Wada

Sushi selection was fantastic! Loved Wada! Service was good, food was delicious. Will definitely be back!

Excellent friendly service, have the ouster shooters, sushi is fresh shabu shabu is also a must have!

Went in to try their happy hour menu. Been wanting to go to this place out for awhile
Warning.
Price for sushi is per piece not 2 pieces
They charge for soda refills. $ 7 each.
Tried to use the Unilocal check in for ice cream. They put it on our receipt even though we never got any. «We are out of dessert today.»
Sushi quality was ok. The Unagi was really good. Salmon and Maguro were average.
Not going back to this place there are so many better places nearby. For what we got and spent not worth it.

O.M.G. Best Japanese food I’ve ever had!!! I don’t eat out much but I’m going to make an exception and have this be my «special treat» place! The food, the people, the service is top notch! If you’re looking for quality, look no further… you just hit the jackpot!

Can’t get enough of this place. The food is fantastic and the service is extraordinary. The staff is fantastic. The fish is super fresh and lots of it is flown in from Japan. Too bad I don’t live in Honolulu, I’d be going here at least 3 or4 times a week.

Unfortunately, Wada did not impress me as I thought it would. It hurts me to say this because a trusted foodie friend recommended this restaurant & I truly trust her judgement and selective palette. The dishes I did enjoy were the tuna with foie gras nigiri, wagyu beef nigiri, toro with uni, and the beef tongue dish. The marinated tuna + foie gras was the money. I couldn’t resist ordering seconds. As for the sashimi, simple nigiris, entrees, etc., I viewed them as so-​so and feel that higher quality fish can be found elsewhere on the island. I’d say save your money and go to Sushi II.
I think being off-​put by the rude, inattentive service tumbled down into the taste of my meal. My party of two ordered ~$ 200 of food and when we asked for more authentic wasabi (wasabi shaven from the actual wasabi root), the waiter came back with powder wasabi. I know what real wasabi tastes/​looks like and that wasn’t it, but he insisted it was real. He left and came back telling us that they would charge an extra $ 2 if we wanted the authentic wasabi. I kindly told him to not worry about it, but felt so taken back that I couldn’t have enough wasabi to complement all the food we ordered. Eventually, the waiter came through with real wasabi, but by that time, we had already finished our meal. Sigh. I was also left without water for the majority of my meal. :(
If I were to return, it’d solely be for the Happy Hour menu. They had some good deals on nigiri and drinks.

You won’t be disappointed. Any occasion Wada works.
First date? Wada. Family dinner? Wada. Business dinner? Wada. Dinner? Wada. Happy hour? Wada. Early dinner? Wada. Late dinner? Wada. Munchies? Wada.
You kinda get the point? Anything on the menu is always high quality. Excellent staff super clean.
Always use this as a first date place.

Bomb! Awesome Toro. Ikura was delicious. Beautiful uni with gold flakes. Staff very friendly. Casual yet fine dining! The deep fried prawns were my favorite too!

The Good:
+ You know its proper izakaya when they serve natto!
+ Extensive list of grilled goods, but also impressive arsenal of cold dishes.
+ Really blown away by the value of the sushi considering the main focus is izakaya.
+ Awesome food and drink specials during happy hour and LATE NIGHT happy hour!
+ All dishes were well executed, seasoned well, boasted fresh ingredients, and incredibly delicately prepared.
The Not So Good:
— service was a bit disoriented when it came time to get guests seated; these seemed to be no order and parties of the same size that arrived after us were seated before us even without reservations. However, tableside service was excellent.
Bottom Line:
AUTHENTIC IZAKAYA. Stop by now! Wada originally cut his teeth at Sushi Yasuda in NYC before opening shop in Honolulu, so expect a delightful experience and a modern take on Japanese.

We usually come here for Happy Hour!
Their POKE $ 5 is delicious!
Organic Salad $ 4
Sushi $ 2.75~
Their sushi is pretty fresh and Happy Hour prices are reasonable.

