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Casual Family Restaurants
Most of these restaurants have more of a casual feel to them and offer a wide range of items rather than specializing in a specific food type or style of cooking. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however, with both Ginza Bairin and Cafe Imperial specializing in fried katsu items and Curry House Coco Ichibanaya featuring Japanese-style curry. Regardless, all are ideal for family meals or casual dining, and usually have a good degree of quality for the price.
| A typical teishoku set featuring sanma and a host of side dishes at Hinone Mizunone. |  |
The set-dinner format called teishoku is popular here, with miso soup, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), and rice given in addition to the main dishes, out of which you may pick up to 3 different entrees per person. The two standard bearers have to be the miso butterfish and shrimp tempura, but don’t forget the rest of ‘em. An order of chicken katsu at these restaurants is usually better than a standard plate lunch katsu, mostly because it seems, judging by taste, that they make it fresh rather than breading ahead of time and storing for later use, which can leave a thicker, soggier inner crust.
There are also many other excellent choices, like grilled salmon, saba (a very oil-rich mackerel), chicken karaage, teriyaki meats, and shoyu meats. Donburi bowls are another popular option and a classic Japanese comfort-food. They feature chicken, tonkatsu, beef, and other choices over a bowl of rice with egg, onion, and different vegetables in a dashi/shoyu sauce that gets all over the rice – yum! The eggs are often semi-cooked in this dish, so be sure to specify if you prefer them well done.
Da Big Boy’z: Kabuki, Kuni, and Gyotaku for sit-down restaurants; Yama-gen for chicken katsu donburi and cheap, hole-in-the-wall eats; Kikuya for old-school Japanese with strong local hints; Ginza Bairin for modern, Japan-style tonkatsu in an atmosphere definitely that's more hip and stylish than others in this section.
Recent Closing's: Bozu, Kyoto Ohsho.
Kabuki. A Closer Look. 2 locations: One Kapiolani building in in Kakaako (map shown), 545-5995; and 98-020 Kamehameha Hwy. at the Waimalu S.C. in Pearl City, 487-2424. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside both stores. Prices: $$. Map. Food-wise, Kabuki serves some great Japanese foods for the price. They have great shrimp tempura, great miso butterfish, and great chicken katsu. There are also sushi bars within both restaurants. The atmosphere is very casual, and waithelp is sometimes short-staffed, but they are generally friendly and helpful.
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A bowl of unagi (eel) over hot rice at Gyotaku, a well-established Japanese family restaurant with a huge variety of authentic and local-style dishes to choose from. |
Gyotaku. A Closer Look. 3 locations: 98-1226 Kaahumanu St. in Pearl City (map shown), 487-0091; 1824 King St. in McCully/Moilili, 949-4584; and the Niu Valley S.C. in Niu Valley. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside all stores. Prices: $$. Map.
Gyotaku is a local favorite with large, full-color menus featuring meal sets and options that will make your mouth water as you flip through the pages. Aside from traditional Japanese dishes, they have many different types of new-wave sushi and some very local creations like a poke-don and the natto-cho, a kind of Asian nacho dish with wonton chips used instead of tortilla chips and interesting toppings like poke, daikon radish sprouts, and of course, the potent-smelling fermented soybean product, natto.
Gyotaku is a local favorite with large, full-color menus featuring meal sets and options that will make your mouth water as you flip through the pages. Aside from traditional Japanese dishes, they have many different types of new-wave sushi and some very local creations like a poke-don and the natto-cho, a kind of Asian nacho dish with wonton chips used instead of tortilla chips and interesting toppings like poke, daikon radish sprouts, and of course, the potent-smelling fermented soybean product, natto.
Minato. 930 Hauoli St. in McCully/Moilili. 956-1322. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner nightly except closed on Monday. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. Minato is known for their many bottled salad dressings, which they sell from the restaurant, the internet, and in grocery stores. The atmosphere is decidedly local, with several island favorites like hamburger steak and teriyaki spareribs, but the menu is mostly Japanese. They are one of the few places that offer tako-yaki, which are small balls of tako (octopus) mixed with a doughy batter.
| Restaurant Kuni is loaded with great Japanese fare, like this serving of teriyaki beef, sliced pupu-style. |  |
Kuni. A Closer Look. 94-210 Leokane St. in Waipahu. 671-1100. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in Center lot. Prices: $$. Map. Restaurant Kuni is an old-school, very casual diner that serves some pretty darn decent Japanese foods. Most popular are combination teishoku sets of two or three different items, including all your staple choices found in most other spots in this section, all coming in relatively large portions. If you can get over the relatively aged surroundings, the food itself will make it a worthwhile trip. A lounge area sits right next to the main dining room.
