Kyoto Ohsho

They had a nice selection of sushi and a mean lilikoi cake. But the service was bad at time. Not from the front end but the cooks. As things went downhill, many of their dishes were made-​to-​order. Their short line cooks were rude, slow and generally ignored you. Sorry but that’s probably a reason it doesn’t exist anymore.

This place is a buffet. If you read my other thoughts on buffets, you’ll know that all I really expect from one is to be full when I leave. Everything else is just gravy.
Originally, this place was even more expensive that it is now. They used to have a service section that involved shabu shabu and then the buffet. It wasn’t too bad.
The food is typical Japanese fair, sushi, tempura, etc. Nothing really sticks out. Their chocolate fountain is kinda cool. As is their aquarium upon entering the establishment.
You can park in the structure on the mountain facing side towards Nordstoms. There should be plenty of parking and an escalator and elevator are on that side also.

Came here for dinner on recommendation from friend. Despite the poor reviews from others, we had a good meal here. Miso butterfish was fair, my spider roll combo was good even thought the crab was on the small side. Service was decent, not rude, but not super attentive either. Prices were reasonable given their location.

I will not suggest anyone to go here. There wasn’t many sushi selections.
There wasn’t any dessert at all!!! You have to pay an extra 8 dollars for all you can eat dessert, which I think is ridiculous.
I would not come here again.

I used to really like this restaurant, especially when they used to do their lunch buffets. However, since then the quality and service has gone through a steep decline that is rather sad.
I went here for dinner with my mom and she ordered the tempura set while I ordered the salted saba. While the fish and tempura were well cooked, I felt I could have gotten the same quality food at the Shirokiya food area. The prices weren’t too extravagant, but I felt it could have been done better. Also, they don’t have the chawan mushi anymore which is why I used to go this place because I loved the chawan mushi. Oh well…
After we ordered we waited and waited for our bill to come as did the people who were seated next to us. I swear we waited 15 minutes before they brought the bills and this is with both tables looking around for a waiter or server and none were to be found, although they had congregated around the bar and seemed to be just standing there facing away from the tables. Probably won’t go back there again…

Our food service, compared to the reviewers, was actually decent. But what bothered me was the lack of cheerfulness among the staff. Everyone walked around liked expressionless zombies, looking miserable and unhappy to be working at this restaurant.
Another striking observation was that the décor didn’t match the menu. My first impression viewing the establishment from the outside was that Kyoto served upscale dining, but when I perused the menu the food was decidedly not upscale. I suspect somewhere along the way the owner changed the menu from high end to low end due to floundering business.
My hamburger steak teishoku and my wife’s ton-​katsu teishoku was actually not bad. But their mixed vegetable tempura was bland and wasn’t thoroughly fried enough.
Total for the whole meal: $ 43.
If you’re at the mall, starving, in the mood for cheap Japanese cuisine and absolutely unable to secure seats anywhere else, then as a last resort try Kyoto Ohsho.

We came here because everywhere else on the restaurant was really busy, and this was the only one that was able to take a large group of people instantly, (on a weeknight) without waiting for an hour and a half. I was hoping the reason why wasn’t the reason I thought it was, but unfortunately, it was. This place was certainly empty for a reason.
From the outside looking though the large windows, it looks quite nicely decorated in a traditional Japanese style, and it seems like it would be fairly expensive. But looking at the menu it wasn’t too bad.
The service wasn’t too bad, but that’s probably because we were the only ones to attend to in the restaurant. I ordered a sashimi teishoku, which was prepared fairly well (design-​wise), but the taste was so-​so. I didn’t expect to have very quality raw seafood in a place like this (nor most Japanese restaurants in Hawaii).
Overall, this was an okay place. If the amount of customers was like that everyday, I don’t think it will sustain itself for rent for too long, especially considering how popular the nearby restaurants are.

I was very surprised by this place as I constantly see people eating here. The service is not great, they always seem to be too busy (doing what I don’t know). The food was just ordinary, I can cook a better meal with more flavor at home. I ordered the miso butterfish teishoku which came with miso soup, tsukemono, a salad and rice. The size of the butterfish was great but the flavor was too light, more miso should have been added to the fish. I would not recommend this place to others, go to Shirokiya instead and get tastier Japanese food for less!

I can’t tell what’s worse
Painfully slow service, or
Mediocre grub

Terrible Service! There is no service at all and all waiters and waitress are terrible and mean.

