The Corner Kitchen

Customer Service:
Good customer service! Our waiter was very pleasant
Food we ordered:
Ahi Tataki (5 seared ahi) $ 8 (its ok but hubby liked it)
Deluxe Da Chi Bomb $ 13 (good!)
Deluxe Spicy Tempura $ 15 (good!)
Spicy Eel $ 13 (super good!)
Garlic Ahi $ 12 (super good!)
Hawaii Big Eye $ 13 (its ok but hubby liked it)
All the these roll have 8pcs slice.
Overall taste like high end sushi! Basically the taste matches the price! ;-)
Parking:
We called them and they said we can park at First Hawaiian Bank but we found street parking.

Got a couple of gift certificates so we went a couple weeks ago and we had way better service. They got their liquor license back so no more BYOB. The garlic ahi roll was delicious. Had the pulehu steak which was tasty. Could go on and on but we drove by as well as call and it looks like they closed down.

Being that this is the place I frequently visit to drink, eat and listen to live music, I’m sadden by their closing «Effective 10÷1÷2014». Mitch and Patti did a great job supporting Local Hawaiian Music and serving up some great food. I’m hopeful that something comes along and they reopen, if they do I’ll update my post.
*Mahalo Corner Kitchen!*

I love this place! We always make sure we buy extra Groupons whenever they’re available! We feast every chance we can because why not do it with a deal?
Tonight we went to Corner Kitchen because I didn’t feel like cooking and I was actually wanting sushi! Unfortunately the sushi chef was on vacation so we were bummed!
Instead we ordered my two favorites which were the soft shell crab salad an the crispy fried ribs! Ooooh man, the crab was perfectly crisp around the edges and soft and sweet on the inside perfect with the salad with the Japanese dressing with the tangy punch. The ribs… oh gosh it was delicious as usual! They cut them up to bite sized pieces now unlike before where it was full size and you had to get down and dirty to naw on the bone like a savage! There ain’t no way to eat like a lady if you like dem ribs! This ain’t no dainty kinda dish! Now, well I guess you can be dainty and naw your way to bite sized bones! Raaaaaaawr!
They messed up on our order and gave us extra teriyaki Kalbi steak! That was delicious and tender and cooked to perfection! I was happy with that!
Other dishes were typical teriyaki chicken, and spicy teriyaki chicken to go with the curry. The curry wasn’t very tasty, I don’t expect to go to a sushi bar to expect great curry.
It was a slow night and only about 4 tables but we were in kinda late and only one server. He was nice and attentive so our service was good.
Have another groupon and look forward to coming back for my dragon roll when the sushi chef comes back from vacation!
Highly recommend! Even better when always groupon around to help us save $ 25 each time we go!

The place to be if you want to hear live, Hawaiian music… any and every day of the year.
Parking is tough — you have to look for street parking on Kapahulu Ave. I luckily scored parking across the street and walked over, crossing the cross-​walk which had no signal lights, literally having to stop traffic and cross (people these days don’t even care if people are waiting to cross the street! they never courtesy stop…).
The actual seating area is small. Once you enter, on the left would be a handful of tables, some seats at the bar and then to the right would be high chair/​high table seating.
On the particular night that we went to, there was only one server taking care of the whole restaurant… so the service was very slow. She did the best she could, and I give her props, but I think having at least one more waitress would do wonders.
Food was good — everything tasting very good. Some of the things we ordered were: kal-​bi, sashimi, ahi tamaki roll, avocado tomato salad. I would honestly say though that it is a tad bit pricey for what you get. It would be a few dollars more than the average bar food.
The only really thing that makes this bar special than most like its kind, would be the LIVE, LOCAL music every night. They feature great people like Hoku Z and Weldon, as well as other groups that will make you feel good inside.
I highly recommend the Corner Kitchen to anyone who wants to grab a bite to eat while eating some good local food or even entertaining guests from afar.