Mr. Ojisan. 1018 Kapahulu Ave. at the Kilohana Square in Kapahulu. 735-4455. Lunch Monday-Friday, Dinner nightly, late-night on Friday and Saturday till 1am, closed on Sunday. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. This unassuming place has a wide variety of menu items to choose from. There are full-flavored, robust bowls of ramen, thick-cut tonkatsu, sushi, tempura, sukiyaki, grilled wafu-steaks, and much more. The bar area offers the izakaya-like practice of leaving your unfinished bottles of shochu or sake at the store, for finishing on a later visit.
Noboru. 201 Hamakua Dr. in Kailua. 261-3033. Lunch and dinner daily except closed on Monday. Parking in lot behind store. Prices: $$. Map. When out in Kailua, this casual stop is the place to be for authentic Japanese food. The portions are, however, a bit smaller compared to the standard bearers in town like Kabuki and Gyotaku.
| The more stylish (and expensive!) of the two restaurants that specialize in katsu, this tendon (shrimp donburi) from Ginza Bairin is dee-lish! |  |
Ginza Bairin. A Closer Look. 255 Beachwalk at the Outrigger Regency Hotel in Waikiki. 926-8082. Lunch and dinner daily, except closed Sunday lunch. Parking at old Mitsukoshi building on corner of Kalakaua Ave. and Beachwalk. Prices: $$$. Map. Along with Kyoto Ohsho, Ginza Bairin is the most stylish of restaurants in this family section, and actually resembles a hip izakaya spot in ambience and tone. They specialize in tonkatsu, or pork katsu, and feature a $30+ kurobuta (black pig) katsu using a premium-grade, highly-marbled breed. Their more inexpensive varieties are also very good, coming similiarly thick and indistinguishable from meals at any great restaurant in Japan. Outside of tonkatsu, they also carry a great soy/ginger-marinated, thin-cut pork for those who prefer non-fried, as well as the biggest shrimp katsu I've ever seen, donburi, karaage, and a few more quality offerings.
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Looking for the less expensive version of top-knotch katsu? Cafe Imperial doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but their katsu still rocks! |
Café Imperial. A Closer Look. 725 Kapiolani Blvd. at the Imperial Plaza Building. 593-2626. Lunch and dinner daily, except closed on Sunday. Parking on street or in building. Prices: $$. Map. With a few dishes like manduguk and dduk bok gi, you'll notice that this is a Korean-owned restaurant, but don’t let the cross-cultural reaching keep you from having some of the best Japanese katsu on the island! Along with Ginza Bairin, these are the only two restaurants that specialize in katsu, and both do it extremely well, with Café Imperial being, by far, the more inexpensive option. They offer chicken, pork, thick-cut pork, fish, hamburger, shrimp, croquette, and even cheese katsu varieties, but also a few other items as well, such as gyoza, spring rolls, garlic shrimp, curry, and donburi bowls. Another great thing about this spot is their cheap drinks - $2.50 for domestic tap and $2.80 for Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, and even Heinekin! Directions and location are a bit of a chore, so check out the Closer Look for precise instructions!
| Curry House Coco Ichibanya with a silky-smooth, rich, and very delicious curry at fire-sale prices! |  |
Curry House Coco Ichibanya. A Closer Look. Several locations: Ala Moana S.C., 947-4889; Pearl Kai S.C., 488-6659; McCully S.C., 949-4590; Puck’s Alley, 947-2206; and Waikiki, 922-9441. Lunch and dinner daily most locations. Prices: $. This giant Japanese chain is a very inexpensive, very casual curry house featuring its namesake item over rice and a whole slew of other popular Japanese items, such as katsu, karaage, beef shabu-shabu, spinach, top-shell clam, kalbi, shrimp, mabo tofu, cheese, and much more. With everything on the menu arriving under $8.50, it’s definitely a bargain! Unlike most spots that present their curry filled with all manner of different meats and vegetables, Coco Ichibanya’s version arrives with nothing but the curry roux itself, with meats and veggies cooked separately, then combined at the last minute on your plate. On the side, be sure to try their korokke (croquettes), which is a creamy, potato-filled, panko-covered dish that matches perfectly with hot curry and rice. With an atmosphere that is clean, comfortable, and attractive, any of the outlets are ideal for a quick bite without breaking the bank!
