Yuzen Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar

Three stars because my meal was good but it sucks when LAME service is your only memory of the experience.
I was craving butterfish so I got the butterfish teishoku with sashimi ($ 22). My dining companion ordered 3 various nigiri sushi but wasn’t able to order more food because the server FAILED to let him know that they were running low on fish; when he was ready to order more, he was told there was nothing left. Had we known from the start that there was the possibility that the kitchen would close early, he would’ve ordered more items or we would’ve gone somewhere else.
That night there was a large, rambunctious party. It was so loud at times that me and my dining companion were shouting at each other to be heard.

Cozy little gem within walking distance of Ala Moana.
We stumbled upon this sweet izakaya and sushi bar in much the same fashion as Roy Y. below. They had a sign out front advertising CHEAP BEER! How could we say no?
The interior is surprisingly bright and authentic, boasting a beautiful wood sushi bar. There are seats at the bar, tables and chairs, and tatami seating with recesses for your legs to hang beneath.
We thoroughly enjoyed the following:
Amuse bouche — A light potato salad served in a martini glass with salad greens. Great way to start out our meal (thank you!)
Assorted nigiri — ahi, hamachi, and uni, the latter served with shiso leaf. So ono! Why have I never had uni and shiso together before! I could eat like three orders of this and the uni was über fresh.
Seafood salad — Served in a bowl made of fried lumpia wrapper, this was one of the best things we ate. At least 6 generous slices of ahi, salmon, and ika served on salad greens dressed in a wonderful citrus dressing. Me likey.
Takoyaki — OK, so I have this takoyaki thing. As soon as I see it on a menu, my mouth starts salivating and I desperately need an Asahi. Yuzen’s is store bought and the serving is three pieces. Honestly, I was a little disappointed.
Beef tongue — This was so unique! Served cold, the tongue is previously cooked in a slightly sweet sauce and sliced to order. This was actually quite good. My date RAVED about the preparation and the sushi chef was friendly and explained the cooking process. Definitely recommend.
Overall, everything was delicious. I really wanted to try the miso eggplant, but didn’t have enough room. Our tab was a bit out of control due to the waiter’s recommendations for sake (good on ya!) We will definitely return for the warm service, classy design, and innovative dishes.
NOTE: Parking sucks, so definitely carpool with friends. Although they offer a steak and lobster dinner, the lobster tanks sat empty the night we were there and the fish selection was pretty standard. Looking at other reviews, it seems like they used to offer a more diverse sushi experience with lobster and moi sashimi. I hope the chef decides to bring this back in the future!

Definitely worth a try. Their sushi was quite a pleasant surprise. Sashimi is of fine quality. We had the salmon skin and spicy ahi maki, both were among the best that i’ve had. The prices are good, but the bill can add up. The nigiri was also excellent.
Parking can be a bit rough, as it’s in the Keeaumoku area.

1.5 stars… Presentation was all they had to go on. The service is slow and little help, the menu needs a glossary unless you speak and read Japanese. Sushi/​sashimi was not as fresh as other places. Some pieces tasted days old. Prices were not the cheapest either.
There are plenty of other sushi places to go to. Don’t bother with this one.

One of my best dining memories in Honolulu! When I saw it during the day I didn’t give it a second glance so I’m greatful that I went with a group of friends who knew how delish it is!
My first kaiseki experience and def one to beat. The service was amazing. The food was perfect — taste and look.

5 star food & service at a 3 star price. Very cool tatami seating! Highly recommended! See my pictures!

