Update June 2025: we’ve came back for its lunch for the first time. It has a lunch set menu (and a la cart as well). I had the cold noodles and it was quite good. We each get to pick two small sides with our set lunch. You can taste the difference here as the kitchen staff clearly cared about their crafts. The price and quantity were quite reasonable. Though unfortunately, it didn’t serve Wagyu beef sets during lunch. I just have to come back again for dinner.
Update: we’ve returned for the second time in a week. The sushimis were still very fresh and the Wagyu (I had the yakiniku today, which came in thicker slices and a different dipping sauce) was still tasty. Yakiniku was good, but I liked the grilled Wagyu a bit better as the cut was more marblized than the yakiniku. I also had a caramel pudding, which was excellent.
This is a newish Japanese restaurant that serves traditional dishes of sushis, sashimi and beef. The sashimi had both local (otoro and salmon) and as well as Japanese imports (yellowtail, snapper, uni, etc.). Our order of sashimi platter was very fresh and very well sliced. We also had the grilled wagyu set that came with standard sides such as a salad, rice, pickles, miso soup, candied yam, tempura (2 pieces of shrimp and a bit of veggies) and 4 small slices of sashimi. The beef were thinly sliced and we had to grill them ourselves. The wagyu was fresh and tasted good. The service was attentive and the sitting area was pleasant. Parking can be found across the alley in the Ward Center’s large parking structure. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience.
Daniel Kelsay
The best sashimi and tempura in Honolulu. Excellent service too. I went 2 times during my stay and would have gone more if I had discovered it sooner. I would definitely make a reservation.
Alana Chun
We went there for lunch and everything we got was amazingly delicious and true to the menu. Clean, fresh and airy atmosphere. The position of tables made it easy to get to our tables and servers to bring food. Employees seemed happy to serve and appreciated our business.
Austin Kamimura
Have been coming here for the past 3 years. And have had wonderful meals everytime. So when it was time for my Grandmother's 93rd birthday. We booked the private room for 21 people. Service was just the best we have ever had. Our server was polite and communicated so well to accommodate our large party. Food was excellent and came out fast. Ordered multiple set menu items and ala carte dishes. And some party members were vegetarian and they were able to accommodate their dietary needs. Over all expectations were exceeded. Thank you for making this day special.
Been going to Rinka for years and I have to say their consistency is impeccable! We love the food at Rinka and the thoughtfulness put into every dish, but we especially love that every time we go we have a great time, are given the best service and the dishes we order are always spot on. Their soba and udon is delicious, the butter fish or flounder are always a must, and the crab croquettes and fish tempura are addictingly good. Always looking forward to the next time!
Located on a side street in the Whole Foods building in Ward, finally got to try this place since they open all day and dont have a last call for lunch?
Walked in and although a little crowded, I was seated right away. Ordered the Sukiyaki Lunch set, which came with two sides of your choice that you can fill out on a piece of paper. Went with the chikuwa tempura and agedashi tofu.
Sukiyaki was served with a soft boiled egg, guess we cant use raw eggs like in Japan. ? The lunch was excellent, came with miso soup, rice, pickled vegetables, and chawanmushi which were all authentic and a perfect pairing to the sukiyaki.
Prices can be a little on the higher side but the lunch menus are decently priced if youre in the area for an authentic Japanese meal with great service. 5 stars ??
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Craig Paul
A very expansive dining area with great lunch deals!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
坂東太郎
I went there for the first time in five years, and it seems like the number of dishes has decreased, and other than sushi, it's almost like a set meal restaurant.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
R Jnsn
Please Mrs. Rinka manager, change the filters of the air conditioner and clean the walls around the AC, see picture attached, it is very unpleasant to see the amount of dust accumulated by the air filters. Are you going to pass the next health and sanitation inspection? I doubt that. The food is ok but the quantity is too little for the price.
Food was great, but a little pricey for what you actually get. Really nice set up and the service was outstanding.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Claire Kung
This place is definitely overrated and overpriced. They also just changed the menu which forces customer to order in combo which is more expensive but not what the customer wants.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
박덕선
Overall, the food is delicious. It's neat.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Rebecca Tsang
Love this place! Great lunch spot with delicious and reasonably-priced teishoku in a comfortable environment with friendly service! Husband and I came here for a weekday lunch. We made a reservation just in the morning just in case it gets busy.
