Matsuzaka-Tei

1. VERDICT/​VALUE
Decent sukiyaki, great prices! Recommended.
2. FOOD
Lovers of the Yoshinoya chain will enjoy this place: sukiyaki beef on rice with options for toppings and miso soup at affordable prices!
While I recommend most dishes, on this visit, I found the Large SukiYaki Chicken ($ 6.90) hard to recommend. The chicken thigh meat was very dry. The rice and onions had the right flavors though.
The add-​on for a small bowl of miso soup ($ 1) and ontama — soft-​boiled egg ($ 1.25) worked out well.
3. SERVICE
This is essentially a takeout joint the service is decent and works well in English and Japanese.
4. ATMOSPHERE
Get takeout or enjoy one of the 5 small bar-​style seats here… otherwise, look for any free tables in the Shirokya food court. Parking is as plentiful as it can be in the Ala Moana Center parking lot.

With so many options at Shirokiya, I usually just grab a bento and call it a day. But that day, I felt it was time for a change. So instead of a bento, I got a bowl… a bowl filled with nothing but amazing goodness. I love takoyaki, therefore, I ordered the small ontama sukiyaki don with 3 pieces of takoyaki. The sukiyaki sauce is available at the counter. I suggest you add a little for a little more flavor. Prices are reasonable, and so are the portions. Service is a hit or miss, depending whose working. But no matter whose working, the food is always so so good.

Always fast and Oishi every time! I find that the medium bowl is the perfect portion.

Great food… really like the mabo tofu and beef sukiyaki, very delicious :) BUT the service there isn’t the greatest! In fact, it kinda stinks! The workers there seriously need to learn customer service! Treat your customers good… they’re supporting you!

We enjoy coming to this little stand in Yataimura Shirokiya’s upstairs food court. It is basically the Hawaii equivalent of Yoshinoya on the mainland, offering up cheap beef and chicken bowls over rice. Its a nice hot meal for a reasonable price. My son in particular LOVES this place. My wallet does too. :). They offer different variations of the sukiyaki over rice bowl, from half boiled egg to Kim chee or cheese but all about the same price. Its a great value but my only complaint would be there are no vegetable sides at all.

This place is my go-​to place for a bowl of sukiyaki chicken on a warm bed of white rice. I’ve never had a bad experience with this place. I come around here about 3 – 5 times a month.
You order your dish in either a small, medium, large and you get it within minutes of ordering. The chicken is moist and succulent. The sukiyaki sauce is not too salty and compliments the whole dish amazingly.

There is no shortage of food choices in Shirokiya’s 2^nd floor food court. In fact, one could spend an entire trip just trying the various stands here.
Being a huge sukiyaki fan, I knew it was only a matter of time before trying this stall located near the escalators. A couple of counter seated diners enjoying their meals heightened the temptation on a recent weekday afternoon.
My choice? A medium sukiyaki ontama with miso soup (
). At a shade under $ 10.00, this meal was filling and tasty. Wasn’t the best sukiyaki ever, but flavors and ingredients were there. The highlight was spreading that runny yolk atop the tender beef slices and mixing with their slightly wet rice. There is a bottle of sukiyaki sauce and the Japanese hot spices if you want a saltier and spicy bite. They also offer a small size donburi for only $ 4.90 and a combination sukiyaki and mapo tofu rice bowl.
Being one of many stands, it easily gets lost in the mix. Ramen? Katsu? Sushi or sashimi? Bento?
This sukiyaki isn’t bad and doesn’t break your wallet. Hope to check out that tofu next time.

They have a smaller bowl for size «small» (which previously were in their then regular, now medium bowls) so you’re getting lesser quantity for the same price. And there’s an additional .90 cent add on for miso soup. Barely a year since opening, and they have made such changes to keep up with rising costs and expense.

So I’m cruising Ala Moana, flyering in the mall and I get hungry so I go inside Shirokiya. Most of the food selections are gone, after all it’s 8:30 pm, except Matsuzaka –Tei. Never eaten here before. It’s reasonable so I order a regular sukiyaki don. It comes in S, M, L bowls. Small is actually really large. I’m starving and next in line when suddenly, the cash register jams. «Oh no ! „I whispered. A Japanese man with a red apron tells me, „sorry, no can, broken!“ Pointing at the cash register. He yells for help. A Filipina lady who thought can fix it said,“ go call him» who’s him? I wondered. Probably God. I then begged him, «I give you exact, no need change.» He looks at me. «Huh? «I repeated, «no need change. I give you $ 5.25. «I smiled in a dark sinister way. «Ok, ok ok. Hai!» He says ok. So give this place a try, dear friends. It’s awesome! The meal goes with miso soup and they have other choices too and it’s fast and hot. Thank you Gori for the excellent service!

