Aha...Ahi! Japanese style seafood in Hawaii – Sansei

Visiting Hawaii is a great opportunity to eat great fish. Although a lot of the classic seafood about which I usually write comes from cold waters (and so lobster, crab and oysters are not very present on the menu) there is always fantastically fresh 'ahi' – Yellowfin Tuna. The flesh of the ahi is wonderfully delicious served as raw as sashimi or seared, and is a regular feature on Hawaiian menus. And it's not endangered either – rated as 'least conern' by the World Conservation Union.

Having arrived on the big island of Hawaii (also called Hawaii, confusingly – the capital Honolulu is on the small island of Oahu) for a conference, we've had a little time to explore and found a great spot for Japanese oriented seafood at reasonable prices. The Sansei Restaurant and Sushi Bar is located in the Queens Market Place at Waikoloa Beach Resort, about 45 minutes north of the town of Kona and close to many of the top resorts. The atmosphere is very nice – a combination of Japanese and American family style diner with a sushi bar at one end (lots of top-grade raw fish on display) and a very well-stocked bar to one side.

Jenny and I went for the tasting menu at $80 for two – very reasonable in Hawaii terms, where the fact that most food is imported means that prices are high at best and exorbitant at worst. Miso soup comes with the meal – and a choice of whether to have it western-style (at the start) or Japanese-style (and finish with it). We went Japanese. First up was a bowl of edamame beans (soy beans) in their shells, a tradition Japanese nibble, along with out drinks. Jenny went for their new 'sake flight' – three different cold sakes to sample, which was very interesting indeed. The Masuni 'Okuden Kantsukeri' was smooth and tasty, the Dewazakura 'Dewesansan' delicate and feminine and the Tedorigawa 'Iki na Onno' (my favourite) tasty and long. I was driving and so limited myself (tiny sips of sake aside) to one beer, a local Kona Red Ale (served very cold in a 20 oz pint as opposed to the usual US 16 oz abomination).

The main food items commenced with Sansei's Mango Crab Salad Hand Roll (best eaten with the fingers to pick up the chilli dipping sauce) and Sansei Special Roll (crab, cucumber and avocado) eaten sushi-style with ginger, wasabi and soy sauce). The best of the sushi came next – delicious panko-encrusted ahi sashimi sushi roll – basically a top-quality cylindier of ahi coated in spinach, arugula (rocket) and light Japanese breadcrumbs, served with a mild soy wasabi butter sauce – wow! The ahi just melts in the mouth. Mmmmm. In the picture we had already eaten some of it, hence the messy plate!

On with the seafood! Next up was Japanese calamari salad – fried in Kochujang vinaigrette over local greens in a won ton basket (delicious sauce, slightly tangy, pictured), and Asian shrimp cake crusted with crispy chinese noodles (very thin) with ginger-lime chilli butter and cilantro (coriander) pesto (also pictured). The crispy noodles added some very nice crunch to this dish.

We finished with two fish dishes, Matsuhisa style miso butterfish (black cod) marinated and smeared in sake and sweet miso was very rich, the fish cooked just to perfection so it was soft and melting, and (just in case you were still not quite satisfied) lobster and blue crab ravioli with truffled shiitake mushroom and maderia cream sauce (perhaps the richest thing I have eaten in the last 12 months, and that's saying something!). And then, of course, the Miso soup as a palate cleanser and digestif. Ending with the soup seemed to make good sense to me – back to reality after the exceptional and tasty dishes we had enjoyed. Service was exceptionally friendly and helpful.

Sansei, under the direction of owner and chef DK Kodama, also has restaurants at Kapalua and Kihei on Maui and Waikiki Beach on Oahu. Well worth tracking down. Maholo and Aloha! Sansei Seafood Restaurnant and Sushi Bar, Waikoloa Beach Resort, Queen's Marketplace, 201 Waikoloa Beach Drive Suite 801, Waikoloa, HI 96738, (808) 886-6286, dinner only 5.30 – 10.00pm. www.dkrestaurants.com.