Teshima's Restaurant — Restaurant in Hawaii

Teshima's was on my radar long before we even landed on the Big Island, and was one of a handful of must-visit locations for me. Family owned and operated since before WWII, there's a lot of history and spirit in this little diner, and any place that serves traditional Japanese cuisine, especially a full Teishoku set meal, is going to command my attention. It may be a little out of the way for tourists, but if the locals recommend it (and they do!), and have been keeping it afloat for nearly a century, there must be a reason. I knew I had to check it out.

A good indicator that I'd chosen a great place for lunch was the presence of a chartered tour bus full of Japanese tourists who, like myself, had specifically selected Teshima's as a dining destination rather than a happy accident. When the camera shutters started clicking, and my pidgin Nihongo translated glowing words of praise and admiration, my excitement level rose to new heights.

We joined a short line waiting just outside the front door, which took about 10 minutes before we were allowed inside and seated. Having already seen the menu online beforehand, I knew that Teishoku #3 was going to be my choice, so I waited for my wife to settle on the Shrimp Tempura set as her choice, added a bottle of Mio sparkling sake to the order, and waited impatiently for everything to come together, which took less than 10 minutes.

Everything was wonderful: the miso soup, a perennial favorite of mine, was lighter and strangely sweeter than I am used to, but pleasantly so. A healthy portion of tempura'd veggies accompanied my order, sizeable even in comparison to my wife's shrimp and veggie order. The sashimi was an incredibly fresh, clean cut that practically melted in my mouth, and the various pickled veggies (sunomono/cucumber and tsukemono/cabbage) are a tasty, tangy garnish. Even the sukiyaki, with it deep brown, gelatinous noodles and pieces of stewed beef, was a hit with me, despite the presence of my arch-nemesis, the mushroom, with whom I have negotiated a truce. As an avid fan of sukiyaki in all of its forms, to do otherwise would be disastrous. And despite this being one of the best meals I enjoyed anywhere on the Big Island, it ended up being among the least expensive, making it worth the drive away from Kona for yet another excellent reason!

Teshima's is a living example of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi: finding the beauty in imperfection. The building itself is old and a little run down, but it feels lived in, alive...breathing. The meal you are served here is the product of generations of hands, hearts and minds, coming together with their collective knowledge, experience and culture, both Japanese and Hawaiian, and creating something unique and memorable. It would be easy for the casual diner to dismiss Teshima's as just another Japanese restaurant, but that would be to gloss over the tremendous amount of history, experience, and love that seemingly goes into every aspect of their operation, from dinner to décor. Nearly a century of operation hasn't dulled Teshima's edge over its competitors; it has sharpened it as keen as the blade of any...

Served me a soda that smelled like urine and really poor service.

My husband and I decided to try this restaurant today for lunch, based on recommendations from a friend. We each ordered lunch and I also ordered a diet coke. After receiving the drink and taking several gulps, I noticed a very unpleasant odor in the plastic "glass" it was served in. It smelled like urine. Without prompting him, I asked my husband to smell the drink. After smelling it he frowned and shook his head, disgusted. He said it smelled like urine. The waitress never came by to ask how our food was, so I finally headed to the waitress station and informed our waitress that the drink had a bad smell. She took the drink and I asked if she could bring me a beer instead. A couple minutes later, the waitress returned to our table with the beer. As she served the beer she said: "We checked it and there was nothing wrong with it." I don't know if she was referring to the drink I returned or their soda fountain or what, but I just responded, "Well, we both smelled it, but thanks [for the beer]." Maybe they "checked it", but her response was completely dismissive of my concerns. There was no apology or any willingness to admit that it could have been their mistake (e.g., unclean "glass", a problem with their soda fountain, etc.).

As if this wasn't enough, when the waitress returned to give us our check, she noticed the empty beer glass on my husband's side of the table (I couldn't finish it so I gave him the rest) and she said to him, "You didn't drink some of that, did you? You need to show your ID before we can serve you alcohol. It's a $2000 fine! Let me see your ID for the cameras." (I assume she was referring to the restaurants surveillance cameras?) Ok, so I get that restaurants have to be careful about serving alcohol to minors, but come on! This was just unnecessarily dramatic and frankly rude. My husband is in his late 20s and we don't need some cranky waitress chastising us for enjoying a drink.

As for the food, it was nothing special and certainly not worth returning for given our...

Just want to say out of the gates. I never leave reviews over disappointing food. Never...

This restaurant has a long history and track record of delicious well refined preparation of some of the most popular local plate lunch/bento foods in Hawaii. I went there for the first time about 8 months ago. It was all of those things and more. Me and my two friends still talk about that meal. I went there last night excited to share that experience with another friend and it was everything but. What's less than a 1 star review?

We ordered 3 main dishes cuz we were hungry and we big boys and we like variety. I asked if we could get one of the dishes as app to take pur time and enjoy? "Oh everything will come out at the same time..." "Ok...."

The plating was dumbed down to diner style. Canned corn on every plate? The NY steak was the worst steak I've had in a very very long time. Ordered it MR it came out rubbery, well done and was essentially half sinew. Like they microwaved it out of the freezer? Idk but I wouldn't serve that steak to my worst enemy. The Tempura was sloppy batter all uneven, shrimp overcooked and the vegetables undercooked. The miso butter fish was meh and again seemed flash defrosted almost cold in the center with no flakeyness. No texture or crisp either on the skin either which is crucial for black cod or it's just a rubbery mess. The sides were corn, dry cabbage, a thimble full of pickled cucumber and the saltiest off flavored miso soup. All of these dishes costing $30 each mind you. We ate cuz we were hungry and being local boys not the type to complain. But I will never go back. I let the waitress know it was disappointing she didn't seemed too concerned but assured me she" will let them know..." was there change in ownership...??? They are a busy place so am sure my business will not be greatly missed but Allow me to repeat. I will never go back. I am a local patron who was in the restaurant business for 20 yrs. I can tell when a place has completely lost their way. Buyer...