The Weekly Eater Nadine Kam

Affordable Japanese food
arrives at Chinatown
eateries

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For a century, Chinatown just wasn't big enough for this island's two major cuisines. In a showdown between Chinese and Japanese food, well, sushi would have been run out of town. It was too darned expensive.

Oh, there was room for the tinier Vietnamese phó restaurants that could compete with $4 bowls of won ton mein, but when you can fill your belly at that price, it's hard to take two slivers of fish on rice very seriously.

But this is a new century, and times, they are a-changin'. Last year, Sushi Supreme opened just outside of Chinatown on Bishop Street, offering relatively inexpensive takeout and all-you-can-eat sushi meals. Here are two more in the vicinity:

Yusura

City officials have long had a vision of a gentrified Chinatown, and they might look no further than what has happened on this corner of Smith and Beretania streets. Amazing.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM A ramen set accompanied by fried rice and four pieces of gyoza runs $6.50 at Yusura. Free gyoza is currently available from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m with an entree purchase.

The parking lot that once stood here was certainly useful, and its passing is still lamented, but who can really argue over an environmentalists' dream -- plant paradise and cover a parking lot?

That's how Yusura came to be neighbor to a tranquil park, with the parking lot hidden underneath. (The entry's on Beretania for those who can't be bothered by the search for street parking.) Yusura's transformation is no less impressive. Looking at its bright, blond interior today, it's hard to imagine the sooty bar that once stood here. The remodeling took a year and was worth the trouble from the diners' point of view. At this point, Yusura just might be the cleanest restaurant in a mile's radius.

Now, no one ever expects Japanese food to be reasonably priced, so it's novel to see prices comparable to a Chinese restaurant. Shrimp tempura for $8.50? Can't be done, until now. At Yusura it comes with your basic iceberg lettuce salad, miso soup and rice. At this price a table of four near us couldn't resist. Each had a plate of the shrimp piled up in front of them.

I wouldn't call it great tempura, with its heavy coating of batter, but it nevertheless hits the spot if you have a craving. Better than the shrimp, I thought, was the purple sweet potato that came with the mixed tempura teishoku ($7.50).

Those who are accustomed to mere medallions of butterfish served elsewhere will be awed by what looks like a 12-ounce butterfish ($8.50) steak here, painted with miso sauce before hitting the grill.

"Wow, everything's so huge!" I blurted to the waitress.

"That's what people want," she replied.

Can't argue with that.

Those who like to sample a lot of food might start with the minisets, such as unagi don (eel on rice, $7.50), chicken katsu curry rice ($6.75) or beef teriyaki ($7.50), which each come with four pieces of gyoza and a small bowl of shoyu ramen containing a slice of Chinese roast pork and kamaboko. The rest of the menu is given over to a long list of ramen ($4.95 to $7.50) and rice bowl ($5.25 to $7.25) selections.

Residents in the high-rises nearby must be cheering Yusura's arrival.

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DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Yusura restaurant.

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Ninja Sushi

This is another welcome newcomer in the low-rise building next to Pali Longs, though you're more likely to dash in and dash out with its fast-food sushi, with mild offerings comparable to those of the ubiquitous Aloha Sushi establishments.

All the basics are here, with three pieces of spicy ahi nigiri running $3.95 and a California roll running $1.40. For $5.25 you can splurge on the D-Nigiri special, which comes with two pieces of ahi and one each of ika, tako, salmon, egg, eel, amaebi and hokkigai.

There are a few hot dishes as well. Prices are comparable to Yusura, but here the offerings are more austere, more studiously arranged, more Japanese than local. An unagi don set ($6.50) comes with a small scoop of potato salad and two pieces of deep-fried zucchini, with small medallions of eel artfully arranged over a bed of rice.

A kalbi-chicken combo set ($6.50) is also popular, but this is not the lunch-wagon plate you're probably accustomed to. The chicken bears a pale egg-batter coating, and the kalbi might be better described as shreds of beef teriyaki.

The food is so light as to keep you light on your feet, ninja style, as well.

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Yusura 53 N. Beretania (corner of Smith Street) / 599-8838 Food Service Ambience Value Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays Cost: About $6 to $10 per person

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Ninja Sushi 1300 Pali Highway No. 72 / 526-4652 Food Service Ambience N / A Value Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily Cost: About $6 per person

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See some past restaurant reviews in the Columnists section.

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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:

	excellent;
	very good, exceeds expectations;
	average;
	below average.

To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to nkam@starbulletin.com

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