Vera L.
Yelp
I needed one good meal to "treat myself" during my one week here in Honolulu. I've always loved Japanese food, and since I couldn't eat sushi on this trip, I settled for Kaiseki.
This restaurant came highly rated, and it was at the opposite end of Waikiki Beach, so that I could take the bus. I did make a reservation in advance. I highly recommend this, as the restaurant is located in a very popular hotel, and as the dinner hours started (6 PM), there was a steady flow of patrons coming in. Some of them had reservations, and some of them did not. Some of them were also just regulars in town.
Essentially, I got the chef recommended set dinner. It came with an assorted side of small plates prior to the main meal itself. Part of the main meal included sashimi, which the waitress was very kind enough to swap out upon request given my condition, to fried salmon.
I ate everything.
There was not one particular dish that was amazing or bad. While I can say that, I am not a picky eater, and my love for Japanese food definitely helped in this regard, certain dishes may not pertain to certain people. The fish was cooked perfectly, wasn't over cooked at all, The very light breading on it was perfect. And it wasn't over seasoned, as it wasn't super salty like some other places do. Some restaurants in order to preserve the fish a little bit more will salt it heavily.
The other thing that I want to add that some people may not know is that Japanese cooking focus on the form of Washoku, or balance between all dishes, served to someone.
I did see some of the sushi dishes that were per other patrons, and I can't wait until I can eat sushi again. The fish was super fresh, and this place was so famous that one guy actually got double servings of salmon sushi.
To know, you may want to ask the restaurant if they have a bathroom on site. Even though you would think that there are bathrooms in the lobby of the hotel that it's to use, it is not allowed for anyone, except for hotel guests, and you have to use a room key to access it. Needless to say, I was really grateful that my own hotel was only a 15 minute bus ride away, and I could actually hold it until I got home.
I found the side dishes so much you need, and actually very enjoyable. They all accompanied each other fairly well, and the main parts of the set came out right after so you can enjoy different parts of it together. You can also wait and just eat the first couple dishes slowly.
Will definitely come here again to try other things, especially the sushi .