This is hands down, my favorite place for Japanese cuisine in Honolulu. I’ve dined here many times, and each occasion gets better and better every time I visit. The food is simply incredible; from the freshest fish, to the vast sake selection, Yuzen never ceases to amaze. Offering delicious selections from a carefully created menu, or multi-​course Omakase (Chef’s choice) meals, this establishment satisfies any appetite, both conservative eaters, and adventurous gastronomes alike.
The dining room at Yuzen is intimate with only a handful of tables and an alcoved tatami mat seating area for larger groups. The décor is minimalist, and the entire space of the restaurant is clean and reminiscent of any modest Kaiseki style restaurant you’d find in central Japan.
Sushi Chef/​Owner Edgar San Juan, along with the cooks and kitchen staff at Yuzen, continually create innovative and unique dishes that utilize the freshest, and highest quality ingredients available. The creative, sometimes intricate, and always delicious recipes consistently explore the depths of texture, flavor, colors, and aroma. Additionally, entrees are often prepared with the careful use of rare and wholly Japanese components, which affords a person the opportunity to be treated to special taste experiences of items not normally offered in western cuisine.
The thing I enjoy the most about this place is the attention to detail, and personal care that goes into each dish. Paired perfectly with the cuisine, is the unmatched customer service and polite attentiveness demonstrated by Ramon (Owner/​Manager); His superb knowledge of the ingredients and entrees as a whole, instills confidence that your meal has been prepared with care. Along with the other waiters and waitresses, the front of the house strives to ensure that the customer is treated as a special guest every time.
Each time I dine at Yuzen, I am reminded that my meal is an event, and a special experience. The portions are just right, and the beauty and vision that go into the preparation and presentation of each dish is astounding. Gorgeous cuts of sashimi, outstandingly fresh and delicious sushi, brightly accented garnishes and accoutrements, and dishes that please the eye, nose, and taste-​buds, make this restaurant a rare gem, not to be missed. Taking a careful look at the sake menu, you know that the food can be matched to a large variety of sake; and the staff will be more than happy to pair your meal with the some of the best sake imported from Japan.
I would recommend Yuzen to anyone who desires a wonderful Kyoto style, Kaiseki menu prepared with heart and class. The sushi and sashimi selections can’t be beat; but if you have the time, and a large appetite, go with the Omakase menu request when you make your reservation… You’ll be surprised, delighted, and will want to eat at this fine establishment every chance you get.
Although they do not give the real thing justice; take a look at the photos posted for eye candy of the excellent cuisine provided at Yuzen.

The sashimi here is very good. Don’t get the sashimi plate though. It comes with shrimp and squid which is just a waste of money for a fish fan like me. When we ordered another sashimi plate and asked them to put «fish only», they just charged us for the sashimi individually. So at the end, just order the sashimi individually. No need to get the sashimi plate.
Their rainbow roll was probably the best I’ve ever had with nice big pieces of sashi on top. The spicy tuna row was very nice too. Tempura was nice too.
My wife like their wasabi because if was super potent!

Came back for our second time on Friday and once again were welcomed into this great place! The owner called me by name and my boyfriend Mr. (insert his last name here)! I was shocked that after only one visit he remember us!
Will definitely be back for some yummy food! Hamachi collar and uni rock! Also tried the Maguro Nuta-​ae… omg yummy! With chu-​toro not just maguro!

I was hungry after working out (again) so, got my phone out and checked out Unilocal to find out what was near. Wanted some thing lite and healthy (hey I just worked out).
Found this place nearby with good ratings and comments. So…
Walked in… very nice atmosphere. Clean and nice décor.
I was immediately greeted and said I could sit anywhere. (There were only 2 other people there).
Ordered a large sashimi platter ($ 22). 12 pieces of assorted sashimi. ah, quality was just ok.
–Gyutan-​very good. marinated and possibly broiled but, served cold.
–Scallops n tomatoes-​kinda hard to maneuver. (dipping into ponzu sauce without loosing anything in the ponzu well) taste was just ok.
–Seafood poke-​bland I had to add shoyu.
–Butterfish misoyaki– very good. nice size too.
–Nigiri sushi-​fish didnt seem very fresh and the portions are just so so. I ordered «Ikura» and it was very tiny.
All in all I thought the food was just ok. BUT, $ 2 KIRIN (16oz).
Did I mention $ 2 Kirins.
In fact I added an extra star just for the $ 2 KIRINs.
btw, I couldnt help to notice that the chef and waiter were… uh, not Japanese. Very interesting.
Hey, I say get some friends together and go there just to drink. Get some appetizers too. enjoy. $ 2 KIRINS.
keola…out

