Usagiya Traditional Japanese Dishes & Bento

I’ve walked by this place many times but today the fragrant curry rice stopped me and got my attention!
Location: Ala Moana Center. Shirokiya upstairs food court.
Although they have lots of pre made bentos, you can make your own by choosing rice, curry rice or potato salad and meat.
Today my wife got a bento. What I usually get is cold soba noodles or soba/​salad combo in the cabinet to the left. It makes for a light and healthy option. Be sure to check out that small cabinet for the cold items.
For some reason it seems like these guys have improved the quality of their food recently. I like it! We’ll be back!

Usagiya is responsible for my obsession with nishime! They don’t have a sign posted in English, but just look for the dark blue awning on top floor of Shirokiya with Japanese characters shaped like a rabbit (usagi=rabbit).
Two years ago I didn’t even know what nishime was, and now I can’t get enough! My girlfriend had brought me to Shirokiya for lunch and as we browsed around, I pointed quizzically at a bento of carrots, daikon, gobo, seaweed, and other veggies and roots. My girlfriend gave me an incredulous look, as if to say «you’ve never had nishime??» Well, she quickly fixed that by buying me a bento from Usagiya, then it was done, I was hooked.
Usagiya has a good assortment of bentos. Many of them come with specialty servings of rice. I’m not sure what they’re called, but they’re heavier and more glutinous, with beans and other ingredients to make rice so good you can eat it all by itself! The purple rice with beans is my favorite. One thing that always frustrates me is that the bentos with the nishime never have the rice that I like! It’s like they’re purposefully torturing me by making me choose between the two best items they have – nishime or purple rice. What am I supposed to do?! Please just make one with both, and mark it «reserved for Joe W.» The bentos are pretty pricey, usually $ 8.50 or more, but they are so worth it. You just can’t go eating this every day or you’ll break the bank.