Best Japanese Speciality Restaurants in Ala Moana

Innovative and creative, chef Jason Peel fuses Japanese and American comfort food using local fresh ingredients. We had the.prix fix lunch menu which changes monthly. His use of flavorings highlights every dish. The portions were very generous, definitely a great value for the fixed price. It’s always a pleasure seeing Chef working and interacting with his customers. You can tell he loves what he does. Not our first time and definitely won’t be our last.

My family and I had the pleasure of dining at Izakaya Matsuri on Valentine's Day. This restaurant is our favorite for Japanese cuisine. The staff is friendly and helpful. The dishes are prepared well and are delicious. Overall, we enjoyed dining at Izakaya Matsuri and will visit again.

Kuro's combo set and couple set were fantastic. The combo set came with delicious noodles and crunchy tonkatsu. The broth, especially with lemons, in combination to noodles which had the perfect amount of chewiness and immaculate texture was very flavorful. The tender meat inside of the flaky bread crumbs was very easy to chew, but lasted long enough in my mouth so that I could savor it. The couple set came with plenty of tonkatsu. Both of these sets also came with shrimp katsu, which was wonderful, not to mention the flavor-packed sauces to go with the tonkatsu and salad. There were ample amounts of food for everyone, and overall, this restaurant was a great experience. I will be coming back with more friends to share the masterful cooking of Kuro.

A bit on the pricier side but SO worth it! Quality is so fresh!

Incredible hidden gem in the heart of Waikiki. Came here for my birthday and enjoyed every single bite. Chef thoughtfully curates every piece down the each garnish. I loved the variety of nigiri, A5 Wagyu temaki, uni toast, etc. It is hard to get a res so make sure to plan ahead and book about 1-2 months in advance as each day gets released for booking. The only thing I wish was different was that elevated wood shelf hinders the view of watching them prepare each course. You really can’t see anything until they put it on your stone dish. Every time I do omakase’s, watching them make it is one of my favorite parts. Perhaps that part is intentional on their end.