Restaurant HOKU — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

This was our first trip to Helsinki and I was very pleasantly surprised to come across this restaurant. The restaurant advertises itself as serving Asian and Hawaiian cuisine. As a visitor from Hawaii, I was initially skeptical however as you will read I was blown away. I was initially surprised from the fact that there was a "Hawaiian" restaurant all the way in Helsinki, Finland. You just cant get farther away from Hawaii then this. The restaurant is located on the 5th floor of a shopping mall in the main food hall area. The restaurant has great views overlooking Helsinki. The overall atmosphere of the restaurant almost made me feel like I was back home.

The menu was simple, however provided great variety. Ordered the Okonomiyaki for starters and the Chicken Katsu and Grilled Mackerel. The Okonomiyaki was small, however it packed a lot of flavor. From traveling to Japan quite often I can tell you this was 100% authentic in flavor. As for the main meals, the presentation and portion was amazing. The Chicken Katsu was tender, juicy and crispy. The accompaniments were on-point. This was better than a lot of Chicken Katsu meals I have had back home in Hawaii. The Mackerel was delicious as well with a heaping portion of vegetables. The one thing that alot of restaurants screw up on is the rice. As simple as it is, that is something that can make or break the meal. I can tell you this rice was perfect, so much so that I ordered seconds. In addition to the meals they also serve Kona Brewing Company beer which was a pleasant surprise.

As someone who was born and raised in Hawaii, I can tell you that what they are serving at Hoku is a fantastic representation of the food and culture of Hawaii. I would highly recommend anyone to give Hoku a try and enjoy the taste of Hawaii. Mahalo Hoku for making this an experience I will never forget...

We love Hoku and we were really waiting for its reopening. Sadly, our visit on 31st of December was a bit of a disappointment. Although most of the food was just as good as usually, the service wasn't. The waitress could have paid a bit more attention to our table in general, not even taking in consideration that it was a New Year's eve. You kinda want to have a celebration mood on that day, don't you? Opposed to that, our server seemed to be really in a hurry and didn't dedicate any time to any extra talk with us. She didn't help us to choose neither the wines nor the dishes. She would instantly disappear as soon as we made the order. Overall the service felt a bit like in a fast food restaurant. As for the food, the dishes that we had (starters, mains, desserts) were as good as usual, except the BI BIM BAP. It was completely cold. When I've asked the waiter about it she said that it is supposed to be like this. But why wasn't it mentioned on the menu or the waiter haven't warned us about it when we've ordered? When we ate the same dish in the old Hoku it wasn't cold at all. I know there are two types of serving BI BIM BAP - cold and hot. I think it should be mentioned on the menu which one do you serve. The new location is quite cool, I like the windows and the view. Yet it gets a bit loud when full (due to the acoustics). I figured that the loudest is the left side of the restaurant next to windows, so you might want to pick the tables on the right side of the venue if you want to chat during your dinner/lunch. Hoku, work on your service and you'll be the...

Pretty lackluster experience. I have been dining in hundreds of restaurants in Helsinki-area from small bistros to ultra-fine-dining places so I'd say i have some context to base my review for.

Firstly the food. It was ranging from OK to good. Starters were really good, probably best marinated beef I have ever had, so points from that. Main course was OK, pretty basic Teriyaki Salmon, not worth the price tho. Dessert was good, I enjoyed.

The experience was not good. Pretty busy environment with shopping center right around the corner. People swarming past you and busy waiters running around. Overall feeling was chaotic.

Service was not good. The waitress had some sort of "ladies first mentality" and cut off men's speech just to ask ladies(who were still reading menu's and deciding what to eat) , and refused to take orders for men before women for some reason, made the whole feeling pretty awkward and forced. Waiters also forget many items from the orders, and brought stuff in the wrong order. Overall, it felt that they were serving more "lunch" type of setting, than serious dinner.

I would only recommend this if you want some japanese/asian type fusion food, and can't get reservation to other places. Food was ok/good, experience...