Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya — Restaurant in Oʻahu

I ate half my ramen before I thought to take a photo...

Excellent experience. Even though it was surprisingly busy at 4:30 pm, our order was taken in a reasonable time with only one server, and our food was delivered surprisingly quickly. First out was Karage Ika (octopus) which was great! Very light coating, not at all oily. It was very good with a crispy exterior and tasty tender octopus inside.

We both had the Original Tonkatsu Ramen which is the white broth that originated in Fukuoka. It was fantastic! The broth is delicious and not at all "salty". The noodles they use were to our liking, firm with a chew and curvy ribbons that hold the soup. Also, the tonkatsu itself was very delicious. It comes with toasted garlic and reconstituted mushroom ribbons that were quite good. I don't normally drink the broth, but I couldn't help but drink the whole bowl of leftover broth!

It also comes with a whole soy sauce marinated egg, which for our taste was slightly overdone. Still soft inside, but I would consider what we got as medium-well. We prefer a softer boiled egg, but I can't comment on how consistent that it.

The only slight downside is our table was just a tad bit sticky and the menus could have been a bit cleaner, but definitely not a deal breaker or anything significant. I like this place and will be back. The former tenant was Agu Ramen which is high-end and $20 plus per bowl. Tanaka is much more reasonable and still a very high quality product. I just got back from Japan and I would say the ramen meets with high...

TL;DR: very good broth and very accomodating service!

Parking: private share lot.

Atmosphere: chill dining, good for groups. Slightly close quarters next to other tables.

Menu: descriptive. They do not have a kids menu but you can do a build your own ramen bowl and make one accordingly -- keep in mind that it is still an adult sized portion so be prepared to share and/or take home leftovers.

Service: wait to be seated, order at the table, you will be watered, check brought to you, your table will be bused and you box your own leftovers when you request a box.

Tempura Brussel Sprouts: though the brussel sprouts were fresh, the tempura portion was extremely salty. I'm talking dehydrate-your-body-immediately salty. It's like they breaded the sprouts in salt instead of tempera batter. We ended up eating our ramen first, and "washing" the tempura off the sprouts in our remaining broth just to eat the insides.

Tanaka Classic: oh man, this was a good bowl. The broth was absolutely delicious! The egg was perfect and the pork was as well. The beansprouts added a nice refreshing crispness to each bite. A bit heavy on the noods though -- I always eat all the toppings first and then finish off whatever ramen I can. In this case, I was only able to finish 2/3 of my noods -- I wasn't too hungry...

Dine-in available! Have your vaccination card and ID available and sign the book for contact tracing. Take-out, online, and call ahead ordering also available.

Plentiful free parking. Surprisingly cute inside. Don't let the outside strip mall discourage you.

2 active 4-top tables and 2 active 2-top tables. Takoyaki is super soft and the ika is wonderfully cooked, also soft inside and crisp outside. Kid looooved the chicken wings, served with sauce on the side. Curry bowl uses their own curry mix, different from typical Hawai'i S&B flavor, still really good. Chicken karaage bowl has huge pieces of boneless fried chicken with a bit of green onion, rice, and sauce on the side (see pics). Perfect for kids who don't like sauce. Customize your own Ramen. Broth is rich. Echigo IPA available. 2 flavors of ramune available for the kids (carbonate their own soda! Fun!! You might have to help very little ones push the carbonation ball down tho; it can be a "feat of strength").

Sweet customer service. Credit cards, Clover scan (for iPhone only),...