Rokkaku Hamakatsu

Lunch here is worth it. i love how they are set meals, like japan! The tonkatsu sets are a good size and very tasty. I enjoyed the California Roll and udon meal-​for $ 20, I was stuffed. It gets crowded fast, but the restaurant is very efficient, the food came out pretty quick.

Found this place while looking for somewhere to get takoyaki. It was very fancy looking Japanese that you get to make your own Katsu sauce. Katsu was perfectly cooked but the meat itself was just ok. Cheese was lacking in cheese Katsu thing. Shrimp was well. shrimp from the any other places. It was pretty expensive for what you get.

Some of the best katsu I’ve ever had!
I’m a big fan of tonkatsu (and anything deep-​fried in general) and after a long time in my Unilocal bookmarks, I finally came to try Rokkaku Hamakatsu earlier in the week.
Three of my friends and I came for lunch at around 1:30 on a weekday and were able to sit immediately. The inside of the restaurant isn’t visible from the outside, so I had no idea what to expect in terms of décor and atmosphere. The restaurant probably fits around 50 people max and is furnished with leather seats– very comfy.
Service was very good. All of the servers were Japanese speaking. I feel like that’s always a sign that the food’s going to be legit Japanese.
I ordered a combo C set (which I’ve read they only have for lunch), it came with four varieties of katsu: Berkshire pork loin cutlet, pork fillet cutlet, something called Holland cutlet, and an ebi fry. $ 21. First of all, all of the items were fried perfectly– not oily in the slightest. My favorite was probably the Berkshire loin– extremely tender and flavorful. The Holland cutlet was something I’d never heard of before, but was also delicious. It appeared to be finely ground pork with a type of swiss cheese inside. Also, the katsu sauces, one housemate and one «Japanese style», come with a little mortar of toasted sesame seeds for you to grind and add your sauce to. I love that.
Overall, good service, very good food. I can’t wait to come back!
*If you’re not into katsu, they have a large menu with a variety of options.

I’ve had many katsu dishes in Japan and here in Hawaii, and I must say, Rokkaku Hamakatsu seizes to fail me, whereas, some places in Japan and many in Hawaii have. Bang for buck: Go during lunch! Set A or B menu. $ 19. A good variety of katsu, generous portion of thin sliced cabbage, rice, miso soup, and fresh grated sesame seeds with their home made sauce. Finish off your lunch with THE best caramel ice cream EVER! I would recommend reservations for lunch if you have a party larger than 4, and for dinner, always call to make one or see if they;re busy before paying them a visit. There is a small private dining room in the back of the restaurant for groups.
Oh and spicy tofu nabe is pretty killers too :)

First time come to this restaurant within Ala morna mall while searching a ramen restaurant that I can’t find. The front is quiet silence and nobody is there. When you walk inside, the design of it may surprise you. I like the style of this restaurant. The food is really really great, especially the tempura and pork kastu. It is so juicy and deep fried in a suitable degree. By the way, the restroom has a automative toilet and I only saw this one time when I was on my trip in Japan airport. Overall, a 5 stars for this restaurant and would come again! Not expensive at all, reasonable price.

