Nakai Saimin

I don’t like giving negative reviews but I was not impressed at all. I thought hand cut noodles would be great. It was flat and OK in texture but the broth was terrible, like another reviewer said Watered Down!
The Bar-​B-​Q Stick was 2 flat thin pieces of teriyaki meat (not old school style at all). The prices are very expensive compared to other Saimin Shops. I think the large Saimin was $ 7.25 (which was not large) and the BBG Stick was $ 2.75 (and not good).
For Old School Saimin stick with The Old Saimin House in Kalihi by Diners Drive-​In or across the street at Palace Saimin. They are truly Old School Saimin, Great Texture in their Noodles with Delicious Broth and Old School BBQ Sticks (Thickly Cut Beef On A Stick with just the right BBQ Sauce).
It was worth a try going to Nakai Saimin and I realize each and everyone of us has their own taste (not for me though).

What a saimin shop should be.
This hole-​in-​the-​wall saimin shop is great. The building dates itself, but the design of the continuous storefront is neat. There are only a few seats, but it was empty when we got there. The dining area was very clean. We sat down and was greeted by the server. As we started eating more and more people began to trickle in and soon almost all the tables were full.
I ordered a small saimin and a loco moco. My parents ordered the teri hamburger steak and kim chee saimin. My grandma ordered the won ton saimin. All were good! I have to say, the food hit the spot. The hamburger was homemade and so were the delicious saimin noodles. They put a lot of noodles inside the bowl and was surprised how big the small saimin was.
Parking is on the street only. If there is no parking, I’d park at Safeway parking lot and walk over. The walk isn’t too far.
I am a total ramen fan, but I do crave good saimin. I will specifically crave Nakai’s Saimin from now on.

We tried coming here three times, since we were visiting folks in Chinatown, so we were happy when we found them open on Sunday afternoon. We were the only patrons; the place is very bare, and the server was in the back with the cook, and not really very attentive.
The price is reasonable (I think 6.50) for plain saimin. The hit was the homemade, square cut saimin, firm and tasty. There is also a big helping (I think there is small and large, and we got large), but not much soup. I’m not a saimin expert, but the soup is nothing like a great ramen broth. The cha siu was also very soft and tastless.
We also had a pork chop plate lunch, disappointingly thin, dry, and covered with mushroom gravy to go with the rice.
Too bad, because the noodles are really great!

I came here for the breakfast special only.
I guess they only recently started to begin serving breakfast, because outside of their shop, covering the Nakai Saimin name is a sign advertising their new breakfast specials. There are several of your typical variations… All including a drink with the price. ~$ 5 for a breakfast? Count me in!
I got the special (I think) which included 2 scoops of rice, 2 eggs, bacon, portuguese sausage, and ham. I also opted to upgrade my regular rice for fried rice for an extra dollar… because well, why not? I love me some fried rice any day! :D
The food itsself was alright … Nothing spectacular, but for $ 5, I can’t really complain. Although I do regret my fried rice upgrade, it tasted like regular rice coated in shoyu and shoyu alone. For that dollar I would just buy myself a bottle of shoyu, so that was disappointing. It was also a little greasier than I liked. I know, I know, in what world are breakfast meats not a little greasy right…? But the best way I can explain it is that the meats didn’t meet the plate covered with paper towel interface as they went from pan to serving plate. :(
My biggest complaint about this place is not the food. It wasn’t the best breakfast that I’ve ever had, but it was cheap so I was full and my stomach was happy. No, it was that this place was literally like an oven. It’s smallish (seats like 20?) and the kitchen is very close and the fans weren’t on. I couldn’t wait to finish my food to get some air. Maybe I’ll come back to try their saimin since I’ve read that their noodles are handmade… But if I come back and the fans aren’t on. I’ll definitely remember to do takeout.

I’m not sure why there are so many haters for this place and yet Shiges gets such a high rating. Oh well, to each his own. I went to both Shiges and Nakai in recent months and I have to say I was pretty impressed with Nakai. I usually try to bring along other friends to check their opinions about a place and so far mostly everyone liked it. I think this is one place that you should definitely follow the saying,” Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”
Coming from a Saimin family, I love a good bowl of noodles. Nakai already gets props from me because they don’t use the Noodle Monopoly, Sun Noodles. Anyone who makes their own noodles works hard and is using a dying art. The noodles make a very good and solid saimin. The noodles were cooked perfectly and it was delicious with a shrimp dominate soup. The won ton were small as usual but it was flavorful. It tasted a little different. Actually closer a Chinese Won ton that what I usually have in a Saimin. Overall, I had a VERY solid saimin. Not quite a Palace saimin level but good. I think some people get turned off by a flat wider noodle than what we usually see in saimin from other places. Hello? The other places are sun noodles thats why!
I loved the Cheeseburger here. They fry it on a flat grill so its nice and crispy with a buttered bun. It complimented my saimin well. I didn’t think the Beef stick was too good. The meat was too thin and I didnt like the flavor of the teri sauce. A bit dry for me.
Service was excellent and friendly and I was really happy to get a nice comforting bowl of noodles. Once again, I guess everyone who tries this place had its own idea of what Saimin should taste like. Perhaps come with an open mind if you wish to try this place. I was pleasantly surprise.