THE perfect place to grab a quick bite to eat, especially during your lunch break!
This little joint with comfy chairs sells sukiyaki-​don and nothing but! Simple, yet so delicious!
Every bowl comes with miso soup (unfortunately no take-​out for miso soup & half-​boiled eggs). Optional toppings include kimchi, ontama (half-​boiled egg), natto, tororo, green onions, or cheese for a dollar more (each). Breakfast special is from 9:30−11AM, which is a sukiyaki-​don with ontama, miso soup, and natto for $ 4.90!
I am not a fan of animals that go moo, but I risked the upset tummy for this yummy bowl. Eat now, regret later!
Regular size: $ 5.90, Large: $ 6.90, XL:$ 7.90
You order at the cashier, and wait for them to pass your food to you on a tray. You can either sit at the bar area or on of the tables in shirokiya (where they’re located). Most of the time there’s only 1 person working, so wait it out. The beef was rather flavourful as it was, but they have this delicious sauce you can use to smother your rice in.
Will be back to fill my stamp card!

Sukiyaki-​dons: that’s all you’ll find at Matsuzaka-​Tei. Sukiyaki-​dons with eggs, Sukiyaki-​dons with kimchee, Sukiyaki-​dons with cheese! Wuuuuut? Yeah, cheese. And all of them come with miso soup… on the side, of course. Don’t be weird.
I think the very first thing you’ll notice about this place is their huge $ 4.90 sign. Not gonna lie, that’s the reason I stopped and took a look. For $ 4.90, you get a regular bowl of sukiyaki don and a bowl of miso soup. Not bad, not bad. But then you see the variations of sukiyaki dons that they have and suddenly, you’re not thinking about that $ 4.90 special they got. You’re thinking about all those yummy (and maybe weird, but you’ll try it anyway) toppings that you can put on top!
I was enticed by the Ontama Sukiyaki Don. The egg looked so yummy in the picture, but when I got it, the egg was still in its shell, in a separate bowl. I’m all confused because I was expecting a poached egg in my bowl, not a hard boiled egg. Nevertheless, I took my tray of food back to where my friends were sitting and started to crack the shell. Luckily, I was still unsure if I had just been given a raw egg and decided not to slam it on the table like if I was trying to crack a hard boiled egg. Well, upon the first crack, a little egg white spewed out of the shell and I realized the egg wasn’t fully cooked. Obviously I didn’t read the menu very well because it totally says under Additional Toppings that ontama is a half boiled egg. Anyway, it was delicious! My taste buds happy danced to the sounds of my wallet’s rejoicing via beatboxing.
So basically you start off with a $ 4.90 regular bowl of Sukiyaki don and a bowl of miso soup. For $ 1 more, you can add toppings and you can also increase in bowl size (Regular, Large, and X-​Large). Aannd… guess what. They also serve a $ 4.90 breakfast available before 11:00 AM. It comes with rice, miso soup, sukiyaki, ontama, and either natto or tororo. Very food. Much deals!

Ono, simple authentic flavors, & inexpensive! Best deal in the mall! Some days (like today) I drive to Ala Moana JUST to satisfy my craving of their Sukiyaki Don! Love love love

The sukiyaki is better. I just noticed that they have sukiyaki sauce on the counter that you can add. I ate all of my food so I couldn’t try it.

I really enjoyed the sukiyaki-​don here… cheap…simple and filling… people are nice and they offer a little counter you can sit at and eat lunch… they also have complimentary water and tea… the cheap price, under $ 5 is just right for a day of shopping… especially when you’ve spent all of your money on clothes! I will go here to eat again!

So… one of my FAVORITE eateries in Japan was Yoshinoya — a fast food place that specializes in gyudon (sukiyaki donburi, essentially thinly sliced beef and onions seasoned with a sweet shoyu-​based sauce served over a bed of white rice). They have some other items, but the main item served is gyudon and it is cheap (about $ 5 – 6 per bowl). Well, there is no Yoshinoya in Hawaii, but Matsuzaka-​Tei is a good substitute to satisfy my Yoshinoya cravings (since I can’t fly to Japan every time I want a delicious and cheap gyudon).
They recently opened in Shirokiya (mauka side of the second floor). They have a few seats at their actual booth, but you can probably sit any where in the food court.
The gyudon is pretty good — the sauce is sweet and flavorful. If it’s not enough flavor for you, they have a whole bottle of the sauce that you can add to your bowl. The beef is the typical beef used for gyudon; thinly sliced with a bit of fat. They also offer the spicy powder to add a kick to your bowl and the red ginger. I love green onions with my donburi, so I pay for the side order of green onions.
I got combo #4, which is the gyudon and miso soup. The miso soup is dispensed from a machine, but it is a really good miso soup! It comes out hot with some wakame and green onions. Definitely a great combo with the bowl (after all, who eats donburi without miso soup?!?).
My order doesn’t take longer than 5 minutes to get ready. Plus, it costs about $ 6 for a filling meal! [$ 5 for the gyudon meal and $ 1 for the green onions]
I will definitely be coming back here.

