Momoyama Fine Japanese Cuisine

Ok, I have to admit that I didn’t actually eat here. But, I had every intention of doing so. I even walked down practically impossible-​to-​pronounce street looking for it. By the time I arrived, it was late and I was starving. And we were told to wait. And by the time we were seated, we were waiting again. And this time we kept waiting. Waiters were breezing by and we couldn’t flag any of them down. It wasn’t even that busy. We ended up nabbing a menu and the waiter eventually apologized for the delay (something about a confusion over who was covering our table). And if that wasn’t outrageous enough, we were told that there was a back up in the kitchen and that whatever we ordered would most likely be delayed also!!! And this shit was expensive! It wasn’t even anything out of the ordinary, it was simply ridiculously overpriced. ($ 20 for a small sushi roll???) It was so unreasonable and the service was so slow that even at my most famished moment, I could not stomach the idea of paying that kind of money for such mediocre food and poor service. Boo to Momoyama.

Expensive.
Since I’m paying inflated food prices I would at least expect the service to compensate, but it kinda sucked. It took awhile to flag down our main server to take our order. There after, the servers weren’t very attentive. I’ve had better service at cheapo Japanese take out places. The food came out about average for a Japanese restaurant.
A bowl of miso soup or rice is $ 3. Sukiyaki was like $ 25 and chicken karaage was $ 10 – 11. The chicken kaarage was 2 crunchy fried chicken thighs. The outside crispy skin was salty and sprinkled with MSG. The crispy skin is like the best part of fried chicken and they over-​salted it! The inside meat was good though, moist and juicy. I think a California roll was like $ 8 and spider roll was $ 13. The spider roll was pretty good, they do include parilla herd which was a nice addition.
We didn’t get any ice cream either as wendy h. said she got it free. In fact it’s $ 3 for a small scoop. U_​U;;;
I’d rather go to the Sheraton buffet that’s right next to it. Overall I thought the food was okay, but my dining companions thought the food was worse than Japanese take-​out.

So if you haven’t seen my Sheraton Princess, I can you tell you I’m definitely not a fan of ancient living quarters. And unfortunately for me I took a recommendation from a co-​worker to eat at Momoyama which is located within the Princess. I should have known better but I really had faith that this place could really be good. Oh Momoyama, how shalt I count the ways thou totally just sucks.
1) Ambiance — Located in the inner belly of the Princess’ belly, Momoyama has a relatively pleasant interior and tries to have a quiet and traditional Japanese restaurant feeling. Great, how could you possible ruin décor? Oh yeah, upstairs on the 2^nd floor there’s a Polynesian culture show with the dancers running up and down approximately under dinner time. So that means, while dining you get the sound of what sounds like the Battle of Thermopylae upstairs (insert 300 reference i.e. TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!) as there is constant pounding and rumbling from up top. Way to ruin a serene environment Princess/​Momoyama. I blame both of you!!! Did I mention I had to swat away flies and gnats, totally true, during the course of my meal? Please see above for a now relevant 300 reference to dining in hell.
2) Service — I ordered a NY Steak /​Sushi combo which cost roughly 50 dollars and they brought the sushi 20 minutes after I finished my steak because apparently there was one sushi chef who I was told explicitly was «new.» Ok stop. For a traditional Japanese restaurant where you will be spending $ 30 dollars or more for sushi you’re telling me you have a chef who’s fumbling to make 7 pieces of nigiri sushi?! First when eating raw fish, the last thing I want to hear is «the guy who’s preparing your food is totally new to making sushi, and oh yeah, I heard he didn’t wash his hands after he used the bathroom. Enjoy!» Nice enough of the waiter though, he cut 10% off my total check for my meal.
3) Food — The only reason I didn’t give Momoyama 1 star was that the food was OK. It was decent although still extremely overpriced. However, it is within Waikiki, so expect to pay a premium anyway. The combo in the end came with Vanilla ice cream… not green tea as that wasn’t an option. Way to top off my meal with something really authentic. Something to really make me believe all that pounding and agonizing wait for my sushi was worth it. Thanks Momoyama for taking my money and time. BTW: The best thing there? The green tea.
Final recommendation? Sit down long enough for them to give you the free tea, drink as much as possible and bounce without paying. Tee hee.

Located inside the Princess Kaiulani hotel. The japanese food was excellent. We went there because we had the Entertainment book coupon (hey why not?). Free ice cream at the end of the meal. Restaurant was clean and service was excellent!