Izakaya Tairyo

Okay so I’ve found a great spot for all your Japanese deliciousness! Serving a great menu filled with pallet yumminess. NO SUSHI. I sat at the bar and watched the chefs work their magic! Ordered ale cart so I got to try a lot of different dishes you wouldn’t usually find at a great price. The flavors made me feel like I was back in Japan.

OMG! Loved the atmosphere, service and food. We ordered bacon asparagus, pork belly, scallop butter, rib eye, takoyaki and a basket dish of pork, vegies, shrimp, salmon and tako. Everything was delicious! The best was the rib eye… ooh so tender, the scallops was also delicious and the takoyaki was surprising delicious. The service was awesome. Of course dinner was topped off with a glass of Cab. Ok… two glasses. I would definitely recommend this place.

I love izakaya but for some reason I’ve never ventured into Tairyo. Maybe because the word of mouth hasn’t been all that great. Anyway, finally decided to give it a try.
Apparently they are under new management because we could overhear them telling this to everyone as they entered. I’ve never tried their food under the previous management so that really was irrelevant to me. We weren’t that hungry so just ordered a handful of dishes:
yakitori — gizzards, pork belly, beef tongue
I don’t like gizzards that aren’t deep fried so I didn’t try this dish but the pork belly was decent. We never got our beef tongue though and our check still showed it even though we pointed it out to the wait staff that it should be removed.
fried chicken wings — 5 wings for $ 8. Overpriced. And the wings were overcooked and extremely dry and the teri garlic sauce it was coated in was not very tasty. We left two wings untouched.
cold tofu — not bad. a little denser than the usual fresh made tofu.
fried squid legs — batter was bland as hell and the legs were not crunchy at all. very disappointed.
Service was very slow and inattentive.
Won’t be going back.

This place used to be pretty good, but they got new management and they decided to remove all raw fish from the menu. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed. I was forced to order fatty dishes that I didn’t want to eat because the menu is limited. I asked the waiter what he recommends and he could barely chose anything for me. I feel bad for the waitstaff because they are losing tips because they said the place has been so slow lately. Management is going to make this place go out of business. Do not eat here! If you own a Japanese restaurant go in and recruit the waitstaff.

Disappointed! After our past visits my wife and I would have always awarded at least 4 stars. But, as other people have observed, the menu has changed very recently and all of our favorites have been eliminated, including the attractive happy hour beer pricing.
Tairyo has been our go-​to place when we don’t feel like cooking ever since we moved here 2 years ago and we have visited often. We loved the varied menu selections and the ability to mix fish items with yakitori. Now the fish is gone. No more Tairyo Seafood Salad!
We left this time without ordering. Tairyo’s yakitori and other items may still be very good but we aren’t interesting in eating all meat. We’re not looking forward to having to find another go-​to spot.

Our first time here and we were excited to try this place. As we were seated, we were told «no seafood and no sushi today.» Really? OK, but since we saw all the great food pics on Unilocal!we decided to look at their menu for alternatives… more like decipher their new poorly handwritten menu. Waitress stopped by to get our drink order and asked if we had any questions, so we asked why no sushi or seafood, what happened? She replied that they’re under new management and their menu changed last week. She said it’s up to us to stay, no recommendations either. We decided to leave.
Junk-​a-​lunk

Sadly, their menu has changed recently, and they are no longer offering some of the items i came here for. Anyways, lets talk about what they did have:
–sweet potato fries: not the usual that you get everywhere else. these seem baked, and were kinda soft and flavorless. Maybe you like them like that, i didnt. Comes with honey and mayo to dip.
Yakitori: all the yakitori is very reasonably priced, comes out quick, and is super delicious.
–fried oysters: good. Really hot though. I was too impatient to let them cool down.
–takoyaki: same ol same ol. If you like takoyaki youll like these.

