Tanaka Saimin

All I can say is, "I've been missing out" all these years. Now, I can make up for lost times...lol. I heard that TANAKA SAIMIN is just like the good 'ole BOULEVARD SAIMIN that was located on Dillingham in Kalihi. Not sure if this is accurate, but the owner of this restaurant is related to the owners of Boulevard Saimin. No wonder the food taste the same...still ono! Just like I remember growing up.The moment I first walked in, it reminded me of BS. A nostalgia, homey and comforting diner with old fashioned booths and open family style tables. My family was greeted with a warm greeting and a speedy service. Our waitress was so friendly, quick and very attentive to our needs throughout our entire service. She also joked with us before leaving the restaurant, she said " I'll see you folks tomorrow " lol. Now, on to the food.Looking over the menu, I noticed that they had a...TANAKA MIX PLATE that was similar to my favorite at BS (Boulevard Special plate) It included the following:Choice of 2 sides-*rice, mashed potatoes, fried saimin, mac-potato or tossed salad. Choice of 2 entrees-*shrimp tempura, shrimp omelette, teriyaki beef/pork, roast pork, beef stew, hamburger patty, yakitori chicken, chicken katsu, or crispy shoyu chickenI chose-fried saimin, mac-potato salad, teriyaki beef and shrimp tempura. This similar plate was my favorite at BS. Let me tell you, taking that first bite brought me back to my childhood. Omgeee...everything tasted EXACTLY the same...on point and so...ONOLICIOUS!!! My taste buds were doin' the HAPPY DANCE! You gotta try this plate!On my second visit here, I decided to try the TANAKA SAIMIN which includes: Large wun ton min, shrimp tempura, teriyaki and your choice of mac-potato salad or tossed salad. I choose the mac-potato salad. This dish was just as amazing!So, if you want yummy, local, comfort food with great service, come to TANAKA SAIMIN on Nimitz. You'll thank me for that!

1/22/25 Small Wonton Min About a teaspoon of plain hard hamburger meat? inside a thick doughy wrapper Too bad... they were way better at the old Boulevard Saimin

If you are in the Nimitz area, this is a must stop if you need a lunch or dinner that will satisfy your hunger.Let me just say if you go during rush hours, the parking is terrible. So I suggest going at an off time. When you enter, make sure to write your name on the list or if it's not busy just notify the hostess. A real cheat code is if your party is small, ask to sit at the counter if there is open seats. Once my hubby and I were seated, we were friendly greeted by our waitress and promptly take our drink orders. Once we got our coffees, we both got the Tanaka Saimin and my hubby got the corn chowder.Tanaka Saimin: Such a bang for your buck. Not only do you get saimin with won tons (I had like 5 juicy ones) but also a side of Teri beef, fried shrimp tempura, and Mac salad. Talk about yummy and plenty if you ask me.Corn Chowder: My hubby loved it. You cant go wrong with a corn chowder. Just a heads up it was a special for the day so it's not available everyday. Overall, I would rate this experience as top notch. I can see why so many people wait for this place. Ono food and friendly service. I can't wait to go back

Local comfort food with friendly and efficient service. My mom's favorite restaurant to go to bc it has all her faves for a reasonable price. Our go tos are the Tanaka Saimin combo, or their combo plates. They also have really good desserts that usually change from time to time. Supposedly the owner makes all of them! It does get busy so prepare to sign in and wait to be seated.

I went here to get take out and got their Tanaka mix plate that comes with chicken karaage, roast pork, Teri beef, Mac salad with fried noodles and rice. This was a lot of food that lasted me 3 meals and was quite tasty. Great local dine in spot.

My visit here today was to pick up gift cards for Christmas gifts and personal use! Tanaka Saimin has a promotion after Thanksgiving, that if you buy $100 in gift cards, you receive $20 bonus gift card. Unfortunately, our timing was not great. This was a Friday around early lunch time. When I inquired about the gift cards, I was informed that it would take awhile because it was busy and that she was the only one that could process the gift cards. Well, based on what we were told by the hostess, we decided to eat lunch there and gave her our gift card order. By the time we finished our meal which was sometime later, I inquired about the gift cards. She hadn't processed the order and asked if we could come back another day! Wow, we were surprised and disappointed.The restaurant was busy, but I wish other employees could also process gift card orders! Service for gift card order: 0/5 starsService for lunch: 4.5/ 5 stars (Attentive and nice)Ambiance: 4/5 (Nice Christmas decorations are up in front)Food: 4/5 Good and tasty. Yes, we did return for the gift cards and had to wait again!

Food was decent! Not that bad for the price for sure and definitely filling. Lots of great options to choose from. We forsure came here for the fried ice cream haha. There seem to be lots of seats inside. Although the only down side we had was slow service. We couldve been in and out of there if there were more servers. They are definitely short staffed and over worked. They didna great job trying to help one another. We got there around 6, seated by 6:30- and left pretty much at 8:45 or so. Which we spent most of our time waiting. The host was great though, he was kind and funny and informative. Other than that, great place to have dinner if you are in no rush at all.

We are regulars now. We always expect the food to be good and their deserts to be delicious. We brought new friends to join us. We had Chrystal as our waitress and she is FANTABULIFIC!! So friendly, kind, happy, thoughtful and super fast! It doesn't matter how busy they are service is always great there. They make you feel welcomed. The ambiance is that mom and pop feel. We love it. Today I tried for the first time the Ribeye with mushrooms and onions see the video as it is sizzling as you get it, so I suggest medium rare rather than medium because the steak is thin and cooks fast. But it was ok. I prefer the chopped steak or prime rib over the ribeye. My wife absolutely loved the pork roast and beef stew combo and so did my friend. My other friend ordered the fried ramen with shoyu chicken. The noodle wasn't fried enough and the shoyu chicken was dry and fried too much. She felt it was a 2 star for her. That made me feel bad as I always brag about how good the food is here. Maybe this is a "one off" and benefit of a doubt is required as 3 of the 4 were a hit. Tuesdays is senior discounts for those 65 and older. Parking is good but there are times you might have to walk half a football field. Usually there are plenty of people and the host moves people along quickly. The staff there is like a well oiled machine so it's a nice place to enjoy a meal. If coffee and a slice of pie is your thing then this should be one of your top choices! All deserts are delicious! The potato mac salad is spot on too!

We visited Tanaka Saimin and ordered the moyashi saimin and the Tanaka special. Both were excellent.....the wait was not long and the server super friendly and she asked a couple if they could move to the next table so she could sit the 7 of us. The couple were so nice to move over. We are thankful. The place was a bit noisy but they were busy and hustling and bustling around. The food is always good and the saimin warms the soul. Our definite go to.

This is like an old reliable place! Service was nice and quick, very attentive. We got the tanaka saimin combo which came with saimin, wunton, shrimp tempura, teri beef and mac salad- pretty good deal for $16. It was all good, although the shrimp was a little doughy. Definitely a good stop to come by if you need a quick n filling meal.