Shogunai Tacos

This was by far the best street food I have ever had, & I love to eat street food. It was far more gourmet, than taco wagon. The combinations work very well. I found myself hunting down the truck to try something new. Certainly a must if you have the chance.

Shogunai Tacos, as we have known and loved, has closed its wagon. Best wishes Matt! Am sure you will be successful in your future ventures. But darn it… no one makes a lamb taco or morrocan fries like you do !! No one !

So far I’ve had the Brooklyn pastrami taco and the korean kalbi taco. Both were really really good. Korean one was way too spicy! But good. But wow it’s like they’re trying to hurt you or something. Pastrami taco was bomb!
But…also had the chicken tajine plate (not taco) which wasn’t good. Chicken was dry and bland. Rice was ok. So disappointing.
Also had the furikake fries which definitely was not good at all. The seasoning on some bites was ok, but the fries were bleh. Really bleh. I can throw some frozen fries in the fryer and at least mine will be a little crispier/​tastier.
So, although i liked the tacos, right now this place is at a 50% clip — 2 good items, 2 bad items so far. I’ll definitely eat here again to try their other tacos.

Had a Foodie Pass from the DishWALK I went on in January, which had a «Buy 2 tacos, get the 3^rd free» deal attached and that I finally used today when I took a friend with me for lunch.
LOCATION:
They’re currently one of the food trucks that are leasing space on the 755 Kapahulu Ave. gravel lot with a handful of other food trucks. In other words, unless they’re doing an event somewhere like Eat The Street, they’re most likely to be on this lot, normally opened for lunch. Follow them on Twitter for the most up to date info on where they’re at (they also respond rather quickly this way).
SERVICE:
I want to say that Matt, the founder of the truck, is the one you can normally find working. He’s a really friendly guy and just wants you to enjoy your food! Everything is made to order, so don’t get huffy-​puffy if you have to wait for your meats to get finished cooking or for your tacos to get assembled, especially if Matt is running his one man show in there!
FOOD:
The original samples of their tacos I had were kinda small, but their normal sized tacos come on 8″ tortillas, so it’s definitely filling! My friend and I both ordered Zeus’ Glory ($ 8), for our free taco we ordered the Osaka Jo (normally $ 6.50), and then a couple orders of the Moroccan Pomme Frites (i.e. fries) ($ 4 per order).
Zeus’ Glory, Greek Taco — «100% lamb, olives, feta cheese, tomato, red onion, cabbage and tzatziki sauce»
My first time trying this one, and it kind of reminded me of a lamb gyro… except that it was in a tortilla instead of pita or something. The fillings are good, but the fact that my brain is stuck thinking of a gyro and the taste not coming out the same as one kinda made my experience eating it a little less than I expected. On the other hand… if you out there reading have never had a gyro before, try this! It’s actually good.
Osaka Jo, Japanese Taco — «Pork marinated in ginger, shoyu, garlic, lemon, our special Nihon Sauce, cabbage, Mung Bean sprouts, and sprinkled with furikake»
The pork is shredded which I think helps keep this from being a really heavy taco~~that’s a good thing! All the ingredients in this taco just make it seem light — the cabbage and sprouts are light crunchy veggies, and the marinade for the pork gives it a more refreshing taste than anything else. Surprisingly, you can also actually taste the furikake they sprinkle on, which means it’s not just there for good looks, haha.
Moroccan Pommes Frites — «French Fries with North African Spices»
SO GLAD that these aren’t the greasy, greasy fries that I was originally expecting from a food truck. Although their sort of thicker cut fries, they’re still crispy on the outside, just the right amount of squish on the inside, and NOT I-​need-​a-​napkin-​at-​all-​times greasy. Also, they have just the right amount of seasoning to color the fries, add some flavor, and compliment the tacos without overpowering anything.
CONCLUSION:
My original rating of 3 stars for the food alone still stands, mostly because of the price points. The tacos are good, sizeable (for my petite lil 5ft. self), and aren’t over cooked or overly oily/​greasy, but the tacos I’ve tried lack the extra zing of flavor that make me want to keep ordering them for the price range of $ 6.50-$ 8 per taco. But the service and location (i.e. not having to chase them around town) added the fourth star for me. I’ll update again if I try their other tacos.

