Aku Eats Oahu : a closer look : Jinroku, a closer look

Jinroku, a closer look

Aloha!

9/15/08 - Wow! What a pleasant surprise we were fortunate enough to find (thank you bruddah Gary!). Located fronting a small side-street closer to the Zoo-end of Waikiki, namely Prince Edward St., Jinroku looks quite out of place amidst all the campy stores and older buildings. This ain't the new Beachwalk-side of Waikiki, where this classy, Tokyo-hip, yet casual restaurant would look right at home next to Versace, Armani, and Ralph Loren. No sir - in its immediate vicinity, you're more likely to find moped rentals, plate lunch outlets, tacky t-shirt and muumuu stores, and super-discount hotels no one's ever heard of before.

To me, though, its location is perfect. This is Waikiki, after all, and just beyond the immediate, only a block or two away, are the Hyatt, Pacific Beach, and Waikiki Beach Marriott Hotels. Despite the large number of Japanese tourists in this area, especially from the first two hotels, the pickin's for an authentic, modern izakaya are very slim, for some odd reason. You would think that when the Japanese come here, they want to experience more local or foreign foods, but believe me, they can never resist a touch of home when it comes to dining!

The restaurant is a visual delight for people walking by, acting as a kind of billboard advertisement in itself. There are no walls separating the public sidewalk with the main dining area. Also clearly visible is a flourescent, blue-walled bar and a stainless-steel kitchen with chefs facing outwards, almost as if they were cooking for guests right on the sidewalk! The sharp contrast of the well-lit, well-designed, attractive new restaurant to its dark, hum-drum surroundings is a marketing stroke of genius, and makes it stick out even more. If they built a wall and put up a sign like everyone else, the effect wouldn't be nearly as drastic, no matter how flashy the set-up. I know when you walk by and see it, you'll be impressed and drawn in - if not this time, then the next.

Speaking of being impressed in Waikiki, my good friend Jeff Benik has been getting some good shots all over the area, particularly at night. Here's just one of many great pics he's sent recently. When you wish upon a star...

We had a good group out tonight - Wifey, Big Al, Trace and Renee, Gary & Miyako, The Gooch & Nicole, and Jimbo-san, the owner of the best udon house on the island - Jimbo. I did a Closer Look page on his restaurant that you can check out at Jimbo, a closer look. Or, just go to the Ramen and other Japanese noodles section, in the main pages, so you can get location info and other specifics to try the place out yourself!

With such a bunch of party-hardy people all together, it's probably a good thing for other diners that we got our own private room! The natives were getting a bit restless, let me tell you! It's a good thing the worst culprits all had wives who were designated drivers used to taking care of such immature belligerence. Just ask wifey, she'll tell you!

Anyhow, the first of a long line of dishes was a simple daikon salad, bathed in a Kewpie mayo scallop dressing. Crisp and refreshing, it was a good way to get down some healthy daikon and veggies, for sure.

Another salad that made its way around the table was a spicy beef salad, with fresh spinach, fancy greens, sliced cherry tomatoes, and spicy beef w/sprinkled sesame seeds to top it all off. The beef was tender and flavorful, its juices falling all over the greens below, but you may want to carry your own bottle of Sciracha or kim chee paste if you like it hot, 'cuz this one wasn't spicy at all.

Jinroku is actually a teppanyaki restaurant, where most dishes are cooked on a flat griddle. It's not the kind of expensive teppanyaki place where cooks make a big show of it all, with erupting volcanoes and knife-throwing, but are still fun to watch, something you can do if seated in the main dining area.

The negiyaki shown next is just one type of teppan-grilled dish at Jinroku. Negi is the term for various onions, usually green onion or scallion, while yaki means grilled. The batter that holds everything together, like the okonomiyaki we'll soon see, is flour-based.

The mixed negi-yaki was much more substantial, coming with squid, shrimp, and pork. And much more delicious, I might add.

You often think of Japanese foods as being a little less-flavored, favoring subtler sauces and being much more concerned with freshness, quality, and the taste of the main ingredients themselves. This is definitely true for things like sushi, sashimi, and fancy kaiseki dinners, but new-wave restaurants like Jinroku reflect more of a younger generation of Japanese diners who favor a much bolder approach at times. Like Americans do with burgers, pizza, and chicken wings with cold beer, so the Japanese also do with popular, drink-friendly, "street foods" like yakitori, takoyaki, and a number of other teppan dishes, to name a few, all of which will never be accused of coming lightly flavored. Like most everywhere in the world, the younger generations always love a menu bold enough to stand up to a cold beer.

Indicative of these kinds of foods are the negiyaki's on steroids called okonomiyaki, the Japanese pancake filled with savory meats, seafoods, vegetables, and more. They are very similiar to negiyaki, but are usually much more elaborate, with extra ingredients like a dark okonomiyaki sauce, mayo, bonito and seaweed flakes. For an extra $2, on top of the $13.50 price, you can also get it modan (modern)-yaki-style, which means a serving of yakisoba noodles included inside. For larger eaters, this route is always a better value.

