azuki sushi

banker's hill has quickly gone from no sushi joints to 2, with a third set to open shortly. mukashi opened this summer at nutmeg and 5th, and azuki just debuted in the old ticasso location several blocks down. now city beat says that the owners of sushi ota on misson bay drive, who arguably serve up the best sushi in the city, will open hane sushi soon, next door to avenue 5, a block north of mukashi. with all this activity it's strange to consider that this prime location hasn't had a single sushi restaurant for at least the past 10 years.



we dropped by azuki a few nights ago and were impressed by the makeover of the front room, which features a large sushi bar, dark furniture and an oversized front door. the rear patio is a secluded spot, walled off with with tasteful woodwork, but it could use a few space heaters. our meal was good but nothing spectacular - decent gyoza and garlic edamame, fairly-priced tuna and california rolls, and a tasty specialty roll, the cardiac "a", consisting of shrimp tempura, avo and more tempura, all fried up for your enjoyment. my mint mojito was excellent, but then our waiter delivered what i had actually ordered, an oolong island tea, which paled in comparison flavor-wise. good potential for this place but nothing that would draw us back from our regular (and cheaper) sushi haunts.

overheard from the next table over was that the other new sushi spot, mukashi, was overpriced. that was the impression i got from reading their menu online a while back, and unfortunately the yelp reviews haven't been too kind either. sometimes it just feels like a new restaurant's owners don't have a whole lot of prior experience, which is a vibe i also got with sea rocket bistro recently. while the food quality was good (especially my shark filet), they were frequently out of menu items and drinks, which had also been noted on yelp.

given the high quality of sushi coming out of sushi ota, hane should be a big hit for the neighborhood... but just be ready for the accompanying high prices. as this corridor of 5th fills in, i have to say again how much this street would benefit from dropping one of its three lanes, and expanding the sidewalks outward. there's no reason 3 lanes are necessary here. throw in the trolley route suggested by the landscape architect students at the university of oklahoma between hillcrest and downtown (in today's union trib, can't find link) and this area could turn into a real highlight of the city. hey, i can dream as well as those students can.