Chez Kenzo Bar & Grill

Cheese Gyoza!!!
So I have been dying to eat here for so long. I was finally able to go with my friends. We had reservations at 7, right at the end of happy hour (shucks). This place was packed, incredibly lively & super loud. I had to shout to my friends who were across the table.
We ordered the Kenzo Wafu Steak, Cheese Gyoza, Mentaiko Pasta, Kabocha with Bacon & the Parfait. Everything was extremely delicious! The steak came out medium rare at room temp. It was topped with lots of shredded daikon, which is my absolute favorite! The cheese gyoza came with 6 pieces & I thought it was gonna be weird, but the saltiness from the cheese really worked well with the gyoza. I ate 2 pieces cause it was just that good! The mentaiko pasta was also surprisingly good, I thought it was going to be fishy but it wasn’t at all! To end our dinner we shared the parfait which had all types of goodies layered in a cute class. It had cereal, mochi balls, azuki beans, ice cream & I think some shaved ice. Seriously super good & not overly sweet!
If you park in stalls 32 – 76 don’t pay the parking box! My friend & I paid before we walked in & then saw the sign! So beware!
The food was delicious & I will be coming back for more! Maybe for happy hour!

— This place is clean and cool with a nice happy hour from 5PM-​7PM with food and drinks. $ 5 house sake that’s almost a full glass. They have happy hour food as well and I would recommend the sizzling omurice ($ 7) and rock shrimp ($ 7). Something that I order that is not on the happy hour menu is the MENAIKO PASTA ($ 11) its little fish eggs with a light creamy sauce. SOOO GOOD. I tried the mentaiko MAYO pasta and didn’t really care for it too much. The mayo took away some of the nice flavor
— Always nice service with a bunch of servers for when it gets busy.

After dining here on multiple accounts, I always leave Chez Kenzo with a happy belly. The service is always great and there are workers constantly walking around making sure that everyone is content. Food is served fresh, is consistent, and there is never a long wait. Music and vibes are super chill. Tonight my boyfriend and I ordered some of our usual favorites. We ordered the Kenzo steak (medium rare of course) seasoned perfectly. It comes with three different sauces for you to try it with, the wasabi/​green onion one being our fav! We also love the Pasta Salmon with Cream Sauce. It’s smoked salmon, which makes the biggest difference in flavor! The Sautéed Pork with Teri Sauce is soo juicy. Other pastas I enjoy: Pasta Mushroom with Bacon and Uni Pasta. Don’t end the night without their fried ice cream! You won’t regret coming here. I never do.

This was my first meal out since I got back from Japan, so you should all know what that means… my taste buds are primed from all the good eats I had from my trip. I don’t know why but I failed to eat Japanese style pasta on my trip to Japan, and a little bit of my soul was dying because I needed to fulfill it, even if it wasn’t in Japan.
Chez Kenzo was one of the first Unilocal searches I got when I looked up «Japanese Pasta.» At first, I wasn’t too sure about coming here, as it is a bar and I am not too accustomed to eating at bar type environments. But don’t let that deter you! It was a perfectly welcoming and inviting atmosphere with both bar seating/​high tables for drinking with your buddies or sit down tables for dinner and drinks with your girls or a date. In fact, the two spaces are seperated by a partition, so you don’t really see the bar if you are dining on one of the table tops. They definitely cater to all ages and whatever kind of night you are looking to have. There were even children with their parents there, so it is a very family friendly place as well.
It is a bit loud in here as others have mentioned, but it didn’t really bother me too much. You can still have a conversation without raising your voice much. I noticed they also have a private room that is more well lit than the other parts of the space which is nice if you want to have a party or event here.
Service was excellent and we had a variety of different servers which was great because whenever we needed anything someone was always around. They seem to all cover the floor evenly, a very good system in place. My water was never empty and I was always offered refills on drinks.
The food here though is no joke, the bomb dot com. We sampled a variety of items: shrimp salad, garlic bread + mushroom cream sauce, uni pasta, and the pasta skillet (on the special 3 year anniversary menu). Their menu is very extensive and you will no doubt have a hard time picking dishes because you will want EVERYTHING.
What we did order was so damn good. I especially enjoyed the mushroom cream sauce, so delicious, my only complaint is I wish they gave more bread. Pasta was cooked perfectly. And the salad was well seasoned and not heavy at all. We left SO stuffed. I had to walk around Keeaumoku/​Ala Moana to tame the food baby I got from here, lol.
We also got drinks, I would definitely recommend the Pink Starburst, pass on the Hello Kitty *unless you are a fan of cranberry juice. For all the food we got, it came out to only about $ 75… not bad at all considering we ordered 2 entrees, a salad, an appetizer, and 2 drinks. Very reasonable prices. However, if you’re looking to save more. come during happy hour [5−7PM]! They take reservations.
The last amazing thing about this place, if they weren’t already awesome enough… they have a freaking vegan menu! WHAT. I’m not a vegan, but if you have vegan friends they can come here too and be releived to see these options. I’m very intrigued by the vegan Panna Cotta, as you usually have to use gelatin to make it so that it sets, they probably use some sort of seaweed base instead, but I’ll have to try it and report back.
I’m already looking forward to coming back and next time I’m bringing all my friends too!

