Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar

The food here is amazing, I loved this place! my boyfriend took me here on my birthday, it was so good, the only issue was waiter forgot our drinks and brought them until the end of our meal, we thought it was so ridiculous!

Sushi was good. Busy place and had a great price. Have had better sushi in my life but looks like the best in Kihei and Wailea

I don’t get it. We considered Morimoto since we couldn’t get in a Koiso, and I considered no sushi at all on this trip… Either would have been much better than what we encountered.
First we were told we would have an hour wait, so the host would text us. We went to get a drink across the street, ordered, and immediately received a text that our table was ready. We decided to chance it, finish our drink and head back. We showed up to no line and many empty tables, but waited another 40 minutes through confused host staff and patrons with reservations (who also waited at least 10 minutes after their reservation) to sit.
Our service was nice, but the food was meh. I suspected that there was much better sushi in the bay area, but my friends really wanted a sushi night, so when we sat and saw the insane prices on nigiri and lame rolls, we were kind of disappointed. The fish wasn’t great, and I think that other than tuna, maybe that’s just a difference between types of fish on the island and fish in San Francisco? Either way, we got really expensive, ($ 10 – 12 for 2 pieces of nigiri, really?!) really poor fish. And our last rolls (the negi hama) had a surprisingly large bone that put me off of the rest of the meal. I’m a bit of a baby about fish bones, but seriously, I’ve never had that happen in even gas station sushi (I’m not always above it, guys).
So, skip the sushi on Maui or make a reservation at Koiso. This place is lame as hell.

A lot of hype about this place and the food didn’t live up. We went during happy hour and received excellent service but didn’t find the food to be outstanding for the price (even discounted).

We went there twice, with two different experiences. Overall, good. I would go back.
First server was super awesome. Second was really awkward… though not intentional, methinks… Some people are just awkward.
If you go and they have local fish on the menu, EAT THAT. Super fresh, super delicious. I ordered the local sashimi and now am regretting that I hadn’t ordered a second helping of it.
The fish plate was also delicious, as were the brussels sprouts.
Everything was pretty great, except that one thing with that one weird server…
(that weird thing: me asking questions, and instead of them asking someone else for an answer, just giving me an incorrect answer (which I knew to be incorrect because I had been there the day before), and not doing due diligence)

I LOVED the panko encrusted ahi. We ordered a variety of menu items and enjoyed them all. Friendly service by Jessie!

Our first clue should have been the vomit on the sidewalk on the walkway leading into the restaurant. We ordered the rainbow roll which we order at every sushi restaurant we go to, after my first bite I didn’t know if I should spit it out on my plate or quickly swallow it. I swallowed it, BAD decision on my part I felt like I was going to join the puker on the front sidewalk. We ordered tempura shrimp, blah and tasteless. Onion rings were blah and tasteless. The Dynamite shrimp were less than dynamite. If you want something decent order the Caesar salad it was amazing. It was the only thing worth eating but who goes to a sushi restaurant to eat salad.

Sansei is known for its creative dishes. It definitely gets an A for presentation but I had mixed feelings about taste. The Panko-​Crusted Fresh Ahi Sashimi is one of their signature dishes. It is good but not great. Moreover, I did not really like the other two things I ate. The first is the Soy Ramen Noodles. It is very forgettable and I did not think it is very good. I did not like the noodles or the broth. I had the tempura macadamia ice cream for dessert. The ice cream is good but I did not care for the tempura batter. On the other hand, everything I ate was half off because I ate at the cocktail bar during Happy Hour. It is the reason there is a line at the door before it opens every night.
If you are planning a trip to Maui and looking for recommendations, please see

Fun reserve happy hour at Sansei’s (after 10) and half off apps and sushi. Be there before 10pm to get inline for a table. Oh, it is 21 and over only! Why I say FUN? Karaōke baby! Some night it is like sing off competition. The night we were there, DANG… everyone sounds freak fantastic. The environment is upbeat and of course LOUD. Servers were nice, but hard to hear them once the singing begins. The service was OK, it is chaos in there. We got a table full of food. The taste of the food is ok.

Some of the best sushi of my life. Despite being somewhat hidden in a strip mall, a friend recommended this place for our date night, and we were not disappointed. The interior isn’t too fancy, relaxed and casual, with awesome sushi. We got here before the rush and sat at the sushi bar, so we got to converse more with those around us. We ordered a number of rolls, nigiri, and some sake — all were really fresh and delicious. While it would not have been my first choice, I would absolutely recommend this to anyone in the future.

They must have spent a small fortune on all those awards on the wall as you walk in, but I guess they can afford it with the prices they charge. $ 17.25 for a bowl of ramen with the only thing of value being a single crab leg (not even a claw)
The sashimi was embarrassing, flavourless, poorly cut, and small…
The duck tasted like it was reheated, prepackaged smoked duck from a third tier supplier.
Even the edamame beans were served cold…
The lucky ones are the people that try and walk in for a table only to be told it will be an hour and they leave.

