Sakura-Ya

it is sooooo wonderful, I hate to share with y you… The presentation, quality and BYOB !

Let’s keep this one simple and short… $ 13 for a chirashi!?! This is the best bang for the buck ever! They have three different types of chirashi’s. They cost $ 9, $ 13, & $ 21. The cheapest one appear to have less toppings and a smaller variety of fish. The deluxe which I had today consists of two pieces of ahi, two pieces of salmon, saba, tako, unagi, scallop, ikura, tamago, and one more piece that seemed to be kanpachi. All the toppings were very fresh and delish! The most expensive chirashi seemed to even have a wider variety — including my favorite, uni! I’ll definitely be back again… possibly every other week when it’s payday!

I always order the garlic chicken bento. Love the sides too. It’s like home cooking. The owners are nice. The owner (lady) is a straight shooter. To some she may come off harsh, but it’s just her personality. She actually is very generous. You won’t be disappointed in the food.

Awesome little hole in the wall joint!
Everything they offer is very authentic and tasty– it reminded me of my mom’s cooking (true Japanese). Everything is priced very reasonably and wide selections on okazu. Will definitely go back!
Cash only!

Love this place. Praise reflects the quality of food. Quick fix for Japanese food craving for sure. If I’m too lazy to cook Okazu, this place is it. It’s truly run by Japanese couple. Sometimes they sold out by noon and nothing to sell. That’s crazy it gets. Cash only. Parking on street only. Call in to order if you don’t want to wait.

I love the omakase dinner– it’s amazing…
This place is BYOB and what better way to enjoy sushi :-) but bring your best bottle of Sake. At night there’s a husband and wife team that serves sushi and in my humble opinion «simply delicious». What a jewel that you can have 12 people sit in this establishment and feel as if you’re experiencing and amazing private party. I’m not a big fan of trying new things and I’m very selective with the kinds of raw food that I consume. Growing up in Hawaii of course I eat raw Ahi, Hamachi, Otoro. But when I think of raw Octopus, Squid or items that I didn’t even know existed I cringe. All I can think about at the time is «please don’t throw up, please don’t throw up…» hahaha
What’s the taste like. Well, it’s like one of my girlfriends said. «It’s like having multiple orgasms». Of course I just smiled… hahaha But she’s pretty darn close. My eyes rolled back in my head multiple times with sheer joy in my face of how delicious the sushi was. Each bite I savored a much as possible, but gobbled it up like a little girl eating candy for the first time.
And hence the 5 stars :-). I’m blown away how exquisite the sushi is here. As the chef prepares our meals, we really get a sense of his love for nothing but the best. Let’s face it, as someone who eats out as often as I do and who’s better half is a true «foodie» I feel as if I need to start and affair with this place. This hole in the wall is amazing. The ambiance is very intimate, calm & quiet with the exception of your party giggling or laughing due to the volume of Sake or wine you consume hahahaha. The chef will partake in a few glasses of wine or Sake, but it’s serious for him to provide you nothing but the best service. His wife who helps him at night is a bit comical herself and is not shy… She tells it like it is and looks very very good for her age.
Do’s…
Call ahead of time to make reservations for sushi at night.
Bring your best bottle of wine or Sake
Wear your best happy pants that stretches
Charge up your phone or cameras so your battery lasts the night
Bring CASH, however they do accept charge cards at night.
Have an open mind to new experiences
Drink responsibly and have a DD
Don’t…
Have an honary attitude (however it’s spelled… Sense of entitlement)
Have any expectations
Overstay your welcome if you’re drinking wine or Sake
I hope you give this place a try, it’s my new favorite night time spot. (With reservations of course)

HORRIBLE, RUDE service! Kicked us off table after we already sat down and was going to order to give to some tourists that got there same time as us. What happened to local customer service? She didn’t even apologize since it’s first come first serve and we’re on our lunch break! Well we’re NEVER EVER going back there & spreading the word NOT to patronize there!

All you must’ve went on a bad day. Either that or I went on a good day. Awesome service and food. Ordered the deluxe chirashi. Definitely wasn’t disappointed. Well worth the $ 13. Don’t forget. Bring cash. CASH ONLY.

