Dish Go

Dish Go is closed for business. Stopped by for lunch today and there is a for lease sign out front. Took a peek through the window and half of the place was empty. Too bad. I really enjoyed eating there.

Well, what can I say… I’m a sucker for endless amounts of food at a good price. ($ 17.99)
I frequent Camellia and Sikdorak and probably would’ve hit this place up sooner if I knew it was here. I had driven by the this place a bunch of times but for some reason I always thought this was a place selling Dish Network subscriptions. It was only recently that a friend of mine suggested we eat here.
We came in for an early lunch and was a bit worried that there was no one else in the restaurant. After being seated a few other groups came in so our minds were more at ease.
One of the first things that caught my attention was that Dish Go is clean. Maybe because it’s fairly new but it was a nice change from the other eat-​til-​u-​explode places we frequent that are older and much, MUCH more «broken in». The ventilation system here looks pretty good also so hopefully they can maintain the clean atmosphere.
As far as the food, we both thought all the dishes that were out were all very fresh. The selection isn’t as big as Camellias but the meats and vegetables all looked freshly chopped and neatly organized. This could be because we were there so early so I’ll need to have dinner here and see if it’s any different. Not that I need to have an excuse to come back here, though. Any decent all-​you-​can-​eat spots will always have me coming back.
Our favorites were the spicy pork, bbq chicken, and the kalbi. The marinade they were in wasn’t overpoweringly sweet like some of the other places. We were able to taste more of the meat which was a real good thing. Service was also good, they were very attentive and came by often to refill our waters and just to check how everything was going.
I’ll definitely be back.

Came here with friends to try it out. Pretty good. Clean restaurant and friendly service. Parking was a little confusing because of the pay box, but the employee ensured us we didn’t have to pay. Wish there was more selection though.

So we used to go to Camellia all the time. On this last visit from the mainland, we decided to try the new restaurant.
BYOB! It’s kind of good in that it’s cheaper to bring your own stuff, but I wish I knew ahead of time. Had to go to Long’s and buy a warm bottle of soju. I drank it on ice, but it wasn’t the same. Anyway, I digress.
The meat here is good. The quality and flavor are just as good as any sit down Korean BBQ in my opinion. It is better than the old Camellia. The ban chan variety is not the greatest, but they have enough of the main items to satisfy my cravings. I do miss the sekihan rice though.
The price is reasonable.
Random notes: I noticed that they don’t have ventilation directly over the table. Is this not a regulation in Hawaii. The smoke wasn’t too bad, but the restaurant wasn’t full. Secondly, all the workers/​owners? don’t speak English. It didn’t really matter, but they could not respond to a couple of questions I had.

My two adult sons and I went for dinner last week while in Honolulu. We decided to try this place due to Val’s comments about hearing that it is pretty good. Well, it was good. Good price too — only $ 17.99 for dinner. Not as many banchan choices as we used to experience at the old Camellia, but just as much meat choices. And my son’s thought that the meat quality was better; me — I could not tell. They had squid and head-​on shrimps too.
The one draw back for me was that they do not have a liquor license — not even a beer and wine liquor license. Good thing that Long’s is right across the street so we could run there and buy our BYOB drinks. They did not even charge us a corkage charge which was great.
I will be back the next time I am in Honolulu, especially for the price.

Went here for a late Valentines day dinner with my wife. The price was reasonable 18.00 $. The selection was OK. Not a lot of choices but enough to satisfy. This restaurant sits on the old sight of the former Camellas. I love Yakiniku and this was good for a small hole in the wall restaurant. The home made kim chee was really good. Spicy just the way I like it.
The service was really good we got a chance to talk to one of the waitresses and the BUS help. Being a cook and working in the food service industry I got to support my local mom and pop restaurants. I will defiantly come back. Good food at reasonable prices.

they know what i like… and theres llllllooooootttts of it… plenty. try the kim chee salad. the sauce is not gochujang, not kim chee. some kind of spicy vinegarette is hard to find in hawaii.

I don’t know how Gary N. convinced me to give Dish Go another go since our first encounter with this place was not a good one. He reassured me that it’s now under new ownership/​management, but I was still afraid that we would be stuck with five plates of raunchy brown mystery meat circling around on a creaky conveyor belt. Fortunately, Dish Go got rid of the conveyor belt and they are now an ordinary AYCE Korean yakiniku restaurant. Lunch is $ 17.99 per person, and it was good, so I figured it’s only fair that I update my previous scathing review of this place.
Meat selection is decent– There are seven different kinds of meats, but the kalbi is the best by far. The pork belly was kind of chewy, and we also noticed that there was no ribeye. Boo. I think there are some squid legs too, but I’m not sure. Vegetables include bell peppers, onions, zucchini, mushrooms, and lettuce.
There are ten different standard banchan dishes that one would expect to find at an AYCE yakiniku joint. None of them were cool or memorable besides the thinly-​sliced pickled daikon. Take a slice, put a piece of grilled meat on it, add whatever sauce you like, slap on a clove of garlic, then roll it up and shove that whole damn thing into your mouth for some fun times.
There are also different salads, fruits, and jello in another refrigerated case, but none of them are interesting. The jello, like the pork belly, was hard and chewy. No bueno. I’d say skip this section entirely and save your stomach room for meat.
My only gripe/​first world problem: the garlic is thinly sliced, which is great, but when we put them on the grill, some of them would fall into the holes in the grill. We must have dropped a whole clove of garlic down there. Oops.
Service was great, probably because we were the only customers for lunch. The servers constantly checked up on us, our water glasses were always filled, and they even changed the grill for us three times!
Honestly, I thought I think Dish Go is really more like 3.5 stars, but I’m bumping it up to 4 stars because the restaurant is CLEAN, service was great, and we had a pleasant experience because we had the entire restaurant to ourselves for two and a half hours. However, I can imagine that if the restaurant were full that we would have a completely different experience at Dish Go.

