Mr. Ojisan Restaurant

The fiancé and I came here for dinner after the holidays of too much turkey, steak, etc… we needed some local Asian food after all the holiday stuff. The staff is super polite and we ordered about 15 things and everything was awesome! I would definitely come here again and again.

My house mate and I reserved a table for 7pm on a Saturday. This is a small place so I had called to make sure it wasn’t too busy… When we got there at 7:01pm there was some confusion. They did not seem to have a table for us even though I had only called 15 mins prior to arriving. They made a table for us and gave us water right away. I ordered the Gyoza while we looked at the menu.
There is no actual sushi bar although there is place to sit that looks like one but no sushi chef or anything resembling a sushi bar. That was fine. Just an observation. We were not there for sushi. I heard about there combo plates and wanted to try. This place can only hold maybe 30 people total. We had ordered our food. Both combo plates with 2 choices. My friend had the veggies and chicken Katsu. I had the grill salmon and chicken teriyaki. The combos come with A small salad (iceberg lettuce btw) and a shaving of carrot. The dressing was nice. Not a fan of iceberg. A miso soup which was actually quite good and probably the best part of the meal other than the Green tea ice cream for dessert.
It too a little longer then it should have… My friend got his and was not happy with the portions. I still think it’s not too bad for the $ 20. But he runs a lot and needs big portions or he’s not happy. The bummer was that he got his food and I had to wait another 5 or so minutes before I got mine… Which means my friend was almost done because it was so small. They of course said they were sorry but that the kitchen had gotten slammed lol. There was 18 people in the restaurant! How slammed couple they be. Haha. Lame excuse. A free Gyoza would have been a better offer than «Sorry, we got slammed» I asked for green tea. Which I think should come with this meal anyways. Nice green tea and my food came. Nothing really special in the chicken teriyaki. The chicken was ok. And the sauce was not awesome. Could get that at L&L. The salmon was dry with nothing more than a lemon wedge. I like the seaweed salad and daikon and kimchee mostly. Also the Green tea ice cream was great too. The waiter we had was a little rough around the edges I guess.
I guess all in all its not a place I would go back to. I thought with the higher prices that it would be a little more unique in the presentation. It was not. Parsley sprig on top of everything was their idea of cuisine I guess. Although I have to say. The Wafu steak smelled delicious although I hear someone say it needed steak sauce haha… Smelled really good. Also looked a little small in portion too.
There is sooo much Japanese restaurants on this island. I just think you have step it up a little more and they could be a really cute maybe even romantic if they added some plants and music or something different. It is a small place. I hope this helps anyone. I don’t usually write reviews. I use Unilocal a lot on my decisions for food so I think it’s helpful to have an honest opinion. Again. This is only My opinion.

A little small, but good food and service

We celebrated my husband’s sister birthday and his other sister from the mainland last day in Hawaii. I had my friend’s suggestion, the wafu steak. It was soooooo ono.

This isn’t one of the restaurants that I would pick based on my previous dining experience here but my friends fiancé wanted to eat here so we came. He made reservations for us and thankfully he did because they were busy. It’s a small restaurant off Kapahulu Ave in Kilohana Square. They can comfortably seat about 30 or so people inside. It’s definitely a hole in the wall type of restaurant from the décor and furnishings.
Since Mink and I have been eating less to lose a few pounds, we decided to share a 2 choice combination set. We ordered it with the broiled salmon and chicken katsu. It came with salad, miso soup, potato salad, pickled veggies, rice and a scoop of ice cream. The chicken katsu came out warm which was good because they allowed time for it to cool off before consumption. Mink had the salmon and a scoop of their green tea ice cream. She really enjoyed the ice cream. Portions were generous and we both were full when we left.
The service here was a lot better than my previous experience. They were very friendly and patient with us after we completed our meal as we spent time talking about Thailand in December. Our server was also very accommodating to split the check for us. Overall, this is a nice restaurant to have Japanese food at in the Kapahulu area. Food here is still about average but they earned an better review. After this recent visit, they are a solid 3.5 stars.

Wow!!! The food was unreal… we had gyoza, poke, spicy ahi roll and the unagi fried rice in bowl thing… that was so ono!
Then the 4 of us ordered different combos and all were so well prepared and presented… ordered the wagu beef as a side order… broke the mouth.
I had the tonkatsu and mix tempura… ono!
The only issue I have with anything of tonight was that the a/​c and cooling of the space was insufficient. They need to fix that… cause it was a bit warm tonigjt and outside was cooler than inside.
Thk u staff of ojisan!

