Everything I expect out of a solid izakaya: variety of affordable small bites so we can try many dishes, kitschy and fun decor, good vibes, fast service, cotton candy option at the end. We were deciding between Zigu around the corner but glad we ended up here as a nightcap. We tried the chu-hi (flavors were as diluted as club soda), squid, udon, salad, and also ordered the wasabi raw octopus but they forgot about it. No biggie.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Min Ho Song
Pretty good food. Ok prices. Open late night and legit izakaya atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Xiuye Ding
Very rude waitress
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Jihoon Lee
Three years ago, I was the one raving about this place. Back then, it was a hidden gem, and I proudly sang its praises as an izakaya maniac. Fast forward to today, and it’s a disgrace. This isn’t just a decline in quality—it’s a full-on nosedive into mediocrity and beyond.
The food? Garbage. Literally trash. It’s as if the chefs decided to throw all passion and care into the bin along with whatever they’re serving. The flavors are non-existent, the presentation is sloppy, and the freshness—let’s just say, questionable at best.
Tourists, don’t fall for the outdated hype. Save your money and your stomach. This place is a shadow of its former self, a cautionary tale for how great establishments can crash and burn. Avoid at all costs.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Fanglu Liu
Everything is too salty. Skewers are very dry. Only good food (just mediocre) is Chazuke. Service is terrible. You have to ask twice for a water refill. And they are probably racist — they definitely treat us different from those who speak Japanese or have non-Asian faces. Avoid.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
김지현
The store atmosphere and food are delicious, but I called the Korean staff to order more, but they were trying to get along with the Korean customers, so they just waited a moment and didn't come. After waiting, I got angry, paid the bill, and left. It's a waste of tip.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Lincy Lin
I had an extremely unpleasant experience at this restaurant, and I believe there was racial discrimination against Chinese customers. I strongly advise fellow Chinese people not to come here.
The issue started when we brought a bag of pineapple chunks from a nearby fruit stall. Before we sat down and ordered, no one told us that eating outside food in the restaurant was prohibited, nor was there any sign indicating this rule at the entrance. After we placed our order and were waiting for the food, we decided to eat some pineapple to whet our appetite. We didn’t use the restaurant’s utensils, and we planned to take the bag with us once finished. Suddenly, a woman from the kitchen, wearing a hat and mask, came over to our table and told us we couldn’t eat the pineapple. I had already picked up a piece with my own fork, but she insisted that we either take it outside or not eat it at all.
Considering that we had already ordered and didn’t want to risk her tampering with our food, we complied with her demand, even though this was unfair. We were trying to be respectful, but in return, we received such poor service. This is something I’ve never experienced in my many trips to Japan, where customer service is usually impeccable.
Why am I calling this racial discrimination? Because I observed this woman during the meal—she stayed in the kitchen the entire time and never approached any other tables. She came straight to ours, speaking English to us, likely knowing we were Chinese from our East Asian appearance. This behavior is disgraceful, especially in a country known for its high standards of hospitality.
I never write negative reviews, but this is the first time because I simply cannot tolerate racial discrimination. I hope the owner takes a hard look at this employee’s behavior. If she holds any grievances against Chinese people, she should not take them out on individuals. After all, her livelihood might still depend on tips from people like me. Thank you.
Service: 1
Angel Nam
The food is reasonably priced and very very tasty. But the most important thing here was the selection of late 2000’s to mid 2010’s J-Pop/J-Rock. The millennial DJ made me fall in love of this izakaya for her taste of such nostalgic music (also the very Japanese-y atmosphere). Mix of Korean and Japanese food made my soul restore. Would definitely come back here. Free Cotton candy too!!!
Went there on our first night in Honolulu and was pretty disappointed. I ordered the beef with rice and it was good but the service was horrible. 3 out of 4 of us ordered food and the waitress didn't like that all of us weren't ordering food. When she came to refill our cups for water she literally took it out of my husband's hand. As soon as we put the last bite of food in our mouth she came over and took the plates away. Brought us the check and almost hit my sister in the face with it. When her boyfriend paid he wasn't even done signing when she took the check from his hand. Overall just very rude. Don't know if that was because it more of a local spot and we're not locals or she didn't like that we all didn't order food?
Our first time dining here and both food and service are great.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wanko
Variety of dishes and nice atmosphere and good service
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Big Fish Dive Club
Update: we went back tonight and tried a couple of new dishes. One of tonight’s specials was simmered beef tendons. It was amazingly good. There are so many excellent dishes here, but we highly recommend the salad with candied lotus roots, the yakitori and of course, the simmered beef tendons. We love the Asian fusion food and as well as Hawaiian food here in Honolulu, but this is definitely our favorite eatery in Honolulu.
You know this place has good Japanese food when you are the only person in the restaurant that wasn’t speaking Japanese. At the end, we liked the taste of all the items we ordered, including the tofu salad that was simple yet excellent. The sake selection was good and the service was very friendly as well. Hidden in the back, away from Seaside Street, so look at the name to make sure you are at the correct place.
Parking: Very hard to find a space
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lotus Root and Tofu Salad with Sesame Dressing
Marco Llamas
Food is very good and staff is very polite. They are efficient and speedy as well as reasonably priced. You should definitely check this place out.
