Tamashiro Market

Came here for poke bowls. Poke was really good. Had the spicy ahi and the shoyu.
But I give a nod to Ono Seafood for making their poke to order. I think it keeps the texture better.
Be aware, no place to sit. But that’s OK, this is a market after all.

I seriously loved this little place and will continue to come here for all my seafood needs. I wanted to purchase a few crab legs for dinner and they had such good prices! each back you got about 3 crab legs and it was only $ 20 a bag! Plus the king crab legs were great! The fresh fish looked very good as well and they have a huge selection. The staff was also very friendly! Plus it’s conveniently located right in Kalihi.

Tamashiro market is the go to place for poke. I’ve been coming here for 40+ years and have never been let down. The food here is ONO!
Get the raw crab poke two styles — one with the plain Hawaiian style (kukui nut and alae salt). One with the Korean style, made with a kim chee sauce.
Get the ahi poke Hawaiian style — made with fresh limu, kukui nut inamona, and rock salt.
Get the ahi poke shoyu style — made with fresh limu, green onions, shoyu and sugar. Delightful.
One of the best finds I bought here was the Kukui nut inamona mix. They sell it in the little plastic containers and it only cost about $ 4 for the container. Last you months in the freezer and would make a whole lot of poke at home!
Parking here is a pain in the okole!
Food Grade: A
Service Grade: A
Worth the Money Grade: A
Overall Impression Grade: A

Hawaiian seafood at its best. First stop off the plane from NYC Nobody makes poke like Tamashiro’s!

Their poke is to die for and bonus points that I can get good prices on fresh (mostly live!) seafood, Asian groceries and locally grown veggies while I’m there. It’s like a Chinatown marketplace in a tiny location with the best poke. Well, Tamuras poke is the best IMO, but Tomashiros is top 5 on island. This place is great for a pau hana stop because I can grab snacks, killer poke and a few beers all at once without massive lines.
The staff are nice and helpful. The fresh shrimp and clams are serve yourself style, grab a glove and a bag and get in there.

I remember going to Tamashiro Market ever since I was little. I always thought that the huge crab above the store was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I remember tagging along with my father as he shopped early in the morning to buy fish for steaming, and with my mother when she fought the crowd to go and get fresh fish for sashimi in preparation for the New Year.
Things haven’t changed much since those days. The faded pink three story building still has that huge red crab above the entrance, and Tamashiro Market is still as busy as ever. They still have those live crab and prawn tanks, and the large showcase of assorted seafood and fish. If you want something from the showcase, don’t forget to pull a number because it can get crazy in there. They’ll clean and cut your fish whatever way you want. Just ask.
At the back of the market, they sell hot lunches, poke, poke bowls and bentos. Most of the time, I get my poke here because of the freshness and seasoning. They also sell fresh vegetables that I have found to be reasonably priced.
The parking lot directly in front of the market is small and narrow, so I don’t even consider it. Instead, I park at the Kaumakapili Church across the street. This church has graciously allowed customers of Tamashiro Market to park in their lot for years, so please be respectful and mindful when there.

Got mahi, ono and live local prawns for grilling yesterday. Everything was amazingly fresh, staff super helpful and most importantly it all tasted great. One of the best seafood markets I have ever been to!!! Great for home cooks as well as pros — loads of sushi quality ahi being sold around me. If you are on Oahu and want fresh seafood definitely this is your place!!!

Upon finding the Tamashiro Market, I wasn’t really sure what to expect… The location is fairly ghetto and walking into the market, there is a very strange smell, that did not smell like fish. I felt that the market was kind of dirty, so I was hesistant to get my poke from here despite the great Unilocal reviews.
I got to the Poke station, where they had all different kinds of Poke. I wasn’t sure which one to get, so I was asking questions of what each one contained. The guy behind the glass asked me if I wanted to sample them, which was very helpful. I ended up getting a half pound of the Ahi Chili Poke. It was a good mix with a kick of spice. I wish they would let you mix 2 different types of poke, but unfortunately they don’t :/

The 5 stars should say it all, if your a cook and like to save big money by eating at home this is the best store on the Island for fresh premium grade sashimi fish, from Ahi, Toro, Tako, MongChong, Hamachi, etc. etc. oh abalone in the tank, lobster (spiny or maine), this is a must store. You can pick up odds and ends of vegetables and fruits to compliment any meal, but the bg thing here is fresh fresh fresh fish…

Seafood/​poke heaven!!! The have a wide variety of fresh poke to choose from. My favorite is the spicy kajiki poke bowl… Price are reasonable staff is welcoming and helpful. My go to stop anytime I have poke craving

This is the first place I visited after landing in Honolulu with my luggage in hand. It has the appearance of a generic corner store, but the food they served was incredible! I had the spicy ahi poke, onion ahi poke, and the salmon rice (essentially making my own incredible poke bowl) for under $ 10. The fish was so fresh and prepared better than anything else I’ve had thus far. There’s tons of different pokes to try if you don’t care much for ahi! Definitely coming back before I depart.

