Tokkuri-Tei

I’ve been here twice for lunch now in a span of a year and both occasions ordered the oyakodon. While waiting for our food to come, I always wondered what oyakodon meant. So I googled it up and oyako means parents and children, like chicken and egg, and don (donburi) means a bowl. Pretty much a simple one bowl mean with flavorful chunks of chicken wrapped in a custardy blanket of eggs with seasoning. I learned something new that day for all the times I’ve ordered this donburi at japanese places, I now know what it means.
The meal came with miso soup and salad. The oyakodon was a huge bowl but mainly filled with rice and less of the actual chicken and egg which is kind of disappointing considering it’s almost $ 13 for it. For me, it was okay. Not bad but it wasn’t worth what I paid for. The décor resembles an authentic old japanese hole in the wall place. There’s validated parking underneath for $ 1. Maybe if I tried their other items, I may give this place another chance.

The sushi was not sliced nicely. It all felt very rushed and half-​fast. Everything has that fishy undertone.

Everything was delicious. My husband and I came for our honeymoon and saw this highly rated sushi restaurant, and decided that we must try! We ordered chicken hearts, the squid pancake, the biggest sushi roll, and everything was good. We did get overstuffed and couldn’t finish the squid pancake. That thing is huge! Everything was fresh and delicious regardless.

Park on the street to avoid paying the $ 2 the lot now charges, boo! I believe it depends what time you get there but I’m not one to like paying for parking when it used to be free (call me cheap but sushi is expensive, okay).
Love the salmon skin salad, tempura, uni shot, and of course their sushi. The nigiri is tasty, seems fresh, and is pretty fairly priced. The ube ice cream or gelato is very creamy and always a nice ending to the meal.

It’s wonderful to be back home in Hawai’i nei enjoying the beautiful weather and warm people, and it is even better to enjoy paradise with friends over good food! When my friend said that he had never been, I jumped on the occasion and said that we should try this place out.
For a Tuesday night, we made reservations in case there was a big crowd, but it was a nice quiet evening for this eatery. Only a few tables were booked and everyone seemed to be having a good time. We had great service and were quickly and the waitress was very good at giving us recommendations on what to order. Unfortunately, we started off the night with a few drinks and I was a bit too tipsy to remember the names of what we ordered but they were all delightful! Our favorite was a grilled chicken stuffed with enoki mushrooms. There were two other grilled dishes that were excellent (again, don’t remember the names, but enjoy the pictures!). I would definitely recommend the grilled items over the sushi. For some reason, I remember thinking that the sushi was «just okay» and apparently didn’t leave a lasting impression.
Would I go back? Yes, but maybe no drinks the next time around.

Outdated and uninteresting — décor and food.
I came here on a whim after seeing Unilocal reviews. As a lover of izakaya style meals I was truly excited.
The food.
We ordered several yakitori style dishes. It was good but not special. When asked for mustard I was ignored
The sushi was decent.
I would skip karage.
We ordered a ton of food and was full but I left feeling disappointed.
Unfriendly staff.
I asked the girl if they had happy hour. She curtly said «no» and walked away.
When she came back I asked if they had a certain sake (their sake is on a different menu, which she did not provide to us) she said «no» and walked away.
A few minutes later she came back to dropped off the «alcohol menu».
Gee. Thanks?!
She was asking us if we drank sake before pouring into a traditional masu. The vibe I got was that she was trying to «school» us, not be informative. Girl. Bye.
So many better options nearby. Will maybe return. Probably not.

Years later and a new location but still with the great food and service! And thank yous still draped along the walls… comforting to say the least.
We are more sushi bar junkies now than before, but we still get things off of the kitchen menu every now and then.
They have a larger alcohol selection than before, which is great!
Their menu is very extensive and there are great captions for most of them, but if you’re not sure what something is, don’t hesitate to ask your server, they are super patient and knowledgable!
Enjoy!

You gotta try this place! Where do I start, this place is amazing! From big parties or just a single night out this place caters to everyone. They have a vast variety of items to choose from for the picky and non picky eater. I loved how the menu had some of the little funny descriptions which i had to take a picture of. The service here was spot on with water always being refilled and the attentiveness of the staff. They are so helpful and make our experience here enjoyable every time.
This is a Japanese izakaya, which means they have many different small dishes to choose from as well as regular teishoku meals. We been here a few times before and this time we felt adventurous, we started out with a simple sashimi plater that is always very fresh. Next we had the abalone escargot which to me tasted like just butter and cheese, I personally wouldnt order again. Then out came the oyster shooter and amaebi, both were awesome and very fresh a must have if you like either one. Next i felt like trying the live abalone sashimi and it was very interesting, the top is soft but the bottom is crunchy is how i can describe it. Not something i particularly enjoyed but you gotta try everything once. Final item came out and it was the Enoki Maki, which is the Enoki mushrooms wrap with pork on a stick. This is another must have! Even though i didnt like a few items this time based on my past experience this place is awesome. Come and give them a try you will not be disappointed.

