Mama-Ya Bishop Street Cafe

They recently changed the layout to only have one cashier for all customers, so the wait is ridiculous now. Used to be my goto place for poke downtown, but waiting 15 mins to pay for something that takes 2 mins to make doesn’t make sense. You need to change back to the old system, and quick cause downtown workers are impatient when it comes to getting lunch. Sorry but I won’t be back.

Food here is great. The spicy ahi is delicious and the California Ahi bowl is a winner. If you come at lunch-​time, the wait can be long. This would have been a 5 star review except for the guy that works at the register (guy with spiked hair and thin eyebrows). He is the only guy that I have seen working at the register, the two ladies are very pleasant. This guy should work somewhere that requires zero contact with customers.
If you are only getting bentos, musubis, or other already prepared foods, you don’t need to wait in line and can proceed to the register in the back to pay.

This review is just based on my first visit today: the wait for food wasn’t too bad, and I decided to get a miso butterfish lunch which was $ 9.50. Although the flavor was pretty good, my plate consisted mostly of rice, my salad barely had any dressing, and the butterfish was tiny. Also, I opted for a water bottle instead of miso soup and even that was super tiny lol.
I will have to come back to try the ahi though

This place has definitely declined. I hate tepid food! When ordering something off the grill I expect the food to be «hot» not «cold» or «luke warm». After waiting a month or so before giving this place another try I was still very disappointed. Looks like everyone should stick to the poke bowls unless you really don’t mind tepid food. Definitely need to be more nice to customers if you want patrons. The male cashier had major attitude. Not something I look forward to dealing with on my lunch… Will not be back… for a while…

Now that they are settled, they have expanded their menu to a more variety of choices, including different rice, udon and poke selections. All their dishes have a nice strong flavor to it, mixed evenly.
Hawaiian poke bowl — 5 stars — a reasonable plate that comes with a choice of white or multi grain rice, and miso or water. The poke was mixed with a soy sauce mixture.
Service — 3 stars — still a little slow (about 5 — 15 wait depending on the line) since they make to order, but not as slow and chaotic as before. However, there were only half the tables and chairs set up in the area.

Stopped here for the first time since they took over the spot formerly occupied by Bishop Street Café because it’s close to my new office. Surprised to find that they offered a lot of pre-​packaged (i.e., cold) food, which is great if you’re in a rush. Decided to try the miso butterfish bento. The guy at the counter was surly, and not in the funny «hurry up and pay» way the Bishop Street Café guy was. Just kind of like he wasn’t that happy being there.
Quality of the food was just meh. Multi-​grain rice was a nice change, but the potato croquette was a soggy lump. The vegetables didn’t have much crunch, and the butterfish was over-​sauced.
Also had a shrimp katsu hand roll, which was just a gloppy mess.
Although Mama-​Ya is convenient to my new office, I doubt I’ll be going back.

Feel like this place has recently declined. The lines/​crowd isn’t there anymore… I wonder if that’s the first sign.
Came here for lunch today because my sister wanted to try their spicy ahi bowl. She doesn’t come downtown for lunch often so she was excited to try their infamous delicious spicy ahi. When we tried to order, they informed us they didn’t have any today (disappointment #1). Instead we settled for the mamaya combo and chicken katsu curry instead.
Was totally disappointed though. I usually enjoy their mamaya combo. but today it was not the usual. The mamaya combo came with two scoops of potato salad — no green salad today. Which is a total bummer because I love their dressing. Also, they never informed me that they didn’t have any greens. (disappointment #2).
Next thing was that there was no mochiko chicken in the combo (disappointment #3). They substituted with two pieces of spam. Temperature of the food was not even warm and slightly cold (disappointment #4). Weird coming out from a kitchen. Rice seemed hotter in temperature than the hot food.
My sister’s chicken katsu curry was underwhelming temperature wise as well. She was disappointed with the big clumps of flour (disappointment #5). At first she thought it was something strange but then I pointed out that it was huge clumps of flour the size of her chicken katsu. Additionally her curry wasn’t even hot (disappointment #6).
Overall a very unsatisfying meal. I was a little sad she had to experience mamaya at such a low because I thoroughly enjoyed it here. No wonder the crazy lines and crowd died down. I now understand to cross this off the go to list.