C’mon Matsuzaka-​Tei, I’m rooting for you guys. I love beef bowls, and was excited to hear that you opened (was sorry to see Bairin go Bai-​Bai lol but…) inside Shirokiya.
Very simple menu — and the price is inexpensive. You get the bowl, miso soup and you can even choose some side additions like boiled egg with your meal.
Everything looked yummy too beef, nice onions… and here goes my first mouthful… ???
Huh? The taste was so bland :(:(:(You guys have to put more spice or miring or soy sauce or something in there to give the sauce some more flavor! The flavor can make or break the beef bowl. Also, please teach your servers that they need to put more «sauce» in the bowl, not just the beef. The rice in the bowl should be coated a bit with the sauce from the beef. Keep the beef moist too. It was dry.
Looking forward to trying this place again soon.

Matsuzaka-​Tei just opened recently on 11÷22÷13 at the Shirokiya food court. This was our first visit and this place is very unique and economical. I liked it and I think it will win a lot of fans over time.
New Concept: $ 4.90 !! One item only. That is the only thing on the menu. Very limited options. This is Japanese «Fast Food». Low price, quality and speedy service. Private counter seating too.
Price: $ 4.90 !! If you haven’t been to Shirokiya’s Yataimura Food Court recently, you might not be aware that prices have increased to about $ 10 per bento. That plus a $ 3 drink makes lunch about $ 13. That is where the beauty of $ 4.90 comes in. Plus, water and green tea is included. This is a good deal!
Food: Modest size bowl with nice rice at the bottom plus a small amount of beef sukiyaki and sauce on the top. It comes in their own special donburi bowl from Japan. Plus you get a bowl of miso soup with tofu and sea weed. Mildly seasoned and small amount of thinly shaved beef. Spiced up a bit with the optional but included tsukemono, this was a very nice light lunch. I enjoyed the miso soup and there was lots of seaweed and other ingredients.
Options: I noticed several customers pay the extra dollar for the soft boiled egg or request for the large size bowl. There are a couple of other add-​ons listed also at $ 1 each. The only other option is to just get a bowl of the meat without the rice.
Dessert: Nope, they don’t do dessert. But since I only paid $ 4.90, I opted for a $ 1.50 dessert from a nearby vendor. Still a cheap lunch! I was happy.
Summary: Yeah, you’ll be disappointed if you want top quality and a huge gut busting serving. Point is this is another innovative food court option, and a good one too in my opinion. You can’t really try to compare this $ 4.90 fast food dish with other more expensive bentos.

I ordered the regular size gyudon yesterday for lunch as a take-​out order. The regular size was reasonable for the $ 4.90+tax price. If you were to order the meal to eat in Shirokiya, you normally get a small bowl of miso soup along with you beef bowl and also be able to order a soft boiled egg for an additional $ 1. However, I was extremely disappointed that they do not include either of those options when you take-​out…
Onto the taste. The first thing I noticed about my meal was that I really enjoyed the sauce. The meat itself was pretty rubbery, but since I was starving, I thought it was actually pretty delicious. Matsuzaka-​Tei definitely does not measure up to Sukiya or Yoshinoya, but it’s definitely one of the cheapest meals I’ve had for a while at Ala Moana. Especially since I’m a poor college student and an employee at the mall, I would definitely come back!

Service was fast enough considering there was one person in front of me. Very very slow compared to other Japan chains.
Gyuudon comes out very pale hinting at the under-​seasoning of the beef. Very bland.
The beef itself is dry and had so much sinew (suji). If my wife came I could have sewn a pair of moccasins.
Rice was good but very chincey on the sauce making it that much less enjoyable.
$ 8.27 + $ 3 for the beer.
Matsuzaka-​Tei has taken the last place slot on my Gyuudon list from Sukiya.

First time here, great sukiyaki don special and very chilly A/​C. They just opened today in Shirokiya. The Manager is very friendly and walks around to check on your meal. Definitely recommend this place and will return often!