Hikari Uni Sushi

My review is not in the food because I didn’t have any. It is solely on my short experience at the place. First, it is a little hard to find because is in a strip mall, second, I am not sure if it’s because I’m from NY but places that cover their windows with decals are always a bit sketchy to me. I walked in expecting an Asian restaurant. I was greeted by a Hispanic waitress (I can guess her nationality, but won’t) we were not sure if we needed to sit ourselves or wait to be seated. There was a weird smell and the air was stale. They had a telenovela playing and very depressing music. Tables were sticky and the water on plants on table was dirty which made me wonder how the kitchen was. After we ordered the drinks, looked at my husband and walked right out. Maybe it was my imagination but I felt grossed out like I needed to shower right away. Like instated, not sure how the food was but everything pointed to it not being good.

My husband and i were looking for a light lunch close to Banner Estrella Hospital. Had the spicy udan noodle and tuna roll. Very fresh roll and good tasting. The soup was packed full of seafood spicy and very good. Waitress and sushi chef nice and helpful. Thanks for great lunch

The service was excellent. The sushi was the best I’ve ever had. We’ve tried pretty much everything and it was perfect. My favorite is the salmon teriyaki and they have the best Michelada (beer with lemon and tomato juice toped with shrimp). Would definitely recomend.
El servicio es excelente. El sushi es el mejor que he probado. Hemos probado casi todo en la carta y todo ha sido perfecto. Mi platillo favorito es el teriyaki de salmon. Preparan la mejor Michelada (cerveza con limón, jugó de tómate y camaron). 100% recomendable.

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 Unilocal 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 décor and cleanliness of the restaurant
4 Stars for price (thought it was just a tad high)