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Kotetsu Chaya

4.6 (125 reviews)
ModerateJapanese
Closed 11:00 am - 3:00 pm, 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Order Kotetsu Chaya Takeout or Delivery

Kotetsu Chaya Photos

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KOTETSU CHAYA ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Dogs allowed

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Recommended Reviews - Kotetsu Chaya

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Cheese Takoyaki $8.50
Wenz T.

This is a quaint "old school Oki Restaurant" with unique and delicious offerings. The staff is very friendly and helpful in explaining their menu and popular dishes. Big bonus, free parking in back of restaurant, which is always helpful and convenient for both dine in and take out. There is also street parking in front of the restaurant. Their food was yummy, highly recommend.

Ryan H.

This a fun and cozy place! A hidden gem that is not overpriced. Kiko the server may not seem very friendly at first but it's just because she is so busy. Once it slows down a little she is a blast to talk to! Taco rice is a super good as well as their fries. Karaage is good too! Best part is it's BYOB!

Excellent hayashi with chicken katsu
Chas S.

Great food and a lot of fun and hard to find items on the menu like hayashi and taco rice (which everyone seemed to be ordering.) The hayashi was excellent and the "side" order of chicken katsu was enormous and very high quality. Service is super friendly and there's a ton of parking in back, enter from King Street.

Taco rice mixed up
Michelle S.

Stopped in Saturday afternoon for lunch. The service was quick and friendly, the restaurant was super clean. Ordered taco rice - something I had heard about but never ordered and bro had chicken with rice. Taco rice was a great call! The veggies and cheese were fresh and cold and the taco meat and rice were hot. Delicious. Would totally order again. Bro liked his food, but noted there was something in the rice that was kind of medicinal tasting to him as he continued to eat not. Not sure if it was the turmeric or not, but while he might not order that again, he would come back and try something else. Really reasonable prices and good portions. We'll be back!

Timothy W.

We had dinner here last night...wow a hidden treasure.... Foods like you can get in Japan a small cafe...off S King Street after Keaumoku...nearby your neighborhood.... Ramen and udon oishi BYOB too.... Servicer & owner-cook were very nice and hospitable... Bento plates looked great...generous portions We definitely will return again!!!

Inside
Craig T.

Had lunch today with my sister and brother in law . Always been on my radar this Okinawan restaurant had to try it for myself . Paul . C post his take and he loved it . Everything we ordered was great my favorite was their deep fried oyster . Service was very friendly and parking is available in the back of the restaurant. They also have daily specials at this restaurant. Support local

Store Front
Gabriel P.

Treated to lunch by Brother-in-law Craig T . He read a review from Paul C. We got there when they opened. Pleasent and sweet server. Interior was brightly lit. Nothing fancy, A few tables, some with bench seating. We ordered two appetizers. First to come out was the Takoyaki. This was a little gummy and the tako was barely visible . Next was the Fried Oysters. Light and crisp coating. I wouldn't hesitate to order it again. My main course was the Tonkotsu Ramen with an extra soft boiled egg. Tasty broth and garnished with menma, seaweed and pork. Next time I'll ordered it wth out the extra egg . Felt like stuff turkey. Enjoy

Storefront
Edge N.

Found this place on Yelp so had to try it. Located next to La Pizzerina right before First Hawaiian Bank. Parking is through the tunnel or street parking We got here on Sunday at 4:45 pm so there was no crowd. It's a small hole in the wall. It's airconditioned inside (PIC) With space for around 20 -25 people. i love the inside vibe. The interior is decorrated with all kind of Japanese cultural stuff (pic). Inside defintely has an old skool vibe. The staff was very welcoming with a serving humble and thankful demeanor. The menu (pic) was karaage chicken oysters...udon...shumai....curry you get the gist anyways we went with oysters (my mom said it was good) another dish was the udon with a savory pork broth (real good)...saba (tasty) shumai (yum) Hayashi (sweet curry) but everybody has different tastes but we loved everything!! Oh and they do have an inhouse bathroom (pic) but you have to ask them and enter through the back of the restaurant. A cool dining experience in a cool old skool japanese vibe with good food decent portions and fair pricing and good sincere service.

Oyster fry
Lois I.

