The food was delicious! I was very impressed. The reason why I didn't get this place a 5 is because I didn't feel welcomed when I first entered. It was packed and we had to wait. The waitresses looked overwhelmed and just told us to put our names on the waiting list. I would've liked for them to have a host at in the front to welcome us rather than having us feel like a burden for wanting to dine in. Overall, I would still recommend this place! read more

I'm so happy I've enjoyed real Soba just like in Japan!! Love Zaru soba!!! If you are a big fan of Soba then should get Zaru Soba instead of soup. You can enjoy the Soba texture a lot! I will definitely come back here again SOON:) What I ordered was Half Zaru Soba After we had a lots of dishes with our own sake( BYOB, bring your own glass if possible otherwise they will charge you $1.50 each glass). That portion was enough for me but my husband said he should have gotten regular because the Soba was really good! read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

One of my favorite restaurants to got to. Quality food and top notch service. However, this visit the place was pack with no available tables. It took about 40 mins for us to receive our orders. What disappointed me the most was that their cold soba, which is what this reaturant is known for, was all stuck together in a solid block. Unable to even pull what you want out. There also was this stink fermented cold fish a side dish. Other than that everything else was fine read more

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A sushi place that allows BYOB? Almost an automatic A+ in my books! :) The sushi here is also good though, and the service is awesome as well. In fact, this sushi place would be almost perfect if it wasn't for the fact that both times I have been to this restaurant, I got bitten by mosquitoes on my legs. Since a huge merit of this place is that it seems so calm and peaceful in here, the annoying mosquitoes under the table to take away some from the overall vibe. However, the restaurant is overall clean, nice, and delicious, so I am definitely going back, just with some mosquito repellent! read more

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So good. Very traditional Japanese soba place. Parking is free in an open lot but quite tiny with limited spaces - it's close to Waikiki so I guess better than paid lots of street parking. Pretty much everyone in the restaurant spoke Japanese. We got a set of chirashi don and sipping soba and another bowl of cold broth soba since it was so hot outside. The soba was SO chewy and high quality as well as the raw fish on my chirashi. I'm a huge fan of fluffy Japanese rice and they clearly use high quality ones and a good rice cooker. They ran out of edamame rice so we missed out on that. Service was prompt and everyone was nice and fast. Definitely looking to come back and try other options. Not super cheap but reasonable given the proximity to Waikiki and downtown. read more

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Breakfast 7am-1015am. Closed Wednesday Japanese style breakfast and okazuya items. Breakfast $8-$10. Okazuya $2-3.50 Small Japanese restaurant. Very clean place. Friendly staff. Also, lunch and dinner. Monthly specials changes. read more

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Gomadare soba was complex and refreshing on a hot summer day. I also loved the mushroom rice and vegetable tempura. My daughter had the kamo duck nanban soba. Highly recommend! read more

An excellent meal while we were on Oahu! There's a small parking lot and since we didn't make a reservation, we chose to arrive 10-15 minutes early. A few other guests had the same idea, luckily we were first in the line. When they opened they asked those with reservations to sit down first, but we were all quickly then ushered into our seats. They actually have a good amount of seating inside, we were seated at the bar area. The service was friendly and quick. After we ordered, we didn't wait long until our soba came. We came for lunch and I got the scallop and uni bowl with a side of zaru soba. All of it was so fresh and so delicious! My husband got the tempura with his soba and also really enjoyed it. We are so happy to be able to enjoy i-naba's noodles. We found out that they actually have some locations in California! They are promoting a new restaurant that they just opened not far from this location, it is called i-Naba Hanalei Honolulu, it's just down the street. We didn't get time to try it but it looks like a good place to check out next time. They have the same soba noodles but they also have more on their menu, more grilled items I think. read more

It's been awhile since I've been here. Not sure why I don't come more often. Probably cause it's a little off the main areas. Good soba and attention to detail is what you come away with. Prices are a little steep but the quality is better than most. The desserts were good too. read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

First time at this place even though I have passed this place so many times. Located on South King Street next to Baskin-Robbins. They have a small parking lot that they share which has about 10 stalls or you can park on the street. We got there around 7pm and there were a few tables but they sat us right away even though we didn't have reservations. Their menu is kind of big but they mostly have noodle dishes or combination dinners with soba. Soba is what this place is known for. I had no idea what to order but ended up ordering the Inaba Bento which came with tempura, sashimi, fish, potato salad, tamago, and rice. My wife got the miso Butterfish. The food was very good and the sashimi was really fresh. The quality of the food is very good and tasted like we were in Japan. You can BYOB but they have a small fee for it. The service is pretty good and if you want you are able to make reservations. If you are really hungry be ready to spend some $$$ read more

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The best place to eat a yummy japanese breakfast! I love their hot or cold soba noodles made fresh along with the salmon and ikura bowl in the morning. My son loves eating the stewed kabocha and my husband loves the potato cucumber salad and eating the hamachi nitsuke set for his morning breakfast. We dine here at least 3x a week to start off our day! We love it here! read more

Honestly in addition to hand made sob, the sushi / chirashi bowl was amazing which included hotate and all the fish we love (salmon, tuna, and hamachi). The ikura bursted with flavor with each pop all over perfectly seasoned sushi rice. I was blown away by the quality (especially for the price). On my list as the first and last stop for next time I'm in Oahu. read more

We're love to eat here Good foods and good service we're has hot pot soup was good!

