Sushi Sam — Restaurant in Hawaii

Incredible! This sushiya is at a level few people will ever experience, especially Americans. I’ve been lucky to be guided through some of Japan’s best sushi restaurants by my wife, a Japanese national with extensive experience entertaining VIP guests in international business, so she knows her stuff.

What puts this, or any, sushi restaurant at such a level is the source, quality and freshness of their ingredients - which can be very expensive. Fine differences in species and source can make a huge difference in price. (Most to all of the ingredients are from Japan or Hawaii, yum!). In short, the head chef / buyer is at a level far beyond what most will ever see - and this restaurant is at a top level even for Japan.

I will note the highest level restaurants in Japan have a much more refined dining room; Sushi Sam’s dining room is lovely, but not at the same level as top Japanese restaurants. They are also a small restaurant so they don’t have as extensive offerings, but that’s a function of volume. To me this is good, I don’t want to pay extra for atmosphere.

The chefs and service was outstanding, the food highly nuanced and truly incredible, at a level to which the most experienced diners can respect. However, a lot of sushi lovers probably don’t understand, they may be annoyed that… 1) Things weren’t like ‘the restaurant back home. 2) They didn’t have my beloved ‘X’ fish that I always order. And 3) the prices are very high. Comments like this reveal a lack of intimate understanding that can only come from extensive experience in Japan, and a thick wallet. (Example, watch the 2011 movie ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’).

It’s not that folks don’t know what they like, rather it’s almost impossible for most to gather enough experience in high-end Japanese dining. I’m extremely lucky to have a guide like my wife to (constantly) explain the difference in sourcing, nuance and exact species. While this place is expensive, you will pay much more in a top level restaurant in Japan.

If you really know your sushi, can afford it and want to try a truly amazing top level sushi restaurant; this place is for you! If you don’t have an experienced Japanese guide, I strongly recommend you let them help you order either at the sushi bar or from a Japanese server. Tell them in general what you like and go with an open mind and...

Mediocre sushi, a pretty poor appetizer (veggie tempura), and absolutely horrendous service. Really not much good to say about this place. I guess its high rating comes from being a rare sushi joint in a tourist-heavy area. But based on my experience, it certainly doesn't deserve 4+ stars.

The veggie "tempura" was a hastily breaded nightmare. It featured a poor patchwork of tempura, and was clearly fried too quickly/in cold oil. The veggies were raw, it was such a waste of an appetizer.

For sushi, I got a "spicy" ahi roll. Zero spice, but this place can't do much right, so I guess that's to be expected. And then otherwise a very pedestrian roll, absolutely nothing stood out.

Finally, service was comically bad. The sushi chef denied me counter seating, claiming all remaining three seats were reserved. The female server begrudgingly allowed me to sit at a table, under the condition that I had to finish in roughly 35 minutes.

Both the sushi chef and the server then refused to make eye contact with me for my entire meal, which I finished in under 20 minutes out of respect for the artificial time limit imposed on me. While I was there, three tables were empty, and the entire counter emptied out save two seats for a couple who walked in, no reservation.

I don't want to speculate on why the chef and server were so rude to me, but if you have a mediocre restaurant near a major hotel, don't be such a curmudgeon about serving tourists.

I left a 20+% tip but they truly did...

We heard about this place in social media...which remains ironic because the owner (a expat surfer from Osaka) mentioned that he MIGHT update his social media every few months. I chose it but remained skeptical, as most influencers lack taste and understanding of what makes good and honest fare.

My wife hails from Japan and she enjoyed being able to speak her native tongue with the owner and staff. We stayed about 2 hours enjoying the various delights: sake, clam soup, hamachi and amaebi sashimi, nigiri, tempura, and gyoza. Honest food prepared meticulously with the best ingredients coupled with a delightfully kind and friendly staff made this rank among the highlights of our visit to Kona. I asked my wife how this place might fare in Japan, and she admitted that for our tastes and style, she enjoyed herself better than most in Japan because she felt less restrained by dogma and tradition. Sushi Sam's became the perfect end cap to...