Went to Kotetsu Chaya for dinner. We ordered a variety of food. This is an interesting place...all food is served in take out containers except the cheese fries and yaki soba. They placed three pitchers of water on our table of 6 but no ice.....i was a bit disappointed as i love ice in my soda. However, the food was tasty...especially the oyster fry. Loved it, hot and crispy. It a small place for casual dining. The people running the place was very friendly and welcoming. There is parking in the back...i will be returning but for take out.

Takoyaki balls
Deborah P.

Thank you Paul C with all your pictures and the review of this place. So My brother took us here and was not disappointed. I had the grilled Saba bento while my hubby had tonokatsu ramen with extra egg. My brother had hayashi rice bento. Beef with a mushroom demi glaze. We also ordered fry oysters and takoyaki balls for appetizers. Everything was good. Food and service. Will back again to try something else.

Stamina Yakisoba
Paul C.

Bookmark finally checked. Our foodie group previously mentioned trying Kotetsu Chaya (KC) but several ending up coming here and our venues shifted to other businesses. Kept this place under the radar as I've been wanting to try them. One day my sister reached out to me for an impromptu lunch and was asked of a place I've been wanting to try. KC was my answer. KC is located near the corner of S King and Keeaumoku with neighboring business of La Pizza Rina and Sushi Sasabune. KC serves Japanese food with limited options and ties to Okinawa. This is a quaint restaurant with about 6 or 7 tables with many picture menus posted on the windows and walls to guide you when ordering. This is a great tool for me as I want to have an idea of what the food is all about. Although the offerings may seem limited, KC offers a decent array of food to satisfy many palates. For me, I'm a creature of habit and like to order things I don't get to eat at home. Grilled saba is a favorite of mine but don't like to cook it at home as it stinks up your kitchen. I also like karaage, too. Now that I'm older, clean up plays a major reason and that explains me not wanting to deep fry food as oil splatters, the smell lingers in your home and dealing with the leftover oil after cooking. We all ordered something different to try out the food. Hands down I really enjoyed my saba bento. The fish was served hot and loved how the skin was still crispy. Absolutely delicious. My sister wanted the karaage and I took the liberty of getting the XXL plate that had a mound of freshly made fried chicken piled in the plate. We noticed the karaage had a dark hue and after one bite, I understood why. The chicken is marinated with fresh ginger with some sugar. Flavorful, juicy and piping hot. Highly recommended. We upgraded our plates with the shiso wakame mixed rice for a $1 surcharge. The rice was also delicious and paired well with the proteins. Some macaroni salad and 2 slices of yellow takuan accompanied the plate. I also got fried oysters as an appetizer. They were served hot, but it didn't have a wow factor for me. Our meal was so good that I wanted to drag the whole family here for dinner and that happened the other night on my precious night off. My sister called to make reservations ahead of time as the restaurant is small. I scored street parking nearby. We combined several tables to seat our group of 7 and decided to change my order this time to kimchi pork bento. For appetizer, I decided to give the cream croquettes a try as a handful of reviews raved over this. Ordering for a large group is challenging at KC as on both occasions, there's only 1 cook and 1 front of the house staff. Despite the restaurant wasn't that busy, it took some time for the food to come out. Regardless, thumbs up from my family as they enjoyed their meal. Because there were 7 of us, I also took the liberty of finally trying the Hayashi rice and paired it with menchikatsu. The menchikatsu was delicious. I'd order this again. The Hayashi rice was good but would have preferred a more robust gravy. Was a tad bit watery to my taste. Service was good given a 2-person crew. We were offered pitchers of water and were checked up upon during our meal multiple times. Keep in mind your food is served in takeout, clam box containers with compartments and appetizers were served in plastic baskets lined with parchment paper. Nonetheless, food was delicious. Overall, positive experiences at KC where I'll be back again. I would like to sample more of their menu but also be sure to get the karaage. Our family really enjoyed it. Yes, the karaage is that good.

Takoyaki yumm
Li Y.