I was sad when Dish Go closed for a few months. The concept of kaiten yakiniku was interesting and I didn’t care for it much. What was good about Dish Go was the food and the service.
Imagine how happy I was a few days ago to walk into Longs in Moiliili and just peeked across the street. Dish Go is now reopen. HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAY. I grabbed a group of 3 friends and we headed over following a few days.
They got rid of the conveyor belt, and now is a walk up all you can eat yakiniku with lots of choices. It is the same concept as Camelia but I found the meats and other food to taste much better. Also, the meats were chilled properly so meats stay good. There is a big selection of side dishes and desserts. Owners told us that the family also owns a meat market so the top notch meats go to their restaurant.
The service was top notch. Your waters are always filled, grills always changed so you don’t get the yucky burnt stuff. For the price at $ 25, it is $ 5 more expensive than places like Camelia and Sikdorak, but it is easily worth $ 5 more. Everything is better.
I hope Dish Go stays up this time. Try it out as your alternative!

I would have to admit, when this placed first opened, i really wanted to try this place out. by the time i wanted to go, they were CLOSED. i was somewhat upset, but they decided to open again!
service — the servers were keeping up with their customers, and my water cup was never empty!
atmosphere — very well lit, home like
eating and food area — VERY CLEAN! it might be because they just opened again, but very clean, loved it!
food — was very yummy, the dishes were very good and very well seasoned.
PROS — the area is close to UHM, the people there were nice, i enjoyed the food
CONS? the only bad thing about this place (which would be the reason why i gave it 4 stars instead of 5) would be because for the price of $ 25 per person, the selection of meats and side dishes were really small. compared to the different all you can eat yakinuku places, this would be the only place that has the smallest selection available to their customers. it might be because they just opened not that long ago and it was opening day. but i love having a selection and never being able to decide what i want in the end.
overall you would have to experience this place yourself and make your own judgment, i would definitely come back, but hopefully by then they’ll have more selection!

Must Order: Kalbi
The concept of conveyor belts in dining is not new. Conveyor belts that loop around with yakiniku dishes as part of your buffet is pretty cool.
We went here as a group, buffet eating seems to be better (and more gluttonous) as a group. It was fairly early on Saturday so we were the only ones there. We got great service from the people there (although their English was limited). The conveyor started and out came various meats, veggies and seafood for our taking. Since it was a buffet the color of the dishes were unimportant which makes me a more grabby person with the conveyor belt!
The kalbi was great. It was marinated really well and very tender. The spicy pork was also well marinated. I wish they had more veggie options. I think we only had onions and mushrooms as options.
The place is a little pricey so I wished there were a little more options to choose from. All in all, a fun place to go with friends, an empty stomach and grabby hands!

There is something strangely unappetizing when raw meat is circling around you on a conveyer belt. Dish-​go seems like a pretty sweet concept, by eliminating a servers role, it allows a more intimate dining experience among your group, kind of like yakiniku at home. But if you’re expected to pay $ 25.99 and the offerings are less than what you’d bring to your own home, it seems a little unfair.
I was pretty upset by a number of things. First, I hate it when my water glass is empty. Perhaps I wouldn’t be so upset if they offered their own water cart where you can help yourself, but there was none, and every water pitcher was empty. I couldn’t help but wonder where the waiters were when they weren’t actually waiting on tables.
The next thing is the selection of food on the conveyer belt. We arrived at around 6pm on a Saturday and it was pretty dead in the restaurant. So the choices of meat on the conveyer belt consisted of loin cuts, kalbi, and marinated chicken. Even though the quality of the loin was obviously amazing, perfect marbling, there was absolutely no flavor on it. The condiments they offered were nil– outside the typical salt/​pepper/​oil dipping which did nothing for the meat. After an hour of eating, other meats began to appear on the conveyer belt, but none were noteworthy. They were all chewy, bland, and cut in awkward, small chunks to large, overwhelming pieces.
They never brought us a pair of tongs until we were nearly done with our meal. There were hardly any veggie options outside of moyashi (bean sprouts) and kimchi. That is, until just about when we were leaving, when mushrooms, bell peppers, various kimchi salads and offerings appeared. Pretty upsetting.
The rice was ridiculously dry. My boyfriend commented that it was likely because people left the cooker open for too long, but I think it was more an issue of how it was prepared.
I left feeling not that full, but without appetite. And this morning I just feel kind of gross. I don’t think I’ll ever be back.

