Everything we ate was delicious and the employees are sooo friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joshua Nathan
My last review of Izakaya Genbe was 6 years ago, and this week my wife and I were able finally return to Kihei for another excellent email. (My review was on Yəlp back in 2020, and coincidentally ownership just responded to that review today. How timely!)
WHAT HAS NOT CHANGED SINCE MY LAST VISIT: * Kiehei shopping center location near the Radio Shack * Excellent food
WHAT HAS CHANGED: * Did they change locations in the shopping center or just reorganize their dining room? Either way, the seating arrangement was more comfortable. * Service was extremely friendly - fixing my only concern from 6 years ago. * Portion sizes were slightly larger than I remember.
The pickled mackerel remains my absolute favorite fish dish available in Maui, and I am surprised they are not famous for it alone. I spent years dreaming of this fatty, flavorful cold fish -- and what I ate the other day exceeded my memories!
New to me this time was some kind of smoked pickled daikon. Who thinks of this??? I'm in absolute awe.
The next time my wife and I visit Maui, we are going to stay in Kihei so I can eat here every day. Maui is an expensive and inconvenient island vacation, but for Izakaya Genbe I will keep coming back. Thank you for another amazing, memorable meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Oliver Pedersen
Small and cozy place. I ordered the ramen and was not disappointed. Great service and tasteful food. Would definitely recommend people trying it out, at least for their ramen.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Steven Flores
Best sukiyaki. Curry udon is amazing
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Paul
Ordered sukiyaki and it was amazing..took me back to my childhood and my mom’s world class sukiyaki. Added some amazing sake and Curry Udon. Finished the dinner with 2 deserts - Mochi with Azuki beans and Matcha Cheesecake. My favorite restaurant on this amazing foodie experience. Highly recommend Izakaya Gembe. We will be back..maybe tomorrow!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dennis Allen
Quaint and hospitable. Waiting on their liquor license so no 🍶 with your sushi. But they are very nice and the food is food
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Anaëlle DROLLET
Booking support: impeccable (announced waiting time, follow-up of the waiting list...), menu available on Yelp, impeccable welcome, tasty and excellent food. As for the restaurant, you really feel like Japan, it makes you want to know more about Japanese cuisine and its customs. Staff who listen and advise as needed. A team and a top cuisine for satisfied taste buds! Thank you and congratulations to the whole team! A.C.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mike Wilson
We visited multiple times during our trip, and the food and service were incredible each time. The Shoyu ramen with egg was our favorite dish. We tried several appetizers and they were all excellent — everything we ordered seemed to be a 10/10. We’ll be back as soon as we can.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
andy
Ok Japanese food, need to wait.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Suraj MS
Shoyu ramen with spicy bomb and egg was pretty good.
This is hands down the best Japanese food in town that I did not get to eat. We proudly joined the Yelp waitlist, which confidently informed us the wait would be a breezy 15–20 minutes. Fantastic! Plenty of time to build anticipation. 45 minutes later, we were still waiting—presumably for the sushi to be caught, educated, and emotionally prepared.
My 8-year-old, who arrived full of excitement and dreams of sushi rolls, slowly transformed into a very tired, very hungry philosopher questioning the meaning of time itself. Eventually, we gave up.
All I ask is a small courtesy: if the waitlist is more of a suggestion than a promise, let your customers know. Transparency would pair beautifully with the food I’m sure is amazing—based on reputation alone.
Service: 1
Gus Nordwall
The food is really good, the gyudon there is just as good as the stuff in japan, but the service is even better. Food came out in 5 minutes and the waitress and waiter were very friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Eli Wu
Top tier authentic japanese food and excellent service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chenqun Hang
Poor service. Their salmon sashimi is not fresh. Ramen is too expensive considering the size.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Jason Chai
The food doesn’t match with the picture. And the most dishes are overpriced.
Everything we ate was delicious and the employees are sooo friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My last review of Izakaya Genbe was 6 years ago, and this week my wife and I were able finally return to Kihei for another excellent email. (My review was on Yəlp back in 2020, and coincidentally ownership just responded to that review today. How timely!)
WHAT HAS NOT CHANGED SINCE MY LAST VISIT:
* Kiehei shopping center location near the Radio Shack
* Excellent food
WHAT HAS CHANGED:
* Did they change locations in the shopping center or just reorganize their dining room? Either way, the seating arrangement was more comfortable.
* Service was extremely friendly - fixing my only concern from 6 years ago.
* Portion sizes were slightly larger than I remember.
The pickled mackerel remains my absolute favorite fish dish available in Maui, and I am surprised they are not famous for it alone. I spent years dreaming of this fatty, flavorful cold fish -- and what I ate the other day exceeded my memories!
New to me this time was some kind of smoked pickled daikon. Who thinks of this??? I'm in absolute awe.
The next time my wife and I visit Maui, we are going to stay in Kihei so I can eat here every day. Maui is an expensive and inconvenient island vacation, but for Izakaya Genbe I will keep coming back. Thank you for another amazing, memorable meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Small and cozy place. I ordered the ramen and was not disappointed. Great service and tasteful food. Would definitely recommend people trying it out, at least for their ramen.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best sukiyaki. Curry udon is amazing
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ordered sukiyaki and it was amazing..took me back to my childhood and my mom’s world class sukiyaki. Added some amazing sake and Curry Udon. Finished the dinner with 2 deserts - Mochi with Azuki beans and Matcha Cheesecake. My favorite restaurant on this amazing foodie experience. Highly recommend Izakaya Gembe. We will be back..maybe tomorrow!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Quaint and hospitable. Waiting on their liquor license so no 🍶 with your sushi. But they are very nice and the food is food
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Booking support: impeccable (announced waiting time, follow-up of the waiting list...), menu available on Yelp, impeccable welcome, tasty and excellent food. As for the restaurant, you really feel like Japan, it makes you want to know more about Japanese cuisine and its customs. Staff who listen and advise as needed. A team and a top cuisine for satisfied taste buds! Thank you and congratulations to the whole team! A.C.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We visited multiple times during our trip, and the food and service were incredible each time. The Shoyu ramen with egg was our favorite dish. We tried several appetizers and they were all excellent — everything we ordered seemed to be a 10/10. We’ll be back as soon as we can.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ok Japanese food, need to wait.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Shoyu ramen with spicy bomb and egg was pretty good.
Food: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
This is hands down the best Japanese food in town that I did not get to eat.
We proudly joined the Yelp waitlist, which confidently informed us the wait would be a breezy 15–20 minutes. Fantastic! Plenty of time to build anticipation. 45 minutes later, we were still waiting—presumably for the sushi to be caught, educated, and emotionally prepared.
My 8-year-old, who arrived full of excitement and dreams of sushi rolls, slowly transformed into a very tired, very hungry philosopher questioning the meaning of time itself. Eventually, we gave up.
All I ask is a small courtesy: if the waitlist is more of a suggestion than a promise, let your customers know. Transparency would pair beautifully with the food I’m sure is amazing—based on reputation alone.
Service: 1
The food is really good, the gyudon there is just as good as the stuff in japan, but the service is even better. Food came out in 5 minutes and the waitress and waiter were very friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Top tier authentic japanese food and excellent service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Poor service. Their salmon sashimi is not fresh. Ramen is too expensive considering the size.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
The food doesn’t match with the picture. And the most dishes are overpriced.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
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