Sometimes when that sushi craving hits, you want it fast and that often means hitting up a convenience or grocery store for something ready-made, quick and inexpensive.
The problem there is you often don’t know how long it’s been sitting, and the rice has turned into one solid, hard block.
You don’t have to put up with that now that Hawaii Sushi has two locations. In addition to its original 3045 Monsarrat Ave. spot, a second shop recently opened at Market City Shopping Center.
Rolls tend to be small to keep them affordable, but the fish is as fresh as can be, and if the fish is more important than stuffing your belly, there are always the sashimi options.
Roll sushi starts at $4 for such fillings and toppings as spicy ahi, eel and cucumber; a shrimp California roll; or an ahi and natto combo.
The shop’s original rolls include the Crunchy Lava Rock ($9) of a shrimp California roll topped with spicy ahi, and a popular hamachi-jalapeno ($8), with seeds removed from the pepper for less bite.
For those with bigger appetites, you can’t beat Hawaii Sushi’s selection of 18 rice bowls topped with such ingredients as avocado and spicy ahi ($13), hamachi poke ($12), unagi ($16) or snow crab with ikura ($16).
And the best deal by far is a daily selection of rice and sashimi bowls for $6, the best price in town for fish of this caliber. Some days it’s ahi or salmon alone, some days it’s a combination of ahi, salmon and hamachi. Only a limited number of bowls are available daily, so stop in early. I wish they would post which bowl is available ahead of time, but for now you just have to go down and be surprised.