I recently noticed a little Japanese restaurant located on the side street of Keamoku where they have lots of Korean restaurants. My husband and I decided to give it a try. Once we walked in, we felt that the restaurant has a very warm and homey atmosphere to it, we looked around and noticed that the crowd was a bit older. We took a look at the menu and noticed that it was going to cost $ 30 — $ 50 per person. We weren’t expecting to spend a lot for dinner that night, but the atmosphere just captured us, therefore, we decided to stay.
We saw what others had ordered and knew that we should order the kaiseki (set menu). I had the Yuzen Kaiseki ($ 50) and my husband had the Chef Kaiseki ($ 45).
Yuzen Kaiseki includes: 4 piece appetizer (potato salad, dry fish, tamago, and veggie), sashimi plate (snapper, salmon, amaebi), steamed snapper, sashimi salad, lobster dynamite, plum juice, scallop tempura, and dessert.
Chef Kaiseki includes: 4 piece appetizer (potato salad, dry fish, tamago, and veggie), sashimi plate (snapper, salmon, amaebi), fried croquette, tempura set, 6 piece nigiri set and dessert.
The food was served in a systematic order and the chef time it perfectly. The food tasted good and was decorated like Iron chef style. The service was exceptional.
We had a wonderful evening since the whole course took like 1.5 hours to serve. Great date night!

This place is awesome! You’ll never go wrong with this place. I’ve tried their dynamite, baked oysters, calamari rings, spicy ahi, steak and shrimp with ponzu sauce, and it was total orgasm in my mouth! The atmosphere is nice and the staff are super friendly! We always have the owner as our server, and this shows how important customers are to be serving the customers himself. My friends and I have been here many times and if you haven’t yet, you definitely have to try it!

Ok, first off this place is pretty pricey! I had their chirashi bowl and it was $ 30. It was a really good chirashi bowl. But for that price, I do not think I will be ordering it again. Other than the price this place has good food and the atmosphere is really nice compared to most hole-​in-​the-​wall Japanese places. The staff there is really nice and they always recommend good sake to you.

Solid three stars for this place and mostly because it’s a cute place to eat. It’s a tiny place tucked away on Makaloa Street. It’s pretty much authentic Japanese food if you ask me but it didn’t blow me away. I’d imagine everything on the menu is good, though. We went around closing time and we were the last ones in but it took awhile to get our food and the server/​owner? was busy chatting whenever we needed anything.
Bottom line: solid Japanese food but I wasn’t blown away. A-​OK Japanese food.

For many years, I have been looking for live lobster sashimi. On my many trips to mainland ie New York, Boston and Ptown, I looked for live lobster sashimi but they were always out or it was the wrong season. However, low and behold I found the fresh live lobster sashimi in my hometown at Yuzen.
We have walked by this restaurant many times and have eaten at many other restaurants in this neighborhood never suspecting this wonderful Japanese restaurant was hiding behind the most typical of storefronts. It was like the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opens the door and Oz is in color. Amazing.
Inside was very warm and inviting. A very friendly staff. Well-​designed menu from appetizers to kaiseki will please any Japanese food lover.
Served with the live lobster sashimi was fresh oysters and assortment of other fresh fish.
After I finished the lobster, the staff removed it to the kitchen where it reappeared at the table as a scrumptious lobster miso soup. Robert had kaiseki that I tried and every bit was delicious. With many more dishes to try, we will be back to Yuzen again and again.

Really 3 stars-​OK, but I’ll add in 1 more star because they were cool. They allowed us to have our cupcakes (outside food) because it was for my birthday… early, birthday… sort of.
Anyways, went here for lunch today and had the Matsu set. The waiter said that the Matsu and the Sakura are the most popular, so I ended up getting the Matsu. Matsu includes — appetizer, sashimi, tempura, nimono, salmon, rice, miso soup and tsukemono. It all actually tasted really good. Price — $ 16. Kinda steep for lunch. Normal for Japan, pricey for Hawaii.
I’d go back, though. I’d like to try their nabeyaki udon $ 15!