Hinone Mizunone. A Closer Look. 1345 S. King St. in McCully/Moiliili. 942-4848. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. That restaurant you’ve been waiting to try at the old Taco Bell on S. King st. has finally opened. This new eatery has given me a fair share of confusing moments for changing their name a few times and also by opening only for lunch during their first month or so. Judging by the crowds who have already found this place, it sure looks like one spot that has a good shot of being around for awhile. They serve Japanese home-style comfort foods like curry rice, katsu, udon, saba, salmon, tempura, and others, mostly coming in teishoku sets of various side dishes. The meals here are actually very reasonable, with lunch menus serving one main dish per teishoku set and dinners serving up to two for prices mostly between $8 and $15. As the American-style chains usually have a well-planned and well-financed atmosphere and menu, so Hinone Mizunone is also part of a Japanese chain of restaurants and the beautiful décor inside is indicative of that fact. It carries the classic look of modern Japanese eateries, with light-colored wood with white trim and well-placed lighting, making it a comfortable, attractive hangout.
| Kikuya is a bit of a secret spot out in Kaneohe, serving up a wide range of Japanese/local foods like this crispy karei karaage (deep-fried flounder). |  |
Kikuya. A Closer Look. 46-148 Kahuhipa St. in Kaneohe. 235-2613. Lunch daily except Sunday, dinner nightly. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. This little charmer of a place may have escaped the radar of newspapers and advertisers over the last 20+ years they’ve been open, but they don’t much care – they get the business anyway! The look and feel of the restaurant is very much like you’d expect of a local/Japanese restaurant tucked away in a quiet neighborhood on Oahu or anywhere on the outer islands. Like most casual Japanese places, teishoku is the norm and standard, with sets including all the favorites mentioned in this section. The fried flounder (karei karaage) is a great dish, coming fried to a crisp and as delicious as they come, fins, bones, and all! The chicken katsu is also very good, as is the yosenabe, a chicken/vegetable dish in a soy-based nabe broth. Definitely a gem of a place worthy of a trip out to the Windward side.
Utage. 1286 Kalani St. at City Square S.C. in Kalihi. 843-8109. Lunch and dinner daily, except closed on Sunday. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. The people of Okinawa, the southernmost of the main islands that form Japan, have a distinctly country-style way of cooking where pork is king of meats. This is one of the few restaurants on the island, along with Sunrise, that offer traditional Okinawan dishes like the super-soft, succulent shoyu pork with squash and eggplant, or chanpuru, a kind of stir-fry with eggs, tofu, pork, and other vegetables. Goya, or bittermelon, looks like a wrinkly cucumber, and has an extremely bitter taste, but is one of the most important elements in an Okinawan diet. Long used as a medicinal herb in China and India, its qualities are just beginning to gain notoriety in the main stream, mostly from the “Okinawan diet” being pushed in some circles, as the Okinawans are among the longest-lived peoples on earth.
Hata Restaurant. 1742 S. King St. in McCully/Moiliili.941-2686. Lunch and dinner daily except closed on Sunday. Parking on street. Prices: $$. Map. This tiny hole-in-the-wall has a core of regulars that has kept them in business for ages. People have passed by this place, literally, hundreds of times without knowing of its existence on busy S. King st., right across the street from the Island icon, Zippy’s. It is a cute relic from the past, with hand-written menus scotch-taped on to the glass windows that are so so old the ink has literally worn itself off the paper! Despite the obvious age of the decor, once inside, the dining room is reasonably clean and comfortable. There are a host of teishoku meals like chicken katsu, shrimp tempura, and oyako donburi, along with special items posted daily.
