Godmother

Best Japanese Italian fusion restaurant I’ve ever been to. I got the grated daikon natto pasta. It was awesome! Had just the right amount of everything in it, and wasn’t too expensive. Will be coming back for sure.

Consider this place for what it is, and choose accordingly. I came in here curious with an open mind.
I went with teriyaki chicken over gluten-​free pasta noodles. And it was awesome! I haven’t had gf noodles that I have actually liked, and these were great. They sell them by the package, (bonus). There were fresh greens and a creamy sauce in a light serving, so it was totally balanced.
My husband ordered Ramen which you can assume will be good here, and it was.
I have actually seen Japanese-​Italian restaurants here and in Las Vegas, and I’m really glad I experimented with this fusion at Godmother. It definitely could be hit or miss, and this was a hit.

They got my attention with free samples of the meat sauce and had no issues letting us try their mentaiko sauce. Ended up buying both because they were delicious. Only downside is there reward program only counts for bowls of pasta, not the bentos.

I really liked the carbonara. It’s definitely different from your usual Italian food but I enjoyed it. They have pretty good customer service as well for a fast food type of place. I also added a piece of garlic bread which was delicious! If you’re getting pasta here definitely add the garlic bread for $ 1.

the hubby and i were finishing up a home improvement project one evening… by the time we were finished, we were STARVING… we drove to ala moana thinking assagio’s wouldn’t be too crowded at 8:30… boy were we wrong… called over to the nordstrom café, which apparently closed at 8pm, so i told we decided to try the food court in shirokiya. we ended up sharing the large teriyaki pasta with the brown rice noodles and two orders of garlic bread. it was very tasty with the sauteed mushrooms and spinach… glad we shared cause we had room for dessert! will definitely be back!

The staffs are nice. The spaghetti was a little salty but it was good. I got the Galbonara one… i think i will get the original one next time

Wow. This is some pretty awesome possum pasta! I’m still thinking about how deliciously creamy the sauce on my carbonara was :)
When I dine at yataimura (the shirokiya food court), I tend to stick to the same couple kiosks. It’s not that I’m not adventurous, it’s more like once I find something I like, I like to order it over and over again. I therefore have never even ventured into the little corner where godmother is located.
But I was hungry for pasta. So I tried it out. The carbonara had great reviews and even though I don’t usually order carbonara at Italian restaurants, I trusted my fellow tellers. I’m glad I did. It was so delicious! I loved the fresh mushrooms and spinach, the sauce was creamy and perfect. The sausage was meh, but everything else was perfect. I saw that they started cooking it once I ordered too, which means everything was fresh. This made to order method means it is not fast food… So be prepared to wait. For $ 11, it was pretty reasonably priced too!
I’m excited to come back to other menu options. The daikon pasta was intriguing, but I don’t like natto. Maybe I can get it custom made though :) I think I have a new yataimura favorite!

3.5 stars
The spaghetti was al Dante but the price didn’t justify that.
U can get a bigger portion for the same price at somewhere else if u don’t care about gluten free.
I don’t think I will go back again, especially there are so many choices at the same location.

This place sort of exemplifies what is Hawaii. By that, I’m talking about the extremist cultural mash up that exists on this chain of islands. So many nations have a say in how folks live and eat here, and it’s oddly apparent at Godmother’s, where Italian meets Asian.
Godmother’s is located in the Shirokiya mall food court along with probably 20 other food vendors, so the options are endless. This makes for hard decisions, but there were 3 of us, so we all got food to share. From Godmother’s, we sampled the teriyaki spaghetti bowl and garlic bread. Yep, teriyaki chicken served over Italian spaghetti. You didn’t read it wrong. It was pretty good too. Nothing mind blowing, but pretty good.
Would I return? I’m on the fence because there is just so much deliciousness crammed into this food court.

