Tokachiya

Ramen is one of my favorite things to eat. I tried most of the ramen spots in Shirokiya. This was next on my list. I ordered the small miso ramen and three pieces of gyoza.
The gyoza was not bad. It was a decent size with a reasonable amount of filling. The pork to veggie ratio was just right. I wasn’t impressed with the miso ramen. It contained charsiu, bean sprout, corn, seaweed, and green onion. It had a funny taste to it. Maybe I’m just not used to eating ramen on the sweeter side, which came from the corn. The broth was really heavy and didn’t taste like miso at all. The charsiu was tender with equal amounts of meat to fat.
I knew this place wasn’t going to be one of my faves when I asked the guy about the egg. I always get ajitamas with my ramen. The pics that they had up looked like hard boiled eggs. I asked if they were «eggs» or ajitamas. He said that they were eggs. I was so disappointed. Every ramen place that I’ve been to sold ajitamas, except for here. Whether the ajitamas were cooked correctly, well that’s another question.

Some of the best ramen in Hawaii! I eat here every time I get to Honolulu. I love the chewy bite of the noodles, and the broth is bowl-​slurping good.
Bonus…Happy Hour kicks in at 5:30, and beers go down in price to a low of $ 1 and a high for some of the Japanese beers of $ 3. You can’t find prices like this in Waikiki. Excellent value!

Have never eaten ramen from this place but one star for the poor interaction received.
Friend slipped and fell in their area due to a puddle and no one acknowledged except for a kind customer who helped her pick up her food and belongings.
When my friend went up to ask for extra chopsticks and to let them know KINDLY that there is a puddle in their area, the girl brushed her off rudely.
Please take care of any puddles or put a wet floor sign as that is a safety hazard.

Yet another Ramen shop inside the Yataimura of Shirokiya, but this particular stall is different from the others. Tokachiya offers Hokkaido style ramen, and you can really see the Chinese influence on its menu.
Speaking about the menu, the prices are very expensive for such basic ramen fare. You have your normal broths, shio, shoyu, miso, and spicy miso, that range from $ 9.50-$ 11.50 for small, $ 10.50−12.50 for medium. The toppings are exactly the same for every ramen: the regular has char siu, bean sprouts, corn, green onions, and seaweed, and the special ($ 4 extra) adds on butter, an egg, and two more pieces of char siu. It also offers Fried Rice ($ 4.95 small, $ 7.00 medium), Gyoza ($ 3 for 3 pieces, $ 4.50 for 5), and Pork Hash ($ 4.50 for 3, $ 5.85 for 5). The high prices and the uninspiring and mediocre toppings had me standing there at the counter contemplating a bit longer than usual. Corn?! In the end, I just avoided the entire main menu, and went off the edge to the limited time menu!
I ordered the Mapo Tofu Ramen ($ 11.50), and I was very glad I ordered this. The bowl was pretty big and wide, to my surprise and delight. The ramen was different from what I’ve had. It was more thicker, more chewy, less firm, less dense, and a bit more doughy. The mapo tofu was very good. It had great flavor and a nice spiciness, and really went well with the ramen. The sauce had a nice consistency as well. The only downfall was the mapo tofu was PIPING HOT that I couldn’t eat it immediately.
The service was good. I always appreciate how respectful and proper Japanese National people are, and I like returning the same respect.
Overall, I enjoyed the ramen, but the ramen I had was a limited time only! The prices are a little high with what it offers on the menu.

Delicious Tan Tan Ramen.

Pretty average fare here at Tokachiya. Medium size shoyu ramen with char siu for $ 12. Definitely not worth the steep price. I hardly got any noodles and the broth didn’t have that noticeable shoyu flavor. It just tasted like salted water.
There are much better options at the mall. One should only eat here out of desperation.

As I was aimlessly wandering around Shirokiya on an empty stomach, I came across this place. Peeked in the Unilocal app to get some info and off I went.
ATMOSPHERE:
They’re part of the Shirokiya food court so it’s all communal indoor seating, located at the mall entry side.
MENU:
Ramen, gyoza, fried rice, pork hash.
FOOD:
Spicy Miso Ramen — The broth is pretty thick, very rich, a tad too sweet, and way too heavy for my tastes. To top it off it comes with a pat of butter, unnecessary if you ask me. Toppings are tender & savory char siu, seaweed, green onions, bean sprouts, and canned corn which is so odd and doesn’t go well with the dish. The spice level is about a 3 on a 5-​scale. Pricey at $ 14.50 for the large size which is only $ 1 more than the medium.
SERVICE:
Everyone was friendly. I was surprised that my ramen came out within 5 minutes and was hot.
OVERALL:
Big portion, pricey, and not my favorite place for ramen.

