Dairyu Ramen & Curry

It’s pretty clear when you walk into certain businesses that they aren’t specialist in their particular category of food and that’s okay that’s what makes local food special. They say the key to happiness is setting your standards low. Well tonight I should have kept them lower and tried something else. I wanted to get my sick wife some ramen on the way home and went to the newly renovated waikamilo business plaza. Zippys was a more affordable and safe option but I’m not the biggest fan so I decided to try Dairyu. I was immediately ignored by the staff for a couple Minutes upon entering. It would seem I caught them during a busy hour, then after ordering take out I watched several other parties get seated and served. After 30 minutes they informed me my food would be coming out, which I translated to «we forgot to put in your order». I’m consistently disappointed by the food options in Kalihi. I miss the old diners and hole in the wall shops from my youth. It’s my sincerest belief that job training is more relevant for new businesses. This experience will forever cement my distrust in non authentic ramen shops.

PAY WITH CASH OR CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD STATEMENT CLOSELY AND CONTINUALLY AFTER DINING HERE!!!
Back in Mid-​November 2015 I ate at Dai Ryu Ramen. The food was mediocre but it was cheap and the service was good. No big deal. I paid for my meal with my Visa card and the charge was posted to my account. I have not been back since.
It is now December 16, 2015, and today a second charge for a different amount appeared on my statement. Usually something like this wouldn’t catch my attention but I was looking for another transaction around that date so I decided to look into it further. I spoke with customer care and they informed me that the charge was entered manually (i.e., not swiped) and that, as far as they could tell, it originated from the restaurant. My credit card company promptly issued me a statement credit and closed down my account.
Its hard to believe that an established business would do something like this just to make $ 35. However, it is also hard to believe that my credit card number and expiration date could have been manually entered into their terminal by accident one month after my visit. All in all I would say the circumstances are, at best, suspicious. I don’t want to make unfounded accusations or place blame where it is not deserved so my rating is neutral. Just a word of caution.

It was me, my other half and his friend’s first time here. Waitress was friendly and polite. She was efficient in taking our order, she did forget about my kimchee lol. That’s okay though, I reminded her. I would have given them 5 stars, but my other half found hair in his food. he lost his appetite. Cleanliness issues over there is minor but could use a bit of attention.
Food is Okay.
Service is friendly.
Cleanliness needs work.
Overall: I’ll return when I’m in the mood for noodles again ^_​^
We ordered a bunch of things, I can’t recall it all, so I’ll post pics. Our bill came out to $ 49.50 plus $ 7 tip. My BF was a bit hesitant to leave $ 7 cause of the hair and his drink can wasn’t clean, but we left it anyway.

I love coming here. My regular was sumo ramen (still is) but I love this more hehe. And they’re cheap too

This place sucks! I specifically ordered mild seafood ramen and they gave me spicy! I called to inform them they made a mistake and they told me that, that is their mild!!! And I was even told next time to ask for «non-​spicy» soup, so I asked, isn’t non-​spicy a mild version???
They didn’t even make an attempt to apologize, they just told me that’s it!

Dairyu what happened? Let me start by saying that we used to be regulars here and that my wife would often bring home dinner for me from here after work. So when we dined in and saw the same worker we were expecting good service. That being said it didn’t happen. After she took our order and came back to drop off our food she didn’t come back to our table to check on us (I had to ambush her after she took a different table’s order to ask for something). I can understand if the place was packed but there were only about 3 other tables and what looked like 3 workers. So I agree with other Unilocalers that the customer service here definitely needs work.

Dairyu is hands down my favorite Ramen shop in Honolulu!
I’ve been here many times, tried most everything on the menu, and keep going back.
The soup is made with real stock, not solely relying on base or salt — just like the traditional style. If you appreciate ramen, this is noticeable. I was recently at the currently trendy downtown hotel street noodle shop, and was unpleasantly surprised by their peanut butter/​miso soup flavor. (Not to mention I paid more than twice the dollars for half the food!)
If you want a great value and a satisfying meal, try the combo meals.
All of the saimins are a good deal, and good. (I’ve gotten stuck on the gomoku.)
And the Kimchee is a «must try!» It is homemade and (if you ask me) better than most of the Korean shops in town. The only thing I’d pass on is the shu mai — it’s not homemade.
The owner is a soft spoken and unpretentious gal, and you’ll find her most days cooking in the kitchen. She takes great pride in the shop and their product, as the recipes and style of cooking was handed down by her father. Those old enough to remember know he ran a great shop here in Honolulu for many years.
If you’re looking for excellent traditional style ramen, reasonable prices, a clean store with excellent service that you can rely on for a quick and delicious lunch — this «is as god as it gets!»

We stopped in for a quick bite.
The food was tasty, other than the 1980’s throwback music it was great. It’s just good quick ramen. Not much else. The staff was nice, and the cost was quite inexpensive. We were in and out in less than an hour.

Before reading the one to 3 star comments which likely compare this place to Japan or some high end eatery. Dairyu falls in neither catagory catering to the local taste of good, cheap eats. Try their fried rice and especially their spring rolls which are home made. If your born and raised here you will understand the particular aspect of local food culture this establishment falls under. Variety, cost, taste. 5 stars.