I love things made by the Japanese… electronics, cars, sushi, you name it. So I figure, hey, why not try out the pasta joint in Shirokiya? After all, I’ve had good spaghetti at a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo before. Although Shirokiya may be the closest thing to Tokyo in Hawaii, it’s really not so I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought a spaghetti dish from the only Japanese/​Italian joint in Shirokiya. This was one of the few times that my «glass is half full» perspective on things failed me. Don’t let it fail you. If you’re looking for some good old Italian pasta, don’t waste your time going to the Godmother. However, if you’re looking for healthier style pasta with a Japanese spin on it, this may be the place for you.
To give you an idea of what the food tasted like, my dish basically tasted like they just poured tomato sauce from the can over spaghetti noodles. The customer service was great and all, but their prices are a bit steep and their pasta is non autentico and you can bet your bottom dollar none of the cooks there are named «Mario» or «Antonio.»

I normally wouldn’t write a review for a one time experience (or even write a review at all LOL), but today’s one time experience at Godmother excellent service deserved some extra stars!!!
I work near by and passed this place a million times with their eye catching GLUTEN FREE signs. No home lunch today so I decided to give this place a shot. As I browsed though their pre-​made mini bentos I thought those looked like regular wheat pasta to me. This young man stepped out from behind the counter to greet me and asked if I had any questions. We discussed what was and what was not gluten free on the menu so I can narrow down my choices.
Now I’m no stranger to knowing what gluten is and where it comes from. I have a mild/​moderate (non-​celiac) gluten sensitivity that I would usually ignore for the love of pasta. My last reaction was one of the worst I’ve ever had so I decided to buckle down and actually make an effort to at least try to be gluten free most of the time.
Back to my Godmother experience… After making my choice, the young man asks me if this is because of a food allergy and if I had any other food no no’s like dairy or anything else. After speaking to the woman preparing my meal he told me «we’ll do our best». I was just blown away by that because you know, those following health trends for the sake of bandwagoning seriously don’t understand. I’m pretty sure that their soy sauce, regular wheat pasta, toppings, dredging stations, etc contain gluten! I’ve been to places that think regular gravy is gluten free (really???). So «WE’LL DO OUR BEST» was the right answer for me. I told the young man that it was ok, I can have a little gluten if he wasn’t sure. If my case were a lot more serious then I wouldn’t even be here. I would live in a plastic bubble and make my own food every day. When my food was ready he again stepped out from behind the counter to personally hand me my food and again said «we tried our best».
I had the spinach with sausage carbonara which was delicious. No digestive problems and mostly importantly NO painful rash!
I’ll be back :)

Food is amazingly good! I’m still sitting here eating it, the flavors of the sauce in the number 5 are very palatable, ¹⁰⁄₁₀ I will remember this place for the next time we’re in Alamoana.

I’ve come to Godmother before and had pretty good service and food. SO I thought, why not? I’m trying to be a vegetarian so I’ll see what they have to offer that’s meatless. I ask the cashier what’s in a particular ramen and she gave me a blank stare. As if I wasn’t even THERE. I said, um, can you tell me what’s in this ramen? She said no. I was so hungry and invested (for some reason) in eating here so I literally had to YELL to the cook in the back and ask him because the cashier didn’t take the hint that I want to know what’s in the dish I’m getting ready to pay upwards of $ 12 for because there’s no mall discount. She stood there throughout the entire conversation between me and the cook, which was loud, disruptive, and should have been between her and the cook, then me.
For some reason, I bought it and got my number and waited for my food. I waited for at least 15 minutes and looked at the counter to find that my food had been sitting there getting cold and nobody had called me. I really hate to say it because my initial experiences were great, but after suffering through cold ramen because my break was already almost done, I will not be going back. They would get one star, but the second was for my good initial experiences.

Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing. But the mentaiko pasta was, to put it simply, horrible. Worst I’ve EVER had! I got deceived by their big sign that said «fresh and healthy homemade pasta!» (Gluten free) their displays also looked delicious.
I’ve never been so disappointed. Especially because I spent almost $ 15 for it. Red flag should’ve been the register girl playing on her phone, chewing gum while I put in my order.
Why was the mentaiko spaghetti so bad? 1) they use canned mushrooms!!! And all I could taste was that and canned mushroom juice. It tasted as if they threw in the entire can and it’s contents along with the mentaiko. 2) the mentaiko was drizzled on to the pasta, wasn’t sautéed together and it tasted like canned mushrooms!!! And if you know your mentaiko/​tarako spaghetti, you know that the roes are supposed to be sautéed with the noodles and a good amount of cream/​butter. They should really leave out anything canned. Wouldn’t be surprised if the mentaiko was canned too. This dish was straight up disgusting. I’m pretty traumatized.
Only thing that they did well was cooked their «homemade pasta» al dente. And the food didn’t take long too. I wonder if they just opened up a can of mentaiko pasta, put it in a bowl of canned mushroom juice and mushrooms, and threw it in the microwave? It was THAT BAD. Hate writing negative reviews but people need to know things like this. People are definitely not going to get what they paid for and will leave heavily disappointed. Save your money for something more of quality :(

Moving right along with my Shirokiya food court reviews…
Better Ingredients, Better Pasta: Godmother’s pasta/​noodles is a «fusion» cooking. Japanese Italian fusion pasta/​noodle dishes that are very good. High quality ingredients and careful preparation in a fast-​food/​food court setting. Prepared fresh when you order. 4 Stars for a great, filling and tasty and creative noodle dishes.
Lost in Translation: Yeah, they pride themselves on offering «gluten free» pasta. But, I don’t think the whole gluten free issue means the same thing to them as it does to some Americans. In Japan they don’t have lactose intolerance, peanut allergies or wheat gluten intolerance. It is because they don’t drink milk and they eat rice noodles. So I think they believe «gluten free» is a general health food trend. They don’t understand celiac disease. They are not certified in gluten free food prep. Plus you have to pay extra for the gluten free brown rice noodles. ($ 2.90). So this too long discussion is necessary because it is important critical info for those who actually have gluten intolerance. The brown rice noodles are good though. I like them because they fit in with my complex carbohydrate diet perfectly.
Vegetarian/​vegan: Two options for your vegetarian/​vegan dining pleasure. My favorite is Natto and grated Daikon Pasta. 5 Stars for this one. It does come with shaved bonito flakes. I don’t mind as I am vegan only for health reasons. It is a microscopic amount of dried fish which is added for texture and flavor. Tell them if you don’t want it. The brown rice pasta, at extra cost, is also a healthy choice. There is also a vegetable pasta which is more of a soup but has no meat.
Venue: Back in the corner of the Yaitamura Food Court of Shirokiya in Ala Moana Center. Usually easy to get a table back in this area.

Absolutely love this Japanese-​Italian fusion. The idea didn’t really vibe in my head, but it was definitely working it’s magic with my mouth & making my tummy very happy.
Our pastas came out piping hot… Who doesn’t love that?! For both the carbonara & shrimp tomato cream pastas, the noodles were cooked well & flavors were great. Of the two, I was more taken with the carbonara (which came with a lightly cooked egg that you mix with everything) because it just tasted creamier & had more depth with the spinach.
Great portions & prices. Ambiance too. Nice & casual.

Such high hopes for this one, but it fell a bit short…
I’ve been wanting to try this place for several weeks, and FINALLY got around to it! Japanese style pasta is my favorite! I was first introduced to it (in Hawaii) after eating some pastas at Chez Kenzo, namely their mentaiko pasta. Ever since then, I’ve been obsessed!
What I love most about Japanese pasta is its chewy al dante texture. Reading up on Unilocal that Godmother even sells it’s own pasta, I had high hopes for just the pasta itself. I got the mentaiko cream pasta in the large size, and was sooo excited to relish in Japanese Italian fusion…
Meh. The pasta was a little on the chewy side but definitely overcooked and NOT al dante. The sauce had all the necessary elements to a mentaiko dish… tobiko, creaminess, a hint of spiciness, shiso leaves, bits of nori, and a little bit of ume (?). But there simply wasn’t ENOUGH sauce to coat my noodles. It looked like they made some sauce and just drizzled it over my large-​sized portion of noodles. Ack! I had to ration my sauce my whole meal to make sure all the noodles had at least some flavor!
Portions were pretty good sized, as I got a large and had to take home about 25% of my meal (good sign, since I usually finish the large-​portions of anything).
However, overall, not impressed.