Title: food is good but pricey Had their chirashi with zaru soba recently. Was the chirashi good? Yeah! It was very good. But it cost me $34 for the chirashi. No wonder it came with uni. Maybe I had an old take out menu. I thought it was going to cost be $22. An $11 difference! There are plenty of good options to get decent chirashi. Not sure if I will be willing to pay $32 again for this. read more

Make sure you make reservation here! Tried to book for Saturday and it was fully booked. Everything on the menu looks very good. I wish we knew this is a BYOB place! They only charge $1.50 per glass and they give you edamame as starter. We ordered the uni and roe cold soba, eel rice with hot soba and shrimp tempura on the side. The uni soba was bomb!!! Taste very fresh and clean. Shrimp tempura was hot and not too doughy. The eel rice didn't have enough sauce, had to ask for more and we figured that we ain't really a fan of hot soba. Overall a very good meal and we can't wait to visit their other shops back in California! read more

I love coming here for breakfast. The staff are always so friendly and even when it's full they're always available to get more water, tea, or the check. The food is homey and perfect for a cold winter morning, a hot bowl of mild broth, made in house noodles, and tamago kake gohan great for a hangover. Come early to get their tempura musubj for breakfast. read more

I-NABA - Salmon and ikura donburi with shiso. Salty and delicious fishy goodness - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I'm so happy I've enjoyed real Soba just like in Japan!! Love Zaru soba!!! If you are a big fan of Soba then should get Zaru Soba instead of soup. You can enjoy the Soba texture a lot! I will definitely come back here again SOON:) What I ordered was Half Zaru Soba After we had a lots of dishes with our own sake( BYOB, bring your own glass if possible otherwise they will charge you $1.50 each glass). That portion was enough for me but my husband said he should have gotten regular because the Soba was really good! read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Thanks for yelpers like Deborah.P, Kaycee O. Corina Q.Before going there have read the excellent reviews from you guys. I have ordered for Scallop and Uni rice dish. Everything was amazing. read more

Came during lunch on a random weekday with some friends. They don't take reservations for lunch so we were worried it would be too crowded for us on our limited two hour lunch break. When we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to find it pretty empty. Although the parking lot is pretty small, we were able to find parking quickly without any problems. I got the negi-toro shirasu with the small cold soba. I had no idea what to expect with the shirasu but hoped it would be similar to the tiny fishies commonly used in korean dishes. The fish was actually a bit softer than i expected but the saltiness of the fish and the negi toro balanced itself out perfectly. I only wish there was more negi toro! The side order of soba was perfect, honestly the best soba I've had on the island. I'm not really a fan of soba (or noodles in general *GASP*) so it means a lot when I say that I would come here and just get the soba next time. Also if you're hungry or a big eater, I would definitely suggest upgrading to the regular size. I haven't been here for dinner yet but I will definitely return to check it out soon. read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

They now serve breakfast! Don't want to get fat fat on American breakfast? Have a Japanese one! Breakfast comes as a bowl or set (Miso soup, pickled veggies). There are also prepackaged Japanese sides to go, like potato salad, sunomono, tofu tsukune, etc. I should come back for dinner but their dinner service takes like 2 hrs. BYOB is bring your own glass too or they will charge you $1.50 for each glass they have to wash. read more

The service was lightning fast, and I couldn't get enough of the Kinako Soba. I don't eat fish or meat, so the fact that there were other options was great for me. Absolutely coming back in the near future:) read more

This is one of the most authentic Japanese restaurants on the island! I made reservations because I read on Yelp that they can get crowded and it's a fairly small restaurant. I'm glad I did because while we there, all seats and tables eventually were taken. When we arrived, we were greeted and taken to our table. They were very courteous and didn't come to take our order until we closed the menu. My friend ordered some kind of tempura set and I ordered the chirashi set. Both of them came with tsukemono, hijiki, and hot or cold soba. All the seafood was so fresh in my chirashi and for the first time I actually loved the uni! Usually it's so ocean water tasting but this one was so buttery! I also tried my friends tempura and the batter was so light & crisp! After we ate, they brought us hot water to pour into our soba broth to drink as a soup. The portions are pretty big & the prices are reasonable especially for Japanese food. I definitely want to come back and try more of their menu items! read more