There is not much to say when it comes to disliking Mr. Ojisan. This is been my go to place when in Waikiki for a nice Japanese meal. But keep in mind that the small hole in the wall Japanese restaurant is quite popular and if you go during the peak meal time you will most likely have to wait for a table. If it suits your fancy, you should probably make a reservation. This restaurant is wonderful for late-​night meals as it is open till the wee hours of the morning. The restaurant has a variety of dishes ranging from Teishoku to Ramen.

Haven’t been to this place in over 6 years, but this place is still spot on with the food, good clean quality food, always fresh! Service is great, at times may seem too busy for them, but the place is too small to have too many servers running around. Portions are on the smaller size, maybe keeping with the Japanese custom, but like I mention the quality is where it’s at.

I enjoyed my meal, thank you.

Quality food with quality service. When comparing this place to other Japanese restaurant I would think that this is on the affordable side. My family and I went for a special occasion and decided to splurge a bit. When I mean splurge… the 4 of us racked up a bill of $ 188 lol. But the hamachi and ahi sashimi were like butter! So fresh! Melted in your mouth! The tako wasabi was delicious, but expected a little more with the price. The agedashi tofu was pretty good. For me I would definitely get the wafu steak and the sashimi cause those two were my favorite. I ordered the 3 choice combo. Chicken, soft shell crab, and assorted sashimi. The combo came with rice, miso soup, and potato salad. Not bad at all. The chicken and soft shell were pretty good. As for the spider roll and spicy tuna roll we ordered it was pretty okay, it didn’t stick out to me. But it didn’t suck either my sister had the curry and that is a LARGE portion, she didn’t complain lol. As for everyone talking about the green tea ice cream being awesome we asked the server he straight up said «it’s all Dave’s ice cream» lol so I went with the vanilla. It’s a cute little restaurant and the employees here are really polite. I wouldn’t come here all the time, strictly because my budget can’t afford it especially with my appetite, but it would be a good spot to go to every now and then.

Always a great meal for both lunch & dinner! Laid back local feel but great authentic Japanese food! The ramen is super good but I usually get the teishoku combo! A must for anyone that loves Japanese food!

Visited for the first time and tried a few familiar dishes, but were not impressed. The chasu slices in the house special ramen were terrible. They did not melt in the mouth and tasted not fresh; AGU and many other places are far superior. Also, sashimi plate (with chuo toro) was not spectacular, so I was unsure as to why this place is rated so high.

They have the prettiest platting here. The miso butterfish is not your typical sauce flavor but its really good. Love the fact that they have ice cream and other flavors other then green tea. Wish they had room for bigger parties.

I’ve always wanted to try this restaurant when driving through Kilohana Square. It’s a nice small Japanese restaurant. I recommend making reservations because it gets pretty busy.
We had a group of seven and got here at 5:30pm when they opened. We were seated and got our food right away. The crowd started to pick up around 6:30pm. It’s a small restaurant, so they only have two waitresses. It got so busy we had to wait a bit for the check. The service was great though, just get there early. The food was good. I really enjoyed the Wafu steak.

I remember coming here a long while back, but got deja-​vu when someone mentioned Mr. Ojisan again. «OHHH I KNOW THAT PLACE». It’s near Market City, but very hidden. At first, we thought the the place was closed, because we couldn’t see their lights from the parking lot. As we got closer to the door, we saw light inside and felt stupid for ever thinking this place was closed lol.
The friends that I were dining with… I KNOW THEIR SECRET. Me thinks they both have a lil crush on the waiters. BAHAHA. I’m kidding. But no seriously, it was about an hour before they closed so we came right on time. The whole place was really empty, except for a few people here and there. We all ordered and decided to split everything.
We got a spicy tuna roll and the combination dinner, which was either between 2 or 3 choices which included: assorted sashimi, chicken katsu, broiled saba, stir-​fry vegetables, assorted tempura, chicken teriyaki, broiled salmon, deep-​fried soft shell crab, tonkatsu, beef teriyaki, broiled sanma, and misoyaki butterfish. AND IF THAT WASN’T ENOUGH, the combo dinners ALSO INCLUDE miso soup, oshinko, kobachi, rice and dessert (either between ice cream or zensai).
With so many choices, we all picked our favorites and decided on those. In the end, our combo dinner consisted of tonkatsu, broiled salmon, and beef teriyaki. All of which were delicious. I liked the arrangement of everything as well, they have really nice presentation skills. The sauce for the tonkatsu and beef teriyaki… omg. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. IT WAS SOOO GOOD. The salmon was amazing as well, esp. the crunchy texture of the skin. To top everything off, we got ice cream and my choice of flavor… COFFEE YAYYY. That was delicious. It was a good night and I was satisfied with everything.

