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    Maguro-Ya

    4.0 (396 reviews)
    ModerateJapanese, Sushi Bars
    Closed 11:00 am - 1:45 pm, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Maguro-Ya Photos

    Business Info

    MAGURO-YA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Maguro-Ya

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    Reviews With Photos

    Triple combo x2
    Rebecca L.

    Awesome hole in the wall in Kaimuki! Came for dinner one night because craving sushi but their menu is so large my boyfriend and I both ended up getting teishoku sets instead and sharing the nigiri set. We both ordered the triple combo which came with sashimi, tempura and main dish choice (unagi, butterfish and steak). Everything was super good and the tempura is great eaten fresh! Service was okay, it took a bit to get our hot tea or water refills but otherwise we had a nice dinner. Lots of parking in the paid lot that is shared with the other businesses.

    Inside
    Joey L.

    Like it's name would suggest, Maguro-ya specializes in maguro, or tuna, in a variety of dishes. Located in Kaimuki (10min drive from Waikiki), Maguro-ya has been in business for 25 years and their food shows why they have been open so long. Parking is easy with a gated parking lot behind (0.75 per hour) and a rear entrance. The atmosphere inside is family and neighborhood friendly and fairly quiet. More traditional Japanese than Hawaiian influenced, the menu features many tuna dishes, available braised, grilled, fried, raw, in soup, etc. add in appetizers, noodles, and the ability to get ala carte, rice bowl, or teishoku (set meal or combo). We tried the maguro zukushi teishoku with the tuna cooked 3 ways - sashimi, grilled, and fried) and everything was fresh and well cooked. The sashimi was fresh, the grilled was firm and tasty, and the fried was not dry inside. There was also a lot of food. For couples or families, this place can be good as well as there is something for everyone.

    Marko C.

    One of Hawaiis best sushi restaurants. Be sure to make reservations. We sat at the bar and ordered omakase. Everything was delicious. It was an amazing dining experience. Staff are super friendly and helpful.

    Ami C.

    The menu has a big selection of food you can choose from. The food is always delicious here. Staffs are friendly and very attentive. There are plenty of tables to dine in.

    Kale kaarage

    The food selection and presentation is great experience. The menu gives you many choices and there are also specials posted on the walls. The staff is friendly and very efficient. I would recommend you make reservations as it is one of kaimuki's best kept secrets. Highly recommend this to friends and family

    Milton K.

    Maguro-ya ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ***** Food: ***** Value: *** Menu: ***** (large menu) Ambiance: **** Service: **** Parking: **** (municipal lot behind) Decades ago I asked my intern, Rumi, who was born and raised in Japan, "Where is your favorite authentic Japanese restaurant?" She responded, "Maguro-ya." So I decided to give it a try and I've been going there regularly since. When I took my dad, it became his favorite Japanese restaurant and he always ordered the Karei Karaage. My favorite dish is their Seafood Tempura, my wife's favorite dish is their Miso Butterfish, and my daughter's favorite is their Vegetable Tempura & Zaru. They have one of the largest assortment of traditional Japanese dishes on the island. You can order Teshoku (complete meals) style or Izakaya (individual dish) style. A secret I leaned in Japan at a Tempura Bar was to only use the dipping sauce for the vegetables. The owner/chef said to dip all the tempura seafood lightly in squeezed lemon then in a little sea salt. Wow! It brings out the flavor of each type of seafood. Everyone that I've shared this with now uses salt and lemon for their seafood tempura. RATINGS & RECOMMENDED ORDER: Seafood Tempura = A+ my favorite Miso Butterfish Teishoku = A Sashimi & Tempura Teishoku = A Karei Karaage = B Tonkatsu Teishoku = C (Sorry for the limited dishes, I only order their Seafood Tempura. So delicious!) Yelp: https://yelp.to/mYIsRTx1ZD Website: https://www.maguroyakaimuki.com/ YELP: Milton K Sorry! They allow only one 12 second video & the remaining to 3 seconds. The full video and pictures of the entire menu can be found on other platforms/apps: MiltonIn808 RATINGS KEY: A = Really Good - one of the best B = Good - would order again C = ok - similar, nothing special D = Not very good - wouldn't order F = Terrible - avoid

    Krystle K.

    Food was really good. Service was excellent and ambience felt nice. We got there at 8pm and they closed at 8:30pm. Not once did we feel rushed. We had butterfish, tofu salad, sea eel tempura, and more. Everyone liked what we ordered. Sorry, I usually take more pictures but I was so hungry and ate too quickly.

