Honolulu, HI: Gyoza No Ohsho
Crab omlette ramen
They use real snow crab!
Pan fried gyoza
Close up of pan fried gyoza – look at the caramelization.
Gyoza No Ohsho has been a destination on our annual Waikiki trip for the past 4 years. We happened to find this place wandering around King’s Village Plaza. I think they make some of the best gyozas I’ve ever had. The gyoza comes out on a hot cast iron dish which is a nice authentic touch. It looks like they cook the gyoza in the pan but not totally sure. The skin of the gyoza has just the perfect thickness, a little bit chewy and they pan fry it so that there’s this nice thin crust. The first bite is dangerous because it’s super hot temperature-wise and juicy! I’ve tried the mapo tofu ramen which was very good but the star is the crab omlette ramen. The noodles are always just slightly past al dente which is how I enjoy them. There is a thick layer of sauce that floats on top of the broth. The serving of crab omlette is very generous and they use real snow crab meat.
Gyoza No Osho
131 Kaiulani Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 922-2161
Honolulu, HI: Yohei Sushi Restaurant
Oh my god. This is my face 
as I post these pictures
Now, I know this post has nothing to do with noodles, but I am also a sushi lover and could not not share this wonderful experience with the world. This was by far, the BEST SUSHI restaurant in Honolulu, in fact, I will be so bold as to say this is the BEST sushi restaurant I have ever been to period. We heard about Yohei from a friend. I must warn that this was not the easiest place to find especially when there are not a lot of other businesses around it. We did find it nice to venture out of
Waikiki and felt like we found a local secret. Yohei sushi was sooo good that we had dinner there twice. Our first night, we arrived late and didn’t have the opportunity to sit at the bar. Although the staff was very polite, we were the last guests and did feel a little rushed in our ordering and dining. In most instances, we would be hesitant to return to the restaurant for these reasons. However, the food was sooo dang good that we had to come back and make sure we got there early enough to sit at the bar. On our first night, we ordered our usual favorites: mirugai sashimi, uni sushi, toro sushi, saba and oysters on the half shell. As the sushi chef prepared our oysters, he yelled across the room and asked us if there was anything that we didn’t like to eat and of course we replied “NO! We love everything!”. Then he answered “Good, I’ll make the oysters a little different.” So when the oysters came out we were excited to see them topped with quail eggs! We knew instantly that we had a new favorite sushi place to visit in Hawaii.
Our second visit solidified that this was the best sushi restaurant we’ve been to. As we sat down at the bar, the sushi chef recognized us immediately and welcomed us back. We asked the chef for omakase which means that were leaving it all up to the sushi chef to prepare the best of the best. And so the taste journey begins….
He started us off with mirugai (longneck clam) topped with uni. The crunchiness of the mirugai and the rich creamy texture of the uni (sea urchin) danced in my mouth. Never in a million years would I have thought to pair these two flavors together. Genius.
mirugai topped with uni – He started us off with mirugai (longneck clam) topped with uni. The crunchiness of the mirugai and the rich creamy texture of the uni (sea urchin) danced in my mouth. Never in a million years would I have thought to pair these two flavors together. Genius.
Ika, Saba, fried baby scallops & fried saba cheeks – Wow, what a presentation. The fried mackerel cheeks were so tasty and a nice contrast to all the raw seafood we were about to have.
Ika from Japan topped with cod roe and quail egg. Another first…the saltiness of the cod roe really enhanced the sweetness of the squid. I love the chef’s gratuitous usage of quail eggs, it adds a rich creamy flavor to everything!
Saba (Spanish Mackerel) – Have not always been a big fan of mackerel but it’s been growing on me lately. Especially when saba tastes like this – super fresh & mildly salty
Tai belly (Red snapper belly) – More fatty than the regular tai.
Seared tuna tail
Quick marinated scallops
Tuna topped with avocado, daikon ponzu mix and nanami togarashi
Marinated Hamachi Sushi
Salmon with wasabi mayonnaise, onion and bonito flakes
Okra poached in bonito broth
Sweet natto on cucumber topped with daikon and bonito flakes
Nameko miso (Baby mushroom miso)
Oysters with quail egg
Salmon with daikon sprouts
Toro, Uni and fried bay scallop
Yohei Sushi Restaurant
1111 Dillingham Blvd
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 841-3773
Honolulu, HI: Goma Tei Ramen
Aloha! I am winding down from 9 spectacular days of vacationing on Oahu. This was our 4th trip to the island, we obviously enjoy it very much. The weather is ideal, the beaches are beautiful and best of all….the Japanese food is really good. We did a little search on the internet and found Goma Tei Ramen restaurant. It was a little hard to find because it was in the Ward Center a little farther down from the Ala Moana Mall. The decor was simple, clean and bright. I really liked the bar in the middle and booths along one side. I noticed that most of the newer ramen restaurants have bars in the middle – Not sure what it is about eating at a bar…but it’s very fun to me. The boyfriend ordered the Tan Tan ramen with extra char siu. The sesame flavored broth was rich and creamy. It was toasty and had a little bit of spice – just the flavor, no heat. The noodles were very slurpable, not too al dente and more on the softer side. I ordered the shoyu ramen and enjoyed that immensely! The shoyu broth was not too salty and had a nice sweet finish. Boyfriend loved the charsiu but I thought it was okay. The charsiu did fall apart when I picked it up with my chopstick but the texture was a bit dry…a little confusing I know. So far, the best charsiu that I’ve had was from Ramen Club in Burlingame. Interestingly enough, there wasn’t a lot of scallions and I still liked this place. Can’t wait for the next trip to eat here again.
SAKE!
Charsiu Tan Tan Ramen (with extra charsiu)
Charsiu Shoyu Ramen
Pan Fried Gyoza
Goma Tei Ramen
1200 Ala Moana Blvd
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 591-9188
San Diego, CA: Tajima Japanese Restaurant
Asari Ramen – Marina Clams & Egg
In San Diego for another wedding. It was getting late and we had not had dinner yet and ended up at Tajima restaurant. There were 2 menus….actually make that 3…1) the dinner menu, 2) izakaya menu and 3) the specials menu. We mainly ordered from the izakaya menu…I love tapas style dining because you can taste a little of everything. They had some interesting things on the menu like raw octopus, gizzards, beef tongue, etc. We actually ordered a lot of dishes but they were all not worth mentioning. There were a few ramen flavors but the Asari ramen caught my eye because it was different. The soup tasted like Asari broth which I’ve had before…I was hoping the soup would have more depth but there was nothing special. The noodles were okay…nothing to write about. sad face. Tajima ended up being another “new and trendy” izakaya restaurant that left my taste buds unsatisfied and my tummy feeling icky.
Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 576-7244