Need a cool spot to hang out with friends but tired of the same old bar offerings? Chez Kenzo is the place for you! This tucked away lounge features a mixture of American, local, and Japanese food offerings.
Got a late night hankering for ochazuke? Chez Kenzo’s got it! Want some deep fried whole garlic bulbs that turn into caramelized goodness? Chez Kenzo, check! How about nagoya style fried chicken? The best!
Drink options are also great and follow suit with food offerings. Come here for a night out with friends, on a cozy catch up, or a low pressure fun date. This place can get loud depending on if there’s a big party.
Service here is attentive and quick. You can park on the street for free after 6:30pm or there’s a paid lot for the building. It’s tucked away behind the Bank of Hawaii. Enjoy!

The last time I came to Chez Kenzo was back in 2014 for a UYE that bruddah Brian M. hosted here… I don’t know why I took so long before I made my way back here, but I’m glad I finally made it back here last night with a few lifelong friends.
One thing good about coming back here last night was that I got to try more of the grindz at Chez Kenzo. I remembered the last time I was here, I just mostly drank beer… and didn’t eat much, so this time… no beer, only food! Lol!
We ordered a bunch of stuff last night, as we had the following (see pics) —
1. Four Cheese Pizza
2. Fried Rock Shrimp
3. Fried Chicken Wings
4. Hamburger Steak plate
5, Shrimp Salad
6. Tofu & Tegu on a bed of Watercress with Cherry Tomatoes.
7. Ume Pasta
8. Fried Whole Garlic
9. Pork Kakuni
10. Sizzling Omurice.
Of course there were a few other items I missed, but really… there was a lot of food, and so much of us, that I really couldn’t get all the pics on the other end of the table! ;)
The food was really tasty… I especially liked the Four Cheese Pizza, as the crust was on the more doughy side. Also the Fried Rock Shrimp, as well as the Sizzling Omurice was delicious!
For my dinner I wanted something light, so I ordered the Shrimp Salad. I was pretty pleased with it, as the salad had a delicious dressing, and the shrimp was pretty juicy too!
TIP —
If you come here between 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM they have some really great happy hour specials on their food, as well as some drink items. If you can make it to Chez Kenzo at happy hour, I highly recommend it, as you can save a few dollars in your pocket.
This restaurant/​bar is located in the Kaheka area, where the old Verbano’s Restaurant use to be… the restaurant/​bar is quite cozy, but it can get pretty crowded.
If you go here and expect the place to be a quiet, so you can have a conversation… sorry gang, may I suggest you go someplace else, as this Chez Kenzo is pretty loud inside.
Service was excellent, as our waiter came repeatedly to refill our drinks, or bring more alcoholic drinks for my friends. When we ordered food, it came out pretty fast too.
For the amount of alcohol & food we ordered, the bill came out to just over $ 300.00 smackaz, but I must say it was very reasonable for the 13 of us.