I have to agree with everyone else — the service here is TERRIBLE!!! It’s so bad, I really don’t even want to bother writing the rest of this review. I just want to relate one short anecdote to illustrate how bad the service is:
I ordered an iced tea with my dinner. The menu didn’t say whether or not it was bottomless, I’ll give them that. HOWEVER, after finishing my entrée then waiting another 30 minutes for the rest of my family’s entrees to arrive, I had finished off my iced tea and glass of water and was still quite thirsty. After much effort, I finally flagged down a waiter or busboy (I’m still not sure exactly which he was). I asked if the iced tea was «bottomless» or refillable. Something must have got lost in the translation because he grabbed my plastic drinking cup and promptly filled it with HOT green tea! I indicated that I had the ICED tea. So then he promptly dumped a whole bunch of ice in there. Ummm… no. Don’t know if any of you have had iced ocha — but it’s not iced tea and it’s not yum, barely drinkable. Blech. Stuck with water for the rest of the agonizing meal.
Really, don’t bother going here.

OMG, no.
Terrible! Service is slow and the food isnt all that great. Don’t bother.

I feel sorry for all the poor Japanese tourists that get suckered into eating at Kyoto Osho. It’s the only sit-​down, teishokuya-​style restaurant in Ala Moana, and just because of that, it reels in all the hungry, homesickish Japanese tourists in like a fat ahi on rotten squid.
Although the pricing is pretty reasonable compared to similar places (Gyotaku, ahem?), the food is super bland and boring. Butterfish misoyaki tastes like it came from an old folks home because it had absolutely no flavor. Not even the butterfish’s own flavor was present, let alone the miso and shoyu that go into making this dish! How did they manage to do that?! Sashimi was really middle of the road, like something you get from a second rate supermarket or something. Very mediocre cuts, but at least it wasn’t going bad. Rice was only okay, not overcooked or oversaturated, but it wasn’t anything nice, probably just some plain old Calrose as opposed to hitomebore or koshihikari (ha! I wish…). Miso soup was super salty, anyone with high blood pressure should steer clear! Chawan mushi was nice touch, but tasted kinda cheap since it lacked egg and dashi (how did they manage to scrimp on egg in chawan mushi?!).
There’s a dessert buffet, but nothing looked too tasty. Be careful of sharing desserts with nonpaying tablemates! I saw the hostess come over to a nearby table and sternly warn a white tourist chick not to share desserts with her nonpaying tourist chick friends. Poor girl had to cram down like, a dozen chocolate-​covered bananas or something like that.
Service was pretty nice. We had a very, VERY physically fit waitress who was quite attractive in a… nontraditional way. She was quite attentive and made sure we had all we needed. Damn, the way that cheongsam top uniform thingy clung to her muscular but feminine frame oh so delicately… Ahhh… And the way her dramatic bangs framed her slender face… *sigh* Oops, I digress! If you get her, you’ll know who I’m talking about immediately…
Anyway, prices were fairly reasonable but the meal was utterly unenjoyable. It’s not that anything tasted BAD per se, it’s more like the food had NO FLAVOR whatsoever. Oh, and the hostess was kinda irritating. She made us wait even though the restaurant was less than half full… Why?! That dumb little move once made me got to Island’s instead because I was starving, only to be subjected to Agoura Hills, CA business trip shell shock flashbacks — damn! Although it waaaas nice to have a Kilauea burger again (read my review for Island’s in Agoura Hills, CA! The Kilauea there was better than the Kilauea in Ala Moana — ironic!)
OH, OH, OH, OH, one more reeeeaaally important thing that bugged me! Disposable bamboo chopsticks were stored in the wooden box with glass lid as typical of ramen places, but not a single one had a wrapper!!! That got me a bit worried haha…
Anyhoo, Cliff’s Notes: not super expensive, but no flavor with some questionable business practices = 2 stars: it’s not horrible, but I won’t go back. I wish good luck to those tourists who get suckered into coming here.

I’d say the star rating from fellow Unilocalers is about right. We were in the mall and craving sushi and didn’t want the buffet. This place wasn’t too much better. Service was HORRIBLE ! The waitress didn’t come by for 15 – 20 mins. the first time, and though she said sorry, we could see she had been busier flirting with the host.
Food came pretty fast after we ordered but it was NOT good. The sashimi portion was small, and not fresh, and worst of all — pretty pricey. My bf ordered the kaki fry (fried oysters) but they had this gross, raunchy taste to the — definitely not fresh. Took forever to get the bill, left unsatisfied, hungry, yet a little disgusted. Wouldn’t go here again if it was free…

We wanted to hit up Tsukiji for lunch but it’s only a buffet option. Surprisingly the hostess said Kyoto Ohsho was better! Anyway, we had amaebi, hamachi, uni and a spider roll. The uni was off-​tasting, and the spider roll had fake crab. The rest were ok.
Also, no unfiltered sake here. Service is slow.

