Fukuya — Restaurant in Honolulu

The facts: Coworker bought a bunch of bento boxes for me and my coworkers. I think we got "Bento B" with inari, musubi, nishime, noodles and a piece of chicken, cup of mac salad, and slice of ham. Food was OK, not the best meal I have had.

The bad news: my box fell apart even before I was able to eat it. The noodles almost fell out the bottom! (see photos) Fukuya please find a distributor that makes better quality packaging!!

The ugly part: I've been up and down that stretch of South King St. many times and certain customers are unthinking idiots. Here's a driving tip: if you are going towards Diamond Head on South King, do NOT turn left into Fukuya! Be considerate of the cars behind you (especially for those drivers going to 2700 South King next door also)! You can drive past Fukuya, go up the road to the Hawaiian Humane Society parking entrance, make a U turn (do not go into the HHS) so you cross 2 lanes instead of 3, and drive Ewa bound and enter Fukuya from the other direction. Isn't that more mindful that waiting who-knows-how-long while making 5 cars behind...

Living on the west side and rarely venturing towards town I never tried Fukuya after all these years. I've heard of it before but it was just too far to make that drive. However, after watching a couple of social media reviews hyping up the place we decided to check it out on a day we wanted to drive around.

So I'll get straight to the point. It was a lot of hype. There was a good selection of food but almost all of it has been sitting for quite a while and was relatively old even for okazu-ya. We did go on a Saturday in the afternoon so that may have had something to do with it. Still not an excuse. Our favorite item was simply the chow fun. The nori chicken wasn't bad either but probably much better if it was fresh. Other items were forgettable. The andagi was bad. Hard and overcooked.

My overall impression was that Fukuya is alright and has alot of that old school vibes but it's not worth making the drive for.

Oh yeah, the parking can be a bit tricky...

Fukuya Deli & Catering is probably the most popular and well known okazuyas otherwise known as a Japanese delicatessen. They have been serving up their awesome food for over 80 years in Honolulu. Their traditional okazuya style is what makes Fukuya a regular favorite among locals here in Hawaii. Personally, I eaten there for over 30 years and is always a winner for me.

My personal favorites is the mac salad and fried chicken. They have such a large assortment if items and everything is so ono (delicious in Hawaiian)I liked their food so much that I got my parents to get deli pans mac salad and sushi for my high school graduation party back in the day. They food is still the same as from my childhood.

Their location does have parking, but the area has heavy traffic. Not hard to find or get to, just got to watch the road.

It's the perfect place to pick up some stuff for an office party or potluck, but getting your own plate lunch bento...