    3 item teishoku with misoyaki butterfish, tempura, and sashimi
    Julie U.

    We've enjoyed eating at Maguro-ya in the past but have not been there for several years so were happy to see the quality and service remain. My husband and son and I went in for an early dinner last weekend and even though they called to push back our reservation by 15 minutes because they said it was busy, when we arrived there were several open tables. (From past experience, we always make a reservation!) Parking is easy behind the restaurant in a large paid parking lot. For appetizers, we ordered edamame and some homemade fish cake. They were sadly out of chawanmushi (my favorite!) and agedashi tofu. We had nasu misoyaki, which came during our meal, which was very delicious - half a Japanese eggplant, slathered with miso and baked. It was so soft you scooped it out with a spoon. My husband and I both had the Maguro Teishoku, their signature dish with maguro served three ways: sashimi, deep fried Katsu, and broiled. It came with rice, miso soup, some small little sides, and a salad. My son had the three item teishoku with misoyaki butterfish, sashimi, and tempura. Everything was delicious and despite being crowded, the food came out quickly. I was hoping to save room for some dessert but was too full and took home quite a bit. There are always specials up on the wall that look delicious. I know they will be fresh so maybe I'll try one on our next visit!

    Triple Combo with Butterfish Teishoku (bottom), Mentai Yamaimo Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll (top)
    Jessica S.

    My friends and I were looking for a place to grab dinner, and one of them suggested this restaurant, indicating that it was one of his favorite restaurants. It's located in between Happy Days Chinese Seafood Restaurant and Kim Chee Restaurant No 2 on Waialae Ave. There's a paid parking lot behind the building for $0.75 an hour. If not there, there are paid and free street parking spots around the entire neighborhood. Street parking becomes free after 6pm. I ordered their Maguro Rib Karaage and Sashimi Teishoku. It came with a set of sides and rice. For some reason, I read it as "Maguro Rib, Karaage, and Sashimi" - a three protein meal but it was actually "maguro rib karaage" as in deep fried maguro rib LOL. Whoops, my mistake. However, the maguro rib karaage was really good! Lots of flavor and didn't have a fishiness to it. It was just a lot of work to eat as it was the rib. The sashimi wasn't a favorite. I didn't think it was as fresh as it could have been. I got a variety of different sashimi including sea beam, tuna, seared tuna, and sauced tuna. None of the tuna was fresh in my opinion but they were better than the sea beam. The sea beam was very chewy and had a weird fishiness that I could not stomach. A huge perk about the teishoku was the amount of food it had. I was getting so full 2/3 of the way. My group also shared a Spicy Tuna Roll and a Mentai Yamaimo Roll. They weren't that special in my opinion. The spicy tuna roll was definitely much better than the mentai yamaimo roll. The mentaiko, unfortunately, wasn't as fresh as I hoped, and it lacked the delicious fishy kick that makes it mentaiko. They were a good starter as these sushi rolls could either be a handroll or cut roll to share among everyone. The night we went was a Thursday night, and the entire restaurant was completely full. However, there weren't any parties waiting outside to be seated. We waited about 30-45 mins for our food. It might have been because we had a table of 6 people, and they wanted all the food to come out at the same time. Our shared order of sushi rolls came out a little before our entrees did. Thankfully, we weren't too pressed for time and talked the entire time as we waited. Overall, this was an okay restaurant. I haven't tried it before but happy to have tried it now. My expectations in Japanese food may have increased over the years due to my frequent travels to Japan, so it may seem like a semi-miss for me here. However, the service was impeccable as everyone was nice, and our waiter continuously checked up on us.

    Torched toro with ginger
    Daniel Z.

    Really lovely sushi restaurant with high quality fish. There's paid parking in a parking lot next to the restaurant and also a mix of free and paid street parking nearby. The interior space has counter seating for 6-8 people and a few tables for larger parties. Reservations aren't required, but are recommended if you want to get a seat at the sushi bar. They serve mainly teishoku sets and sushi - I pretty much just come here for the sushi. Service can be slow at times if you're ordering raw fish since there's usually just the owner doing the prep at the sushi counter. The fish are all fresh and this place has some of the best akami zuke that I've ever had. Other highlights are, depending on the season, tachuo (belt fish, a white fish with a very clean taste and bouncy texture), shima-aji (striped jack, lovely texture and slightly sweet), and amaebi (sweet shrimp, sweet and nice mochi-like texture). The sushi is comparable to high-end omakase spots without breaking the bank.

