We started with one of the specials, the shumai--short rib & foie gras dumplings with "miso" broth ($12). They were, as you might imagine since they contained short rib and foie gras, meaty and rich, and the broth they sat in had a nice brothy, herby flavor (not at all like standard miso soup, which is, I imagine, why they put the "miso" in quotes).
We also had another special to start--the Indiana Tomato Salad ($11). It contained fresh, ripe, peeled tomatoes tossed with shallot, basil, and a dijon cider vinaigrette, and it was topped with a mild (i.e., mostly just avocado) guacamole and parmesan cheese. Give me a super ripe tomato, basil, and a nice acidic dressing and I am a happy, happy girl, so this was right up my alley. It felt a little strange to have it as a starter in a sushi place, but I like that they aren't shy about doing non-Japanese dishes.
We did partake in a couple adult beverages--for me it was a take on a caipirinha, only made with rum instead of cachaca and brown sugar syrup instead of white sugar, and served in a martini glass. It was pretty good, although I think the cachaca really makes that drink, so that aspect was slightly lacking. Still, it was tasty, and the brown sugar added an extra layer of flavor. Tim got a special gin & tonic off of their drink menu, and it had a very fresh cucumber flavor and I think a splash of orange juice. He really liked it. No prices for these because I forgot to take a picture of the drink menu and they aren't listed online, but I'm sure you can guess--$8-11 is the typical mixed drink price at places like this.
We got three rolls for our main course, and they were all really good. Starting at 12 o'clock in the picture below, we had the Cuban Cigar roll: shrimp, (real!) crab, "salmon cigar," jalapeno, spicy sauce, and avocado ($13). I have no idea what a "salmon cigar" is--I didn't notice anything special about it, but then again I didn't examine it closely. The overall flavor was pretty light and it was salty from the crab and creamy from the avocado and spicy sauce (although it wasn't overly spicy). A solid roll of the "cleanser" variety (our code for a roll we eat after a particularly spicy roll to bring the heat down so we can actually taste again).
At 3 o'clock in the picture is the Buttery Nipple roll ($11). I wondered why they would call it that (a Buttery Nipple shot involves Butterscotch Schnapps and Irish Cream--nothing sushi-like about that), but then I saw it. Hee. Anyway, it contains kampachi, cucumber, sweet onion, masago, and scallions, and was topped with spicy mayo (light orange) and sriracha (the red). These definitely had a kick, but it was welcome. Very tasty roll. We'd never had kampachi before, which is a white fish and I believe is in the same family as yellow tail. It was mild but the whole roll together was just GOOD. I have no other descriptive words for it. It was yummy. There.And finally, at about 7 o'clock in the picture, is the Instant Bliss ($9.75). Inside was cucumber, avocado, and basil, and across the top was tuna and a very thin slice of orange. My first bite, with the orange, had a bit too much orange flavor for me--it overpowered the subtler tuna. But then we discovered the secret--we started peeling the orange off. It left behind a nice orange-y brightness but didn't overwhelm the roll. Instead, we could taste the basil and tuna, which was a killer combination. I really, really enjoyed this one.
Our final, overall impression of H2O was great. We really enjoyed our meal and would have loved another roll or two (although we were nicely full by the end). The downside for us was just the price. We threw down a lot of money for this meal. For the same amount of food--or, really, more--we would have spent half that amount at Sakura. It was high quality, inventive food, for sure, and I'm willing to pay for that, but only occasionally. This is not someplace we'd go to just because we had a craving for sushi, or we'd be broke.
Website: H2O Sushi
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