First and definitely not my last trip to this small hole in the wall eatery located in the quaint shopping village at Kilohana Square, on the fringe at Kapahulu. A friend of mine’s been raving about this spot for ages, but as it’s a bit outa our way… I knew circumstances had to align before a visit was possible.
But as luck would have it; we were in Kapahulu, with no particular place to go due to a cancelled engagement (actually we got our dates mixed up) so it was the perfect time for us to drop in on Mr.Ojisan. Reservations not required, but on a busy Friday it might’ve helped. And being the Ox-​tail Soup junkies that we are, it was a no-​brainer what was on the menu this evening.
Big sections of tender, fall off the bone ox-​tail that practically melts in your mouth, and you just know it’s has been simmering in this broth for hours to give it that deep rich flavor. Then to give it diversity there’s mustard cabbage to add a slight bitterness; then to add on to that… there’s Chinese parsley to give an earthy/​herby edge. Plus on the side there’s a dish of grated ginger you can add to the soup to give it that Asian tang if you like, or you could pour shoyu in the dish and use it as a dip… or opt to do both. Along with your bowl of hot rice, you get that warm «Zen» feeling that «All’s right in the world!»
Check out the chalk board near the front door, and it’ll give you the specials for the day. There’s a full bar, a small but decent wine list, service is good and comes with a smile… the things that make you take notice and appreciate little hole in the wall places like this. Parking is behind the restaurant in the tiny boutique village.
Really small, really good, but really worth a missed engagement!

Birthday dinner around 10PM. Made in time before they close. Two of my friends been here. They recommended this place. So 3 of us shared.
Got the combo with salmon, tonkatsu, miso, salad, and some sides with a bowl of rice and another order of a spicy tuna roll (I think). Btw, the combo includes a scoop of ice cream (kona or green tea flavor) (my friend’s birthday dessert). Overall the food was pretty good. Size and portion was a little small. The food not too salty or bland. The spicy tuna roll wasn’t too spicy. Darn!
Cute and small Japanese restaurant. Service not bad. :) Pricing was alright. Would recommend. Hehe

I have been coming to Mr. Ojisan since it opened. Aunty Keiko and the rest of her family have been family friends since I was in elementary school! And it is always great to stop by and indulge in their delicious food.
I love so many things on their menu! Oyako don, tonkatsu, ramen, udon, sushi… YUMMY! I think my most ordered item is their oyako donburi though. I am a sucker for the chicken, egg and rice combination and they make it so delicious! I also love how meals come with salad and miso soup!
In my most recent visit, I ordered the Kitsune Udon. I didnt know what Kitsune was until I asked the waiter but after realizing it was the tofu outside to inari sushi, I was excited! The udon broth was delicious and the kitsune in the udon still had a sweet flavor to it.
I love Mr. Ojisan! Thanks for the good food, Aunty Keiko!

I wasn’t particularly wow’d by the food here. We ordered the bittermelon appetizer. I was surprised to see fried tofu and BACON mixed with the bittermelon! The bittermelon was indeed bitter… too bitter for my liking. But hey, if you swing that way… it’s a pretty tasty dish.
We shared the two combo dinner — broiled saba & the deep fried soft shell crab. The crab was pretty good. The saba had too many little bones. I wish they had served a ponzu sauce with the saba… after all, they gave us daikon and lemon, but no ponzu. Sad panda.
Best part of the meal? The warm azuki bean & mochi dessert. I can’t remember the japanese name for it, but look at my picture! It was delicious! YUMM!
Random factoid: They have rad chopstick holders!

This is one of my favorite japanese restaurants on the island. The service is always very good, and the food is so delicious!
You must make reservations if you plan to come to Mr. Ojisan because it is a fairly small restaurant and it fills up fast! I usually have no trouble making a reservation less than a week in advance for dinner. Lunch sometimes I walk in and depending on what time I can be seated immediately.
All of the dishes I have eaten here have been great. I love love love their miso butterfish, saba, and chicken katsu. Their katsu is thin and crispy and has no fatty pieces in it. I have also like every roll I got here. Their fish and sushi is very fresh. I always order a combo meal for lunch or dinner and it comes with miso soup, salad, pickled veggies, and your choice of dessert! So much food I’m always left full and satisfied. Whenever my husband and I go we order a bottle of iichiko shochu and the price is very reasonable. The mark up isn’t high like other restaurants on Kapahulu.
There is some parking in the back of the restaurant but it is shared with other businesses so sometimes it could be full. There is also metered street parking along Kapahulu.
I love you, Mr. Ojisan!