Tsurutontan Waikiki — Restaurant in Honolulu

Slurping, kneading, cutting is how their name translates into English. This Japanese chain of homemade noodles also has locations in NYC, San Francisco and Boston. I've been to Oahu three times recently and each time I didn't get to eat here until now.

ATMOSPHERE: They're located on the third level of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Décor is modern and trendy with lots of seats.

DINNER MENU: Donburi, sushi, udon, sukiyaki, curry, desserts.

BEVERAGE: Lychee Martini - $7.00 happy hour We caught their happy hour near closing time which was cool. The amount of vodka could've been a bit more as I didn't even get a mild buzz from the two I had. Good flavor, not enough booze.

FOOD: Sizzling Sukiyaki Udon - $17.00 When I first heard and saw pics of this dish, I knew I had to have it. Spectacular is all I can say as it lived up to its hype. Buttery-soft meat, gooey egg yolk, mushrooms, green onions and chewy udon noodles sizzling in a sweet-savory sauce equaled happy taste buds for me. I unfortunately shared a little of the udon with a friend and that forkful took quite a great deal of noodles out from the bowl. Sharing is caring, right? Nope. Don't share this dish with anyone! Noted. Highly recommended.

Salmon & Snow Crab - $15.00, 8 pcs. This was a nigiri-style of sushi with seared salmon crowning each piece. Not bad. The inside was stuffed with a snow crab & mayo mixture and cucumber just like a California roll. I'm not a big sushi fan but I liked it.

Katsu Don - $16.00 The amount of pork katsu was very minuscule compared to the mound of rice it sat on. Overall flavor was very subtle and was in need of more sauce - that magical sweet-salty liquid that makes a good donburi dish. Pass.

SERVICE: Our gal server was friendly and professional, checking on us twice. Food service was lightning quick!

TIP: Open for lunch, they close and re-open for dinner.

OVERALL: A definite return as other dishes on the menu look amazingly good. Prices are a steal, especially...

We were taken to our table and given an assortment of menus. I think there were at least four menus, and I laughed as my friends and I traded them back and forth with one another. There was a lunch menu, a general menu, a drink menu and a lunch set menu just for Kama'aina. I was happy to see the menu just for locals and to also find out they give you an extra 10% off your bill. There are an insane number of choices you can make off the menu and I do love that there are photos of everything. I really wanted to order a set off of the Kama'aina lunch menu but wasn't sure about what I was ordering because there were no photos.

I went with a conservative choice for my first dining experience at TsuruTonTan which was their oyako donburi set that consists of oyako donburi, mini udon and cabbage pickles for $16. My favorite part of my lunch set was the udon which was simple, but you could tell the noodles were made fresh! Good udon can stand all on its own and this one did it's job! The donburi was not the greatest because the rice was kind of mushy and there wasn't much chicken. I did however enjoy the soft egg which added a nice bit of protein to my dish.

My friends ordered the tantan udon and the katsu curry which came in gigantic bowls with gigantic ladles. I laughed and remarked that it felt like we were in an episode of 'The Flinstones.' The portions on their dishes were insane. Next time I come back I'm going to order the uni udon which looks really interesting!

Overall we had a nice time and our waiter did his job well by refilling our water and hot tea on a consistent basis. Although the restaurant was busy we didn't have to wait long for our meals which was nice since we all had other appointments to run to.

Locals will be happy to know that TsuruTonTan validates parking at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center for two...

I've been wanting to try lunch/dinner here for years, I'd only come once before when they had the Raindrop Cake (Mizu Shingen Mochi) some years ago - and it was fantastic then.

I came with a party of 10 and service could not have been better; they graciously agreed to do split bills - they usually do it by fours but it was a slow Saturday afternoon and they said doing individual bills was fine.

I had had ramen several times this week, so I opted for an appetizer of Squid Calamari Karaage (the only dish I felt meh about, the squid was overbooked and tough, which is sad because I love all fried foods and feel like you can't really mess it up) and a Sea Dragon roll for entree. I also got to try the Seared Salmon Crab roll - both were yummy, so despite their noodles being their signature dish, you will not go wrong with their sushi options.

But man, if you like noodles, you will want to get a bowl - possibly even split with someone since the portions are quite large. I sampled the Tsurutontan Deluxe and the noodles were so fresh and chewy, and the broth was clean and perfectly seasoned.

BUT of course I started with dessert: a nonalcoholic Ube Shake. It wasn't as purple as I was expecting but the ube flavor was there! I would go back just for that shake, honestly.

Pro Tip for Locals: Don’t get the parking validated at the restaurant unless you’re dining at 8 pm or after, go to the guest services office on the bottom floor across from the stage to get 3 hour validation (must have minimum $10 purchase from any place at the center) instead of the 1 hour validation that the restaurant can give you. But for dinner, the restaurant can give you a 3 hour validation, good only after 8 pm because the guest services office is closed.

ALSO, they let you bring in your own cake for...