This is my friend Isaac's favorite sushi spot and he brought me to eat here last year. I read the review and I remembered that I liked the place, but I didn't remember why so I went and checked it out on Tuesday.
They have a really good selection of rolls, with the standard ingredients. They get creative with many of their sushi rolls, but they don't do anything that's considered 'out of the box'. I really like their sashimi carpaccio with the 'extreme good sauce' which tasted like soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and vinegar. It tasted really good though, as simple the combination.
I had a few things off the sushi boat, and I ordered an I love you roll, and a Philly roll, which caused some confusion. In my experience, a Philadelphia roll usually consists of salmon, cream cheese, and avocado. Sometimes they used smoked salmon, but usually fresh. A New York roll is more undefined, but usually some combination of the these popular combinations:
Smoked salmon and avocado
Crab salad, cucumber, tobiko
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, apple
Cooked salmon, mayonnaise, apple
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, scallions
Crab, tuna, cream cheese
Shrimp and avocado
Anyways, at Hanamaru their philadelphia roll was salmon, cream cheese, and asparagus, while their new york roll was salmon, cream cheese, and avocado. I didn't see the New York roll on the menu as I usually don't order it, so I was asking for a philadelphia with avocado instead of asparagus, and I think I really confused the sushi chefs as the one I made the request to, called over the other chef and I had to repeat my request again. They both had these 'HUH?' expressions on their faces when I was trying to describe what I wanted. I was watching them make my rolls and I saw asparagus being put on, and I had to remind the chef to do the switch. Later on, I was looking at the signs on the wall and I noticed the ingredients in the deep fried New York roll, and I understood the confusion that occurred.
Anyways, other than that, the food was really good. My only complaint was that all the rolls I had fell apart on the sides. It might be caused by the ample amount of filling they put into the rolls, or maybe they don't use any water when they press the rolls together. Every roll that I picked up with my chopsticks had the side fall open, and sometimes the ingredients in the roll would fall out as a result. It was kind of irritating as I like my sushi to stay together, but the food itself was of a good quality. The staff was very nice, although I had to ask for a water refill several times.
Overall, I enjoyed everything I had there. They don't have a lot of entrees to choose from other than bento boxes, and teriyaki. I think they could expand on their cooked food, and incorporate some more creative rolls, as well as working on keeping those rolls together. I had rolls made by both sushi chefs, and all of them had sides that weren't properly closed. However the portions are big, and the prices are good. I would love to go back again, once I figure out how I drove over there in the first place. read more