Went to this place at Eat the Street Kapolei, and it was just alright. I got the Korean one, and it was WAY TO SPICY. I usually like spicy, but towards the end it became a bit unenjoyable. The taco was very flavorful and yummy, it’s just there was an unsanitary feel to this truck. I don’t know there was a guy smoking one of the vaporizer things inside of the truck. Like just knowing that made my taco taste a little yes yum.
Overall, it was good, not great. I wish I had chosen another truck for dinner.

I love the uniqueness of the tacos that they offer.
We first tried this on the Dish Walk and my husband and I ordered two different tacos that were offered so we could try them both out. The Damascus Taco is Greek/​Morroccan Inspired — with hummus, tomatoes, onions, and olives. The Osaka was Asian inspired and had cabbage and shredded pork. They served the tacos with what appeared to be Greek fries, which were delicious!
I understand they park by circuit court on occasion, so I will need to seek them out in the near future! A definite repeat!

I tried the Zeus’s Glory at the Discover Kakaako event. It is a greek taco with lamb, olives, feta cheese, tomato, red onion, cabbage and tzatziki sauce. It was kinda messy with the ingredients placed inside a tortilla. Maybe they should try tuck it in so it is easier to eat? No utensils were given, only one napkin. Mildly tasty, but I would not go out of my way to get this.

Tracked down Shogunai Tacos because of a Groupon I picked up. They are at different locations on different days, but you can see where they are by checking facebook, twitter, or their website.
I had an Osaka Jo Japanese Taco, which had cabbage, pork, bean sprouts and furikake. Great texture which you wouldn’t normally get from a taco (from the bean sprouts and cabbage) and generally good flavor, though a little on the salty side.
For 6.50−7.50 you get a decently sized taco. It isn’t plate-​lunch sized, but one should be enough for a meal unless you’re really hungry. At regular prices this might be closer to 3.5 stars than 4, but either way that would round up.

Great variation on the now-​ubiquitous taco truck. They have different culinary variations on the taco. My favorite is the Zeus– their take on a swarma/​gyro with lamb & tzatziki sauce. Combine that with their Moroccan fries, yum! Enjoyable to hunt down their truck or wait for the monthly Eat the Street festival.

Stopped by first circuit court today around 11:15, luckily Shogunai was there!!!
Today we tried the Cajun shrimp taco with about 6 large shrimp, garlic, onions, cilantro & jalapeños. $ 7.50
We also got the spring rolls– 2– with Thai sweet chili sauce glazed over them on a bed of shredded cabbage. $ 3.00
Canned drinks/​soda is $ 1.50, green tea (bottled) is $ 2.00.
Takes about 10 minutes to get your food, but it is nice and fresh when you get it.
Service with a smile, genuinely thankful for your business and that’s a nice feeling too!

ETS Dia De Los Muertos was my first time here. — My friend & I heard good things about this truck & considering we didn’t get the chance to try it out while they were on the UH campus last semester… we decided to do so at ETS.
First, our names… «Justine» is NOT pronounced «Justin». Oh, and it’s «KAI — LEEN», you know… «Aileen» with a «K». NOT «Kaylyn». Thank you. (But then again, at this point we’re used to getting our names mispronounced already).
Second, $ 6.50 is reasonable for the size of the taco you get. And their service is not bad, at all actually. They are actually pretty nice, & even apologized about a billion times for mispronouncing our names.
So why three stars? Well… I really debated giving them two stars, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt especially considering it was only my first time.
I gave them a low rating for several reasons…
1. It was reallyyyy messy (like «falling apart & dripping with sauce» messy) & they only gave us one napkin each.
2. It was lacking flavor! At least, my taco was & I got the «South of the Border» Mexican taco. I’m not too sure about the one my friend got (the «Japanese» taco). But, I guess you could say it wasn’t what I was expecting.
3. I swear I said I wanted jalapenos… which they forgot to give me. And yes, I know I probably could have gone back to ask for it, but it was so crowded at ETS I didn’t even bother.
Overall, if you were to ask me if I would come back to this truck, I honestly don’t know. Probably not? It would most likely depend on what other option (s) I had.
31 Unilocal Review Challenge: #27/​31

I love food trucks… i mean REALLY love food trucks. For some strange reason, food that comes from trucks taste awesome!!! I haven’t had a poor experience yet… until now.
Service was fine. They were nice enough. We ordered two different tacos. My husband got the one with kim chee. I got the one with furikake… i think. i don’t even remember and this was two days ago. That’s how unmemorable it was. Tasteless, dry, incredibly unappetizing. Meat was dry as was the greens in there. I love tacos. but this was by far my least favorite.
Save yourself a few bucks and go elsewhere.