The Prince Remix, part 4: The finale. However, unlike this review that I had to resurrect from Unilocal’s cemetery, I can’t bring back my beloved Prince Rogers Nelson. RIP, to The Beautiful One. …
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Why did I come eat at a restaurant in a mall when I hate on all things mall? Well, I wasn’t in NYC Becky and the reality is, in most of ‘Murica some of the better things in life are at the mall. When in Rome, JeROME does as the Basic Betches do: I eat at the mall.
I’d hit this again and again:
The baby octopi were expertly fried and seasoned. Each bite was like Joan Smalls, perfection
The grilled Yellow Tail Collar: I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life. And by that, I mean Joan Smalls as well as this dish.
Both versions of mackerel are like a Goya product, muy delicioso. The one marinated in mirin was a tad too salty (perhaps a one off?), but just like the other two dishes, these were cooked expertly and the flavor explosion was orgasmic (I mean, is there a better word? no)
Pass:
The salted young sardines. Whack job. Flavorless and boring like that ex you dumped back in the day and that guy Louis who’s from here, there is no need to ever revisit this in life. If I have to dunk food in a sauce to give it a soul, something is terribly wrong. Such a shame, because I love sardines
The fried oysters. It’s hard to screw up fried anything, but this is meh. You can get these anywhere, so save these calories and $$$ for other options.
Deuce factor:
Nice, clean restrooms, so if you have to drop it like it’s hot, it’s an option that you won’t regret. ⁴⁄₅ stars. Yeezus, I hope Joan never reads this. Actually, I hope no one ever reads this.
Verdict:
If you’re staying in the area near the mall, theres plenty to choose from. However, if you just got off a 12 hour non stop flight with a bunch of screaming Bebe kids, sat next to the bathroom (w/​smells that rival the trains in the summer without AC plus the one homeless guy sitting in there) with a seat that couldn’t recline and you are just too fucking tired to travel more then 100 yards (didn’t have a car), this spot is not a bad idea. The staff is friendly and efficient, but a tad slow. Hashtag, Island Life, deal with it. Expect high prices, modern yet casual vibe and well prepared food and an easy walk back to the hotel.

What a wonderful gem. right in the middle of Ala Moana! No offense to many of the other eateries in the mall, but they’re just not that great. They’ll fuel you for shopping, yes, but they don’t really hit the spot. All except Rokkaku Hamakatsu, that is. Long ago a friend said the food here is just ok and more on the expensive side. As such, I always seemed to bypass this restaurant without a second thought. No more!
Just in case, made a reservation ahead of time as my friend and I were planning to meet for lunch. Ala Moana is always so busy and crowded and I wanted to make sure that we could eat here. Thinking that he was already in the restaurant, I hurried inside, mentioned my reservation to the hostess, and was seated immediately. However, he wasn’t there yet. So, while he was finding his way over, I took advantage of that extra time to admire the décor.
DECOR:
The interior was very clean, modern and inviting. It had a classy, yet new age feel (not sure if that makes sense. You should go and see/​feel for yourself! Whatever it is, it’s nice). We were seated at a large table with plenty of space and the overall impression was «wow this is comfy».
FOOD (the most important part!):
It took us many viewings of the menu to decide upon our dishes, both of which were tonkatsu sets. Our food was prepared relatively quickly and definitely lived up to expectations. The entire meal was perfectly delicious and the tonkatsu was the best I’ve ever had. I had gone to Kimukatsu awhile back and wasn’t awed by the tonkatsu, but the tonkatsu from Rokkaku just blew me away. Seriously. Should someone invent a legit, functional time machine, I’d go back to the moment of my first taste of the tonkatsu and be sure to savor every single bite of the light breading and tender, juicy pork. The tonkatsu was just THAT GOOD. Oh my gosh.
Had a wonderful first experience here and will be sure to return! The entire meal was delicious, and the coolest part was that we got to grind our own sesame seeds for the katsu sauce! Old fashioned things are always way cool :)

They now have ‘Japanese Style’ Tonkatsu sauce!!! My family will be so happy as they were not quite used to the homemade ‘BBQish’ tonkatsu sauce originally available. Now you have a choice!
Don’t forget to order the caramel homemade ice cream — divine browned butter delishishnesss!

This Japanese restaurant is conveniently located in the Ala Moana Shopping Center next to Victoria’s Secret and next to Long’s. There was no waiting list, the seating was comfortable, the food was delicious. They make a great California Roll at a reasonable price, the food overall is reasonable, the staff are all so nice, including our server named Aubrey. She was so accommodating and helpful. The whole staff made us feel so welcomed. They even held the door and curtain opened for us as we were leaving the restaurant. Definitely a great place to dine after a long day shopping !

