A short 12 minute walk from our hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, this small Japanese restaurant offers up some amazing tonkatsu. I was cheap and ordered the Gin Katsu ($15), one of the lower end pork dishes. I can only imagine how spectacular their Kurobuta pork katsu is since the one I had was amazing. The crunchy exterior cracked away with the slightest effort, giving way to the tender meat underneath. The little bit of fat on the cutlet was rendered to the stage where it almost melted in my mouth. My kid had the fried chicken ($7) appetizer, which he devoured. The karaage’s light, crispy crust covered chunks of both white and dark meat. A bargain at that price point for the amount and quality of the dish.
Service was efficient, yet somewhat stiff and formal. But the food is so good you’ll barely notice them hovering around you. The restaurant is small and during our visit most of the tables were reserved for guests arriving later. We got there right around 5:30 and were able to snag two seats at the counter. By 6pm there were walk-ins lining up outside.
5 Stars
255 Beach Walk
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 926-8082