I-NABA - Chirashi set. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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This restaurant is super authentic even sometimes is kinda hard to find in Japan. I love their house made soba. Their tempura is fried in a perfect way. Everything is super fresh and awesome service. read more

We ordered the Hana soba and the gomadare soba. The Hana soba is very delicate with clear soup packed with flavor of the sea, it is slightly slimy with graded yam which I love; it could be a little fishy for people not used to it. Gomadare soba is on the other hand a rich sesame flavor, the noodle in both are very chewy. We also ordered some tempura, they might be the most delicious tempura I have tasted, but definitely on the pricey side(each item is only a single piece). The uni shiso leaf tempura is packed with uni(at least 3 to 4 pieces ), I wish they could have spread them in more shiso leaf so the flavor is more balanced and the price for this item could be lower. Overall a restaurant you cannot miss if you are a soba/tempura lover! read more

Everything about this place reminds me of Japan. The ambience and decor, the clientele and staff, and of course the food. All the reviewers have pretty much said it all, just slurp up the noodles and enjoy! It is definitely all about the soba here. Very toothsome and chewy! Yums! I've also had their tempura and some sushi items. Their tempura is light and crisp, very clean, not oily at all. The sushi rice is heavy on the vinegar sometimes, which made the Saba battera extremely tart on the palate. This place is ALWAYS busy when we visit for lunch...they open at 11:30a and usually people start lining up at 11:15a outside. Parking sucks, but since we get there early we snag a spot in front. We will definitely be back soon! read more

I-NABA - Tempura oroshi set - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Portions are extremely small. Zaru soba sauce was extremely salty. For the price it's not worth it.

I really like this restaurant. I've passed by this place many times and I researched it on Yelp because it is a hole in the wall that has been here a long time. We were in town and undecided on where to dine for lunch so I remembered that I wanted to try Restaurant I-Naba. I was surprised that the restaurant was packed on a Tuesday at lunchtime. They do a brisk business where the tables turn over pretty fast, I guess it doesn't take too long to slurp noodles. There is also a tiny sushi bar on the left as you enter. Since it was our first time we were unfamiliar with their offerings and kind of hastily ordered our lunch. Then we noticed that there are checklists for both sushi and tempura at out tables so you can order either by piece. The prices for tempura are for one piece where the checklist for sushi are for two pieces per order. I ordered the cold soba noodles that was sort of the deluxe version and came with tempura crumbs, shiso leaves, nori, green onions and yamaimo. It was delicious and the noodles were al dente just how I like them. My wife had the hot soba and the noodles also had a nice chew to them. Both dishes came with edamame kamameshi (a flavored bowl of rice) and takuwan. I don't know if the make their own noodles here but the soba was the best I"ve had in Hawaii. Our orders came out to about $14 each and there are more expensive combination meals. While waiting for our order I saw that the have a breakfast menu that offers teishoku breakfasts for about $10 and they open at 7:00 AM. I can't wait to try them for breakfast because I constantly order Japanese breakfasts when a restaurant offers it. Parking can be difficult as the parking lot is small and is shared by a number or businesses but you can find street parking on King Street. Definitely worth trying. read more

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Amazing authentic Japanese food. Beautifully plated. Courteous & friendly service. I can't wait to return!

I am not much of a American breakfast fan anymore- this place rocks for Japanese style breakfast- simple, tasty, filling, and affordable! Yum - I had grilled fish, rice, soup, and pickles - my kind of breakfast!' read more

Wow. What a great find. The featured soba is the specialty of the house. We had various soba. I had the HanaSoba with tororo (grated yam), uni, ikura and ebi with a side of aji nigiri sushi. Others had some tempura and chirashi. Everything was tremendous. The only drawback for those who like some beer or sake with their meal is that they are strictly byob. We had to walk down a block to a local market to pick up some Sapporo's. But, it was worth it. We got two big Sapporo for $5, less than half what we'd normally spend. Even with the walk and byob policy, Inaba gets five stars. It's that good! read more

3.5 STARS First time here for lunch. I ordered the nigiri lunch set with zaru soba $18.99. A bit disappointed to not see the maguro, hamachi, and shrimp as described in the menu and instead got scallop, cheaper grade of ahi, and tough tako. Not too sure if I will come back again but the overall experience was okay. read more

I-NABA - Nigiri lunch set $18.99 - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Excellent soba and tempura. The soba cooked to perfection with just the right texture/hardness. Authentic soba experience, just like in Japan, they bring you the "soba-yu" (the water used to cook the soba) at the end. The set comes with your choice of rice (white, edamame, or mushroom) and pickles. read more

