Wonderful place, great food, and unique experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elias Halvorson
Phenomenal. I hadn’t ate there in a couple years. It was solid before and now it’s amazing. Party of 13, amazing food. Chicken, soup dumplings, larb, all on point. We got the 9 course meal. - every course was delicious. Highly recommend this place. Only negative is the parking, everything else is awesome.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Adobo Fried Chicken with Braised Peppercorns, Xiao Long Bao, Beet Lotus
Matt R
I was here a month ago with my sister. We had the 9 course tasting menu and it was absolutely fantastic. Also got to try the birria birria tacos. They were awesome! Derek took care of us and did a great job. It was a great experience. Loved the food. I also follow Chef Ken on Instagram and enjoy his chef reactions. So when I heard his restaurant was in Waikiki, I had to check it out!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mav M
Great place for a date night in Honolulu. Interesting fusion dishes. It is easier to do the set menu if you are looking to try what's popular. My favorite dish is the little rabbit mochi desserts.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Fluffle of Brown Butter-Bunny-Butter Mochi
Kelly Keane
A high class Asian food restaurant in Kamuki area. I really enjoy their food and wine. Some of the dishes are the best in honolulu. Will come back again and took some pics.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Adobo Fried Chicken with Braised Peppercorns, Beet Lotus
Vince S
We had a group of 6 dine in for the 9 course menu. After we had been served our drinks and a few minutes before the first dish landed on our table, the server informed us that the shrimp & calamari seafood pancake was out of stock and they substituted it with gyoza which is significantly lower in value in comparison. A cheap substitution that left a really bad taste in our mouths. Our party collectively felt the bait and switch but given that we were exhausted and already seated we figured we give it a chance. As the sequence of food came we noticed the flavors and cuisine was nowhere near close to what they portray as a brand and through the reviews. We were really disappointed in the quality of the food and it was a huge miss. It started to make sense why people are claiming that that the ratings are inflated with fake positive reviews. I suggest dining elsewhere.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
J H
Went with the tasting menu. Food was well prepared and well-balanced.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nicolas del Papa
Service was great. Food is MID to excuse the total price. 9 course meal didn’t feel like courses because they brought things on top of each other rather than waiting for us to finish. No problem tho. Yet something feels like the whole course thing and making dishes seem fancier than they actually are is not genuine and it falls short. Best Mochi I’ve ever had though! Chicken is good and Hamachi is very good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Mikael Reyes
Came in with no reservation, not knowing much about this place but we were pleasantly surprised. The menu offerings were unique & executed perfectly. I highly recommend the Kalbi pork belly lettuce wraps, local style carbonara & buttermilk fried chicken. Don’t forget the Brown Butter mochi bunnies for dessert.Food service was very fast. Our dining experience was excellent, thanks to our server, Anthony. Anthony was very kind and attentive. He displayed great patience with us while we bombarded him with questions about XO’s unique menu offerings and he was able to answer them all very quickly and made some great suggestions.I cannot recommend this place enough & we can’t wait to come back to Hawaii to visit their other restaurants!(very reasonably priced especially for this area)
Food was quite good left full and happy with the quality. I really liked their gyoza which was crispy and flavor full. The service was excellent and they gave my younger brother free Pokemon cards.Nothing if not a memorable experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Jonathan C.