NEGATIVES:
There is a guy who stands outside and opens the door for you when you walk in… He didnt open it for us when we were walking out though, thanks guy.
$ 9 soju, what the heck?! For a 12 oz bottle… I saw tables with pitchers of soju, which is what I wanted, but it wasnt even offered to us. Oh well I guess I saved some money there.
POSITIVES:
The kimchi is so good, not extremely salty but very spicy! Just how I like it! The spicy pork was really good too, tender pieces of meat. or maybe thats just because I have great cooking skills.
I wish they had gyu-​tan here, then Id be REALLY happy!
The waitress was nice, friendly, and attentive. Right on! Also funny to talk to when you are drunk, aunty is super cool (:

Word to the wise… save $ 25.95 and avoid this place. Sushi on a conveyor belt is a spectacular idea, but yakiniku meat circling over and over again makes you think twice. I just ate here tonight and it was horrible. The meat was tough – yes, the thinly sliced shabu shabu type meat and even the beef outskirts (if you eat the preset «C» at Million Restaurant you know what I’m talking about). The only thing that was semi-​decent was the teri chicken. I didn’t even realize it was teri chicken when I took it off the conveyor belt, and that’s telling you something when you can’t identify meat. So what was circling around when I walked in at around 7ish… ika, vegetable pancakes, plain chicken, the aforementioned meat, mushroom, kim chee, slices of lettuce and old withered bean sprouts. That’s pretty sad when the place charges you $ 25.95 for «all you can eat» because the truth is you won’t want to eat much. I wish I had took the advice of other Unilocal reviewers before I ate here. If you decide to ignore the bad reviews, here’s some advice :
1. If the meat looks dry, that means it has been circling for a while. The same goes for seafood. I used to work and Genki Sushi while in college, so I know a little about the whole «food on a conveyor belt» system.
2. Just because it looks fresh doesn’t mean it is fresh. The thinly sliced meat looked super red and «fresh,» but I realized it was frozen after taking it off the conveyor belt. I’m not saying that all frozen meat is bad, but it just means that color doesn’t mean everything.
3. Although color doesn’t mean everything, it does mean something. If something’s not soaking in a sauce and it’s browning, avoid it. You’ll regret it when you go home and run straight to the toilet.
I hope that’s helpful to any of you curious foodies!

Ate at DishGo with my boyfriend and our four kids, ranging in age from 2 years old to 8. The atmosphere was relativley busy and energetic. I am not really a meat person however the chicken that was served was delicious and I also enjoyed eating the fresh garlic and onions that came around. The children had a blast grabbing the dishes off of the conveyor belt and enjoyed eating the beef. Oh, and it was suggested to me to wrap my chicken in these pink pickled vegetable… dont remember what its called, but it was really good and became my alternative to eating rice. I stuffed it with chicken, garlic, onions, and kimchee… Oops, Im a little piggy! My boyfriend who is a meat fanatic really enjoyed the kalbi and had about four plates.
The location is great and the inside of the building is completely remodeled with tasteful design, it even has a back section. There is ample parking.
Only negative is that we had wished there were menus tableside with pictures of the dishes expaining what they were.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal, my kids were happy, and I will definitley be back, couldnt ask for more.

Tried this new place for dinner tonight. Should have known better when the sign on the door said dinner starts at 5pm but when I called to ask what time they open from outside the door the man told me «yes we are“‘. And then the dooes opened lights were not on yet and servers started showing up 10−15mins later. Meat that was not marinated had no flavor. Best thing was the kalbi but that was about it. Not really worth the $ 25.99 per person even for all you can eat. I think I’ll still prefer gyukaku for yakiniku for dining out with friends. Food was passable here but service was pretty bad. Only thing they were pretty good about was changing out the grill. But slow about refilling waters and at one point they took my plate and didn’t bring me another one.
Oh and they only allow one pair of tongs per table! Even if you have a large group!
Almost forgot they didn’t even have the price posted we had to ask them
Also they need a better ventilation system smoke everywhere

when dish go first opened it was like genki sushi where you grab what you want off the conveyor belt or order what you want, and the plates are priced according to color. but they changed it after a few days to all you can eat. lunch is 17.99 $. like Lynvi S said, there are not a lot of things to choose from and some of the food on the belt looks old. i liked it better when it was camillia with all you can eat buffet style.
the smoke in the room is really bad too. hope they can figure out how to make this restaurant work.

Ben J mentioned that they now have all you can eat for under $ 40 for 2 people. If the owners did listen to my suggestion and went with this. For the value… I would change my rating to 5 stars… Will update when I get the chance to go back and try it… Just updating in case people base their opinions on my false information.

We had the buffet and enjoyed everything. It included rice, soup and all of the items on the conveyor belt. The bill was under 40 $ for 2 which seemed reasonable for Hawaii due to the amount of tasty food we ate. The staff were attentive and friendly.

Great idea something new in the island. The experience was worth it