After reading Renee, Jennifer, Arynn & Brian’s reviews, I felt like this was THE place to go to take my new Unilocalie pal out for her MILESTONE birthday. After naming a few places, she agreed to go to The Corner Kitchen.
I had an idea about where it was, so I drove slowly down Kapahulu. I had read Jennifer’s tip about the parking and went underneath the Hee Hing Building. Seems like Hee Hing is undergoing renovations, so there were a lot of spaces at 5:30pm. The parkiing attendant wasn’t there, so we scored FREE parking!
When we walked in, I felt like it was a smaller, cleaner version of Home Bar or Side Street Inn. The ambiance is like a happy, local, casual place with LIVE good music and great food. We didn’t have reservations, but we still had a choice of sitting at the counter or a high top table towards the back. We chose the counter so we could see the band & the sushi chef. It’s also fun to watch the bartender in action! Unfortunately, my seat was directly under the air conditioner and the condensation was dripping on my head — we just moved a couple of chairs down — no problem. Also, like the other reviews, the volume was a bit loud and I felt like I was yelling at Maggie. Yeah, she’s OLD now, but no more hearing aid yet, right?
The food was EXCELLENT! She chose the fried Hamachi starter and I chose the Garlic Salmon Roll — both were fresh (no fishy taste) and awesome! I could eat that every day! We also had the steak (how can you go wrong) and the Sample Platter because I was curious about the squid legs! It had a slight citrus flavor to it! The platter also included some savory chicken and delicious California Roll! We asked the bartender if he thought it would be enough for us, but he underestimated our appetites! We asked another waiter for Soft Shell Crab Salad, but it never came. I grabbed the bill and we were out of there to a more quiet environment where we could discuss «important matters».
Maggie and I met through Unilocal via other Unilocalers. We had looked at each others’ profiles, noticed many things in common, decided to meet IRL, & became friends — probably for life! I am so thankful that our paths have crossed and I hope other Yeeps find a valuable treasure along the journey in life as I have found in Maggie!

Attentive and prompt service, Ono food. Fried oxtail is definitely unique. Reminiscent to an osso bucco. So tender! You can cut it with your fork or spoon! The chirashi is excellent as well. Clean cuts of assorted fish/​seafood on a bed of rice. I’m a happy camper with that!
What more do you need? Oh perhaps some amazing Hawaiian music?! Go check Saturday nights — 630 – 830, Hi’ikua is AWESOME!

This is my first time here, and will be the only time I come here.
As we walked in, there was no host/​hostess at the front, and so I waited. There were just 3 tables and a party of 8 at that time, yet there were no servers, no bartender, no sushi chef, no one seemed to work there! After a while, somebody finally arrived. He asked if we had reservations, and we did. For some odd reason, he had an extremely hard time trying to find our name and reservation time to the point where he just gave up. I looked down, and spotted it on another book that was right next to the one he was looking at in two seconds. Need glasses, buddy? After that, he asked where I wanted to sit, and I told him anywhere should be fine. Of all the open tables, he chose the table that was RIGHT NEXT to the small stage. Gee, thanks… –_​– We moved immediately.
Because this was my first time, I didn’t know what to expect in terms of food. The restaurant’s namesake doesn’t really tell you what it serves. To my surprise and then disappointment, it was dominantly Japanese food. After thoroughly looking at the entire menu, I had a hard time deciding what to get because everything was just the basic sushi rolls and other typical food items you find at every Sushi restaurants. There was nothing different, and not much of a variety.
The Dragon Roll was okay. It definitely wasn’t restaurant quality, and more on the fast food quality (like Kozo or Sushiman).
Garlic Salmon Roll wasn’t very good. There was way too much raw onion on top, and the salmon was seared too much to the point where it was fully cooked. This ruined the entire dish. The sushi roll for this was really small compared to the Dragon Roll. It might’ve been rolled too tightly because a piece of avocado was jutting out on one end.
The Garlic Ahi Roll was a little bit better than the Salmon Roll. The Ahi wasn’t over-​seared, and the roll didn’t look squashed. Though, the Ahi wasn’t that fresh.
I love uni (sea urchin roe) when it’s fresh, and absolutely hate it when it’s not fresh. The Uni Nigiri on this instance was not fresh at all. I’ve had uni that wasn’t fresh, and it tastes and smells like a public beach restroom. Terrible!
Overall, the sushi was very poor. The fish wasn’t fresh, and the rice wasn’t very good either. Also, the appearance of the rolls were really subpar. Any trained sushi chef will be utterly disappointed.
The worst part of my visit here was the music because it was ridiculously loud. You couldn’t have a conversation without yelling or repeating yourself. It was just awful and basically ruined the entire night. Hello, I’m not in a club!!! And the idiot tried to seat us next to the stage? Awful.
The service was lacking. The food came out pretty slow for a slow night, and the servers are no where to be seen most of the time.
I don’t recommend coming here. There are many better options than Corner Kitchen. This place is basically a poor man’s Japanese restaurant, but without any properly trained sushi chefs. You will have a better time going upstairs from the parking lot to Tokkuri-​Tei, or two blocks up Kapahulu Ave to Wada.

