Humble store front hiding a wonderland of soba, sushi, and tempura. Best soba I've had in the US by a mile. I recommend the cold but my wife got the hot and loved it too. I called Friday at lunch time and was able to snag a 5p reservation. Wasn't sure if this was a kid-friendly restaurant but staff was welcoming (albeit there were no other kids there at the time). read more

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Great fresh soba noodles, came here around 6pm without a reservation for 2 people on a Thursday and got seated pretty quickly. Tempura batter was light and crispy, cold soba noodles were refreshing. Inside reminded me of Japan. Solid casual dinner! read more

I-NABA - Hot soba noodles - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Food was amazing, ambiance was very relaxed and waitress was so sweet and patient and helpful. Felt very peaceful and calm in there and was delicious! read more

Love how fresh the tempura and soba noodles are! The noodles are perfectly cooked and have a good bite to them. The tempura is super fresh, crispy, and flavorful. They also offer fresh seafood dishes that are great as well. Overall, the food is super tasty. Definitely recommend if you are craving traditional Japanese food! Service is quick and all the workers are very kind. read more

I-NABA - Tempura bowl and soba - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

One of my new favorite places!!! Cute little clean restaurant with authentic Japanese food. Nice servers and great food!! Went there for the first time and loved it so much that we went back just a couple weeks later. We plan to frequent this unique restaurant in the future even though it's across the island from us. Ume oroshi with fried mochi is my fav! read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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A solid spot for authentic handmade soba in Honolulu. I ordered the tempura box set with zaru soba. The soba was very fresh and had a good bite to it. The light coating of batter on the tempura made it very crispy and it came perfectly fried. The tempura also comes with rice, so the set was more filling than I expected. The restaurant is small and fills up quickly so reservations are recommended! read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

How did I not know about I-Naba? Came here for lunch today with a girlfriend and we were 15 minutes early. When the doors opened for business there was a line, not a long one, but the place filled quickly. There were several Japanese tourists too which I take as a good sign. My friend bought a bottle of beer for us to share and since she had been there before, ordered the pork belly for an appetizer. I ordered the sausages which turned out to be bigger arabiki sausages so though tasty, not unusual. But the pork belly was delicious! So tender and flavorful. I'd just watched a Japanese show the night before extolling the virtues if eating mackerel or cold water fish high in EPA to lower cholesterol so ordered the battera set with mackeral sushi and a side of cold soba. The mackerel sushi was tasty and the soba exceptional it was very "springy". Next time I think I will get a big serving of the cold soba. Service was fast and courteous. Also liked the interior of the place. There are 2 sides to the restaurant. Definitely will be back. read more

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First time here. Came with my husband and some friends who are visiting from out of town. We had tempura mushroom and tempura smelt. Both good- light batter, crispy, and tender. The smelt look intimidating, but try them! Not too fishy at all and delicious. Everyone ordered the chirashi bowl with soba noodles. I ordered assorted sashimi. Quality was pretty good and the pieces of fish were decent size. Not too thin and not too thick. The soba was served with dashi and it had that delicious smoky bonito flavor. This place is BYOB. Luckily there is a Times about two blocks away (hehe). read more

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My cousin showed me this place for authentic soba! They even hand-make their soba. We did have to wait a bit since the restaurant is really small but it was worth it. The edamame rice and the veggie + fish tempura was also delicious! I devoured everything and left fully satisfied! read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I've been here twice the first time everything was amazing, got one of the cold sobas and it was excellent! The next time I decided to try one of the hot sobas with duck, which was good but nothing special. The service was what I would expect, prompt and polite but the atmosphere was great. I would say stick to the cold sobas and you'll be good to go. read more

Soba at i-naba was great but their sushi rolls were also decent. Nigiri was as fresh as any good sushi joint. Tempura was so so - I could have skipped that one given the choice. Definitely recommend on making a reservation otherwise you'll likely be waiting quite a while as a walking. Parking lot is fairly limited but you can also park on the street. read more

