The crust was so crispy and the pork Katsu was tasty. The waitresses talked so gentle and we felt treated well! One fact: the rice was incredible! We love the rice! A must visit place in Oahu.
Kind staff, reservation required. Takeaway also an option.
Best tonkatsu- get the extra thick cut. Good Japanese curry. Limited menu.
This was my second visit.They have 2 entrance. One is for Tonkatsu and another is focused on Yoshoku. (You can order western style Japanese food and Tonkatsu)My favorite was Rolled Cabbage…Tonkatsu would be the normal choice, but I didn’t feel like fried food that day. And it is not so often you come across with Rolled cabbage at the restaurant.FYI, Japanese Yoshoku means the Japanese style western food.Fried oyster had tonkatsu crumbs on it, nice and crispy. They also have the variety plate which you get to try everything from a bite size Tonkatsu to Japanese Omurice.The set comes with soup and salad. Rice or sliced Baguette to chose. Friendly service.Reservation recommended, if you don’t want to wait.
Make sure you make a reservation before planning to visit here. We got super duper lucky to the table for 2 as walk-in around 3pm ish. Don’t get confused, there are 2 different concepts for Ginza Bairin located next to each other. One with more focused on Katsu and one with more focused on Japanese traditional cuisine. We luckily got to try both location. Our hands down was definitely one that focused with Katsu. We ordered Pork loin set, katsu don, and katsu sando also one the side of curry sauce and then we ordered tiger shrimp tempura and cream croquettes as dessert. I know it was a lot for 2 of us but we just couldn’t stop eating!! Excellent service that servers kept checking on us and gave us unlimited miso soup and rice and Hot tea at the end of our meal was very pleasant. All the katsu we had were so juicy and crunchy, the sauce was amazing as well!! I would only come again Oahu just for their Katsu. This place made our trip super memorable and special.
The specialty kurobuta pork chop is very good, crispy but not oily. However you should eat it as soon as it is served. We also ordered the regular kurobuta pork chop, which is less fatty. It is also pretty good. However $40 plus for a fried pork is a bit pricy. You might want to order am appetizer, like a sandwich, and order one fried pork chop to share with your friends.
The food doesn’t have any mistakes. There are many fried dishes which favor the American’s taste. The reason I don’t give 5 star is their service. They want the guests coming with reservation but travelers may not know that. The waitress refused a baby who sitting in a stroller because he didn’t wear mask. It made the dad felt uncomfortable and left. The cup is disposable, not a formal way to serve. I reserved, my table doesn’t have the sign of “reserve” but other tables have. There is no knife and fork for the stake only you ask for. They forgot to serve my drink before the dish because they forgot or too busy. It seems they are short of manpower.
Pork tonkatsu set is delicious!
We made a reservation two weeks prior to our trip and we didn’t have to wait much at all.We ordered crab cream croquettes, special pork loin, special pork tenderloin and special pork loin katsudon - they were all amazing!! So juicy and tender. Service was very good as well. Kind and attentive. We are excited to come back to Honolulu so we can eat at this place again!
Absolutely the best place for Japanese katsu in Honolulu. So authentic and tasty! Pork katsu was delicious - don’t be afraid to ask for curry on the side to take it to the next level. Our waitress convinced us to order the pork sandwich. Glad we did because it was amazing. So were the crab croquettes. Can’t wait to visit this place again!