Cha No Ma

The name of this place and the appearance from outside threw me off. I thought it might be Chinese hot pot. I noticed when we were done that there is a big, lighted sign outside with Japanese words. We ordered the pork nabe for 2, original and miso broth, zosui and udon. The broth has tea leaves, goji berries and dates. The tea leaves are soft and detoxifying. The owner was extra nice to us and made our zosui for us because we didn’t know how. He also taught us to put everything in at one time and wait until it steamed. Very healthy!
The only thing about this place is the parking. We parked on Winam Street and walked a block.

I have to say that this place was mediocre. It was my very first time to eat something like this and i was like it was ok but putting dates and goji berries in the soup base for the original one was not a good idea to have. On the other hand when my friend was trying to get the noodles in the bowl, the waiter could have given my friend the tongs also known as food tweezers to grab the noodles and more napkins would have been a good idea for my friend to have a little bit more. I left a little bit disappointed because of its taste and i was wondering what happened to his other workers too. I know that it was Easter weekend but I think that he could have done a little bit more rather than just stay at the counter by himself and i am not too keen about returning to this place but it was worth trying it out to see how it was good or not. I have to say that they should at least be clear on what is in the soup base and if they have any questions feel free to ask if they have any questions or food allergies that they may have so that way they can avoid having it in their food, and make sure that the customer service improves so that way it will be a good experience for those who want to try shabu shabu and want to eat there without any issues and be a little bit more specific on what the goji berries and dates are for so people will want to see if it’s ok to have

Great place for nabe and tea especially for a those cold days. The only downside is parking. Finding parking on the street in Kapahulu is almost impossible. I always pass by this place and see its empty most of the time. I may come here again just for the tea.

I’m a big fan of nabe and hot tea. Cha No Ma tea house is the perfect place to satisfy my craving for both. Their lean selection of menu items makes it rather easy to decide — pork or seafood nabe. Jasmine or High Mountain tea.
Those of you who are also tea lovers will appreciate how their tea is served with a piping hot kettle of water for endless refills — no more lukewarm tea, yuck! The tea service includes those fancy little cups for preparing and drinking the tea, but if it feels like too much work, just pour the hot water right on the leaves and you’re good to go.
As far as I know, this is the only place that serves lobster tails with all the nabe. You will never go home hungry after eating at Cha No Ma. If the main course of nabe leaves you wanting more, the Zosui at the end will fill you up.
My preferred order:
— pork nabe w/​Zosui
— extra side order pork
— high mountain tea

MUST GO! There are many nabe places but this broth is amazing! NO MSG and healthy. I always finish my broth but will not make me thirsty, yes, proof of NO MSG.
My favorite broth is Miso, it has such a warm delicious taste. But if you like spicy kind, must try spicy broth… it is just… AMAZING! You can choose «Zosui» or «Udon noodle» at the end, I always have a hard time making choice since both are soooo gooood!!! Don’t forget to put homemade sesami & ponzu sauce too.
Yes the service may be slow depends on time, because it’s one man show, so I always make a reservation and pre-​order nabe (cause I know what I want!) So everything is prepared when I get there, efficient!
This place is so clean, like brand new. They have kids room so family are welcome. They have a great tea, but if you want a beer, it’s BYOB, and you have a Safeway across, convenient!
Their teas are high quality, and you can purchase a bag of tea, which I did, it’s worth it! You can relax and be healthy at the same time. Now open for lunch and dinner, must try!

Great place! Just park across the street and walk over. The interior is very classy and the food was delicious!

So… I’m still sitting here at the restaurant waiting for my check as I’m glaring at the owner/​host/​waiter/​cook chit chat with his friends for a good 5 mins with no regard for our table.
From the moment we walked into this place, he practically discouraged us from eating, saying we’d have to wait 15 mins when there were open tables (and many empty ones they never cleaned).
When we asked for one of each sauce for our table he told us he didn’t have sauce… Then magically came up with sauce when I insisted.
Then he told us not to take too long to cook our food bc he didn’t have extra soup for us…
I’m so confused as to why you opened a restaurant if you don’t want actual customers.
1 star because the food was actually pretty good.

I have eaten here with my sister a while ago when they first opened. The owner who runs the restaurant is very kind and modest and the food was a really good, the broths they serve are very well balanced. The price is reasonable, you get a lot of food for your money and would highly recommend this place to anyone whole likes nabe.