Nightmare. The young couple who were making sushi in the daytime are no longer doing so. The woman who owns this business now urgently needs to get some help– counseling, not kitchen help. I really hope she gets it.
Sister, if you read this, it’s not ok to yell at your customers. If your menu does not describe the item offered, you can expect a question or two. How you handle it defines you.
You never know what someone who walks in your door has dealt with that day. There’s no reason to be nasty and rude to people who are asking you a civil question, and it is not a good business strategy. To actually shout down a customer who wants to give you their business (or did) is unnecessary and outside the boundaries of normal behavior.
There may well be enough people to support you, but I think you are suffering inside, and I wish you healing. Meanwhile, I and everyone I told to check Sakura-​ya out before will steer clear.

they’re only open for lunch on weekdays and three Saturdays a month, serve a limited okazuya spread with a small menu that tends to sell out early, and the staff speak very little to no English. that being said, we communicate just fine. I come by weekly for the most perfect salmon and salmon ikura don made my way at a price that is unbeatable. they use a quality rice, something that many of the other places in town tend to skimp on, and the balance of their dishes are always perfect. eat in for the full experience.

Came across this place while waiting to get my car serviced. Their menu items look delicious!!! The only kicker… they only take cash.
Wanted the chirashi which everyone raves about but my $ 6 wouldn’t allow it. Ended up snacking on their garlic chicken, curry croquette, and some rice. Reasonably priced and decent portions. Could have got another item with my remaining couple dollars but was pretty content.
Now just gotta come back for the $ 9 chirashi!!!

Simply put, for the price, you can’t get a better chirashi. I mean you definitely can get a BETTER chirashi. but for what you pay and the quality of the fish, you can’t beat it. This place is what I picture those really good hole in the wall restaurants in Japan to be like.
Remember, no credit or debit so make sure you bring CASH.

I had Sakuraya chirashi ($ 20) and it was so Ono! I was raised in Japan so I know their food is real Japanese style food and the quality if sashimi/​sushi was great!
I will go back there again.
Street parking: 25 cents for 20 minutes.
No credit/​debit card! Bring Cash!

I’m a sushi snob but sometimes you just need a cheap, quick fix. I ordered the $ 20 sakura-​ya chirashi bowl. By the looks of it, it looks delicious. The uni was not the freshest and I’d compare the slices of sashimi to that of Kozo or Genki. For $ 20, I think I’d rather eat cheap, fun sushi at Genki…

Great Okazuya with Nigiri sushi and Chirashi. Japaneses husband and wife team make fresh homemade tasting food. Unlike many of the other Okazuya’s in Hawaii the food here is Japanese not «local» Japanese, so the sauces and flavors are more subtle and some of the «typical» menu items will be different. Absolutely nothing wrong with «local style» but there is a BIG difference.
Unlike the mass produced pre packaged bentos you find around town, here you see and taste the pride and effort put into the selection and preparation of the ingredients.
I love this place. BTW cash only.

We stumbled upon this hole in the wall Japanese okazuya while going to the nearby asian store and were hooked. Chirashi deluxe for $ 12? Yes please. It’s become a weekly stop for us.
There’s a pretty good selection of items like garlic chicken, nishime, tempura, chicken katsu. The food is good and prices are reasonable.
There are only a few table inside and street parking is limited. We usually are lucky enough to snag a stall nearby.

I’m glad my coworker suggested this spot since I first offered to pick up lunch from Honolulu Burger Company closeby. Got there early around 11am to beat traffic and find street parking easily. Smart move.
A decent selection of food/​okazu ya to pick out, I did it ala carte/​okazu ya style and picked out for 2 people (1 guy, 1 girl). Not bad for $ 14 something! We even had leftovers.
+ Nishime ($ 2.75 sm)
+ Ume Musubi (2.75 sm)
+ Garlic Chicken ($ 1 ea)
+ Chicken Katsu on a stick ($ 1.50 ea)
+ Green Beans with bacon ($ 2.75 sm)
+ Nishime ($ 2.75 sm)
+ Stuffed Cabbage with ground beef and tomato sauce ($ 2.75)
+ white steamed rice with black sesame seeds
Cheaper than Nuuanu Okazuya, but affordable like Caryn’s Okazuya (haven’t gone to their new location on Kapahulu though), and St Louis Delicatessen (whose chow fun and fried fish I haven’t had in years!).
The woman at the counter wasn’t too speedy and didn’t seem like she understood English very well. I had to wait for another customer to slowly and indecisively pick out what she wants, after I politely let her go ahead of me since I thought she was going order something small to go since she had just eaten a meal there, but nope, got stuck waiting another 5 mins. A guy came out from the back and took my order. His English was way worse but he was polite. The woman who cooks all of this even came out to help and to bus the plates that were left on one of the 4 small 2 person tables, and showed me that she put a small cardboard panel on the bottom of my to-​go plastic bag so the containers would be stable on something sturdy and not go all over the place, I did appreciate that.
Overall, the food all came out there. I love trying new things and places, and I would definitely get the food again. I am coming back.
The take out menu says open Mon-​Sat 10am-​8pm, and closed Sun, but some reviews say they are closed Mondays. That’s most Japanese restaurants, right? I’ll def call before heading down there just to be sure.

