Bento-Ya Iyasume

Came upon this place by chance on my way to Soccer Locker which was next door. It was lunch time anyways, so I figured… what the heck! I’m glad I did! As the name suggests, it’s a Bento place and you can either sit down and eat or take one, two, or fifty to go! I tried their special, Miso Chicken Cutlet, and it was sooooooooooooooo Ono! One of the best bentos I’ve had here in Hawaii.
The bad news — I went there a week later and the place moved! Fear not, they still have locations near Honolulu Walmart next to City Café which also makes for a good Bento/​Dessert combination and couple locations in Waikiki.
I highly suggest you check this place out. Great for lunch or even catering!

Place owns.
Miso soup with regular bento meal and two sides too? helllllll yeahhhhhhh!!!
Miso pork katsu is one of the best things they’ve got on menu next to the oysters. Seriously can’t go wrong with anything you choose though, I haven’t had anyone I’ve taken here complain about the food they’ve eaten.
Best stop before a beach session so you can eat then swim at Kaimana’s.
Also they do bento catering! BONUS!!!

A real hole-​in-​the-​wall place, similar to K’s Bento-​Ya in Waipahu. The restaurant is just a small room where you order the bento you want, with a couple of tables to sit at while you wait or to eat while you’re there. It’s tucked away in a small shopping outlet, close to Zippy’s and next to Papa John’s on Kapahulu Ave.
Selection is pretty good, they have chicken, seafood, etc standard meat entrée choices for the bentos. I went with the Garlic Fried Chicken cause anything with ‘Garlic’ or ‘Fried’ before the word ‘Chicken’ is generally a safe shot (I guess cause it was also at the top of the menu and Unilocalers recommended it, too :) Also, you get a choice of two sides; I chose the potato salad and yakisoba, both of them pretty tasty. And on top of that, you get miso soup, too! Really good and filling meal for only a measly 7 bux.
The bento held up very well, considering I biked all the way downtown from Mililani and I went a bit further to Hawaii Kai before turning back. I tossed the bento wrapped around its plastic bag into my rucksack and had it sit on my back for about 2.5 hours before I could return home to enjoy the vittles. The quality didn’t degrade much at all during that time; the chicken lost much of its fried crunchiness, sure, but it wasn’t totally soggy, and the rice + sides were fine, too. None of the sauce from the container (they pack the garlic chicken sauce separately fyi) spilled out the entire time, as well, which is quite a feat for a 2.5 hour bike ride with lots of earthquake-​quality stretches of rumble-​y road!
This was the first time I’ve been here, but it certainly won’t be my last. Iyasume Bento-​Ya will definitely be my go-​to place for bentos whenever I find myself downtown!

This place is one of my favorite go to places for quick delicious bentos and musubi. I have had everything on the menu except the garlic chicken. Everything has always tasted homemade and fresh. The nishime and kimpira gobo are nice. Food is flavored towards the Japanese palate. While the local style Japanese food is good it tends to be much sweeter with thicker sauces, so just know this going in.
Musubi are made to order so unfortunately sometimes their made with hot rice making them mushy.
People are polite, service is fast, theres a tv and a couple of tables so you can eat in if you prefer, but nothing fancy.
These kind of little eateries make Hawaii such a great place for food. For the same price as a crappy fast food chain you can have a great meal!
p. s. Owner told me they are moving to Keeamoku st. sometime in May 2011.

This is, I believe, the sister restaurant to Iyasume Musubi. Unlike Iyasume Musubi, which has a wide variety of musubis with a small selection of bento boxes, this place is the opposite. The bento boxes here are a few dollars more. Instead of them being $ 5.50 like at Iyasume, they are $ 7.50-ish. But, there’s a great more in variety.
The quality is the same at both places — great. Service is extremely quick and polite.
If you’re going by GPS, it’s a little difficult to find. The store is in the small plaza adjacent to Papa John’s. There’s a soccer store next to it.

