We make a quick trip to Honolulu. Unfortunately it wasn’t for pleasure but we did have some time to enjoy dinner. There used to be a really good yakitori and izakaya restaurant in the now closed Kyo-ya Restaurant building in Waikiki called Hanabi – few people knew about it. When Kyo-ya closed, so did Hanabi. The good news is that Hanabi has re-opened on King Street near University. Its a bit hard to find since there’s no sign – the restaurant’s copy is “the reknown restaurant without a sign”. Its a small place but everything is good here – yakitori, homemade croquette, tempura chazuke.
Update: Unfortunately Hanabi closed at the end of May 2010 – they are opening a new restaurant in New York City.
Our hotel included breakfast. I wish more breakfast buffets had natto (fermented soybeans) – its an acquired taste but really good for you. I can’t vouch for the combination I had: natto, rice, smoked salmon, eggs, sausage, and bear claw.
For some reason, we had a variety of tonkatsu – katsu-don, kurobuta-tonkatsu, katsu-ni – once at Bairin and the other time for quick lunch at Shirokiya – something about fried comfort food. Looking forward to having really good tonkatsu in Japan.
A sea turtle off Waikiki.
Pursuing Wabi 
ロイヤルハワイアンをこんな風に見渡せるなんて、どこ？シェラトンの上の方？しかも、こんな Breakfast、連れてってもらったことがないよ。いつも朝ご飯抜きで、いつも腹減りだもんね～。あー、つらい。
朝ごはんの場所が最上階なのよ。でもご飯自体は別にたいしたことないビュッフェだよ。犬はナットーばっかり食べてた。。。
my wife and i recently moved from honolulu to japan. i also loved the old hanabi in kyo-ya. i wish they would do something with the building… it has so much potential and has been empty for way too long. you should try imanas tei in the nook behind pucks alley (just next to the new hanabi). great sushi for hawaii and good prices. ko no tori next door is good too.