Aku Eats Oahu : a closer look : Hinone Mizunone, a closer look

Hinone Mizunone, a closer look

Aloha!

6/23/08 - Anyone ever see that new Japanese restaurant they were building on S. King st. at the old Taco Bell? First, it was a new Shokudo, then the name changed to Hinone Kazenone, and now it finally settled upon Hinone Mizunone - and it's only been open for like a month! I've been wanting to try it for ages, but it was always closed. Little did I know it was only open during lunch hours, instead of the evenings when I always cruised by. Only now do they have both daily.

My sister just happened to be in town, so along with Wifey and mom, we decided now was finally time to discover this mysterious new haunt. Sis' came in on a one-night working lay-over, a brief respite from the long travel hours required of flight attendants and the enviable, but often not very easy, circumstance of having two residences, one in New Jersey and one in Norway, where her husband is from. Actually, make that three for her home in Hawaii. Her hubby is a former Olympic athlete on the Norwegian National Swim Team, and he found the ocean, surf, and fine weather so fabulous he wants to live here. Anyone interested in working with a skilled, hard-working, and licensed (in Norway) carpenter and contractor here?

Anyway, we finally arrived at the restaurant and walked into a bright, cheery dining room that was modeled in the contemporary style so popular in Japan today, with crisp lines separating light-colored wood from clean, white walls, as well as modern lighting that is soft yet highly illuminating. Not sure if you can tell by now, but I like to go early so I can get a shot with a minimum of nervously camera-shy diners. Plus, you never know if some crack-head is in the crowd thinking you just got out of that black helicopter to hunt him down.

By the time we were half-way through our meal, those empty tables you see were completely filled and there was a line going right out the door!

There was also a decent stock of ready-made bento boxes for sale in a separate room near the entrance.

As for our actual meals, we picked from a one-page menu that was mostly teishoku-style, which is a set menu with a main dish and several side dishes, but there were also a few combination sets featuring two or more main items.

Mom had a combo beef curry and udon that she only managed to finish half of. That's because on the one side, the udon was excellent, coming with the deep katsuobushi broth and thick, chewy noodles that make a great udon, while the beef curry was an unfortunate surprise. But more on that later, as my sister also ordered curry, only in a different style.

The udon was actually a shrimp tempura udon, with the two deep-fried pieces coming already inside the broth. She usually has it on the side so it doesn't soak and get soggy in the hot liquid, but she just forgot to request it today. I wish she had, though, so I could taste if the tempura had the light, crispy batter and not-overcooked shrimps that make the item sing. Maybe next time.

You'll probably recognize the white half-round with pink trim as fishcake, but maybe not the clump of grayish-black mass sitting next to it. It is called tororo-konbu, and is kelp that has been soaked in vinegar and shredded into tiny slivers that, in the old days, could only be shredded thin enough by master craftsmen long-trained in the art. It has a slimy consistency and all the health benefits that come with seaweed, but with a mellower taste than the strong flavors you might expect.

Getting back to that curry I was talking about, sis' ordered it on top a couple of layers of rice and chicken katsu. It was, unfortunately, a shock to our senses seeing this big, thick blob of brown paste arriving at our table. Not that it was inedible. The taste wasn't all that bad, but the look was just so unappetizing and the taste more like something you made from home. Maybe this style is popular somewhere, but it didn't hit the spot for any of us.

At least the chicken katsu underneath was good. It was a little on the bolder than lighter side for katsu, which was probably a good thing. The sturdy panko/flour coating it came with was better suited to standing up to the strong, wet curry mix. Sis' salvaged the meal by scraping the curry off and just eating the katsu and rice!

My saba teishoku set was much better. Saba is a super-oily mackeral, best served (to me) simply grilled or pan-fried with natural sea salt and sometimes with a little flour if you want a little crust to soak in all the flavorful oils. My version today came in a shoyu/sugar sauce that was great up to the last third or so of the fish, when the sweet sauce became a bit much. I did finish it, though.

The set also came with rice, miso soup, takuan, an eggplant softened in a sesame-soy sauce, and hijiki, another type of super-healthy seaweed commonly prepared in Japan.

Wifey's set featured yet another very popular fish in the Japanese diet called sanma, known elsewhere as Pacific saury or mackeral pike. Being long and thin, there are many little bones, many of which are small enough to be eaten. The flesh doesn't have nearly as much taste as the oily saba, so maybe that's why it usually comes with lemon and a daikon oroshi that should be soaked with shoyu, then applied to the fish. Wifey prefers sanma over saba. I'll eat it if placed in front of me, but it's not something I, personally, would ever order at a restaurant.

The other items on her set were identical to mine except that her daikon was pink, not yellow. Here's a closer shot of the sanma itself.

The waitress was proud to show me the two large containers that they use to cook rice. They are both displayed in a window before the entrance alongside a large banner that touts kamadaki rice, a method of cooking where I've normally heard associated with a clay or earthen pot, but here is made of iron. Forgive me for not knowing, but my untrained palate couldn't tell the difference between this rice and other good Japanese restaurants. It was good, though, for sure.

Besides the curry, we all enjoyed our meals here, and the great atmosphere definitely added to the experience. The food also arrived promptly, although we were one of the first groups to put in an order, so I can't say if it was the same for diners when the house was packed. The prices were also very reasonable, with complete sets coming for as little as $7-$8 and nothing clearing $13.50. Keep in mind, though, that this was lunch, not dinner. During evening hours you'll find the same items, only instead of featuring just one main dish on their teishoku sets, you can choose two for a modest increase of about $15.

It seems they are also toying with the idea of opening for a morning meal, as well, which would be very interesting, as there definitely seems to be a shortage of traditional Japanese breakfast options on the island. Growing up, I have fond memories of both my grandma's making traditional Japanese breakfasts, which consisted of miso soup every single morning and sometimes again during lunch and dinner, along with fish, tofu, freshly-made rice, and all kinds of pickled vegetables. Hey, that sounds almost like the teishoku sets wifey and I ordered! These days western breakfasts are just as popular as traditional ones in Japan, but here not many people even know the difference, and I sure don't know of many Japanese restaurants that serve this meal around town. I'll let you know if I ever find them open early-morning.

Until next time, take care and happy eats!

Aku

Back to A Closer Look

Back to Japanese Family Restaurants

Post a Comment or just say hello! Don't worry about leaving REAL names if you don't want to! Changing to Code names are fine, but just stay consistent with your code names, allright? No e-mails will be posted without consent, either way! Hope to hear from you all!