Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant - King Street — Restaurant in Honolulu

I've been here many times in dinner parties of 5-9 people, and my experience has always been fairly consistent.

I believe that when it comes to restaurants, you mainly pay for the experience or novelty; if you want value/quality you cook at home or find a specialty hole-in-the-wall type place. This couldn't be more true for Gyotaku. The atmosphere is beautiful and the dishes have a distinctly Japanese presentation; great when you just want to enjoy the company of others while the food comes second.

That said, the quality of the food is mostly mediocre when compared to the competition in the area and the pricing. Many items I have not tried simply because 1) they are so expensive and 2) having tried similar items, I did not believe they would be much better. Every single time I come here, I have a hard time picking something to order because I want to try something different, see something I might like, think again because of the price, and finally default to my usual tonkatsu plate.

The staff is almost always very polite and service is great if you can manage to find a waiter. However, it seems like they are perpetually understaffed on the evenings I go, whether it's a mundane weekday or busy holiday when everybody else is closed. When you look out onto the floor, you will rarely ever see one, let alone be able to flag one down. Waiters are usually so busy that when they do come onto the floor, they are so focused on what they are doing that they will rarely ever purposefully pause and survey the room to see if someone wants to wave them down. It's gotten to the point where whenever I need something, I just wait for my loud auntie to get someone's attention or I get up and walk towards a waiter myself.

This is a great place to go if you are looking for a place to enjoy the company of others, with little interaction from the staff and little care for the food or it's price. The atmosphere and presentation are aesthetically pleasing in a Japanese way, and will likely impress tourists that only have a vague idea of Japanese food and culture. It is especially great to consider this restaurant during the holidays, because they are usually open while most others are closed--just be sure to call in to check times/reservations.

Personally, every time I go through those front doors, I wish more places took as much care as Gyotaku did to spruce up thier dining environments. But if you want amazing Japanese/Asian food, the competition is far too fierce for these prettied-up small fries to be on the field--especially...

Service is awesome from the time you enter the door. Everyone is professional and polite (well, except some of the customers who's cultural practices are to snap rudely at your wife), from the hostess to the manager to our server and all of the wait help. Our food arrived quickly, and our server Rox checked on us immediately and then periodically.

Perfect. Immediately in case we forgot that we needed something...like a fork instead of a chopstick. Periodically in case something turned out wrong but also to allow us old friends to catch up with quality time, uninterrupted with chat from a server. Nobody enjoys a relentless server that is insecure, thinks we came to meet them, although it does happen, that needs to feel like they're the center of attention, that fails to understand that manipulating guests' personal time--that for which we actually pay-- does not equate to a bigger tip. Smaller tip if anything for being invasive and rude, delusional and clueless. But our server was perfect. Even the other staff were spot on observant and filled our water and tea at the precise moment desired. Empty dishes were promptly removed, and the food!!!!!

The food is always amazing. Their tempura batter is light, flaky, crunchy, tasty, but not heavy or oily. you can tell that they change their frying oil regularly based on the lighter color of the batter. Huge portion for the price. A variety of items on your plate. Some orders can get a little pricey but this is one of those places that no matter how expensive it is, it's worth it. I never regret spending the...

This is practically our usual Saturday lunch spot as it has lots of parking and the service is always good. Of course we always ask to be seated in Siri's section since she is the best server there. She is always super friendly and always welcoming to all her guests. This week was a different experience as there was a manager by the name of Lance who did not want to allow us to sit in our requested seat even though the place was not full. Since they dont serve coffee and we like to have a cup with our meal, we always buy a cup from the nearby 7-Eleven store. I then walk in with it little discreetly but then I've been told before by other managers and hosts that it was fine.

On this visit Lance walked over to our table and told us that outside drinks were not allowed. I asked if I could just place the one cup of coffee on the side and he said "let me ask the general manager". I was surprised that it would be escalated this high to a GM..REALLY? Lance then came back and told us it was ok for this one visit.

We love the food, the service and the atmosphere but if Gyotaku is going to be strict on their policies then we will need to reconsider our...