Funny how a banner can sell you (
). Just a picture and a few words.
While my friends sought other lunch options on a recent Saturday, my eyes drew me to this stand near the cafeteria section of Shirokiya’s ever changing 2^nd floor food court. I decided on the Spicy miso ramen (
), $ 9.50 + $ 1.00 large (extra noodles). As pictured, there is no lack of ingredients and the broth wasn’t overly spiced. The noodles were okay and the meat was tender, but nothing really wowed me.
I liked that the ramen was made to order and it took a short wait before my bowl came out. While walking back with my empty bowl, the chef acknowledged me with a smile and a nod.
Love these «little things» where vendors still appreciate their customers. Just a step below that popular place on ground floor near the Ala Moana main food court.
3.5 stars food, 0.5 star service and fresh made.

TOKACHIYA @SHIROKIYA 2 °F:
Located where Seafood Hawaii @Pier 38 use to be for a very short time …
Their Pork Hush is my recent favorite. Gyoza is ok. Never tried their Ramen.

Ramen is good. cooked well.tasty ice cold Asahi on tap is refreshing. I’ve had the different types of Ramen there. I prefer the Tantan ramen with no bean sprouts. Service is quick. People are nice and helpful. Great atmosphere, busy place. You can always find a table. It is clean. There are bathrooms but it is always busy with long lines.

Location: Inside Shirokiya Food Court on the top floor Makai side. Open for less than a year they specialize in Hokkaido style Ramen.
Ramen: Mostly a rich tonkatsu (pork) based soup broth that often has corn and butter as far as I can tell. Ramen noodles are of the yellow type and served slightly chewy.
What we tried: I opted for the Tan Tan style because this is my personal favorite ramen. There are two other ramen shops near Ala Moana that specialize in tan tan style. So I was really interested in comparing Tokachiya’s version. My wife wanted the spicy miso style. It was spicy and she said the broth was rich and sweet too because of the corn. It also had a butter flavor which she thought was unusual. I liked mine and noted it had some sort of flavored oil (probably sesame) on top as well as a layer of whole sesame seeds. A little ground beef in the middle and one piece of green vegetable.
Lucky Us!: We discussed this ramen and compared it to our favorite places and some other recent ramen experiences. We agreed that this was very high quality flavorful ramen. We both liked it but felt it was not our personal favorite. But, I know some people who love this rich style ramen from Hokkaido. We also both agreed that this was worthy of 4 stars. We here in Hawaii are lucky to have such great ramen choices. Tokachiya is one of those great choices!
Vegetarian: They don’t offer a vegetable or vegetarian version. This is traditional Ramen and not Americanised at all.
I recommend trying this place out if you are looking to expand your ramen horizons.

Hands down my favorite ramen spot on the island. Located in Shirokiya you wouldn’t expect the freshly made noodles, tasty sauces, generous portions and delicious add ons. The flavors are diverse, complex, not too overwhelming and wonderful.
My favorites are the shoyu ramen and the miso ramen, but look out for specials that will make you salivate!
The large size is extremely large and the regular is pretty big too! Comes with sweet corn, seaweed, pork and bean sprouts in the ramen.

Saw this place being featured on channel 8 news «cheap eats» and decided to try it for myself! It looked very appetizing!
Parking:
Located in Ala Moana, upstairs on the 2^nd floor of Shirokiya, on the corner of the makai entrance. You can park basically anywhere in the mall and walk to this eatery. Best place to park is upstairs on the 4^th floor. However it may get hot because there’s no rooftop cover.
Food:
We ordered miso charsiu ramen and shoyu charsiu ramen with side order of fried rice and gyoza. The ramen noodles were cooked perfectly and it had good amount of condiments like bean sprouts and charsiu. The broth flavoring reminded me of being in japan! I really missed eating ramen in japan and this is the place that’s the closest to it! The pricing is pretty reasonable. The medium bowl starts from $ 9.00. The small bowl of $ 4 fried rice was delicious and it wasn’t oily. The $ 3 gyoza was ok.
Ambience:
Nothing fancy it’s just like a food court scenery where you just eat and then go. There’s a small eating area and it can get really crowded during lunch since you can eat anywhere on the 2^nd floor. So either get there early or go after the lunch crowd!

Tucked away in the Shirokiya plaza at Ala Moana Mall, Tokachiya gives you the option of Hokkaido style Ramen amongst a maze of tempura and sushi.
The ramen was good. however I thought the broth could be much more creamy (sorry not as creamy as the ones in LA area). The rice and gioza was decent too… but it feels like the place is just lacking that extra spice or something special. It felt like a normal ramen place.
For the price, and location it was decent. Seating can be cruddy though, so be prepared to do some recon. especially on weekends.
All in all it was okay… but nothing special… would go if I felt like ramen at the mall.