The tairyo roll was a little disappointing, nothing fancy looks like an ordinary maki sushi with a sprinkle of ikura. Pork belly was good. The honey toast was good too. Overall a little overpriced

New menu Yakitori that we had was very delicious !
Reasonable family style Izakaya.

just ok… wanted to like this place but…
food portions tiny and overpriced
service is attentive and food came out fast
parking limited
menus, tables sticky
won’t go back

Next door to the popular Ichiriki, this place has a small private lot along the side of the restaurant or street parking. Came here for their their desserts (Frozen Crème Brûlée and Honey Toast) but was pretty impressed overall.
I must say their service here was excellent! Very warm welcome, easy to make reservations, and very attentive staff. Most Japanese places have good service, but they definitely stood out among the rest.
Got their Fishermans Bowl (Chirashi style bowl with tea to pour in) which was good but nothing crazy special. My main complaint is that the portion is quite small, but the quality was good. Their Mozzarella Eggrolls were interesting but not that great also– almost reminded me of a String Cheese stuck inside a thin Eggroll shell.
What stood out here was their amazing Chicken Karaage! So good!!! Nice crispy skin and very juicy insides– a must have. Also their desserts were amazing, just as I heard. The Frozen Crème Brûlée was very interesting and good– never had anything like it before. Their Honey Toast was very flavorful but not too sweet either– I prefer this one strongly over Shokudo’s one (which I also like).
Will come back again and may try their late night happy hour (9:30pm) to get a nice deal on their amazing Chicken Karaage and then finish with their great desserts.

This is the best place in Honolulu for Sashimi. The fish are very fresh. Service is excellent. Highly recommended!

My family and I visit Izakaya Tairyo every once in a while since our kids seem to like the food there. Unfortunately, they are overpriced for the quality of food there. The food’s not horrible… just mediocre. But to be charging more than the average price when compared to competitors, yet serve only «average» quality food means it’s not really worth it. Even with the Marukai card 10% discount (used to be 20%), it’s still expensive compared to other izakaya’s. The variety is pretty limited when it comes to sashimi & sushi. The selection of nabe items is also pretty limited. They also serve fried and grilled items too. I guess I can describe them as «jack of all trades master of none.» Nothing really stands out where I would say, «I gotta come back and have more of this!» Tonight, we ordered the Berkshire Pork & Seafood Steam Basket, Crab Porridge, Salmon & Ikura Bowl, and the Eringi & Asparagus. Most of the items were okay. Nothing spectacular, just A-​OK. If anything, the Crab Porridge stood out the most due to its savory flavor. With that said, the service is always excellent. All the servers do a great job. They are very friendly and attentive. All in all, if someone were to ask me which izakayas are worth visiting on the island, Tairyo definitely won’t be one of my top picks. On the other hand, if a group of friends were to ask me to go to Izakaya Tairyo with them, I wouldn’t decline either.

We recently had dinner at this Izakaya for my younger brother’s birthday. My brother who resides in the mainland is a foodie. He works in a high-​end French restaurant in the mainland so he’s usually pretty picky on where he eats.
This was the first time for most of our dinner party and unanimously agreed that the food was excellent. I think people don’t realize that authentic Japanese food isn’t seasoned as strong as local Japanese food so when they go to a restaurant such as Izakaya Tairyo, they think it’s not that good. The food here brought me back to the Izakaya restaurants of Japan. Seasoned perfectly and extra care on the quality of their ingredients.
To keep this review short for everyone’s sake, ALL the items we ate were delicious.
— Squid
— Miso Nabe
— Tempura
— Pork Belly
— Chicken Kaarage
— Agedashi Tofu
Each of these items were so delicious! The quality of their pork belly was amazing and the flavor was perfect! The shrimp tempura were HUGE! Cooked perfectly with no oily residue. They looked more like prawns then shrimp. I don’t think I’ve had shrimp tempura like that before. The tempura sauce was good too.
For dessert we had the Honey Toast. Enough said. Most of our party had never tried it before, ever… so of course they were amazed how tasty bread, butter, honey with ice cream would taste. LOL. Believe you me, they still keep talking about it.
All in all this restaurant is great. With happy hour specials and a 20% discount for Marukai members (show your card), this Izakaya is reasonable for their quality.
Other thoughts:
Décor: Looks as if I stepped right into Japan. Loved the paintings, décor items and feel of the Izakaya.
Staff: Warm, helpful, and awesome!
Parking: We found parking along the side streets. Go early to ensure a parking spot as Ichiriki and Side Street share the street parking!

Many menu to choose. We love their food, especially seafood. So fresh!
One star for having more good service. Just our server never smile and she forgot us for 20 min.