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I was craving soba and this place was perfect! We were able to just walk in on a Monday night. Parking is a very tiny lot so we had to park on the street luckily you don't have to pay after 6:) We ordered the tamagoyaki for our appetizer (they also provide a small bowl of edamame). For dinner we got the tempura soba & the build your own soba - added egg and natto. The tempura included shrimp, fish, eggplant, & potato. Very yummy! We were seated at the bar area & I would like to mention how cold it was there lol. The air vent was faced right at us and we were a bit cold...I almost ordered hot soba because I was so cold haha. For dessert we ordered the deep fried ice cream & the green tea ice cream w/azuki (not pictured but i recommend. The fried ice cream was alright, it was a bit mushy & I guess im not a big fan of warm ice cream. read more

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Or one our favorite from our recent visit. Get reservations if you can. If not, come in around 7 pm and you should be able to get in the last round of seating before close (8pm) Everything we tried was great so take your pick. Next time would like to try more of their sushi especially their Chirashi read more

I love going to this place for soba and udon (made in house) it's a small hole in the wall place so I recommend making reservations in advance. I always get the shrimp tempura along with the fried mochi. If they have hamachi Kama I'll add that to my order but the salmon Kama is good too. Portions are Japanese size but you can upgrade to a larger portion. Staff is very friendly and did i mentioned it's BYOB! I personally am not a huge fan of raw fish but my boyfriend loves the uni don. read more

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Love this place it's an authentic Japanese restaurant in Hawaii; the ambiance feels like you're in Japan with the staff speaking English. The food ... OMG ... is fresh and invigorating with right portion amount to satisfy. My favorite is the I-Naba bento since it has little bit of everything to savor. There is no reservation to plan accordingly for a line wait or come when the open or towards closing. Parking is adequate you just need to watch the bike lane turning into the parking lot since bikers are not ridding defensively and think they are entitled enough though they have the right of way but the Punahou/King Street intersection makes it complicated safety risk. read more

Authentic, hand made soba noodles. Rich, nutty with the right amount of chew. The service was polite, friendly and prompt. I felt like I was transported to a small restaurant in Japan. Very limited parking as is the normal for Oahu read more

Just went Japan twice in 4 months and the tempura with hot soba noodles on the side was just like Japan's. It is my fave for tempura now for its light batter, tasty sauce and hot rice. The soba seemed fresher than most and the broth was quite robust. I really enjoyed it but the price was $27 w/tip so think I have to wait for Japan trip again since service was blah (looking for sincerity and not doing it for a tip but just because a person is kind), but we tip 20% here so I'm rethinking my tip formula and planning next trip to Japan. read more

Japanese food is a must have in Hawaii! I ordered the Zaru soba (cold) with assorted tempura. I'm usually not a fan of soba, but WOW this was so delicious! The noodles were handmade and cooked perfectly - so bouncy!!! They are meant to be dipped into a sauce (like tsukemen). The assorted tempura was fried to perfection and perhaps the best tempura I've ever had! My friend said the tempura is comparable to what you could get in Japan. I suggest getting a reservation bc this place is packed! We actually got lucky bc we arrived an hour before closing and was seated without a resi! We wanted to actually come back for a second round while we were still in Hawaii bc it was THAT good but sadly we didn't get the chance to. fave restaurant in Hawaii! I love how there is a location in SoCal too! I've been dying to go back!! read more

I-NABA - Zaru Soba - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

The food and service was very good! Although I don't recommend this spot if you are planning to have a party greater than 6 people! It is a very cute and small, intimate restaurant. The food is very great quality. I definitely recommend the box-pressed mackerel sushi and the tempura ice cream! Prices here are great too! read more

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Good service. Soba is tasty. Sushi and sashimi are good. Tempura is light and crispy. There's a small parking lot in front.

