Entries Tagged as 'sansei'

Sansei Seafood & Sushi

March 29th, 2011 · No Comments

For our last dinner in Hawaii we met up with Cory, Chris, Danny and Caroline for dinner at Sansei. This is one of our favorite Waikiki restaurants. We even had gone to dinner there earlier in the trip. We were hoping that the Big Island restaurant would be as good as the Waikiki one, and it was. We gorged on all of our usual favorites as well as trying some new things. Dallas enjoyed a Japanese beer called Koshihikari Echigo. Us ladies were drinking lychee martinis. They were so delicious. I was on my third one when this happened:


Photo by Cory

I took a few sips and was going to eat my lychee when i noticed something in it. I thought it was part of a pit and was going to pick it out, when I noticed it was a bee!!!! After Cory took a few photos, our waitress was quick to apologize and brought out a complimentary replacement for the drink. So crazy!

Great dinner, though. I was sad that it was the last dinner of our trip, but we went out in style. I was so stuffed, and kind of drunk, by the end of that night!

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Chillin’ in Waikiki

March 8th, 2011 · No Comments

On our first real day of vacation I woke up early and hit the gym. The Moana Surfrider gym overlooks the International Marketplace, so there was never a dull moment. After the gym I shopped at our favorite, ABC Store, for sunscreen and snacks. Then it was off to Honolulu Coffee Company, located inside our hotel. I got a latte and was going to also buy us some breakfast, but it was here that I remembered how inflated Waikiki prices are. For example, I buy Fage yogurt in Chicago for $1.99 per cup. At Honolulu Coffee Co. they were selling the same thing for $4.50! I’d expect them to charge a little more, but 2.5x? No thanks.

After all this running around, Dallas and I did a lot of this:

I had a mimosa, lava flows, and an iced coffee drink with Kona Coffee, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlua, Frangelico, coconut cream and vanilla. There was one other really delicious one that was basically a Kahlua Colada. Dallas drank local beers.

And a lot of this:

The exclusive beach access at the Royal Hawaiian was free to all registered guests. At the Moana Surfrider, it was $30 to rent the beach umbrella all day with up to four chairs, but the plus side was that they would bring drinks and food right to you. At the Royal Hawaiian you had to get up and go to the beach bar and couldn’t bring it out to the beach. I balked at shelling out $30 at first, but after you’re settled in and have your spot and people coming by to serve you, it’s totally worth it. Great way to enjoy total relaxation!

We watched this catamaran, Na Hoku II, sail in and out all day. It’s a booze cruise, so watching the characters load and unload was pretty entertaining.

I walked around a bit on the beach. Oh, and at one point in the afternoon, I was swimming just out from the hotel and a large sea turtle kept popping his head up just a few feet away from me. It was so awesome! Swimming with a wild sea turtle! I’d done this before, but I would have thought that Waikiki would be too busy for a sea turtle’s style, but I guess not!

And aside from that we got lunch and I went on a short walk down Kalakaua Avenue, and that’s about it. Great first day of vacation!

Later on Jen, Chad, Kristin, and Cousin arrived. We took them to one of our favorite Waikiki restaurants, Sansei, where we gorged on seafood. By coincidence, Kristin and Cousin’s uncle was in Honolulu for work, so he met us for dinner too. Jen, Chad, Kristin and Cousin were staying just up the street at the Sheraton Waikiki, so after dinner we had drinks at the hotel bar, Rumfire. Kristin and Cousin were out for the night, but Jen, Chad, Dallas and I enjoyed a few. It was an early night, everyone was still adjusting and very tired.

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Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar

June 22nd, 2009 · 6 Comments

Dallas and I decided to go to dinner at Sansei because ever since we went there a couple years ago we have been talking about Chef D.K.‘s delicious dungeness crab ramen. Also, I’d been emailing with Chef Carol Wallack about what restaurants she recommends in Hawaii (she splits her time between Chicago and Hawaii) and she said that Sansei was one of her favorites too.

This time we sat with all the locals at the sushi bar. Many of the things we tried were specials or things the sushi chef just gave us to try, so I don’t have the full descriptions, but everything was delicious. Eating seafood is one of my favorite things to do in Hawaii!

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Hawaiian Moi (a type of Threadfin) with Maui onions and truffle oil.

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Cajon seasoned Escolar (also marketed as “Butterfish”)

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Dungeness Crab Ramen with Asian Truffle Broth: Ramen with a black truffle butter dashi, julienne Thai basil, cilantro and diced jalapeno peppers with dungeness crab

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Hamachi Kama (neck of the fish)

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Kampachi carpaccio with thai pepper sauce

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Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll: Sashimi grade Hawaiian ahi, arugula and spinach wrapped into a sushi roll, panko-crusted, flash-fried and served with Sansei’s mild soy wasabi butter sauce

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Nigiri: Mackerel, Maguro, Escolar

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Kirin Light (me), Orion (Dallas)

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Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar

March 30th, 2007 · No Comments

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Macadamia Nut Tempura Fried Ice Cream, Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Waikiki, Honolulu

A few nights before this we went out but John and Susan weren’t with us. Someone asked where they were and I said “They’re having a romantic dinner alone. I guess when you’ve been dating for almost 3 years you don’t do that,” referring to the fact that when we go to Hawaii we always do things in groups and Dallas and I hadn’t had any romantic dinner night alone. And then he actually surprised me by saying, “well we could do that on Friday” and then we did.

We went to Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar, located in our hotel, the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. This is a photo of our dessert, Macadamia Nut Tempura Fried Ice Cream with house made caramel & chocolate sauce, but dessert wasn’t the only good thing we had. Everything was spectacular. Dallas and I couldn’t decide what we wanted to have for entrees, so we just ordered a bunch of pupus and maki and some soup and everything and shared. I didn’t take notes on what we had but I remember -

  • Various, maybe 3?, different maki rolls
  • DK’s Dungeness Crab Ramen “Taste of Lahaina Winner”: fresh ramen with a black truffle butter dashi, julienne Thai basil, cilantro & diced jalapeno peppers with dungeness crab
  • Hamachi Kama. This was a special that night. The kama is the collar, or the area of the hamachi fish surrounding the first fins near the face of the fish.
  • Mango Crab Salad Hand Roll: ripe mango, blue crab, Nalo greens and crunchy peanuts wrapped in Mamenori and served with sweet Thai chili vinaigrette
  • Lobster & Blue Crab Ravioli: filled with sweet lobster, blue crab and rock shrimp in a rich truffled shiitake mushroom and madeira cream sauce
  • Macadamia Nut Tempura Fried Ice Cream: vanilla ice cream wrapped with buttery pound cake rolled in roasted macadamia nuts, flash-fried and served with chocolate and caramel sauces

2007_03_sansei_karaoke.jpgAt about 10pm the lights dimmed, there was a last call for the full menu, and some karaoke people started setting up their rig. No one in the place was volunteering to sing, though, so the man with the machine and his wife started singing. They were so into it, it was hysterical. And they played the maracas with every song. It was funny. When we got home we were listening to some music and I said to Dallas, “you know what this song could use? Maracas!”

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