Really good masubi for a good price. What a cute shop and I'm glad they were open on Sunday. The masubis were tasty and seemed very fresh. The cashier was kind and quick. I would come here again.
Jackie K.
First visit here. Picked up a variety of musubis for my plane ride. Nice display with signage to inform you of the available musubis. This place was rocking in the early morning hours. School kids and more were here on this blustery and cold morning.The spicy tuna, une, and salmon caught my eye. All were delicious and the tuna had a kick to it. Interestingly, I did not see any multigrain type musubis. I'll be back to try a few other musubis. The rice was perfect and the salmon was yummy. I was so caught up in selecting my musubis that I forgot to take any pictures!
Elsie Y.
Stopped by to pick up musubis in the morning on Sunday and enjoyed them a lot! I got the shrimp tempura and spam musubi. The crunch in the shrimp tempura complimented the rice wonderfully and the spam musubi was still warm when I picked it up. The service was really great and there was a big selection of options. I wish I tried the chicken karage but that will have to wait until next time!
Marissa K.
We ordered their butterfish bento and 3 onigiris. We got their unagi tamago, tuna mayo and ume boshi onigiris. My mom really enjoyed the butterfish and she said she loved the premium Japanese rice that they use. I used to come here all the time when they were located in Liliha by my old work place. Now they are located in Moilili off of University Ave.
Joyce
Cute take out corner for musubi and small bentos. I loved the unagi musubi and the nishime. There were other dishes in the refrigerator that had the nishime as well. My sister loved the mentaiko musubi and the fried tofu okazu bento. You can also get a combo ( 2 musubis and a small bento) for 12$
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Arynn I.
This was recommended by one of my co-workers to get for a lunch meeting. I contacted Mai via the website (was not successful finding a phone number through the website) through email and I was happy to get a response in a reasonable time. I had a large order and I would feel more comfortable talking to someone regarding the order but she recommended using the website since we wanted the food delivered. The restaurant uses UberEats for delivery which is a delivery service I haven't been too keen on using but since that was the preferred option I decided to give it a try. Well, the ordering was quite easy as I had explained in my email about some of the allergy requests that I needed to accommodate. On the online order there wasn't anywhere to write those needs so it did help me to email. I also emailed my order once it was put through and CC info was taken care of. After putting in the order I didn't get an order confirmation email sent (minus for UberEats). I tried to confirm my order via Email but didn't have a response after the initial email letting Mai know I put in the order via UberEats. Because there was no phone number handy to confirm my order was put in, I started to panic the morning of because I had yet to receive any email from UberEats or Mai that the order was confirmed. It was 12 bentos so of course I wanted to double check the delivery. I even went through contacting the chatline on UberEats to try to confirm my order. After spending way too much time on this, I googled and googled and found a phone number but not even sure that was the right phone number since there was no voicemail set up. I was finally able to confirm with UberEats that the restaurant accepted the order so that helped me calm my nerves. Then I got the notice that the order was being delivered (request was delivery between 11:30am-12:00pm and although the app showed the driver a block away and expected delivery was 11:46, it said 2 minutes for the next half hour and the food didn't get delivered until 12:15 after the meeting had started. So the presentation was impressive. All our meals were nicely packaged and separated (Musubi Bentos in one bag, the others in another bag). My order list had been printed (with everyone's name and order that I sent in the email) and taped to one of the bags. When I opened it, each bento had the person's name on it so that was unexpected but super helpful with distribution. I give an A+++ for this! It showed great care and attention to detail which I truly appreciate!I loved my bento; I got the Musubi A bento with Spam as my choice of musubi. The 2 musubi were wrapped individually which I also appreciate cause the spam had a teriyaki sauce on it (I don't like saucy things touching non-saucy things). The karaage chicken was a little smaller than expected and only had 3 small pieces but it and the potato croquette were quite yummy. The bento was the perfect size for me however, I think for larger appetites this would not cut have cut it. It would be more of a snack I think. After lunch I asked my co-workers what they thought of the food because despite the craziness of trying to get confirmation and the UberEats delivery delays I was pleased with our selection for lunch. No one had a single bad thing to say about their orders saying how they liked their food. Among our group we had ordered several musubi bento A and B (all with different musubi fillings), tonkatsu, shio salmon, garlic karaage, and potato croquette. The allergies were accommodated and both people with special orders were very happy with their meal. This was a superb quality bento and a very reasonable price. Like I said, A+++ for the care of the order and the food but maybe just a B- for the delivery being pretty late...and I'm pretty sure the guy who delivered it wasn't named Tracy (photo showed an Asian lady) who was said to be my delivery person. Would we order again? Absolutely. Although next time I may have to coordinate with my co-workers on a pick up of the food rather than delivery.
