Chris Y.
Yelp
Located just on the outskirts of the busiest areas of Waikiki, and one of the spots further away from the beach area, Ginza Bairin is next to one of the larger Long's on the island (so a good spot if you need to shop here for amenities or gifts), but otherwise, a slightly less foot trafficky street.
Note, there's two locations to this spot. The traditional location, and also the more casual location. The traditional location is a bit more crowded, and perhaps can use the word, cramped though it's not that much more cramped, but it is a a tighter spot compared to other, as that one has a different layout out, and more spacing between tables, but perhaps less seats. Either way, it's really about preference. The traditional location did seem a bit more formal of a dining experience, while the location on the right felt more casual.
Just make sure when you make your reservation, you let them know which side you want to be on. They serve the same menu though, so there's really no difference other than what kind of dining style you prefer.
Let's jump right into the food.
The menu isn't extensive, but does have enough options for not just pork katsu only dishes, albeit, if you're here, this is really what you're going to get anyways because otherwise, what's the point?
They have a very special type of pork that is really fatty, but that was unfortunately already gone by the time we made it to our reservation today so we weren't able to try it out this time, or at least I wasn't able to since this was my first time.
I just went with the standard Kurobuta set w/shrimp tempura add-on, while others got the Kurobuta Katsudon, a Kurobuta Katsu curry, and a Katsu sandwich for the kid.
One thing before I get fully going into the food, which for the standard set, since there's no sauce on the Katsu itself, it came with a specialty DIY katsu sauce, where you get a small dish of sesame seeds, a grinder, and you just add the sauce yourself from the table after you're done grinding. I mean, it's interesting but I wouldn't particularly say it was fun doing it outside of it being a part of the experience. Perhaps, those who like sesame seeds more can just work less hard to keep them in full form, but crushing the seeds adds more flavor, so give or take.
The katsu here is exactly as advertised, nice, flaky, crunchy, all of the above for what I expect out of a great katsu place. All the variations of the katsu we had here (I tried a little bit of everything) was very delicious, and solid place for these variety of dishes I would typically find overseas (in Japan or elsewhere). The Kurobuta was pretty fatty, though, I did feel that parts of the meat was still a bit tough on the visit tonight, at least with my specific set. It was still juicy, but slightly tough on the outer bites of each piece.
Do note, this place is expensive if you want the Kurobuta, or if you get the specially fatty Kurobuta which is only offered at a limited quantity per night. However, they do have various options, a la cartes for the katsu, and other things to help fill out the cravings if needed on some of the cheaper menu items. I was pretty full by the time I stopped eating my own set, so I feel the quantity was just fine. Overall, satisfied to get a solid katsu experience here at Ginza Bairin.