as i begin to write this, saliva is collecting under my tongue and tingle fingers are dancing up and down my arms and legs. yes, this place is THAT f-​ing good!
this past October my fiancée and i took the most awesomest trip to hawaii but before heading out, i did my research; every meal, every destination, it was all planned out and bento-​ya iyasume was one of the first places we hit up.
we found the place easy enough; it’s in a small strip mall-​ish area w/​limited parking but we always managed to find a spot w/​our rental Yaris.
we decided to eat lunch there but also ordered two more bentos to-​go for our day trip/​picnic/​proposal (yep, i proposed to my lady on the beach and bento-​ya iyasume catered the lunch!) at lanikai beach the next day ;)
i got the garlic fried chicken and butter fish (black cod) combo w/​kinpira and miso eggplant. my fiancée had the butter fish w/​potato salad and… i forget. =P OMG everything was absolutely delicious! the butter fish was sweet, fatty, salty (wow, i just had a flashback of that distict, heavenly carmelized burnt skin flavor of the miso cod in my mouth…), the kinpira was bursting w/​flavor and the chicken, THE CHICKEN w/​the yummy garlic sauce w/​little bits of ROASTED garlic! i mean, who takes time to roast the garlic for a side sauce? thank you thank you! wow.
we scarfed down our food and looked forward to the next day’s lunch menu; for me it was more butter fish w/​miso chicken cutlet, potato salad and kinpira. my fiancée had ordered the salmon teriyaki w/​potato salad and kinpira as well. our lunch the next day, amidst the pristine waters of kailua, heady and giddy w/​my fiancée saying «yes,» buzzed w/​the white wine we packed for the picnic, was super redonkdiculously good, too and our food wasn’t even warm! it was still crazy good, cold rice and all!
of all the things we tried at this place i’d say my least fav was the miso eggplant. i normally love eggplant but i think all the other robust flavors sort of outshined the poor eggplant. i also had the Spam musubi. it was good but my future mother in law’s musubi, who is japanese-​american, makes it better. =D
we were in hawaii for 8 days and out of those 8 days we ate 4 meals from this place! we still have cravings like you would not believe. hands down the best bento we’ve ever had. if the owners are reading this, you need to open up shop in southern cali. you would put so many places to shame w/​your food! thank you iyasume, we’ll be back for sure!

One of my all time favorite bento places to eat at…
When i come to Bento-​Ya Iyasume, i usually get the garlic fried chicken and two-​sides of the yakisoba. I tend to eat the chicken without the garlic sauce, making me feel like im just eating Karaage Chicken instead. The portions here are very generous and i love the fact that it comes with miso soup as well.
I really love eating here because i feel that there is not many places where you can get a really Japanese inspired bento without going too «local» on the creations…
The only thing that disappoints me about Bento-​Ya Iyasume is that i wish they were open later… Some times i cant make it to this place during lunch and by the time dinner comes around i am out of luck. lol. i would def come here for some after-​work or late-​night cravings. =)

I called in my order of Teriyaki Salmon with my side choices of nishime and miso eggplant. I originally wanted the Broiled Salmon but decided on teriyaki because I worried about the fish drying out.
I was not disappointed. The 3 good-​sized pieces of salmon was cooked perfectly, the crispy skin was an extra bonus! I liked that the teriyaki sauce did not overpower the fish. I was pretty satisfied w/​my meal.
The nishime was perfectly cooked. The daikon and lotus roots were fork tender and delicious.
Got my usual miso eggplant as well. Always tasty and well-​seasoned, just the right amount of seasoning. It looks unappetizing but tastes delicious!
I recommended the Garlic Chicken bento to my partner-​in-​crime. She loved it! The chicken was crispy (some parts were a bit soggy bc we did take-​out our order) and well seasoned as usual. She mentioned that the garlic sauce had a slight spicy kick to it, which was a nice surprise.
Don’t forget to check out their other location, Iyasumi Musubi. Located on Koa Ave (behind the Hyatt in Waikiki). This location serves up delicious varieties of musubis and curry bowl combos for a great deal. They’re open 7 days a week, from 6am to 4pm.
Just thinking about the musubis that I had the other week made my mouth water. For around $ 1.98 each, these little bundles of goodness are sure to satisfy!