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Humble Yama-gen has a killer chicken katsu donburi. The only problem is the parking lot shown here. Where, you say? Right there on the bottom right - all two slots! |
Yama-gen. 2210 S. King St. in McCully/Moilili. 947-2125. Lunch Monday-Saturday, dinner nightly. Two small parking stalls outside store or on street. Prices: $. Map. Like the previously mentioned Hata, we have all passed by this very casual eatery so many times without a clue of its existence. It looks like a typical, old, Japanese McCully/Moiliili house! The dining area is what looks like an open-air, gravel-floored garage with dirty park benches for tables. They also have a dimly-lit, congested, indoor dining area that is only opened in the evenings. Popular with locals as well as students from the nearby University of Hawaii, you will be surprised how many people come to this tiny Japanese eatery, especially at night when it is BYOB. Some even rent out the whole “garage” area for private parties. You’ll find chicken karaage, chicken katsu, curry, fried noodles, and several other Japanese items. The chicken katsu donburi, despite coming in a plate lunch-style Styrofoam container like the rest of the menu items, is one of the tastiest donburi’s around, with large portions and lots of dashi-smothered eggs and sliced onion mixed in. The fact that you can even find a chicken katsu donburi is a benefit in itself, as most places will offer a pork katsu (tonkatsu) but if you want chicken it will be without the katsu breading - I have no clue why. You’ll probably have to find parking on the street, as the parking lot is maxed-out after two cars, and I do mean that literally!
| Goya (bittermelon) champuru, like this one from Sunrise, is probably the most popular item at any Okinawan restaurant. |  |
Sunrise. A Closer Look. 525 Kapahulu Ave. in Kapahulu. 737-4118. Small parking lot outside store or on street. Prices: $$. Map. This little restaurant tucked away in a side street behind Waiola Shave Ice serves up home-style Okinawan food like pig’s feet, oxtail, and tripe soup, pork/bittermelon chanpuru (stir-fry with egg), udon, yakisoba, and good ‘ol pork tofu. They also have a good sushi counter and even some island poke to round out your meal. Be aware that, like the previously-mentioned Hata and Yama-gen, it is a hole-in-the-wall located in what looks like a small, dingy, side-street liquor or convenience store – very homey, indeed. Nevertheless, the food is great and along with Utage at City Square in Kalihi, are the best places for home-style Okinawan dishes on the island.
Hifumi. 100 N. Beretania St. at the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Downtown. 536-3035. Lunch daily except closed on Monday, dinner nightly. Parking in Plaza lot. Prices: $$. Map. This long-established spot sits amidst a bevy of Chinese restaurant heavyweights in the Plaza, and is a super-casual, inexpensive place for old-school eats. You won’t find anything fancy here, but what Hifumi is known for are giant pieces of shrimp tempura, which are, hands-down, bigger than I’ve seen anywhere! I can’t say that they are the best I’ve tasted (though by far not the worst!), but the size and price of these buggahs alone are enough to make it memorable. Otherwise, there are your other familiar culprits, like chicken karaage, chicken teriyaki, katsu, and shoyu ahi.
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Yagura is a small, neighborhood-type spot with a good variety of Japanese favorites, including this excellent bbq chicken on sizzling platter. |
Yagura. A Closer Look. 1655 Liliha St. in Liliha. 533-2160. Lunch and dinner daily. Limited parking fronting store or on street. Prices: $$. Map. This hole-in-the-wall, neighborhood store has been quietly doing a pretty darn good business for quite some time now, and I see why. It’s really laid-back and reasonably priced, with a quaint local/Japanese furnishing style straight out of the 70’s. Menu choices are similar to any good teishoku restaurant on the island, with combination choices like miso butterfish, shrimp tempura, ahi nitsuke, salmon shioyaki, deep-fried scallops, beef teri, and more. You’ll also find maki sushi, udon, soba, donburi, and nabemono choices like yosenabe, pork tofu, and beef sukiyaki. A great choice here is the bbq chicken, which comes on a hot, sizzling plate and a deliciously sweet shoyu/sugar marinade. Watch out for parking, as there’s only four spaces out front, so you may have to find something on the street.