First time here on a Groupon. Thank gosh it was a Groupon cause we won’t be back.
Food: we had the following…
Poi Dog Platter — crispy ribs, kalbi, Asian slaw
Kara age chicken. Ribs was undercooked and
Chicken tasted spoiled/​rancid. We did notify our
waiter and he offered to make up for it, but we
declined.
Garlic Ahi Roll and Tempura is good. Nothing
great.
Yakisoba — not what I am use to, but hubby has
been to Asian countries and he said that it was
ok, but the sauce/​spices they used made it
spicy.
Atmosphere: nice and quiet at 530pm-​7pm. No live music though (bummer).
Service: our server was very friendly, brought our food out quickly. After that we felt ignored.
Definitely will not be back to this establishment.
Wish them all the luck.

This was my first visit here. I had heard about their food and I loved the fact that they have live Hawaiian music nightly (or almost). Lei from Keahiwai was playing during our visit. She was great!
I didn’t know that they have parking available in the building next door with Hee Hing Restaurant. I had already paid for parking across the street and had walked over.
Guess I should’ve done my research too but Corner Kitchen is now BYOB. That always saves us a bit of money!
I enjoyed the karaage chicken, the mixed tempura and the kalbi. My friends liked their sushi. Everyone enjoyed the food and the music. I didn’t care for their Chazuke though. It didn’t have much flavor.
I’m want to go back and try some of their other dishes.

I purchased a groupon so we stopped here for dinner. They have live Hawaiian music each night. We ordered fried oxtails, some type of sushi roll, the poi appetizer platter and banana spit for dessert.
The food was okay, nothing was really delish. The only thing that was tasty was the kalbi beef on the platter.
Their banana split was missing bananas. I think I only got 6 little cut pieces of bananas total.

«BYOB», it says on the sign next to the entry way that also says «Please wait to be seated». A friend was pretty stoked about it, even though we didn’t bring any. The gentleman approached us right away and asked if we had reservations. Our response? «No». But definitely good to know that they do take reservations. Less than a minute of being there, we were seated right away.
NOTE: If you don’t bring your own booze, you will have to cross the street to buy your own. (walking distance is 7eleven). They don’t serve beer here (according to our server) but hard liquor or wine only (was it like this before?).
We were looking at the menu and it sure has an array of different sushi choices, seafood items that I find quite eclectic. However, they didn’t have enough choices for people that didn’t eat seafood. Only choices were 1. Ribs, 2. Steak (2 items out of the entire menu). In result, we shared the Steak & Crab with Fries. The steak was cooked just right to a medium rare. Warning on the crab, this is cooked as a «soft shell crab» and are not hard shell crab. I also ordered their Garlic Salmon. The garlic salmon roll had cucumber, avocado topped with seared ahi, maui onions on top. I am going to say that I loved this roll. It was super tasty and fresh.
I will make a round 2 trip back here to try their other dishes sometime in the future.