Since I’m on a wheat-​free diet, I was intrigued when I saw the ad in MidWeek for Godmother having gluten-​free pasta. For someone like me who LOVES noodles/​pasta, its been hard avoiding all my fave pasta spots or ordering salads while watching friends/​family order pasta ;(
Today my bf and I decided to have lunch at Godmother and it seems that the gluten-​free noodles are brown rice noodles, which is EXTRA charge of $ 2.50. The pastas are NOT all gluten-​free, but you can pay a little more to have brown rice noodles. Fine, no biggie.
The menu only has like 10 items with sides, and they sell packs of their gluten free noodles and containers of sauces. Pastas are about $ 9 each, but there are combos with pasta + 1 side (about $ 11), pasta + 2 sides, or 3 sides another dollar more each.
I had the #6 smoked salmon with Parmesan cheese and tomato sauce on brown rice noodles. It was OK. The sign had «Creamy!» by the pic so it was natural for me to expect creamy sauce but it was very liquidy, but the taste was OK. The salmon was super salty though, it reminded me of the packaged kind people buy to eat with different cheeses, crackers and wine. Meh.
My bf had the #4 spinachi bacon carbonara, his had an egg on top that he had to beat in. He said the sauce tasted more like alfredo, and it was just as liquidy as mine. I wanted to try his but I am allergic to eggs, so boohoo for me.
I do like that I can enjoy pasta since I don’t know too many gluten free pasta places in Hawaii, and I work near the mall so it is very convenient. But overall it was just OK. Food is whipped up fast and the portions are reasonable.

Wife and I got ramens at Menya Iroha next door.
Because the Black Shoyu Ramen at Menya was inedible, we decided to get food here at Godmother.
There is no woman with a raspy voice telling you «I’ll make you a deal you can’t refuse.»
Just a hard working Japanese guy taking your order.
Nothing like a «walk of shame» when you give one restaurant an unfinished dish, then order another restaurant’s dish only to have the same cashier.
Protip: Menya Iroha and Godmother have the same lady working the register.
All shame aside, wife and I ordered the mentaiko cream pasta.
The «pasta» is ramen noodles.
The cream is a cream sauce and the «mentaiko» is fish eggs.
Visually, a pinkish cream sauce isn’t the most appetizing visual, but we dug in because we were hungry.
To our surprise, fish eggs go quite well with cream sauce.
I think if someone took this fusion to another level, it would be a culinary hit.
Just be more subtle than we were about not finishing our food to a restaurant that shares employees or you may be victim of a culinary hit man.
*When the noodle hits your eye like a big pizza pie thats umami.*

They’re baaaack. They are in the Yataimura section on the third floor of Shirokiya. I love Japanese pasta!
They have some of the old favorites like mentaiko cream or napolitain. However they have a few new ones too… unfortunately they were not prepared for their opening since the ones I wanted to try had a coming soon sign on it.
The pasta is gluten free which is great for those with allergies. The flavor is there, again I wish the portions were bigger but it’s healthy and Japanese which both equal portion control. The pasta has great texture and is semi chewy which is how I like it.
I have heard they have a two month lease so I will be back and hope some of the new flavors will be available. You can also add sides to make a combo, however a lot of that was not available either.
I was debating to wait and write a review since they just opened a day or two ago, but they have opened here before so I was surprised regarding their lack of preparedness for their return. However their food is still yummy… had they been ready… they would have gotten 4 stars. They are definitely a must try though just wait a couple days to a week!