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Yoshitsune Japanese restaurant, Park Shore Hotel Waikiki, a closer look
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A Yoshitsune Waikiki breakfast! |
 Yoshitsune Japanese Sushi
restaurant on Yelp! |
 Trip Advisor reviews on Yoshitsune at
Park Shore Hotel Waikiki! |
Aloha!
5/30/11 - Waikiki never ceases to amaze me. You can find the most alluring little cubbyholes, lurking in the most unexpected of places. I mean, how many times have we travelled down Kalakaua Avenue and made that left-turn up Kapahulu Avenue to get home, and not known that, just above this very corner, a genuine Japanese restaurant, complete with full sushi bar, sat there lurking in the nether regions of our collective restaurant minds?
Not that we should flog ourselves for not knowing - you won't find the place unless you get out of the car and go exploring. All you'll see driving by is a set of large glass windows beckoning of the Park Shore Hotel, sandwiched between Lulu's/Starbucks on the corner and Teddy's Bigger Burger a skosh way's up:
BTW, you can pull your car right up to this small valet area fronting the glass windows, paying only tip. It's probably your best bet. Otherwise, free street parking at night (metered by day) comes with a short walk to the next street Ewa, and zoo parking across the street comes with those notoriously malfunctioning pay machines!
Once stepping inside the lobby, the restaurant is still rather inconspicuous in the far back corner:
You can actually see it in the rear of the lobby, but since there's a bunch of Japanese dolls on display shelves and no sign of food, you're still not sure if the place is a restaurant, a shop, or a meeting room! I guess you'll be ok if you look closer and can read Japanese, as it says "Nihon Ryori," or "Japanese Foods," in smaller print.
My good buddy Jeff Benik actually first noticed this place several months back, but said he thought it was a tiny-little sushi bar. Upon walking in, Kumi and I were both shocked to find that this was no tiny-little sushi bar!
And that's not nearly all there is. Off to one side sits a completely separate dining area:
And on the opposite side, yet another separate, much larger room!
In fact, there's even another room, found just past the shoji-screen doors in the back, that is entirely tatami-style, ableit in modified form, with drop-down sections to fit your legs under all tables.
As you can see, waitresses are all clad in full kimono's, and they were the sweetest, cutest, and most Japanese-grandmother-types you can ever meet! And FYI - some don't speak very much English!
Seeing that we were so surprised by it all - the adorable waitresses, the traditional look and feel, the hidden nature of the place, the sheer shize of the restaurant, and, upon looking, the huge menu - we were both pretty darn hopeful and excited!
The chef here is soft-spoken but very cheerful and friendly, offering advice freely on which items were best or not optimal on that particular day. He wasn't around for Yoshitsune's opening over 20 years ago (20 years?!), but he's been here for a good section of that time, working hard just about every day!
I won't get into exact menu items, but let's just say that this place has it all! Besides the full sushi bar, there's a load of small izakaya-like favorites, omakase options, teishoku sets, and combination course varieties up the wazu! These combo courses, which range from about $15 to upwards of $80, can get pretty darn elaborate, with more separate dishes than you'll likely see anywhere! And I guess because they are a hotel restaurant, even breakfast is available! You won't, however, see pancakes and bacon on the menu, as Japanese breakfasts basically consist of rice, miso soup, grilled fish, boiled egg, veggie dishes, and tsukemono veggies, with other options depending on the place. Check out the Edward and Dallas blog link above for a look at breakfast, or the other two links for feedback on Japanese morning meals, which are mostly very positive!
Having been here on a couple of separate occasions, I'm just gonna provide a long list of dishes randomly posted, beginning with this excellent starter, which arrives complimentary:
See how the block is so finely and perfectly sliced?
I've never heard of it before, but this is actually a house-made konnyaku tofu, which is so excellent, I'd pay for at least one order every time (it's also on the menu)! Now, I'm not sure if there's actual konyak jelly involved, as it seems to break-apart as easily as most sukui tofu varieties. Konnyaku is also gelatinous and soft, but carries such tensile strength that it slices cleanly without any crumbling whatsoever. Like sukui tofu, the konnyaku tofu was silky-soft and fragile, and served in a most excellent soy/dashi broth and just the right touch of minced ginger. The combination of elements made this free dish a virtual cover-boy for simple, yet classic and elegant Japanese cuisine, and one I'd proudly serve to the most VIP of Japanese visitors!
Another classic dish is a chawan-mushi, which you've no doubt seen quite a bit, as it's one of Kumi's favorites! This one didn't disappoint:
Right behind was a delicious bowl of clam miso soup, and the ample amount of clams made me wonder if this was a loss-leader! Have you seen the price of clams these days?
On a separate evening, it was busy enough to have all four sections of the restaurant hosting customers, and I guess they felt bad about having us wait so long for certain dishes, particularly on the sushi side. Us? We could've cared less, actually. In fact, 2-3 hour dinners are standard procedure for us, as like a family dinner every night, it's a good time for Kumi and I to spend quality time together, and the cold Kirin or Asahi always helps, too! We gave not a hint of stink-eye or attitude whatsoever, as we were too busy just enjoying ourselves, but they still saw fit to provide us with a large platter of plump, tender, juicy clams to compensate! Hey, if you insist! They came with a clear, light, yet well-seasoned and masterfully balanced broth. Absolutely delicious!
