If you can believe it, I have never been to Sekiya’s. Honestly, when I started eating out more, that was around the time Sekiya’s got closed down for violations. I forget why and somehow that stuck with me but I was young then. Now I know dirtier kitchens probably make the best food (sorry for that). Anyway, my friend treated me to a nice lunch here after a morning of craft fairing across the street.

Super old school joint, and you better go only if you’re patient. I was a bit upset in the beginning because honestly we were the only other table and the waitress wasn’t helping us fast at all. Then as I took in the surroundings, I realized she was completely on her own and probably helping in the kitchen too so I calmed down considerably. I get it, all restaurants get staffing shortages but that’s just my warning to you. If you come here, expect to wait a very long time. To be seated, to be given waters, to have your order taken, to get your food, to get your check (omg that took so long), lol. But the waitress is so nice and doing her best so please know that before going.

Also, the delicatessen line was always busy. I wish we had more okazuyas around.

Small Saimin | $7.09
Yakitori Chicken (2 sticks) | $4.35

This wasn’t my dish but I got to try a piece of the chicken. It was alright. Hahaha

Fried Saimin | $10.49
BBQ Stick Meat | $2.55

I like laugh. I just looked at the picture of the menu and it has a warning with this meat stick that consuming raw or undercooked foods may increase your risk of foodborne illness. Wat? For this meat stick? What they trying for tell me? I didn’t get asked if I want it to be cooked rare. And boy, was this hunk of meat overcooked lol – it was like jerky. I wouldn’t get this again.

I’ve talked about this before, I am a noodle fiend. I was super looking forward to this dish. And well, I guess I didn’t expect it to come unmixed. I expected them to fry the saimin…together? There is a huge mound of noodles mixed with a very sweet teriyaki sauce and then the toppings thrown on top. If you don’t like raw green onions, no get this dish. And the plate they serve it in is so small that I couldn’t even mix the noodles myself (lol) so I had to pick at ingredients little by little while trying to grab noodles from this huge clump. The dish was okay, but I guess I would prefer it already mixed?? Also, thankfully my friend had her hot mustard because boy did I need it to eat this dish. If not, it was just all dry and sweet. Needed a kick.

I know this wasn’t a glowing review but I would still return to try their other dishes. They just a small mom and pop restaurant serving up some old school Japanese food, gotta support!

Mai Musubi’s old location was in Liliha but I never got to try them out. I learned recently that they opened in Manoa in the old Bubbies location. How awesome is that! They open at 6AM so you can pick up onigiri or bentos before work. I went during their soft opening week. I tried to time out a morning walk with their opening. I mistimed it. I got there at 5:45AM so I started walking in circles in that huge parking lot next door. If someone saw me, they would probably think I was crazy. That’s fine, I didn’t want to get approached by any undesireables.

They opened a few minutes early and I made a beeline in. They only had their onigiris out, I asked what time bentos are usually out and she mentioned about 6:30AM. Very nice lady, I think this place is run by a husband and wife team.

Karaage Chicken Musubi | $2.55

I was told that this was a good musubi but that the chicken was just a bit bland. If they had added just a bit more salt to the chicken, it would have been perfect.

Tuna Mayo Musubi | $2.55

I’m a sucker for tuna mayo anything. Seriously. I could eat many of these. This was delicious. Perfect amount of tuna mayo and can tell they used kewpie. The nori is perfect – it just all works. One thing to know about their musubis, they actually lay all the “fillings” on top. But they are quite generous.

Mentaiko Musubi | $3.00

A coworker has been trying all the different musubis from the different Japanese shops. She really enjoyed this musubi, shared that they are very generous with the mentaiko. She said she likes the rice better at Dell’s. But I guess both options are fine!

Spam Musubi | $2.55

I also love all spam musubis. It was good. Salty. I get it, spam is salty. I don’t want to assume but I think they used regular spam versus lower sodium spam, if they switched it to lower sodium spam, it would be perfect.

