Teshima Restaurant

We had an amazing dinner at Teshima’s. Two had the Deep Sea Trio, one the Shrimp Tempura & one Chicken Sukiyaky. All were amazing. Staff was friendly, waitress was great. We will go back, for sure!

We loved the old-​time atmosphere and the story of the matriarch of the family who died recently at age 106 years and four months. This is a family run restaurant through several generations. I had the udon noodles, which were served in an iron bowl with a handmade wooden top. My wife had the Friday luncheon special. Unfortunately, the tempura shrimp were not available on the Friday when we visited. We would love to return for another visit.

A solid low key Japanese place. Expect down to earth staff with home style cooking and a unpretentious décor.

Last time we came here was almost a year ago and we are so happy to be back. We love ending our Kona coffee tour day (s) at Teshima’s. The food is great and the workers always give you a big smile.
My husband and I each got the Beef Sukiyaki combo meal where it comes with a small order of Beef Sukiyaki, mixed tempura, ahi sashimi, miso soup and cucumber salad. I love the sukiyaki, the broth is so tasty with tender slices of beef and lots of yummy glass noodles.
My husband and I are already planning on going back the end of this year so I can’t wait to get my sukiyaki.

Great food. Reasonable prices. A must place to eat when on island.

We shared the no. 3 Teishoku dinner and it was excellent.
It came with Miso soup, Sashimi, Sukiyaky, Shrimp Tempura, Sunomono, Tsukennomo and rice.
It is a small place so a reservation is a good idea.

Good old home cooking comfort food! People are super friendly.

Good fun local fare. I love this place for it’s nostalgic feel, the food is 3* the staff and venue I give it an extra star. I love to eat here or take family, friend, visitor or guest here for the Teshima experience.
Many locals head here for lunch and dinner and you’ll see the odd tourist that have found their way.

Had to wait about 5 min before the waitress took our order even though it was not busy. Waitress didn’t understand what we wanted and we had to repeat several times.
Food was good which made up for it, and having a guest dine with us was awesome (Madagascar Day Gecko — see pic).

A good example of what is wonderful to one person is… Not, to someone else. Place does not have A/​C but is comfortable in the evening. It’s up the side of the mountain, not sure what the elevation is. Don’t think it would be so comfortable at lunch.
Had the steak and tempura shrimp to share and ordered the short ribs as an app. They came after the entrée. The steak and shrimp were very good, the ribs tasted fine but very tough/​chewy; could not eat them. Good thing they came after the entrée!
Service was friendly and good, place is not dirty but definitely a hole in the wall. Maybe a local fave but not our cup of tea.

One of my favorite restaurants on the big island! Everything I’ve ordered here has been on point. Teshima’s offers really solid, Japanese home-​style cooking.
My favorite is the Shrimp Tempura by far! I don’t know what it is specifically, but the breading is INCREDIBLE. Super duper crunchy, but not overly-​battered and overpowering. And the shrimp is really fresh and juicy too! This dish alone will have me coming back for more.
The Nebayaki Udon is really delicious. The broth is seriously the best udon broth I’ve had anywhere. It’s really comforting and so delicious. I think they make it with fish bones? Because the color is all white! They also serve it in an old style pot.
Butterfish is pretty good. This fish is usually pricey and here they give you a 3 generous pieces for the price of $ 19. The fish tasted pretty fresh and the seasonings were great.
Sashimi is fresh! I wasn’t expecting much so was definitely surprised.
Only thing is I’m not crazy about their sides that come with the entrees. Other than that, 5 stars all around!

Just go! Large portions, something for everyone. The tempura is the one of the best on the island. Nice family atmosphere. This is my husbands favorite restaurant. I’m not giving five stars because today we ordered shrimp tempura but it came with veggie tempura too. For the price And distance we travelled, we were expecting only shrimp. I got the deep sea trio which also said shrimp tempura but same problem. Tempura was doughy on one side– Lame! This is hopefully an unusual occurrence since we come fairly often

Fantastic! So nostalgic as it reminds me of my grandmothers cooking as a kid. Thank you for the flood of wonderful home cooked memories. I will be back again. The tempura was awesome and the sukiyaki was just like grandmas.

This place is authentic and homey. My husband and I both had the deep sea trio and it was delicious! The miso soup is one of the best we’ve had. Prices are okay for portion size. Feels like a mom and pop shop in the inside. It was our first time here and we’d come back again for sure to try other things on the menu. Nice selection of beer also!

With a long history, this restaurant is kinda famous in local.
We visited twice for dinner, the location is very convenient.
I am not a fan for tempura, and I did not feel well if I eat too much, so I tried udon and sashimi for the second visit. The sashimi is very fresh, udon is good, maybe hand-​made? I am not sure, but it’s not tasted like the udons I got from supermarket.

I felt like the prices here was quite expensive for what you get. You get a lot of veggies and rice but not so much of the seafood and all.
However, i guess you are best going here during the lunch time rather than dinner. It has no air conditioning so dress in the lightest clothes possible.
We actually ordered the #3 combo (shrimp tempura) and it was pretty tasty. Therefore, this place gets an A-​Ok rather than the outstanding b/​c of the price and the food does not match up. But hey! you are in Hawaii!

