| rev:text
| - I really wanted to like this place, I did. I liked the atmosphere when I walked in; clean, sleek and fairly modern. I sat at the sushi bar because in my opinion, that's the only way to really experience a sushi restaurant. It's all about the "technicians" pushing out the sushi behind the counter.
Now a quick disclaimer; my mother was born and raised in Japan, so I am a bit of a sushi snob. But I don't think that makes me unreasonable...let me explain.
For me, sushi is about two things, seasoned rice and fish. In Japan, top sushi chefs create their own blend of rices to achieve, in their opinion, the perfect texture and flavor. The seasoned vinegar they use is a closely guarded secret, along with the aforementioned rice blend, because in Japan, anyone can get great fish, so the seasoned rice will make or break you.
At Lahaina Grill, the rice is mediocre at best. It is under-seasoned, with the seasoning itself lending no complexity to the rice. The rice's texture was simultaneously over cooked and undercooked. Now I'm no expert on the actual execution of sushi, but my educated guess is that they're not vigilant when cooling off and or seasoning their rice, which usually involves flipping and spreading the grains in a wooden, shallow hot tub looking thing; a technique that is an art form in itself.
And please don't misunderstand me; I'm not expecting to get authentic Hokkaido or Kyushu sushi in Las Vegas, I really am a reasonable person. But really, you need to take pride in your rice and your fish. Which leads me to my second point...
I'm a computer geek for a living so please take this with a grain of salt, but if I were a sushi chef, I would be embarrassed to display your fish in my sushi case. The worst offense by far is your pink ahi, which to a lamen is fine because it's bright and doesn't taste like anything. To someone who knows sushi, your ahi should be dark red, (at best quality), and actually taste like ahi. The pink color is produced by low grade tuna being cold smoked by carbon monoxide (which honestly isn't as bad as it sounds), but this process ultimately leads to a beautiful species of fish that after processing tastes like nothing. You may be able to fool the average person who doesn't like the true flavor of raw fish, but I wasn't fooled.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let me tell you why I feel guilty giving this place only two stars:
The service was awesome, and couldn't have been friendlier. The guy at the sushi bar was very nice and he seemed to have a true passion for what he was doing, although I think he lacked the knowledge required to be a great sushi chef. The issues at this restaurant stem from a lack of leadership. I think the employees here generally want to do a great job, they just lack the training and tools to make that happen.
With that said, I will be back, because the employees are generally very pleasant and I like the decor. It will be at least 6 months before I return because I want to give the owners and management time to evolve; I believe this place has potential and can grow into something very special with just a few tweaks and a finer eye for detail.
I only hope it can evolve into it's true potential.
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