Hinata

Sushi is one of my favorite things to eat. I rarely have a bad experience when I eat sushi, but I had an exceptional at Hinata Sushi Bar & Grill. A friend of mine suggested it because he knows the owner, and it just happens to be close to Sisters Thai which I have reviewed before.

Hinata has a lot of familiar dishes, but they also have some unusual dishes that really caught my eye. I’m kind of a sucker for fried squid so I decided to get it for one of my appetizers. Yes, I got two appetizers for lunch. The squid was crispy and came with two dipping sauces. It wasn’t particularly remarkable, but I just love fried squid and I’ve rarely had a dish that disappointed me. For my second appetizer, I got the jalapeno poppers which, in this case, means jalapenos fried and stuffed with spicy tuna and cream cheese and topped with yum yum sauce. I loved them. They weren’t too spicy, and I think all the flavors balanced nicely. The cheese didn’t overwhelm, the sauce complemented the dish, and the tuna shined through.

For those who know me, I am a huge fan of sushi rolls. I know they aren’t traditional, but I love them and make no apologies. For my main dish, however, I got one of the lunch specials that included one roll and six pieces of nigiri. For the roll, I went with spicy tuna. It was fine and noticeably spicier than any other spicy tuna roll I’ve ever had. And I appreciated that. But the star of the show is nigiri. It was the best nigiri I’ve ever had by far! The freshness and quality were on another level. I’ll be honest. As much as I love sushi, I wouldn’t say I have a discerning palate when it comes to raw fish but there was something about Hinata’s nigiri that tasted luxurious and elevated.

I absolutely plan to come back to Hinata. Not only am I hooked on the Nigiri, but they have several more appetizers, including one with soft shell crab and squid ink, that I just must try.