Friendly service and fresh tasting noodles. Tables feel like a nice feel of like you are in Japan. Staff are able to converse in Japanese too, if you want to practice talking or listening. I liked the fish as well being cut fresh by a sushi chef behind the counter. After we ordered the cold noodles they bring a teapot with the warm broth that the soba noodles are boiled in ensuring that we get all the nutrients from the noodles read more

This place is dirty dingy hole in the wall which I don't mind bc that's where you can find great food with decent value. Unfortunately it's not the case here bc this hole in the wall came with Waikiki prices! Yes when you factor in the small portions here, the prices are more than Waikiki's Suntory, Tsururontan, Asia Stix prices. Wasn't wowed by anything especially their soba noodles and tempura. Duck was super chewy and shriveled. I don't eat alot and I left still hungry even with a small order of the tempura. I've had better lunches at Rinka and Katsumidori. It was edible but not sure what the hype is about. read more

YES. 100% YES. This place is like stepping into a small side street to enter an authentic soba restaurant in Japan. We took the bus here from Waikiki, and it was 100% worth it. One of my favorite restaurants I've been to in Hawaii. Period. We tried to call for reservations but weren't able to make them. We were still able to be seated, though it was probably a close call, and I recommend getting reservations. We were told that you can call off-hours to make reservations even if the restaurant is closed. Where do I even start. The atmosphere is very authentic - it's clean and well-designed and simple. Just as a fun fact, the bathroom has a bidet as well, which is very much in keeping with the culture of Japan. The servers were all very helpful; even though our server had limited English, she was eager to help, answered questions to the best of her ability, and was able to take our orders. My friends got 2 starters - mackerel sashimi and salmon sashimi, which were definitely on the pricier side but worth it because of the high quality of the meat. They were beautifully plated, and my friends said they were so delicious and fresh. For the soba, I wanted to try the cold soba, so I got the Gomedare soba ($16) which was delicious and refreshing, especially with the shiso leaves on top. Our server had recommended the Gomedare soba if I wanted to go with a cold soba, and I wasn't disappointed. If you're going to get hot soba though and you like sashimi, get one of the options for Uni Bowl (Mini) + Soba (Regular Size). This dish is like getting a whole bowl of hot soba with broth and a mini chirashi bowl. One of my friends got the Uni and Tuna Bowl + Soba (which I tried) ($25.50), and the tuna was so incredibly fresh and delicious and perfect. My other friend got the Uni, Ikura, and Hotate Bowl + Soba ($29), and thought it was amazing. My other friend got the hot soba with duck ($22), and thought it was okay; she was actually really envious that she didn't get the uni bowls as above. The broth for the hot sobas aren't that special; it's the soba noodles themselves that they work very hard on. We ended with some yuzu sorbet and a slice of green tea cheesecake. Honestly this meal was so incredibly memorable and transported me back to my travels in Japan. It was definitely worth the bus ride from Waikiki. I would 100% recommend this place for anyone looking for a non-touristy, authentic Japanese cuisine experience. read more

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This small handmade noodle house is one of our favorites because of the conscientious detail they put into each item. We love their lightly seared seasonal nigiri and crisp tempura, a perfect accompaniment to their chewy fresh noodles. My husband's favorite soba comes with a flavorful duck broth to dip and I am also a huge fan of their hana soba, which has a very Japanese flavor profile with yamo, uni and ikura. You can't go wrong, unless you fail to make a reservation. They are small and book up quickly. read more

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Excellent service, and high quality food and reasonable prices. I ordered the set lunch with the chirashi bowl and soba and both were amazingly fresh and tasty. For dessert we ordered the mango cheesecake- definitely worth a try! If I'm ever back in the area, I will be coming back to get some more soba from them. read more

I-NABA - Chirashi and soba set - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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We were able to get a reservation for a 5:30 PM slot and were seated at the counter. I got the udon and tempura combo. Both were good, but I wasn't so blown away that I'd make a ton of effort to come back - their reservations are very limited. Staff was super nice and there is a bit of parking in the front (near Baskin Robbins). read more

Haven't been since I used to work close by over 5 years ago. But glad to see they still open during this COVID-crap, and they were actually really busy when I went to pick up my order. Just ordered a tray of uni. Love me my gonads. Kinda wish ordered other stuff, but I knew the tray would not be cheap and I need to be able to afford to eat more uni in the future. Pre-ordered through DM on IG...they were super fast to respond. Uni was delish...just kinda surprised how they just threw it into the container. I know time is money and it would take longer to make it pretty... but Japanese are usually more conscientious about the visual appeal. read more