Of the many eateries located in the Ala Moana Shopping Center, Rokkaku stands out as a semi fine dining japanese ethnic eatery specializing in «katsu» prepared pork as their signature dish.
Service is upstanding from the moment you walk in their door. Once you are seated and prior to ordering your meal you are served a glass of water and cup of hot tea. Presentation is immaculate to the extent that bowls, plates, utensils are placed on the serving tray with distinct precision. The Food! THE FOOD! While Katsu and Tempura style preparation is fried (deep fried to be exact); there is no oil lingering on the plate. Each piece of delicacy is carefully drained from its pot of oil and place on a bed of FINE shreded cabbage or a paper doily (depending on what you order of course) A touch on the subject of the oil is it is NEW, CLEAN and a HINT of sesame it. Interesting at the very least.
Dessert is available, beer and wine and sashimi is available (although I would ask the server when they took delivery to the sashimi, just to be safe for the freshness of course)
Covered parking available on the 5^th or 6^th level in the West Parking structure without hassle. Park there, take the elevator to the mall level and cross over to Rokkaku.
(hajimemashite yoroshiku)

For $ 20 you’d think you’d get at least rice included with a tiny tonkatsu, no matter how tasty. The ox tail nabe was just OK. The broth had a nice mushroom flavor, but the dish was unmemorable overall. The only winner was the octopus appetizer! SO GOOD!
Service was fantastic, so 3 stars it is!

what: authentic japanese cuisine in the nature blessed surroundings of hawaii!
something good: i never really noticed this restaurant but had the chance to try it on the recommendation of my boss :) ! we came fhere or lunch and i was surprised at how cute the interior was! i tried the teri salmon which was so good! i would definitely come back here again! i also liked their cute little sake in cans ;) !!
something not so good: everything was really nice!
something to try: teri salmon and sake !

Too much good things about this place that you need to try it out yourself.
Pros–
Their Tonkatsu combo was the best Katsu I ever had. Nicely breaded with Pablo, flaky, and super moist and tender. I love it worth the Katsu sauce that you mix with the toasted sesame seeds the you need to grind up. The price for the combo is worth the quality of the katsu combo.
Wagyu hamburger steak with demigloss was crazy good too. Super moist beef, perfectly flavored gravy, and a great umame experience.
You need to have the fried baby octopus as an appetizer! Lightly battered, lightly salted, tender octopus. You can’t just have one piece. If it wasn’t for the other food, I’d order more of it.
The rice! Yes the rice! 55 stars on the rice alone. From experience, the rice can really give you a sign of the quality of your food.
Service was very alert, friendly, and not time.
Con– none

I ordered the butterfish, tonkotsu and oxtail soup from here. Everything was pretty good and very authentic Japanese. They have pretty much variety of teishoku meals here and good selection of desserts. This spot is conveniently located in Alamoana shopping center.

I work in the mall and so I come to this place quite often. It is almost good as if we were eating in Japan. If you like foie gras, try to the foie gras sushi, it’s to die for! They have a lot of things on the menu
Be but because I go there for lunch I usually have the bukkake udon which is a cold bowl of udon with garnishes.

Food is not bad, but the service is so bad that I don’t even know where to start. Our server was very very impatient when she helped us to order, and then our food took about ONE HOUR to show up. Will probably not come back for this kind of service ever again.

The Japanese server has the worst attitude ever. She was acting rude and frustrated. I had the most expensive Unagi Rice and the least portion. Not recommend and will not come back.

This is by far the best Japanese restaurant in Ala Moana Shopping Center. Everything I’ve tried was cooked to perfection. So far I’ve eaten the Chicken & Egg Nabe, Miso Butterfish, Salmon Shio, Beef Tongue, Teri Chicken, Chicken Karaage, and all 3 Hamakatsu sets. Hope to try more of the vast and delicious selection of meals.