I ordered many pieces of sushi .
It was’t fresh at all.
Uni smelled real terrible like sewer and Abalone was like rubber, Hamachi and scallop had no texture… wow. How could sushi Restraunt is this bad.
Bill was $ 80 at happy hour for 2 people.
If you expects some good quality of sushi, this place will be wrong choice.

This is a cute small place that services Tapa style Japanese food. Food comes in small portions and they are meant to be share with others. They have Happy Hour after 9PM and prices are pretty reasonable for their Happy Hour.
Friends and I have shared their Nabe here (a bit pot of soup with vegetables and various meats). It was very delish! Service is great and their food is great.
Their parking is valet only until 9PM. Then you have to fight it out with the other establishments next door to the restaurant, including a laundromat.

When I go on vacation I typically like to try as many places as possible but I have to say that Wada was such good quality with a wonderful happy hour menu that we came back the next night for another early dinner. First, the staff were all excellent and you can tell by the dishes that the chef takes great care in freshness and presentation. We tried several things and naturally it all started with the cold sake on the happy hour menu! Some of our favorite dishes were:
* Green papaya and avocado salad
* Tuna poke
* Uni — Sweet and buttery
* Japanese snapper
* Japanese scallop
* Sesame ice cream
Overall an excellent experience and we would definitely go back in a future trip to the island.

Wada is hands down one of the best Japanese restaurants I’ve been to in the world! Its just my style! Crazy good service, amazing quality meats & fish. And fair price! The Tuna with Foie Gras was my favorite! Everything was super good. All top notch quality. I highly recommend this place. I came once during my vacation, and on the last day I came back but they were closed. I am dying to come back.
Heres what I ordered:
Tripe Appetizer (Free)
Tuna w Foie Gras
Unagi
Wagyu Beef Sushi
Wagyu Beef with Uni
Japanese Uni
Santa Barbara Uni
Toro
Beef Tongue BBQ
Ikura
Tobiko
Sesame Ice Cream
It was such an AMAZING meal. Granted I ordered all the expensive things on the menu, but this meal only came out to a little less than $ 200. I expected it to be alot more. It was worth every penny. The items are not that expensive, but my boyfriend and I ordered 2 each of every item, or more. We just love our food. I would fly to Hawaii just for this. No where compares to this place. I wanna go back!!!

I have been wanting to try this place for a long time and am so happy that I finally tried it. For $ 60-​$ 65 Wada meal you leave feeling very full and satisfied!
When you walk in its brightly lit and clean with a sushi bar and larger tables for groups. You are welcomed by everyone greeting you at once as most traditional Japanese restaurants. This evening I dined with my pregnant bestie that has been cut off of anything raw and limited in fish intake. I aim for the wada meal and she orders a few cooked things off of the menu.
First round «zensai» is a cold Kahuku corn tofu. This is refreshing and light and can taste the corn. Next «Ni mono» is a crispy deep fried oysters and sweet pepper. A little tough coating but the oyster itself has a good flavor. I was very happy to have Otoro in the next round– sashimi. This melted in my mouth. They then bring out a hot stone to cook their famous beef tongue. Please cook for 10 sec on one side flip for another 3 sec… perfect. Select salt and pepper or an lemon base sauce. Our server then cooks skirt steak with onions and mushrooms table side. Cooked to medium rare. Great service. Very attentive with water and food and very friendly. You then have a choice of hot rice or cold noodle mixed with minced beef tongue. By this time I am very full!
In addition the imo pancake is a bit bland not what I expected. The seafood dynamite is okay, I prefer the mayo based type this has cheese. Chicken wings are a little tough.
I would like to come back to try the uni on beef tataki and others that was served on the table next to us.