Great Japanese food, awesome shrimp tempura, very authentic.
They open at 5 for dinner and when we arrived at 503 I was expecting to be one of the only people in the restaurant but boy were we wrong. People must have been waiting for it to open as there were only two tables left! And by 530 we overheard the waitresses saying they were no longer taking reservations for the rest of the night! So if you want to come here I’d recommend making a reservation ahead of time, and it’d be worth the effort.
The orders:
Seafood trio: tempura, fish, tuna sashimi, pickled sides: great great great. The sashimi wasn’t as impressive as I’d hoped but everything had good flavor and was very clean — a welcome reprise from most of the heavy stuff we had been eating while on the island.
Kettle udon: very tasty, with a cute presentation
Beef curry: it was good, not great
One of the combos: tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi: sukiyaki was done pretty well, not too sweet.
Portions are not big, but you get a lot of variety. The green tea is EXCELLENT! the service is also great — everyone is very nice. 5 stars all around.
Note: be aware that the restaurant is a cell phone dead zone — no service and no data, so if you need something you’ll have to step outside

This was on our list while visiting the Big Island.
I ordered the Teishoku #3 which was a great deal. It was a dinner set that came with sukiyaki, tempura (shrimp and vegetable), tuna sashimi, miso soup, and two little dishes of tsukemono and sunomono, and a bowl of rice. I believe the price was $ 21! Everything was great. Sukiyaki is a great dish to have over rice and this one was no different. I wish I could’ve had more variety in the sashimi, but no complaints. The sashimi was fresh and thinly sliced. The best part of this big combination was no surprise. the shrimp tempura! It seemed to be breaded in Panko which gave it that extra crispiness. And get this. there was not one, but two shrimp in one piece of tempura! I was given two pieces of these double shrimp tempura along with a couple pieces of vegetable tempura.
The service was great. We were brought some tea in an antique kettle along with edamame at the beginning of the meal and were checked upon throughout the night.
I enjoyed learning about this restaurant’s/family’s history by watching the television that was playing their documentary.

I’ve been to Teshimas 4 times and have enjoyed it each time. Come here for good local style Japanese food in a restaurant that has been in Hawaii for generations.
Last night I had the beef teriyaki and shrimp tempura and it was good. My companion had the pork chops.
Teshimas is not a fancy place, but if you’re in the mood for some good comfort food, come by this Hawaiian tradition.

I was working in the Kailua-​Kona, & Kealakekua area yesterday, and upon Brian M. giving me a tip on checking out Teshima’s.
Teshima’s it was, for yesterdays lunch!
It was a glorious day in Kealakekua yesterday… as it was fairly clear, with an light dusting of rain, cooling down a hot summer’s day,
When I drove to Teshima’s, I knew there were only a few parking stalls in front of the restaurant, but lucky for me, the 1^st stall right by the entrance was open — just for me! Thank you parking gods!!!
I park my rental car, & walk on into the restaurant. What I really like about dining at these old style local restaurants is the old time décor, and history of the place.
I was not surprised that this restaurant had a very strong local following, as all the tables were taken when I walked in, and I had to wait a few minutes before I could secure a table.
Upon scanning the menu, I decided on the Wednesday «Chef Special» of the day, which consisted of — Kalbi Ribs & Vegetable Tempura. With the chef special, you get a bowl of rice, Miso Soup, Tsukemono (Pickled Vegetables), Sunomono (Japanese Cucumber Salad). A really great deal, as this delicious meal came up to just $ 13.28, with tip $ 16.38!
They serve a very generous amount of food, everything tasted so fresh, and I gotta tell you, the vegetable tempura tasted so light, even if it was deep fried! The Kalbi ribs were soft & juicy! So flavorful!
Eating here, reminds me like I was eating at grandma’s house! Upon paying for my meal, I asked the cashier if Mrs. Teshima was still around… unfortunately, she had passed last year at a ripe old age of 106 years old! What an amazing life she had!
I also notice a message from Mrs. Teshima (that was framed by the cashier’s window)…I was reading it when I got distracted (as I had to pay for my meal).
I wished I had taken a photo of it, as the message was very thoughtful.
If I could remember what I saw briefly about her message, she basically was talking about — «Success in life».
Success is not measured by the amount of money you have, or possessions you acquire over a lifetime.
Success is measured by having a happy family, & wonderful friends in your life.
I will have to go back here one day to take a photo of this message… if I ever get to live till 106, I hope to be as wise as Mrs. Teshima!
If you’re ever in the Kealakekua area… it’s worth the trip to stop by at Teshima’s!

Very nice staff. We ate one of their dinner menus which was superb and also a udon veggie soup. The only downside was the udon soup which was a little bit boring — yeah I know, veggie udon is not a big deal, but still we were a bit disappointed by it.
The sashimi and their fried fish helped to get the balance back to 4 stars.