Kabuki Restaurant & Deli

I took my family there Christmas Eve and was warmly greeted by Yoko the hostess. My favorite waitress was there Kats. As usual her service was outstanding and the food was tasty and very consistent in terms of quality. Definitely a step above the last time I went in July. The warmth of the hostess greeting you as well as seating your group was very important to myself as well as my group.

Unfortunately for Kabuki I went on an evening when all the cards were stacked against them. Their machines were down and all orders and payments needed to be input manual and they were extremely busy for a weeknight.
Therefor its pretty obvious that the service that evening was dreadful. It took a long time before I had to finally ask for someone to take our order. Our order took long to come out, not to mention we were a party of two and it took some 15 minutes by the time my dates meal arrived after mine.
We asked for he bill and sat around for a while before finally walking up to pay on our own and that still took a few minutes.
Now as for the food, something you could expect from a Japanese restaurant. Good not great BUT they burnt my hamachi Kama. I like a little crisp but it was just burnt flavor. Seems like they rushed the cooking.
I will probably give them the benefit to come back but It’ll happen whether someone else suggest to go there.

We sat at the sushi bar. Two baby roaches and a momma roach came out onto the counter right in front of us. Ahi was ok and hamachi was ok. The Uni sashimi was old and melted. We tried to get someone to take our sake order. The sushi chef tried to get someone to take our sake order. After 10 minutes and the third roach we closed out and left. Informed the sushi chef of the roaches. Quietly informed the ladies that took my payment of the roaches. Nobody seemed to be appalled or surprised of the situation so just letting you know. The place seems a little bit filthy. We like eating at the kapiolani Kabuki instead. No stars from me today they got one just so this post would go through.

This place has been here in Waimalu forever. When I use to live on this side, I never did try the restaurant. I tried the okazuya which was good especially since there isn’t much okazyka on this side of the island. So I had high hopes for this Japanese restaurant since I never tried it. We came on a busy day. Waimalu shopping center just did not have much parking. We had a party of 8 for dinner. We tried the family style meal with miso soup, pickled vegetable, rice, chicken katsu, fried scallops, beef, assorted tempura, miso butterfish, a sushi set and the jumbo shrimp tempura. So my biggest complaint is I had the runs after I ate the food… =(

The couple of times we’ve been here we’ve only sat at the sushi bar. After tasting a number of sushi, I’ve come to find that my absolute favorite is the soft shell crab roll (best I’ve ever tasted) and sweet ebi nigiri comes second. For future visits, that’s all I’m ever going to order.
For two, we usually end up paying around $ 80. It can be pricey. But, now that we know exactly what to order we’ll definitely be spending less. Service is ok. The sushi chef is nice and funny. Our waiter (always seems to be the same person), however, is nice but often seems to be in a hurry making us feel rushed all the time.

We don’t get to eat here much, but when we take a vacation day from work, we have to stop at Kabuki’s for okazu craving.
Got to Kabuki’s about 10:30ish, on a Friday, and there was only one other person in line before us, the other times I have gone first thing early morning, the lines are long. There was still a lot to choose from, I got my usual, maki slice, teri chicken, hash, and chow fun.
The food is ALWAYS satisfying and so delicious, the prices are very reasonable too. The workers are so on it and able to work at a fast pace, and yet so careful at how they pack the items in the box.
This is such a great place to stop by, grab a box of assortments and head out to the beach, park or cruise the island with.

My friend and I both had the teishoku with tonkatsu, sashimi and tempura. Good came out fairly fast. (I think pre made, food wasn’t that fresh hot like was just cooked) Portion was okay but sashimi was a bit stringy. (Couldn’t eat all of it). They were out of green tea ice cream, which was disappointing. =(They do have ice cream sandwiches for $ 3.99 but waitress said it was small so we didn’t try it.