I-NABA - Far - Tempura Soba(zaru) Set A, Near - Tempura Soba(zaru) Set B - extra soba - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Would have been 5 stars if not for the fact that I feel like the wait staff forgot about us. Never refilled our tea or water. But will definitely come back for the food. The soba is definitely the highlight of the meal but also had the kakuni which melted in my mouth. So delicious. read more

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

Not sure I'll be able to eat other "soba" again after experiencing this fresh, handmade goodness. Flavors were so clean and so fresh, even my mom (who is the ultimate food snob) couldn't stop raving about it as she ate. She had the cold soba/uni combo, I had the cold soba and chirashi combo. The sashimi was SO fresh and everything delicious. My only regret is that I couldn't go more than once during my stay read more

This is such a great, authentic find in Honolulu if you love Japanese food as much as I do. A few reasons why I-Naba is wonderful below. - Easy reservations, good for groups, and BYOB: I was able to make a 7:30 reservation for my party of 6 that same morning, and my group was super pleased to hear that the restaurant was BYOB. - Good for vegetarians and omnivores alike: A vegetarian friend had a tough time finding great options during throughout our stay in Hawaii, but this restaurant had so many good options for her. And as a meat eater, I found plenty of things that caught my eye. - A relatively "healthy" option on the island: I had a lot of heavy food during my time in Hawaii, and while I do love to indulge, I thought having the soba here was refreshing. - High quality, unique offerings: Handmade soba isn't easy to find, but I-Naba makes it--and with such a great variety of ways to have it. I had a yummy bento box and it came with a choice of hot or cold soba. I ended up choosing the hot soba but also had a bite of someone else's equally delicious cold ginger sesame soba. read more

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With all the good reviews we read about I-Naba, we went in with high hopes... We were the first ones in and first to place our order. Unfortunately, we were NOT the first ones served. I want to say most of the other tables that were sat after us got their food before us. Strike one. Ordered the niku soba... was not as I expected. Used to love eating that when I lived in Japan. The taste at I-Naba was nowhere close to it. The meat was not of good quality either. Strike two. Another item ordered was zaru soba. The sauce didn't have much taste and the wasabi that came with it was just a tiny bit. Only after we had already finished eating the soba did the wait staff come to offer more tsuyu. Talk about bad timing and lack of good customer service. Strike three. All-in-all, lack of good taste and inadequate service unfortunately, made this our first and last visit. Perhaps our standards are too high? But for the price we paid, we could've had more and tastier food somewhere else. :-( read more

The soba is delicious. I went here extremely hungry, which was perfect, because the meal was very filling! read more

I-NABA - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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My friend told me about this place and said they have the best soba. So randomly I decided to come here on a rainy day on a whim. Luckily we came before the dinner rush and were seated promptly. But if you want to secure a table please make a reservation although they have two sides for seating, they fill up quickly. They have minimal counter space as well and we were lucky enough to get seating there with no reservation on a quite busy Sunday. Staff are very nice and professional. Food was excellent. Probably the best soba in town. Tempura isn't heavily battered. And vegetable variety is very tasty and had a great range. Overall me and my other half are excited to come back and try more things. read more

I-NABA - Vegetable Tempura with Kake Soba set - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Came here twice and realized that their amazing sushi is not a fluke. Definitely not the fanciest looking place, but when you consider how fresh and well-prepared each piece of your meal is, I-Naba has become one of my favorite Japanese restaurants. First and foremost, you're going to hate parking. It's on South King Street, after all. The location looks unassuming and the restaurant itself is small. Come early and make sure you have reservations. After 6:30 pm or so, I'd say that's when it becomes really hard to find a seat without calling ahead. The main reason this place gets 5 stars with ease is because of their mirugai and amai ebi (sweet shrimp). Never in any restaurant in Hawaii have I been given that large of a portion for mirugai whenever it's ordered. It's cut thick and has a soft but chewy texture. Their amai ebi has always been fresh and for a lack of better words, nicely sweet - definitely on par many other restaurants that serve it. Their other items are no slouches, either. Tempura of any kind has always been crunchy, light and perfectly fried and not overtly oily. I can't say that their udons are my favorite. I was drawn to it when I saw their promo about discounts at the end of the month. Discount was a substantial amount for all their eligible items, not some dinky 5% off or whatever. If you;re going to check out their udon, you might as well wait for that. They are well known for their soba so I'd suggest that instead. read more

I-NABA - Chirashi bowl - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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We came by this morning to have a nice lunch. They have a qr code for the menu out front. They also have a paper that says to call to make a reservation. As it turns out, that paper has information for a location at 1760 S. King Street. The problem with that is, there is no other location. Its a run around. We asked if we could make a reservation for the location (the only location) that we were physically at. The woman told us we had to go to the other location. We asked again, and again she said no. I am disappointed with the confusing manner that they present at the front door. I would really like to know the correct phone number and etiquette for making a reservation, because it seems as though you need secret information to be able to do these things. read more