Yakiniku Like — Restaurant in Honolulu

I'll just say this up front, go here if you want a quick bite to eat by yourself or maybe a friend. If you're REALLY hungry or have a group, I'd recommend the usual yakiniku spots (All you locals know what I'm talking about)

So I was hyped for this place since trying it in Japan, and it mostly delivers. If you're just craving some grilled meats, rice and sides then you'll be happy here. The service is attentive enough and friendly, and you'll be doing your own ordering off the app after scanning the QR code.

The sides are on the basic side, kimchee (Not the spicy red kind for some reason) salad and miso soup along with your rice. The meats are good quality overall, but my biggest gripe so far is the stove. You NEED something fatty and oily to stoke the grill enough to have the flames come up and give you that good char on your meats. I started with a side order of the premium beef tongue and sadly it just kind of sat there not really getting any char action. Not sure if it's the type of grill they went with, but it's definitely a bummer. I went a second time and ordered some pork belly and that helped quite a bit getting those flames going.

I'm also a little weary on the pricing, I know it's hawaii and all but considering you can get AYCE right down the street for about the same price as the most expensive set here, that's what makes it less enticing for heavy eaters or groups.

Again, it's great for 1 - 2 people who want a quick grilled meats and rice meal. Just wish the grill was more potent as well, and hopefully the pricing/value can be looked at just a little bit to entice more people. Maybe they can offer some more enticing options cause we got a ton of hungry locals in Hawaii. Especially cause of the competition nearby! I'll still be coming here often though for sure.

4/14/25 UPDATE (Added 1 star to the food) Went back today before the opening special ends tomorrow. Everything was roughly the same but with the added additions of a fine salt and pepper shaker which was VERY appreciated. Definitely enjoyed the meats Abit more with some of that seasoning. Also the grill seemed much better this time around, although I did order an extra amount of nice fatty short rib.

Hope this place sticks around for sure! Maybe even open a little later on weekends for those late...

For starters, the place is extremely clean and well kept. The service was exceptional for me, as the staff was very attentive and accommodating. Parking also sucks, there's very few parking spots outside, so you'll have to go across the street and pay $4 an hour.

When it comes to the food, I ordered pretty much all the types of meat on the menu. One thing they all had in common was the slices was extremely thin. This is completely fine, but can be a little frustrating if they rip apart. Also, I'd say the value of your money to meat ratio is fair at best.

The taste was amazing! They have wonderful in house sauces and the meat itself comes marinated exquisitely! I believe this would be the strongest point this restaurant has to offer.

One bad thing, was the miso soup. It was okay at first, but I ended up pulling out a pretty big piece of plastic. I showed the waiter and they just said sorry which is completely fine. But from my perspective, that was actually extremely disgusting lol, thank god my meat was not affected or I would have been pissed.

Overall, this place is WONDERFUL, big fat scoops of rice in each bowl and is good if you just need something to fill the tummy. I wouldn't recommend if you're coming to eat like 20 plates though, cause it wouldn't exactly be worth it considering they don't give much.

Despite the negatives, the positives outweighed. I really wouldn't mind coming back here every now and then for a nice date...

My husband and I decided to try this place for Father’s Day because I forgot to make reservations anywhere. Haha! We’re very glad we did! We came at 5:00, and we were out by 6:00. The place was pretty packed by the time we left. Extremely good Value! We got their $9.99 Re-grand-opening special. Though the cuts of kalbi meat were thin, they were very tasty. The set came with rice, miso soup, kimchi, small salad. They use good quality rice, and cooked perfectly (not mushy). We ordered sides of shiitake mushrooms, onions, zucchini, corn/cheese. All the sides were excellent except for the corn/cheese—a bit too cheese (I should have known!). The ambience is nice, modern, extremely clean—like Japan standard squeaky clean! Service was great! We will definitely come back. I...