I-NABA - $70 worth of uni - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Reservations only! This place is a small, cozy, traditional looking Japanese restaurant. My s/o and I both got soba noodles and we shared the pressed salmon nigiri. The broth of the soba soup was a little too salty for us and I felt like it didn't have a good balance in flavor overall. I only took a few bites and was done and mostly enjoyed the pressed salmon nigiri. My s/o's soba entrée came with tempura which was all delicious and mine came with a tuna and uni don and I loved it. Basically, most of the dishes here are great, except for the soba. read more

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Hidden Gem! We came here on a Saturday night, and it was amazing. There's a reason why nearly every meal comes with a Soba noodle- their soba noodles are one of a kind. My wife and I came here for dinner. We got the chirashi sushi bowl with hot soba noodle set, the small tempura set, and a tempura soba noodle bowl. My oh my the chirashi was good! The highlights were the OH SO CREAMY uni (sea urchin), the red shrimp (raw) and the high quality salmon roe. The fish literally lept from the clean cold ocean into my mouth! Served on a bed of sushi rice, and different picklesmmmm. The Soba noodles were EXCELLENT. They were al dente, with fragrant buckwheat, served in a rich HOT HOT HOT HOT dashi broth. The tempura was good too although there could have been more. Better come soon and make a reservation, because the tourists have found it tho... read more

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I get my peaches out in Georgia, and I get my soba down in Honolulu. High quality soba, crispy and light tempura, all in a small unassuming restaurant make this a great spot to visit. It's easy to see why this is such a believe spot, with families, elderly folks, and couples all coming to slurp done buckwheat goodness. I feel like I could say more but really gotta taste it to try best soba I've had, hands down read more

I-NABA - Tempura and soba - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Definitely one of my favorite meals in Oahu! I love soba and it's unfortunately very hard to find soba restaurants in the Bay Area where I am from. I saw I-Naba on yelp when I was researching places in Hawaii and I am glad that I added this to my visit list. Came here on a weekday around 5-6 pm and we were seated promptly. They did ask if we had a reservation, so not sure if we just got lucky as a walk-in, but I would definitely check as this place is a little off Waikiki and the beach where most tourists stay. The soba here was great and I also added a couple of tempura al le carte. Everything here was good and I highly recommend this place to everyone! read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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If you want good soba outside of Japan, this is the place to go! FOOD: I ordered the tempura soba ($19). This comes with 2 shrimp, 1 white fish, veggie tempura, and Kake soba. The tempura was fresh and not overly greasy. But let's talk about the soba - wow! In one word I'll just describe it by saying QUALITY! I haven't had soba like this since I visited Japan. LOCATION: Hidden Gem! Not easily spotted when you're driving down King Street. Some parking available (about 6-7). Its not a massive location, only indoor seating available. Clean and quaint! SERVICE: Polite, attentive, quick, courteous. I felt very taken care of. Will we return? Absolutely! read more

Authentic Japanese cuisine in Honolulu... Randy S. dines here often. He knows good food, so I knew that this would be a great restaurant. I mentioned to Jessica that we should go here one day. Lyla encouraged us enthusiastically, so we all met together. We didn't make reservations as Randy suggested. We went early - about 5pm - to get a space in their free parking lot - and to be first in line. It turned out to be the perfect plan because when the sliding door opened, the receptionist said that only counter seating was available. The tables were all reserved! Wow! This is a popular place! The service was efficient and the environment was clean and attractive! The hot tea and edamame appetizer were complimentary and appreciated. The food was exceptional... I had the (hot) soba and tempura because this is what I-NABA is known for. The soba noodles are thin so that there's less chewing and more flavor! The tempura items such as shrimp, eggplant, pumpkin, and fish were all lightly battered and not overly oily! I was first to finish my meal because I had waited all day for this moment! Everything was so easy to eat. It's like everything melted in my mouth! Since dessert was available, I ordered mochi with kinako. I was pleasantly surprised that the mochi was served warm! Mmm! The kinako powder gave a slightly sweet smokey flavor! I would like to return and try other menu items. There is such a vast variety that I could just go down the list and dine here every day for a month! read more

