Oahu: Mitch’s Fish Market

My MIL actually gave me a "day off" during my stay….just joking, I was meeting friends for "dinner" and since libations were going to be involved driving back to Ewa Beach was out of the question. Though we weren't meeting until about 7, I started my day very early with a nice breakfast (a later post), then did some shopping for the Missus. The Missus had encouraged me to have a "really good" lunch and since the temps were hitting the high 80's, I thought sushi would be great…..not mayo-filled, mega rice bomb fast-foodish stuff, but a light meal of decent quality fish. My list of three was pretty easy….Sushi Sasabune…but they didn't open until 12, Sushi Izakaya Gaku is a strictly dinner only place, and Mitch's Fish Market. Mitch's opens at 1130 and is located in a warehouse in the industrial zoned area near the airport. It does indeed look a bit like a machine shop or similar business….

 I managed to squeeze my rental into a tiny little slot down the street from the tiny (5 seat sushi bar and two four tops) shop. The place was half full, a group of three to my left on the bar was hitting the Otokoyama pretty early in the day. don't blame them though….Mitch's is purely BYOB, so why not…hopefully you're not driving after all that sake, though. I looked over the menu in chalk on the wall, with various specials and the head Itamae, maybe because he didn't know me handed me over to his right hand man, Masa Murakami…perhaps he didn't deem me worthy? No complaints, though as I had an excellent light meal…which started and ended with o-toro.

At twenty bucks a pop, this ain't cheap, but I gotta tell you; it was very nice….melt in your mouth nice……touch it and it seems to start melting nice. The other piece had a slight brown streak on it, but also just melted in my mouth….such richness is worth the price once in a while. Cheap and sushi/sashimi are not inclusive of each other….. The rice was well prepared, you could count every grain, and it was not too tightly packed.

The only item I thought was not up to par was the Kohada(gizzard shad).

Which lacked the slightly cured milkiness that I enjoy.

The Kanpachi(Amberjack) on the other hand was quite good.

It looked dry and almost firm like shiromi, but man, when I put it into my mouth with just a drop of shoyu it almost melted away, rich and clean, with a slight sweetness.

I decided to try some other specials. First up, Isaki, known as Chicken Grunt(how's that for a paradoxial name) or Striped Pigfish, was something that I'd never had before.

Topped with a light drizzle of ponzu, green onions, and momji oroshi, this had a fairly delicate texture when compared to, say snapper or halibut.

I also got some Shima Aji (jack) which I know best by it's local name papio.

This had a nice mild sweetness to it, it was also a lot more tender and light than versions I've had before. I definitely want this again. I finished my meal with another duo of o-toro and left feeling refreshed……

 I really enjoyed my meal at Mitch's. And while it's not the best I've ever had, it was without a doubt very good and to me well worth the 80 bucks or so I paid. No fancy arrangements, no pretense, just straight ahead good fish.

Mitch's Fish Market
524 Ohohia St
Honolulu, HI 96819

Open Daily – 1130am – 830pm