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    Sunlight Cafe

    3.3 (43 reviews)
    ModerateJapanese
    Closed Closed

    Sunlight Cafe Photos

    Business Info

    SUNLIGHT CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Sunlight Cafe

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    Shrimp tempura and tonkatsu.
    Amber C.

    Cute little spot. Intimate. I ate all of my food which was surprising. Idk if it's cause I went after work and was hungry, but I didn't feel heavy or super full after either. Appreciated the miso soup came in a bowl with a covering so it stayed hot for a longer period of time. I could sip on it before my meal came, and during. FYI this place does not serve alcohol.

    Sunlight Cafe inside. On a slow day.
    Tristan R.

    This place turned out to be a very lovely establishment. The wife and I had to run errands in town and stopped in to try it out. We had an experience at the neighboring restaurant "Miwa's" and I'm comparison, it felt like a more modern American-Japanese restaurant, where as Miwa's was a little dated. The food was great, and we came on a slow day, so I couldn't say much on service.

    Enjoyed the tasty Chicken Katsu Ramen with spicy soup base and an "appetizer of the day" - the eggplant with miso sauce.
    Lisa I.

    Enjoyed the Chicken Katsu Ramen with the spicy soup base, served with an "appetizer of the day" which happened to be the eggplant with miso sauce! A great deal for $12.99...delicious and filling!! Will definitely be back again!

    Mixed skewers
    Rob F.

    We ate at Sunlight Cafe for the first time last month. My first impression of the restaurant was that it has a nice ambiance. Although there is not a lot of seating (35-40 people max), it's very nicely set up and comfortable. It is located at the Hilo Shopping Center on Kilauea Ave with lots of parking. When we ate there for dinner on a Saturday night at around 6:30 p.m. there was only one other couple there, and two more groups of four came in after us. The service was o.k., and the food came pretty fast. The one big let down for me was that I was not able to order the combination of food that I wanted. If you order a combination plate, you can only order one selection from the "A" side of the menu and the other selection must be from the "B" side of the menu. So my craving of Beef teriyaki with butterfish could not be done:-( Even when I told the waitress that I was willing to pay extra for that combo. The food that I did eat tasted really good, it was chicken katsu with butterfish (love butterfish). The only thing that I didn't like about it was that sesame seeds were put on everything: the katsu, butterfish and on top of the katsu sauce. We ordered an appetizer which was a bbq stick combo of chicken, mushrooms, shrimp and bacon wrapped scallops, but that also had sesame seeds sprinkled on that too!! I have nothing against sesame seeds, but I don't want it on everything. Recommendations for Sunlight Cafe: let people order whatever they want on the menu (charge more if need be), and hold back on the sesame seeds!! Restaurant set up: 5 stars (very nice) The service: 2.5 stars The food: 3 stars I recommend Sunlight Cafe if you like a nice setting, and Japanese food with Chinese influence. Just don't be suprised if you cannot order the combination of food that you like.

    Seating area from one corner of the restaurant.
    Jenifer G.

    Their menu looked like any other, not much deviation from the typical dishes, however I could probably eat Japanese food like on the menu every single day. There's joy in these simple kinds of dishes. Love that it's byob! Although they didn't have those small ceramic cups for sake, our server brought these small glass shotglasses that worked fine. I really enjoyed our appetizer: EGGPLANT with MISO SAUCE $5.99: The eggplant was cooked nicely, the skin still on with a charred look and flavor to it, which was a nice textural contrast to the very tender of the eggplant on the inside. I was surprised it was easy to eat with the skin being left on, it wasn't chewy at all, and the flavor was spot on, not too salty and just the right amount of subtle miso to it. I ordered a teishoku, with both options from "Column A" from their menu which was an additional $2 charge onto the $16.99 price tag: BUTTERFISH SHIYOYAKI + UNAGI $18.99: The miso soup to start was good, light in color yet tasty enough, but also not too salty, and was served piping hot. But the fish seemed to be sort of doused in the shiyoyaki sauce, kind of a no-no for me. The quality of the fish and eel was pretty good but I wish they went very light on the sauces and focused more on enhancing the natural flavors of the fish rather than hiding them by adding the thick sauces. My friend ordered TEMPURA which must have been just okay, she wasn't oohing or aahing over it. We couldn't say not to their GREEN TEA ICE CREAM on the dessert menu. We finished it off easily. My friend said it was from Hilo Homemade Ice Cream, so I was happy to see that Sunlight partners up with fellow local businesses. Although the food is decent and on the lackluster side, I think they could improve a little and bring in more customers. Located just to the right of Lanky's Bakery at the Hilo Shopping Plaza, you can't miss this spot. Decor and ambiance is handsome, with deep rich wood flooring and tables, a beautiful look to the contrast of the dark and light walls. Of course service was attentive since we were the only customers from 6:30pm until closing; I was surprised there weren't more patrons, but then again it was a weekday, not to mention the day after Christmas.

    Shrimp tempura and chicken katsu Teishoku.
    J G.