Excited to see Kaiseki meals on the menu; but the place is a mixed bag.
This is the first place I’ve ever seen Kaiseki multi-​course meals being served in Hawaii. Supposedly, the owner of the place hired on a Kaiseki chef. A less formalized application, the Kaiseki here lives more in the presentation and the food; rather than the type of service and atmosphere. It seemed more in the spirit of Kyoto than Tokyo style. I’ve been absolutely enamored and intrigued with Kaiseki dining from travelling around Japan. «Yu-​zen» actually is a term used for Kaiseki that can be changes to some degree by customer choice; for reasons such as allergies.
The best dishes here are the Kaiseki prepared dishes: not all are part of the Kaiseki set meals. One of the dishes that I thoroughly enjoyed not on the set menu was the Sashimi and Tempura Moi dish: as seen by the photo from a previous poster. You start off with the sashimi served around the whole fish and head, and the rest of the fish is fried tempura style after you finish the sashimi: delicious. The starter Taro Ball, which is served with many of the meal options is tasty. The Rare Beef that comes with the Kaiseki meal is pretty good.
There are other dishes that are pretty good. The Butterfish Misoyaki is commendable, though it is pretty hard to mess up Butterfish. Their Tempura is lighter than most, but still good. I really have to try the Lobster dishes one of these days.
The best thing that the place has going for it is definitely the freshness of the fish. The sushi is better than most simply on the fact that the fish is fresher than most places. This is probably one of the best places to get sushi on the island. The knife skills are pretty commendable too.
Even though all of this may sound fantastic, service was fantastic too; the place didn’t really amaze me. Not to say that I would not come back; on the contrary, I would probably come back many times. Sure there were some hits, but nothing too amazing. I do admire the nostalgia of the Kaiseki preparation, nothing really stuck with me.
Good food: great sushi, some great and many not-​too-​memorable dishes.

5+ stars
This place we both ate for lunch, we both thought it was great and reasonably priced! The food is good for what you get. I would definitely recommend people to come to this restaurant by far the best place in town! Must order the Matsu its GREAT! The service was superb, ambiance was really nice, and the people are SUPER NICE! This is how a restaurant suppose to be I believe!

Fomerly known as Toraya on Makaloa street.
If Yuzen was a contestant on American Idol:
Randy: You know what dawg, it wasn’t half bad. I mean, you didn’t blow me away or anything, but for me it was alright, ya know what I mean, dawg?
Kara: First let me say that your service was excellent. But it’s too bad your sushi wasn’t your best effort, but it certainly was above average. If you want to advance further, you need to step it up.
Paula: Well, I have to tell you that… that you look beautiful. I love your makeover. Compared to what this place USED to look like, you… you look like a beauty queen. Love the simple, clean… organized décor. I loved your… your um… Geso Karaage and Scallop isobeyaki and Spider Roll. Good job. Keep up the good work.
Simon: Sorry, Paula, I’d have to disagree with you somewhat… I thought the shrimp and vegetable tempura was bland and a bit soggy. And their sushi chef was a bit amateurish in my opinion. Stop booing, I’m speaking… sorry, Yuzen, if you want to make the finals, you’re going to have to pick better chefs, because let’s be honest, you’re NOT the best Japanese restaurant out there. Like Kara said, you have to step up your game if you want to win this thing.

BYOB! The magic word. But you better hurry because they might get their license soon.
For appetizers we had the Moi sashimi $ 40. OMG. That is a must. The meat was so firm and delicious. After we were done demolishing that they deep fried the bones for us. Yum. Fish potato chips. Also had geso karaage, scallop isobeyaki, calamari rings and a salad. I think that their fried items was just okay. Not light and fluffy like I am used to.
Main courses– Nigiri set-​very good-​highly recommended
Chef Kaiseki-​interesting variety of dishes, very generous, good for the adventurous, good value
Steak and King crab– not bad, came w/​10 oz leg of crab
Butterfish Misoyaki-​delicious
We ordered a lot of food for 4 people and our tab came out to $ 215.
Oh and anmitsu for dessert that came with the Kaiseki meal.
Check out my pics.