    Sashimi & Tempura Teishioku
    Kristina C.

    Be prepared, because this place has a wide variety of dishes you can pick from! Personally, I was super overwhelmed by just looking at the menu. ***What I ordered ~ **Sashimi & Tempura Teishioku (8/10) ~ Hearty, good, and filling! The tempura was crispy and cooked to perfection. As for the sashimi it was okay, they gave a few chunky pieces and some seared one as well. The only reason why this wasn't a 10 was because there wasn't anything crazy that stood out to me. Simple and it's like a you get what you get. **Unagi Pressed Sushi (10/10) ~ Cooked and crispy! I love the flavor of the unagi sauce and I love that it was cooked so perfectly too. I would highly recommend getting this!! Overall, Not bad! I wouldn't mind coming back. HOWEVER, it is SUPER hot in there for some reason. Not sure if they keep the AC off, but luckily we were sitting by the front door so when customers would come in and out you would get a small breeze. Lastly, service was okay. You would kind of have to wave staff down to get something.

    Tempura, sushi, udon combo
    Christine G.

    My husband and I were in the mood for Japanese and we recently decided to try Maguro-Ya as we live nearby. Inside has the feel of an authentic "old-school" Japanese restaurant and it was nice that our waitress was a native Japanese speaker. The food was excellent and fresh. We started with a maguro appetizer which we ate up quickly. I love agadashi tofu and the tofu here was served piping hot and the dashi very flavorful. I also enjoyed their tempura and kappa maki. My husband ordered a tempura, sushi, and udon combo and he enjoyed it very much. I thought the udon broth was really good. We look forward to coming here again.

    Okako Don
    Jojo A.

    We were in the area and decided to go here for dinner. It was pretty busy and luckily was seated right away. The food was delicious. I was very happy with my authentic Japanese oyako don. One of the best I ever had. It came with miso soup, salad & tsukemono. My boyfriend had a poke salad. Definitely coming back.

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    3 months ago

    The food is delicious, prices are reasonable, staff was very welcoming . Parking can be busy if going during peak lunch/dinner times

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    10 months ago

    This place is excellent. High quality and excellent service. You can tell the food is prepared with care and pride.

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    Maguro-Ya Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Maguro-Ya

    Do they validate parking?

    No there's an open lot next to all the eateries there that you pay at the pay station or at the exit, easier and faster if you pay at the pay stations in the Kaimuki municipal lot hourly parking

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    Ginza Sushi - Junior sets, lunch specials, drinks and dessert

    Ginza Sushi

    4.4(810 reviews)
    3.5 miKaka'ako
    $$
    Locally owned & operated
    Casual dining

    I eat here every chance I get, this place is absolutely the best, the service the food…read more The captain crunch and avenger rolls are the best, the hamachi with jalapeños is a must. Comfortable seating, very clean restaurant, food is always fresh.

    I love sushi but I never get the chance to try a lot of places. I honestly usually go to Genki if…read moreI'm not super hungry and Kan if I want AYCE. I decided to finally go out of my usual choices and try Ginza out. Ginza is located in the main ward building (the one with the theater), on the side, between Men's Warehouse and L&L. We got seated fairly quickly and was given water. Upon ordering we were also given edamame to nom on while we waited. We also decided to order two rolls, an AAB combo set to try a variety of things and fried calamari for food measure. We got: * Jen's Paradise: 9.7/10, heavily recommend. I was really craving sear salmon and it definitely helped to satisfy that craving. I didn't realize that the roll part itself ONLY has shrimp tempura within the nori (no crab salad, avo, etc). * Bomb: 8/10, clearly I lacked my reading comprehension skills this day because I didn't realize that this was baked... so when it came out and the entire roll was fully cooked I was heart broken. It tasted good, just not what I particular want at a sushi restaurant. * Chicken Karaage: 5/10. I do NOT recommend this. They remined me of mochiko chicken, but these were not very meaty or flavorful. * Fried Calamari: 10/10, fried to perfectly in my opinion, each piece was plump and delicious. * Miso Butterfish: 8.9/10, it was good, flaky and flavorful. Just not something I would order again, but it was good to try esp it is something they're supposedly known for. * Mixed Tempura: 10/10, yum I love mixed tempura, no notes, it was hot and crunchy. I would like to mention that our wait was quite long. I don't know why because they weren't like SUPER busy. It took 10-15 for us to get the miso soup and salad for the combo. +5 for the calamari, +5 for the first roll then a few minutes after for the rest. I feel like 15-20 minutes for our first actual item (calamari) to come is kind of crazy, it kept being brought to the wrong table (2-3 times). Our server apologized so its not a huge deal. Otherwise, I still enjoyed our experience. I would definitely come back again to try the rolls I would enjoy more (utilizing my reading skills a bit better LOL).