It was a little sad to see the old Bishop Street Café close down. Mama-​Ya has opened up in it’s place, with almost the same value, but they are much much less efficient in servicing lunch orders compared with the super efficient (comically so) old Bishop Street Café.
Likes: Food tastes good in general. Portions are pretty generous too for the price. They won’t give you a hard time for using a card to pay too. It also comes with a miso soup or small bottle of water.
Dislikes: Don’t be deceived if there’s a short line while waiting to pay. The line to wait for your food is probably really long. They also run out of things, especially spicy ahi, if you go too late.
Favorites: I usually get the spicy ahi or chicken kastu curry.
If you come here, get here early and don’t be in a rush.

OMG, I secretly look forward to our monthly meetings in Downtown Honolulu so I can buy lunch from Mama-​Ya. My mouth salivates thinking of this place. I know, it’s not necessarily high-​end cuisine, but I love me some musubi and salmon katsu and they definitely make it ONO!
While the line is fairly long, it does move fairly quickly. You can grab and go pre-​made bento, salads and musubi or you can order a hot plate lunch or a poke bowl.
For me, it’s always been salmon musubi, salmon caesar salad or salmon katsu (hmmm, I am starting to see a trend!).
Thus far, it’s always been fast, tasty and filling.

I work in this building so I’m a regular at Mama-​Ya. Yes, the wait can be a pain. Go early or late!
My absolute favorite is the miso butterfish — it’s delicious and a steal at $ 8.50! True, it’s not a massive portion of fish, but I’ve never ordered miso butterfish from anywhere and received a large portion. It’s a pricey fish. And it’s an oily fish so you don’t need a large portion anyway. They DO give a little too much rice, as some other reviewers have said, but you don’t have to eat it all. I don’t care for the piece of chicken (karaage, I assume) that comes with it. It doesn’t have much flavor.
The dressing on their tossed salad is yummy and their potato salad is good too. Plates also come with a small bottle of water or miso soup (which is tasty).
Other dishes I’ve tried:
Salmon Katsu — It was pretty good. I try not to eat too much fried food, but this would be okay once in awhile (like if they’re out of the butterfish, which is a common occurence if you go late!).
Kake Udon (it’s new) — I probably wouldn’t get it again. It was just okay. Not a very strong flavor like I like with kake udon.
Butterfish Bento — It’s good if you’re in a hurry. Doesn’t have the tossed salad or miso soup like if you get the regular plate. But it’s a really good deal, like $ 6.
Spicy Ahi Poke Bowl — I’m not a huge poke eater, but this was good. Not too spicy, but well seasoned.
Somen Salad with Chicken — Pretty good. I like all their sauces and dressings.
They take phone orders, but the process for picking it up isn’t great. I would recommend you just go as early as possible (like by 11am).

Finally a good and very affordable Japanese plate lunch place right across my work on Bishop.
They have a nice selection of pre-​made bentos, salads, sushi rolls, and donburi bowls on the side. But check out and try each of their specialty plates — they are awesome! Furikake Salmon Katsu… no words, cause my mouth is full brah! Good price too $ 7.75 average a plate and you get choice of Japanese multigrain or white rice, Japanese potato salad, toss salad too, and your main. You even get choice of small bottled water or side miso soup!
Go either earlier at 1100 or 1130, or after 1245 to beat the rush… line goes fast and food ready quickly so not bad. If you’re into poke, make sure you get there early, they typically sell out of the poke dishes by 12:30pm; that and the chicken katsu.
Also, plenty of open seating outside; great place to lunch by yourself or with friends.

The food was great, reasonably priced, and there was no wait. Most of our group bought the pre-​made salad which was tasty!
TIP: The pre-​made salads come with a free water!

