The sushi bar at Lillian's restaurant in the Sonesta hotel, which has been open for five months, has introduced an expanded menu.

The menu offers an expansive choice of Japanese appetisers and a choice of nigiri, sashimi, norimaki or temaki sushi.

"Our initial sushi menu was smaller as we wanted to get a feel of how many people we were going to attract,'' explains Sonesta's executive chef, Stephan Juliusburger.

"We wanted the sushi bar in Lillian's to be popular and we expected it to be popular, but we started small as one never knows.

" As a result we had a more limited menu to start with, but the new menu is now much larger.

"The sushi bar is run by two trained sushi chefs and we are also taking on a trainee,'' says Mr. Juliusburger.

Both sushi chefs are originally from the Phillipines, where they went through a three-year formal sushi training.

The chefs, Alex Guilas and Freddy Aranda, may be familiar to locals as both were previously chefs at the Mikado sushi restaurant.

"Alex has been in Bermuda 13 years and Freddy has been here for seven years.

"At the sushi bar, we are getting more locals than hotel guests,'' says Mr.

Juliusburger.

"Some people have heard our ad and come to Lillian's as a result of that, but we have had tremendous business just from word of mouth.

"We have some locals who eat sushi here as much as three or four times a week.'' They believe that they are offering the finest and freshest choice of sushi on the island.

You can see from the colours of the fish at the sushi bar, the quality and freshness of the seafood.

And sushi is all about that imminence, the product having been imminently alive and you eating it soon thereafter.

"We do conch sushi, which you probably do not see anywhere else on the island. And we do some fun stuff with rolls.

"The caterpillar roll, which is avocado, cucumber and crab, is fun as the avocado is layered on the outside, which is why it has the name caterpillar roll,'' advised the executive chef.

Japanese appetisers like the `miso soup with tofu' or 'hiyashi wakame' which is seaweed salad with a sweet sesame oil and a little spicy chili, are a nice complement to a sushi meal.

"Sunomono is a traditional salad of seafood, seaweed and cucumber.

"In an interesting twist, the sushi chefs have been inspired by Lillian's regional Italian cuisine, to create 'antipasti' but with a sushi-style presentation.

" `Bruschetta temaki' is one example of this; a bruschetta filling in a cone that is as delicious as it is pleasing to the eyes.

"Another tempting `antipasti' is the `shrimp maki' poached in fennel oil.

"The chefs did not know a lot about Italian food when they walked in the door, remembers Mr. Juliusburger, so we played with a lot of ideas in creating the antipasti. I wanted the flavours to be Italian, not Japanese.

"It is not fusion food, the antipasti are purely Italian, but presented differently.'' He concluded: "As a result of growing popularity, we will be expanding Lillian's in February by building a balcony out in the foyer area as an additional dining space.

"We are really committed to offering the best to our clientele. We like that locals are coming, and we are just going to get better and better.'' Sonesta Beach Hotel offers an extravaganza of delicious foods prepared by excellent chefs, left. Alex Guilas and right, Freddy Aranda. Their sushi is fresh and superb and Lillian's is very popular. Enjoy nigiri, sashimi, norimaki or temaki sushi.

RESTAURANT EAT