Hurry up & get your booty here if you want some delicious food! I love food, especially Japanese food! My best friends wonderful parents wanted to take me to dinner to catch up & because they were lonely since their daughter was in Korea. So I was their substitute for the night.
We came on a Monday night at 5:45 & there was only 1 other customer seated. We were seated on the tables closest to the open kitchen so that we could watch the chefs in action. The menu is seriously super overwhelming, for an indecisive person like me I had a hard time choosing. After staring at the menu for 20 minutes in shock we decided to get the salmon skin salad & 4 rolls (spider, volcano, dynamite & the dragon roll).
Everything was sooooooo good! The rolls are a bit pricy at $ 20 each, but it’s seriously a lot of sushi! The salmon skin salad was super yums, but I picked out the skin & just ate the meat of the salmon. So after stuffing myself my auntie & uncle decided to order even more food!!! The deliciousness wasn’t stopping. We ordered 1 more specialty roll, a regular spicy roll & chicken teriyaki sticks. I took home all the leftovers for lunch & dinner the next day.
The crowd started rolling in around 6:45−7. Definitely try to make reservations on the weekends! Who wouldn’t want to come here?! The food & the service are amazing!

Visited Tokkuri-​Tei the other day and I guess I ordered the right dishes this time. This time around I went with a friend and we ordered: Geso Karage, Spicy Ahi Uramaki, Negi Ahi Futsomaki, Kake Udon, and Ponzu Salmon. The geso karage was standard, but very yummy. Spicy Ahi Uramaki was delicious! Not too spicy, but not lacking flavor at all. Negi Ahi Futsomaki was good, but I’ve never tried it anywhere else. Kake Udon was so perfect! Udon noodles were so fat and yummy. My friend had the Ponzu Salmon and I had tried some. I’m not a fan of picking out bones when eating fish, so this was my least favorite dish.
The same people from last time had helped us and they were a little more kind this time around so that made us feel comfortable! This place is still a little pricey, but all Japanese restaurants are unless you go during some kind of happy hour or to a whole-​in-​the-​wall place. But you are definitely paying a good amount of money for GOOD food, so it’s all worth it in the end!

This restaurant reminds me of a family favorite in Seattle called Maruta’s. Delicious ala cart style Japanese restaurant! I got the dragon roll and the spicy tuna roll. Both were delicious but the dragon roll was larger and had more ingredients. Where as the spicy tuna roll only had tuna in the roll. We also ordered inagi mushroom appetizer which was the long inagi mushroom wrapped in bacon. So delicious. We got Agedashi tofu as well which was pretty good here. And lastly, we ordered a miniature order of Sashimi. It had 5 slices of sashimi. The whole thing was so good. Perfect size for two people. The bill was $ 60 though. But so worth it. I feel like I got all my favorite things and luckily my friend also liked those too!
My Personal Restaurant Rating Key
One star: the food was bad and I had a negative experience.
Two star: I had a more negative experience and would not come here again but the food was good so I may.
Three store: Everything is good except one thing. Example-​the food is good, the price is more reasonable but the atmosphere is lacking class. Or the food is good, the atmosphere is good, but they over charged us. These three stars are actually my favorite types of restaurants to go eat at if the reason is due to the atmosphere because they are usually delicious and reasonably priced.
Four stars: Everything is great, food and experience. However the price is definitely on the upper end. I would not recommend this first to Obama unless he didn’t like my five stars. These are restaurants you can take your boss or your mother-​in-​laws to impress them, however they still don’t fit into the five star category. A bit fancier than my three stars, hence I don’t often eat here unless there is an occasion for it or there is a groupon that gives me a bit of a discount!
Five stars: I would recommend this to Obama. The price may be on the upper end but the experience and the taste is so exquisite, it is actually worth every nickel and dime.