Having a craving for Okinawan cuisine and wanting to try someplace different, Yelp brought me to this eatery. Conveniently located on S.King Street with lots of parking and a casual atmosphere. Lunch partner and I found this place easily. While the menu is a little limited, it is well rounded. In the mood for ramen? Udon? Japanese plate lunch? Nice to see a handful of bento/teishoku available. Excited they had a few nice side dishes of menma, takoyaki, and more. Most entrees deep fried: kaki, sakana, croquette, chicken. Was hoping for bittermelon dish(es) but none to be found. That's OK. Can stir fry at home or go to "other" Okinawan eatery. Nice comfort food available like taco rice and Okinawan soba. A casual neighborhood Japanese snack shop.

chicken cutlet
Angel H.

My husband heard great things about this place and suggested it for dinner. They serve mostly Japanese dishes. I love the picture menus that they have posted in the restaurant. They have tables for dining in, but from what I observed it's more of a take out place. We ordered two plates. We got the chicken cutlet $15.50 and the kaki (oyster) fried bento $16.50. Both plates were excellent. The chicken cutlet came with tonkatsu sauce and the kaki came with tartar sauce. Both plates came with a huge scoop of rice, two pieces of takuan and macaroni salad. While the main entrees were delicious the macaroni salad was dry. Maybe that's the Japanese style, but it definitely needed more mayo. The cashier was really friendly. The food is made to order. We waited about 15 minutes for our plates.

Karaage bento, Pork Ginger Bento (shogayaki)

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5 months ago

Food is not only great and authentic, owner and staff are very personable and helpful with Food choices.

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1 year ago

Made fresh! Nice people! Homemade taste--can't go wrong! Lots of parking in the back of the restaurant!

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I have tried ramen, udon, yakisoba, fried chicken and cream croquettes. All of them are good but not impressed.

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Kotetsu Chaya Reviews in Other Languages

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4.3(4.2k reviews)
1.4 miWaikiki
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The aunties that were running the shop during lunch were so accommodating, welcoming and polite…read more We haven't had authentic katsu like this since Japan and I'm glad we were able to get a taste of that here. While at a high price point, everything included in the sets were refillable so it was filling even if the entree portion itself may not seem like it. From the chicken to pork, shrimp, beef and poke, I didn't think there was anything that was lacking in flavor. If there was a way to order the macaroni salad as a side instead of just with the kid's entree, I totally would have. Even with reservation, it took us a while to get seated. But this was also the aunties ensuring we were going to sit together instead of two groups, so they waited for tables to open up to accommodate us, in addition to allowing us to be seated earlier (~30min), so I couldn't complain. And when another table opened up, without even asking, they pushed the table close to us again to allow for more space while we were already seated before our entrees came. The hospitality was so nice it felt like we were in Japan again. Super small shop but well worth it.

Came in 2024 when it was one small restaurant but now they've opened up a second side next door…read morewith plenty of seating. I would still do a reservation just to be safe. We got the pork katsu deluxe set and recommend getting another side of rice for 2 people. The fried oysters are also a standout dish so I definitely recommend that. Service is quick and portions are big so I also recommend splitting a dish or doing family style.

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Tonkatsu Tamafuji - Jyukusei pork tenderloin katsu teishoku

Tonkatsu Tamafuji

4.6(2.4k reviews)
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Tamafuji remains undefeated as the best tonkatsu in town. The breading is impossibly crispy, the…read morepork tender and juicy, and this time I also got the fried oysters which were plump and fresh. This was my first visit to their new location, just downstairs from the old one. The new location is much more spacious and feels brighter than before. It feels a lot less cramped inside. I will say I think the restaurant may be having some growing pains in the new space. It took about an hour from when we were seated until we got our food - I don't really remember having to wait that long before - but all was forgiven when the food arrived. Service was friendly but a little bit absent during the wait, but for whatever reason improved dramatically once the food actually arrived (or maybe just my mood improved!). Like before, you can get free refills of rice and cabbage, and the different types of rice they have are all worth trying.

Not my first time here. We tried to get reservations but I think they had some glitches as they…read morejust recently reopened after expanding/moving to the new space. Since we didn't get reservations we had to do walk in. The waitlist didn't seem bad when we first signed up but it took forever to finally get a table. It was a hot day so we were waiting outside, for nearly an hour. There were only like two or three parties ahead of us on the waitlist. We finally got seated and the people right after us on the list got seated at the same time (they put their name 15 min after us). I would not recommend the waitlist, since it's not consistent. The food itself is always delicious. The new space was nice (and larger). Our server was very nice also. We both got tonkatsu. I got the mizore and my partner got the sizzling one. I appreciate the choices of rice and miso soup. I really enjoyed my Shiso rice and the white miso soup. I think even though I enjoyed the ground daikon but I also think I would've been happy with just a regular tonkatsu, similar for the sizzling platter.