Izakaya Tairyo used to be a favorite romp years ago, but has slowly descended into obsolescence.
Let’s just go over the things I’ve noticed at my recent trip in a nice, orderly fashion.
1. Everything is overpriced.
2. The menus and seats are sticky.
3. Atmosphere is odd, usual chorus of Japanese greetings were absent.
4. Everything is overpriced.
At the very best, I can tell you that the food is good. The Chicken Karaage wasn’t oily, but sweet and delicious. Ikura was previously marinated and melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious. Vegetables were tenderly baked with garlic butter. The pork was juicy and well seasoned.
But that’s where the fun ends. My friends and I go to Izakayas to drink, of course, and the only pitcher option here is draft Kirin for the not so modest price of $ 17. When the server came by to ask if we wanted another pitcher, we just couldn’t do it while a 12-​pack of Kirin is $ 8 at Nijiya. If I’m paying that much for draft beer, I’m gonna go to a bar and get better draft beer.
Here’s a fun one. I asked a friend if he wanted to split the Mozzerella Spring Rolls. I told him, «Cheese. And wonton wrappers. There’s no way that combination can be bad, right?» For $ 8, we received two mozzerella wontons, cut in half, leaving four chapstick-​sized pieces. What a joke. That friend started laughing as soon as the waiter walked away, presumably in despair. Upon tasting it, he said «I think the worst part is, I’d rather eat the ingredients seperately.» There was no seasoning — just bland cheese and wonton wrappers.
Every food portion is similar, ranging from $ 6-​$ 10 for small dishes. The nabes are pricier ($ 30-​$ 40 range) but probably a better overall value.
My salmon-​ikura don for $ 14 was probably the best deal that evening, as that’s about the going price at other Izakayas.
I probably will not return to Izakaya Tairyo, which is a shame since the food is pretty tasty. I simply cannot justify the prices when so many other venues with similar cuisine exist on Oahu.

We had the steamed Berkshire pork belly with a bunch of other tapas-​style Japanese dishes. I would go here again for happy hour, dinner, drinks, whatever. It was gooood!

In the year 2015.5, in an era of choices unimaginable to the Average-​Joe-​Customer-​Eating-​Person, I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, especially in writing this review.
We live on an island which has a fair plethora of Izakaya Restaurants to choose from. With that said, I met my decision here at Izakaya Tairyo. Although I love Unilocal,the reviews, and the pictures that usually go along with them, I did not take them seriously enough for this place. I decided to give them a chance — thinking, «it can’t be THAT bad?»…
I’m going to cut to the chase, because I feel I’ve wasted enough of your time (seeing 1-​star should be a clear indication of disappointment). First and foremost, I’m shocked that this place is still in business. My experience was nothing short of MEH!
The service leaves much to be desired. None of the employees look as if they want to be there, nor do they have the best of attitudes towards their customers. I’m not calling them rude by any means, but show a little class to your paying customers who provide you a paycheck. Perhaps if you speak Japanese, or are from Japan, you might have an entirely different experience. I say this, because a couple of tables away from where I was sitting, were a couple of diners who were very «friendly» with who I assume is the restaurant owner (surprise surprise, both of what looked to be full-​Japanese dialect). I’m half-​Japanese, but do not speak the language — would things have been different? Favoritism?
On the other hand, the food, I can’t even call mediocre, it’s just plain sad. None of the food I ordered had flavor — barely any seasoning at all! The saving grace would have to be the «Seafood Korian Pancake» — only because this had a dipping sauce, which made the rest of the food edible. Even the beer tasted watered down, the WHOLE PITCHER of Kirin for $ 16.95! The biggest disappointments on the food front was the «Salmon and Tako Carpaccio» — did I ask for a SALAD with 5 pieces of raw salmon & tako tossed on top a bed of greens dressed with olive oil? $ 14.75. The second disappointment was the grilled beef tongue — two TINY pieces on a skewer for a whopping $ 6.00. I thought this was a joke. There’s a reason these items don’t have pictures on the menu.
Why didn’t you complain, you idiot? Because I’m a big time food critic, even if I don’t write many reviews. If there’s a place that stands out, and I have the time, I will write about it.
There’s tons of competition in the immediate area, and there’s a reason why this place was not busy. Take note. Your money is better spent on the competition (better service, better food, lower prices).
The saying «you get what you pay for» doesn’t apply to this restaurant…“You DON’T get what you pay for”.

