Sake Street

I went with some girlyfriends and we had a good time. It was a bit expensive. The waiter was so nervous and obviously had memorized the sake menu to a T, but it didn’t feel like the type of experience I wanted to go back to, which is why I guess they closed. Not to fret, owners may eventually open a new place (so I’ve read in the latest Honolulu Mag).

This place is ridiculous. First off, I should have taken a hint with the generic cheesy name like «Sake Street» that this place was definitely not going to be Japanese food. I only went because my friend wanted to really try it out and they supposedly had a very unique menu. You could consider their menu to be unique, I consider it to be very confusing just as well as the flavors were. The Ramen came in a potato truffle potage soup. super weird. ahh the whole menu is weird. The hamachi was fishy. I could go into this further, but it’s a waste of my time as it will be of yours if you go.

First off… in case you weren’t sure… This is NOT a japanese restaurant. They call it pan-​Asian.
FOOD: 5 stars
The food is really great and the menu is eclectic to say the least. There is a dish from every genre, so it’s sure to please everyone on your table. For example, there is hamachi, spare ribs, tacos, ramen, nachos, tako salad, chow fun… you get it right… (It’s also beautifully presented.)
Hamachi kama was yum, duck lumpia was also yum yum. Tako salad was very different, but equally nom.
SERVICE: 5 stars
The servers and hostesses are fabulous. Super friendly, warm and informative. They will give you the rundown on their ~10 sakes and recommend their favorites.
PRICE: 3 stars
It was pretty pricey considering the dishes we ordered. Hamachi kama was $ 22 and the beers we had were $ 8 per bottle. The sake was good and averagely priced. $ 5 – 10 for a skoshi taste (half wine glass). Bill was $ 75 after 3 glasses of sake, 2 beers and 3 side dishes. Kinda high since we were just out for appetizers and drinks.
AMBIANCE: 5 stars.
Kind of an artsy Bar 35 meets art gallery atmosphere. I love it since it looks fresh, clean and modern. Two thumbs up in this department.
There were no other patrons when we were there on a Wed night at 9pm. I will be back, but not regularly since it’s pricey. I could also see the parking being a problem if it were busy… but late nights are quiet.

It seems that I should’ve visited this place for dinner instead of happy hour for drinks.
The Crap List:
1. No parking. I had to back out on the street because someone was coming out of the lot. Props to the valet for working hard, but the parking situation is annoying. Park next to the park at your own risk. Looks shady at night.
2. For a place named sake street, they sure have a small selection of sake. I’m not a big sake drinker, but the list was unimpressive.
3. Blah pupus. My mochiko chicken tasted like it wasn’t cooked all the way through and the furikake fries were bland. I guess I’ll need to try an entrée if I ever come back.
4. Worst martinis ever. They serve their own speciality martinis, but they taste funny. It’s like they randomly picked out fruity types of alcohol and mixed them up. Three of us got three different types. Fail on all three.
This place gets 1 star for two reasons. First, our waiter tried to educate us on the different types of sake. Second, Unilocal doesn’t let me rate places with zero stars.

What a nice surprise! I wasn’t sure what to think about this place as eateries on Kapahulu always seem very hit or miss to me and I’m not the biggest sake fan in the world.
The décor is quite nice — dark and inviting. The service was a little slow but I was part of a large party so I’ll cut them some slack on that.
I nibbled of others’ plates and everything was good. I tried 3 kinds of sake and found one I absolutely loved, but I can’t remember the name of it. Guess I’ll just have to go back! Also a huge wine menu which would be great for sake non-​drinkers to take for a test drive.

The staff were fabulously friendly and attentive. The food was truly wonderful. I had the tofu salad, which was tasty down to the last strand of lettuce. The tofu had a crispy edge. The hamachi sashimi was a large plate of gorgeously presented slices, which was served with two sauces for dipping. The pistachio crème brûlée was the perfect finish, with two crispy pistachio cookies as accompaniment. When my friend was late joining me, and the staff found out she was lost and wandering around the neighborhood, someone went outside, found her, and herded her in. What great people. I will be back again and again. Oh, and the sake, which was served in chilled wineglasses, was quite delicious. It was a pleasure to be offered the skosh — 2 oz tastings, before making the decision on a larger serving.

My hubby & I stopped by after work tonight, unfortunately the Hamachi was sold out — oh well just another reason to return. The ahi was fresh and a beautiful center cut served on a bed of local succatosh. We had calamari and duck pancake the flavors were spot on… I had 3 skoosh pours of sake and hubby was happy with his beer selections! We will be back!

