ZIGU — Restaurant in Honolulu

Would NOT recommend the “ZIGU Party Menu” that requires booking the day before. These are 2 tasting menus of 9 dishes. We chose the $58 (vs $40) one but most of the dishes are the same. We were very sorely disappointed by the food - the watercress salad tasted like a pile of bitter weeds, the potato salad was good but tastes the same as one you might get from a grocery store, the egg rolled omelette was completely bland, the Hawaiian ahi cutlet tasted like breaded solid water with some mustard or brown/yellow wasabi that was plated very unappetizingly, and the Japanese sirloin steak sadly was inedible because it was sooo chewy. We thought at one point we must be on a prank game show…but we weren’t. We felt obliged to let the manager know so that they can perhaps rethink this menu, but he unfortunately did not take our feedback well, became defensive saying that “everyone likes the menu” (implying that we are wrong), and oddly asked us “where are you guys from?” in the middle of our feedback. He did give us 10% off the meal in the end, but we still paid the full amount since he treated us as if all we wanted was to have a cheaper meal rather than actually acknowledging that we were trying to give him honest feedback to better the experience for future customers. I am not sure how many people order the tasting menu as most reviews don’t mention it, so here I am to warn others to just go for the regular menu instead if you do go, but after our poor experience with the manager, I will certainly not be recommending...

I honestly don't know why this place got such a high review rating... My husband and I agree this was probably our worst meal in our Hawaii trip.

We came to this craving some good Soba, and figured we would add some nigiri cause why not? Atmosphere seemed cool, though lots of tables were empty. Figured it's just a weird Tuesday night but who knows?

The Soba itself was not bad (we got the chilled soba and spicy chilled soba). My husband liked the "bite" of it, though I found it closer to a Chinese egg noodle than the normal soba I'd come to expect. Wasn't bad, just wasn't what I was expecting. Also nothing worthy enough to come back for.

The sushi rice in the nigiri was good, as was the scallop and spot shrimp. Salmon was also delicious. We tried their special, which was the onaga nigiri - found a fish scale as well as some sinew(?) that was in the fish that was too chewy to actually eat....

Throughout the whole dining experience, we weren't asked about the food once (we were waiting for the opportunity to point out the fish scale). I also had to practice looking bored to see if the server would come by with the bill.... It took me turning in my chair and staring intently in the direction of the kitchen for someone else to notice me and direct my server in our direction.

Maybe it was because we were his last table of the day? Or maybe cause the kitchen was bored/inattentive because it wasn't busy (we came at 10pm). Regardless, not coming back if we are ever on this island again. There are better...

I'm sure there is a better place around here to get sushi, steak and beer, but I've yet to find it.

They understand and lean in to the fundamentals. Long day hiking and swimming so I was in need of a proper feed so came here, having been here before, expecting excellence. My first time being here, I had simply had the steak. Tonight I had the Hamachi and Amberjack sashimi. Followed by a spicy salmon roll, the ribeye, rare, bowl of rice and uni sushi for desert.

The hamachi was a thick cut and generous portion equally the amberjack. They were both absolutely exquisitely beautiful in appearance. Not ut served desperately cold but allowed to warm to correct temperature. The spicy salmon roll was exceptional and striking. The ribeye comes sliced on a hotplate and was truly rare. Finished off with a wonderful piece of uni sushi. Even the bowl of rice was excellent in it's composition, not too much water, not too little water used in the production of the rice. Overall their appreciation of ingredients and the care with which they treat them is very telling. I have had better sushi.. at world class omakase spots for about five times the price. I came alone, with no reservation and they were able to seat me at the bar. I understand that a table definitely does require a reservation and that is deservedly so.

I've been treating myself to good food for over 30 years and this place is truly a grade above.

Treat yourself. Bring a group, and enjoy the deep menu. It is...