I don’t know why I’ve never really noticed this restaurant even though I pass it all the time at the mall! It’s actually a really nice restaurant and I really liked the fact that this Japanese restaurant had mostly all Japanese workers (always speaking Japanese to each other!) I tried the Okinawan sweet potato tempura for appetizer and it was so good! I really love tempura that has a light batter and this one was perfect.
I also had the Tonkatsu. The sauce tasted so good and it came with salad and dressing. My boyfriend ordered the imagine chirashi. It actually took a really long time for his food to come out, but the staff was so nice and apologized multiple times every time they refilled our water or came to our table to take away plates. And then to our surprise, they comped his meal so we only paid for mines and the tempura!
Our waiter was so nice, she was always making sure that we were okay and was constantly checking up on where my boyfriend’s food was. We tipped her well because she was so nice! I had a good experience and the food was great, I’ll be back to eat there again!

Rokkaku is one of my MIL’s favorite restaurants and I probably would have never gone without her prompting. It looks a little intimidating on the outside, but once you enter, the service is friendly and the restaurant has a very lovely atmosphere with nice décor.
They do all types of Japanese cuisine, but I think they do fried things especially well and their miso soup is very reviving. The prices are a bit higher than your typical lunch place, but for the atmosphere and food quality, it’s worth it.

I wanted to come here because my Japanese friend recommended this place. So here I am :) we ordered $ 45 bento, rock fish, butter fish, fried baby tako, grilled atka mackerel, foie gras sushi, yam potato with wasabi soy sauce, and black sesame ice cream. I will definite come back again.

Food taste amazing. Presentation was good. The only thing stopping me from rating this place with a 5 star is the lack of service. Me and my friend ran out of water and hot tea a few times and didn’t get them refilled. Even though the worked walked pass many times. We had to literally ask for a refill which was kinda annoying.

Came here on a Friday night with a friend. When we arrived, it was around 9, it was packed but we were able to be seated at the last table. After sitting, the server came with hot tea and ice water (which I love). We were given three menus: food, drink, and dinner specials. Since I wasn’t too hungry, I got a California roll ($ 10) from the dinner specials. My friend got the Holland cutlet ($ 5 for each piece) and a bowl of rice ($ 2).
The food didn’t take that long to arrive, though my sushi came after my friend’s meal. My sushi was pretty good. For me, it didn’t really wow me but it is just California roll. As for my friend’s food, she mentioned that it was good, however not as good as the one that she had at another place.
For dessert, we ordered the milk pudding ($ 5) and that came out quite fast. The pudding was very delicate and a good blend of ingredients but I didn’t like the kinako powder on the top. If I were to order it again, I would ask for it without the powder.
The service was pretty good. We didn’t have a designated server but it was fine since they never seem to forget about your water or tea refills. Also, one thing that I noticed was that the servers wouldn’t bring over the check unless asked. When we finished eating, it was already around 10 and we were the second to last group in the restaurant. The servers were still polite and friendly (other servers at different restaurants can get antsy when it comes to closing time).
Overall, I think that this place would be a great choice to come to. The food wasn’t too expensive and I did enjoy the overall experience. The only reason why I gave it a ⁴⁄₅ stars is because it didn’t really «wow» me in anyway. I would still return regardless!

Excellent Japanese restaurant in Ala Moana shopping center. If they make good rice– the purple or white rice, then most likely the other dishes will be excellent too. If the basics are good, the dishes will taste good.

Great food and great service! Loved the tonkatsu that I ordered but portions are very small. You get to grind up your own sesame seeds so that’s cool. A bit pricey but worth the taste. The katsu reminded me of the tonkatsu in Japan.