TL;DR — This place was just okay. Very loud environment, lot of vegetarian options, mostly expensive mediocre food, Garlic bread + mushroom cream sauce is da sh! t, $ 7 sickly sweet cocktails, long waits between arriving, ordering, and trying to pay.
Came in on a Friday night and was able to secure a reservation for 8 with about 2 hours advance notice which was super awesome. Four of us showed up about 30 minutes early and were planning on hanging out at the bar but surprisingly our table was already ready so we got to chill there. Overall a really great start to an eveving.
Ambience: We got seating in the back/​side room. There was another table with abotu 12 people who were on serious party mode. They were so loud! Haha! But Im all about people partying and having a good time so did not let the bother my night. Just keep in mind that in that enclosed area when people are loud it sounds REALLY loud.
Food: This a tapas style place and I think its probably best to order several items and share amongst the group. Theres a vegan section which was amazing to see! Though I didnt order anything off of there. There were plenty of vegetarian items throughout the rest of menu.
Garlic bread with Mushroom Cream sauce — Holy crap that ish was good. Definite highlight food-​wise. We tried to get them to make a pasta with the cream sauce but they couldnt do it. Waa-​waahw-​waaaaaa.
French fries — I think it was suppose to have cheese on it. If so, it was pretty skimpy. But I still enjoyed them. They’re fries!
Spanish Omelette — Soooooo disappointed in this item. A spanish omelette is potatoes, onions, and eggs. This was a veggie omelette (onions, bell peppers, potatoes) with ALOT of japanese mayo and ketchup on top. It was okay but I was expecting something way different so was disappointed.
Other items order from the group: pumpkin bacon-​something, chicken katsu, chicken parmesan. Of those items the chicken parmesan was the only weak item. Just bland or so I was told.
Drinks: all cocktails are $ 7 and are mostly sickly sweet. If thats your thing then go for it. The only one that wasnt too sweet was the St. Jameson.
Overall, i dont know if I would return on my own accord. But if I was with a group and this place came up I would try it again and order some different items. Theres certainly a variety of options for vegetarians. The hesitation for me is that I dont know if the price warrants the items. Also, we had to wait long periods between ordering food, getting the check, paying, getting our credit cards back. You know how that goes. If I was in a smaller group it would have been more noticeable than it was and would have been annoying.

Must try their kabocha bacon appetizer! So good! I also love their crab pasta and 2^nd best is the mushroom bacon pasta! Great spot to share pupus and come for some drinks!

Such a great atmosphere for a more high-​class bar type event. The server was very attentive and accommodating of our fairly large party. Ended up eating the hamburger steak, cheese gyoza, chicken parmesan, grilled steak, and this mochi ice cream sundae!
Sorta on the pricy side, but the quality of food speaks for itself. Five stars!

Tucked away in a plaza, this restaurant was somewhat hard to find. It’s all the way in the back corner with the inconspicuous sign with dark windows. I sheepish walking in thinking it was a strip club or divvy bar from the outside. You’ll find it though. Keeping walking toward the back and WOW! There it is! No need for sheep after all.
I originally came here on a date during non-​happy hour. Tsk tsk! I should’ve known better. Anyways, many reviewers said it was a great date spot, but I think there are many great spots like Pint and Jigger or Ichiriki. Don’t get me wrong. The place has many elements of a date spot (e.g. dim lighting, and casual and cool vibe) but it’s a bit too relaxed and loud for a date. It’s not as intimate as I’d prefer, but in the end, we both had a good experience.
The drinks and food were pretty darn good. We ordered the Hello Kitty and the Moscow Mule. Both drinks were dangerously delicious since it didn’t taste like alcohol at all. Sneaky! Sneaky! We also ordered the hane cheese gyoza and the pumpkin and bacon sauteed in garlic. The cheese gyoza was a little too cheesy (no pun intended). My fave, of the two options, were the pumpkin and bacon dish. The texture was great and the flavor was a combination of sweet and savory.
I’d recommend coming here for happy hour with friends instead. With a large room to fits 30+ people and another room for patrons, this is a perfect place to chill and catch up with friends. The service is superb, prompt, and courteous. And you won’t have to worry about your water being empty.

First encounter here the other night and I left a very happy & satisfied customer! The vibe here is different here than most bars in the Honolulu area. Lighting is dimmed, high top tables as well as low top tables with sofa seats for those with larger groups.
Their happy hour menu is very limited, so depending on what you’re in the mood for you might not order specifically from there. However, you can’t go wrong with their $ 4 drinks! I tried the midori cocktail that was on their HH menu. It was delish! Definitely will want to order that again.
For the food, my friend that I was with recommended the mentaiko pasta (with no mayo). It was super light, not too fishy like you would imagine. We also had the HH shrimp and the kabocha & bacon. Everything was so good!
Bathrooms located inside, free parking out front so make sure to come early! Not to mention the workers… They were all so nice and very attentive & welcoming. Each one of the waiters & waitress’s made sure everything was ok throughout our entire stay there. Now that’s customer service!