Oishi Bento’s — Yasui prices!
plenty plenty bento types to choose from: chicken, salmon, pork, shrimp, hamburger, butter fish, clam, beef, mackerel, unagi, curry — all kinds!
and you get a choice of sides as well: nishime, hijiki, miso eggplant, potato salad, yakisoba or gobo. Plus, the bento’s come with miso soup included!
i tried the pork ginger bento with miso eggplant and nishime — and damn it was good. kind of salty though, so make sure you have a drink on hand if you’re eating this one.
i hear the musubi’s are good too, but i’ll have to try this when i come back.
the bento prices range from $ 5.95 — $ 9.45 depending on what kind you get and what size (mini or regular).
i also love that their bento’s are in partitioned containers — my food doesnt touch unless i want it to! :D
plus, plus, plus — i LOVE their website (
)
their menu is shown as a PICTURE menu! more places should do this…

Great little bento hole in the wall.
We had the garlic fried chicken and salmon bentos. The fried chicken was warm, but not hot — so good, but not great. It was served with a garlic soy sauce that was very tasty. The salmon was the winner; they carved it from a whole side of fresh salmon and cooked it to order. Wonderful.
On the sides, both the miso eggplant and the potato salad exceeded expectations.
Great value.
Just FYI, only accepts credit cards for over $ 10.

Iyasume is the epidemy of a perfect hole in the wall joint. It’s tiny unassuming joint off the beaten path in Honolulu. When You walk in and see their hodge podge menu on the wall, a mix of a few unmatching tables and chairs and random food and coffee maker on sale (?), you know you are in for the real deal. They specialize in Omusubi. For those who have not had the fortune of enjoying omusubi’s, you are missing out. They are rice balls filled with your choice of a savory or sweet filling from their menu wrapped with nori. One bite in you get the perfectly season salty rice. Two bites in you get your bonus filling with the rice. In our case, we had the very delicious salmon and bonito. My only complaint is that on our second consecutive visit is that they were less generous on the salmon filling.
Conclusion: Definitely venture off the beaten path for delicious Omusubi.

For sum dum reason I used to buy a salmon hand roll from 7 – 11 to tame the angry stomach dragon after surfing too long.
NO MORE! I hereby solemnly swear to only buy salmon musubi from Iyasume — It is UMAI!!! Just like grandma used to make. Hand formed with a salted palm. Filled with high quality middles. Not at all greasy. Just plain salty savory goodness. And still warm…
The salmon is my favorite. Simply flavored salmon filet with shio (salt). This is not the canned variety! Ume and Konbu are also oishii. I’m not a big spam eater, but they have big vats marinating in teriyaki, so I imagine it’s pretty darn flavorful. I would not recommend the mentaiko musubi (spicy fish roe) but maybe it was just too flavorful for me?
Tasty bentos. You choose the accompanying okazu (think nishime, kinpira gobo, eggplant, etc). Bentos get 2 choice, minis are only $ 5.95. The hamburger steak bento is so cute (the burgers are mini burger balls!) Prices are very reasonable and they have a good deal for take out bentos. Today’s special bento had shrimp tempura, garlic chicken, nishime and miso soup for $ 5.95. What a deal!
Try it. Love it. Repeat!
NOTE: This is the spot where they make bentos to take to the Waikiki location. Oh, and this Iyasume has parking!

I ordered the Miso butterfish bento with Miso eggplant and potato salad sides. My husband ordered the mini Teriyaki salmon Bento with potato salad side and a Salmon Musubi. My son ordered the Teriyaki Spam bento. Sad to say I’ve tasted better at Marukai and Don Quijote. Let me explain. The Miso butterfish was extremely salty, the teriyaki salmon and spam was ok, the salmon musubi was bland. The only thing that tasted good was the side of miso eggplant and the portions are large at a good price. Very disappointed, considering the owners/​cooks are from Japan. Maybe the Waikiki location is better? It did have quick service though. Small parking lot. 3 tables of 4 in restaurant. It is next to Tokkurei-​Tei and Papa Johns. Credit cards okay for bills greater that $ 10.