So I’ve had the pleasure to eat off this truck twice already on two very different occasions…
These guys are versatile with their food and that sets them apart for me. Never had I been a fan of food trucks but Shogunai has helped me change my opinion.
The first time I tried these guys, they were catering for a play in downtown Honolulu at the Arts at Marks. They served raw oysters, caesar salad, steak, hummus and freshly made tiramisu for dessert. Everything was delicious. People ate everything off their plates. They worked fast and efficiently.
The second time I tried them was last night at the Medal of Honor Freedom Fest. Their menu was vast. Veggie tacos, greek tacos (with lamb…:mouth watering:), Mexican tacos with ground beef, etc. They pretty much had anything for anybody. My greek taco included lamb, some sort of delicious white sauce, olives, tomatoes and lettuce. It was great and I finished all of it. My belly was satisfied.
In other words, I recommend this truck.

Never again. Never again. It was about a year ago when Mililani had it’s first eat the street in 2011. A couple of my friends and I wanted to see what the hype was about with «Eat the Street» and it was a convenient place because Mililani is our hometown.
We arrived about an hour before closing and still then there were massive lines at every vendor. We have split up and went to different vendors so when we met up again we could at least try each others food. One of my friends went to this particular vendor «Shogunai Taco’s» I should of known by the Japanese name that it was to cool to be true. ShoguNAI~ (meaning it’s not even a shogun, nai [meaning] negative form)
The taco was a chicken taco. When we all tasted it, It was mostly cold even the chicken part. My friend even told me that they just made it on the spot because they were about to close and just got whatever. (Talk about will make anything just to make money)
The next morning. The same friends and I were supposed to hang out the day after… I have told them that I’m feeling under the weather and turns to find out they had the same situation. We both came to the conclusion that it was the TACO’S. Our stomachs were in pain, making regurgitating sounds, and diarrhea. After realizing that it was the taco’s we have decided to never attend any more Eat the Street venues anymore. This was such a turn off.
I’m just here to share my story. I hope that in the future there are food inspectors that service all food trucks once in awhile…
Picture of the taco:

To celebrate March Madness, my awesome employer (Bankoh) gave us employees the choice of lunch from 5 different lunch trucks. I chose Shogunai Taco Truck and had the pork taco. It was HUGE and very yummy. Came with a bag of chips and a soda.
Food coma for the rest of the day. I’m going to find out where downtown this taco truck lurks during the week :-)

Having spotted them at Eat The Street in late November, I ordered one of their signature items, the Osaka Jo taco ($ 6.50): pork marinated in ginger, shoyu (soy sauce), garlic, and lemon, special Nihon sauce, sprouts, and furikake, served in a warm flour tortilla.
The pork was very juicy, carrying such uplifting savory qualities from the marinade. The fresh sprouts added a crunchy element to the taco. Furikake, a Japanese condiment normally served over rice, is a unique taco topping, and that really worked here to bring an extra «umami» aspect. The Nihon sauce resembled a BBQ sauce, but it did its job to bring all the flavors together! The tortilla felt a bit rigid here, but still held all the filling inside. A success overall!
Other menu items include «Zeus’s Glory» (a Greek taco), the «Seoul Food» (Korean), and «South of the Border» (Mexican). Check out Shogunai Tacos and try the food for yourself!

Unilocal Challenge 365 # ¹⁶⁄₃₆₅
What??NO CHEESE/​/​/​How can a taco truck run out of cheese??? They park on Halekauwila street at least a couple times a week. The last time I tried to order, they told me they were cleaning up and not serving… okay… so I go to the other taco truck a couple stalls away who was also cleaning up but chose to serve me. Go figure?
Well– I ordered the shrimp taco since that was the only taco (1 of about 5 types) that did not have cheese on its description. Okay, I should probably give them an extra star because the taco was not bad at all. Lots of shrimps with vegetables freshly prepared… $ 7.50 for a shrimp taco.
I also ordered fries. Now, I order the fries because I am curious of its description «Fries! Today flavored in North African seasoning…» Interesting taste… as I write this review I am trying to think of how to describe or measure it to something… Ummmmm… can’t! But I can tell you it was interesting and would I try it again? Yep. Interesting enough, I would.
There should be something to be said about the truck graphics. interesting thing…
Shogunai (japanese language definition= can’t be helped) Maybe they meant the name to be Shogun ai (japanese language definition= warrior ai=?) Yep! Just another interesting thing… okay enough of the interesting things.
I see them at Eat the Street… since I see them on Halekauwila Street regularly I like to try other trucks…
I will try them again next time! And, they better have cheese!