The most wonderful thing about Cha No Ma is the variety of vegan broth’s available. Only the spicy broth is not vegan and every broth is flavorful and delicious.
When I stopped by recently with some friends, I opted for the spicy broth (I love spicy food!) and the Seafood Nabe. I was so happy when I saw what arrived a bit later. It was a plate filled with goodies such as part of lobster tail, some salmon chunks, a couple shrimp, some scallop, and a variety of vegetables. There was also a large amount of cabbage on the plate. For a little while I felt like I had cabbage soup. Still it was not too bad at $ 22. I got my own personal hot pot on a portable gas stove to cook my food. Sauces were presented to us and the employee mentioned that he gave us all of his spice when we asked for more chilis a few times.
To finish my meal, I had upgraded my order for $ 1 more to brown rice. Along with the rice was one scrambled egg, which I proceeded to make zosui rice with at the end of the meal. It is surprising how far one small bowl of rice goes when you cook it in your broth. It more than doubles in size!
Service was quick and reasonably fast for the one man team here. I was surprised that there was only one worker preparing the food, cashiering, and being our server.

We came here off my husband’s suggestion, and it was so good! It is a nabe restaurant/​tea house. The tea selections were interesting and the presentation was so unique, I had never drank tea this way before. They teach you how to drink it and really focus on all the senses. Truly a sensory experience.
The nabe was healthy but still tasty. They even add their tea to the broth.
Ambiance was nice. They even have a kids room! The owner was so hospitable and very gracious, too.
Final thoughts: We will definitely try to be back soon. Only downside is they do not have designated parking.

I’ve been here a few times, Its right around the corner from where I get acupuncture. The first time we went in it was about to close. Yes, we were those people! But the man insisted and was extremely welcoming. Regrettably, I don’t know how to spell his name but It was Shigeto I believe. He has been there every time we go, I’m beginning to think he is the one who owns it and possibly the only one that works there. They have a separate play room for children where they play movies and have toys. I do not have children but I felt like it was wonderful that they made room to make it welcoming for families. The broths are wonderful I have had the spicy, curry, miso, shoyu and regular I love them all but my favorite is the spicy and miso. It takes a little while for them to prep the food BUT that gives you time to try their truly wonderful teas. You can order one set and it will be enough for 2 – 3 people. He will even show you how to properly use the Taiwanese tea set. I feel like a lot of people don’t give a good cup of tea the praise it deserves. Their jasmine tea is truly wonderful as well as the High Mountain tea. So relax, sit back, enjoy a cup of tea and talk story for a while. I have had both the pork nabe and the vegetarian nabe they are very delicious with generous portions. After enjoying your hot pot you are then given the option to have udon or zosui. I had udon noodles with all the broths except Miso, I went with their zosui (egg and rice) and it was a perfect ending to the meal. Their pork dumplings are also very tasty. There is A lot more to be said about this place but honestly If you’re in the area stop by and try it yourself, you will not be sorry.

This Hot Pot restaurant is so delicious! The spicy broth is amazing. Everything is delicious and prepared with care. Love the attention to detail! If you’re in the mood for something warm n a soothing environment — Look no further! Also there is a play area for kids in a corner of the restaurant.

I’d probably give a higher rating for this place because the food & broth was really good here. But I’m sorry, the service was just… umm let’s just say not the best. I’m not expecting some fancy fine dining service but the guy who was working almost seemed as if it was a burden for us to eat there (it was just my friend, her baby and I). We were literally the only customers there but it was as if there was like 10 other customers because the service was so slow. I was baffled by the unfriendliness and perhaps awkwardness? Even asking for a bowl of rice seemed to be a confusing task for him. Maybe we just came on a bad day!
I did think it was pretty cool that they had a play room equipped with a little play structure & slide, toys and books and a tv (that wasn’t turned on). Great if you have little ones! Totally kept my friend’s baby occupied while we had dinner :) Like I said food was great. We even tried the teas which I didn’t really care for but that’s cause I’m not a huge tea drinker. The whole concept was cool though. Might come back here if the service was better but for nabe I can get that elsewhere!

Not nearly as popular as some of the other more well known hot pot places. It’s a nabe restaurant so don’t think it means going to the fridge and grabbing different plates. Just because it has Taiwanese as a description doesn’t mean it’s like Sweet Home Café. When we went in on a Friday evening, it was empty. A young man served us and it turned out that it was a one man show.
There’s only a few selections on the menu and about 5 broths to choose from. I went with the original broth for the pork nabe. I actually just got a single order for two people to share. I’m not a vegan but I think I can be satisfied here with the amount of veggies and broth served. The traditional broth was delicious and it wasn’t even one of the top choices. I think he said the top choices are spicy and miso. After eating everything, I drank all of the broth. We eat like birds so a single order was good for us whereas the order meant to serve two would be too much.
I can’t wait to go back and try one of the other broths.