Everything I expect out of a solid izakaya: variety of affordable small bites so we can try many dishes, kitschy and fun decor, good vibes, fast service, cotton candy option at the end. We were deciding between Zigu around the corner but glad we ended up here as a nightcap. We tried the chu-hi (flavors were as diluted as club soda), squid, udon, salad, and also ordered the wasabi raw octopus but they forgot about it. No biggie.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Pretty good food. Ok prices. Open late night and legit izakaya atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Very rude waitress
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Three years ago, I was the one raving about this place. Back then, it was a hidden gem, and I proudly sang its praises as an izakaya maniac. Fast forward to today, and it’s a disgrace. This isn’t just a decline in quality—it’s a full-on nosedive into mediocrity and beyond.
The food? Garbage. Literally trash. It’s as if the chefs decided to throw all passion and care into the bin along with whatever they’re serving. The flavors are non-existent, the presentation is sloppy, and the freshness—let’s just say, questionable at best.
Tourists, don’t fall for the outdated hype. Save your money and your stomach. This place is a shadow of its former self, a cautionary tale for how great establishments can crash and burn. Avoid at all costs.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Everything is too salty. Skewers are very dry. Only good food (just mediocre) is Chazuke. Service is terrible. You have to ask twice for a water refill. And they are probably racist — they definitely treat us different from those who speak Japanese or have non-Asian faces. Avoid.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
The store atmosphere and food are delicious, but I called the Korean staff to order more, but they were trying to get along with the Korean customers, so they just waited a moment and didn't come. After waiting, I got angry, paid the bill, and left. It's a waste of tip.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
I had an extremely unpleasant experience at this restaurant, and I believe there was racial discrimination against Chinese customers. I strongly advise fellow Chinese people not to come here.
The issue started when we brought a bag of pineapple chunks from a nearby fruit stall. Before we sat down and ordered, no one told us that eating outside food in the restaurant was prohibited, nor was there any sign indicating this rule at the entrance. After we placed our order and were waiting for the food, we decided to eat some pineapple to whet our appetite. We didn’t use the restaurant’s utensils, and we planned to take the bag with us once finished. Suddenly, a woman from the kitchen, wearing a hat and mask, came over to our table and told us we couldn’t eat the pineapple. I had already picked up a piece with my own fork, but she insisted that we either take it outside or not eat it at all.
Considering that we had already ordered and didn’t want to risk her tampering with our food, we complied with her demand, even though this was unfair. We were trying to be respectful, but in return, we received such poor service. This is something I’ve never experienced in my many trips to Japan, where customer service is usually impeccable.
Why am I calling this racial discrimination? Because I observed this woman during the meal—she stayed in the kitchen the entire time and never approached any other tables. She came straight to ours, speaking English to us, likely knowing we were Chinese from our East Asian appearance. This behavior is disgraceful, especially in a country known for its high standards of hospitality.
I never write negative reviews, but this is the first time because I simply cannot tolerate racial discrimination. I hope the owner takes a hard look at this employee’s behavior. If she holds any grievances against Chinese people, she should not take them out on individuals. After all, her livelihood might still depend on tips from people like me. Thank you.
Service: 1
The food is reasonably priced and very very tasty. But the most important thing here was the selection of late 2000’s to mid 2010’s J-Pop/J-Rock. The millennial DJ made me fall in love of this izakaya for her taste of such nostalgic music (also the very Japanese-y atmosphere). Mix of Korean and Japanese food made my soul restore. Would definitely come back here. Free Cotton candy too!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tacoyaki, Cotton Candy, Chicken Yakitori
Terrible service
Service: 1
Went there on our first night in Honolulu and was pretty disappointed. I ordered the beef with rice and it was good but the service was horrible. 3 out of 4 of us ordered food and the waitress didn't like that all of us weren't ordering food. When she came to refill our cups for water she literally took it out of my husband's hand. As soon as we put the last bite of food in our mouth she came over and took the plates away. Brought us the check and almost hit my sister in the face with it. When her boyfriend paid he wasn't even done signing when she took the check from his hand. Overall just very rude. Don't know if that was because it more of a local spot and we're not locals or she didn't like that we all didn't order food?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
An izakaya in Hawaii hahaha it was so fun.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Our first time dining here and both food and service are great.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Variety of dishes and nice atmosphere and good service
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Update: we went back tonight and tried a couple of new dishes. One of tonight’s specials was simmered beef tendons. It was amazingly good. There are so many excellent dishes here, but we highly recommend the salad with candied lotus roots, the yakitori and of course, the simmered beef tendons. We love the Asian fusion food and as well as Hawaiian food here in Honolulu, but this is definitely our favorite eatery in Honolulu.
You know this place has good Japanese food when you are the only person in the restaurant that wasn’t speaking Japanese. At the end, we liked the taste of all the items we ordered, including the tofu salad that was simple yet excellent. The sake selection was good and the service was very friendly as well. Hidden in the back, away from Seaside Street, so look at the name to make sure you are at the correct place.
Parking: Very hard to find a space
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lotus Root and Tofu Salad with Sesame Dressing
Food is very good and staff is very polite. They are efficient and speedy as well as reasonably priced. You should definitely check this place out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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