Finally went to go eat here after having it bookmarked for three weeks! Sake Street is located where the old Wasabi Bistro used to be and is owned by the same owners as Formaggio’s. We were greeted with a friendly smile by the hostess and seated in Blaine’s section.
Upon greeting us, Blaine brought over a sake cart and gave us descriptions on the different types if sake. We went with the Masumi Arabashiri, Ryo, and the Tendorigawa Yamahai. All tasty and listed in order from our favorite to our least favorite.
First bites from the cart:
Holding the «first bites» were these dim-​sum style carts with the food already in it. We went with the Pork Ribs with Li Hing-​Sake glaze. The meat was tender practically falling off the bones with a succulent sauce that left me wanting more.
Small Plates:
Korean Pork Belly Tacos — Pork belly and kimchee in a soft tortilla wasn’t exactly a home run, but I loved the concept and it had just the right amount of spice.
Soups, Salads, and Sashimi:
Although it fell under this category, this was actually a sushi roll. The dish is called «Manny’s Knockout Special» and the description read spicy ahi adobo roll. Sounds interesting? Well, it wasn’t and this is the only dish we wrapped up. Innovative idea, but poor execution.
Not So Small Plates:
Hamachi Kama — Hamachi Kama is Hamachi Kama anywhere… EXCEPT HERE!!! This is by far the BEST HAMACHI KAMA EVER!!!
Braised Boneless Asian Shortribs with Star Anise and Wasabi Mashed Potatoes — My only problem with this dish is the shortribs come sliced. Sure, it’s easier to eat, but the meat is tender anyway so there is no need to come sliced. I mean, it’s boneless shortribs, not chopped steak right? Nonetheless, it was wonderful.
Dessert:
Pistachio Crème Brulee garnished with two pistachio cookies– OOOOOOOOOh Myyyyyyyyyyyyyy heavenly father! First of all, I’ve never heard of pistachio crème brûlée ever. It was the first time and yes, it was memorable. The tingling sensation that went through my body when I screamed… Oh wait, I’m writing a food review. Sorry, I lost track as I reminisced about the orgasmic feeling I had while eating this delectable dessert. You get the picture right?
BF had the «Monkey’s Mummy» and he liked it. It’s coconut ice cream with diced fruits. I thought it was just meh and that worked out for me because I didn’t have to share my crème brûlée. Praise the Lord Hallelujah!!!
Our server Blaine was wonderful. He’s the guy pictured in the Star Bulletin for the Sake Street article. Go request his section and embarrass him. The Executive Chef and the Manager came by our table to see if everything was going okay. For a new restaurant, they sure have their act together. I will definitely be back for another visit soon.

First of all, I think it’s great that their menu is available online. That’s what actually made me really excited about wanting to eat there. The menu is mostly contemporary Asian influenced, and everything sounds great! AND the prices are very reasonable. :)
However, the parking situation isn’t that great, but they offer FREE complimentary valet. But my friend and I decided to find parking elsewhere and walk.
When we walked in, we were instantly greeted. We checked in (for our reservation) and were seated right away. Our server Cristina brought the sake cart to us right away and we were able to try a couple different ones before finally making our selection.
After choosing our sake, they brought us a sample of their tofu salad. Yum!
Anyway, we started off with:
Grilled Lamb Riblets w/​Hoisin ($ 7.49) &Caroline’s Five Spice Duck Lumpia ($ 6.99)
OMG, they were both suuupppppeeeerrrr gooooood! The lamb was tender and juicy! The lumpia was packed with duck and tasty goodness!
Then, for our entrées:
Chow Hound’s Lamb Curry Pot Pie ($ 14.99) & Braised Boneless Asian Shortribs w/​Star Anise and Wasabi Mashed Potatoes ($ 15.99)
Both were winners. The curry pot pie had such great flavor. Everything seem to mesh well. I thought the curry was going to be a little overpowering, but it wasn’t. Not at all! It was wonderful! The crust of the pot pie was so delicious and I really liked its texture. Both the lamb and the shortribs were delightfully tender!
Dessert was AMAZING:
Pistachio crème brûlée!!!
It was perfect. No, better than perfect. Not overly sweet like most crème brûlées. AND it came with 2 pistachio shortbread cookies, which was great. I would have eaten another one if I wasn’t so full. lol
The general manager Dio was so nice, along with the rest of the staff. Dio came out and checked on us several times, making sure we were enjoying ourselves. He also brought us some other sake to try with our dessert!
Yay for sake :)
Even though Sake Street has only been open for about 3 weeks, they really seem to have it together. I am excited to try more of their dishes and sake. I can’t wait to go back!