Came here with a group of 8 adults and 2 picky kids. No kids items here. I follow Chef Ken Lee so wanted to try this restaurant. The menu items looked very interesting. We came on a Monday, so the restaurant was not busy at all. The ambiance feels trendy if it were a bit busier. Smoked Ora King Salmon Rillette filled Cannolis - sounded intriguing but the texture was akin to tuna in a lumpia sized cannoli tube. The flavor was very faint. Would skip this one. 2/5Hamachi Sashimi Crudo - this was very good. Fresh and flavorful. 4/5Xiao Long Bao - their XLB is bit too gingery for my taste. The skins ripped very easily when pulling them out of the steam basket which unfortunately left some without any soup in their dumplings. I feel like the frozen Mila dumplings are better than these. 1/5Buttermilk Fried Chicken - came with a curry sauce on top as well as Tziki sauce. This sounded like it would be really good, but the batter for the fried chicken was not seasoned well. The curry was also not strong enough. The two seemed to cancel each other out. 2/5Crispy Corn Portuguese egg tart - this tasted like a typical Portuguese egg tart. Nothing special. 3/5Beer braised Bbq pork sliders - this felt like bar food. Not bad, but nothing special here. 3/5. Tare A5 Wagyu rice shooters - the wagyu itself was cooked well and was good. I expected the rice to be more than just a small scoop of rice. Maybe a crisp rice would have been better texture to contrast the fatty Wagyu. Nonetheless I enjoyed this. 4/5Brown butter Bunny Mochi - this was very good. Everyone loved the presentation on this one. 5/5Pumpkin crunch pie - this was a special for the night. We ordered two of these. Presentation of this could have been better but they did taste good. 4/5Overall, the dishes all sounded intriguing with good concepts, but felt it lacked in execution. Was a bit disappointed.
Jenny B.
Wow this place was so so good! We had a large group so we ended up ordering a couple of dishes of just about everything! I don't have anything negative to say about anything I ate there..all the dishes were exceptional. To finish off our meal, we got the brown butter mochi bunnies and omg..still thinking about them. Our server was also super friendly and knowledgeable. I believe he was the manager also but I could be wrong. Adding this place to my bookmarks so we remember to come back next time we're in Oahu!
Paul M.
What a fun experience! If you are looking to try something different and like all kinds of food this is a must try. Located in a residential area and from the outside the restaurant didn't look very good. However once inside you will see a well decorated restaurant and nice vibe. The server was very helpful navigating the menu. They serve SMALL DISHES meant for sharing and suggested for the two of us 6 to 10 dishes is what most people eat, depending on how hungry you are. He recommended a couple dishes that ended up being our favorites! Here is what we ordered with thoughts on each:1 - Hamachi Sashimi Crudo - this was our favorite dish and will order more than one of these next time. Really yummy flavor combos here.2 - Grilled Kalbi Pork Belly Ssam - this was a LETTUCE WRAP and we loved it!3 - shrimp, calamari, seafood pancake. A different version (and a lot smaller) than a Korean seafood pancake. It was crispy and had a good flavor profile.4 - char soup Saimin Xiao long bao Soup Dumplings - LOVED THESE!!! Server warned us to wait a couple minutes before eating them as they come out hot. You put the entire dumpling in your mouth and enjoy the juicy flavorful goodness!!!5 - buttermilk fried chicken, tzatziki, cilantro - the fried chicken was cooked to perfection but it had a ton of curry sauce on top and the Indian flavors just didn't work for us with the other dishes we ordered. I would get it with that sauce on the side and then you can decide if you want it.6 - ginger scallion Gyoza - we thought this would be potstickers but it was a unique attempt at them that just missed for us. It was like a "potsticker pancake" and just ok.Of coarse for dessert we had to order the Brown Butter Bunny Mochi. This is not a mochi donut. They are small rabbit shaped sponge cakes that you dip in toasted coconut and chocolate sauce. It was a fun way to end the meal.Small restaurant fills up so definitely get a RESERVATION ahead of time!
Alexis A.
I've heard great things about this restaurant and I finally decided it was time to try it out. I was so excited to come here for a date night. We walked in and was a bit surprised that the restaurant was a bit empty. I don't think I needed to have a reservation, but I was glad that it wasn't too crowded. The ambiance is beautiful and very chic. I love the izakaya menu because you get to try a bunch of different dishes at an affordable price! We got a wagyu shooter, ikura shooter, pork belly, soup dumplings, salmon cannolis, korean chicken skins, and the butter mochi brownies. My boyfriend's favorite was the cannoli and my favorite was the wagyu shooter. Everything was delicious and came out very quickly. The butter Mochi brownies were so cute and the perfect way to end the meal. I also ordered an ube lemonade, which tasted even better than I expected. Overall, I loved our experience at XO restaurant. The food and service was amazing. I can't wait to come back and try more of their delicious dishes.