    Photos
    Ginza Sushi - Hoso maki, temaki, donburi  & noodles

    Hoso maki, temaki, donburi & noodles

    Ginza Sushi - Nigiri sushi and sashimi

    Nigiri sushi and sashimi

    Ginza Sushi - Sushi rolls! This is how we roll!

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    Sushi rolls! This is how we roll!

    Nami Kaze - Dining area

    Nami Kaze

    4.5(801 reviews)
    5.6 mi
    $$

    It was so sad this business is closing down by Oct 31st. With rising food costs, inflation and…read morestaffing, it's understandable but I wish best endeavors for Chef Jason Peel and his staff. My fiance won a gift card actually 2 of them (from his coworker whom could not get a reservation secured), we knew we had to make the trip over before they officially close. We had multiple dishes, but staff made Kauai prawns and tomato miso black cod dishes on the house since they ran out the Hokkaido scallops. We ordered the short ribs, lobster appetizer, hamachi crudo and lastly sashimi moriawase to finish food palate. Lukki lemon dessert was great way to end to night. Ordered the Milk tea bouquet cocktail while my better half had water ( either way the food coma knock him out cold the rest of the night lol). To be honest, it was difficult to determine which dish was the best because the staff kept quality there despite it being busy every night since they announce the closure. Sashimi moriawase, fish was so fresh, reminded me of my time spent in Hokkaido and Sapporo. Short ribs was soft and rich in flavor. Both me and my fiance liked the lukki lemon dessert, like lemon meringue pie but broken down version. If you have a chance to dine here before closing and got a reservation, definitely will have a lovely dining experience and your stomach will be full by end of the night.

    Husband and I tried Nami Kaze in our recent trip to Hawaii. This place is huge! I was so glad to be…read moreseated in the side room because I found it to be a lot calmer, less people and no TV. The staff were friendly and very helpful with giving us recommendations. We ordered 3 appetizers and 2 entrees, and honestly it was too much food for us. We had leftovers for breakfast the next day! - For appetizers we got: Ulu Tots, Japanese Eggplant, and Corn Beignets. The Corn Beignets was the best. - For entree we got: Tomato Miso Black Cod and the Short Rib. Both were delicious and worth a try. Sad to see that this restaurant appears to be closing.

    Photos
    Nami Kaze - Nami bento

    Nami bento

    Nami Kaze
    Nami Kaze

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    Sushi Ginza Onodera

    Sushi Ginza Onodera

    4.6(277 reviews)
    0.9 mi
    $$$$
    Luxury
    Free parking

    Did the lunch omakase with a friend. The service was very nice, very quiet space with subdued…read moreambiance. It was challenging to get through all of the courses, but I succeeded. There were standouts and overall we loved the meal. A local id gets the 10% service fee removed which was nice. I would recommend the $150 lunch omakase - I don't think the $50 abalone dish was worth the upgrade.

    Had an amazing omakase experience at Sushi Ginza Onodera. The staff were incredibly friendly and…read moreattentive, which made the whole experience feel welcoming rather than overly formal. Every piece of sushi was beautifully presented not overwhelming. You can really tell the chefs put a lot of thought into the balance of flavors and textures. One of my favorite bites was a sashimi piece topped with something that looked like finely grated cheese (not sure what it actually was), but it melted perfectly with the fish and added a really unique savory flavor. The chefs and staff also had a good sense of humor. At one point they served kinki fish and jokingly explained that the English translation sometimes gets called "idiot fish," which got everyone laughing at the counter. The omakase is definitely on the pricier side, but the quality, presentation, and overall experience made it very satisfying. If you're looking for a refined sushi experience with great service and beautifully crafted bites, this place is worth the splurge.

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    Sushi Ginza Onodera
    Sushi Ginza Onodera
    Sushi Ginza Onodera

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    Maguro-Ya - japanese - Updated May 2026

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