A group of five friends and I went to Tokkuri-​Tei went here for dinner one night as a «farewell» dinner for one of my friends that was moving to Japan. He loves Japanese food and picked here for our eating destination.
Fortunately, they had space for our group of six and it actually wasn’t too crowded during the time of our visit. You can either find street parking or park downstairs in the lot and pay a small fee (I think it’s validated, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure, since I opted for the street parking). Two of my friends and I carpooled, and we ended up finding a spot that was really close.
Tokkuri-​Tei is upstairs and is izakaya style, meaning that they have more tapas/​small plates than larger entrees. But, there are lots of combinations and sets you can choose from. This was my first time here, and my friend said he usually gets a few small plates for dinner. Granted, those plates can add up quickly, so be sure to scope out the prices before you start ordering.
It took our group a while to decide what we wanted, and even at that, I was wavering between menu items until the last minute. But, our server came back multiple times to refill our waters, and she always took more orders when we were still hungry.
Tokkuri-​Tei can be loud, but it is definitely good for groups — they had tables for smaller parties, but ample space for larger groups as well. I would want to revisit this place, just because I didn’t do the menu justice and there were so many things I wanted to try.
Here’s what I got:
«Salmon Skin Salad»: I got the half order of this salad, even though I was starving. The server said the half order was a decently sized portion, and she was right. I can’t remember everything in this salad, but I love salmon skin, so it didn’t disappoint. There was a generous portion of salmon skin, which I enjoyed crunching on. The salad itself was really flavorful and coated with a light dressing, and I devoured it in no time. I would highly recommend this if you’re looking for a quick appetizer (or maybe to share) or something lighter for lunch or dinner. The half portion proved to be enough for me (with room for dessert after), but if I were hungrier, I would probably go with the whole size.
«Hyotan Teishoku»: The teishoku sets here are pricy, but my friend opted for this one because it was one of the more affordable ones and it contained everything that he liked. It featured two pieces of ebi tempura, two sticks of yakitori and sashimi. Each teishoku set comes with rice, miso soup, salad, pickles and daifuku mochi for dessert. The teishoku set in of itself was really cute and presentation was on point. My friend enjoyed the different compartments and said all the food was really flavorful. His favorite was the tempura but he said the yakitori was delicious as well.
«Ahi Cheese Salad»: This was one of the other salads I had my eye on, and if I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll try it one day. It includes ahi katsu and cheddar cheese over nalo greens. I didn’t order this one just because I have mixed feelings about nalo greens – I’d rather have straight-​up Romaine or spinach – but I wasn’t sure if the greens would have a bitter taste to them. Still, I’m curious to see what the ahi katsu and cheese combo tastes like here.
«Unagi Don»: I was trying not to spend too much on dinner, and the price was the only thing that prevented me from ordering this unagi don. It featured teriyaki eel over rice and it comes with miso soup. But, the large portion is nearly $ 30! The small is available for $ 19.50. I probably would have gone with the small portion anyway, but I figured I would try some of the other unique selections here and get the unagi don if I was craving a tried-​and-​true comfort food.
«Kilauea Roll»: This roll intrigued me because of its contents, and if it wasn’t about $ 20, I would have wanted to try it. It features a California roll with spicy tuna on top and is also topped with a sweet-​sour sauce and tempura flakes. I do love the basic California roll, but the extra elements make this roll sound really good. I definitely anticipate trying the sweet-​sour sauce and enjoying the welcomed crunch and texture of the tempura flakes.

Cute little place located on kapahulu. The drinks are affordable and the food is cute and delicious.
But the server SHOTA is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT!
Like so cute I’d buy both our wedding rings! Will definitely be back for this sexy lad.
If shota is taken ill definitely take randy

Came here on a weekday lunchtime at 12. It was not busy at all and it was easy to get a table.
The menu is at first pretty overwhelming, and primary in Japanese but with small English translation.
I ordered the spicy tuna tempura chips and the spicy tuna roll (uramaki). Both were super good, not too spicy and were very fresh.
I also ordered this Japanese shrimp custard thing that wasn’t very nice, and was weirdly lumpy. Maybe that was a little too authentic for me!
Great fast service. A solid choice.

I love sushi and Tokkuri-​Tei definitely did not disappoint.
Came here on a Wednesday night and they weren’t busy. Was seated right away and our server came right to the table to introduce herself and get our drink order in.
Extensive drink and food menu. I’d go more into detail, but everything was delicious. Definitely not sushi in Japan, but it was still OISHII!
Tokkuri-​Tei is located in Kapahulu, same building as Hee Hing and Tucker & Bevvy — on the 2^nd floor. The menu is quite overwhelming — so many choices!!! Take your time to look over it though, the servers are very patient.
Prices are reasonable for the food you are eating. I will definitely come back here again to try everything else that I never got around to trying that night!
Enjoy!