We got seated right away and wait staff came around often. Food was mediocre. There are a lot of places like these here on oahu, so I’d rate it mediocre and in the category of «glad I got to try it, but I’ll probably try somewhere else next time».
Favorite dish would have to be the pork belly as it was very soft with a sweet shoyu base soup. The squid was ok. The honey toast needed more ice cream in my opinion. Agedashi was agedashi. Didn’t stand out.
Ambiance was great. It was loud so great for big groups. Hot sake for $ 5/​180ml. Cant beat that.
Down fall tonight was that there card system was not working so cash was the only option.

Chose to dine at Izayaka Tairyo for the first time before catching a movie at Ward Theaters this past Sunday, 5÷24÷2015.
Right off the bat, 2 stars for mediocre food, and 0 stars for less than satisfactory service.
Here’s why:
Upon being seated, Server 1 took our beverage orders, 2 draft Kirins. Less than a minute, Server 2 comes by to ask if we wanted anything to drink. Already a clue that there is no communication between staff.
As beers arrived, Server 1 asked if we had any questions and mentioned that they have a special menu, on a separate sheet. Cool. No problems there.
Now when it came time to order, my boyfriend chose the Charsiu and Fried Tofu with Tan Tan Sauce as appetizers, I ordered the Deep Fried Flatfish and Cheese Korean Pancake– which Server 1 said they were out of both. WHAT? So to prevent further disappointments, I asked if they were out of anything else, which she listed several fresh fishes they were out of. Great, as we were not planning to order any sushi tonight.
Since they were «out of» my first two choices, I opted for the sizzling pan Gyoza, not bad tasting, but not spectacular nor worth $ 8 for 5 pieces. Noting that they do not come sizzling, just cooked, and then served on a stone plate. Now, the annoying part. The Japanese family on the table next to us ordered the Cheese Korean Pancake to Server 2, who happily obliges. At this point I am confused, I was definitely told that they were out of that. The next time Server 2 came around (as it now seems that there are no designated sections) I asked if the table next to us ordered the Cheese Korean Pancake, she says, «yes, do you want to order one» At this point I am super ultra confused, was I not just told they were out of it? So I declined and just mentioned that Server 1 told us they were out. No response from Server 2 on that one.
As my boyfriend’s Chasiu and Fried Tofu come out, I am reminded that I only ordered 1 item so far, and am still famished. One the their special items on the separate sheet was «Charsiu and Agi-​tama Ramen» at a handsome $ 14. As a lover of ramen, I gave Server 1 another chance and asked if they made the broth in house for the ramen. Seeing that the price compares to glorious ramen chains in Honolulu, I needed to know that the broth was authentic. She had no idea. So after inquiring with her kitchen, she confirmed that the do in fact make the broth in house. Jeez, what a run-​a-​round. At the same time I ordered the ramen, the boyfriend ordered a Negi Toro roll. My ramen arrived before the roll (strange, huh?) and as Server 2 delivered my ramen, said «your roll will be right out.» Clarifying any doubts we had that it was taking long. 15 minutes later, my mediocre ramen is finished. Dressed with a large portion of wakame, 5 pieces of charsiu and one fully cooked Ajitama, very average. Again, not bad, but I could make it at home. None at all comparable to Agu, Santoku or Yottekoya.
Still no Negi Toro roll… So we asked the passing male host to check on it, and cancel if they had not made it already. As a side note, the restaurant was not at all full capacity. He came back with the response, «Im sorry, there isn’t a ticket for that order. It must have gotten lost. Did you still want to order it? I can have the kitchen try to put a rush on it.» NO THANK YOU SIR.
All in all, sad to give this very Japanese-​y place such a low review. But it is by far the worst Izakaya I’ve had the displeasure of dining at. The only suggestion I can offer is to please train your servers to not lie to customers! I will be searching elsewhere to satisfy my Cheese Korean Pancake craving.

