Noboru Restaurant

We haven't had much luck finding a good Japanese restaurant in Kaneohe, therefore, we decided to try our luck in Kailua, in hopes of finding a good one on the Windward side of Oahu.  My co-worker recommended Noboru Restaurant - we loved it!  The restaurant is located next door to Zia's Cafe on Hamakua Drive.  There is plenty of parking in the back of the building.  On the window of the restaurant, we saw the words "Genuine Japanese" - most times when a restaurant will actually label themselves as "genuine", it's a red flag to signify that you are in for a very "non-genuine" experience.  But in this case, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that their food is quite genuine indeed.

The restaurant is relatively small with approximately 7 tables and a counter.  The decor is modern and not what you'd find at a traditional Japanese restaurant, but you must keep in mind that we are in Kailua.

We both received the dish below, compliments of the chef.  I have no idea what it is (my guess would be some kind of seaweed), but it was pretty good.  It was a little on the sweet side.

We ordered a California sushi roll and an order of salmon nigiri.  Both were delicious.  

Here is the soft shell crab appetizer - a soft shell crab deep fried with tempura batter.  

As you can see, this crab was FULL of meat!

Our combination dinner came with salad and miso soup.  Their ginger salad dressing was tasty and refreshing.

We ordered a 3-item combination dinner of tempura, chicken katsu, and miso butterfish.  I'm so glad we decided to share this combo meal - look at the portions!

I believe they have "Sake Night" monthly - if you come in to dine on Sake Night, they give you a free sample of 3 different sakes.  The next Sake Night is Saturday, November 28th.  They will be serving hot sake that evening.  Come down and check it out!  They also have a Sake class on Thursdays.  

We are happy to have finally found a Japanese restaurant to our liking that is relatively close to home.  The prices are comparable to the Japanese restaurants in town.  There are a lot of other items on the menu that we definitely want try, such as the shabu shabu and chanko nabe.

Noboru Restaurant

201 Hamakua Drive, #102

(808) 261-3033