Hihimanu Sushi — Restaurant in Honolulu

TL;DR: Hihimanu was a disappointing experience, with a rude, boastful chef who made the atmosphere uncomfortable. The food was mediocre despite the flashy ingredients. I asked for extra wasabi and was rudely told it would cost extra after the fact. Even with only four customers, what could have been an intimate experience felt awkward and unwelcoming. For $275+ per person, you’re better off finding a more genuine omakase where the chef actually cares about hosting you. Read the other 1 star reviews here and on yelp and you’ll have an idea of this chef’s personality.

I recently dined at Hihimanu, and to say it was disappointing would be an understatement. From the moment I arrived, the owner’s rudeness set the tone for an uncomfortable experience. He seemed more interested in boasting about his establishment than actually providing any sort of welcoming hospitality. At times, it felt like he was actively trying to make the guests feel unwelcome.

The food itself was mediocre, which would be excusable if not for the steep prices that clearly reflect flashy ingredients like caviar and gold flakes.

What really irked me was an incident with the wasabi. I really enjoyed it and asked for extra. He said yes sure. And soon as I started to ask a question about where it came from, the owner cut me off mid-sentence to say, “That’s $90/pound, I’ll be charging extra for that.” Seriously? It completely ruined the moment and any awe I had for the food disappeared immediately. For an establishment charging premium prices, this lack of transparency is a huge red flag.

One course stood out in the worst way: an eel dish served with avocado underneath. I’ve never seen an omakase that includes avocado beneath the fish, and it felt like a cheap trick to make the eel seem creamier than it actually was. The quality of the ingredients should speak for themselves, not be masked by filler. This dish was prepared away from the customer so we didn’t see him make the dish. I also don’t recall the chef mentioning that there was any avocado in that dish at all which makes me feel like I was deceived.

At the time of my visit, there were only four customers. It felt like the chef was upset about others who didn’t show up and took it out on us, or maybe this place only delivers a better experience when it’s a full house, and you don’t have to interact with the chef as much. Honestly, the food was decent, but not nearly worth the $275+ per person price tag. Throughout the night, the chef made boastful comments, asking about the sushi in our local areas and confidently declaring that he would “blow them out of the water.” Lol nice try but not even close, buddy! I’ve had way better omakase at a much lower price point.

I’ve been to plenty of omakases, and the experience should feel happy and enjoyable. At Hihimanu, it felt like I was paying for someone who had no interest in hosting me at all. If you’re looking for a genuine omakase experience, this is not the place. You’ll leave feeling overcharged, underwhelmed, and...

Rudest place and owner ever! We had hard time to book sushi sho so I checked Yelp this place had five star(now I think it's fake review), when I book, they asked me to put down credit cards for Omasake , fair, and emphasis we have to on time , then two days before our Omasake day, when they confirmed they emphasis that if we r five min late they gonna give away our table. Our reservation is at 5pm so we checked yelp and it's shows it's open 2pm to 10pm so we decided to arrive early enough to avoid table given up. Especially these days Oahu 's traffic is bad so we called the Uber at 4pm and arrived at 4:40pm. When we arrived the owner just look cold and indifferent and said we cannot get in, when i pointed out the Yelp showed they r open , he did not apologize , then my husband had to go to next door mexica dive bar to get a beer, then 4:50pm the door opened so we walked in, everyone have a cold and indifferent bitter vibe there , they the owner aggressively and confrontationally told my Husband to finish beer outside , when we pointed out because of their wrong Yelp info we arrived earlier and they rejected us to sit inside and waiting , that's why he grabbed a beer next door , his wife just started to yell and shouted at us , and when I showed her their Yelp page , she pretended she didn't understand English . Overall we haven't been treated even in McDonalds like that , not to mention it's a $400 Omasake ?! Just please avoid vicious owner like that , also we think their five star review...

This was probably one of the most over-the-top (in a good way) omakase experiences I’ve ever had and would rate it a 4.5 if I could. The execution on every dish was remarkable and creative. The price for the omakase may sound expensive ($245+) but the chef chooses the highest quality ingredients and will serve things (and will let you know) that you are getting your money’s worth (edible gold, high end caviar from France, black truffle from Italy, etc). What I also love about this experience is that there are 2 chefs preparing every dish for you and they parallelize their preparations, allowing you to eat 1 dish after the next very quickly (18+ dishes for dinner). As for portions - midway through, I was worried I would still be hungry after the meal, but by the end, I was very full. For many folks, they would probably rate this a 5 star experience, but for me, I personally felt this was a 1-and-done experience and would only return back to celebrate a very social occasion. My usual go-to-Omakase spot remains unchanged (simply because I prefer a solid Omakase for half the price and don’t need the fancy over-the-top stuff on my fish to be just as delicious) :) That being said, I highly respect the chef - he’s an imaginative artist that will serve you a...