We brought my dad here for his birthday recently, and a lesson was learned: don’t bring your venerable old dad to a Japanese restaurant if you haven’t tried it yet. This is a restaurant that appears to be looking for a theme, a center, a focus.
The food? Uninspired and underwhelming
The service? Borderline rude
The ambiance? Non-​existent
The price? Spendy
The verdict? My guess is it won’t stay in business much longer. Next!

what a funny way to start a restaurant, first was way overpriced but food was good, then they dropped the price which was good, then changed to teishoku and the price got even better but the food got a lot worse, i’ve eaten there 2 times since the change and i’ll not be going there anymore, what a bummer

The reviews here are pretty positive, and I wish I could agree, but sadly, I can’t. I came, I saw, I was told to wait. .. but wait a minute, the restaurant was over half empty! The hostess somewhat rudely told me that my party of three would have to wait 10 – 20 minutes for a table. Sorry, and I know my vision’s not the best, but I can SEE INSIDE THE RESTAURANT, and it was pretty empty. There was no one else in line — heck, we WERE the line, the three of us, waiting to have some sushi and shochu and partake in other Japanese culinary delights (or at least, eat some dessert that was sitting out inthe corner).
Why, oh WHY did she tell us to wait without even explaining the reason? If the restaurant’s not FULL, please let me know why I had to wait. Were your invisible friends there, perhaps? Was a section of the restaurant closed? Not enough servers? Please explain. Why are those people eating delicious gyoza and slurping soup when I’m standing out in the cold? WHY?
Sigh. So we ended up going across the way to Romano’s ~ I’d just like to say: Don’t turn away customers if you’re empty and there are alternative options nearby.

Kyoto Ohsho is one of the newest additions to Ala Moana Shopping Center’s fourth floor of culinary delights, Ho’okipa Terrace.
The restaurant offers a new twist on an old idea: an all-​you-​can eat buffet with selections served on single-​portion dishes. The benefit is two-​fold: 1) the food is always fresh because it hasn’t been sitting under a warmer for hours, 2) everything is separate and isn’t prone to getting piled all over each other on your plate. Since dishes are presented separately and are prepared as needed, I believe it enhances the experience and makes the food appear less like a sloppy all-​you-​can-​eat buffet and more like a sit-​down restaurant. An immediate difference is noted: fried items such as the tempura and gyoza are fresh, warm and crispy — not cold, oily and soggy. This is a definite plus in my book.
The food is standard Japanese fare with selections such as miso soup, vegetable and shrimp tempura, saba, unagi, teriyaki chicken, gyoza, nishime, poke, chirashi sushi, salad greens, a variety of pickled vegetables and a nice sushi selection with a chef hand-​rolling the sushi just behind the counter. There is a modest dessert selection, consisting of two kinds of cake, soft serve ice cream, and a chocolate fountain with strawberries, bananas and marshmallows to dip. Shabu shabu and additional selections are offered for dinner.
I am giving Kyoto Ohsho a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. (Unfortunately, I can’t give a half star on the Unilocal rating system.) Understandably, being a fairly new restaurant, the servers did not seem as knowledgeable or comfortable in their jobs quite yet. Also, for an all-​you-​can-​eat buffet, the lunch selection is a bit modest. (We have not experienced their dinner buffet yet.) Notably, the salad and dessert stations could use a few more selections. I believe as the kinks get banged out and more dishes introduced into the buffet line, things can only get better.
Speaking of the future, it appears that they have plans to turn the establishment into a club in the late evening hours. Observant patrons will notice a glass DJ booth in the middle of the dining room and large speakers suspended from the ceiling.
A suggestion for the management: you might consider providing some signage for the dishes at the buffet line to assist diners who may not be as well-​versed in Japanese cuisine.
Hours:
Lunch: 11:30 a.m. — 2:30 p.m.
Dinner: 5:30 — 10:00 p.m.
Be aware of the 60 minute time limit for lunch and 90 minute limit for dinner (although it seems that they do not strictly enforce it if the dining room is not full).
Prices:
Lunch, $ 19.80 adults, $ 16.50 senior citizens (60+), $ 14.50 children
Dinner, $ 39.80 adults, $ 32 senior citizens (60+), $ 20 children