Kikuya Restaurant in Kaneohe - Classic Local Style Japanese

Aloha...many of you thought that I may have starved to death since it has been a month since my last post. We've been in the midst of moving from Kailua to our own home in Kaneohe and it's been a crazy time. We've been eating at fast food chains a lot and didn't think you needed thoughts on those places.

Yesterday, however, a group of United Methodist pastors and I had lunch at a place I had heard about a lot, but had never been to: Kikuya Restaurant, 46-148 Kahuhipa St, Kaneohe, HI (808) 235-2613. It's located in the industrial section of this Windward Oahu town.

This is old fashioned Local Hawaii style Japanese food - not too fancy, in spartan decor, but reliably good.

The four of us opted for three of the combination plates. Two got the fried ahi with tempura.


I got a taste of a bit of the ahi. It was good and full of flavor. Gilbert, who frequently comments on the blog and who took these pictures, thought that the fish was cut a little thin and that made it just a touch dry, but he thought the flavor was terrific.

Another combination chosen was chicken katsu and tempura.


My pastor friend thought that the chicken katsu was very good, better than most.

I got the chicken teriyaki and tempura.

This is chicken teriyaki like I love: marinated through and through and the chicken has been charred nicely on the outside, but the inside is tender and juicy. The one thing I really appreciate about Kikuya is that they are not afraid to season their food. There are too many times when other places under-season their food. As much as I love Dean's Drive Inn most of the time, for example, there are times when they will under-season food. Absolutely no problem at Kikuya. Everything was seasoned extremely well.

We all thought that the tempura was good. I would probably pick a few other places' tempura to be a bit better, but I don't have any complaints.

The potato salad was also enjoyed by all.

The prices are good: about $9.50 for a good sized plate is a good deal.

A bonus: they do a brisk take-out business as well, with mini-plates like the chicken katsu and teriyaki dishes for only $5.

I would say that the other three pastors and I definitely recommend this place for a no frills, but thoroughly enjoyable meal. You're going to doubt the word of three men of the cloth? :>

Grace and aloha,

Tom

P. S. I briefly mentioned Dean's Drive Inn in this post. One thing that you'll notice is that it closes at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays and they are closed on Saturdays. This is because the owners are Seventh Day Adventists (SDA's). This is a Christian denomination that tries to honor the entire Bible and considers the Old Testament Law to be authoritative for their lives. SDA's believe that Saturday is the Biblical Sabbath and do no work on that day and the evening before. My mother-in-law is SDA, and she will not watch television or cook meals during the Sabbath. SDA's will also not eat pork or other foods that would be considered by Jews to be non-Kosher.

Most Christians (including myself) hold to St. Paul's teaching that they are freed from the law because of the work of Christ, therefore do not feel compelled to observe Sabbath and dietary laws. Moreover, since Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday, most Christians will worship on Sunday as the Day of the Lord.

I do, however, have a healthy respect for SDA's (and would even if my mother-in-law was not SDA, BTW) and their determination to have integrity about their faith life.