Ryan Chun
Good food but long wait times for bentos and don't answer the phone very much.
Quyen B.
I bookmarked this place before my trip and was very glad I made it, twice!I loved the onigiri/musubi and bento options. You can order 45 minutes in advance for pick up what you want or come grab and go whatever they have available. Great options if you want to take these to the beach for lunch or snacks. They have their own parking lot!!! This is huge for me when it comes to Honolulu restaurants. Note, you cannot wait inside the restaurant if you arrive early for your pickup. You will be asked to wait in the car and they bring it out to you.
Mai Musubi is a great option for a quick lunch or breakfast. They're open early in the morning to swing by before class or work! I've tried a couple of their Musubis and most were pretty good. My favorite musubis are the Konbu, Salmon Konbu, and Ume Crunch. I wouldn't recommend the Salmon Mentaiko because for some reason the roe had a bitter after taste. My only recommendation for improvement on their Musubi is that I wish the Nori was separately wrapped so that it would still be crunchy when I'm ready to eat. The Set B was also a little disappointing. While the shrimp fry and crab croquette was beautifully fried and delicious, the food portions were lacking. The sides were also very scarce and two Musubi doesn't substitute a bed of rice. I probably won't get one of their sets again, but instead, opt for one of their bentos. I'd come back to Mai Musubi but just for the select musubis, and out of convenience since it's so close to UH Manoa.
Samuel Rauschenburg
Love the Butterfish Bento! The Musubi's is filled nicely, you get something with every bite.?
Jan R.
Go early. Once they sell-oit, that's it. No dining area or seats. Just grab & go. Prkg is also limited. Street prk available or you can park in the lot pass the bar by Burger King (also back side of Jiffy Lube).Service is excellent. Japanese speaking. Japanese owned.
Sandra Matsumoto
Wow I love this place!! They've got the best bentos! I love my seafood katsu with their yummy cream crab croquette! So good!!
J O
horrible service and rip off for half decent Japanese food. I'd go across the street to Nijiya market for better service, and food.
Musubi are super yummy! They have a variety of types and even bento! Owners are super nice! Love coming here for an easy lunch!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salmon and Teriyaki Chicken Bento, Grilled Salmon Bento, Crab Cream Croquette Bento, Katsu Curry, Karaage Chicken
Great bento shop! Very traditional.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Grilled Salmon Bento
Really good masubi for a good price. What a cute shop and I'm glad they were open on Sunday. The masubis were tasty and seemed very fresh. The cashier was kind and quick. I would come here again.
First visit here. Picked up a variety of musubis for my plane ride. Nice display with signage to inform you of the available musubis. This place was rocking in the early morning hours. School kids and more were here on this blustery and cold morning.The spicy tuna, une, and salmon caught my eye. All were delicious and the tuna had a kick to it. Interestingly, I did not see any multigrain type musubis. I'll be back to try a few other musubis. The rice was perfect and the salmon was yummy. I was so caught up in selecting my musubis that I forgot to take any pictures!
Stopped by to pick up musubis in the morning on Sunday and enjoyed them a lot! I got the shrimp tempura and spam musubi. The crunch in the shrimp tempura complimented the rice wonderfully and the spam musubi was still warm when I picked it up. The service was really great and there was a big selection of options. I wish I tried the chicken karage but that will have to wait until next time!
We ordered their butterfish bento and 3 onigiris. We got their unagi tamago, tuna mayo and ume boshi onigiris. My mom really enjoyed the butterfish and she said she loved the premium Japanese rice that they use. I used to come here all the time when they were located in Liliha by my old work place. Now they are located in Moilili off of University Ave.
