One of the bossy older staff members had a really bad attitude and treated the other staff members very harshly, which made me feel very bad.I don't know if the rice is made from Japan, but it tastes just like the food I eat in Japan, so it was delicious.I could speak Japanese and the people other than the elderly were very nice, so that was a good thing, but the person who was supposed to be the most important person had a really bad attitude, and even though the food was delicious, I felt sick, so I'll never go again. I don't think so.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: カリフォルニアロール
Clint McKinney
Parking: Park in the Whole Foods parking garage next door
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
C. Donnelly
With spacious new digs, this minimalist Japanese eatery is a great way to show visitors an authentic slice of home on Oahu. While Restaurant Rinka turns into a full-fledged izakaya at night, serving up sushi and sashimi galore, a more budget-friendly option lies in their lunch menu. A selection of teishoku set lunches -- a classic meal commonly served in Japanese households -- offers a main entree, rice, pickles, miso soup, and chawanmushi (a savory egg custard). Two small sides are also included, with options ranging from natto with tofu, goma-ae (creamed spinach in a sesame dressing), kinpira renkon (lotus root), and tamago (a Japanese-style omelet).
Nicole Wang
Relatively expensive comparing with what you get.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
O San
Great dinner! Food came out In timely fashion. Everything was fresh and delicious! Service was top notch!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Warren Hahn
We had reservations for 12:15 but was running late due to traffic, but they held our table for us. The room was full to the max, little noisy but the food and service was excellent.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Makani I.
Returning to this acquainted spot, reminiscences flood back from the times while it nestled beside the vintage Tower Records. The nostalgia lingers, but now it is living inside the equal building as Whole Foods. Despite the respectable meals, there's a regular sadness in encountering unfriendly and much less service-oriented servers. It's been a routine topic at some point of every visit, tarnishing the overall enjoy. Despite the nostalgic allure and fine delicacies, the service hiccup prevents a better score. Three stars, a balance of sentiment and critique, encapsulate my enduring impressions of this vicinity over the years.
T A.
Made last minute reservations under yelp. Came here for lunch with my son. This is his first time coming here. We ordered the cream crab croquette set and chicken karaage set. Yuzu cheeses for dessert. Delicious authentic Japanese food.Love the ambiance. Great presentation and service.
Lance Lam
Always a great place to get Authentic Japanese Food being in
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michelle L
Very cost-effective, service attitude is 10 points
Parking: Use the nearby Whole Foods parking lot.The restaurant has a clean and bright atmosphere.The food overall tastes pretty good. There was nothing on the menu that particularly impressed me.-Sushi Combination: I liked it because the amount of rice was just right and it was seasoned well. The ingredients were good too. It comes with 10 pieces, and even though it's a combo, it felt expensive.-Chanko Nabe: I think the soup used miso. The ingredients were okay, but the broth was a bit disappointing.-Fried Oyster: It was the most delicious among the menu items I ordered. As expected, it's expensive and not very tasty... Compared to the price, the food I had at other places was actually much more delicious.
simeon gaurani
Awesome food, atmosphere, and people.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Benjamin Shimazu
Parking: There is a free parking garage for Ward Center with an empty space counter and lights signifying empty spaces.Wheelchair accessibility: It is wheelchair accessible. It’s a straight shot from the parking garage elevator to the restaurant. No more than 50 meters.
Really great location near Ward which means plenty of parking! The food was delicious, good quality, and the atmosphere was nice. Had a nice meal with family friends who invited us. The service is good and the menu is quite extensive so there's a lot to choose from. We got the set menus to allow us to try more things. A few things to note, if you're one of those that ask for lemons in water they will charge you. If your burner goes out more than once they will also let you know they will charge you. The extras charges are a little excessive given the price of the food itself. Overall the food including the meat and sushi quality is really good. The wagyu was so tender and soft and really just great quality. I would recommend maybe for lunch or dinner as a special treat!
Mike N.
My Uncle is visiting from Vegas, and he invited us to lunch at Rinka. We had a party of 9 and were seated in the back area in a semi-private room. Upon being seated, the table was set with chopsticks and menus. Our server greeted us, along with another employee. The lunch menu was limited, but we were all able to find something to order. Some of the sets give you a choice of 2 sides, which we later learned were ordered via a sheet of paper placed in the middle of the table. This would later add to the confusion for the food runners, but I'll get to that shortly. The server came around the table and took our order diligently, writing every order on his notepad. Each time someone ordered their sides, he would ask us to write our choice on the paper provided. The food arrived expeditiously; however, neither the server nor the other employee was there to tell the food runners where each order went. I'm not a fan of having our conversations interrupted continuously while people are trying to figure out who ordered what. It was worse when the side dishes came.Overall, the food was good, but service left something to be improved upon. I also found the lunch menu on the smaller side, so people may not find something they'd like if they haven't looked at the menu in advance. I really liked the chawanmushi. The unagi was of decent quality, moist and tender.