Starving at the Cinco de Mayo in Chinatown and decided to check out the Shogunai Truck. Got the Osaka Jo which is pork, shoyu, garlic, lemon, sprouts, and furikake. The tacos are HUGE, I have to give them that, but they aren’t that tasty. I don’t think it was dry, but it seemed dry if that makes any sense. Idk just not tender meat I guess.
I really wanted to like them cuz it seems interesting, but it wasn’t my thing.

They have been at all of the Eat the Street events, and although I buy at their truck once in a while during lunch, hubby bought a taco since he can’t get to them during lunch. After finally trying different taco trucks I have to say that this is the best truck that sells tacos with both taste and worth the price.
Osaka Jo Taco — 5 stars — lots of shredded pork blended with a nice sweet sauce and bean sprouts on top. Very huge flavorful taco for $ 6.50 that will satisfy your hunger after eating it, in comparison to other taco lunch trucks.
After trying a bite, I forgot to mention that it has a lot of sauce and will start to drip, and sure enough, it dripped all over his pants and chair as he got to the middle of the taco.
I would eat at this truck all the time because of the flavor, but I think because there’s so much meat and sauce in their taco, I seem to gain 2 pounds every time I eat there, and have to hold back on my craving for such flavorful huge tacos until I lose it or my hips will end up ballooning into two big basketballs.

I’m giving this place 3 stars bc it saved me from hunger pains during my jury selection lunch break.
The truck is pretty bright and easy to spot. It’s red and orange with blue waves on the bottom. It was a much easier lunch option for me than crossing the street to Restaurant Row. Plus, I only had $ 6.57 cash in my wallet. (I’m not big on carrying cash.)
Turns out, most of their tacos were $ 6.50. Guess it was meant to be.
I was thinking, «$ 6.50 for a taco!!!» But I’m always down to support new, local businesses… so why not just give it a try.
I opted for the Osaka, Jo, Japanese Taco $ 6.50: Pork marinated in ginger, shoyu, garlic, and lemon, their special Shogunai Sauce, sprouts, and furikake.
I chose this one bc it features their «special» Shogunai Sauce. And they do call their lunch wagon/​truck Shogunai Tacos…
Anyway, the guy told me that it was good. And it was.
The furikake was a nice complement. And the pork was like very tender marinated pulled pork. Yum. My taco was pretty hefty, as it should have been based on the price, and I was pleasantly surprised. Although, I don’t think I would get this saucy Osaka, Jo taco again.
My gripe: The sauce was kind of sweet and almost overpowering. I like sauce, but not that much. I felt like I needed a bowl of rice to accompany my taco…
I look forward to trying some of their other tacos like the Kanpai Chicken Japanese Taco: chicken in a celery and onion marinade with lettuce, spicy pickled asparagus and sesame seeds. The asparagus seems like an interesting twist.

Shogunai desu né!
Translation: Oh nay, can’t be helped!
Following the food truck scene via twitter and
, I had been hyped up about Shogunai Tacos. So what a treat it was for me to finally get to try this endless fusion in truck form.
So here’s the deal with Shogunai. You may have heard of Gogi Truck’s Korean tacos — these guys take it to the next level. Thai tacos, Indian Tacos, Greek tacos, Italian tacos — every item on this menu is a little fusion around the world.
I ordered the Bollywood Taco, described on their website as «Korma marinated chicken in yogurt and our home made masala.» I also ordered a side of their Moroccan fries. At $ 6.50 for the tacos and $ 4 for the fries, making the final price $ 10+ (meaning two $ on the Unilocal price scale). For the price, I was a little underwhelmed by the amount of food given to me.
The Bollywood Taco was without any kind of sauce. Had they forgotten either the yogurt/​masala or was it purposefully not there? It was not much of anything without a sauce. Kinda dry, not all that hearty. Sorry, I think I would given an extra star if this turned out the way it was described.
The Moroccan Fries on the other hand was very nice and full of spice. I could really snack on these all day.
Although I gave Shogunai only three stars, I encourage everyone to follow the emerging street food scene in Hawaii and that Shogunai definitely has huge potential.