for from 2 to 18 people. The smallest platter contains 16 pieces for $11.95 and the largest 48 pieces for $31.95.
The most popular platters according to Chef Roy are the ones featuring combinations of Nigiri and Hosomaki sushi, which gives you a wide variety to suit all tastes.
The sushi menu is also available for take-out and is ideal for catering.
The overall most popularly requested dish that is ordered throughout the restaurant from the sushi bar is the Chirashizushi Bowl which is a meal in itself, consisting of a bowl of sushi rice topped with nori, egg and an assortment of seasonal seafood. The whole thing is then served with a generous ladling of Miso Soup.
A friend introduced us to the Nihon Restaurant's sushi bar and Chef Roy several months ago and we have enjoyed returning on our own since. Our selections on this last visit were a combination of both classical and California styles sushi accompanied with several cups of green tea.
Anthony likes the Spider Rolls; lightly battered and deep-fried soft-shell crab in a reverse roll and my favorite is the Hotategal, which is made with a single, luscious raw scallop.
The two of us managed to easily go through an order of each of the above, plus a serving of 8 pieces Futomaki, a giant roll with a colorful combination of mushrooms, kampyo, egg and vegetables. We also shared an order of the fresh salmon and another of the Rainbow sushi.
To complete our meal, for dessert, we selected Green Tea ice cream and Anthony managed to eat a big bowl of their special shave ice with ice cream, sweet cream and azuki beans.
For a good time eating a wonderful selection of sushi in pleasant surroundings we recommend the Sushi Bar at the Nihon Restaurant. Tell Chef Roy we sent you.
Original article
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Comments: 29
Donna, Gather set my blog up so that when I post something there it automatically 'feeds' to Gather a few hours later. Thanks for visiting both places!!!
I have yet to get some real good sushi around here. I might have to learn how to make them.
I just had some Halo-Halo, could it be a Filipino version of the dessert that Anthony had?
Thanks, Duckie! When I make it myself, I prefer to make the nigiri style sushi, with just rice and no nori.
I'm not sure what the dessert Anthony ate was called, but it is of Filipino origin, so that's probably it!
We use the shaved ice for Halo-Halo literally translated --- Mix-Mix... a dessert in a very tall glass.
We layer, all or a combination of, sweetened red & white beans, macapuno coconut strings, pineapple gel, sweetened purple yam, sliced jackfruit, leche flan (caramelized custard). With the shaved ice on top of the layers, we then pour a stream of sweet cream (canned evaporated milk in the PI is traditional) mix vigorously,and dig away... Because there is so much of it, I've learned to use a nice-sized bowl for convenience. :-)
BTW, in Hawaii we call it "shave ice" - not shaved ice
We have two really nice sushi places in Hilo and I have written about both - there are others I haven't found worth mentioning......;-)
Did they move it by conveyor belt?
Which reminds me of a Japanese sushi restaurant close to a big mall in the Philippines. We, the patrons sat at tables while a conveyor belt that wound it's way around the room about eye level to each table, moved sushis in numerous small plates, straight from the kitchen.
We grabbed what we wanted and had a good time experiencing sushi dining in a factory atmosphere. The waitresses only came around to get our drink orders and made timely appearances for refills.
I still don't know how they kept track of what we ate unless they just counted each empty plate the busboys took off our tables and charged a flat fee per plate. It was an odd way to get served in a supposedly "high-end restaurant".
Anyway, congrats on being doubly featured! If I stick close to you, maybe your stardust will rub off on me :-)
I've never eaten sushi from a conveyor belt.....but I once ate in a dim sum restaurant in Taipei that counted the little dishes and baskets on the table after you finished eating and then charged according to how many there were........They would come around with little rolling carts filled with the little baskets of dim sum and you just pointed at what you wanted and the wait person would just put it on the table.... That was fun
I haven't spent much time on the Hilo side of the Big Island but knowing you has certainly changed my perceptions about what to do and where to eat when I return.
Jay, I assume you lived in Oahu when you were in the service? Try the Big Island next time....and if you get to eat sushi at the Nihon don't forget to tell Chef Roy Sonia and Anthony sent you!
Aaron, I wish you could also....it would be loads of fun!
Linda, the Big Island's East side and Hilo are under appreciated because it is not geared to the tourist visitor....this little gem of a town is as real as you can get....Nice place, friendly people, gorgeous surroundings and although we don't have the reputation for many restaurants with a string of gold stars on their culinary belts, we do have some excellent places to eat.... We just like to keep them for ourselves.....LOL....but then, my son and I do get paid for reviewing them and we can't lie if we do like them!!! ;-))