Off the Hook

Goldfish defies convention and description

I knew there was something special about Goldfish when we sampled the funky Kakaako sushi bar’s Oyster Gangster Roll ($8). The maki sushi, which features smoked oysters, cream cheese and smoked salmon, was actually pretty bland and boring. (The distinctively flavored shellfish and the powerful dairy spread seemed to cancel each other out.) But our waitperson’s explanation of the roll’s unusual name had all the color and flavor that the sushi lacked.

GOLDFISH 568 Halekawila St. Monday through Friday Lunch: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner: 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. 721-8800

“Gangster rhymes with oyster, sort of,” he said. “And since we have both smoked oysters and smoked salmon in the roll, we thought that it was kind of a smoking gun, too.”

Not exactly a precise use of the language, but I thought it was refreshing that the literal meaning of oyster gangster wasn’t nearly as important as the feel and attitude the words conveyed. And feel and attitude are what Goldfish is all about.

The cozy restaurant, just a stone’s throw from Circuit Court, features a half-dozen small tables and a generous sushi bar that can seat about another dozen patrons. The walls are painted a pale blue, the color of shallow water. Displayed behind the bar is a seemingly random collection of LP album covers from the 1960, ’70s and ’80s: Boston, Cecilio and Kapono and the soundtrack of “The Sound of Music,” among many others.

“We wanted a place that we were comfortable with and our customers would be comfortable with,” says co-owner and first-time restaurateur Avery J. Choi. “We just wanted to create something different.”

To get a feel for the restaurant’s off-the-wall character, we ordered from Goldfish’s dinner menu, which features its unique rolls, special sashimis, and a selection of Asian-style tapas. In addition to the aforementioned Oyster Gangster Roll, we went with a Hawaiian Yam Roll ($7), a Bellagio Roll ($16) and Mexi’go Sashimi ($16). To measure the overall quality of the fish, we went traditional, ordering a couple of servings of Toro and Hamachi Nigiri (both market priced).

ROLL AND ROCKIN’: Goldfish’s Bellagio Roll hits the jackpot. photo: Jimmy Forrest

As you might expect, the Bellagio was the most extravagant roll, featuring maguro, snapper, salmon, soft-shell crab and shrimp tempura. It was served with a pungent ponzu sauce. While colorful and filling, the flavor fest wasn’t especially memorable. There were just too many things going on. The Mexi’go Sashimi was hard to forget, but probably not for the intended reasons. The dish, a fusion of Mexican and Mongolian cuisines, featured thin pieces of maguro spiced with slices of jalapeno pepper and pinches of sea salt. Interesting and different, but not very compelling. I’m still a little unclear about Mongolia’s contribution to the dish.

Ironically, my favorite dish of the evening was the most plainly named. A sort of Ugly Betty of sushis, the Hawaiian Yam Roll featured avocado, sweet potato tempura and slices of shiitake mushrooms, which were stewed in a flavorful soy sauce. Like any good roll, it had a nice balance of contrasting and complementary textures and flavors: the crunch of the tempura, the softness of the avocado, the sweetness of the potato and the saltiness of the mushrooms. Highly recommended.

We finished our meal with the toro and hamachi nigiri, which were both of middling quality. The toro had a stiff, almost gelatinous texture. In contrast, the hamachi, despite having plenty of sinew, was pretty floppy. Neither fish was as buttery or tender as I would have liked.

Still I enjoyed my meal at Goldfish. There is a certain irreverence, casualness and even goofiness to the place that I found comforting. Choi and his staff seem to have a “You’ll-never-know-until-you-try-it” attitude about their restaurant.

I’m glad that I did.

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