This place is great for chillin with a group of friends or just with your other half.
The atmosphere is not to crazy but love the dim light setting and glistening tables !
Customer service is awesome ! They’re so friendly and attentive !
I would highly recommend a couple of items for my personal favorites!
–garlic bread with mushroom cream sauce
–wafu steak
–cheese Gyoza
I would overall recommend this place if you want something not to crazy, great food and drinks !
Parking is free too !!

I AM IN LOVE WITH CHEZ KENZO!!!
My friends and I decided to eat here on a girls dinner. All of my friends are food lovers, so we had to make sure the choice of restaurant was a good one. And believe me, it did not disappoint!
First off, I would like to say that the waitor we had was awesome! Not only did we have a relatively big group of girls, but we also had 2 children as well. Even with the children making noise and doing what children do, our waitor kept his patience.
The food was great! The sautéed pork with teri sauce was a hit at our table. If I knew it would be that good, I would have ordered the whole plate for myself! Lol… but seriously! It was savory, tender, and packed with flavor. We also had the Uni Pasta, Carbonara, cheese gyoza, and the wild green salad with the house dressing. All of which were amazing choices! For dessert, we had the Fried Ice Cream and the Banana Bread with ice cream. Both were so good that we couldn’t put down out spoons!
Overall, I am definietly impressed at the quality of food and service that this restaurant/​bar is packing!

Checked out this place last night with a few friends. It has a nice low-​key vibe. This is definitely a local spot.
Food:
The Poke dish was really fresh and so good with their sauces. I am usually skeptical about raw fish because the taste is not always fresh and too fishy for me, however, this was a very good experience. It came to us chilled nice and cold which I liked. I appreciate poke more.
Lastly, the Pumpkin dish with Bacon is the yummiest ever. Perfect combination of sweet and savory hits the spot. Wish I had taken pictures!
The Alc:
I had the Oolong Iichiko (aka Oolong HI) which went down really smooth. and enough to make the weekday feel like a weekend. Ha-​ha. I won’t forget their friendly service as well.

We stopped in for dinner one Sunday evening while in town, looking for somewhere new to try and of course we turned to Unilocal to help us decide. We’ve never been to Chez Kenzo, they had good ratings, we were near so off we went. Set towards the back of the Bank of Hawaii building on King Street right after Keeamoku Street, I hadn’t been at this locations since it was an Italian restaurant. It’s hard the establishment from King Street and I don’t think we’d have found it if we hadn’t been walking around. Great find, think we’ll be back in the future.
Food: we decided to try a few of the menu items. looks like it’s better if you have a group of 4 or more so you can try many different items. Since it was only the two of us, we went with what they recommended: Natto Cheese Omelette, Shabu Shabu salad, Tarako Pasta, and a side of homemade pickled vegetables. The omelette, I had my doubts. but the cheese, natto and egg actually work together. then again you gotta love natto if you’re going to try this dish. I found the rest of the dishes well prepared, plated extremely well, and everything was fresh and well seasoned. Pasta was cooked nicely al dente, salad was fresh, and pickles were a nice complement. They have a great selection of drinks and cocktails to pair with the wide assortment of dishes.
Service: We arrived before 6 pm on a Sunday, relatively quite at that time, only a few tables occupied. We found the servers to be very friendly, knowledgeable about all of their dishes and were able to make recommendations after asking you a few questions. They were also able to recommend selections from their drink list based on what you ordered.
Atmosphere: Not sure what it’s like when there’s a big crowd but it looks like a good space to bring a group. It was early, a few other diners, a time if you enjoy a mellow space to kick back, relax, have a good meal, and try out some new and fun drinks.
Value: Some of it on the pricier side. most of the evening dishes were between $ 10 and $ 20, seeing that they are mostly meant to be shared, the cost can add up quickly when you include the drink tab. The food though was fresh, well prepared, and thoughtfully presented.
Overall: The menu is interesting enough that we will definitely return to try out more of their selections. Natto Pasta anyone? The food runs the gamut from local favorites to Japanese pasta to pacific rim to… the list goes on. Sometimes establishments try to do too much and it doesn’t fit together but we are very willing to come back to sample more. and of course share our experience on Unilocal

I LOVE this place! Awesome food in a casual central location. Service is amazing. Rich is my personal favorite. If he doesn’t write down your order, relax cause he’s got it. I don’t know how, but he gets it every time.
Happy hour is great. Shrimp salad, garlic bread, pesto pasta just to name a few. Things that are a must order/​must try on their menu are 1) cheese gyoza, 2) uni pasta, 3) ume pasta, 4) bacon kabocha, 5) cream cheese poke.
But you could basically order anything and satisfaction will follow. They also have a separate menu just for drinks.