Salmon Tobiko Musubi | $3.00

Generous serving of salmon and tobiko! The salmon was also like homemade kine, not from the can. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Crunchy Ume (Plum) Musubi | $2.55

I got this just on a whim. If you like ume, you’ll definitely like this. I liked it but didn’t love it. And since I ate this on its own, I felt like something was missing. I think I wouldn’t mind eating this alongside another musubi…like the karaage one or the spam one. You know? Cause this one was just crunchy and a bit sour so I didn’t care for it by itself.

If you know me, you know I love my carbs. It’s a curse. No blessings here. Well, the blessing is when I get to eat said carbs. Anyway, Shingen is a cute little restaurant in the same lot as Tori Ton and the old Sweet Home Cafe in Moilili. Now that we’re talking about soba which Shingen is known for, I’m getting a hankering for Inaba. Hmmm…stay tuned.

Ginger Tempura | $4.80

I would never think to order this on my own. It was interesting, I never had gari deep fried tempura style before. Is it something I am yearning for again? Probably not, but it was a nice nibble before dinner!

Seafood Salad with Japanese Style Dressing | $13.80

Isn’t this salad so pretty? Pretty to look at and delicious to eat. We really enjoyed sharing this dish. Would recommend!

Special Dinner Combo | $17.80
Hot Soba + Mini Ahi-Poke Don

Special Dinner Combo | $17.80 + $1.00
Cold Soba (upgrade to Moringa Soba for $1.00) + Mini Tem-Don

The first combo wasn’t mine so I can’t comment too much on it, but it was enjoyed. This was my dish. Very good. I wanted to be fancy and get the moringa soba, the menu says that moringa has over 90 nutrients. I got suckered in. Don’t they sell these in grocery stores? Well, I’ve seen green noodles? All in all, I think this was a good dining experience. I actually came here I think in March so the prices were a bit expensive to me since it was pre-inflation. I think I’m going to have to go to Inaba to do a compare and contrast!

Original Warabi Mochi | $5.80
jelly like confection, made from bracken starch and dipped in kinako (sweet toasted soy bean flour)

Almost forgot to post the dessert! I love warabi mochi lol so no complaints here!

Correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t there a Kikuya in Kaneohe? Yes, I see there is, with a slightly different spelling. Are they sister restaurants? Anyway, I went to the Kalihi Kikuya for dinner on a Friday night and it was pretty okay. I wouldn’t call this high end Japanese but more of a family style restaurant, super fast service. The restaurant was full of Korean waitresses, nothing wrong with that! The hostess was super friendly and the other wait staff were just super hustlers, not the chatty type. The location may not be ideal for most. The parking lot is kind of horrendous and shares the same lot with I don’t know, 10 restaurants? I thought I found a stall in front of the Chinese restaurant and parked when a worker came out asking if I was picking up from them. No, I wasn’t. She said the stall I used was for their pick-up orders only. Okay, I moved my car. There was a cone not in the stall but fronting the stall with no sign. They couldn’t just write a quick piece of paper saying take-out only? The cone was not blocking the stall, I promise.

Anyway, I parked next to the adult store. I didn’t even know we had one in Kalihi, lol.

Combo Dinner Set Sides
edamame, pickled cabbage (pink stuff), tossed salad (with an asian vinegary dressing, good!), miso soup

Combo Dinner 1st Choice | Shrimp Tempura w/Veg.
Two big shrimps, kabocha, green beans

Combo Dinner Set 2nd Choice | Sushi
4 pcs. nigiri, ahi, salmon, tai, tamago

Combo Dinner price is $17.95 for 2 choices and $20.95 for 3 choices. A pretty good deal to me nowadays! The food came out FAST. Just homey Japanese dishes. The sushi was pretty good and the cuts were good!

My brother chose the sushi and the chicken karaage (WHY!). To me, if you gonna pay the same price for the sets – go for the pricier stuff! Not chicken karaage! I tried a piece. It was bland, not enough salt and they don’t serve it with lemon. Wouldn’t get the karaage again.

All in all, it was good! Not too busy, we got seated right away but the restaurant definitely had groups dining in already at 5PM. I bet it gets super busy after my senior citizen dining time. I would definitely dine there again, great to know that such a restaurant exists so close to home. Get plenty restaurants I need to check out in this strip mall.