Recently it seems like everyone and their mom is opening an Izakaya restaurant in Honolulu and more are popping up. Tokkuri-​Tei is one of the originals and has seen the others come and go. They started on Sheridan Street, moved to Kapahulu Avenue and then moved down the street into their present large space on the second floor above what used to be Hee Hing Restaurant.
Kazu and Santa are the bosses. They are pros and if you watch them closely, you can see that they have control over every aspect of Tokuri-​Tei from the kitchen, staff, service, dining experience and beyond.
Tokkuri-Tei’s menu is much too diverse and extensive to attempt to list or highlight — there are that many winners. There are also desserts and alcoholic beverages. You are just going to need to start ordering, then return again and try something different. Like the restaurant, the menu has withstood the test of time.
To say that Tokkuri-​Tei is an Izakaya restaurant with a fully functioning sushi bar would be an understatement. Kazu either makes or oversees every made-​to-​order specialty sushi roll and you will be hard pressed to find better anywhere. I will say this about the sushi and sashimi: when I go to other establishments for sushi/​sashimi, I make the comparison of whether they are as good as Tokkuri-​Tei. Usually that is also a negative.
Omakase (chef’s choice) with Chef Ryuji at the sushi bar is one of the premier dining experiences in Honolulu. He is an artist who pushes the sushi dining experience to the limits. After almost two decades of regular dining at his sushi bar he has never failed to serve us something new. I will make the bold statement that he is one of the best sushi chefs in the world and let my photos of his work speak for themselves.
So this is my 50^th review and I figure that it should either be for 1 star or 5 stars. Even though I have been holding off on my review of Tokkuri-​Tei it has always had 5 stars from me.

Tokkuri-​Tei is located on Kapahulu next to Tucker and Bevvy on the second floor of a two story complex. There is some covered parking available in the building, or parking on the street. Honestly when we come here, we usually just park right in front on Kapahulu.
Over the years, I find myself loving this place more and more! The service is always good and the food just gets better and better! The menu is kind of big, so it always takes me a little while on figuring out everything I want to order!
While looking at the drinking menu, I couldn’t help but to just love this header!
Anyway, after deciding on which sake to drink. My waitress gave me the BEST sake pour ever! I’m telling you the staff here is always the best.
The Grub.
[[ SAUSAGE $ 5.50 ]]

[[ TSUKUNE $ 4.50 ]]
[[ UNI $ 14 ]]
[[ ENOKI BATA $ 7.50 ]]
[[ AGEDASHI TOFU $ 4.50 ]]
[[ AMAEBI $ 12 ]]
[[ TOKKURI TEISHOKU $ 27.95 ]]
This set comes with sashimi, shrimp tempura, beef steak, rice, miso, salad, pickles, and saifuku mochi.

A great izakaya experience with a large variety of menu items! The first time I tried them months ago, with my girlfriend, we sampled simple small dishes like their «Salmon Skin Salad,» and a lot of yakitory items. This time, we sat at the sushi bar and tried their omakase… an unusual assortment, and very satisfying. From shrimp and abalone soaked in udon broth, to «Green Eye» fish, I thoroughly enjoyed every item. And of course, I had to have my Asahi to complement every bite.
Tokkuritei — I highly recommend for winding down after a long day, pau hana or any time you’re hungry for sushi with a lot of other menu choices. And the prices are reasonable as well.

Tokkuri-​Tei is a long time local favorite izakaya. From sushi to grilled items to deep fried, these are truly tasty tidbits. They have a large, open dinning area, lots of servers, and food comes out pretty fast.
You really can’t go wrong with the menu, order what you like, but a few of my favorites are uni, negitoro, sakekawa tofu salad, soft shell crab, rib eye steak, kawa, nick jagger, hotate bata, and age dashi tofu.
Grab a bunch of friends, order some beer, and expect good food and a good time.

This place reminds me of the old fisherman a wharf… But with better food. The décor was like a fishing boat style… Not sure if I explained that well lol
I ordered their katsu don which came with salad and miso and hot tea. I also ordered one order of otorro sushi. Everything was delicious and actually too much food for lunch! This place is great if you have an appetite.
I came here with a girlfriend for lunch. There was lots of parking downstairs, there wasn’t long wait time to get seated, the restaurant was semi busy and their service was quick and friendly.
My friend ordered the ahi katsu, which also came with a salad, miso soup and tea. She enjoyed her meal as well.
They also gave us a adzuki stuffed Mochi for dessert! Yum!!!
This is a cute lunch place that sits right outside of Waikiki. I’m curious to check this place out for dinner. Their sushi bar looked like a cute set up.

Hamachi!!!, Otoro!!!, spicy ahi chips… orgasm in your mouth!