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.

Learning about fish the Rick Stein way – Padstow Seafood School

I’m keen on eating fish and seafood – and, from time to time, cooking it. So when news came through that TV food hero and fish guru Rick Stein was offering credit-crunch beating deals at his Padstow establishments, I was on the phone like a shot. The Stein name runs through Padstow like the word Padstow through a piece of, well, Padstow rock, and the family Stein now have a multitude of eating and accommodation options. Our weekend trip took in several eateries (of which more later in the week), as well as the Padstow Seafood School.

I managed to book a place on the School’s most popular course, the one-day Original Fish and Shellfish course. And so at just before 9am on a chilly Sunday morning, still enjoying the memory of the previous evening’s grilled lobster at the Seafood Restaurant, I found myself donning a smart chef’s jacket and apron and sitting down for a coffee with fifteen other cooks-in-the-making. The school is in a relatively new building just a hundred yards or so along the front from the Seafood Restaurant itself – the building also houses Stein’s Fish & Chips (report coming), Stein’s Deli (lots of yummy things) and other seafaring outlets. The school is on the first floor, and commands a cracking view of the estuary from the long refectory table at one end.

Chief instructor Mark took us through a few words about safety and then took us to the demonstration station at the other end of the kitchen. We sat on stools and looked on while he tackled one of the day’s knottier problems – despatching a large stone crab. Ceiling-mounted video cameras helped everyone see the drama on the chopping board. That done, we went back to the cooking stations (two people to a stove), crabs and screwdrivers were produced and off we went! My partner-in-fish for the day John from Truro got us off the mark, and we put the crab on to boil – just 10 minutes is enough. Once the crab was out and cooling we were back with Mark learning about preparing a squid from scratch (including pulling out the amazingly transparent and flexible bone). Back to the kitchens to put everything into practice, this time cooking the squid in a very interesting slow way in a pan inside the oven set to a low 120C with star anise and cinnamon for about 25 minutes.

Now to disembowel the crab! Again, full guidance from Mark, then back to our places where more ingredients had appeared as if by magic (actually down to Bill and the other helpers) where we went from boiled crab to crab cakes in just a few moments. (Crushed cream crackers are the key ingredient, rather to my surprise!). Into the fridge and then back to the squid which was now cooked, so prepare a salad with vermicelli noodles, mushrooms, ginger and other things. And at last – time to eat something! We sat round the table to eat the salad and enjoy the first of what would be (if you wanted) several glasses of sauvignon.

The day was very impressive in the way it all fitted together, with alternating demonstration and practice sessions keeping the variety and allowing the various ingredients time to reach the optimum conditions. We went on to fillet fish (red mullet as a round fish, and plaice as a flat fish) and prepare the fillets en papillotte (in a bag) and grilled with various accompaniments. Now it was getting on for 2.30pm, and we all sat back around for a well-earned lunch of plaice and another glass or two. Cheers!

The final part of the day was watching Mark and Bill prepare another kind of dish – a prawn and monkfish caldine (wet curry) with flatbreads and pilao rice. The guys worked splendidly as a double act, inviting people to help with various aspects and chatting away answering whatever questions came up, as well as sharing their thoughts on many aspects of the life of the chef. For some reason we ended up talking a lot about salt (Mark says to use plenty of it – the food tastes of more!). Then finally the curry, rice and everything was served all at once, with enough for some of each all round. Certificates, handshakes, a chance to buy an apron or a knife at the school’s shop and we were done. It’s a grand day out, and you certainly don’t go home hungry. I bought a filleting knife and will definitely be starting to buy whole fish from time to time now – I have enough confidence to give it a try. Well done to Mark, Bill and the boys. Padstow Seafood School,Riverside, Padstow
PL28 8BY, Tel: 01841 532700.

New Cheltenham food pub - The Reservoir

Looking for a Sunday lunch, Jenny and I found ourselves on our way to the Reservoir. Not the place which supplies our town of Cheltenham with its drinking water, but the pub opposite, on the A40 just east of the town boundary near the village of Dowdeswell. We've driven past this place dozens of times and always looked uninspiring. However, we had read that the place was under new management and that our favourite chef of all time Martin Blunos was involved. So, we had to check it out.

The Reservoir is run by Andy and Susan Proctor, who have a wealth of experience between them. Andy had worked with Martin Blunos at the sadly missed Lettonie restaurant in Bath while Susan had experience alongside Heston Blumenthal at the legendary Fat Duck in Bray. The two had subsequently been landlord(s) at Heston's pub The Hinds Head. They seek to offer " a celebration of British food, cooked with fresh, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients". Nothing wrong with that then. Blunos has a stake in the place and is helping with menu creation and has even been seen cooking on the premises since the pub opened its doors again at beginning of April.

The decor is really excellent, nicely light with Farrow&Ball type greens to the fore. We ate some fishy starters (a splendidly creamy and peppery smoked mackerel pate) and mains (smoked haddock fish cakes - 4 of them, so the plural is definitely justified) along with other tasty food including terrine of ham hock and roast beef with excellent Yorkshire pudding and creamy home-made horseradish sauce. For afters we tried the wonderful (Heston-ish?) mixture of double and single Gloucester cheese, fruitcake and pickled shallots - a winning combination!

So, this is not just a seafood post, more of a celebration of a great addition to the eating possibilities in Gloucestershire. Go along and try it. Find out more at http://www.thereservoirinn.co.uk/.