Ichiriki Japanese Nabe Restaurant - Aiea

It's no secret that one of @nanigurl's favorite restaurants is Ichiriki Japanese Nabe Restaurant, and I finally had a chance to see what all the fuss was about when she recently met me at the Aiea location.

I was a Nabe (Japanese Hot Pot) newbie, so I had no clue what to order or what to do, so I followed @nanigurl's lead.

We both ordered the Signature Nabe, which comes with 16 different ingredients (Chinese cabbage, Bok Choy, Enoki & Shiitake Mushrooms, Tofu, Kuzukiri, Abura Age, Chives, Gobo, Chicken, Sausage, Scallops, Shrimp, Salmon and our homemade Tsukune Meatballs), and is served with rice.

We both chose the Ichiriki soup (shoyu base) with chicken and ramen.

Here is a plateful of meat, veggies, and other ingredients.

And this is a shot of most of the ingredients in the soup.

After letting the meatballs, chicken, chives, mushrooms and tofu cook in the broth (almost everything else I didn't eat so I gave to @nanigurl to cook in her own soup) I couldn't wait to give it a try.

It was soooo delicious!

The broth was really, really tasty.

Since I never had Nabe before and I wasn't sure I'd like it, I did order a side of Chicken Karaage just in case (which was really good), but turns out I didn't need to order it.

I was very satisfied with the Nabe.

I did think the food was bit pricey, but we arrived early enough to take advantage of a 25% early-bird discount (also, they have a Kids Eat Free Special every Tues and Wed - up to 2 free kids meals for kids 10 and under for every 1 adult regular-priced Nabe purchased).

And next time, thanks to a tip from @LKRand, I know I can order an all-veggie plate!

I'm glad I finally got to try Ichiriki, and hopefully @nanigurl wasn't too embarrassed dining with such a nabe novice!

Ichiriki Japanese Nabe Restaurant: 98-150 Kaonohi St, Ste C-216, Aiea, HI 96701, (808) 484-2222