Great selection of seafood, super friendly stuff! Love this place, just a bit crowded cuz it’s so popular!

SO THIS IS WHAT HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE!
If you want the freshest seafood– I’m talking still swimming fresh– then look no further. They offer fresh-​off-​the-​boat fish, live crab and lobster, clams, oysters and poke. Pricing is reasonable. I recently bought fresh Opah from Times for $ 12.99/lb but when I went here it was only $ 5.99/lb. They also have lunch specials and plate lunch. This is also a market so they have local produce– I recently learned the difference between mainland green onions and local green onions and how local is better. The staff there is so friendly and helpful. They also offer 20# bags of luau leaves if you are planning on cooking big amounts. Parking is hard but worth it.

Tamashiro has been around forever, but we rarely visit the place due to the high prices. The reason why we come here every blue moon is because my boss always gives us gift certificates every Christmas. When we came here a few days ago, they just so happened to have some of my favorite items. These include Samoan crab, live spiny lobster, and bluefin toro. I ended up buying a hefty spiny lobster and about half a pound of the bluefin toro. The spiny lobster costed ~$ 18/​lb and the toro was ~$ 33/​lb. Both turned out to be super fresh, and my family & I enjoyed every bite of it. If you want fresh seafood, give them a visit. They have a decent selection that includes a variety of fish, lobsters, crabs, clams, shrimp, and poke. Just keep in mind that most of the prices are not cheap.

Opihi didn’t seem fresh, as it looked dry and the flesh appeared black.
The man behind the counter asked if I wanted the sauce in or outside the container. I said inside, and he ladled the sauce into the container. And he put too much sauce for the amount of poke I wanted, which might be their sneaky way of adding unnecessary weight to drive up the price. The poke was okay. The onions and shoyu overpowered the shoyu poke.

This place is great for picking up poke downtown and they have very reasonable prices. The staff at the counter are very friendly and helpful. The spicy ahi poke is amazing. And the freshness is great here. I also really liked their dry aku, something that you can’t always get at every poke place. One of my regular stops when I visit Oahu.
It can be very hard to find parking at this place so you might have to circle the block a few times, or find street parking around the area, but it’s well worth it.

Parent’s were in utter shock– expecting a sit down place but were pleasantly surprised when trying their ahi bowls! Definitely recommend this local joint but make sure to have space in your car to eat it!

Want to buy fresh fish? We’ve been going to this reputable store for a very long time to buy fresh seafood or vegetables to cook.
Although a bit pricey, the quality is better than other stores, and most are not sold frozen:
Salmon fillet — 5 stars — today was more expensive than other days at $ 16 a lb, but we know it’s fresh.
Butter fish — 5 stars — this is the only store that I know of that sells it fresh and not too boney.
Lots of parking because you can also park at the church across the street, but if you decide to park in front of the store, the stalls are narrow so depending who parks next to you, your car can be dented by those who open their car doors and don’t care about it.

Last day in town, and I needed to pick up some ogo (seaweed) to take back to the mainland for some experimental homemade poke. My sister suggested Tamashiro’s as they sold the ogo as much or little as you wanted. Got two types. Also a little snack of onion limu poke. It hit the spot! Fresh ahi, sesame seed & oil, and a little onion as a palate cleanser. Easily in the top 3 poke shops I visited this time. Look forward to coming back and trying some of their other fresh items. Recommend and definitely repeat!

Tamashiro market is poke heaven and probably one of the best place to pick up your poke and seafood needs. It’s located on King Street.
My favorite is the Tako Poke. They just know how to make it the right way. Their Tako (octopus) isn’t slimy like other places. It’s well drained and seasoned just perfectly with some chili pepper, green onions, sesame seed oil. It’s not chewy other like other poke places. I also get Ahi onion poke with shoyu on the side. I don’t eat raw tuna fish so I don’t know how that taste but my husband and my children enjoy them.
They also sell variety of fish, crabs, oysters, fruits and vegetables. The staff are helpful and efficient. Shelves are neatly organized. For a fish market, they run a tidy schedule.
Parking is limited in front of their store but you can park across the street in the cathedral church. Just make sure you use the cross street for safety.