The "nigiri" sushi set at Sushi Hana comes with 10 pieces of sushi and miso soup. The restaurant in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, open about four years, serves Japanese-style sushi. (Jennifer Svan/Stars and Stripes)

The "nigiri" sushi set at Sushi Hana comes with 10 pieces of sushi and miso soup. The restaurant in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, open about four years, serves Japanese-style sushi. (Jennifer Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Sushi with tuna fish, sweet egg and raw salmon with avocado are among the many selections of Japanese-style sushi available at Sushi Hana restaurant in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. (Jennifer Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Airmen from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, enjoy sushi for lunch recently at Sushi Hana. The Japanese-style sushi restaurant in Ramstein-Miesenbach is a few minutes' drive from the base. (Jennifer Svan/Stars and Stripes)

Customers at Sushi Hana can watch chef Jong Pil-Park, right, prepare Japanese-style sushi behind the restaurant's counter. Located in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, Sushi Hana is open for lunch and dinner six days a week. (Jennifer Svan/Stars and Stripes)

All it took was a sip of miso soup.

I had a feeling I was going to like Sushi Hana even before sampling the main attraction, the sushi.

Miso soup was a staple I took for granted during eight years of living in Japan.

Oh, how I missed the light brown liquid of fermented soybeans, complemented by the floating chunks of tofu, seaweed and green onions. Packets of Kikkoman instant tofu miso soup from the commissary didn’t cut it. The memory of trying miso soup after moving here years ago still stung: I could have sworn I detected a hint of meat in the soup stock.

I didn’t go back to that sushi establishment and had all but given up on finding a genuine sushi experience in the land of sausages until I had lunch recently at Sushi Hana in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.

This time, mercifully, there was no hint of pork or beef flavor in the miso soup. It seemed saltier than I remember in Japan, but it was nearly as good.

The two most important questions I had about Sushi Hana were: 1) Would the sushi taste fresh, as it did in Japan? and 2) Would a meal there be affordable?

I’m happy to report that the sushi tasted fresh and the prices were indeed reasonable.

In Japan, eating sushi can be a major splurge, depending on where you go. Outside of “conveyor belt” sushi — essentially, fast-food sushi, where cheap plates of sushi whiz by diners on a conveyor belt at arm’s length — a sushi meal can quickly break your budget.

The best deal at Sushi Hana comes at midday, when the lunchtime version of a sushi box or sushi set costs 11 euros (nearly $15). One set comes with 10 pieces of nigiri sushi — hand-pressed rice — consisting of a piece of fish or sweet egg on a small oblong-shaped mound of rice. The sushi box comes with a mix of nigiri sushi, sashimi (raw fish sliced into thin pieces without rice) and maki (rolled sushi). Both the box and nigiri sushi set come with miso soup.

In keeping with Japanese tradition, the sushi is accompanied by a dab of wasabi, slices of pickled ginger and, of course, soy sauce. The ginger, by the way, is used to cleanse the palate between dishes of sushi.

Sushi Hana also serves several kinds of California-style sushi rolls, with crab and avocado, salmon and avocado and plain avocado — the last called an avokadomaki.

Those leery of eating raw fish can find a few cooked items. The tunamaki — tuna paste rolled in rice and sesame seeds — were especially good. Other non-raw selections include yakitori — chicken on a stick — and “shakemaki” — boiled salmon with sesame seeds.

The most expensive single item on the menu: uni, or sea urchin. Even though sea urchin is considered a delicacy in Japan, I wasn’t brave enough to try the edible part of these spiny, round creatures while I lived in Asia, nor do I imagine that I’ll make an attempt any time soon.

To top off the authentic Japanese experience, the restaurant serves Japanese green tea and Japanese beer.

Korean couple Hyoun Hee Kim and Jong Pil-Park opened Sushi Hana about four years ago. My family and I arrived at 11 a.m. on the dot, just as the restaurant opened. Kim and Pil-Park, the chef, stood waiting behind the small sushi counter when we arrived. Service was prompt.

With few tables in a small place, Sushi Hana is cozy, meaning it’s best to go right after the restaurant opens, especially during the busy lunch hour.

Most of the lunchtime diners who trickled in after us wore military uniforms. Airman 1st Class Marc Howell, 26, said he’s a frequent customer. “It has an authentic type of sushi taste; the taste is great,” he said. “At the same time, in my mind, it’s healthier” than other dining-out options.

SUSHI HANALocation: Landstuhlerstrasse 19A, Ramstein-Miesenbach.

Directions: From central Kaiserslautern, take A6 toward Ramstein and exit at 13-Ramstein-Miesenbach. Turn left onto L363, passing the exit for Ramstein Air Base. Continue through two roundabouts into Ramstein-Miesenbach. Turn left onto Lanstuhlerstrasse at the center of Ramstein-Miesenbach. There’s a parking lot across from Sushi Hana, next to the church.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 5-9 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

Dress: Casual.

Costs: Individual pieces of sushi start at 2 euros; six pieces start at 3 euros. Lunch specials available for 11 euros.

Information: Menu and service are in German and English. Menu available online, with pictures, in English, German and Japanese, on Facebook: Sushi Hana Ramstein. Takeout available. (49) (0)6371-5980954.