Outstanding authentic Japanese food! Famous for katsu but I like their daily special such as Rick Fish Nitsuke (simmer with shoyu)

A friend and I made spontaneous dinner plans at Rokkaku Hamakatsu after shopping at Ala Moana. It seems pretty packed even for a weekday evening, so we were seated at the counter in front of the chefs. We were served water and I ordered a Sudachi Soda ($ 6), which is a Japanese citrus fruit that tastes similar to grapefruit/​pomelo. It has a tinge of bitterness to it, but still very refreshing!
And since we were at Rokkaku HAMAKATSU, we ordered the Assorted Hamakatsu Platter ($ 28) that has 3.5 oz of the Berkshire pork loin cutlet, 1.76 oz of the pork fillet cutlet, one piece of the Holland cutlet, one piece of the fried shrimp, and 1.76 oz of the chicken cutlet. We ordered an extra piece of the chicken cutlet for $ 10. The food came out in about 10 minutes. My favorite is definitely the Berkshire Pork Loin Cutlet, which was tender, juice, with the perfect amount of fat to it. It is followed closely by the Holland Cutlet, which is cheese wrapped in pork ground meat. The tonkatsu hamakatsu dishes do not come with rice, but you can ordered a bowl for $ 2 each.
The Japanese chef made small conversation with us about the then-​coming hurricanes. He also presented us with a sample of his grilled chicken teriyaki. The chefs were very pleasant and accommodating, making sure we weren’t waiting too long for our food.
We wanted to order their Green Tea ice cream dessert ($ 7) but they weren’t serving it because the green tea ice cream was melting… or something to that excuse. We ended up getting the homemade caramel ice cream ($ 5) which really hit the spot. It tasted of burnt caramel but still very sweet. It came with a spring roll filled with adzuki bean.

Sometimes I think my dad is more of a foodie than I am as he mentions places that I haven’t heard of or didn’t try yet. Take Rokkaku Hamakatsu for instance. I must have driven past this place many times in Ala Moana Shopping Center and never gave it a second thought to eat here. It is on the mauka (mountain side for all you non-​locals) mall level between Genki and Longs.
When you enter the restaurant we were greeted with Irashaimase which means welcome to our place. As we got seated, I looked around and saw so many Japanese people speaking Japanese. It was at that moment that I realized that we were in for a treat.
We started out with a sashimi platter (which was an assortment of fresh sashimi), deep fried octopus (they looked a little burnt but it didn’t taste like it at all), maguro tataki (thinly sliced seared ahi with some kind of ponzu sauce).
My dad had the shrimp tempura which was lightly done in batter, nice and golden brown along with miso butterfish which was done to perfection as my dad told us as he didn’t offer to share any. My wife had the saba which was very tasty and not to salty at all. I had the wagyu steak which let me tell you just melted in my mouth and oh so tender. Yes it was on the high side and I didn’t get full on eating it but it tasted so good.
The wait staff was very helpful and attentive. We didn’t get any dessert as our friend saw our check in and drove down to drop off some of his famous macaroons that he just made that day. So we will have to try their desserts another day.
Over all, if you are looking for a good Japanese place to eat and don’t mind paying for it, yes it is not cheap eats here but if you have a distinguished palate, then this might be the place for you.

I been wanted to try this place for a very long time, and today, finally I tried it out! I think my expectation was little high when I saw all the pics on Unilocal.I have the lunch set B ($ 19) you can choose white rice of multi grain rice (unfortunately, my server didn’t ask me about that, and I hear other server ask other customers about it so I know) Set B comes with 6 pieces of katsu, plus two pieces that fill with cheese and one tempura shrimp. The katsu isn’t very spectacular itself, since they are not a katsu house like Ginza Bairin. Then I have their homemade pudding ($ 5) for dessert, it was not bad. There are red beans at the end of the pudding. Service wise, it was so so. There are three workers working, and is not even full house, and they couldn’t refill my water cup. Workers need to be more attentive.