Great experience
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wonderful place, great food, and unique experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Phenomenal. I hadn’t ate there in a couple years. It was solid before and now it’s amazing. Party of 13, amazing food. Chicken, soup dumplings, larb, all on point. We got the 9 course meal. - every course was delicious. Highly recommend this place. Only negative is the parking, everything else is awesome.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Adobo Fried Chicken with Braised Peppercorns, Xiao Long Bao, Beet Lotus
I was here a month ago with my sister. We had the 9 course tasting menu and it was absolutely fantastic. Also got to try the birria birria tacos. They were awesome! Derek took care of us and did a great job. It was a great experience. Loved the food. I also follow Chef Ken on Instagram and enjoy his chef reactions. So when I heard his restaurant was in Waikiki, I had to check it out!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great place for a date night in Honolulu. Interesting fusion dishes. It is easier to do the set menu if you are looking to try what's popular. My favorite dish is the little rabbit mochi desserts.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Fluffle of Brown Butter-Bunny-Butter Mochi
A high class Asian food restaurant in Kamuki area. I really enjoy their food and wine. Some of the dishes are the best in honolulu. Will come back again and took some pics.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Adobo Fried Chicken with Braised Peppercorns, Beet Lotus
We had a group of 6 dine in for the 9 course menu. After we had been served our drinks and a few minutes before the first dish landed on our table, the server informed us that the shrimp & calamari seafood pancake was out of stock and they substituted it with gyoza which is significantly lower in value in comparison. A cheap substitution that left a really bad taste in our mouths. Our party collectively felt the bait and switch but given that we were exhausted and already seated we figured we give it a chance. As the sequence of food came we noticed the flavors and cuisine was nowhere near close to what they portray as a brand and through the reviews. We were really disappointed in the quality of the food and it was a huge miss. It started to make sense why people are claiming that that the ratings are inflated with fake positive reviews. I suggest dining elsewhere.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Went with the tasting menu. Food was well prepared and well-balanced.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Service was great. Food is MID to excuse the total price. 9 course meal didn’t feel like courses because they brought things on top of each other rather than waiting for us to finish. No problem tho. Yet something feels like the whole course thing and making dishes seem fancier than they actually are is not genuine and it falls short. Best Mochi I’ve ever had though! Chicken is good and Hamachi is very good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Came in with no reservation, not knowing much about this place but we were pleasantly surprised. The menu offerings were unique & executed perfectly. I highly recommend the Kalbi pork belly lettuce wraps, local style carbonara & buttermilk fried chicken. Don’t forget the Brown Butter mochi bunnies for dessert.Food service was very fast. Our dining experience was excellent, thanks to our server, Anthony. Anthony was very kind and attentive. He displayed great patience with us while we bombarded him with questions about XO’s unique menu offerings and he was able to answer them all very quickly and made some great suggestions.I cannot recommend this place enough & we can’t wait to come back to Hawaii to visit their other restaurants!(very reasonably priced especially for this area)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Food was quite good left full and happy with the quality. I really liked their gyoza which was crispy and flavor full. The service was excellent and they gave my younger brother free Pokemon cards.Nothing if not a memorable experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Came here with a group of 8 adults and 2 picky kids. No kids items here. I follow Chef Ken Lee so wanted to try this restaurant. The menu items looked very interesting. We came on a Monday, so the restaurant was not busy at all. The ambiance feels trendy if it were a bit busier. Smoked Ora King Salmon Rillette filled Cannolis - sounded intriguing but the texture was akin to tuna in a lumpia sized cannoli tube. The flavor was very faint. Would skip this one. 2/5Hamachi Sashimi Crudo - this was very good. Fresh and flavorful. 4/5Xiao Long Bao - their XLB is bit too gingery for my taste. The skins ripped very easily when pulling them out of the steam basket which unfortunately left some without any soup in their dumplings. I feel like the frozen Mila dumplings are better than these. 1/5Buttermilk Fried Chicken - came with a curry sauce on top as well as Tziki sauce. This sounded like it would be really good, but the batter for the fried chicken was not seasoned well. The curry was also not strong enough. The two seemed to cancel each other out. 2/5Crispy Corn Portuguese egg tart - this tasted like a typical Portuguese egg tart. Nothing special. 3/5Beer braised Bbq pork sliders - this felt like bar food. Not bad, but nothing special here. 3/5. Tare A5 Wagyu rice shooters - the wagyu itself was cooked well and was good. I expected the rice to be more than just a small scoop of rice. Maybe a crisp rice would have been better texture to contrast the fatty Wagyu. Nonetheless I enjoyed this. 4/5Brown butter Bunny Mochi - this was very good. Everyone loved the presentation on this one. 5/5Pumpkin crunch pie - this was a special for the night. We ordered two of these. Presentation of this could have been better but they did taste good. 4/5Overall, the dishes all sounded intriguing with good concepts, but felt it lacked in execution. Was a bit disappointed.