Best deal in town if you are seated by 6:30. Happy hour 10% off. Get some beer and drink up. Food is amazing. More people should come for this deal. Had my favorite fisherman bowl, my son had his favorite tempura udon. Tried their fried chicken wings. Only wing none of the drum sticks! Food is good and service is awesome!

Yet another place that looked great on the outside, I just kept walking by until the stars aligned and I finally found myself inside.
After the opera at Blaisdell this week, I stopped here on my way home. From the outside, the restaurant looks like a Japanese fishing house with banners in kanji, soft lighting, wood everywhere, and fishing nets in the windows. The quaint sliding doors are a welcome entry. The décor reflects more of the same; their nihonshu sake collection is out in the open, wooden tables are plentiful on the unfinished concrete floor, one of my favorite aesthetics. I loved the giant light bulbs and the use of various Japanese sake shipping crates for decoration.
The restaurant was exceptionally clean, from the dining room to the restrooms. Service was immensely fast: for ordering, food delivery, and payment. We had a light late dinner. We had Kirin draft to drink while enjoying a spider roll and ahi roll. The sushi was freshly made but still came quickly. A happy mistake was made and we were given a second ahi roll for free.
Very fun restaurant at a convenient location, definitely a place to try for great and cozy Japanese!

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve come here and left content and satisfied (in the belly as well!).
Everytime that I’ve been to that area wanting to either dine at Ichiriki or Gyukaku (without reservation), its always been Tairyo that wins me over. I’m a regular and will always be. Tairyo is amazing!
Happy hour starts from 530 – 630, so beers are $ 2 and 20% off the menu!
Service: 5 stars! Can I just say 6 stars?
They are always so nice to recognise and greet me in such a welcoming manner. Very patient and attentive to your needs.
Food: THE best. Another off-​the-​charts of rating king of «BEST».
A must try are their steamed boxes, which is the only place in HI that I know offer this.
You can pick «from the sea» (seafood) or «from the mountain/​land». I usually get the pork belly and vegetables YUM!
From the amazing sushi to the Fisherman’s Bowl (another must try), you will gobble your way to the delicious crème brûlée and honey toast, which I would like to take the time to acknowledge, kicks Shokudo’s honey toast’s butt (or CRUST?)!
I mean, sure, Shokudo’s honey toast is definitely yummy and larger in size, but Tairyo’s freshly baked warm bread along with their ice cream (cinnamon sprinkled) are like a match in heaven!
Atmosphere: 5 stars.
Can get a little noisy, but for the most part, definitely calmer than Shokudo. It’s always relaxing at Tairyo.
The interior décor is SO cute. It’s Japanese fishermen-​themed. They literally have leather cushions on top of crates for some of the chairs. May sound weird, but I assure you they are quite comfortable. They have sections and curtains for privacy as well. The outside on the side-​roof sports a giant colourful fish that’ll make this place hard to miss.
One of my favourite restaurants and I’m one of the many happy customers who always leave with great things to say. Give this place a try, and tip well!

One of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had! We weren’t excepting to be blown away.
My boyfriend and I showed up on a Friday night without a reservation and only had to wait 15 minutes. We were just in time though, everyone after us was told 45 minutes. So make a reservation!
The menu is pretty much a la carte which is fun because you can order several different items and share. We started off with a few items and told the waiter that we planned on ordering more later. We ordered agedashi tofu, spicy ahi tuna roll, and chicken karaage. Oh and a pitcher of beer :) The agedashi tofu was super creamy with a light crunch– made me wonder if they make their own tofu! The spicy ahi roll was delicious, and the chicken karaage disappeared in minutes.
Our main course was the beef and vegetable steam box. It says in the menu that they are the only restaurant in Honolulu to use that cooking technique so we had to try it. They brought the box out with raw meat on top of vegetables and steamed it right on our table. It was done in about 15 minutes. It was amazingly good! No seasonings, just really good beef, cooked in a way that captured all of the natural flavors.
We finished our meal with frozen crème brûlée and honey toast. I’ve read a lot of reviews about honey toast and knew that I would have to try it, no matter what! Sooo glad I did. There’s nothing like it! I’m not sure which dessert I liked better though. They were both foodgasmic.
Another awesome trait about this restaurant is they don’t rush you. We were there for two hours. We took our time and enjoyed our meal. I loved every bit of it!