    We really enjoyed our dinner here. Everything we ordered was really good. We really enjoyed the attention to detail and the little things they do. My miso was served with a cover and came really hot and had an excellent flavor. My Teishoku was neat, excellent salad dressing and neat presentation with my shrimp tempura and chicken katsu. One thing also, our rice was really good. Not wet, or dry and hard....it was nice fluffy good quality rice cooked perfectly which made our whole meal taste better. All the little things really were enjoyable. Our green tea was excellent quality, you can tell when you're steeping it and see the cloudiness that it's good green tea. Also, they serve Hilo homemade ice cream ginger and green tea was really good. Very comfortable family style dining and lots of menu choices. Our server was also very attentive to us and very pleasant. Mahalo!

    Arthur A.

    One of our favorite Japanese Cuisine & Grill Restaurant in Hilo. My family loves the shrimp curry, grilled steak, shrimp tempura and ramen. We visit here at least once a month. The waitress is very attentive to our needs and handles a full restaurant on her own. The atmosphere is very relaxing and inviting. A great place to visit with family or someone special. If desired BYOB is allowed.

    Kailia F.

    The ramen noodles were instant, the mandoo was handmade but very bland along with the broth. The server was very quite and didn't talk to us. Overall okay place but you can get much better food for similar prices.

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    2 years ago

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    14 years ago

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    8 years ago

    Son loves Teri chicken. Ramen is good too! Quaint place that has never been too crowded. Citrus iced tea is wicked. Butterfish is fabulous.

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    15 years ago

    Love the atmosphere! Quiet and calm...the perfect setting after a stressful day. The furikake butterfish is 'ono!

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    12 years ago

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    9 years ago

    The Fried Shrimp Was Too Crispy. Not enough shrimp. The eggplant and shrimp tempura was good.. I enjoyed.. The service could be better.

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    Tetsumen Ramen - Char siu ramen

    Tetsumen Ramen

    4.2(616 reviews)
    0.4 mi
    $$

    Love this place! We visited this local favorite on a trip to Hilo. We went for an early weekday…read morelunch, so it wasn't busy. There was parking in the shared lot, but spaces are tiny. Booth seating was perfect for us. The wait staff were super nice and patient with us. Their menu is huge and has a lot of options for customizing. Fortunately, there are diagrams on the wall to help you decide. I got a Miso Standard ramen ($20 with an Ajitama (seasoned soft boiled egg), hard texture, fried garlic, extra noodles. It was fabulous! Really hit the spot. Loved the chewier noodles and the rich, flavorful broth. DH got THE Garlic ramen ($26.50) also with an Ajitama, pork belly, and extra noodles, regular firmness. The kids wanted extra Naruto (fish cakes), 75 cents for 2 small pieces. One of our kids is under age 5, so we got a Miso mini ramen ($9.50 value) for free! Wow! Little one said he did not like the flavor of the seasoned egg. Noodles were very soft, but stayed together, and soaked up a ton of broth so they were flavorful. He said the Miso Mini comes with corn instead of fish cake. We loved all of the toppings. The pork belly was excellent! Portion sizes are great. We had some leftovers to take back. Overall, a fantastic place to satisfy those ramen cravings!

    Everything about this place is awesome! Our server was so attentive and friendly. We came on a…read moreTuesday night and only waited a few minutes, but I can tell this place gets busy. The food seems like authentic Japanese cuisine and everything was super delicious. My dad loved his tantan ramen - nutty but not heavy. I really liked the chicken katsudon, which was on the saltier side but still so filling and hearty! This was an awesome find and I'm so glad we stopped here for dinner :-)

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    Menu items on the bar seating.

    Restaurant Kenichi

    Restaurant Kenichi

    4.1(491 reviews)
    0.6 mi
    $$

    ALWAYS A GREAT DECISION TO COME HERE!!…read more The food and service is always on point. Really cool locally owned restaurant. We usually get the sizzling steak and/or korean chicken salad. Never disappoints. Mahalo kenichi crew

    Our high school club chose to eat here to support a local business for our end-of-year celebration,…read morebut the experience was unfortunately very stressful for our students and staff. We spent two and a half months planning this event. My club treasurer and I confirmed the price on seven different occasions--five times over the phone and twice in person. Each time, we were quoted just over $600 with about a $110 in tips, which we paid in full two days before the party. However, the day before the event, we were told there was a miscalculation and we needed to pay another $400. Because our students had only fundraised the amount we were originally quoted, we had to remove two people from our party and downgrade our menu which did not include drinks anymore. We requested to bring our own drinks due to the last-minute budget change, but we were told we could "only bring alcohol and no outside sodas and juices." It was disappointing that this was the only accommodation offered to a group of high school students. During the party, we also encountered several cleanliness issues. We found hair in the food and cockroaches in the rice, as well as on the walls and near the buffet area. I am totally not joking about the food; I was shocked by what we saw. The servers were very polite and apologized when we let them know, but it was a major concern for us. I understand that accidents happen, but this was a very difficult situation for our club after so much careful planning. Personally, I will not be eating here again for a long time.

    Photos
    Restaurant Kenichi
    Restaurant Kenichi - Sizzling NY Steak

    Sizzling NY Steak

    Restaurant Kenichi

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    Sunlight Cafe - japanese - Updated May 2026

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