I used to come Izakaya Torae Torae more often, nothing wrong with them I promise! I guess I’ve been trying other places or just not going out all together. Got another special birthday treat here and boy was it a treat. The experience didn’t start great. We had reservations and were seated first in the restaurant and then we were basically talked to last. They spent all their time seating everyone at their tables and bar…and then took their orders right away? I was getting pretty peeved if I can be honest. I get that restaurants are short staffed but we heard one couple who had a reservation 30 minutes after ours get seated and then HELPED before us. I was actually timing my departure because it was almost 15 minutes at that point and I just couldn’t believe my eyes and ears at everyone else getting service but us. Well, finally she comes to greet us and I am sure I gave out bad vibes. But she turned out to be okay and actually, I think she was the only waitress for the restaurant so I did feel bad for her. And boy oh boy…did prices go up. But that’s the trend everywhere.

Ankimo (Monkfish Liver) | $11.65
served in citrus soy sauce, momiji, oroshi and green onions over cucumber wakame

One of my go-to dishes in Japanese restaurants. I know liver throws a lot of folks off board but I really enjoy this, it’s not a strong liver taste. What do I compare this to? It’s almost like crab miso – it’s hard to explain. I find this dish to be light and refreshing!

Jidori Chicken Karaage | $11.00
free range Jidori chicken battered and deep fried

Good, nothing special. It’s fried chicken, you can’t really go wrong!

Pork Belly Kakuni | $16.85
blackline pork simmered in soy based sauce served with daikon and slow cooked organic egg

This dish took the longest to come out. It was one of the first orders we put in and came out like at the end of the meal. Wouldn’t a dish like this already have been simmering? I guess I don’t know how restaurants work but I doubt pork belly kakuni is fired up at the time of order. Anyway, I listed this as the item because they gave us the wrong order. We actually ordered the pork belly kakuni donburi – they apologized and brought out a bowl of rice. I mean we made out in this deal because we got more meat in the end and paid the cheaper price. Funniest interaction was the waiter asking if we wanted to just keep this dish because if he had to remake the donburi, it would take a long time. WHAT? Would you not just put these pork pieces onto a bowl of rice? Baffled!

Spicy Tuna Tartare | $10.75
wonton bowl with avocado mix. topped with spicy tuna, raw quail egg, green onions, kabayaki sauce, and nori chips

It tastes like it sounds, it’s delicious. I don’t drink but sometimes I wish I was a beer drinker to get the same satisfaction as other beer drinks who eat fried food with their beer. Delish!

King Salmon Sashimi (6 pcs) | $24.00
O-toro Sashimi (6 pcs) | $64.95 (!)

Star of the show is the last picture to end the post. The o-toro….the price!!! Torae Torae still serves the best o-toro on the island, hands down. But this price…I just can’t. It was such a nice birthday treat…unfortunately the o-toro this time was also not as good quality as in the past. But the price hike! Yeah, I think I’ll have to hike it on out of here.

Ending the post with the gifts I received from the same friend who treated me to dinner. Aren’t these presents wrapped so pretty? It is always so heartbreaking to have to tear into these presents because he is a perfectionist at wrapping. No one can beat it!

Funny storry about Imanas Tei, well it’s embarassing for me but I’ll share it anyway. One of the first times I dined here, I was seated at the sushi bar and absolutely did not know what I was doing. So guess what I did? I placed my freaking purse on the front counter mantle. That mantle piece that the sushi chefs place your pieces of sushi on. Oh my gosh, the sushi chef who scolded me to remove it looked so mad. I will never forget that moment. Also that was probably one of the last times I dined at the actual sushi bar. Hahaha I don’t like sitting at the bars anyway, I don’t want to be watched or feel like I have to converse with the person behind the bar. I am a true introvert.

Anyway, this was a wonderful visit to the restaurant and it was even better because it was a nice birthday treat meal for me. I am always appreciative of my friends. Anyway, Imanas Tei used to be super popular. Not to say they aren’t anymore but it’s definitely easier to get a reservation now. And guess what! They joined the reservations on Yelp so you don’t have to call in to reserve a table anymore. That was a plus for me!

Chinese Cabbage & Grilled Chicken Salad with Japanese Nanami Chili Dressing | $7.00

Another funny story, I asked if this dish was spicy because my dining companion doesn’t like too much spice. I mean it says chili in the title and the waitress told me it’s not spicy (it was). Not super spicy but there was definitely a kick. I really loved this salad, it was delicious and so refreshing. I would get it again!

Maguro Shichimi Yaki | $17.50
pan fried nanami chili coated tuna with miso butter sauce

BY FAR MY FAVORITE DISH OF THE NIGHT. Their menu has so many items and this one definitely gets hidden in the mountains of text. I just so happened to see a picture of this dish on Yelp and went for it. It was so hard to find it on the menu but oh my word it was delicious. You know the 3660 on the Rise Ahi Katsu dish? The sauce on that dish is so good that I wish I had a big bowl of rice with it. Well this is no different. Dang I wish I had a big bowl of rice to eat with this dish. It’s also very buttery rich but…SO GOOD.

Kakiage | $10.50
fried burdock & seafood

This is definitely a dish you will see across the restaurant on almost every table. Perfect dish to nibble on as you down your beers (and I say you because I don’t drink beer) – freshly fried and served to you in a light batter. Pupu hour lover’s dream! (It’s good for non-drinkers too, per me).

Grilled Yamaimo with Natto (special)

Sorry I don’t have a price on this one, it was one of their specials. I love yamaimo and I love natto so where can you go wrong? We were very curious about how it would be served grilled. It also took a while to come out so the anticipation grew. The dish was good but it was cold?? Like from the refrigerator?? So why did it take so long to come out? It tasted great but I guess when I see the word grilled, I expected it to be served hot? It tasted great and I guess I could taste the smokiness from when it was grilled who knows when because it was ice cold. LOL – anyway it was good.

Anyway, it was a great dining experience as always. They always have a good number of servers running around. Their parking lot is horrendous and they share it with another restaurant and massage place. We got there super early so I was able to score a stall. There is street parking around the neighborhood but that’s a bit iffy to me. I guess you could park in the Nijiya market lot and buy something to get validation? Hopefully the rates outside of the validation aren’t too much.