Just returned from a business trip to Japan. I always enjoy good tonkatsu at the train stations and airport. Stoked to find this restaurant at Ala Moana Shopping Center — mauka side by Victoria Secret. Miso soup — dellsh with the best wakame ever! Tonkatsu was tender and lightly crispy. The tonkatsu sauce has a slight bbq flavor that took a little getting used to, but fun and yummy. Rice? High quality Japanese rice!
Service? Awesome — friendly, serene and gentle. Love this place! Bringing my family back.

Solid, authentic Japanese food straight from one of the largest restaurant chains in Japan. Remove all thoughts of the round headed CEO or red haired clown; this is quality.
The original menu from Rokkaku is still here with the welcome addition of quality tonaktsu.
Straight forward, true tonkatsu and ebi fry. Three choices: Berkshire loin, fillet, and ground surrounding a cheesy core. All are breaded with large, fresh breadcrumbs and deep fried golden brown, in clean oil to an internal temp of medium. Very juicy but not as tender as higher grade pork can be. Neutral flavored breadcrumb crust that cooks up very crisp and thick for an unexpected textural contrast. The ebi fry is good. Perfectly cooked shrimp but again, the coating yields a very pronounced textural contrast. The do it yourself sauce, also correct but lacks the complexity and citrusy backbone.
Other menu standouts include a simple charcoal grilled saba (mackerel). Oily, moist, aggressively seasoned. The blistered and charred skin a huge plus. The grilled Kona abalone, tender and sweet packing oceanic goodness. The tempura perfectly cooked through veg and proteins encased in a delicately crisp, not oily, thin batter. Deep fried baby octopus, lightly dusted in rice flour then flash fried. Slightly disturbing to look at but great with beer or sake. Finally the kamameshi. High quality short grain rice cooked in a traditional kettle resulting in a wonderful crispness at the edges. The snowcrab or king crab versions are outstanding, adding gentle sweetness to the dish.
Very good Japanese service. Small but well chosen list of sake and shochu. Fair markup.
Limited menu at lunch focusing on tonkatsu. Prices very reasonable (sub $ 20). Extensive menu at dinner.
Note: dinner service is similar to an izakaya. Sharing is encouraged.
Solid quality and reasonable prices. Win. Win.

Great customer service by Aubrey! She is personable, amazing and knows me by first name! She is by far the best server there! I only sit in her section! I will not done here if she’s not working!

I will do a quick review for now since I don’t have the time to go more in depth about my experience there
The portions of proteins are small but you can tell that they put great care into prepping and cooking the food. I love that even the fried foods are light and crisp.
The pork tenderloin is by far the juiciest and most tender that I’ve ever had. My absolute favorite is the sweet potato tempura. Mmmm!
I hope to go again someday to try out the lunchtime menu. I had only gone at night.
The place isn’t too big so if you are trying to plan for a big crowd, I think you may want to try your luck elsewhere.
5 stars for the food and service, –1 star for the small space

I was pleasantly surprised by the change in this place recently. Maybe it was here for awhile but I never knew they served Tonkatsu. And by tonkatsu, I mean Bairin or Kimikatsu quality Katsu.
I ordered B lunch special which included two strips of katsu, an ebi katsu and a cheese stuffed katsu. The set also comes with rice, miso soup, shredded cabbage and small pickled veges. The katsu sauce was also really good and they had the «grind your own sesame seeds» like bairin. This was a lot of food for $ 19.
I also order a side of shrimp and vegetable tempura. For $ 9, this included 2 shrimp, string bean, pumpkin, squash. Also a good deal for the price. The batter was extremely light and fluffy.
The key to the delicious fried items was the oil they used was fresh. No trace of the old oil taste.
My wife had the saba, which she said was really good except for the many small bones she had to pick out.
We ended with a matcha green tea dessert on a azuki beans with chestnuts and mochiballs. Refreshing way to end the meal.
I really enjoyed my latest experience here. Service was good and fast as we arrived around noon and got out of their by 1pm for the Super Bowl.