Park at safeway and its BYOB!
the broth is excellent, very healthy!
if you like Nabe it’s a must try!

Had an amazing meal here. I have never left a review before but felt I had to here!!! Very clean and friendly. Food hit the spot! Definitely try this place!

Awesome vegan options. The broth is quite unique with its infusion of Taiwanese tea. There is a playroom for kids which is fun.

Cha No Ma is a nabe restaurant and tea house that caters to families with younger children by providing a play room off of the dinning room.
There are 6 types of broth and 3 choices of nabe sets – vegan, seafood and pork. We tried the seafood and pork with the original and soy milk broth. The food is fresh and the broths were unique; depending on how hungry you are, you may need to add ala carte items to fill up.
The Taiwanese tea is really good if you’re a little snotty about your tea (and I mean that in a good way). The tea set is dainty and we enjoyed the process of making our tea – think tiny cups and smelling the aroma of the tea.
They are only open for a few hours for dinner, but would be a nice alternative to meeting for coffee and having tea instead.

I’ve tried the tea and tried the nabe and it is as everyone says. Excellent.
Safeway is directly across the street so no sweat about parking.
I’m lucky cause I can walk.
I hope more people will go so I can go for many years to come.
It is a 5 star place.

Saw an online article about Cha No Ma, advertising it as vegan friendly (gf is vegan), so I thought we’d roll over there to check it out.
To save you from reading this treatise of a review: GO THERE, THE FOOD IS DELICIOUS!!!
We showed up on a monday night and were the only people there. I was relieved because I’d seen reviews talking about how there’s just one guy who acts as server/​chef. The first thing we noticed is that «new place» smell. The restaurant is, aesthetically, very nice. Totally different from the relatively dingy streets of Kapahulu Ave.
The menu had simple offerings for nabe: pork, seafood, or vegan. Those allergic to seafood should note that the pork nabe (which I ordered) also comes with lobster and salmon.
The broth options are plentiful and I had a tough time deciding «miso» or «spicy.» I asked the server, who is the friendliest guy and gave us a rundown of ingredients and what to expect re: flavor of the broths, what he thought I should get — «Spicy is very popular.» Done! I was not disappointed!!!
There were a handful of side dishes and tea options on offer, but we didn’t go for any. Next time I’ll have to try some tea, the descriptions sounded fantastic.
Onto the food!
My order: spicy broth, pork nabe
Gf’s order: spicy broth, vegan nabe
The server brought out dipping sauces: one was a peanut sauce, and he pointed out that the peanut sauce had mayo in it (thus, not vegan-​friendly) before we launched into our food devouring; the other was similar to a ponzu-​type sauce. I tried both. Could not get enough!
I was torn here. The broth — spicy, yet flavorful (I’m all-​in on anything spicy. This broth had some good zing to it, but had distinct flavors — very surprising from such a spicy concoction) — was very tasty, so I didn’t want to plop dipping sauce all over my food. At the same time, the sauce was rich in flavor and didn’t overwhelm even when I did drown a bite or two in the dipping sauce. Ultimately, I alternated bites — one bite just broth as flavoring, one bite using peanut sauce, and one bite using ponzu sauce. Repeat till omnoms are gone.
The greens (enoki mushrooms, lettuce, tea leaves) were very fresh and plentiful. The pork, lobster, and salmon were good quality as well. Portions were not HUGE, but I’d chalk it up to the quality being high. I also had some tofu and one gyoza.
The gf was delighted with her assortment of fresh mushrooms and mixed greens. The fact that the carrots were cut up like stars tickled her to no end. She said everything was super fresh, flavorful, and can’t wait to go back for more.
After we finished the main stuff, we had the option of udon or a rice/​egg dish, which is the «Zosui» listed on the menu. We both went udon. The noodles were soft and, I mean, it’s udon. I’d be worried if the noodles were bad, but par for the course, the noodles were tasty, soft, and in that spicy broth, DERRRRRRICIOUS!
Bottom Line: Come here with a group (large or small) and partake in a great meal with quality food. It’s nice to see small restaurants that are committed to quality food pop up. Even if you’re not vegan (look at my profile quote, I eat animals all the time), you will enjoy the offerings.
Other Pros: BYOB!!! Nicest server (possibly owner?) I’ve had in a while, and he really knew his stuff.
Lone bothersome part of the meal: had to roll with street parking. The location isn’t far from Safeway, so vulturing a stall there and walking a minute or two really isn’t too big a deal.