i’m so excited to Unilocal about this place because it’s fairly new and i imagined it would be good since it’s owned by the same people as formaggio. they totally lived up to my standards!!!
here’s what my friend and i ordered:
— tofu salad w/​crispy salmon… my favorite part of this was the salmon skin (which almost tasted like pork rinds)
— hamachi sashimi w/​ponzu… so fresh and buttery! our server also gave us a bit of cloudy carbonated sake that went well with it «on the house» yay!
— «manny’s knockout special» spicy ahi adobo roll… yummm-​o! it was a different twist on spicy ahi that included parsley, basil, avacado, and some other ingredients that i probably don’t know about. definitely worth trying!
— hamachi kama…2 fairly sized pieces with planny meat and delish wasabi-​ish/​ponzu-​ish dipping sauce
— chilled calamari w/​citrus oyster sauce, tomato, onion, & cilantro… probably my least fave out of all the dishes but i’m not really a raw squid kind of person
— my favorite part of the meal…*drum roll*…dessert!!! monkey’s mummy!!! coconut ice cream with tiny cubes of strawberry and mango with banana chips and a big wafer thing. omg i die!!! it was SOOOOOO good, i could’ve ate two!!!
i would tell you what kind of sake we drank but i totally forgot to write that down. there are sooooo many choices of sake! just go there and your server will help you with all of that ;) there was also a dish called «monkey’s brain» on the menu for $ 59 which i guess is their inside joke. lol. before i caught on to that, i was actually willing to try it! oh well, i had to settle with monkey’s mummy :)
the service is AWESOME (our server is now known as «sake nick») and very knowledgeable, the manager (s)/owner (s) were really friendly and made sure people were having a good time, our food came out very timely, and the place is really nice and chic inside! overall, it was a GREAT experience and i will be back here fo’ sho with my girlfriends!!!

Really liked this place! We were enthusiastically greeted at the door and got a very nice table under the tent. Our waiter Brian was friendly and seemed genuinely interested in making sure our dining experience was fun and memorable. First came the sake cart which I thought was a cool concept and between the four of us we got a good sampling of most of the bottles offered. I wish I had liked my first sake choice but at least we were able to order 2 oz. tastes (a «skosh») just like at Formaggios :)
We ordered our food family style and shared the following: pork ribs with li hing-​sake glaze, foie gras fried rice, braised boneless asian short ribs w/​star anise and wasabi mashed potatoes, kare kare short ribs with peanut sauce, grilled hamachi kama marinated in sake and ponzu, whole pan-​fried moi with calamansi, chile and soy, and ended with the chocolate mousse «surfboard» dessert.
It was all pretty yummy! Totally impressed that they’ve only been open a week and they seem to have it together. Only one minor faux-​pas was we didn’t have our plates from when our very first entrée came out.
Definitely want to check this place out again!

Eight of us went there and tried a variety of pupu, salads and entrees and they were all excellent. We also sampled several sakes that were recommended and they were delicious with the meal. The whole snapper was especially good and big enough to share. The service was excellent and enjoyable and the semi –private room we were in was very comfortable and cozy… perfect for a private group. The prices were very reasonable given the quality of the food and the menu offers a huge variety of dishes in small and large servings. The Overall it was a great dining experience I would highly recommend.

After returning from a trip to Napa Valley and San Francisco on a culinary expedition you get a little satiated with good food. Coming here was a complete surprise! This restaurant is located where the old Wasabi Bistro was and has parking in front. The décor and styling of the place is sheik and sophisticated with a nice outdoor patio area. Now the important part the FOOD! I had started with the duck spring rolls, they were filled with generous shreds of duck and fried golden brown, the accompanying sauce was a nice touch. We also sampled the lamb rib lets, they were tender. I think they were marinated in a yogurt sauce and grilled to perfection, a little Mediterranean flare. our entrée was the steamed whole snapper, prepared Chinese style with the shoyu, green onion, cilantro base. Absolutely delicious and fresh, we devoured every bit. They also have a sake cart presentation for you. The service was excellent and the staff is knowledgeable and very accommodating. The proprietors are from the original Formaggio. Late nite menu till 2am. I’m a fan!!!