This ramen is divine, but whatever you do don’t get the shoyu ramen. Hokkaido is famous for miso ramen.
The broth was sweet, but it was really flavorful which cannot be said about most ramen places around.
The char-​siu was honestly the best. It was so tender and flavorful that it simply melted in your mouth.
I would highly recommend this place if you’re looking for authentic Japanese ramen or if you liked santouka.

TIP: Look for a table before you order, or you’ll be eating your ramen standing up!
Innovation: Have you seen their fried rice wok! They have a spindle that stirs up the fried rice! I thought that was so cool. Next time you’re there stand by the glass window and look inside at the wok to the right of the window.
Finally someone has ramen with butter and corn. If you order a ramen with corn be sure it has butter because your soup base will taste too blah. (plain) I personally like corn in my food and I have put corn into my ramen at home growing up. Not sure why but maybe it had something to do with stretching your food when you have a large family (7 of us kids). Noodles were okay. Maybe if they cooked it just a little less then it wouldn’t be so chewy (overcooked). But from a review I read earlier they must have made a few improvements because it was edible.
Char siu was delicious! Towards the end of my meal I finally made the connection what Tokachiya’s char siu taste like. It reminded me of shoyu pork. Yes with fat in it too. Too many places have lean char siu and really takes away from the taste. I remembered how good the char siu was so I was prepared to order the ramen with 3 pieces of char siu.
1 star for the gyoza. Wrapper for the gyoza is too thin and it doesn’t hold the pork well. The inside of the gyoza is less than appealing and doesn’t seem as though they put much effort into their product. I’m guessing this is a Japanese chain? If so the other place by Don Quiote makes great gyoza.
Last tip. If you order your ramen with butter, be sure you can see that slice of butter. Cooks have forgotten my butter before (Irritates me)
Would I go back. Yes, I love the spicy ramen with corn & butter. My better half doesn’t think so much about this place so I many need to find a ramen partner.

I really don’t like doing this, but this is officially the first time I’m handing out a 1 star review on Unilocal.
I decided to wait a few weeks to let Hokkaido Ramen Tokachiya iron out any kinks, going in yesterday evening to try their Shoyu Ramen, medium size bowl for $ 8.50.
BROTH
The shoyu broth tasted like it was made from not just chicken bones, but BURNT chicken bones, having this odd scorched flavor profile, like it came from the bottom of a pot that was on the stove too long. It was also totally lacking richness, complexity and character.
NOODLES
The noodles were overcooked, soggy and starchy, having me feel packaged Top Ramen noodles are better. They were just clumped together with no glutenous «bounce» and separation at all. Worst ramen noodles I’ve ever had, and I could barely finish it.
CHAR SIU
The single slice of Char Siu in my swas the best thing in the bowl, having a nicely permeated flavor ring from the shoyu-​based braising liquid, while being moist and tender, with a generous slab of fat to add richness on one side for added richness.
WAKAME
Instead of Menma (marinaded bamboo shoots), you get Wakame, which was OK, however for me, a bowl of Japanese Ramen is NOT the same without Menma. Gotta’ have it!
CORN
I know sweet corn is a typical ingredient in Sapporo/​Hokkaido style ramen, but for me it’s just plain WEIRD. Sorry, corn has no business in Japanese Ramen. I’ll save that for Thanksgiving Dinner or with some fried chicken.
BEAN SPROUTS
Bean sprouts are another signature ingredient to Sapporo/​Hokkaido style ramen, and there was no shortage of it here, at about a 3:1 ratio of noodles to bean sprouts. That said, like corn, I feel bean sprouts have no place in Japanese Ramen. Save that for the Korean Banchan, thank you very much.
SUMMARY
I really had high hopes this Shoyu Ramen was gonna’ kick @ss, as the aromas wafting out the kitchen as I waited for my order (which was very short) were promising. I thought, «F’ yeah, this Shoyu Ramen is going to rock my world!» However the broth and especially the noodles just blew the deal. So bad, I couldn’t even finish my entire medium sized bowl.
The service was friendly and quick, however that just doesn’t make up points for a totally blown bowl of Shoyu Ramen.
I’ll give Hokkaido Ramen Tokachiya one more chance and try their signature miso-​based ramen next time.

I didn’t care for the thickness of the spicy miso ramen: it was also far too sweet. The noodles were okay… it was garnished with green onion, corn, bean sprouts, char siu (on the dry side).
Perhaps not quite a 3 but a bit better than a 2.

Hokkaido-​style miso ramen. Was a bit disappointed though. Broth was on the sweet side, charsiu was dry. The shumai was ok, but still unremarkable.
For miso ramen, i still prefer Kai.

There is a pretty long wait to get your food after you have placed your order. I could not understand why this would be so, since it should be quick to make ramen.
But the broth is extremely thick so that could have made the difference. The creamy thick broth helps give a unique texture to your dish. I am not sure if it can justify the $ 12 for ramen.
They have homemade dumplings. this is very good. I would go back to just get this.