Sanseis offer a half off happy hour at 10 Thursday-​Saturday. Be advised that people start lining up before 10pm for good seats (not in the back and forgotten) 21+ only. There is also karaōke for your singers! They seat you anywhere from the sushi bar and table. If you don’t mind, you can just head to the bar for drinks and order food there. I find it easier when dining for 3 or less.
My favorites include the unagi nigiri, spicy tuna (not mashed ones, these are cubed) the panko crusted ahi is prepared with a tuna sashimi with lettuce wrapped in seaweed. This is covered with panko and seared on the outside. Comes with a nice sauce! I also enjoy the generous serving of vegetable tempura which includes taro, eggplant, zucchini, string beans and bell pepper. I’ve tried the soft shell crab, but not a fan with the sweet Chilli sauce drizzle. The shrimp dynamite is a MUST. It’s fried crusted shrimp, lightly tossed with sweet Chilli perhaps. Always on our table!
For drinks, I’m always one to get a jameson+ginger a or jack+coke. But for their signature drinks, the starburst, lychee martini (comes with lychee sorbet) and strawberry lemonade are great and components sushi well.
Ambiance is upbeat and loud. Servers are mostly nice. Service itself can be unpredictable, sometimes it can take awhile for the food, drinks or sometimes they’ll forget one of your orders. All happened to me. Nonetheless, great food for happy hour!

Popular spot! Put my name down and shopped around the plaza it’s located in until they texted me saying my table was ready. Huge plus for texting.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. The menu was all over the place. We ended up ordering dishes we’ve never had and probably wouldn’t see on another menu.
— Miso butterfish: best and favorite of the night
— crab truffle ramen: strange yet pretty tasty. Enough truffle flavor in there to satisfy. They kindly split it into two bowls for us ahead of time!
— rainbow roll: standard
— shrimp: mostly sauce flavoring
— foie gras nigiri: It looked unappetizing and had no flavor
The service is great and everyone is friendly but it’s pretty pricey (adds up quick) and only so so food. People seemed to enjoy themselves there though!

After a super long day out we decided to pick some place close to where we were staying. Checking good old Unilocal we found Sansei with its good rating and numerous reviews. They had the advantage. We were tired and hungry. Any reasonable meal we would have liked. Unfortunately Sansei couldn’t do that.
For starters we ordered some deep fried sushi rolls, and the veggie tempura. The veggie tempura was ok but the rolls were just kind of sad. Only six pieces, it seemed like a two thirds roll.
The ramen and seared ahi salad we got didn’t make us sick. That’s the good news. The ramen was just barely passable and the seared ahi salad the greens were borderline and it seemed as if the ahi was seared beforehand as well as cooked too much. Big no no. The other members of the party ordered the mixed sushi plate and some beef dishes. The sushi again was passable but just not really that good unfortunately. The beef was decent, but even factoring Hawaii vacation tax it was really hard to pay that much for it.
Service was amiable but it’s hard to make up for pricey mediocre food.

We’re planned to go Koiso since seatings are limited. Plus we have a 2 yrs old, we decided to come here and it’s a BIG MISTAKE!
Spicy tuna roll was ok
2 pieces of Uni: one was running means NOT fresh. No wonder the chef loaded a bunch of wasabi so I can’t smell the fishiness.
The rest of sushi was smaller than standard size also not fresh.
I’m from a small city in TX but I can easily find fresh good quality of Uni/​sushi than this tropical place with walking distance to the ocean.
Over all the spicy tuna helps them earn one star from me. Never come back.
I can’t believe some ppl gave this place 5 stars.

I’m not sure what the hype is on this place, yes the sushi is discounted at certain hours. But, the sushi is nothing special. I guess its a cool spot to get food and drinks and listen to some bad karaōke haha!
Tried to come back just to get some togo sushi, to be honest we just wanted to order the foie nigiri special they have on the menu. Since they were so busy during dinner, they told us it would take over 30mins for two pieces of nigiri. That is shocking! Plus the front hostesses said they rather give the food to the people seated first than the togo orders. Strange concept…

Sansei is a really nice restaurant. It is always popular. It opens at 5:30pm, and a line is usually at the front door at 5:15pm. I make reservations when I go, and I just have to wait in line for poodle ahead to get seated even if they don’t have reservations. It would be nice to have two lines, one for those with reservations and one for those without.
The food is very good. I especially like the appetizers. There is a happy (half?) hour starting at 5:30, and I think it hours until 6ish.
They not only have sushi, but they also have steak and fish entrees which look good, but I have not tried yet.

We’ve given up on Sansei. Their attitude simply sucks.
Most recently, we called about a takeout order. We were told they don’t accept takeout orders until after 6:30pm. Called back at 7:05. «We’re too busy tonight — no takeout orders are being accepted.» Up yours.
There are not a lot of places to get great sushi in South Maui, but enough to skip Sansei going forward.

I was expecting the best sushi in the world. Not so much.
My husband and I shared the Panko crusted ahi sashimi sushi roll, shrimp dynamite, butterfly roll (salmon, crab, shiromi, and veggies) and dragonfly roll (off the menu).
All the fish was fresh but nothing excited my taste buds. The shrimp dynamite was good because of the sauce. The dragonfly roll was pretty good too but nothing to rave about. None of the dishes had a lot of fish. For the price, I expected a lot more.
Ambiance and service was nothing special either.

I am pretty particular about my sushi, after not being able to get into another local Sushi restaurant that had stellar reviews but required reservations that we tried getting for 3 days, but they never answered the phone. We decided to give this place a try. We made reservations a couple hours earlier but there was space to sit at the sushi bar and so we did.
At first the two sushi chefs were a little standoffish but they warmed up.
The fresh fish was second to none that I have had. We has a selection of Sashimi and a couple of rolls which were awesome. We also asked if they had any Hamachi collars, he said yes one left… it was so frigging good. Definately try this place you wont be dissapointed. I here they may be opening up one in Seattle as well. Can’t wait!