Kats Sushi — Restaurant in Honolulu

If you are looking for an AYCE sushi experience with 200 cheekily named rolls that all end up being "a California roll with toppings", then this is 100% NOT the place for you.

If, instead, you want to experience some of the best Nigiri I've ever eaten, and no lie, THE BEST HANDROLLS, then make a reservation.

Yes, make a reservation because this is a small establishment- maybe 6 2-4 person indoor tables, plus the sushi bar, and it was basically full the entire time we were there. You order nigiri in sets (2 per person) and there is a reasonable limit (IIRC 4 or 5) per order, but you can make multiple orders throughout your meal.

Location/Vibe: Ever watch an anime where the main characters go into a small sushi place tucked into an unassuming building off the beaten path? And proceed to have a phenomenal meal and leave stuffed? Yeah, that's pretty much this place.

Nigiri: The Shari (rice) of the nigiri was well-formed and flavorful, and the Neta (topping) was the perfect size.

Temaki: Long narrow cones, with the perfect ratio of rice and filling. I dont know what kind/brand/style of Nori they use, but I wish every place did. It was thin, crisp, and not at all tough, with just the right snap, and that clean ocean taste. Fillings were fresh and flavorful, and not minced into a paste, which was a welcome surprise. This allowed both taste and texture to come through, further elevating the experience.

Service: our server (Madonna) was phenomenal- attentive and friendly, and ready with suggestions. (For example, she told us one of the chefs working that night was particularly talented at making salmon skin temaki, and that we should give it a try. I don't normally order those, as I've been disappointed too many times. This time, however, I was treated to a sublime combination of flavors and textures that I only wish I could experience again witjout having to fly to Hawai'i )

Tl, Dr: Great sushi, reasonably priced,...

I'll be completely honest, my review is super biased, as a former employee. I consider the owners family and this is honestly one of my favorite places to eat in all of Hawaii. I loved living off Dees food and Teds sushi.

During the day, they have daily specials, local plate lunches and sushi specials and they also have a table with bentos and some times donburis. I'm not sure if they still have a sit down day time menu but they used to and it was the more traditional local Japanese menu; donburis, katsu and Teri beef plates, chirashi, lots of fun stuff.

Dinner, is exclusively sushi and usually all you can eat. I'm not sure the exact price as of today but a quick call when they are open should fix that. You need to make a reservation , even on a Monday or Tuesday. So the sushi here is very traditional, nigiri and hand rolls and maybe a tekkamaki. California rolls are about as modern as it gets and that's a huge part of what I love about it. No Philly rolls and volcano's and whitefish(whatever that is). Miso soup, ocha, sushi and mizu. The way its supposed to be. It is still byob and thats always been a huge hit.

Parking: I bring this up because , day time, its hard to find a place but at night its easier to park in the back of the building and just put $3 in the parking box, trust me. Put...

We were excited to try since there were some good reviews. But the bad reviews are definitely accurate. You can only order 5 items, if it’s a roll you only get one per person with you, if it’s nigiri it’s 2 pieces. When we finished, we felt like the staff Intentionally ignores you. So after waiting 15 minutes with no service the server comes out and ask if we want water, when we ask to order more he tells us uh oh okay. When we ask him do we have to call you each time? He tells us oh no we come to you but we’re super busy right now . But you can’t just walk in you need a reservation so they booked everyone seated yet still tells us they are super busy??? So after 15 minutes, we got 1 item from the 5 we ordered in 27 minutes, currently waiting for 45 minutes for the rest of our order. Our reservation was at 745pm, but they seated us at 730pm and it’s currently 907pm and they have still now not brought out our order and they stop serving at 930pm 🤔 I get it now, lesson learned we will not be doing this again. Oh yes almost forgot, we bothered server asking to order, so we still didn’t get more water 🤨 I needed to update…we are leaving at 926pm and only barely had 2 order as we just got the food asked for the bill and when I get my change it’s short $10. I’m sorry but I can’t this...