Best Sushi Restaurant on Hilton Head Island

Do you want to know the number one sushi spot on Hilton Head Island?  

Located on New Orleans Road (on the South End of the Island), you will find a 23-year-old restaurant that will not disappoint.  On a Friday night, it’s packed with locals in seats and standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the door picking up their takeout order.  At lunchtime (11:30 -2 PM), you will also find lots of locals for business or a social lunch. It’s surely one of the local favorites and by far the best sushi restaurant on Hilton Head Island.  

What restaurant are we talking about? It's Hinoke Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, of course!  Owned and operated by Chef Teruyuki Suzuki and Chikara Yamagishi, you will also find staff (like our favorite server, Veronica) who have been there for decades. It's like old-faithful but as a restaurant. It's consistently good, time after time, and never lets us down. 

The cypress wood (hinoke) is a design element throughout the restaurant and you will find several Tatami tables (cushioned floor seats with a sunken area for your legs) for an awesome experience. It’s serene and has a nice view of a rock garden in the main dining area.  

As for the menu and what to get, we can highly recommend all of the sushi.  Here are our favorites: 

1.     Calamari Salad – there’s probably nothing better than this combination of flash fried squid tentacles, fresh sashimi tuna, yellow tail, and salmon, plus onions and carpaccio dressing. It’s heaven. 

2.    Also popular is the “Dinosaur Egg” which is a spicy tuna in a rice ball topped with avocado and carpaccio dressing. 

3.    Our favorite rolls are the Hilton Head Roll – a mild roll with whitefish tempura, scallions, and avocado, the Fiesta Roll -  with tuna, jalapeno, cilantro & cucumber and avocado salsa on top, and the Surf & Turf Roll – with spicy tuna roll topped with ribeye beef.  You simply cannot go wrong with any of the rolls if you are a sushi fan! (Also, try the Icchi Roll and Wizard Roll.) 

The Chefs often have specials with freshly caught fish.  We recently dined on tuna belly caught off the coast of Charleston. The Chef was serving the tuna as a handroll with scallions, as one option.  It was delicious in its simplicity.

There are plenty of ways to save on your Hinoke experience. If you are willing to go early for dinner, there’s an early bird special served with shrimp & vegetable tempura, miso soup or house salad, vegetables, and steamed or fried rice. Choose your protein: Chicken or Shrimp or a Combo for under $21.   There are also combination teriyaki dinners and a variety of noodles (soba or udon) for those who are not sushi lovers.  Also highly sought after for the non-sushi lovers are the tempura dishes. Lightly breaded and fried, guests will love the combination platter with shrimp & veggies. 

You can order takeout using this website: hinoki.mobilebytes.com -- just be prepared to stand amongst a bunch of people while waiting for your order (though if you refer to your web order, they will give you an estimated time your order will be ready which is true to form). Or, enjoy a drink at the bar while you wait. The wine pours are heavy and the selection of wines are eclectic. 

Dining reservations are highly recommended for dinner Monday – Saturday, 5:30 PM – 9:30 PM, especially for larger parties. Call 843-785-9800 to make yours up to 30 days in advance.   Hinoke is located at 37 New Orleans Road in New Orleans Plaza.