I’ve been to Kabuki Restaurant & Deli twice and both times I’ve experience friendly and great service, yummy butterfish and slight confusion over sushi options.
Kabuki is located in the Waimalu Shopping Center. Parking can take a while to find because of the shopping center consists of mainly restaurants.
Both times that I’ve gone, I’ve ordered a soft shell crab hand roll and butterfish is some way. This time, I got the Kabuki Teishoku (B) that included misoyaki butterfish, tempura (vegetable and shrimp), sashimi, miso soup, chanwanmushi, salad, rice and tsukemono.
For $ 24 this bento-​style dish was worth it. The butterfish was absolutely wonderful and probably one of the best that I’ve had. The tempura is not over fried and is served with tempura sauce. There was 6 slices of sashimi (2 salmon, 2 ahi and 2 seared ahi). All of the separate dishes of this meal was more than filling.
The soft shell crab roll is probably my most favorite and I was lucky enough to know about it because of Unilocal.There’s no menu that tells you about the hand rolls they serve, so it’s really you either ask, look on Unilocal or be seated at the sushi counter. From my understanding the sushi counter is often reserved.
The downside of this restaurant is the lack of knowing the different sushi items they serve and the pricing. We asked the waitress how much a California hand roll would be and she said it could be between $ 7 – 9. That’s confusing, but the nice staff and delicious crab roll and butterfish make up for it.

Since I didn’t want to go all the way to downtown to have some traditional Japanese food, I finally decided to try this place out.
Honestly, I wasn’t expected this place could be good because of the image of the restaurant appearance from outside.
But I was wrong! Food was good and people were so friendly and warm. I felt so comfortable sitting at the table instantly and felt like I was home in Japan.
I had Nama Chirashi and a bottle of Sapporo beer. Their frosted glass made my beer so good, and Sashimi pieces on my Chirashi were so fresh and full of variety.
My daughter had a Teishoku, came with shrimp tempura, tonkatsu, maguro sashimi, salad, rice and clear soup. Her boyfriend had a Teishoku, but he told them that he is allergic to shellfish, they made him veg tempura instead of shrimp.
He also ordered margarita (at Japanese restaurant!)
And a cute older lady brought out her creation of Margarita and served it to him shyly:)
Three of us had a good size dinner, a large bottle of Japanese beer and a glass of Margarita, and we paid little less than $ 100 including 20%tip.
I’ll definitely go back again!

Take a ride back to the past, when you walk into the Kabuki’s at Waimalu Shopping Center you will be taken back to a time when life was simpler. Great old style food with simple and comfortable surrounding the Miso butter fish is ono and my daughter loved the teri chicken and the shrimp tempura was fresh out of the fryer and melts in your mouth. The service is great, the food came out quick and the experience was stress free.

This place is legit. While many complain about the décor or «ambience», there is only one thing that really matters — the quality Japanese food.
The owners are fluent (native) in Japanese and the food is the real deal for an affordable price. This is the best place for Japanese teishoku in the Aiea /​Pearl City /​Waipahu (I said it!) area. Skip gyotaku, where the quality is dropping, prices are rising, and they can’t even pronounce their own name correctly in commercials on KIKU — come to Kabuki for lunch!
Go here for lunch! Can’t beat this deal (less than $ 20 for a full teishoku or nabe that would definitely cost at least $ 30 elsewhere). The service is good. The people are caring, friendly, and polite. I always feel like they genuinely want you to enjoy your meal.
There was a lot of parking this past tuesday and I never have problems finding a spot. I have had a bit of a walk a few times from the spot to the restaurant but they are in the center of the shopping area so that’s convenient. If you are with children or elderly folks, I recommend you drop them in front and then go look for parking if it is crowded. But I usually find parking very nearby. Speaking of the elderly, last time I was here, the hostess noticed a family had a grandpa with a cane and tried to direct them to a table where he could easily sit.
Kids like the little koi pond, it’s the only one besides pagoda restaurant or Helemano (by dole plantation) in the area that I’m aware of.
Back to the food, I love how they give you a little rice pot so you can eat as much as you like (great for Hawaii-​style where we like choke rice!) I also like how they give the table their own tea pot!
I ordered the ikura and the hamachi and both were high quality fish, fresh, and had only a tiny bit of rice (that’s how real 日本人 do it). Even though I ordered only two sushi, they served me soup and tsukemono on the house.

Couldn’t find the hours omline that the okazuya opens, opens at 5:30am. Intended on just picking up some cone sushi but after seeing everything, I ended ip with a bunch more. The food is ono, seeing everything available makes it so much better as my eyes were hoing full throttle on their own buffet. I didn’t get a chance to try everything but there is many more days to give those a try.
I had the fish, that was pretty fresh tasting and crispy. The friend chicken is also good.

