The sushi run.

I have said it before. I adore a menu you do not have to touch. (Read my "A menu you don't have to touch." Paris post.) I adore this concept even more when it is accompanied by a complimentary eye exam. Thank you Sushi Hime.

You will find this teeny-tiny restaurant on a downtown side street in Hilo on the Big Island (Hawaii). I could not decide what I enjoyed more. The menu? The sushi? The music? Hime means princess in Japanese and no, black cat is not on the menu. The paper cat cutouts on the menu wall are a homage to the owner's (Yuji & Takako) three cats at home.

The drive to Sushi Hime took approximately four hours from home base at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai. This included a stop in Waipio Valley (according to my Big Island Traveler map this was a favorite spot of Hawaiian royalty) and the Akaka Falls State Park (according to me, too crowded for my liking). After needing to use a public restroom at both of these attractions and finding no soap or paper towels at either, I was desperate for sake only to find Sushi Hime as dry as a lava field. I used my imagination while drinking the healthy alternative green tea and prayed all of those visitors to the Waipio and Akaka restrooms brought their own hand wipes with them like good little Hygiene Hunters should.

I also adored the fact there were no crowds at Sushi Hime when I arrived at 1:30 p.m. Maybe that is because the restaurant was closed. Reservations were the only way in. Hit.