Honolulu Weekly

There have been many great showdowns in recent months: 50 Cent vs. Kanye West, Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD, Barack vs. Hillary Ö Locally speaking, in restaurant terms, the biggest beef brewed at Ala Moana Shopping Center, focused between Kyoto Ohsho and Tsukiji Fish Market. It was the battle of the buffets. Both hovered around the same price point, both were Japanese in cuisine, and both were stark, hip, fashionable, and a hop, skip, and a jump away from each other. Diners could literally look out the window and give the other patrons stink eye.

‘Oh look, they have crab.’

‘Oh look, they have cute individual plates.’

Kyoto Ohsho seems to have blinked first, though, bringing the war to a close by recently converting to menu-dining in early February. What this means for fans of its previous guise is that they can no longer go piggy with the food and scarf it down in mass quantities. The new sit-down-and-order dining format is not necessarily a bad thing, however. It’s most of the same food items, just divided now in a menu configuration, and many of the dishes are downright economical.

The teishokus (set meals) are very affordable, with the prices hovering between $10.50 and $13.50, and of course they come in all varieties of Japanese comfort food fare. The Grilled Misoyaki Butterfish ($13.50) is tender, sweet, and juicy, just like Grandma used to make. Also familiar and tasty was the Grilled Salmon ($12.50). While traditionally hard to mess up, especially in a Japanese restaurant, it was still a nice hunk of fish with the right comforting balance of salty.

The Sashimi teishoku ($12.50) did the job right as well. Three slices each of ahi and yellow tail, with two slices each of salmon, octopus, squid, and an unlisted bonus of crunchy clams artfully lay on the usual bushes of daikon with a mound of wasabi. A surprise on the dish was what lay beneath the salmon. Instead of daikon, a bed of sliced onions, cucumbers, carrots, and red peppers. Combined with the eponymous shoyu wasabi mix, this unexpected salad brought out a light zestiness in the fish.

Less successful in the teishoku selections was the Fried Oyster ($12.50). The mollusks in question were surrounded and completely outmatched by a batter coating roughly the size of an LG cell phone. After cutting it in half and peering inside the fried encasement, it was still difficult to make out the oyster buried deep within.

More options for teishokus include Hamburger Steak, Grilled Yellow Tail Kama, Chicken Cutlet, Beef Teriyaki, Sweet & Sour Pork, the giggle-inducing Grilled Horse Mackerel, and other favorites. All come with miso soup, assorted pickled vegetables, and chawanmushi–egg custard steamed in a cup. The chawanmushi was a touch watery, but then that’s just personal preference when it comes to the spoon-able appetizer. Soba and udon noodle options, fried rice, and gyoza are also available.

To keep with the current trend, the menu offers many of the teishoku items ala carte as pupus, making Kyoto Ohsho an izakaya-type option as well. Here the food can get a little over-priced. The shrimp tempura was adequate and nothing out of the ordinary, but $18 seemed a bit much. The sushi here is also adequate although the local favorite, the Spicy Tuna Roll ($7) seemed more salty and peppery, rather than spicy. The Rainbow Roll ($11.50) is a safer, local bet.

The real question is how does this establishment manage without its claim to fame, the buffet? The innovation in the realm of the buffet which Kyoto Ohsho pounced upon was its practice of using smaller dishes to hold various food items, creating a sort of cafeteria-style way of picking, choosing, and dining. Usually buffets practically required one to pile food on plates, mixing sauces and causing things to touch that shouldn’t touch in the first place. Once one realizes that most of the items are still on the menu to individually order at a fair price, the buffet becomes more of a nostalgic memory rather than a paralyzing passing. What helps the situation is the friendly service and the frequent bussing of superfluous plates.

All from the past isn’t gone, though. A dessert buffet is still available at $3.80 per person with the purchase of a teishoku. The chocolate fountain didn’t go anywhere, with the pieces of banana and marshmallows waiting on the side to be doused under the cocoa cascade. The ice milk station is still there to make your own sundae, although the only condiments are raisins. Boo, no colored sprinkles. Although it might seem a good idea at the time, using chocolate from the fountain over your ice milk shouldn’t be done. Stick with the bananas and marshmallows.

But of course, marshmallows does not a restaurant make. The atmosphere for Kyoto Ohsho was always hip and sleek, but with the Kenny G blasting out of the speakers, rice-paper lanterns placed along the windows and ceiling and the sleek, tranquil aquariums, older diners won’t feel off-put by the contemporary surroundings, and they may be the eatery’s secret weapon for business. With the rise of the izakaya, affordable complete meal-oriented Japanese restaurants have become somewhat scarce. Grandma and Grandpa get a bit confused when they are expected to eat twenty skewers of chicken for their supper and the teishokus are right up their alley. Plus, the prospect of getting a decent meal for a relatively cheap price in a shopping center–and it isn’t located in the train-station environment of a mall food court–is downright appealing.