Sushi Tokiwa is a 9-seat sushi bar in Suntory Restaurant in the Royal Hawaiian Center. The sushi chef is from Sushizen of Hokkaido, a storied establishment that produced many alumni.
Sushizen is thought of as the one bringing a sort of Edomae style sushi to Hokkaido. Sushizen’s founder Shimamiya-san is an alumnus of Nakada, which was one of the “big 3 sushiya of Ginza.” Notably, Sushizen created the original torotaku roll (thick cut toro, with oshinko, shiso, and white sesame seeds) at the Susukino branch of Sushizen in the 70s to compete with negitoro maki.
Lots of ingredients from Hokkaido and even some Suntory products.
It was basically one chef for the two of us, and the other chef was serving some VIP party of a very storied sushi chef (who borrows a famous dish or two from one of Nakada’s famous alumni, Nakahisa).
Excellent meal - great rice (packing, stickiness, temp) and strong prep (clean, efficient handwork and excellent knifework such as on the engawa).
I liked the texture progression of the otsumami.
Standouts:
- botanebi konbujime nigiri
- matsukawa karei engawa nigiri
- torotaku maki
- aji nigiri
- tachiuo with finger lime, komatsuna, daikon
- Yubari melon with brandy
Niidako with wasabi. Pretty tender. Wasabi quite sharp.
Shimaaji sashimi with horseradish and ginger
Katsuo wrapping ogo (hawaiian seaweed variety) with ginger chive soy sauce and tsubugai with wasabi and soy. Now things got interesting. Great crunch two ways here. The crisp ogo vs pillowy katsuo and the turbanshell’s snappy bite.
Tachiuo (steamed, “a little bit salty”) with finger lime, daikon oroshi, and komatsuna. Good refreshing brightness from the finger lime, komatsuna’s crunch, and oroshi’s cool sweetness. it felt “simple” without sauce but also a very clean and pure combination for summer.
Kahuku corn tempura. Exceptional texture. We were driving through the north shore the day before and thought about getting some kahuku corn. I thought that Sushi Tokiwa might opt for Hokkaido corn here but the kahuku corn tempura was super sweet with an excellent crispness to it. Great fry on this. The other sushi chef guest loved this.
Kanimiso chawanmushi with ikura. Very nice after the fried corn, complementary flavors (think corn chawanmushi with crab or tamagodofu with crab) and contrasting texture from crisp to slick. I love puddings served in kiriko glasses.
Nigiri
Matukawa-karei! One of the best types of flounder, from Hokkaido. Excellent shari and the grip was nicely formed.
Hokkaido salmon
Botanebi konbujime, from Diamond Head. Great just enough stickiness with the rice.
Otoro from Okinawa, cut thin and layered
Akamizuke, marinated in soy & Suntory Yamazaki whisky
Akamizuke, marinated in soy & Suntory Hibiki whisky.
The whisky was mellow and could be felt on the aroma. It didn’t impact the taste as much as I thought. We enjoyed the Hibiki one more. Less smoky than the Yamazaki one. The tuna itself was pretty good quality, the cut and drape were very nice. Interesting that they served otoro first, but the whisky marinade on the akamizuke was almost like a palette cleanser.
Eggplant from Osaka with olive oil and salt. Hand torn, served raw. Quite sweet.
Uni. Not quite gunkan.
Awabi. Quite tender, good nitsume
Unagi Temaki
Aji (bonus). Excellent, maybe bite of the night.
Kohada (bonus). Delicious.
Engawa from matsukawa-karei (bonus). Butterflied a thin piece. So good, just the right amount of chew and proportioned well. Possible bite of the night.
Torotaku maki. Mild takuan (cut thin), thick cut of otoro.
Tamago. Whitefish, shrimp, yamaimo. Fluffy and good moistness.
Aonori soup with clam
Yubari melon from Hokkaido, spritzed with Suntory brandy
Space
update: edited for Sushizen history