Maybe your sushi journey is similar to mine. My first experience with sushi was a friends graduation party where they had sushi available. Mostly California rolls, cucumber rolls and similar non raw fish sushi. I didn’t think much of it at the time, nor did I seek it out, nor did I have sushi again for a very, long time.
Fast forward 9 years later and I began working at NEC America, a Japanese company with offices in America where many Japanese expats come over to work. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the Japanese expats that reintroduced me to sushi, it was actually some of the other Americans working in the company that took me to a sushi restaurant that the expats liked.
But this experience wasn’t just about California rolls, cucumber rolls and all those special rolls like rainbow rolls. Rainbow rolls weren’t even invented yet. No this was grass roots nigiri, especially salmon, tuna, yellow tail, tamago, unagi, shrimp all ordered piece meal. We shared and shared alike and ended up splitting the bill in the end. I had never experienced sushi like that before and the salmon nigiri quickly became one of my favorites.
In fact I enjoy salmon so much, when my family decides that they are wanting to eat at an Asian buffet restaurant near us that also has a selection of sushi and sashimi, I load up on salmon nigiri and salmon sashimi ignoring the Mongolian BBQ, soups, crabs, stir fry dishes and whatever else is available as raw salmon has become my main love.
Then we took a trip to Hawaii and I found this poke restaurant called Fresh Catch where they had seared ahi tuna and poke bowls that you can fill with the fish of your choice. Before then, I had never been a big fan of tuna. At all the sushi restaurants I’ve been, the flavor of tuna just hasn’t tingled my senses. Not even the poke bowls I have tried on the mainland. But having the poke bowl in Hawaii changed my mind. I actually understood how good raw tuna could be and the poke bowl was one of my favorites.
But that was Hawaii. I came back to the mainland and decided to give a tuna poke bowl another whirl and, well, I left disappointed. Just like the pineapple, I came to believe that the tuna in Hawaii just tastes better. But that all changed when my daughter set her sights in sushi in San Diego and chose Makai Sushi.
First off, the chef at Makai Sushi is from Hawaii and used to have a restaurant there; I believe he said his restaurant was on Kawaii. But I can tell you there were 2 things that really impressed me about the owner/sushi chef: (1) When the dishes came out, they looked like a work of art. They were beautiful to see and a pleasure to look at and (2) The tuna he got tasted just like the tuna I had in Hawaii. I was completely and utterly amazed. We didn’t know this at the time, but when we talked to the owner, he said he actually selected the fish off the boat that morning. So it is no surprise that the poke bowl he created no only looked divine, but tasted out of this world.
Now if you look at the menu, you will probably think it’s a little lacking in the number of dishes being offered and a little strange with the hapa burrito and seafood tostada, don’t worry, we tried them. But who needs a large menu anyway? At least for me, when I visit a restaurant, I usually order the same 2 or 3 items anyway.
So onto the hapa burrito. It’s raw tuna and cucumber surrounded by sushi rice and wrapped in a tortilla. Let’s just say, this wasn’t it. The tortilla with the rice didn’t really mesh too well in my mind, so you can safely avoid ordering this one.
On to the California rolls. This is a sushi standard that most sushi restaurants in America offer and you won’t be disappointed with sushi rolls from Makai Sushi. Still, this fare can be found in most sushi restaurants and would not warrant a trip to Makai Sushi just for their California rolls. They are definitely above average, but not enough to set Makai Sushi apart from the plethora of sushi restaurants you have to choose from.
So next, the seafood tostada. Sounds a little strange, doesn’t it. But don’t be fooled, the crispy corn tortilla actually adds a nice crunch to the flavor of the poke style toppings similar to how a deep fried flour tortilla adds a crunch to a standard taco salad. So you wind up with a nice poke bowl with a crunch. Now we are beginning to separate from the other sushi restaurants with a worthy item that I haven’t seen elsewhere.
Finally, I have left the best, most popular dish for last, the Godzilla bowl. This is a bold name for a poke bowl and it completely fits with the bold flavors that arrive upon tasting this bowl for the first time. Naturally, the dish comes out looking like it comes from a top of the line restaurant and the flavor has a taste to match. The tuna is absolutely fresh along with the other fish offered and reminded me of what tuna can taste like when prepared expertly. This dish was so good, that we ended up going back and ordering another one!
There aren’t many restaurants that I would categorize as unforgettable, but Makai Sushi lives up to any amount of high praise I can give it. The chef is quite personable and the dishes he creates are worthy of the #8 ranking they received on Yelp for the top 100 sushi restaurants in the US.
Huh, maybe your sushi journey isn’t similar to mine after all, but don’t let that stop you from trying the best sushi restaurant I have found in southern California.