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Izakaya Mitch's - Uzaku (unagi, cucumber, vinegar)

Izakaya Mitch's

4.8(44 reviews)
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If there's one thing about me, it's that I love an izakaya. Open late and small plates so you can…read moretry a few different things, my favorite! I've been to Mitch's a few times and when I saw that they opened up an Izakaya next door, I knew I had to try it and made a reservation on Yelp. Izakaya Mitch's specializes more in cooked dishes while the other side is more about the fresh / raw fish. But that didn't stop us from ordering the assorted sashimi. All the fish were from Japan and yes you can taste the difference. The fatty tuna was obviously my favorite but even the regular tuna and the hamachi was so buttery, it just melts in your mouth. Plus, it comes with real wasabi. Not horseradish, real wasabi. For the cooked dishes we got the hokkaido crab tempura with a side of matcha salt. One of the best tempuras I've ever had. The kamameshi, a rice dish with their fish of the day. We got the half order and it's kinda like a bibimbap where they mix the rice for you at your table. I saw that people were raving about this on Yelp and put in our order right when we got in because it takes 25-ish minutes to prepare. On special, they had a karei karaage. Karei is a flat fish and I've never had a fish karaage before, it was perfectly fried and dipped in the ponzu sauce it was so good. Ambiance is a no-frills kinda spot but very clean and feels homey and the service is amazing! Attentive and super personable.

So happy there is an izakaya that we don't have to drive to downtown or Waikiki. Izakaya Mitch's is…read moreclose to the airport in the industrial area. I made reservations, so we were seated right away. Luckily, it wasnʻt crowded when we sat, so our waitress was able to answer all our questions about different dishes we were interested in ordering. Our party of 3 got to try different things from the specials and regular menu. The tai karaage was so tender and seasoned really well, the kamameshi is such a comfort dish, and the burrata with chilled tomato was really refreshing. One thing we all liked was that even though there were a lot of people in the restaurant (most came in after we ordered), we still were able to speak to one another without talking loud. The staff mentioned that they will be getting a sushi chef, so I guess we need to try this place again,

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TL;DR This might be…read moremy favorite Japanese restaurant in town. Undisputed soba champion. ----- I'm surprised I haven't written a review for i-naba yet. This place has been a staple for my family ever since we moved back to O'ahu a few years ago. Bottom line? The soba noodles here are utterly fantastic. They are, in my humble opinion, the best on the island, and some of the best soba noodles I've ever had. I don't think anywhere else in Honolulu comes close. You come here to eat soba. Period. In addition to the soba being phenomenal, the other offerings at i-naba are also similarly great. Their tempura in particular is outstanding. I typically order the Jumbo Shrimp Tempura Bowl & Soba or the Dx Tempura Bowl & Soba. Plus an upgrade to a large size soba! The tempura is sooo good. It's crispy, light, and airy. The jumbo shrimp is especially succulent and tender. And the ingredients are always perfectly seasoned with the sweet and savory house sauce. Yummmy! If you're looking for the best soba and awesome tempura, this is your spot!!!

Everytime I asked my Japanese clients which Japanese restaurant they enjoyed most in Honolulu,…read moreInaba consistently came up. And now I know why. I finally had lunch here a couple weeks ago and damn was my tempura and soba set broke da mout. The soba is housemade with a chewy consistency that I love. I had it cold with the dipping sauce and wow wow wow. So good. My friends suggested I get the shrimp and vegetable tempura as well which amazingly stayed crispy the whole time I savored each bite. Probably 30 minutes. Light crisp batter on perfectly cooked shrimp and veggies. Damn it was good. The service was great as well and I cannot wait to go back. Nice warm atmosphere and there's a free parking lot. It gets busy during lunch and dinner, so get there early or make a reservation. Enjoy!

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Kotetsu Chaya - japanese - Updated May 2026

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