I was driving through the area for lunch and needed something healthy and quick. I happened to notice the Hikari Uni Sushi restaurant and was kind of surprised because it seemed out of character for the area. This is a predominantly Latino area and normally you would not expect to find something with "Uni" (meaning "sea urchin roe" in Japanese) in the name of a restaurant. That signified to me that the owner really knew something about sushi. Usually the Sushi-Mex places don't. So, with very few Yelp reviews to go off and intrigued by the name, I went in.
The place was empty and I thought it might be closed and there was a bit of a language barrier with the nice waitress. Once seated, however, I ordered some tea, miso soup and roll. The tea was piping hot and delicious. The miso soup very good, too. The roll was fairly reasonably priced and delicious - I think it was a Philly roll.
The gentlemen making the sushi turned out to be the owner and we got to talking. He has worked as a sushi chef at many good sushi restaurants throughout Phoenix and brings this knowledge to his new restaurant. He told me a beautiful new sign was on order and expected soon and that should raise the visibility of the venture.
Once he realized that I knew my sushi and we built a little rapport, he created a beautiful order of salmon nigiri sushi on the house. VERY fresh and delicious with a nice sauce on top. He told me he has a great fish supplier and it comes in fresh very often (Did he say "daily"?...well I can't remember now, but it is very fresh). He said he can also order uni for me and that he is introducing the local area to what sushi is all about.
I wish them well. The restaurant is very clean with a very modern and stylish design. The bathrooms were clean and beautiful as well. Lots of thought and care put into this place!
4.5 - 5 Stars for the Sushi, miso soup and tea
5 Stars for the hospitality and comping the salmon nigiri sushi
5 Stars for the decor and cleanliness of the restaurant
4 Stars for price (thought it was just a tad high)