The menu has a lot to choose from for our lunch meal sets. I got their sashimi set and he got the pork tonkatsu set. I loved that we could choose our 2 sides! I highly recommend their tempura fish cake - it's so addicting! I also enjoyed their agedashi tofu, stir fry veggies and eggplant. I just wish the tempura fish cake was served hot instead of cool / room temperature...
The sashimi was fresh and the selection was great with everything I wanted on my plate! I loved how they served clam and chutoro in the selection! I also loved how chawanmushi was included in the set. It's one of my favorite dishes in Japanese cuisine. At the end, we got complimentary hot tea but not dessert so we decided to order it on top of our meal set. The yuzu cheesecake was pretty good, but I'm not sure if I'll get that again when there are other desserts on the menu that I wanna try!
We'll definitely be back to try other dishes!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stephen Ishii
Ordered lunch. They have a confusing sides ordering system. You need to tally your sides (each meal came with two) on a slip of paper, so we had to figure out who ordered what sides and we had 12 to figure out.
They don't allow you to split a meal. Two of our party members are small eaters so between the two of them they barely finished one meal.
The soba was okay nothing about the sauce or the noodles screamed unique to me.
Their green tea mochi ice cream didn't scream unique either. It was just topped with whipped cream and fruits. The quantity was greater than the roasted green tea jelly. The green tea jelly felt more unique but the quantity was much smaller than the green tea mochi ice cream.
Another source of confusion was the wait staff. We asked if we wanted water twice and it seemed like there were 4 staff taking our orders for a party of 7. Which means orders were asked twice and our sides were messed up. Missing sides and wrong sides even though there was a checklist we filled out.
Rinka gives a 4 or 5 star look but with their confusing sides ordering, multiple wait staff and avg food I don't think it's a place I would go again.
Dietary restrictions: They were accommodating with my seafood allergy but I still got a slight itchy mouth (nothing serious, just a slight discomfort for me) so there was probably some cross contamination. It's a Japanese restaurant so I kinda expected it and I knew my risks ordering from there.
I love this place for amazing Japanese food!
Update June 2025: we’ve came back for its lunch for the first time. It has a lunch set menu (and a la cart as well). I had the cold noodles and it was quite good. We each get to pick two small sides with our set lunch. You can taste the difference here as the kitchen staff clearly cared about their crafts. The price and quantity were quite reasonable. Though unfortunately, it didn’t serve Wagyu beef sets during lunch. I just have to come back again for dinner.
Update: we’ve returned for the second time in a week. The sushimis were still very fresh and the Wagyu (I had the yakiniku today, which came in thicker slices and a different dipping sauce) was still tasty. Yakiniku was good, but I liked the grilled Wagyu a bit better as the cut was more marblized than the yakiniku. I also had a caramel pudding, which was excellent.
This is a newish Japanese restaurant that serves traditional dishes of sushis, sashimi and beef. The sashimi had both local (otoro and salmon) and as well as Japanese imports (yellowtail, snapper, uni, etc.). Our order of sashimi platter was very fresh and very well sliced. We also had the grilled wagyu set that came with standard sides such as a salad, rice, pickles, miso soup, candied yam, tempura (2 pieces of shrimp and a bit of veggies) and 4 small slices of sashimi. The beef were thinly sliced and we had to grill them ourselves. The wagyu was fresh and tasted good. The service was attentive and the sitting area was pleasant. Parking can be found across the alley in the Ward Center’s large parking structure. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience.
The best sashimi and tempura in Honolulu. Excellent service too. I went 2 times during my stay and would have gone more if I had discovered it sooner. I would definitely make a reservation.
We went there for lunch and everything we got was amazingly delicious and true to the menu. Clean, fresh and airy atmosphere. The position of tables made it easy to get to our tables and servers to bring food. Employees seemed happy to serve and appreciated our business.
Have been coming here for the past 3 years. And have had wonderful meals everytime.
So when it was time for my Grandmother's 93rd birthday. We booked the private room for 21 people.
Service was just the best we have ever had.
Our server was polite and communicated so well to accommodate our large party.
Food was excellent and came out fast.
Ordered multiple set menu items and ala carte dishes. And some party members were vegetarian and they were able to accommodate their dietary needs.
