IDETA JAPANESE RESTAURANT

IDETA JAPANESE RESTAURANT

HONOLULU, HAWAII 

Enjoyed a nice lunch at Ideta Japanese Restaurant on Dillingham Blvd.  While Ideta's serves sushi, noodle dishes and Japanese favorites ala carte, we usually go for the Set Lunch Menu.  At $18-$20 it is a bit expensive for lunch, but the portions are big and this meal fills you up for the day.  I went for the Tempura and Teriyaki Mahi Mahi Lunch while my friends went for the Tempura, Butterfish and Sushi Lunch.  I liked the warm Miso Soup on a chilly rainy Hawaii day.  The Tempura is pretty heavily  battered so I pulled most of the fried batter off and ate just the shrimp, fish, carrot and sweet potato.  Served with a nice not too sweet dipping sauce.  Loved the Teriyaki Mahi Mahi.  The fish was moist and flavorful.  Ideta serves a really good Thousand Island type dressing with the salad that comes with the meal.  The service here is always good.  The food comes out quickly so you can get in and out on a timely basis for lunch.  Ideta is a typical old school Japanese restaurant that is a favorite with the locals.  Seem to always see someone I know here.

IDETA JAPANESE RESTAURANT

IDETA JAPANESE RESTAURANT ON DILLINGHAM

SET MENU LUNCH INCLUDES SOME GOOD MISO SOUP

CABBAGE AND SEAWEED

SHRIMP AND VEGETABLE TEMPURA

BUTTERFISH

TERIYAKI MAHI MAHI WITH SALAD

WASABI BISTRO

WASABI BISTRO

HONOLULU,  HAWAII 

We have a rental property in Waikiki and occasionally venture down into the jungle of people to check it out.  The location is close to the beach in an area that features many small ethic restaurants.  We tried the Wasabi Bistro for Japanese food and enjoyed it.  The Wasabi Bistro is located behind the pool area of an older hotel property on Beach Walk.  The Breakers Hotel is a trip into the 1970's with small rooms with louvered windows and not much air conditioning.  The open air lobby takes you back to a different time in Waikiki before the large luxury hotels.  No frills here.  Just a room 1/2 block from the beach.  We could not even find a parking lot for the hotel.  Could not figure out where the guests park.  We asked our waitress where patrons can park and she gave us several pay lot locations around the hotel and restaurant.  The Wasabi Bistro is a small restaurant that is really just on the patio and covered with a canopy.  There is a very small bar and a collection of miss matched chairs, glass chandeliers and household standing lamps.  Interesting decor.  The menu was quite extensive covering maybe six pages with the lunch and dinner selections.  We ate family style and started with the Chicken Teriyaki Lunch ($12.50).  This was a large portion of chicken served with a house salad, miso soup, rice and pickled vegetables.  More than enough here for two people.  We found the chicken to be tasty but very dry.  The Sampler Platter ($19.50) included Ahi Poke, Soft Shell Crab, Maui Onions, Sushi and the House Special Ball that contained imitation crab and avocado wrapped in a White Fish with special sauce.  I liked the Ball but don't know if I would order it again.  The Ahi Poke was fresh and delicious.  The Soft Shell Crab seemed dry and a bit old.  Did not get why they serve a bowl of sliced Maui Onions but I added them to everything on the plate and it did add nice flavor to each dish.  Ended up eating them all.  The Sampler also included two pieces of sushi.  Our final dish was the Super California Roll ($18.50).  This is a standard California Roll topped with Eel.  Simply delicious.  Service was good for lunch but there were only a few tables occupied.  Would like to go back to Wasabi Bistro and try some of the other dishes.