Sakura-​ya is a little hole in the wall Japanese okazuya/​udon/​sushi/​bento place that was just introduced to us by my mother-​in-​law, and since we discovered it, we’ve been back every week since! If you’ve ever driven on S. Beretania, a little past Ke’eaumoku, I bet you’ve seen it, but never bothered to stop. I’m telling you today, you really should stop and partake in their well made, good quality, yet affordable food!
Chirashi: by far, the reason that keeps bringing me back week after week! This is such a deal– for $ 8.75, you can get a regular size chirashi that generally has generous pieces of salmon, ahi, clam, shrimp, tamago, shoyu saba and ikura. For $ 12.75 you can get the deluxe chirashi with everything in the regular chiriashi plus hamachi and and a couple of extra pieces of fish. I was impressed with the quality and size of the fish as well. When you eat in you also get free miso soup. They soup is really delicious, not just the cheapo instant miso. Free chilled tea when you eat in as well. If you are one of those who hunts for a great deal for QUALITY food, (I AM one of those, so this is like the jackpot for me) this is IT!
Okazuya: Okazuya here in not served in the typical local style. You can order your okazuya in a «bento» style in which you have either 1 or 2 choice options with 3 small sides (potato salad, pickled veggies and mac salad), or if you choose to do ala carte, they are rather large servings. Okazuya that I’ve tried were all good, especially the nishime, but I think I’d prefer to eat these dishes warm. Most other local style okazuya is ok eaten at room temp, but the kind of okazuya they serve here would probably be better if taken home and heated up, IMO. This is more the «authentic» style of japanese food instead of the local versions. If you order ala carte, you will get each item in a different container. When I asked if they had just one large container, I was told that they don’t, so be prepared to take you meal home in pieces. But the serving sizes are large enough that you don’t need a lot of different items. In fact, I would order the nishime alone for my lunch and would be perfectly happy! The musubi is also really fresh and uses quality ingredients. Dare I compare it to Manabu? Not quite, but still a good second. They use REAL ume, not the sad little bright red crunchy ones, and they have other fun combos like bacon and corn.
Haven’t tried the udon or sushi yet, but that’s next on my list! Go for the chirashi if anything! This is a great mom and pop shop and I’m happy to support them!

Cheap Japanese food! Hole in the wall. Tiny place with 3×2 seat tables, 1×4 seat tables. Street parking on S Beretania.
Dinner deluxe chirashi $ 12 had fresh mirugai, shrimp, hamachi, salmon, ahi, scallop, ikura and one thing I don’t know. Came with shrimp head miso soup! You can order it take out.
Also various Japanese items you can pick on display. Shrimp tempura 1.50, potato croquette $ 1. Not much to look at but good cheap Japanese food!
Lunch chirashi is $ 8.

I wasn’t that impressed with their selection of okazuy items when I came here. I’m not sure if it was because I came too late (12 pm on Tuesday) or because they don’t normally carry a lot of items that I’m accustomed to seeing at a okazuya place.
As for the okazuya items, you can purchase them ala carte, or you can put them in a bento (one choice bento was $ 7.50). My hubby loves garlic chicken so I ordered a garlic chicken bento and purchase some tempura items ala carte. The garlic chicken was ono but I wish they would give more chicken in the bento. The tempura was not bad but they don’t give tempura sauce.
On my way out I saw the lady deliver a platter of nigiri sushi to a customer and that looked delish. I think I’ll come back and try their sushi and udon (as Wyatt Y. suggests!).