Japanese foods often intermingle with Korean, featuring mixed dishes combining both cultures. One such example is the kim chee fried rice, in this case a seafood version coming with squid, shrimp, pork, octopus, and the spicy Korean cabbage. Delicious, it was, but like the spicy beef salad, it didn't carry much heat at all. The "Halm's" version, maybe?

I don't know who it was ordering kim chee dishes, but here we go again with a kim chee tenpei yaki, also filled with tender, grilled pork slices and topped with an okonomiyaki-like sauce, ketchup, and Kewpie mayo.

Meanwhile, all the guys except for Goochie, lightweight that he is, were consuming copious amounts of Kirin draft from the blue-tinted bar. Of course, we didn't touch any of that hard stuff hanging on the wall - I, personally, always carry with me an intentionally-placed fear of hard liquor. I will go there at times, but only very, very selectively. Once you start reaching for brandy, scotch, whiskey, gin, and the like, you really gotta watch yourself, both from immediate and long-term reprecussions. I know, I know - Pah-dee poopah!

Next up were thin-sliced pieces of steak... Or that's what we told Trace it was, anyway...

Any guesses...?

Turtle...?

Bunny rabbit...?

Gila monster...?

Naaah, nowhere near as exotic. A perfectly-cooked beef tongue is not much different from beef. It is just a bit "gamier" than steak, but in a good way, as lamb is gamier. And with all the Kirin Trace was drinking, he did'nt even know the difference!

Anyhow, I was so busy taking pictures that I didn't even get to order anything until after several rounds. Finally, I had a little time to think and snuck in a mixed mushroom plate. Forget buttons - it's all about wild with shiitake, shimeji, and enoki's. Speaking of gamey, I guess you could consider these "gamier" versions of the safer, cleaner button mushrooms we're all familiar with here. This trio was just so much more interesting, displaying a character and personality that came with quite the attitude, don't ya think? The textures were pleasantly crisp and snappy, while the stronger flavors of the mushrooms themselves boded well with me, especially when mixed with the delicious soy-based sauce and green onions. I could down five of these and call it a night! And a very good night, at that.

The takoyaki at Jinroku comes plus-sized, lined up like bowling pins and served with a brown takoyaki and white kewpie mayo sauce. Inside was a single, small piece of tako along with green onions and a piping-hot, gooey batter that carried with it a delicious, salted-tako flavor. Definitely a kicked up version, with the outsides so crispy that it almost seemed deep-fried.

On my way back from Beijing a few years back, I stopped over in Osaka for a couple of days. Did I just say a few years? My gosh, I'm sooo overdue!!! I always find everything so interesting and eventful as I wander through the maze of little streets, no particular destination in mind. They are always full of little shops run from peoples homes, this particular street with a woman who whipped me up a delicious batch of takoyaki. See the specially-designed cookers they use? You'll find them everywhere.

One dish that really blew me away was the bacon-wrapped asparagus. I know any chef who can't make something good out of these two ingredients must be pretty bad, but this one went beyond the call. With bacon perfectly crisped and asparagus the juiciest I've ever had in my life (no joke!), every bite came alive with a snap and a burst!

Most dishes here come in at between $5 and $15, but the most expensive item on the menu, by far, is the prime fillet steak, at $32.50. Quite an elaborate dish, this was, the steak sitting on a bed of stir-fried beansprouts, covered with garlic chips, and sitting beside bell peppers, carrots, and a single cross-cut of onion. The steak itself was moist, tender, and delicious, and it better have been so, as not only is this USDA Prime, the best grade in the US, but it's also a filet mignon, the most expensive cut on the cow. The taste was excellent, but still, a bit overpriced to me.

And finally, last but not least was another steak, only this time, meatless. These two blocks of firm tofu were grilled and topped with daikon oroshi, katsuo-boshi flakes, and green onion. A good way to fill up on something a little less "rich" than many of the other dishes available, and certainly a good way to end the night.

Alas, after great company, great food, and one too many laughs, they finally cut us off from the bar and kicked us out of the restaurant. No, just joking. We left plenty full and satisfied of our own accord, but only after about three-and-a-half hours of fun!

Without any advertising at all, Jinroku has seen some very brisk business, and I see why - it has everything going for it! There were plenty of waitstaff available, the decor doesn't get much better, the food is decently-priced (except for maybe the steak!) and well-suited to both Japanese nationals and others. And I say suited for others, basically, because... well... Everything is cooked!!! No, you won't find any raw fish, raw eggs, and strange, slimy things that keep you constantly on the vigilance while digging in! No worries - The chefs manning the grill are always there to fire everything up!

Being an izakaya-like restaurant with many smaller-serving dishes, it does cater more to dinner w/drinks and a younger, more trendy crowd, but on our particular visit there were many entire families seated as well and just the same, their keiki's running around everywhere. It's a great, honest vibe that definitely spiffs up this section of Waikiki by leaps and bounds. I can only imagine that this hotspot will continue to grow in popularity. I sure hope it does, as it almost takes over the huge void left when Kai, another teppan/izakaya, broke many hearts by closing down. Remember that parking is either on the street or for a $6 valet charge. As in other closer look entries, see the main pages for an address, number, and other such specific info - Jinroku is under the Japanese Izakaya restaurants page (link on bottom).

Y'all have a wonderful day, and looking forward to hooking up again soon! Mata ne!

Aku

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