This place was just okay. Very clean. The owner/​waitress was not very friendly and the notice on the wall about her denying having stole from customers was strange. Tried to engage her about this and it seemed she was still distressed.
The fresh noodles were a plus. I had the fried saimin and the noodles made the dish. My friend had the Kim chee saimin and there was nothing outstanding about it. I’m willing to try this place again, but I’m not in a hurry to do so.

Nakai Saimin is a small saimin shop on Nuuanu Avenue, with about 8 tables. Parking on Nuuanu is very limited, but I overheard that you can park in the back, though I don’t know how many spaces there were. Limited hours, though (closed twice a week during lunch and twice during dinner, but on different days), so plan ahead or call. It wasn’t busy at all when I went — I was one of two groups that were in for pretty much my whole meal. There’s signs posted up along the walls about someone accusing the owner of stealing money — seems as though they’ve been on the receiving end of some bad PR. But they’re adamant they’ve done no such thing! (And I’m inclined to believe them.)
Also a note — credit cards are allowed, but $ 15 minimum purchase required! Given the prices here, it’ll take at least a couple orders (or one really hungry person) to hit that minimum.
Anyway, to the food — I ordered the small wun tun saimin with vegetables. It was fair sized for $ 6.50 ($ 5.50 + $ 1 veg add-​on) — maybe on the smaller side, if anything. The homemade noodles were really thin and just chewy enough — a pleasure to eat.
I wish I could comment more on the actual flavor of everything, but I’ve been battling congestion, so I only picked up on a few flavors. I’m the type to enjoy the more subtle flavors (read: blander, less explosive flavors), so maybe it was a good thing in hindsight. I will note here that for all the people complaining about blandness of the broth, I picked up on the flavor of the broth and enjoyed it, even through my cold. So, take it for what it’s worth. Some of the veggies seemed out of place, though — like the bean sprouts. I’m used to it in ramen, but saimin dashi has less of a strong flavor, so it didn’t seem to mesh well. Wun tun was … wun tun. Nothing too special.
Pros: Good service (the waitress/​owner (?) was really nice and made me feel welcome, added to the old-​school vibe of the place); clean; fair price; some good flavors
Cons: parking; some flavors didn’t seem to mesh well, so hit or miss, I guess; if you believe «More is Better», you’ll probably be disappointed; odd hours; credit card minimum
Nakai reminds me of simplicity from the good old days — simple menu, nothing fancy. I enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to giving it another try … hopefully the next time, I’ll be able to taste the homemade noodle. Damn this cough.

An odd dining experience. I’ll cut to the positive: Fresh, well-​cooked noodles and the broth for $ 4.75. And this tiny, six-​table place is super clean.
The less-​than-​positive or odd:
— The waitress seemed shocked when I walked in and suspect that I was a customer. Could have been that I was in my gym clothes and about three times taller than she.
— She yelled at me to pay (you pay now) after she delivered my food. Then she slowly counted back the change and suggested I check her math against the check.
— While the saimin and broth was good, the bits of charsiu and such were pretty sparse.
— The side teri beef stick was a wafer-​thin piece of wet beef jerky. Not worth the $ 2.50
They have other typical things on the menu, like won ton soup, fried noodles, plate lunches and hamburgers and sandwiches. The group that came after me stayed in the plate lunch and sandwich realm. (Hmmm, maybe they know something I don’t know.)
I think I’d go back for a bag of fresh noodles ($ 1.50) and fry ‘em up at home.

The noodles were great especially since they make their own. I had the WonTon Min which had petite wonton soaking in a classic slightly dishwater looking soup base which while not whitish like some places I could have used a bit more flavor in the soup, Granted this isn’t Ramen but I’ve had much more flavorful saimin soup base from other places. I’ve also have had the Seafood Saimin and that is also good but the same with the soup a little more flavor in it would be nice.
The service is quick and friendly, parking can be a problem unless you are walking from somewhere nearby. I found the Teriyaki to be pretty flavorful although a bit more would be nice. All in all I still would go back to eat here reminds me when my dad or my grandparents would take us to eat Saimin.

I’m pretty much in agreement with the last 4 reviews. The noodles are worth the experience. But the broth, oh yucky. Sadly, I won’t be returning!
Tasty, salty broth is a MUST if you are spending the effort of hand crafting your noodles. Michael W. said he might have been kind of, «congested» and that’s why he couldn’t absorb the flavors of the soup.
Well my big, sniffing, piggish, nostrils were wide open when I tasted their saimin and my tastebuds were woefully disappointed. Noodles A+++. Broth a minus 10. Bleh.
Props to Miki L.‘s review or I wouldn’t have known they sell their noodles uncooked. Good deal at $ 1.50. Would do that.
My fatso sister and I were the only ones in the restaurant for dinner. It wasn’t clean at all. The floor was littered with debris. It didn’t add to the, «Zen» ambiance which was nice and peaceful. They didn’t need a bamboo broom, they needed a bamboo rake.
The waitress oddly did give us the check as we were starting to eat (so we felt rushed) but maybe they have been burned by customers not paying (?)
Eh, so what if the owner stole money? I went for noodles.