Location:
The restaurant is located in Waimalu Shopping Center. There is parking at this shopping center but parking fills up quickly during peak hours.
Ambiance/​Décor:
The front of the restaurant is dark and not inviting but when you enter the door you’ll be surprise to find a small koi pond and seating area. It is an older Japanese restaurant so the décor and furniture is out of date.
Menu:
The menu had no pictures and it was a piece of paper taped onto an older menu. The menu didn’t describe what come in the Nigiri deluxe set so it was more of a surprise of sushi.
Food/​Drinks:
We ordered the family style meal and it came with miso soup, pickled vegetable, rice, chicken katsu, fried scallops, beef and assorted tempura. We also ordered the miso butterfish, a sushi set and the jumbo shrimp tempura. The food was okay. The ahi sashimi was good. The piece of sashimi were big and the serving size for each dish was reasonable. They were very generous with the amount of rice they gave to our table.
Price:
Each meal set cost $ 20-​$ 24 and it included rice, miso soup, pickled vegetable and a main dish. A family of 8 spend $ 250 and it included alcoholic beverages.
Bathroom:
If you like clean renovated bathrooms, this is NOT the bathroom to use. My husband was grossed out by the bathroom.
Overall, I’m glad I finally tried this place. The food was good but the restaurant needs major renovations from décor to the bathrooms.

Cyndy’s Bottom Line: Traditional old school Japanese restaurant.
3.50 stars for food
4 stars for service
We stopped in without reservations and were seated in the room of no reservations.
Our waitress was so very nice and accommodating especially when I asked for a wine or drink list and she recited the entire drink menu from memory.
Good drink list to say the least.
This is what we are:
Teishoku of Shrimp tempura, ahi sashimi, and misoyaki butterfish.
Delicious tempura delicately fried with a light batter and tasty dipping sauce. The misoyaki butterfish was good and moist. Generously dressed with miso which tasted sweet. The sashimi was fresh and delicious.
The soup that accompanied with the meal was so flavorful and delicious. A fish broth with somen noodles and konbu.

The bf made valentine’s reservations here since I told him to pick a random spot. He picked this place since Kunio’s does not take ressies and it would be quite humbug to get in there on Feb 14.
We got in and we were greeted pleasantly. We were taken in right away and sat down all the way in the back at a table for 2. The vinyl tablecloths were so cute it reminded me of my grandma.
There were a lot of workers there but our area had really slow service. We waited ten minutes before someone took our order. My water had a gnat in it.
There was a young man who was refilling the water cups but our waitress was hardly around. Yet there were 4 workers watching the doors and greeting customers in. Hmm.
Food was ok. Rice portion is very small. Tsukemono was a cup of salted cabbage. I ordered miso buttterfish and it was ok. My bf ordered jumbo shrimp tempura and that was OK too. I think next time we want Japanese food we are going to have to sick it up and make the drive to Kunio’s in Waikele.
The table behind us had some young adults who burnt their food on the propane stove and I left smelling like burnt bell peppers. Ugh. If you order teppanyaki, at least know how to cook!
Price is average. $ 20 for shrimp tempura and $ 22 for the miso buttterfish teishoku.
I don’t think I will be back for a while.

Ad copy for your approval:
Thank you for choosing Kabuki Okazuya. We serve «authentic» Japanese favorites prepared entirely by non Japanese chefs using recipes we gathered from Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Detroit.
Try our two pound, square maki sushi. Distilled vinegar is our secret ingredient. It’s antiseptic properties guarantees freshness of the rice. We fill our rolls with half reconstituted dried shrimp, tuna, and half cooked carrots for the best texture then compact them with 1,000psi of pressure. Our inari are huge and very moist. Unlike other places, we do not squeeze our age. One bite and it will drip everywhere. You’ll agree, it’s moist!
We believe in thoroughly cooking chicken and beef. We deep fry our chicken twice as long as our competitors. Remember, if it’s juicy, it’s not good for you. We also steam our burgers. This unique process assures our patties are solid and rubbery. You won’t find this anywhere else.
Tempura is our specialty. Forget crispy. We use ten times the recommended amount of baking powder and add eggs to bring you the fluffiest, thickest, coating you’ve ever seen. The bitterness of the baking powder is sure to bring a visible reaction to your face. Try our equally flavorful and oily sweet potato and mixed veggie tempura. Like fish? Our white fish and butter fish belly tempura is a winner. Oil is flavor. And our fish is the most flavorful!
No meal would be complete without corned beef hash. We know you love potato so we’ve made our hash with 50 times the potato to corned beef. We fry it slow with low heat to assure a glossy, oily finish. You will be amazed.
So drop what you’re doing, and come on in for a true taste of Japan today.