Cute take out corner for musubi and small bentos. I loved the unagi musubi and the nishime. There were other dishes in the refrigerator that had the nishime as well. My sister loved the mentaiko musubi and the fried tofu okazu bento. You can also get a combo ( 2 musubis and a small bento) for 12$
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was recommended by one of my co-workers to get for a lunch meeting. I contacted Mai via the website (was not successful finding a phone number through the website) through email and I was happy to get a response in a reasonable time. I had a large order and I would feel more comfortable talking to someone regarding the order but she recommended using the website since we wanted the food delivered. The restaurant uses UberEats for delivery which is a delivery service I haven't been too keen on using but since that was the preferred option I decided to give it a try. Well, the ordering was quite easy as I had explained in my email about some of the allergy requests that I needed to accommodate. On the online order there wasn't anywhere to write those needs so it did help me to email. I also emailed my order once it was put through and CC info was taken care of. After putting in the order I didn't get an order confirmation email sent (minus for UberEats). I tried to confirm my order via Email but didn't have a response after the initial email letting Mai know I put in the order via UberEats. Because there was no phone number handy to confirm my order was put in, I started to panic the morning of because I had yet to receive any email from UberEats or Mai that the order was confirmed. It was 12 bentos so of course I wanted to double check the delivery. I even went through contacting the chatline on UberEats to try to confirm my order. After spending way too much time on this, I googled and googled and found a phone number but not even sure that was the right phone number since there was no voicemail set up. I was finally able to confirm with UberEats that the restaurant accepted the order so that helped me calm my nerves. Then I got the notice that the order was being delivered (request was delivery between 11:30am-12:00pm and although the app showed the driver a block away and expected delivery was 11:46, it said 2 minutes for the next half hour and the food didn't get delivered until 12:15 after the meeting had started. So the presentation was impressive. All our meals were nicely packaged and separated (Musubi Bentos in one bag, the others in another bag). My order list had been printed (with everyone's name and order that I sent in the email) and taped to one of the bags. When I opened it, each bento had the person's name on it so that was unexpected but super helpful with distribution. I give an A+++ for this! It showed great care and attention to detail which I truly appreciate!I loved my bento; I got the Musubi A bento with Spam as my choice of musubi. The 2 musubi were wrapped individually which I also appreciate cause the spam had a teriyaki sauce on it (I don't like saucy things touching non-saucy things). The karaage chicken was a little smaller than expected and only had 3 small pieces but it and the potato croquette were quite yummy. The bento was the perfect size for me however, I think for larger appetites this would not cut have cut it. It would be more of a snack I think. After lunch I asked my co-workers what they thought of the food because despite the craziness of trying to get confirmation and the UberEats delivery delays I was pleased with our selection for lunch. No one had a single bad thing to say about their orders saying how they liked their food. Among our group we had ordered several musubi bento A and B (all with different musubi fillings), tonkatsu, shio salmon, garlic karaage, and potato croquette. The allergies were accommodated and both people with special orders were very happy with their meal. This was a superb quality bento and a very reasonable price. Like I said, A+++ for the care of the order and the food but maybe just a B- for the delivery being pretty late...and I'm pretty sure the guy who delivered it wasn't named Tracy (photo showed an Asian lady) who was said to be my delivery person. Would we order again? Absolutely. Although next time I may have to coordinate with my co-workers on a pick up of the food rather than delivery.
Good food but long wait times for bentos and don't answer the phone very much.
I bookmarked this place before my trip and was very glad I made it, twice!I loved the onigiri/musubi and bento options. You can order 45 minutes in advance for pick up what you want or come grab and go whatever they have available. Great options if you want to take these to the beach for lunch or snacks. They have their own parking lot!!! This is huge for me when it comes to Honolulu restaurants. Note, you cannot wait inside the restaurant if you arrive early for your pickup. You will be asked to wait in the car and they bring it out to you.
Restaurantji Recommends
Mai Musubi is a great option for a quick lunch or breakfast. They're open early in the morning to swing by before class or work! I've tried a couple of their Musubis and most were pretty good. My favorite musubis are the Konbu, Salmon Konbu, and Ume Crunch. I wouldn't recommend the Salmon Mentaiko because for some reason the roe had a bitter after taste. My only recommendation for improvement on their Musubi is that I wish the Nori was separately wrapped so that it would still be crunchy when I'm ready to eat. The Set B was also a little disappointing. While the shrimp fry and crab croquette was beautifully fried and delicious, the food portions were lacking. The sides were also very scarce and two Musubi doesn't substitute a bed of rice. I probably won't get one of their sets again, but instead, opt for one of their bentos. I'd come back to Mai Musubi but just for the select musubis, and out of convenience since it's so close to UH Manoa.
Love the Butterfish Bento! The Musubi's is filled nicely, you get something with every bite.?
Go early. Once they sell-oit, that's it. No dining area or seats. Just grab & go. Prkg is also limited. Street prk available or you can park in the lot pass the bar by Burger King (also back side of Jiffy Lube).Service is excellent. Japanese speaking. Japanese owned.
Wow I love this place!! They've got the best bentos! I love my seafood katsu with their yummy cream crab croquette! So good!!
horrible service and rip off for half decent Japanese food. I'd go across the street to Nijiya market for better service, and food.