Upon ordering one of their many combination courses, we were presented with a classy starter that included, from bottom to top, kabocha pumpkin, cucumber with moromi miso, whole shrimp with a slather of mayo-based sauce, and a delicately-cooked eggplant:
Everything was great, but I really loved the cucumber sandwich there, called moro-kyu (combination of moromi and kyuri, or cucumber). The chunky, reddish spread called moromi is a type of miso that comes with grains of rice or barley, and is not normally used for soup! I loved the slighly fermented, slightly salty, slightly tangy taste, which somehow matched perfectly with the crisp, refreshing cucumber!
If you ever happen to sit at the sushi bar, chances are, you'll find a certain Japanese woman seated there with dark designer glasses - she's very nice to talk to, so make sure you say hello. No, she doesn't come once or twice a week. Not even on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Try, just about every night, bar a home emergency or hailstorm! Besides her saying that this place has the best Japanese food on the island, she also says the chef has been like a father to her - always good to see that kind of dynamic going on!
We had some nice conversation while ordering a small string of nigiri items, beginnng with this hottate, or scallop:
Seems I'm in some sort of hottate phase right now. Before meeting Kumi, I wouldn't think of it. Nowadays, I can't get enough! I love the plump, tender, melt-in-your-mouth consistency and easy shellfish taste, which is unbelievable when fresh. I do believe it has much more and much better of a taste than one of my wife's favorites, ika, or squid:
Ya know, sushi is one of those things you grow into after repeated experiences. It's like wine. Little by little, you start noticing the tiny shades and nuances, the freshness, the differences in quality and presentation, the heart and attitude of the sushi chef. One day, who knows if I'll be reporting right here that I'm sold on the intricacies of ika? However, that day is not today. You may remember a couple of years back, in a fishing village in Japan famous for squid, where we had the stuff so fresh, it was still alive, quite literally - legs still moving, colors flashing vividly from brown to black to white to purple, and eyes looking right at you! Even this fresh, however, I still wasn't not sold on the virtues of raw squid, and was over-joyed only when they took the leftover's back to deep-fry!
See how transluscent a fresh squid is? By the time it gets here to Hawaii, though, it usually loses its see-through freshness and becomes almost white. Can't be helped.
Next was a hirame, or halibut, which was delicious:
And a mirugai, which was also fresh and delicious:
They say one of the measures of a good sushi chef is found through their tamago, or egg. Throw that wisdom out the door on this particular evening, though! While most nigiri pieces on our first visit were great, the tamago was pretty darn bad. The taste was fine, but there was an almost dough-like firmness that did not typify the delicate nature of a good dashi-maki tamago, which is much more delicate, and more eggy in both taste and texture.
On our first visit, I was really impressed with their shrimp tempura. They were decently sized and done extremely well, with a light, crispy batter and a shrimp that was absolutely popping with a sweet, perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked meat:
Second time around, however, coming with one of our combinations courses, it was a mere shadow of its earlier glory - smaller, a tad burnt, and just, well... take a look for yourself:
Besides the konnyaku tofu shown earlier, if there was one dish that really stood out, it was their grilled saba. One of my favorite fish to grill because of its super-high fat content, there is a strong fish taste inherent that may be a bit much for some, but to me, it's tough to beat as long as it's cooked! Raw is just too much except when super-duper fresh, and even then, with a dollop of ginger, shoyu, and wasabi to mask. To tell you the truth, most of what we get of saba here in Hawaii is pre-frozen, so I've tasted lots of different quality variations. Though that unmistakeable taste of saba is always there, it's not often that it will come as soft, as tender, and as delicate as here at Yoshitsune, at least on this particular night. May not look like much, but over hot rice, a tiny squeeze of lemon, and a bit of shoyu'd daikon suri, it was unbeatable!
Their grilled salmon wasn't nearly as good, but still very respectable - decently soft, not too overcooked, with a nice, crisped skin:
Here's a few slices of ahi and ika, arranged beautifully and as a small part of a combo course meal:
This was Kumi's omakase course finale, which came all at once:
Top row, left to right: unagi (eel), uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), ama-ebi (sweet shrimp), tamago.
Middle, left to right: mirugai (geoduck clam), kani (crab), hottate (scallop), ika (squid).
Bottom, left to right: hamachi, 2 slices of chu toro, madai (snapper).
Looks fabulous, but unfortunately, Kumi wasn't nearly as pleased with this platter as we both were on our first visit. Certain items were fine, such as the chu toro, madai, and hamachi, but most were obviously not of optimal freshness.
In the end, there's lots of things I really love about this place, and there are hints of glory all around - the kimono-clad waitresses, the kind-hearted sushi chef, the wide variety of choices, the authentic presentations, the general sense of traditional correctness - but I would advise against going comparison-shopping, at least on this particular island. There are just too many other great sushi houses here. Still, Yoshitsune is a great find and a good option if you're looking for somewhere new. It's comfortable, laid-back, never too busy, and valet parking is super-easy and convenient. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner hours also help!
Hey, hope you're having a great and wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Thanks to the brave and worthy soldiers of America who keep the entire world safer, and thanks to fathers, mothers, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters, and other loved ones that have gone on to a better place!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
Yoshitsune Japanese Restaurant
2586 Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki
926-5616
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily
Parking valet-only at Park Shore Hotel