One of the bossy older staff members had a really bad attitude and treated the other staff members very harshly, which made me feel very bad.I don't know if the rice is made from Japan, but it tastes just like the food I eat in Japan, so it was delicious.I could speak Japanese and the people other than the elderly were very nice, so that was a good thing, but the person who was supposed to be the most important person had a really bad attitude, and even though the food was delicious, I felt sick, so I'll never go again. I don't think so.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: カリフォルニアロール
Parking: Park in the Whole Foods parking garage next door
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
With spacious new digs, this minimalist Japanese eatery is a great way to show visitors an authentic slice of home on Oahu. While Restaurant Rinka turns into a full-fledged izakaya at night, serving up sushi and sashimi galore, a more budget-friendly option lies in their lunch menu. A selection of teishoku set lunches -- a classic meal commonly served in Japanese households -- offers a main entree, rice, pickles, miso soup, and chawanmushi (a savory egg custard). Two small sides are also included, with options ranging from natto with tofu, goma-ae (creamed spinach in a sesame dressing), kinpira renkon (lotus root), and tamago (a Japanese-style omelet).
Relatively expensive comparing with what you get.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Great dinner! Food came out In timely fashion. Everything was fresh and delicious! Service was top notch!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had reservations for 12:15 but was running late due to traffic, but they held our table for us. The room was full to the max, little noisy but the food and service was excellent.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Returning to this acquainted spot, reminiscences flood back from the times while it nestled beside the vintage Tower Records. The nostalgia lingers, but now it is living inside the equal building as Whole Foods. Despite the respectable meals, there's a regular sadness in encountering unfriendly and much less service-oriented servers. It's been a routine topic at some point of every visit, tarnishing the overall enjoy. Despite the nostalgic allure and fine delicacies, the service hiccup prevents a better score. Three stars, a balance of sentiment and critique, encapsulate my enduring impressions of this vicinity over the years.
Made last minute reservations under yelp. Came here for lunch with my son. This is his first time coming here. We ordered the cream crab croquette set and chicken karaage set. Yuzu cheeses for dessert. Delicious authentic Japanese food.Love the ambiance. Great presentation and service.
Always a great place to get Authentic Japanese Food being in
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Very cost-effective, service attitude is 10 points
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Parking: Use the nearby Whole Foods parking lot.The restaurant has a clean and bright atmosphere.The food overall tastes pretty good. There was nothing on the menu that particularly impressed me.-Sushi Combination: I liked it because the amount of rice was just right and it was seasoned well. The ingredients were good too. It comes with 10 pieces, and even though it's a combo, it felt expensive.-Chanko Nabe: I think the soup used miso. The ingredients were okay, but the broth was a bit disappointing.-Fried Oyster: It was the most delicious among the menu items I ordered. As expected, it's expensive and not very tasty... Compared to the price, the food I had at other places was actually much more delicious.
Awesome food, atmosphere, and people.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Parking: There is a free parking garage for Ward Center with an empty space counter and lights signifying empty spaces.Wheelchair accessibility: It is wheelchair accessible. It’s a straight shot from the parking garage elevator to the restaurant. No more than 50 meters.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Unagi Grilled Eel Gozen, Crab & Salmon Roe Chawanmushi, Sashimi Combo
Really great location near Ward which means plenty of parking! The food was delicious, good quality, and the atmosphere was nice. Had a nice meal with family friends who invited us. The service is good and the menu is quite extensive so there's a lot to choose from. We got the set menus to allow us to try more things. A few things to note, if you're one of those that ask for lemons in water they will charge you. If your burner goes out more than once they will also let you know they will charge you. The extras charges are a little excessive given the price of the food itself. Overall the food including the meat and sushi quality is really good. The wagyu was so tender and soft and really just great quality. I would recommend maybe for lunch or dinner as a special treat!
My Uncle is visiting from Vegas, and he invited us to lunch at Rinka. We had a party of 9 and were seated in the back area in a semi-private room. Upon being seated, the table was set with chopsticks and menus. Our server greeted us, along with another employee. The lunch menu was limited, but we were all able to find something to order. Some of the sets give you a choice of 2 sides, which we later learned were ordered via a sheet of paper placed in the middle of the table. This would later add to the confusion for the food runners, but I'll get to that shortly. The server came around the table and took our order diligently, writing every order on his notepad. Each time someone ordered their sides, he would ask us to write our choice on the paper provided. The food arrived expeditiously; however, neither the server nor the other employee was there to tell the food runners where each order went. I'm not a fan of having our conversations interrupted continuously while people are trying to figure out who ordered what. It was worse when the side dishes came.Overall, the food was good, but service left something to be improved upon. I also found the lunch menu on the smaller side, so people may not find something they'd like if they haven't looked at the menu in advance. I really liked the chawanmushi. The unagi was of decent quality, moist and tender.