I’ve been meaning to write this review for awhile. Definitely impressed with the quality of the food and the taste is awesome too! Friendly and quick service, food is served piping hot and you can split the combos if you’re not that hungry or senior citizen (which both my Mom and I are).
Dillingham Shopping Center has been remodeled into nice, clean, local ambiance. I’m a fan of Dairyu, now with it’s upgrade, it is a refreshing new look.

Coming from Japan I have had the best ramen in the world. This is not it. It is however, acceptable. I ordered the mabomen (tofu ramen) and it was short on tofu and noodles were over cooked. The curry tasted like instant curry packs I would buy at the grocery store. The fried rice however was very good and I would say the best part of the meal. The establishment could be cleaner and the roach traps under the tables are unacceptable.

Rainy day is the best day for ramen. Dairyu ramen and curry was a nice change of pace for a dark and gloomy day. The spicy seafood ramen was good. They took it easy on me about the spicy seasoning. The fried rice was just as easily enjoyable. Easy listening for an easy dining experience. I highly recommend this place for everyone.

The food was truly a disappointment. Ordered to go the oxtail ramen, spring rolls, beef broccoli noodles, shumai.
The only thing that had any good flavor was the shumai that was not made in house, frozen section store bought. Everything else either tasted weird or was bland.
Never will be back to that place ever again.

This place isn’t horrible but it isn’t that good either. Would not come back and would not recommend.
I ordered the vegetable yakisoba, it was a little on the salty side and unimpressive otherwise. My boyfriend ordered the shrimp tempura, crab shumai and chicken katsu. All equally unimpressive as well, the shrimp tempura tasted the best but it was long and straight like a pretzel rod… Seems unusual. I gave them three stars because the food came quickly, hot upon arrival and service was nice enough.

Food is usually good enough for me to come back even though their customer service needs some work. This time, I found a hair in my fried rice! I guess that could happen when the guy cooking is wearing a tank top with no apron and looks kind of sweaty. Not to appetizing.

I want to give this place 0 stars. As soon as I got my food, I had one bite and walked out. Ive never eaten such shitty food in my life and this place has to be it. I had their spicy seafood combo and it was the most disgusting food ever. The soup was fuking spicy as fuk like they just poured chili oil and burned my mouth. Sent it back for her to add more soup bc it was way too spicy and I can handle spicy but this was just ridiculous. She came back with it and Im guessing she didnt understand English bc it came back spicier that I feel like I got a stomach ulcer from eating one bite.
The fried rice was too salty and you can tell majority of it was MSG like they dumped a truckload of it. Tasted too superficial and way too salty as fuk. My bf ordered the chicken katsu and shrimp fried rice… the katsu was thin and tiny and bland. The shrimp fried rice was ALL MSG and SALT all we have to say is that it was truly pathetic. It was so pathetic and disgusting that we had to walk out. idk why my bf paid bc it was disgusting as hell. Never in my life did i eat at someplace horrible as this place. This place just pisses me off bc its just a waste of time and money. Idk how ppl can say this place is good… oh yeah i forgot its Hawaii. high blood pressure and heart disease. So if you want that, come eat at this place!

Just wanted to give this place a recognition because they’ve been here for years and I’ve been a regular customer since my high school days.
They are located in the newly renovated Kapalama Shopping Center, just in the heart of Kalihi. They have the best udon broth I’ve ever tasted and it doesn’t require alterations despite the sauce and chili powders provided at the table.
PARKING:
LOTS AND LOTS OF PARKING! YAY! You don’t need to worry about that *phew
FOOD:
–Bring more than $ 10
–I would recommend getting the Mochiko Udon Set for $ 9. It comes with rice, 5 – 6 (small to medium sized) pieces of mochiko chicken, a medium udon bowl, kimchee, and if you want, you can add 4 pieces of fresh homemade gyoza for a dollar more! Gets me full every time! :)
Service
–Service is great! Very attentive and friendly!
Dairy will be relocating to the suite next to Ahi and Vegetables soon.

10÷22÷14
Well it’s been a while and I do continue to come to Dairyu… why? because they consistently put out a delicious mabo tofu ramen… I tried the one with the crispy noodle, but prefer the ramen.
I now get the combo… mabo tofu ramen with a 4 piece gyoza… so now I can come alone and not end up over stuffed…
People are nice, prices are fair… parking is easy and free… my go to place in Kapalama… good thing I don’t live closer or I’d be here more often!

I love this little hidden gem in Kalihi. No, it’s not the nicest restaurant but the food is good and the prices are very reasonable. The customer service is alright and the food is served pretty quickly.
PROS
+Delicious broth
+Low prices
+Never a wait
+Open late
+Lots of parking available
+Many menu options
CONS
–The restaurant could use a remodel
–Portions are small for some dishes
–Restroom is pretty grungy
Favorites:
*Chicken katsu curry combo (comes with a small ramen)
*Pork fried rice

I came here during my lunch break at work and called in an order for pork fried rice. I asked the lady how long it would take and she said 10 minutes.
I arrived 15 minutes later and stood in line with many other people waiting for their take out orders. The lady in the front didn’t really bother to acknowledge me or what I was there for, for about 3 minutes. Irraz…
Then after telling her I called in a order for pork fried rice, it took 10 more minutes to get my food. I stood in line sweating my butt off because it seems the air conditioning doesn’t really work in the restaurant.
Took my fried rice back to the office and it was meh. Tasted like too much ginger or MSG in it. Not my kind of fried rice.