Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar

My heart belongs to Lahaina!    Never really did the Kihei thing before but we decided what the heck... it deserves a shot!   I mean how bad can it be anyway?  It is still Maui, it is on the beach and I hear there is some great snorkling down there.     We were impressed!   It was nice, we liked the beaches, we liked the "Triangle" and we really enjoyed Sansei!  

Like every other review seems to say or imply.   Thank God for happy hour otherwise this place can be a little pricey!   Happy hour (or happy half-hour) cuts the prices in half, so instead of being a bit in the expensive side it is a bit on the less-expensive side.  

We ordered and ordered and ordered, ate and ate and ate!    Edomame, soup, tempura, rolls, noodle dishes, more rolls, more noodles.    The place has a great variety of sushi and Japanese food!   All of it was quite tasty.   Some is a huge bargain while other dishes weren't.     But we enjoyed it and left very full.   Even the desserts are half price if you order them in time.  

When the bill arrived it had a seperate line with a pretty big number on it "service charge"   I asked and yes it is a disguised gratuity.   I think it was 20% of the bill before the 50% discount!   Seemed quite high for the service we recieved.   And I hate that they don't call it "gratuity" or "Tip"  Seems so deceptive!!   I have to wonder how many people automatically tip on top of that amount???     All in all I think we had a $45 food bill, a $9 beer and a $20 "Service charge"    Still fairly reasonable for the enjoyment that we had but still...  couldn't they be just a little bit more up-front about it?

Took the family their last night ... there was a line up at 5:00 pm but they ended up seating us fast.  The food was very good ... not great like some of the sushi restaurants in Vancouver.  The  price was not bad and our bill for 4 was $70 tip included but we are light drinkers.

The sushi was good, but the seating was just not what we were expecting. The sushi was on the pricy side of reasonable, and my husband and I were seated right next to another couple. There wasn't even an inch between the two tables, so I felt like I was having dinner with another couple. It would have been fine if the place had a sushi bar atmosphere, but the ad made it look romantic. I really had to watch my elbows from hitting the woman next to me, and my elbows aren't all that big. That being said,  the sushi was great and so was the friendly service.