Yagura Restaurant

Excellent retro Japanese restaurant. I remember coming here more than 50 years ago. I doubt they changed the orange booths and I hope they never do. I had the butterfish tempura special. Nice portion and delicious authentic misoyaki. Free green tea and water. The service was nice and efficient. We went right at 5 pm when they opened so we got one of 4 parking spaces out front and got a seat without making a reservation.will com back.

A Japanese fast food restaurant with a very high cost performance ratio. The service is fast and the dishes are served very quickly. The only regret is that the house may be old and the smoke is always around the whole house, which makes people feel uncomfortable.

Today was a holiday so pick up my sister and brother-in-law had lunch at Yagura on Liliha I guess it was before pandemic that I came here because my review is gone . Or could it be the Yelp ghost Daniel . C favorite friend lol.This Japanese restaurant is very old school style because they have a rice bowl container that you can serve yourself instead of having a rice bowl . Prices are very reasonable and the food is also tasty . I had their Chicken tofu the only thing I have to comment on is that the chicken they leave the skin on so it's rubbery. Also it's very plain no Shintake mushrooms or bamboo shoots .The service was very friendly and fast we ordered and in no time our food came out pretty quick. Maybe because we're the only ones in the restaurant at that time until 5 mins later than customer was trickling in.Our meals includes miso soup, macaroni salad and tsukemono. Limited parking 4 stalls in front of restaurant and street parking . Restroom available along with a small private room for function.Support local

Established in 1984, hole-the-wall Yagura Restaurant in Liliha has maintained its consistency over the years by offering the same local Japanese homestyle comfort foods for the past 50 years. Now managed by its 3rd owner, Cindy of Chinese ethnicity, one would never think that ethnicity would make a difference, as the menu offerings have stayed the same after so many years and are better than ever. The restaurant is geared to locals and not tourists.The restaurant name, Yagura, means in Japanese, a castle, tower or scaffold, in reference to a structure. Perhaps it was aptly named for this restaurant that was a stand-alone structure in an older local neighborhood. This old school Japanese restaurant offers popular local dishes that include: misoyaki butterfish; tempura (fish, shrimp, veggie); fish (sashimi, ahi, salmon, saba); chicken (curry, bbq; chicken tofu, katsu); beef (steak, teri); tofu (pork, chicken); and pork tonkatsu. Dishes are served as: donburi; cold/hot noodles; combos; regular teishoku; nabemono (hot pot of yosenabe, salmon, chicken, sukiyaki); and bentos. There is also a kid's meal and dessert of Dave's ice cream. Menu offerings are more local-style home cooking than traditional Japanese cooking. BYOB.One of the more popular and delicious dishes is the bbq chicken that has a lightly floured and crispy skin, and the chicken served with a light teriyaki sauce. Menu items appear to be costly; however, some menu portions are generous and filling.We've tried the following:* Chicken sukiyaki. So delicious and flavorful, with chunks of chicken, tofu, green onion, cabbage, bamboo shoots, long rice, udon, and a raw egg that cooked on its own in the hot broth. The portion was massive that we shared this between the two of us and still had leftovers. It comes with a choice of tossed or mac salad, tsukemono, miso soup, and rice. The hearty miso soup was loaded with wakame and tofu, with no skimping of the soup. As with the sukiyaki, the miso soup was served piping hot and was so tasty going down. The freshly hot cooked rice is served old style in a lacquered rice container that is shared with diners on the table and includes free refills* Oyako donburi and tonkatsu donburi. Both donburis were perfectly done, so flavorful and tasty! Generous portions of eggs, tonkatsu, round onions, and freshly cooked rice topped with nori in a sweet teri-like sauce. The donburis included the loaded miso soup and pickled tsukemono. Delicious!A hot pot of green tea is placed on the table and refilled as needed. The friendly staff of two during the lunch hour when we visited are very friendly and accommodating. One was owner Cindy, and the other was Teri, who has been working there for 21 years! No wonder Teri is so knowledgeable about its menu offerings!The restaurant interior is dated, as if you're in a time warp, going back to the '70's and '80's. A typical small neighborhood restaurant that has survived the times, you'll find lighted paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, vinyl booths along the wall, manual menu boards, lacquered rice containers to be shared at the table, and retro olive-green teapots with woven bamboo handles. The restaurant is clean and comfortable as if you were dining at your grandma's house.Perfect for private parties, there is a side room near the entrance that seats 30 to 40 people. Hours of operation are: Mon to Sat 11a to 2p for lunch, dinner Mon to Wed 5p to 8:15p and Fri/Sat 5p to 8:30p, Sun closed. As others have mentioned, there are only four free parking stalls fronting the restaurant; otherwise, there are metered parking stalls along Liliha Street, but they can be taken, even in the evening hours. While there is a private room, keep in mind that parking is limited, so carpooling is recommended.A nice local Japanese restaurant that has stood the test of time, we would definitely return when we have a craving for local-style Japanese dishes despite being a little pricy. The challenge is getting one of the four parking spaces in front, and if there is none, we'll go to our Plan B, and return the next time. Support local!

