Umi Star’s facade, courtesy of owner Jason Anderson

Want to try out a Southwest–infused Asian sushi bar? There’s one now in mid-town call Umi Star. Umi means the “sea” in Japanese, and this small upscale, modernish restaurant and sushi bar is on the NE corner of Water St. and Campbell Ave. with large glass windows and a cool, blue décor. I liked the gray wall covered with metal sea urchins, and the hanging underwater lamps for lighting , ten wooden tables & cabin crew chairs & fixtures. The corals on the shelf also gave it an “under the sea” feel.

Umi Star has a unique, creative menu such as Chuka Salad (marinated seaweed salad with sesame seeds and spun beets), lots of hand crafted sushi rolls (i.e. Sushi Burrito made from shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado, crab and cream cheese, wrapped in soy paper and served with a sushi salsa), and an assortment of tapas. Unusual to say the least for a sushi bar, but they all sounded enticing.

I tried the Sushi Assortment Lunch for $10, and got to choose a selection from 3 categories of roll, nigiri, and salad. My dish was well prepared and tasty: 8 pieces of spicy tuna roll, 2 pieces of yellowtail (hamachi) nigiri, and an exquisite squid salad (with sesame seeds and seaweed). No complaints there, as the portions were delicious and adequate. And I love seaweed having grown up in Hawaii.

Two friends walked in, David & Maxine, who wanted to try the Southwest selections, so they chose one each of the Asian Street Tacos (chicken or beef tri tip), which came with a spun cucumber, ginger cabbage slaw, cilantro and sambal aioli. Maxine said it was “seasoned with a bite”, and a “light refreshing lunch” for $6 each. They also shared an order of edamame (cooked soy beans), seasoned with sesame oil and Polynesian sea salt, which I sampled and it was superb.

This new restaurant just opened in August, 2012 and according to our friendly waitress Laura, serves fresh tortillas from La Mesa Tortilla Company and fresh bread from La Baguette Bakery (must be for the Asian Style Hot Dogs on the menu). Everything seemed very fresh and creatively hand made.

Being as their name in English means Sea Star, I would encourage them to add a few real sea stars/starfish to their decorations.

Check out their food/drink menu online (click here). Umi Star, an Asian Food Bar is at 2502 N. Campbell Ave., phone 520-777-4465, www.umistar.com. Hours: Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight, Friday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., closed Mondays.

Check out this new “star” in town.

Grand opening going on right now at the Hibachi Super Buffet at 4629 E. Speedway (NW corner of Swan). They opened a month ago and feature eleven buffet kiosks/areas to choose from.

So being as I like Japanese/Chinese food I tried it out yesterday and was impressed with the large number of delicious-looking and tasting choices, too many to select from. I started out with one each of the 11 choices of nigiri sushi (including California roll, tamago (egg), inari, crab/avocado, etc.) with some vegetable tempura also on the side.

Then I started tackling the salad choices, vegetables & main dishes (mostly Chinese chicken ones, like kung pao, soy sauce, orange), grilled selections like grilled mackerel, shrimp on a skewer, other seafood delicacies such stuffed crab shells, mushrooms, scallops. I didn’t even get to the hot sukiyaki selection in which you choose beef, vegetables, noodles and have the cook saute and grill it all up in front of you, with your choice of one of 3 dressings: lo mein, teriyaki, or soy sauce.

There are also buffets kiosks with soup (5 choices), fruits, puddings, desserts (7 pastries), ice cream (8 choices). Some of these had no labels so I wasn’t sure what they all were, but it was fun sampling some of them.

As I mentioned before there was just too much to eat and savor. I barely had room for dessert but I also had to try the sesame seed ball dumplings (with azuki beans) which was very soft & yummy, just what the way I like it.

I tend to judge an Asian restaurant by the food selections of course, but also what type of soy sauce they have on the table and in Hibachi’s case, it was just fine as they had my favorite Japanese Kikkoman Shoyu on the table. And of course they had optional chopsticks for us Asians, and Chinese fortune cookies when you paid your bill.

At lunch I happened to meet two friends, Japanese American Junko with 3 other Japanese women friends. Junko enjoyed her meal and said it was the third time she had eaten there since they opened a month ago. Then I ran into Patsy, a local born Chinese American who said it was her first time there and she was pleased with the variety of food, especially since they offered Japanese, Chinese & Korean (kim chee).

The restaurant itself is very spacious, with Chinese and Japanese decorations/art work on the walls, and a large water fountain with koi fish in the foyer, complete with a neon green/red flowering “sakura” tree and two palms.

Hibachi’s Super Buffet hours:
Monday to Thursday & Sunday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Lunch buffet costs $6.99 for adults,
$2.99 for children (3 to 6 years), $3.99 (7 to 10 years)
Dinner buffet costs $9.99,
children $3.99 (3 to 6 years), $5.49 (7 to 10 years)
Take out buffets are also available
Phone: 520-326-0000

If you just want to order off the menu, there is a large selection of Chinese dishes as well.

Discounts available online at www.hibachitucson.com for Senior Citizens over 60 years, Students, and for their grand opening. I noticed coupons in the Tucson Weekly and AZ Daily Star’s Caliente as well, for 20 to 30% off.

Lastly, what does “hibachi” mean? It is a type of charcoal-burning Japanese brazier (usually a low outdoor metal one with a grill) and we in Hawaii even use the word as a verb. For example, we say we are going to “hibachi” the meat or chicken on the Hibachi grill outdoors.

Don’t miss the grand opening of this new, super buffet in town, probably the largest in Tucson.