Sushi heaven awaits those willing to pay

Employees of Sushi Ginza Onodera had their doubts as to whether Honolulu was ready for a $250-per-person omakase, telling its Japanese owners prior to opening day that they would be fortunate to seat four people a night.

This has always been a great city for sushi lovers because of our access to great catch and resulting numbers of sushi bars. But Onodera is a game-changer — nothing else is comparable. Sushi here is exceptional. Eighty percent of its seafood comes from Japan, 20 percent from local waters. The fish is sometimes accented by a bit of yuzu here, shiitake-scallop salt there.

One litmus test of a restaurant’s popularity is whether its clientele wants me to keep it a secret. That’s often true of great, accessibly priced restaurants, where sharing details leads to packed tables.

Even at its high price point, friends didn’t want me to share news of Onodera, where seating is limited to 11 in two private rooms and seven more at the sushi bar.

Newbies should hit the bar first, where they can observe chef-manager Osamu Matsuura’s artistry. He looks like he’s 15 years old, but has spent 11 years honing his skills in Tokyo.

It made me nervous to sit in front of him, even though he’s sweet and polite. I was suddenly self-conscious about using proper sushi etiquette, the whole one-bite, fish touching tongue, show of enjoyment sort of thing.

As I was reaching for my chopstick, I was aware that the chef was watching, so I asked if it would be better to use my fingers, and he said yes. We had just been presented with finger wipes for that very reason. When he saw that I was taking several bites — at this price I wanted to savor every morsel — he offered to cut the pieces in half. I feel like I should have been embarrassed, but he didn’t appear to judge.

I went to Onodera thinking it might be a great Valentine’s Day suggestion. The price sets it apart as a special-occasion sort of place.

Onodera’s omakase meals are $160, $200 and $250. For $160 you get one appetizer and 13 pieces of nigiri sushi. The $200 menu features four appetizers and about 11 pieces of sushi. For $250 you get five appetizers and about 13 pieces of sushi. The $200 menu seemed like a happy medium, so I went with it, and I recommend it for the variety of appetizers, subject to change on a daily, seasonal basis. As in Japan, no gratuity is expected.

My meal started with a delicate "amuse bouche" of yamaimo with okra, flavored with cucumber and soy sauce. I don’t normally care for the slimy mountain yam, but here the balance of flavors made it a silky luxury.

This was followed by sashimi of sea bass, and yellowtail marinated five hours in a delicate sauce of soy, mirin, sake and shiitake, then very lightly seared. This was perfection. With these marvels I felt like Oliver Twist, pleading, "Please, sir, I want some more."

Next up was sweet, tender-steamed Big Island abalone. Though I’ve had this on many occasions, few have ever been able to coax out its attributes so well.

The abalone was accompanied by firefly squid, the only item on the menu I didn’t care for. It could just be that I let it get cold while taking photographs.

Dishes are described as they’re presented, though our waiter didn’t go into details with one dish. "I’ll tell you after you eat it," he said.

It had a waxy consistency that was neither pleasant nor unpleasant. This white, grooved morsel turned out to be shirako, or cod sperm sac, which I imagine might serve as an aphrodisiac on Valentine’s Day.

There was also chawanmushi featuring hairy crab. "More, please."

The nigiri part of the meal was a parade of varied flavors and textures, starting with vinegared kohada, or gizzard shad, local bigeye tuna and barracuda. If you’re sitting at the bar, the self-made soy-wasabi sauce is gone. You are trusting the chef to combine just the right amount of marinade, soy and wasabi that is grated from the fresh rhizome before your eyes.

To mark cherry blossom season, there was Hokkaido sakura trout in deep orange that resembled salmon. This was followed by sea bream painted with soy in a brush stroke from Matsuura, then wild bluefin tuna chutoro. Demand for a single fish had reached $1 million in Japan, but we were told it has since settled in the $50,000 range. The chef estimated he can get 800 pieces from one fish, theoretically putting a single piece of nigiri at $62.50.

The marinated yellowtail returned, this time topped with a dab of grated daikon and tangle of aged negi. Sea bass, tender squid, saba with ginger and green tea-smoked sawada (Spanish mackerel) followed, the light green tea clearly discernable thanks to the clean flavor of the fish.

The appearance of two kinds of uni signaled we were coming to the end. I have been far from an uni lover, but I may now have to call myself a fan. Onodera’s bafun uni was light, sweet and creamy, with the feel of dessert. Purple uni was a bit more briny but still light and delicious.

Next came the last piece of nigiri, sea eel, accompanied by the customary egg dish. This time the tamago was swapped for castella, a delicate sponge cake that, here, incorporates whitefish and shrimp. This, too, seemed more dessert than entree.

Desserts were a choice of orange or brown sugar sherbet, or a thick black sesame ice cream.

I’m saving up for my next trip to sushi heaven.

More photos on takeabite.staradvertiserblogs.com.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser.
Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.