We were excited to try Wada since reviewing other Unilocal views. We dined there last night. The interior is completely different from the old Tokkuri Tei décor. It’s modern & bright, with a lot of wood panels. There tables are a carved from a solid piece of wood with the edges sloped at a gentle angle where the table faces you.
They have some interesting drinks. I had the ume/​brut prosecco cocktail which was pretty good & helped me relax after a long day.
On to the food. We had:
Green papaya & avocado salad (3.5÷5): refreshing, light & tasty with Japanese sesame dressing
Miso black cod (⁴⁄₅): delicate, flavorful & tender.
Beef with Uni and nori wrap (4.5÷5): This was my second favorite dish. It was delicate and delicious, perfect 2 bites of perfection.
Kushiage (³⁄₅): fried veggies that my friend ordered — not that exciting & I probably wouldn’t repeat it.
Maguro & foie gras (⁵⁄₅): this was the star of the night. It was my favorite dish of everything that we ate. It’s delicate, flavorful, perfectly seasoned/​sauced. The foie was perfectly seared.
Uni from Japan (4.5÷5): it was fresh, delicate & sweet. We wanted to compare & contrast with the uni from U. S, but the domestic uni was not available last night.
King salmon (⁴⁄₅): very fresh & tender.
Chicken arabiki sausage (2.5÷5): I thought this was just ok, not exciting enough for me to repeat in the future.
Cold eggplant in dashi (³⁄₅): This is a dish in the classic Japanese preparation & was light, delicate.
Fried Pacific Oysters (³⁄₅): Perfectly fried little oysters in light batter.
Seafood dynamite: (²⁄₅): It was just ok & had a lot of cheese on it, which I’ve never had with any dynamite preparation.
Lilikoi sorbet,(complementary with Unilocal check in) (3.5÷5): perfect, light, palate cleansing end to your meal.
Service is quick and very friendly.
Valet parking only in their lot for $ 3.00
Don’t forget free ice cream with Unilocal check in for each member of your party.

Excellent Happy Hour!
Try to go from 4−6pm and grab an early bite.
After living in Fukuoka, Japan for 20 years, I thought that it would be impossible to find an izakaya that would live up to the quality that I have become accustomed to.
I’m happy to say that this place truly measures up. You won’t be disappointed.

This is my favorite japanese restaurant in Hawaii, no joke. It’s true that it’s relatively pricey but afterall, it is fine dining. This is why I was excited to hear that they have a happy hour menu now! They have quality, I mean exquisitely quality sushi and other delicacies on happy hour prices. Like, I just reread what I typed and thought, wow I should be a spokesperson for this place; I’m like, in love.
They have a fully exposed kitchen which is definitely reassuring (sanitation wise) and to see Chef Wada and other talented chefs focused on constructing intricate dishes that’s not only pleasant on your tongue but also your eyes makes your dining experience that much personal.
The servers are knowledgeable, friendly and lively as well and they all seemed to contribute to the friendly and polite environment of the restaurant.
My favorite dish is gyu-​uni and scallop sushi. I am a sucker for scallop, uni, and beef! You have to try the gyu-​uni. I had 3 of those because I politely stole my boyfriends share too, no remorse.

The first time we visited this restaurant was 2 years ago. Since then this restaurant was famous as a good japanese cuisine restaurant. It’s famous as they served the beef tongue in the Hawaii first. Our first impression was good quaｌity but expensive in proportion of food. These days we heard that they began to held a happy hours. Today we tried the happy hour menu. That’s quite nice. Delicious and cheap.

Parking: valet and very small lot in front. Street parking in the surrounding neighborhood
The cost: $ 75 per person
The food:
Sea cucumber
Squid cartilage
Uni and beef
Akami foie gras sushi
Omakase (5 kinds)
Washugyu tataki
Grilled eggplant
Washugyu beef tongue (8 slices)
Dassai sake
Restrooms: yes in the restaurant. Very clean clearly japanese design
Reservations: yes recommended
This is as authentically japanese as it gets. The interior is open with a bar area as well as several open tables. It’s well lit. This place is famous for its beef tongue. Arranged by fat content and without seasoning so you can really taste the meat. They present a hot iron bowl that you cook the tongue on. It’s both a social and gustatory experience. The other stand out dishes were foie gras and maguro and the squid cartilage. The akami foie gras sushi has that sweetness and warmth from the foie gras with the freshness and rawness of the maguro. It’s the perfect marriage and east and west.
Overall, a great dining experience. Get the tongue, squid cartilage, and foie gras with maguro.