Club Scene
Late-night noshing in a club ambiance

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

DJ Shawn "Euphorik" Hiyane mixed the music for the crowd at Sansei, at Restaurant Row, on a recent late night. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser Club Nights 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Restaurant Row $5 (karaoke free) 536-6286 Also: "Hip-Hop and Smooth Groove" Thursday nights, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; $5

The bar at Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar is busy but bearable. No open tables or booths, but definitely elbow room at the counter, where bartenders double as waiters, taking requests for tequila shots and tea duck eggrolls, as a daruma winked at every patron, every swig, every tip.

Cliquish groups huddled over the food spread in front of their appetites. Two women in skin-tight minis feasted on California rolls to the tune of booty mix circling the talkative crowd. The thumping bass and dizzying lights are the only indicators that this is not the Sansei you had that office party at.

"This is how the party is going down every Saturday night," announced the DJ manning the turntables.

No one looked up.

Because no one was really there that night to meet people, to mingle, to exchange digits at Sansei's Club Night. Most were there to eat name-brand food at a bargain price. (Everything on the menu is half off after 10 p.m.)

But, like many restaurants around town, Sansei is giving late-night diners a place to go. After the movies, after working late, after a break-up.

The idea of offering late-night options originated with the Sansei on Maui, which offers free karaoke. For the past two months, the Restaurant Row location has added DJs and dancing to its after-hours lineup, which also includes karaoke.

Perfect for the short attention-spanned Gen-Xer.

Every Friday and Saturday night, the restaurant partially transforms into a nightclub, complete with DJs spinning hip-hop and R&B 'til 2 a.m. More than 300 people parade through the restaurant on any given Club Night.

And most karaoke fans already know about Sansei's late-night sing-along in the area fronting the sushi bar. Mainland-style karaoke brings another dimension to Sansei, which continues to operate as a restaurant during the commotion.

"We did karaoke, but we wanted to do some dancing, too," said Ivy Nagayama, Sansei's general manager. "So people have a choice when they come in."

But don't expect a pick-up joint. Think Zen: Sansei is just a place to be.

As the club anthem "Music" by Madonna blared from the speakers, three girls in halters and large hoop earrings posed for a quick photo. Spotlights in red, green and hot pink dart around the room, landing on beer bottles and earlobes.

"Flashback right here," the DJ called out. "Requested music."

"Oh, Sheila" by Ready for the World and Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" dated the crowd, which had outgrown World Cafe and wasn't dressed for the W.

Well past midnight, and more people were eating than dancing. Plates of Japanese calamari salad, panko-crusted fresh 'ahi sashimi and Asian rock shrimp cake with crispy Chinese noodles made their way to the tables as clubbers armed with chopsticks dived in guilt-free.

It seemed as though people came to Sansei to eat and someone turned off the lights.

No need to squeeze into faux leather pants or spritz on cologne. Come without expectations and Sansei will do the rest.