WASABI BISTRO

ENTRANCE ON BEACH WALK AT THE BREAKERS HOTEL

WALK PAST THE HOTEL POOL

BISTRO LOCATED JUST PAST THE POOL AREA

OPEN AIR ENTRANCE TO RESTAURANT

OPEN AIR SEATING UNDER A CANOPY

NICE TABLE NEXT TO WINDOW TO STAY COOL

HOUSE SALAD

TERIYAKI CHICKEN LUNCH WITH RICE AND MISO SOUP

NICE PORTION OF TERIYAKI CHICKEN

WASABI BISTRO SAMPLER

IMITATION CRAB WRAPED IN FISH WITH AVOCADO AND SPECIAL SAUCE

TWO PIECES AHI AND SALMON SUSHI

SHAVED MAUI ONIONS

AHI POKE WITH SEAWEED AND CASHEWS

SOFT SHELL CRAB IN PONZU SAUCE

SUPER CALIFORNIA ROLL WITH EEL ON TOP

TANAKA OF TOKYO - ALA MOANA CENTER

TANAKA OF TOKYO

ALA MOANA CENTER

HONOLULU, HAWAII

TANAKA OF TOKYO

My daughter remembered me talking about having a business lunch at Tanaka of Tokyo.  I told her about how the chefs cook the food at your table and do great tricks while cutting and preparing the meal.  She asked me to take her there and I just could not say no.  While this is an expensive lunch, it was well worth the price to spend this time with my daughter and watch her eyes light up as the chef prepared our meal.  There is a Kids Meal Menu at Tanaka of Tokyo, but Keli chose to order off Dad's menu.  We both went for a Combination Lunch.  I had the Steak and Shrimp ($17.75) and Keli had the Chef's Special Steak and Teriyaki Chicken ($18.50).  The meals include pickled vegetables, Miso Soup, Rice, Mixed Grilled Vegetables, Shrimp Appetizer and Hot Tea.  You are given two dipping sauces.  One is a Ginger/Soy dressing that is used for Seafood and Vegetables.  The second sauce is a Mustard based sauce for the beef.  Both are delicious.  The meal starts with the chef juggling, spinning, tossing and hitting his knives while telling jokes.  He then grills the shrimp with lemon juice, butter, salt and soy sauce.  As he removes the shrimp tails he flips his spatula and they fly into a bowl that is hidden in his large chef's hat.  Other tails end up in his front pocket and then still more go up top to his head.  He then takes the bowl from his hat and flips it around his waist without dropping a single piece.  The shrimp is served hot off the grill.  After the shrimp comes a nice array of onions, bell pepper and mushrooms.  After the vegetables are served, the chef prepares and onion in the form of a volcano.  The onion erupts in a 3' flame and then the chef makes it steam and then finally erupt with bubbling lava.  Pretty good show.  We upgraded the standard white rice to Fried Rice.  The chef pulls out and egg for the Fried Rice and flips it around like it is made of steel.  The egg does not break.  They when he is ready, the chef cracks the egg on the cooktop and then begins to add the other ingredients.  During the cooking process the chefs tell dozens of one line jokes that are suited for kids and adults.  The main courses are served ant then a large portion of sauteed bean sprouts is offered to everyone at the table.  Love the sprouts and I loved the Steak and Shrimp lunch and Keli really liked the shrimp.  The Miso Soup was also very delicious.  This was an excellent meal with great service.  The staff here is young well trained.  They really try to make sure that your dining experience is good.

FAMILY STYLE SEATING MEANS YOU WILL MAKE
SOME NEW FRIENDS AND SIT WITH STRANGERS

THE CHEFS ARE THE STAR OF THE SHOW WITH TRICKS AND JOKES

LUNCH COMBINATION MENU (CLICK TO ENLARGE

CHEF PREPARES THE VOLCANO ONION
IT ERUPTS, BUBBLES AND FLOWS

THE ONION VOLCANO ERUPTION IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

DIPPING SAUCES - GINGER AND SOY ON LEFT / MUSTARD ON RIGHT

SHRIMP APPETIZER COMES WITH MEAL

GRILLED ONIONS, BELL PEPPER AND MUSHROOMS

FRIED RICE

GRILLED STEAK AND SHRIMP

STEAK, CHICKEN, VEGETABLES AND FRIED RICE