Kizuna Sushi Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Oʻahu

Was treated to birthday dinner on 20 OCT. We were very excited because of the positive reviews to date and because of how close this place is to the house.

First things first, Kizuna is a Japanese restaurant serving sushi, bento combos, sashimi, rolls, limited udon and soba noodles, and teppenyaki style dishes from the kitchen.

Second thing, the staff practiced what we felt was appropriate COVID protocol. Masking, hand sanitizing, temperature checks, and guest registry was required. Occupancy is limited and only every other table was utilized. For the most part, patrons were wearing masks when not drinking or eating, particularly leading up to ordering and receiving drinks/appetizers.

And now, for what is probably most important to restaurants, the review.

Staff was polite, courteous, and at no time did we feel rushed. The staff did seem busy, and we were served different dishes by several different servers. I counted three different servers that brought food to our table.

Fiance and I ordered drinks along with 3 different appetizers, 2 teppenyaki style dinner orders, an oyster shooter, and a few sushi pieces. We received our large size Sapporo beer and large size hot sake promptly. One thing that I wish more restaurants would do is provide a sake warmer to keep your hot sake "hot". The only place I have experienced this was in Nashville Tennessee and it was a nice touch.

Appetizers came out one at a time, first the softshell crab, then gyoza and lastly the edamame. The softshell crab was spectacular. It was fried to crispy perfection, and then covered with with addition panko crisps, masago, and some greens. The edamame was standard fare and the fried gyoza truly did taste home made, not pre-frozen. Once the appetizers were all delivered and the dishes removed, I had to ask when the oyster shooter was going to come out and was informed it was almost ready. Once received, I was more than pleasantly surprised as the oyster shooter came in two shot glasses. These oyster shooters were on par with if not better than my favorite oyster shooters (Yanagi Sushi). Only complaint was I wish the shooters came out first.

Next out came a salad and then miso soup. Both were part of the kitchen teppenyaki dish.

Main courses were the steak and scallop and the steak and lobster. We ordered medium and medium rare. What we received was medium well to well done. Only one piece of steak came out with a little sliver of pink. If it was a steak that I ordered at a steak house, I would have returned it. Another minor quibble was we both felt the steak portion was a little light in portion size. However, the flavors were on point and it was easy to let these little foibles pass because EVERYTHING was delicious. Once everything was done, I had to ask if my sushi was coming out and again I was told it was almost ready. From a timing perspective, I would have enjoyed the ebi and tako pieces coming out before the teppenyaki or at least with the teppenyaki, not like a forgotten desert course.

All in all, we are and were very pleased with the food at Kizuna and won't let little missteps from a brand new restaurant get in the way of or cloud the over all experience. We will be happily...

I was greeted in such a friendly manner and chatted with one of the hostesses. I got there right after the opening for dinner and was seated immediately (it's why i like going during the week) The food was great! Keep in mind the prices have been raised (50cents-$2 depending on the product) but while researching I was aware of the change before getting there. I really enjoyed the rolls that I got (see labeled pictures for each one). The fish was great quality and so tasty! The atmosphere was great, very clean and open and socially distant. They require showing an immunization card while checking in (thank goodness! I felt very safe there). Current music was played in the restaurant kinda loudly (like the volume you would keep music on in the car? the level people on the road can clearly hear if you keep your windows open), if that's something you enjoy/are concerned about. staff was attentive but not over-the-top. I always got a refill or an empty plate taken away at the perfect time and was left alone to eat outside of those moments. the staff was also very friendly while i was getting the check it was awesome. so worth it. I can't wait to bring my family...

We went here for my brother's BDay. This place was pretty busy. Good thing we made a reservation. We sat towards the back of the restaurant. I think that's the reservation area. It seemed a bit more private from the rest of the restaurant. Me and my nephew had some beer and Sake. They have a drink menu. You can order regular drinks. Then you can order the adult drinks. There's Sake's,beers, wine. You can also order the whole bottle of certain Sake' and wine. We ordered Miso Butterfish, gyoza, my dad had a steaming meat plate. Then my brother ordered the Kaneohe Boat. It's actually a small Japanese boat. About 2 1/2' long x 14" wide. Comes with two sushi rolls, bunch of nigiri items, 3 Sashimi style items. Me and my brother ate the whole thing!! The service was great. We had to wait a little bit for the boat. Our server told us it will take awhile. But everything else came on time. All in all it is a good place to eat and drink. But make sure to make a reservation or go early. They were 8-10 people already waiting in line when we got there at 5:55PM. Our reservation...