Been to this place many times in the past whether taking part of their outside okazuya or dining in and having a teishoku meal. Both are decent however this rating is for their sushi/​sashimi.
First time sitting at their sushi bar… Chef Alex took care of us and it was nice since it wasn’t crowded and he was able to ‘talk story’.
Started off with a sashimi platter mixed with fresh ahi and hamachi — super ono and my mouth waters as I write this. Also had Uni nigiri and the infamous soft shell crab temaki roll. I kept thinking to myself ‘why haven’t I tried their sushi bar sooner’.
I’ll defintely be back sitting at the sushi bar.

On a Sunday night, this place was a full house. Every table was taken and people were waiting outside for their turn. I can see why people come here to dine. Prices are very reasonable, portions are generous, and service is very friendly.
It’s one of those Japanese restaurants that have been around for ages because of its consistency of delivering great tasting Japanese food. The menu probably hasn’t changed much over the years. But that’s what’s so great about this place. You won’t find any dragon rolls or caterpillar rolls here. Just good old Japanese classics like miso butterfish, sushi, sashimi, tempura, salmon, udon, etc.
If you don’t mind doing the cooking, try the butteryaki (minimum 2 orders). You cook your meats and veggies on a grill with butter and it’s soooo delicious.
We had 9 people in our party, and I was surprised at how quick our food arrived.
Average cost per person is about $ 22. Very reasonable for a Japanese eatery.

Best thing ever! Worst thing ever??? Those darned lines for this ridiculously good staple of Pearl City!!!
Those lines are well warranted for a place like this. Growing up in the Pearl City area, I’ve had Kabuki quite a few times, and after going recently (since I no longer live in Pearl City), it was a trip down memory lane.
Well, at 5:45AM, I was hopeful that there would be no lines whatsoever… But there was 3 people ahead of me in the line, and behind me there was more of a line forming. Crazy.
Whatevers, though. The food here is bomb-​diggity, or, «bomb​.com» as the recent generations call it, or as my generation calls it, «DA BOMB». HA! My all-​time favorite from here is the shoyu chicken. Tender, flavorful, and big pieces of chickeny-​goodness… Not those wimpy chicken that they have on school lunches in the public school system.
Another one of my favorites is the sweet potato tempura. Once again, the portion sizes are huge. A big slice of potato in crispy (and of course oily, but hey, it is tempura after all) sweet batter.
Can’t go wrong with a little more starch, with choosing the inari cone sushi which is once again, generously packed with not overly vinegary/​sweet (but just just right) rice with little egg bits in it. YUMZ.
Price here is reasonable. I got three plates of two inari sushi, two shoyu chicken, one hot dog, and one sweet potato tempura for close to 30 dollars. Probably the best plate lunch I have had in a while.
Talk about some major nomz up in here. One of my Unilocal friends suggested their fried chicken and butterfish. Guess I just have to order that the next time I’m here!

Warmly greeted when we entered. The specials were clearly posted at entrance all of which sounded amazing and reasonably priced. Many if the wait staff are old timers and were so nice and very attentive to us.
Prices for teishoku at dinner were very reasonable. I had butterfish, tempura and sashimi for $ 19.95. Portions were big, fish was cooked perfectly and tempura was tasty. Although tempura was not as crispy and airy as I’d like.
Husband had fried flounder and tempura for $ 19.95. It was a while fish– and it was huge. Crispy in the outside and moist in the inside.
Daughter had tempura udon $ 11. Broth was a little thin/​watery and not rich with flavor. Also a tab bit too sweet. It was just ok.
Also had sashimi appetizer. The slices of hamachi and ahi were huge! Well workers the $ 20.
Overall good experience and will return.