It was a scorching day in Honolulu?. We were slowly making our way through Chinatown trying to find a place to grab a quick bite before our flight to Kona. One of the locals suggested Nico’s Pier 38 that was a few minutes away and was apparently known for fresh seafood. It sounded like a place with air conditioning, and THAT sounded like a marvelous idea.
Nico’s Pier 38 was located right off the dock and next door to the fish auction. No wonder it was known for its fresh seafood. It was an open concept restaurant with indoor and outdoor seats under umbrellas. Because of the heat, we opted for the indoor seats. During lunch time, it was like a cafeteria where you find your own table, order at any one of the multiple counters, and they will buzz you when your food is ready.
Since I was still stuffed from my udon breakfast, I only wanted a snack. I went next door to their fish market section and picked out a small tray of ahi sashimi.
I thought the ahi sashimi price was standard, about $20some USD per pound, which was what Hibachi had charged for their poke. The sashimi was fresh – odourless and not slimy. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
My boyfriend got the chicken katsu plate (he’s not a fan of seafood, so he always orders boring dishes?).
The portion was huge. There was 2 layers of deep-fried thick chicken slices. It was juicy and tender on the inside, and crispy on the outside. Perfectly breaded and perfectly deep-fried. Our friends ordered a few other items, but I didn’t take pictures of them all?. But the overall impression was that the portions were big and everything was very delicious.
I want to come back again when I am actually hungry because there were so many items on the menu that I wanted to try! Plus I love the chill and laid-back atmosphere, and how fresh and tasty everything was.