I’m not sure why, but it’s always easy to forget the greatness of Kemuri … at least it is for me. Whether it’s the calm, inviting atmosphere, excellent service, or delicious food, Kemuri, the upscale Japanese restaurant in the heart of Hillcrest, rarely disappoints.

I was reminded of this last Friday night when I took my youngest daughter there for dinner and we sat at the sushi bar. When you have a kid who’s willing to eat sushi, you take advantage of the situation as much as humanly possible. Granted, her sushi palette is pretty limited, as she tends to load up on several pieces of sake (raw salmon), but this guy ain’t complaining because it allows me to partake in one of Kemuri’s sushi rolls.

This time around, I opted for the Spicy Girl, a fairly modest (by Kemuri’s standards) roll comprised of spicy tuna, crab stick, avocado and salmon ($14). I say modest because many of the sushi rolls at Kemuri are enormous and laden with fancy ingredients. This isn’t a complaint, as I love those too, but my appetite wasn’t quite so large on this evening. Also, the key to sushi is being able to jam each piece of the roll into your mouth and some of the Kemuri’s giant rolls prohibit such an act. It’s a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. Simply put, I love Spicy Girl, mainly because I enjoy the combination of the soft, spicy tuna with the creamy avocado, and slightly sweet crab stick.

Per usual, the roll was beautifully presented, as was my daughter’s six pieces of salmon. It should also be noted that while Kemuri’s prices aren’t cheap, they are quite fair. My $14 roll was all I needed to get full.

Service throughout the dinner was outstanding, and I’d like to especially thank the sushi chef we sat right across from who did a wonderful job of engaging and entertaining my daughter, making the entire experience not only fun but memorable. By the time we got into the car, she proclaimed Kemuri to be her favorite new restaurant.

No complaints from me.