I thought this place was pretty good. I like to bring contraband food into movies, so my friend and I hit this place up, as well as Leonard’s down the street for some dessert! I got a small bento with some fried chicken and musubi. I didn’t mind the long wait, because I love getting a bento that is piping hot and fresh! And the chicken was super crispy! Perfect movie food. =)

We found this little restaurant while vacationing in Hawaii. It was hidden away from the street in a little alley. The store is very traditional, very Japanese. The food they have taste great and very inexpensive in this tourist town. I love their rice balls and musubi!

Now that Imari on Keeaumoku is gone, I get my bentos here.
Nice touch that they give you miso soup with the bentos.
You can order by phone and pickup so you don’t have to wait.
They close too early at 6pm, so I can’t use them as often.
They have over 2 dozen on their menu to choose from.

What a lucky find! Never thought I’d say this, but thanks to Zippy’s being closed (it was New Years day), we ventured out and discovered how good this place is. I’m not saying I’m happy Zippy’s was closed, but it allowed us to find a new and delicious option for bento.
After getting our bento lunches to go, we were all set for the beach. Too bad I killed mine before we even made it halfway there. I got a combo bento with miso butterfish and tonkatsu, which was very tasty. I love that the bentos come with miso soup and your choice of 2 sides. My favorites were the potato salad and miso eggplant.
The restaurant is a hole-​in-​the-​wall with great good and friendly service. You certainly get plenty of food for such affordable prices. We were so pleased with our first visit, we came back to load up on bentos for our flight back to California. Let me just say, I was quite pleased busting out my bento when everyone else was getting pretzels and soggy pasta.

we didn’t order their specialty onigiri’s or bentos but got two spam musubis to go (it’s airport day back to LA tonight). i didn’t expect much for my $ 1.78 spam musubi. A-​OK. the two guys working the kitchen and cash register seem nice.
they have a new menu display. see pics!
and they need to fix their door cuz the annoying squeak every time the door opens, makes me wanna flip a table

I ordered 15 mini bentos for my daughter’s tennis team. I just got the plain musubi, because I don’t know how picky the kids are. I ate one too. The rice is really good. There was sausage, chicken, and egg in the bento. I must say I got a good deal for those bentos. But the rice is yummy. I know it’s just rice, but it was really good. Love the little musubi girl that sits on the stool outside!
A little FYI, they started out as being only the commercial kitchen for their kiosks in Waikiki. But everyone kept knocking on their door wanting to order stuff, so they decided to sell stuff. Hence the small eating area was an after thought add on.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a new bento place right across the street from the Kapahulu Starbucks. There was a giant musubi sitting outside the store; supa-​cute! Last I noticed there was a Korean plate lunch place there. I asked and they said they opened at this location 2 months ago. They have 2 other locations listed on their take-​out menu: Iyasume — Musubi to Go in the Waikiki Sand Villa Hotel & a little kiosk «Kalakaua Kiosk #3» across from DFS.
They have a lot of options for okazu that are vegetarian or seafood. I want to try the miso eggplant next time I visit. There were lots of «bowl» options: Salmon Bowl, Eel Bowl, Katsu Don, etc. And of course the bento option pictures were prominent on the wall. I think I will have to try their Garlic Fried Chicken and the «Hamburg». They consistently wrote «Hamburg» instead of «Hamburger». I think that’s kind of cool. Also cool: they have mini bento options that include a triangle musubi of your choice for about $ 3.50. VERY cool: The restaurant owners must be obsessed with Spam because there were a lot of Spam options for a Japanese place, and there was a Spam coffee table book on one of the tables.
I was torn between ordering the wakame udon or the curry udon. I got the wakame udon and it was great! It was simple, but good. The noodles were a nice texture and the soup was excellent.
My only complaint: the tables all seemed like they needed to be wiped. I picked the cleanest looking one to sit at, but it was a little sticky in some areas. Ew.