Aburiya Ibushi — Restaurant in Honolulu

"Wisdom comes even to a wet stone after three years." - Japonism Wisdom

You had me at IZAKAYA! A couple of my Judo buddies have been wanting to catchup when I was back in town, so a long one month long layover lol made it perfect timing to meet up! My favorite Izakaya stop is Tori Ton, but I wanted to try something different, so booked their sister location, Izakaya Tenkichi, located just above.

Happy as a clam as I've been wanting to checkout Tenkichi with my ninjas, however when I told one of my buddies of my choice, he revealed that another bro in our dojo didn't eat seafood. Huh what?! Mind you this ABB is Asian and travels to Tokyo & HK several times a year visiting family. Then again he's not the first Asian I know that doesn't like seafood. Just kinda weird heehe.

Okay, now that I got that SUS out of the way lol... ABURIYA IBUSHI became a consensus choice with all the grass-fed menu options lol. Friday night after work was chosen and I booked it days in advance. A wait list option is available, just know while we were here it was really busy for hours. Upon arriving we were warmly greeted and given a choice of tables where to sit which was nice.

The menus accessed via QR code or you can use Yelp or Google recent menu photos. We ordered family style and chose the country farm.

OUR TABLE:

"ABURIYAKI" BEEF FLANK: $18.00 KALBI SHORT RIB + UME SAUCE: $19.00. SHIO-KOJI CHICKEN KARAAGE: $10.50. "ABURIYAKI" GRILLED CHICKEN: $16.00. BEEF ROUND TATAKI: $18.00. HOUSE POTATO SALAD x2: $6.50 per. GRILLED YUKON GOLD POTATOES: $7.00. ONION + BUTTERED PONZU: $5.00.

ASAHI DRAFT BEER: $7.50 each (several rounds).

The standouts for me the "ABURIYAKI" BEEF FLANK, SHIO-KOJI CHICKEN KARAAGE, HOUSE POTATO SALAD, YUKON GOLD POTATOES, but imho everything was delicious! Ngl only thing I passed on was the large Onion that non-seafood bro ordered lol. Hey, more onions for him! Mmk.

NINJA TIPS:

NOW OPEN 7-DAYS A WEEK! WEEKEND LATE NIGHTS TIL MIDNIGHT! FREE STREET PARKING AFTER 6PM! IG: @ABURIYA_IBUSHI

In the end, I really loved ABURIYA IBUSHI! I vibed that authentic Izakaya feels you'll find in Osaka and Tokyo. Cozy with tables that fills fast & furious, a hopping bar! The crowd was fun and diverse. The staff nice and we never felt rushed. Always checking on us, and yes another Biru, pleeeeeease! ABURIYA IBUSHI! KANPAI! 乾杯!

Pls follow my IG adventures:...

Found this spot through TikTok where someone was raving about its mashed potatoes. Reservations are recommended; it was hard to find an open slot. The restaurant was packed the whole time on a Sunday night. We got seated at the bar. There was enough space between all the diners. I liked looking at the drawings of the food on the walls and watching the Japanese news on TV. I enjoyed watching the chef make the meats on the grill too.

We each got a chu-hi to drink with our meal. So refreshing.

Jellyfish salad: Tiny, crunchy, flavorful! I could eat so much of it.

Beef tongue: Portions were quite small. This was thin and delicious though. Tasted great with its accompanying sauce.

Sirloin top: This was small as well but tasted high-quality. Went so good with just salt and some wasabi.

Mashed potatoes: This is what we came for. Its texture was good and the star of the show was the curry salt on top. If I can figure out how to make it at home, I'd eat it with my mashed potatoes all the time! It was reminiscent of the mashed potatoes you'd get at KBBQ but with less mayo and less cold.

Cabbage salad: This was sautéed (?), cooked in some way where the cabbage was soft but still had crunch. However, it lacked flavor. We ended up sprinkling the mashed potato curry salt on it.

Oxtail soup: We ordered this last to end off our meal. It was hearty, the meat was soft, and overall a nice experience. I've only had Korean oxtail soup before and Vietnamese oxtail pho, so I was interested in trying the Japanese version.

The service was super friendly. The meal lasted around almost 2 hours since things slowly came out one by one. We were still hungry afterwards though so we hit up the izakaya...

We visited Aburiya Ibushi on 1/18, excited to try their highly recommended yakitori and authentic Japanese small dishes. Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing due to poor service.

We arrived around 5:15 PM, shortly after the restaurant opened, and only two tables were occupied. A staff member saw us at the door and asked us to wait, which we understood at first. However, instead of seating us or giving us any further instructions, the staff began serving drinks and cleaning glasses, seemingly ignoring us as we stood there.

I tried making eye contact to remind them we were still waiting, but they continued chatting among themselves and cleaning. Eventually, someone who appeared to be the manager asked if we had a reservation. When we said no, we were asked to wait outside. We did as instructed, but after waiting another 5 minutes without any acknowledgment, we decided to leave.

It was a frustrating experience, especially since we had planned ahead and my daughter was tired and hungry after a long day. We had hoped for a warm, welcoming dining experience but were met with indifference.

I understand that restaurants can have busy moments, but a bit of courtesy and better management of waiting guests would have made a big difference. I hope the management takes this feedback into...