Over all expectations were exceeded.
Thank you for making this day special.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Karaage Gozen, Miso Butterfish, Seafood Chirashi, Crab Cream Croquette Gozen
Been going to Rinka for years and I have to say their consistency is impeccable! We love the food at Rinka and the thoughtfulness put into every dish, but we especially love that every time we go we have a great time, are given the best service and the dishes we order are always spot on. Their soba and udon is delicious, the butter fish or flounder are always a must, and the crab croquettes and fish tempura are addictingly good. Always looking forward to the next time!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Miso Butterfish, Crab Cream Croquette Gozen, Agedashi Tofu
Located on a side street in the Whole Foods building in Ward, finally got to try this place since they open all day and dont have a last call for lunch?
Walked in and although a little crowded, I was seated right away. Ordered the Sukiyaki Lunch set, which came with two sides of your choice that you can fill out on a piece of paper. Went with the chikuwa tempura and agedashi tofu.
Sukiyaki was served with a soft boiled egg, guess we cant use raw eggs like in Japan. ? The lunch was excellent, came with miso soup, rice, pickled vegetables, and chawanmushi which were all authentic and a perfect pairing to the sukiyaki.
Prices can be a little on the higher side but the lunch menus are decently priced if youre in the area for an authentic Japanese meal with great service. 5 stars ??
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A very expansive dining area with great lunch deals!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I went there for the first time in five years, and it seems like the number of dishes has decreased, and other than sushi, it's almost like a set meal restaurant.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Please Mrs. Rinka manager, change the filters of the air conditioner and clean the walls around the AC, see picture attached, it is very unpleasant to see the amount of dust accumulated by the air filters. Are you going to pass the next health and sanitation inspection? I doubt that.
The food is ok but the quantity is too little for the price.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
Food was great, but a little pricey for what you actually get. Really nice set up and the service was outstanding.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
This place is definitely overrated and overpriced. They also just changed the menu which forces customer to order in combo which is more expensive but not what the customer wants.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
Overall, the food is delicious.
It's neat.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Love this place! Great lunch spot with delicious and reasonably-priced teishoku in a comfortable environment with friendly service! Husband and I came here for a weekday lunch. We made a reservation just in the morning just in case it gets busy.
The menu has a lot to choose from for our lunch meal sets. I got their sashimi set and he got the pork tonkatsu set. I loved that we could choose our 2 sides! I highly recommend their tempura fish cake - it's so addicting! I also enjoyed their agedashi tofu, stir fry veggies and eggplant. I just wish the tempura fish cake was served hot instead of cool / room temperature...
The sashimi was fresh and the selection was great with everything I wanted on my plate! I loved how they served clam and chutoro in the selection! I also loved how chawanmushi was included in the set. It's one of my favorite dishes in Japanese cuisine. At the end, we got complimentary hot tea but not dessert so we decided to order it on top of our meal set. The yuzu cheesecake was pretty good, but I'm not sure if I'll get that again when there are other desserts on the menu that I wanna try!
We'll definitely be back to try other dishes!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ordered lunch. They have a confusing sides ordering system. You need to tally your sides (each meal came with two) on a slip of paper, so we had to figure out who ordered what sides and we had 12 to figure out.
They don't allow you to split a meal. Two of our party members are small eaters so between the two of them they barely finished one meal.
The soba was okay nothing about the sauce or the noodles screamed unique to me.
Their green tea mochi ice cream didn't scream unique either. It was just topped with whipped cream and fruits. The quantity was greater than the roasted green tea jelly. The green tea jelly felt more unique but the quantity was much smaller than the green tea mochi ice cream.
Another source of confusion was the wait staff. We asked if we wanted water twice and it seemed like there were 4 staff taking our orders for a party of 7. Which means orders were asked twice and our sides were messed up. Missing sides and wrong sides even though there was a checklist we filled out.
Rinka gives a 4 or 5 star look but with their confusing sides ordering, multiple wait staff and avg food I don't think it's a place I would go again.
Dietary restrictions: They were accommodating with my seafood allergy but I still got a slight itchy mouth (nothing serious, just a slight discomfort for me) so there was probably some cross contamination. It's a Japanese restaurant so I kinda expected it and I knew my risks ordering from there.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
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