I love Japanese food. While I’m pretty sure that this shop is not authentic Japanese food, I don’t care! It is so good and CHEAP! Perfect for someone like me who works in downtown and wants to eat delicious Japanese food on a budget.
I know… anyone who has tried Mama-​Ya will know that if you go during prime time lunch hour (I’d say 11:30 am — 1 pm), be prepared to wait at least 15 minutes to just place your order. However, I have gone at 11:15 and seen no line (I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming!). Usually, during rush hour there are two lines — one line is to order from the menu, the other line is to pay for the ready-​made items (i.e. bentos, musubis) and any phone orders. Usually the line to order will be the longer line.
I have not tried their menu items that you have to order; I normally pick up one of their ready-​made, to-​go bentos. The best part is that the bentos are a ready-​made item, so I can use the shorter, faster line. Yay!
I always get the garlic chicken bento with the multi-​grain rice. The chicken pieces are boneless with a crispy outside and tender inside that is drizzled with the garlic sauce. I like the multi-​grain rice because it has additional flavor and it is not crunchy rice (I’ve had a bento from another place in town that the rice was on the crunchy side — no bueno!). Anyway… the bento also comes with a croquette, arabiki sausage, takuan, watercress, and gobo. The croquette is not super crunchy, but it is a nice side dish to the chicken. The arabiki sausage is slighty spicy. The bento is very filling and tasty… and only $ 5.50!
I also like to grab the crunchy ume musubi for an afternoon snack for the days I know I will be working late. This musubi is simple and is the perfect food to help tie me over until dinner.

As a new transfer to downtown, some coworkers suggested I eat here. We arrived at around 12:30 and there was a line. I usually think that if a place has a line going out the door, there must be a reason for it… so I figured Mamaya is just that good? I didn’t mind waiting as I took that time to talk and catch up.
I noticed everyone ahead of us ordered from the menu. One of my coworkers said that basically everything is good… even the pre-​made bentos, sushi, musubi, etc. on the counters. She also mentioned that after a certain time, the pre-​made items are discounted. I was going to get mochiko chicken but then realized I didn’t want any fried foods… so I changed my mind and decided to get the miso butterfish. My coworkers got the spicy ahi and a variety of pre-​made items.
The miso butterfish was alright. Wanted to try the multigrain, so I got that instead of white rice and gotta say, ratio of rice to fish was not even… I felt like I paid more for the generous scoop of rice. It also came with a green salad and what seemed like a potato/​mac salad. You also had a choice between miso soup or a bottle of water. My other coworker didn’t know that so he got miso soup with his spicy ahi, but also ended up buying a bottle of water cause he wanted water.
Things I didn’t like that much was the wait and that I shoulda gotten the spicy ahi because THEY GIVE A LOT. I know where to get my poke fix for lunch now. I most likely will be back to try other things on the menu, but not for a while because I’ve already crossed off Mamaya on my list of downtown lunching places.

I came here on a busy lunch day. There was a line but not too bad. We just wanted a quick snack, so we got the pre-​made mochiko chicken pack and the grilled salmon onigiri. It was cold but there’s a microwave you can use there. Awesome! The mochiko chicken was good, if only it was fresh made then it would taste excellent. The onigiri was a little bit salty.
There is also pasta on the menu. I would love to try it next time. A lot of bentos and salad dishes also. It’s a quick and cheap eatery place if you’re ever in downtown.

Go early or you will have a long wait and they may sell out of food.
They have 3 kinds of poke, all of it is good, and cannot be beat for the price. Servings are huge. Their musubi selection is pretty good too, as well as the bentos. For a lunch under 10 bucks, their poke bowl just cannot be beat downtown.

After my visit to Mamaya today, I’m not surprised to see a raving review written by an employee to help boost their ratings on Unilocal.TERRIBLE service!
It was fairly empty since it was after the rush, so I figured it wouldn’t be so bad of a wait for a freshly made miso butterfish bento (for my coworker). I grabbed a pre-​made somen salad for myself, which looked like it was topped with fish, but it turned out to be chicken haha! The bento did take a little long, about 15 minutes, but my coworker said it was delicious, just like the other locations. The somen salad was okay… chicken was bland and boiled-​like, but cheap for such a huge portion.
Sadly, every single worker I had contact with seemed to have zero customer service skills. I’d normally blame it on inexperience and lack of training, but the cashier was just plain olé rude. Im sure some will disagree, but for me, I don’t care how good the food is, if the workers are asshats, I probably won’t go back.
Why would I frequent a business that doesn’t care about how they are treating customers? Geez, at least look at the person in front of you when taking their order, or a greeting or thank you would be nice! All I got was bad attitudes, blank stares, and both workers left the front to answer their personal cell phones at one point. Apparently their priorities at work do not pertain to customers, or work at all!
Anyway, I hope the owners realize what’s really going on at this location. Inefficient operations and bad customer service can tank any business within a matter of months. Train and equip your staff for success and ramp up the ordering process before it’s too late. Until then, will not be back to this location.

