On the corner of Kapahulu and Kaimuki Avenues is a small yet stylish yakiniku restaurant named Toraji. This location is just one out of more than two dozen, but the rest are located in Japan. Much like Gyu-kaku on Kapiolani Avenue, Toraji is one of a new breed in stylish yakiniku establishments.

Inside Toraji Yakiniku

The restaurant is very well decorated, featuring dark and mild tones. The walls are decorated with various art forms, including hanging garlic and red peppers. The edges of the booths feature large jars of marinating vegetables. Lighting in the restaurant is a bit brighter than similar restaurants, but remains dim and semi-intimate. Toraji does offer a small private dining area on the other side of the restaurant for parties.

Parking for the restaurant can be found in back on Kaimuki Avenue, but is very limited. You can double park other patrons in this small lot, but you must inform the hostess or your server if you do so.

Charcoal Grill for Yakiniku

Cooking your own food, whether in a hot pot of broth or over an open flame, has always held some sort of appeal to diners. At Toraji customers can look forward to cooking their food over a charcoal grill, instead a heated metal grill that you find in most yakiniku restaurants.

Toraji Branded Chopsticks & Hand Wipe

Various Sauces

Another growing trend in restaurants, Toraji offers its own branding on chopsticks and hand wipes. These items are stacked upon a small plate for your food, as well as a small plate to fill with sauces. Toraji offers three different sauces at your table for dipping seafood, meat, and vegetables. There is usually no right or wrong sauce, it all comes down to your personal preference.

We sat down quite late in the evening, just after 10:00PM. Other than a few parties just finishing up, we were the only ones in the restaurant.

Toraji offers a wide selection of meats and other traditional yakiniku dishes like Bi Bim Bap. Along with the food menu is a drink menu which is also quite extensive.

The menu can be quite daunting, even for those that frequent similar restaurants. There were a few items unique to Toraji’s menu that I had a few questions about, and our server was able to answer them promptly.

Seafood Combination

The seafood combination plate includes shrimp, scallops, crab, and squid. The items are just lightly seasoned and garnished with sesame seeds. After a quick squeeze of the lemon we threw the items on the grill. Overall the seafood here was fresh, with only the scallops offering a hint of a “fishy” taste. For these items I made use of the ponzu-like sauce offered on our table, which offered a nice citrus flavor to compliment the seafood.

Dark Miso Beef

One of the more unique items offered on Toraji’s menu is this plate of beef in a dark miso paste. The miso has a strong yet delicious aroma that fills the air when placed on the grill. The miso adds a great amount of flavor to the meat, and seems to help tenderize it as well. Each bite is a tender morsel of flavor! I would recommend this dark miso dish to anyone dining at Toraji.

Ishiyaki Seasoned Vegetables & Rice

The Ishiyaki rice menu offers various takes on what is more commonly referred to as bi bim bap. The flavor and taste of this rice dish was good. The only disappointment I had was not being able to leave it in the stone pot for longer. Our waiter immediately mixed the rice and served it into two smaller bowls. Many fans of this type of rice, including myself, prefer to leave it in the stone pot for a few minutes longer to create a crunchier layer of rice.

Final thoughts: Toraji offers a menu of good tasting yakiniku items. The atmosphere of the restaurant is very chic, creating a nice eating environment. Service was a bit rushed for us (perhaps because it was at the very end of the night), but was efficient and competent overall. The only real downside I see to Toraji is the price of its menu, which is slightly higher than other establishments like Gyu-kaku. Even with an entertainment card discount ($16.00) the tab was still close to $40 for two people without alcohol.

Service:		Average +
Food:		Average +
Atmosphere:		Above Average
Overall Value:		Average +

*Star ratings are based in comparison to similar establishments by food type and price range.

Price:

$20+ per person

Toraji Yakiniku
949 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816
Phone: 808.732.9996

Among the myriad of yakiniku restaurants in Honolulu, there are only a few that I frequent on a regular basis, and they all happen to be right off of Kapiolani Boulevard. One of these establishments, named Seoul Garden Yakiniku, makes its home across the street from 24 Hour Fitness, and shares its parking lot with Club Femme Nu.

Inside Seoul Garden Yakiniku

Parking for Seoul Garden is limited, but at night the restaurant does offer a valet service to park your car up front. If you choose to park your car in the back lot, it will cost you a small fee.