Wow this place was so so good! We had a large group so we ended up ordering a couple of dishes of just about everything! I don't have anything negative to say about anything I ate there..all the dishes were exceptional. To finish off our meal, we got the brown butter mochi bunnies and omg..still thinking about them. Our server was also super friendly and knowledgeable. I believe he was the manager also but I could be wrong. Adding this place to my bookmarks so we remember to come back next time we're in Oahu!
What a fun experience! If you are looking to try something different and like all kinds of food this is a must try. Located in a residential area and from the outside the restaurant didn't look very good. However once inside you will see a well decorated restaurant and nice vibe. The server was very helpful navigating the menu. They serve SMALL DISHES meant for sharing and suggested for the two of us 6 to 10 dishes is what most people eat, depending on how hungry you are. He recommended a couple dishes that ended up being our favorites! Here is what we ordered with thoughts on each:1 - Hamachi Sashimi Crudo - this was our favorite dish and will order more than one of these next time. Really yummy flavor combos here.2 - Grilled Kalbi Pork Belly Ssam - this was a LETTUCE WRAP and we loved it!3 - shrimp, calamari, seafood pancake. A different version (and a lot smaller) than a Korean seafood pancake. It was crispy and had a good flavor profile.4 - char soup Saimin Xiao long bao Soup Dumplings - LOVED THESE!!! Server warned us to wait a couple minutes before eating them as they come out hot. You put the entire dumpling in your mouth and enjoy the juicy flavorful goodness!!!5 - buttermilk fried chicken, tzatziki, cilantro - the fried chicken was cooked to perfection but it had a ton of curry sauce on top and the Indian flavors just didn't work for us with the other dishes we ordered. I would get it with that sauce on the side and then you can decide if you want it.6 - ginger scallion Gyoza - we thought this would be potstickers but it was a unique attempt at them that just missed for us. It was like a "potsticker pancake" and just ok.Of coarse for dessert we had to order the Brown Butter Bunny Mochi. This is not a mochi donut. They are small rabbit shaped sponge cakes that you dip in toasted coconut and chocolate sauce. It was a fun way to end the meal.Small restaurant fills up so definitely get a RESERVATION ahead of time!
I've heard great things about this restaurant and I finally decided it was time to try it out. I was so excited to come here for a date night. We walked in and was a bit surprised that the restaurant was a bit empty. I don't think I needed to have a reservation, but I was glad that it wasn't too crowded. The ambiance is beautiful and very chic. I love the izakaya menu because you get to try a bunch of different dishes at an affordable price! We got a wagyu shooter, ikura shooter, pork belly, soup dumplings, salmon cannolis, korean chicken skins, and the butter mochi brownies. My boyfriend's favorite was the cannoli and my favorite was the wagyu shooter. Everything was delicious and came out very quickly. The butter Mochi brownies were so cute and the perfect way to end the meal. I also ordered an ube lemonade, which tasted even better than I expected. Overall, I loved our experience at XO restaurant. The food and service was amazing. I can't wait to come back and try more of their delicious dishes.