I went there today for lunch & they were sold out of my first choice (miso butterfish) & second choice (unagi donburi) so I ended up with chicken katsu bento ($ 7.50). The chicken was nice & tender. I skipped the side dish of potato salad since the multi grain rice was enough to fill you up. The potato salad wasn’t too exciting anyway. I had a green tea pudding ($ 2.50) for dessert, which has a nice flavor but isn’t too sweet.
Their service time has improved significantly since my first visit. The wait time to order was about 15 – 20 minutes but the food arrived in less than 10 minutes.
They have a sign to call by 10 AM to pick up your food, which I’ll try next time, so hopefully my favorite dish, miso butterfish, won’t be sold out that early.

Heard from a co-​worker that Mamaya opened up in the old Bishop street café. If you work downtown, you always hear about the foodie gossip, what closed, what’s new, etc.
Of course like any new place, there was a line. Took about 30 minutes to order and get the food. Meh, not too bad considering they just opened last week.
The Grub.
[[ SALMON KATSU $ 7.95 ]]
OMG, so much food~! This plate lunch comes with green salad, potato salad, your choice of rice and 3 delish pieces of salmon katsu. With the katsu they give tartar sauce, I think I personally would have preferred getting the regular katsu sauce.
[[ SPICY AHI $ 7.50 ]]
Very very nice portion of spicy poke. My coworker said the ahi was fresh and a decent spicy level.
Overall the food was good, I definitely want to come back and check out other items on the menu. I kind of wished they offered mini plates because the salmon katsu plate was too big for me. But that might not be saying much for people with a bigger appetite then me: P

This review is based on the last day of Mama-Ya’s grand opening week, 3÷20÷2015
My office decided to order Mama-​Ya because of the 30% off grand opening special, where all items on the menu was 30% off. Around 11:00 we tried calling and faxing our order in to no avail. At 11:30 I volunteered to walk down to their location on Bishop Street, near Ferguson Pub.
The line was almost wrapped around the building when I arrived, but decided to wait anyway. After a total of 40 minutes in line, I was finally in the shop and almost to the cashier.
Mama-​Ya did a great job with layout, as you walk into the shop, there are prepackaged lunches to go, think Mochiko Chicken plates, Spam Musubi packs, fried noodles and assorted musubis. Though many past reviews criticise the system, I think it only seemed horrendous because of the grand opening discount.
On this visit, we ordered:
Furikake Salmon Katsu
Chicken Katsu Donburi
Salmon Oriental Salad
Miso Butterfish
Carbonara with Bacon
and Shrimp Pasta
All were super tasty with great sized portions! I love that their food is made to order.
All rice dishes have the option of white rice, or their 12-​grain specialty rice at no additonal cost. All items also come with a choice of either miso soup or small salad, or a small water bottle. Pretty good deal for sure! Even at regular price, ALL plates are under $ 10.
The Furikake Salmon Katsu comes with three pieces of katsu style salmon, potato salad, small salad and housemade tartar sauce.
Miso Butterfish is a generous portion of fish, with rice and dressed small salad.
Both the Carbonara with Bacon and Shrimp Pasta were popular with my coworkers who ordered them, only note for the Shrimp Pasta: shrimp comes with shell on!
For those of you in downtown, Mama-​Ya takes phone and fax orders BEFORE 10:00am for pickup that day. So if you’re planing to order lunch for the office, get your order in ASAP!
Based on my experience on their opening week, I will definitely be back for lunch.