One of the things I like about Seoul Garden Yakiniku is the seating. Unlike many similar restaurants, Seoul Garden offers mainly booth seating which provides a very spacious eating area for smaller parties. The seats are wide and comfortable, with ample space to comfortably seat two people on one side.

The restaurant’s interior is decorated in mostly brown wood tones, with a few pictures hanging on the wall of previous notable customers. Even when you first step into the restaurant, the sound of sizzling beef on the yakiniku grills can be heard. The aroma of grilled meat lightly fills the air, creating a very appetizing (and hunger inducing!) atmosphere.

When we first walked in the servers all greeted us warmly. We were seated in the center row of booths, but saw that there was an empty side booth available. Hoping to have a little more privacy we asked to move, and our server was kind of enough to oblige our request.

Seoul Garden’s menu features primarily yakiniku meats ranging from barbecue chicken to beef tongue. The rest of the menu is comprised of rice dishes like Bi Bim Bap, in addition to various soups. As with every yakiniku restaurant, Seoul Garden offers a variety of alcoholic beverages to go along with your meal.

Having a hard time deciding what kind of yakiniku we wanted, we opted to try the Combination Meat which is meant to be shared by at least two people. This order included portions of beef brisket, beef tongue, and inner rib meat. These ingredients are very popular among yakiniku diners, making this combination plate a great item to order if you are dining with a small party.

Yakiniku Grill w/ Garlic

The first thing to roll out of the kitchen was a small foil container of chopped garlic cloves. As the golden metal grill is fired up, the garlic cloves are cooked in a small amount of oil. I have seen this at other yakiniku restaurants, but it does not appear to be too common a practice.

Yakiniku Side Dishes

Soon after the grill was turned on, our server brought to our table a slew of small plates which contained the classic side dishes that accompany yakiniku. Although these dishes typically vary day-to-day, many of them are consistent throughout different establishments. For tonight’s selection the side dishes included bean sprouts, kim chee, kim chee cucumber, kim chee tofu, potatoes, eggplant, and salad. The salad is often used to wrap around the pieces of meat you cook on the grill, adding an extra level of flavor and helping to cool the meat.

All of these dishes were delicious! From what I have observed half the experience of eating yakiniku comes through sampling all the wonderful side dishes. Although this amount of food was more than enough for just the two of us, larger parties do have the option of ordering additional amounts of any dish at no extra charge.

Hot Tofu Soup

Next to come out of the kitchen was a bowl of steaming hot tofu soup that was “on the house.” I’m not sure if there is some kind of magic in these black bowls, but this tofu soup stayed pipping hot nearly to the end of our meal!

The soup itself contained a mixture of tofu, onions, and cucumbers. The broth was very good, using just the right amount of seasonings to compliment the flavor of the other ingredients. This soup, as with many Korean soups, did have a bit of a spicy kick to it as well.

Combination Meat for 2 people

This picture might be a bit deceiving as to the portion size of our Combination Meat order, as our server had started cooking about 1/3 of the meat before I was able to snap this photo.

The meats are very good when cooked on the grill. These meats do not come with any inherent seasoning (although some yakiniku places will add a dash of salt/pepper before bringing it to your table), but still managed to come of the grill with a lot of flavor. Every yakiniku restaurant typically gives you a small plate of oil and salt to dip your cooked meats into, but I seldom find myself using it.

Shikhye, Barley & Rice Drink

At the end of a yakiniku meal, it is traditional to be served this barley and rice drink. Although personally I am not a big fan, the drink is very cool and refreshing, especially after a heavy or greasy meal like yakiniku.

Final thoughts: Soul Garden Yakiniku is a very popular spot for lunch and dinner (the value is especially good at lunch!), and for good reason. Service is excellent and the wait staff is very friendly. The food is about as good as you can get from any yakiniku restaurant. Although the price tag is a bit high in comparison to your average restaurant, Seoul Garden offers a little better value than most other yakiniku establishments in Hawaii. The portion of meats and the wide variety of side dishes are certainly a bit above average. So, if you’re looking for a place to enjoy some fun dining over yakiniku, you might want to put Seoul Garden on your list of places to visit.

Service:		Above Average
Food:		Above Average
Atmosphere:		Average +
Overall Value:		Above Average

*Star ratings are based in comparison to similar establishments.

Seoul Garden Yakiniku
1679 Kapiolani Blvd Honolulu, HI 96814
Phone: 808.944.4803