The menu is a bit diverse. Ordered three dishes, the carbonara, karaage chicken curry and nigiri platter. Got a little Italian Japanese Local food fare on the table. Food sounds delish as you are reading it off the menu, but maybe we didn’t order the right meals? Our eyes were fooled but not our taste buds…
The pasta was a bit overcooked and the sauce had a powdery texture. Curry was a bit on the salty side but I liked the chicken, the flavor was nice. The sushi platter was nice, too, you can’t go wrong in making sushi unless you screw up with the rice. Good thing we had the Groupon, for the quality of the food, I think the meals were overpriced.
I won’t completely write off this place, cause the upside was the live band. It did get a bit loud, but enjoyed their local tunes. Currently BYOB, even when the bar has a wall full of liquor.

2.5 stars.
Music: 4 stars
Food: 3 stars
Service: 1 star
Music was amazing, though a little loud. Cannot hold a conversation while they’re playing. But ho, those Maunalua men have some sweet pipes! Wednesdays, check um out. I think they have live music every day, but I really liked these guys!
We got the soft shell crab salad (comes with TWO full size soft shell crab *YUM*, a couple sushi rolls, and the poi dog platter. The only thing that really stands out was their kalbi. Delicious, flavorful, tender.
The service left a lot to be desired. The waiter made it seem like we were wasting his time, he didn’t really give us any suggestions, we had to continue to ask for our waters to be refilled, but worst of all was that there was BONE in our sushi! My dad even showed the waiter, and neither the waiter NOR the sushi chef apologized. Really? Should be so shamefaced as a sushi chef to have that happen. No apology, no replacement, no amends.
No need to go back, really (unless you have a groupon). Side Street Inn doesn’t have live music, but their food is the same kind of fare, and it’s way better!

So we had a bigger party of 20 or so.
But they made a rule that the average person needs to spend at least 20 per head.
So BYOB means average of $ 20/​guest. that is a very odd rule to have.
Food-​average. nothing is really outstanding or makes me want to come back to eat here.
Service– terrible. our order was taken first but we get our food about 15+ minutes after everyone else has already been served. plus the waiter was incredibly smug about making everyone spend at least $ 20.
Refilling water — bring a raincoat so you don’t get splashed on. Every time our water was filled it always splashed out of the cup or he also missed and poured on the table.
Outcome: Super disappointed.

LOCAL, AMERICAN FUSION. My husband and I came here for an UYE. They featured their new Brunch menu — a great new weekend breakfast place! I really like their creative menu!
FOOD
1) Meat Loaf Loco Moco — the special creamy sauce and moistness of the meatloaf was so savory and satisfying!
2) Braised Oxtail — Melt in your mouth meat drenched in a tantalizing rich sauce.
Sorry no pic, it was just sooo good and gone so fast!
3) Green Eggs and Ham — outstanding taste
4) Portuguese sausage w/​hollandaise sauce over hotcakes — I love hollandaise sauce!
5) French Toast — With just the right amount of sweetness.
6) Mango Soufflé? — Was delicious and mouth watering!
7) Tofu salad — was refreshing and healthy! Thanks for sharing Paul C.
ENVIRONMENT
Located on Kapahulu avenue next to Rainbow Drive Inn. A comfortable establishment. Lots of chairs and table that can seat up to 75. A stage for entertainment. Clean bathrooms. Limited parking in the back that says «ZenShu parking’ and street parking.
SERVICE
Quick, friendly and down to earth people. Real local people that really care about their customers and their food they bring out. Thank you CORNER KITCHEN for the great and delicious food!
TIP
–BYOB till further notice! Call ahead!
–Kid friendly!
CONCLUSION
Coming back to try their dinner menu!

