I know I know how it's spelt, but the locals tell me it's actually called "Ha- pon-ee - sa". So I have been thinking about visiting this place for a long time. People rave about how fresh the food is. So I made my way down near Pike Place Market during Happy Hour. 
The taste
I felt comfortable eating my serving of Chirashi. The salmon, wasn't wild salmon, but was fresh and fatty. The other fish was unremarkable, everything was expected. The rice was soft and had a good balance of vinegar. But really it was nothing super special. More suited to a lunch or an ordinary meal.
But this review was tainted by my first course- miso soup. Miso soup is hard to get wrong, sometimes it's because there is too much salt but that's an easy fix with water. This miso soup seemed to have some interesting bits and pieces in it so I stirred it around to make sure all the shitaki mushrooms surface and the soup is well balanced. It was at this point I noticed a blue floating object- is this a new type of fish? Pretty soon I realised what it was.
There was a BLUE RUBBERBAND in my soup! This has NEVER happened to me before at a Japanese restaurant, perhaps this is a little latino flair?
The value factor
Given I went at happy hour, where the price of things are very affordable, I found the portion sizes smaller, but adequate.
They gave me a bonus blue souvenir to remember!
Without happy hour prices, I would find it hard to justify the prices for the quality of food presented.
The atmosphere
The restaurant is very chic. Going by myself for the first time, I found it hard to open the door? And once inside it was hard to get a server's attention to get a place to seat.
Once seated in front of the sushi chefs, I had time to admire the ambience. It is presented as a cool and hip place with dim lighting and splashing with purples and blacks to create a mystical feel to your dinner.
It doesn't seem very child/pram friendly with the steps leading up to the seating areas but it seems to be a nice place to catch up with friends.
The service is definitely a hit and a miss. After discovering my rubberband, I tried to get someone's attention for over 5 minutes. Finally, the chef asked if anything was wrong, he took my soup and replaced it himself. The servers weren't impolite, they were just difficult to get a hold of when you needed anything, e.g. water, tea, your bill.
My overall thoughts
I personally won't ever go again because of my concern for food hygiene. But in all, it seemed like a reasonably placed Japanese restaurant for lunch and a good place to catch up with friends.
Tips: Happy hour is practically all day. You HAVE to go during happy hour where you at least have the option to choose from the more affordable menu.
A little history
The head chef brings to this restaurant some of the flare from Umi, another Japanese restaurant I will review later.
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