I've been wanting to eat at Yagura for years and years but never got around to it until recently. I suggested this place to my friends because it's so hard to find authentic hole in the wall Japanese restaurants nowadays. We had the hardest time finding parking because there's only about 4 stalls right in the front of the restaurant. Otherwise you have to find metered parking but be aware of the times/days you're allowed to park there. It's a small restaurant with maybe 7 tables and a side room for possibly a small party.Luckily when we got there, there were 2 tables still open so we got seated right away. They bring you water and a pot of tea. I had a lot of time to look at the menu while we waited for our friend to come so I kept thinking what I should settle on ordering. I ended up going with the yakitori jyu and a side of ahi sashimi. The jyu was so tasty and the chicken has crispy skin. Best choice ever! And the sashimi pieces were huge and not stringy.I really enjoyed this place and hope to be back soon. When I'm not starving and don't mind looking for parking. But great place for a "homey" Japanese food feeling!

Lunch in Liliha, Honolulu, Hawaii...After mom's doctor's appointment, we were kind of hungry. I searched my Yelp app for a nearby place to eat and found:Yagura Restaurant I dined here many years ago... possibly with my father... maybe over ten years ago? So, I knew that it was an old school establishment... a real throwback in time!Since we arrived at opening time (11am), we parked in one of the four free stalls in the front of the building. When we entered the restaurant, we were immediately greeted in a cheerful manner and were seated in a booth with vinylbench seats. Cups of iced water, a pot of hot tea, and utensils were brought to us. Menus were already on the table. Mom ordered a pork tofu teishoku meal. She kept commenting on how large and delicious the portions were.I had one of the specials: butterfish and tempura. Everything was great! The tempura batter wasn't too thick nor too lacey. The butterfish was moist and flavorful. The miso soup was on the salty side, but it helped me eat all of the rice! I also devoured the tsukemono and fresh green salad! The hot tea was a nice touch!I'm so glad that we visited Yagura. Mom didn't remember ever dining here. I'm glad that she got the chance!Note: there's a large room available for a party of more than 20 people!

Brother-in-law and wife decided on Yaguras to have lunch. I, for one, was thrilled. The shrimp tempura was excellent the last time we were there. Today, I opted to try their pork tofu. with a side order of deep fried oysters (3 pieces) and a side order of vegetable tempura (7 pieces). The tempura was excellent. Oysters were on point. Crisp on the outside and jucey on the inside.The pork tofu was disappointing. The broth was too sweet for my taste. Tofu was not silky but firm. Plus, side it was served piping hot. If you want to try a Japanese mom and pop eatery, this is the place.

Restaurant is a cozy little spot. Limited parking so we had to find street parking and then walk a little. Service was timely and our waiter was very nice. Menu had a decent selection, but we both ordered the tempura udon. The tempura came with kabocha squash, sweet potato, and two shrimp. While the tempura was a little over battered, the dipping sauce was incredible! The udon noodles were cooked well and the broth was delicious. The complimentary hot tea had a great roasted flavor and was a nice accompaniment to the food. Overall a good experience and will be coming back.

Haven't been here in a long time but we decided to come to celebrate my moms birthday. This place hasn't changed since I was little. The decor, the workers and food, everything. It brings back a lot of memories from over 20 years ago. I got the dinner teishoku e which had misoyaki butterfish, assorted tempura and ahi sashimi. A lot of my family got the chicken on the sizzling plate. The food didn't take too long. The butterfish was delicious and what surprised me was how good the ahi sashimi was. I usually don't care for ahi sashimi that much, usually I will eat salmon if hamachi so actually I was going to let someone else eat it but no one else wanted it so I tried it and was glad no one else wanted it. There are I think 4 stalls right in front of the restaurant so come early if possible.

Food Delicious, service fast and Friendly thumbs up will definitely dine here again! It was expensive but everything thing is in our economy.