1054TOGOSHI — Restaurant in Maui

While I'm not a sushi fanatic, I did see a photo of shoyu ramen on a review site which is what sparked my interest here as I'm a ramen maniac! And, being that Maui has a weak ramen scene, I have to get my kicks where I can.

ATMOSPHERE: They're located within the South Maui Center, a multi-building complex that also houses their neighbor, Fabiani's Bakery & Pizzeria. The all-indoor seating area is bright and clean with a beach theme. A small counter area seats about 10 souls along with four 4-toppers. Muffled pop music played overhead while the other diners ate silently. Luckily, we brought some life to the joint, LOL!

MENU: Sake, Japanese shochu/whiskey/beer/wine, Japanese apps & seafood apps, lots of sushi, a sole ramen, miso soup.

BEVERAGE: Sararito Shita Umesyu I've never had plum wine before and have been missing out! The wine is served on ice, a bit sweet but was balanced out nicely with a bit of saltiness if you will and wasn't strong in the alcohol department. Oddly, my two glasses differed in pour sizes with the second glass having considerably more.

FOOD: Shoyu Ramen Other reviews on this dish weren't spectacular, but everyone has a different palate, so I had to try it for myself. Their version has a lot of potential but fell short in a few areas. First off, the portion was a bit small for the price. Secondly and worst of all, the delicate broth was lukewarm. Ugh! Why can't people understand that a hot broth combined with room temperature noodles makes for a lukewarm bowl?! There were positives though, such as the fresh-tasting bamboo shoots, the super tender chashu and the perfectly cooked noodles. Some might say the broth has no flavor but in this case it allowed for the eggy flavor of the noodles to stand out, IMO. I've had a similar light broth at Momofuku in Washington D.C. but theirs was worlds better as it was served piping hot.

Salmon Skin Salad My friend's dish. She enjoyed it for the most part but did state that there was an overload of onions.

SERVICE: The place was dead so we were seated immediately. Our server was very friendly, professional and checked on us often. Thank you's and mannerisms were bountiful in that Japanese culture sort of way.

OVERALL: Extensive sushi menu, great service, mediocre ramen due to...

Do. Not. Go. I have never experienced such blatant discrimination in my life.

We are winding down what has been a wonderful trip to Hawaii. My Wife was finishing up an errand and given our daughter had been begging for sushi, I decided to go ahead with the little ones to get a table with my wife following. We arrive and wait to be acknowledged. Sushi chef looks up at me, glares, but then keeps doing his thing. So we wait for the hostess who seems occupied, so I make eye contact with the chef while also eyeballing what looks to be an open table in the corner, and ask “is this table taken”. The response is a curt, “yes. Wait”. Somewhat knowing Japanese culture, I don’t take offense to this, but the next action was blatant. We stand by the “please wait to be seated” sign so that I can at least get an idea of how long the wait is going to be (with young children whom are hungry, this is a necessity) and the chef looks up and says “wait outside”. So I walk out with my kids. My wife comes around the corner 5 minutes later, waits by the same sign, and is given a welcome by the hostess immediately, told she can be seated in 15 minutes, and is told she can either stand in the front of the restaurant or wait outside if she’s more comfortable. So obviously she comes back to tell me, I return into the restaurant, don’t say a word to the chef, wait for the hostess, who comes back over, lacks respect towards me yet again, and just says “shes sorry she can’t accommodate seating me tonight”. Literally minutes after my wife was told 15 minute wait.

By now you’ve may or may not have guessed that my wife is Caucasian and I am African American, but that was our experience at this place. We even went as far as to describe our experience to our server at the next sushi restaurant we were finally able to sit down for as a family and were told that the sushi chef at 1054 is “crazy” and they aren’t surprised we had that experience either.

So while the sushi itself might be really good, there’s no reason to support a discriminatory business. Especially when there is a ton of really good fish elsewhere on this island. This place isn’t in the spirit of Maui. Go at...

SUMMARY: Food too expensive for what you paid for. I spent $200 for two but came out still hungry, so we went to Foodland nearby and fed up with poke.

3 star minus because Food doesn't add value. California roll was $21 and Miso soup was $5. The portions are small. California roll was only 6 pieces and the miso soup was tiny for the price.

We ordered the California roll without noticing the price because in the menu it was suggested for a kid "California roll and Miso soup", so we thought they were a kid's meal and the soup was not a separate charge. However, when I reveived the bill, I was furious because of the ridiculous price of the $26 tiny miso soup and CA roll.

In addition, the $77 and $55 sushi combo were all right but definitely not worth the price and you will be still hungry after consuming it because the fish pieces and rice were very small portion.

Another 1 star minus because the server won't bring you the basic stuff unless ask for it. I had to ask for water so they brought it. I had ask for utensils for my daughter so they brought it.

Another a minus star because there were so many baby roaches on the wall where I sat (coach in front of the front door) and it was nasty enough to see them crawling the side wall right next where I sat while eating. Disgusting. I am sorry but the owner really need to keep the store clean.

They also add a special hidden charge to the total what the call it a handling or transaction fee if uses a credit card. Why do they charge that transaction fee towards the customers? That is the card transaction fee the store owner is responsible for. I ran a business also and this is totally a scam.

Will I go...