Odori-ko

Salmon sashimi with ponzu jelly; spicy ahi roll, tuna poke

While searching for a casual restaurant that my friends and I could share good food and laughs at, I remembered reading about Odori-ko; a restaurant tailored to appeal to women opened up by siblings who grew up in the restaurant business.  The reviews on Yelp were stellar, but more importantly I wondered, how did their desserts fare?  I left my worries at the door as soon as I read their pastry chef was none other than Sweet Revenge's Kathy Masunaga!  Yay!  

When we arrived, we were seated behind a large sign that made our roomy booth private from the rest of the restaurant.  We made it in time for happy hour and we were not disappointed by the extensive choices.  We started off with the garlic shrimp, salmon sashimi with ponzu jelly, tuna poke, gyoza, pork chops, wafu steak, spicy ahi rolls, calamari, and a delicious miso butterfish.  The food was great and at reasonable prices.  Their drink menu was super fun as well with flavored shochu and sake to choose from among wines, cocktails, and beers. 

My favorite drink of the night was the shiso mojito!  Our super funny and attentive server said the restaurant was revamping the drink menu and taking the shiso mojito off the menu, but you can still put in a special request for it.

We put in our order for one of each of the four desserts, but they no longer offer the coffee panna cotta so we were left with the Peanut Butter Chocolate Crisp, Warm Butter Mochi with Ice Cream, and Lilikoi Panna Cotta.  They were all heavenly, but the peanut butter's airy mousse texture was most impressive.  I liked the butter mochi, but what was even better was the mud pie ice cream we paired it with. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Crisp

Odori-ko was a great choice for our casual girls' night out as it would be for any occasion.  For instance, my kids would totally love to eat here and the well organized menu will surely satisfy every palate of your group. 

The restaurant is located on Kapiolani near 24 Hour Fitness.  You can either find street parking, park in the same garage as Hawaiian Brian's for $2 with validation (no elevator; walk down the stairs through the gym and outside the restaurant will be on your right), or valet for $5.