It was a girl’s night out and we came here after I bought a groupon. Not what I highly expected. Reservation is not recommended but its required! Gosh, I don’t see what the hype was about here.
It was seriously noisy. No kidding. You can’t hear what your friends were saying. The whole time with live music, we were screaming like crazy at each other. Sheesh. It’s almost like a dinner war.
The food, if I remembered, we order Corner Sampler A, a spicy tune sushi roll? (don’t remember the name), and this scampi pasta. It wasn’t a long wait for the food, but *cough* the portions are small. I think they overpriced it. I mean I wouldn’t be as uptight about it but the food didn’t even keep us full. Usually we would be full with three plates. The quality wasn’t even that good. The fish in the sushi doesn’t seem fresh. It’s tiny too. The seafood in the pasta was only a few pieces, yet the plate was close to $ 20. Dannnng! However, the sampler was alright, again… portion is soooo small.
The bill came out to $ 53 something not including tips. Without the coupon… man, we would be so mad. I noticed the other group of people had their coupon too. I don’t think it was even worth it with a coupon.
Parking…there’s like no space! My friend had to park 15 minutes walking distance by the residential area. Meh, I shall say, I will not return.

I’ve been to Corner Kitchen 3 times in the past 2 weeks. That must say something…
Food is good and reasonably priced especially for the sushi. I love their variety of rolls and sashimi combos. Fish is really fresh. And they have a bomb «happy hour» from 10pm-​midnight that includes half off rolls & sake bottles, limited time only for their first anniversary. My favs are the sparkling sake and uni roll.
1-​star less because the service is a hit or miss, depending on who you get. And the live music schedule doesn’t always start on time. Although the live music in general is a plus in itself.
The crowd here is older. Kind of reminds me of a Kiki’s or Side Street type crowd.
They don’t have a parking lot, only street parking or neighboring lots. Although the times I’ve been here, I didn’t have a problem finding street parking right across the street.
Will be back!

Came to Corner Kitchen after the Unilocal cookie swap at Aston Waikiki. And yes, we were still hungry after the swap. We saved the cookie eating for dessert.
Our first choice, Homebar was out of fish so we decided to go to Tokkuri-​Tei but they were closed for a party so we finally ended up at Corner Kitchen.
My friend and I shared an order of their fried oysters (2/​dish) and an uni and a deluxe spicy tuna roll. The fried oysters were massive. The lighting wasn’t great in the restaurant, so my picture came out dark… But just so you have an idea.
One of my friend’s liked it so much he ordered another 2. Although they weren’t the best oysters I’ve had, they weren’t too oily and very crispy :)
The uni atop the uni roll wasn’t very sweet. I usually only eat uni at the sushi bar where its incredibly sweet so this roll was very sub-​par.
The spicy tuna in the deluxe roll was SPICY. I thought maybe my taste buds were being sensitive but everyone at the table was grabbing their drinks too.
I was pretty buzzed by the time I got to dinner so I didn’t mind the wait but under normal circumstances where my belly is rumbling I would have been very cranky for having to wait for so long for our sushi roll. We all ate at different times because our rolls came out at different times. Boo! I hope they get another sushi chef!
I will definitely be back for their late happy hour — 50% off all sushi rolls after 10pm.

I was invited to go to Corner Kitchen this past Saturday by a fellow Unilocal Elite to use his Groupon that he paid $ 25 for $ 55 worth of sushi and local Asian cuisine for four or more. We had a reservation for 5:30 and were the first people in the restaurant so you would think we would have a nice table, right? WRONG!!! We were seated at the last hightop table directly in front of the entrance to the restrooms! WTH??? Did my host previously «forget» to tip?
The service was fairly good as it should be at 5:30 with virtually nobody else in the restaurant. We started with the sashimi salad and the sampler appetizer that had chicken karaage, boneless kalbi, & ribs. We also had a uni roll and another with tuna & soft shell crab. All in all the food was good, not fantastic. See a few pictures that I posted.
As we were leaving, the band was just getting started. It was definitely loud. If you want to enjoy conservation with your tablemates, I strongly recommend going before the band. Virtually no parking at the restaurant but free parking is available at First Hawaiian Bank in the evening, about a block away.