Sushi Hachi- Saba Battera is Amazing!

A few weeks ago, I met up with Janice (GoodEat) and Steph (KrispyBites) for dinner at Sushi Hachi. Sushi Hachi is known for their sashimi and authentic Japanese eats. The whole restaurant is operated by a couple. The husband (I assume) is the chef and the wife does everything else (serving, taking orders, refilling tea). They are only open three hours a day (6-9pm) from Tuesday to Saturday. Crazy right?!

The chef seemed like he knew the customers really well because he was chatting with the couple in front of him throughout their dinner in Japanese.

The menu is simple. They have sushi by piece and sushi rolls on one side, and...

Sashimi, pressed sushi, rice bowls, dessert, and some cooked items on the other side.

First came the Saba Battera ($14.50) and Chopped Scallop Roll ($3.50). The saba battera was quite expensive for six pieces, but well worth the splurge on occasion. It was absolutely delicious! I normally dislike raw Saba because I find it fishy, but there was none of that here. I particularly loved the basil (or mint?) that was pressed into the middle of the sushi rice. It was subtle, but it made all the difference. The chopped scallop roll was ok but nothing special. There weren’t many scallops in the roll as you can see from the piece at the end.

The BBQ Sea Snails ($4.50) were next and it came on two skewers. I really loved it! The snails were perfectly cooked and it had a good char from the BBQ on it.

I didn’t find the BBQ Marinated Kanpachi ($5.00) spectacular or anything but it was nicely cooked and seasoned. I wouldn’t get this again though if I were to return.

I heard the BBQ Salmon Skin Salad ($4.50) was good so I suggested this item. The salad came with pieces of barbequed salmon skin, small pieces of cucumber, green onions, tobiko, and some other ingredients I can’t remember. I really liked this dish but that is because I have a thing for crunchy fish skin. The ingredients worked really well together and I liked how the skin still had a little bit of salmon meat on them.

We ordered this after our “first round” because none of us were full after the first five items. Heck, we weren’t even full after finishing the whole meal! But I’ll talk about that later. We ordered a Spicy Salmon Roll ($3.50), two pieces of Sockeye Salmon Nigiri ($1.50 ea), three pieces of Amaebi Nigiri ($3.50 ea), and a Toro Nigiri ($2.50).

The sockeye salmon nigiri were super small! I normally cannot eat a nigiri in one bite (cause of my small mouth =.=) but I had room to spare with this one! It tasted great but I don’t think I can properly say it was any better than the salmon sashimi I’ve had at Oyama or any other good Japanese restaurants.

The spicy salmon roll was good, but again it had too little filling.

Amaebi is raw shrimp and I suggested we order this because I have never tried it before. Steph warned us beforehand though that it will be slimy and gosh, she was totally right. But you know what, it was a good kind of slimy, like Ika (raw squid). I like! If you come here, be adventurous and try it out!

Our total damage was about $20 per person and none of us were that full. I personally wouldn’t come back very often because I find the sushi too expensive. However, the food was great and the sashimi was undeniably fresh. So if you are more baller than me and have a soft spot for superior quality sashimi, this place is for you. :D

Based on these reasons:

• incredibly fresh sashimi
• more on the pricey side
• great little authentic Japanese establishment
• be sure to make reservations!!

Service Rating: 3.5/5

Food Rating: 4/5

Price: $$-$$$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!

<-- saba!

courtesy of http://shizuokagourmet.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/japanese-seasonal-fish-sabamackerel-2/