One of the best meals we had in Honolulu! A bit off the main stretch of restaurants and lights, we came here once to meet up with some friends — didn’t eat, but was super impressed with the fast service and casual vibe :) Came back for dinner and was so glad we did!
FOOD:
They have HH until 7pm and we made it just in the nick of time!
— pork kakuni (HH) — I loooove kakuni and this one was really flavorful and tender. Portion was on the smaller side, but it was HH.
— sizzling omurice (HH) — yummmmy! Big portion and really does come out sizzling! Really flavorful and umami, totally hit the spot
— mushroom and bacon pasta — we were intrigued by the white wine soy sauce and it did not disappoint! Pasta was cooked perfectly, and flavor was just the right balance between salty and creamy.
SERVICE:
Excellent. Super fast and friendly, no complaints.
Casual vibe, there’s a private back room, and the main dining area is split into two — one side with bar tables and one side with regular tables. Really glad we got to eat here!

Chez Kenzo is an ambiguous bar… on one hand, a trendy and interesting Izakaya, and on the other a local American style bar touting the usual Heineken, Bud, and Coors staples… and while the bar I believe has been around for a while (maybe in different locations), it doesn’t seem to get its due recognition.
Truly, I was really impressed by the place. The exterior is unassuming and generic (looks like your typical sports bar); you see tacky (IMO) beer bar neon signs for Budweiser and Heneiken in the window, and sports playing on a large flatpanel directly behind the bar… but once inside, it’s actually a sleek, urban watering hole with nice high top tables situated closest to the bar and a spacious sit down area great for large parties, or a couple on date night… that’s the interesting thing; it’s dark and moody in the restaurant like a dank bar, but it’s actually romantic moody and chill… strange, yet awesome vibe!
The food was just spectacular! We ordered odds and ends off the Happy Hour menu (5pm — 7pm on a Saturday!) — Cheese Pizza (w/​tomato) and Pesto sauce; Pesto and Pine Nut Pasta, Omu Rice (fried rice instead of ketchup rice), and a few off main menu… rock shrimp salad, Mentaiko Pasta which was amazingly delicious, and their signature kabocha and bacon which did not dissapoint with perfectly steamed kobacha, with perfect savoriness from the bacon fat.
I feel like they weren’t as busy as they should be on a Saturday which is fine by us, but this place really is one of the best kept secrets in Oahu. I will certainly be back very soon!!!

After a 4.5 mile walk around diamond head Diana and I got our healthy fix at Shaka’s. We both love Mentaiko pasta. Star Advertiser featured this particular one this week. So here we are…
The atmosphere is dark with dark walls and furniture. It’s clean and has a minimalist décor style. Nicer than most bars in Hawaii.
I hesitated to bring my daughter so I was delighted to see that the table next to us had 2 kids 7 – 9 years old.
On the menu tonight we enjoyed the kabocha and bacon. My daughter had ½ the bacon and D and I shared the other half. The pumpkin is well seasoned and cooked tender but not overdone.
The wafu hamburger steak comes with dense mashed potatoes, onions and a dark gravy. Somewhere in the bite you get a taste of cheese. The Mentaiko pasta is full of flavor a little shiso, good amount of roe and the pasta cooked el denote just right for this dish. Basically I inhaled this dish.
Good amount for the prices. I forgot how much each dish was but for the 3 above the total was $ 42.
I will be back to try other items and their drinks.
I’ll be back to try other items

Chez Kenzo is a nice place to get a drink with your friends and hangout. It’s a nice and clean bar. The few times I’ve been here I see people bringing their young children. Okay.
As for food, I’ve tried pesto pasta, fried chicken, pork chop salad, pizza. They were all good. They also have happy hours 5−7pm.
The service is excellent. Staff are friendly and efficient. You never have to flag them down. They’re always available to fill up your water and take more order. I love places like this.
Parking is free during evening. It’s the same lot as Bank of Hawaii. Make sure you park in the right place. Stalls are numbered. You can check the stall number on the entrance door.