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I made a reservation to I-NABA on my recent trip to Hawaii based on a recommendation from a friend. The food here is delicious, but the service was terrible... I will get to that in a bit! For the food, I ordered the Anago Tempura Box & Soba with an extra side of Shrimp Tempura. The Anago Tempura Box & Soba comes with Anago (sea eel), veggie tempura, a seasonal side dish and your choice of half size Zaru (cold) or Kake (hot) Soba. The food was delicious and the portions are huge, the Soba was very refreshing from a long day of being in the hot sun. Now, onto the service.... when my husband and I entered the restaurant we asked our waitress if it was okay if we parked in front of the Baskin Robbins (I-NABA shares a tiny parking lot with multiple retailers). The waitress asked us why we would do that in a really rude way... umm... we parked there because there was no where else to park? I really had no idea how she expected us to respond? She never let us know if it was okay, so we gambled it and just let it be. The next negative run in with service was when it came to ordering, we ordered an Uni dish only to be told they had run out... which is fine... but the waitress impatiently asked us what we want to order instead without even providing us with a menu to find another option. We requested menus and made our backup selection then food was eventually brought out to us. As the waitress refilled our drinks some ice hit the floor, she proceeded to kick it under the table into our shoes? The last incident was at the end of the meal, the waitress was cleaning other tables and proceeded to bring ANOTHER table's dirty dishes to OUR table.... stack our dirty dishes on top of those and leave without saying a word.... so we have dirty, sticky residue from those dishes left on our table.... Overall, the waitress seemed irritated and annoyed with us the entire meal... I felt really disappointed after hearing such great things. I would definitely NOT recommend this spot unless you do takeout or if you enjoy bad service -_- read more

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Following an excellent Japanese film about food, my dining partner and I wanted some authentic cuisine. We didn't know where to go, so we used a combination of Yelp and past experience to bring us here. I-Naba is open later than I thought and stayed busy all evening, it was a lively and fun place to eat. I-Naba is located on King Street across from Washington Middle School. They have dedicated free parking as well as parking along the main road. It looks small from the outside, but has two large rooms with tables for 2, 4, large groups, and 2 sushi bars. It's all done in bright wood with lighting; it's a happy place to eat and see your food. The temperature was kept pleasantly cool. The restrooms are clean and easy to access. The menu is large and diverse with soba, sushi, and tempura the main draws. They have all sorts of fish prepared different ways. Be sure to also look for the monthly specials. The fixed meals seem like the way to go as you get a selection of different foods including sides and soup. I had the tempura box and chose hot soba. The pickles were flavorful. I liked the selection of vegetables with the shrimp; pumpkin is always my favorite. Prices were moderate, but well worth the quality of the food. The staff was friendly and welcoming, plenty of wait staff flit around and will help with whatever you need. It's BYOB, which is free if you also bring your own glasses. If you use theirs it's a $1.50 fee per person. read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

A hidden gem . Reservation is highly recommend. This is THE place for soba and tempura in Honolulu, HI! Although I haven't had the chance to try yet, their sushi and sashimi also look great! read more

I-NABA - Hana Soba. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I've been here twice for dinner in the last few months and definitely plan to keep coming back for their savory noodles and just-right tempura. The restaurant serves up an extensive selection of hot/cold soba dishes. I love that they have tasty preset combinations but also give you the option to "build your own" soba fish by adding your favorite toppings. If you don't order the tempura box set, you must try some of the tempura a la carte. The tempura is perfectly fried so that it's has crunch but does not taste oily. My favorite is the pumpkin. There are also great sushi/fish options that you can get on the side or for the table to share. Highly recommend you make a reservation to ensure you are not stuck waiting around. read more

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Cute place. Nice soba. Haven't had cold soba before and it tasted great. Also had sashimi bowl that tasted good. No alcohol but BYOB. Friendly service. read more

Always Been a pleasure dining at I-Naba! Everything tastes fresh, original and of course, yummy! They remain consistent food quality. Mmm. Wanted to go back again already! Haha read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

It's very busy so plan ahead. Service is wonderful! The servings are generous and savory. The soba was al dente which was fine with me. read more

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