Robata JINYA - Honolulu — Restaurant in Honolulu

I enjoyed an early dinner at Robata JINYA as I was headed to the Ward Theaters to attend a viewing of the IVE: 1st World Tour concert video. I got there a little early and found myself to be the sole diner at this large venue.

I started with a Hendricks gin & tonic … My first surprise, I received a Sipsmith London Dry gin & tonic. It was fine; I’ve had Sipsmith previously. The manager (I think) said it was Happy Hour, so I ordered off that menu. I started by ordering six of the seven Robata-Yaki items (Miyazaki Wagyu Tsukune, Tender Beef Tongue, JIDORI Chicken Thigh, Pork Belly Chashu, Saba, and Oyster Mushroom), The Nigiri (Seared Salmon, Kona Kampachi, and Tai), and JINYA Ceviche. The dishes came in no particular order, the ceviche arrived first, followed by the sushi, then the tongue, pork belly, and mushroom. The saba arrived next, then the Wagyu Tsukune, with the Chicken arriving last.

I asked for another gin & tonic and ate everything. I would have preferred that the dishes arrived more slowly … This is an issue I’ve encountered at this restaurant in the past. Yaki should be consumed as soon as possible to maximize the flavors. Luckily, I eat very quickly so none of the dishes sat untouched for very long.

I ended my meal with a cup of tea. I ordered it just to delay my departure … It hadn’t been 30 minutes since I sat down. All in all, I really enjoyed my meal … Victoria, my server was personable and the other two (manager and server) were friendly too. The food has always been great, just a more relaxed delivery of the dishes would make it even better. My bill came to $94.25 before tip. This was a much better experience than at two other nearby restaurants. If I'm going to Ward Theaters, I'm dining here....

Service was very slow. And the food was not that great for the price that you pay. First off drinks took forever to after we ordered. And I ordered a non-alcoholic drink and they gave me a drink with alcohol in it. The server also did not take our order in the order we were sat either. She took the order of the table that sat last first and the one that sat first last.

All of the sashimi dishes came after all of the hot dishes. And the sushi bar only had 2 people there and the restaurant was not crowded. When they brought over the Moriasawe did not let us know what fish was on there. Also on one of the sashimi prices there were scales on it. Once we got the last of our food the waiter asked if we wanted anything else but was not sure and said they will come back. But did not come back for over 30min.

These mess ups did not only happen to our tables. But also the table that sat right next to us. They told us that their drinks were given to another table and the other table had to deliver the drinks to them. Then when we were leaving they asked if we ordered some dishes but it was not ours since we were leaving but it was the tables next to ours.

I would expect this kind of service from a restaurant that just opened. But not one that opened 4 months ago and a big chain...

Unfortunately this restaurant fell very short of our expectations. For a $200+ Omakase experience the food was very subpar, our server did not know most things, which they said they were new but speaks volumes to the hospitality. We were celebrating my partner's birthday here and we left unhappy. On a 13 course Omakase there were only 5 courses of fish and the rest were just fillers. I understand the desire to create a Michelin-esque experience but the communication and service was not up to par. Each course took around 10-15 minutes which brought out dining time to over 2 hours. Other than that no one wished a happy birthday to my partner which seems like not a big deal but when you explicitly mention that in the reservation it becomes kind of an expectation. On the food side when we asked if they can suggest drink pairings they had no clue and told us you can get a whiskey flight which is very irrelevant. Overall an unpleasant experience, I wouldn’t suggest if you have a special occasion or celebrating something. And a final note not a single person asked if we have dietary restrictions...