Nagomi Japanese Teppan & Lounge

This place is awesome!
First off, the service was great. Very friendly and never had to wait very long for anything.
Second, the food was great and well priced for teppanyaki. My favorite dish, as many have already said, is the bacon wrapped mochi. Ordered one, then ordered another!
Btw, we also ordered Kubota Senju, and it was the best Sake I’ve ever had in my life.

Well, I gotta see it to believe it. My coworker told me they are changing it up to a bar. or is it actually just closed?
This has been opened for quite a while. but still new, and never got a chance to try it. So that moment came. We made it before they closed. My friend suggested here for her birthday dinner… so close to my home, sure! It wasn’t too busy on a Saturday night. We got a table right away.
Looking at the menu, that one flavored okonomiyaki I wanted… GONE! Nuuuuu! They changed up the menu. Anyways, four of us each ordered a different okonomiyaki.
Our food:
Appetizer: bacon mochi– it was chewy and good. Too bad its sooo small. I’m not a bacon fan. but this one is amazingly acceptable. Main course: the okonomiyaki, we each exchange a different flavor. It was pretty filling… even if it looked small. It must be the carb and meat inside. I was simply satisfied. Dessert: Nagomi special — fried mochi with a scoop of ice cream (sesame). It was very delicious.
It’s actually pretty pricey for certain dishes. I think people come here for the happy hour drinks special.

EDIT*******************************
Wait, I had my Unilocal review as a draft and when I went back to finish, I see Nagomi has closed??? Aww… well I’m still gonna add my review since I already completed it… I think me and my friends went on the second to the last day without even knowing lol: 12÷6÷14.
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Nagomi was once in a location that I never would step into with highschool friends, but now it is!
Ever since they opened, I’ve been meaning to come here. just once. I keep recommending it to friends and we never seem to make the effort, but at last. The perfect occasion to where they couldn’t say no — my birthday. I tend not to make a big deal out of that day. Spending time/​having fun with good company is what I really want. We just ended up having a nice catch-​up dinner here.
I had originally checked out the menu before I arrived, so I knew the jist of what I wanted to eat and try out. To my disappointment, most of the things on their online menu is not up-​to-​date with their current menu. They should probably fix that sometime. For instance, we wanted specific okonomiyaki’s: The Works and Cheese & Sweet Potato. Our waiter said The Works was similar to another mixed okonomiyaki, so we ended up getting that… but still hate false advertising. There was no honey glazed sweet potato dessert for my friend either haha…
Everyone on Unilocal was raving about the bacon wrapped mochi so of course I had to get that. From the pictures, I knew it was small and not worth $ 8.50 for 4 pieces BUT WHATEVER IT’S MY BIRTHDAY RIGHT.=_=. We actually ended up getting 6 pieces, but they were still small. I loved it though, I could taste the chewiness of the mochi and the crunchy, fatness of the bacon and the ponzu sauce that came with it added a tangy taste of sweetness. One friend, however, said all she could taste was cheese.
For our main course, we each got a different okonomiyaki. Since my first choice didn’t exist, I ended up getting the Ma Special and out of all the okonomiyakis my friends got, I liked mine the best! :) I think I just have a thing for mochi, bacon, and cheese all mixed together lol. The Mixed okonomiyaki with calamari was a close second and I couldn’t really tell the difference between the Meat Lovers and Assorted Mushroom one. I have to complain that although the okonomiyakis were good, they were small compared to what I’m used to.
Dessert was amazing. We got the Nagomi Dessert Special, which was fried mochi with ice cream (either green tea, vanilla, or black sesame). I wanted black sesame, didn’t really care for the others and it was super good. The fried mochi was a strange combo, but I liked it. It was different in a good way. I really enjoyed the food, and would give an extra star but the light above our table kept flickering on and off so that was kinda annoying. Also, prices are a bit high for the amount of food you actually get. But I do secretly wanna come back to try the tako poke with wasabi cause I couldn’t get to haha.

Nagomi Teppan is closed as of Sunday, 12/​07/​2014!
They had a good run, but ultimately, maybe not the best location for a Japanese restaurant.

I went there last night for the 1^st time expecting the real Japanese style fine service.
It was much bigger inside than I imagined and so most of the tables were empty and it was a slow night I guess.
We had beef tongue from happy hour but it was really chewy and wasn’t good at all.
Fried noodle (udon) wasn’t anything special but something I could make.
The pancake (okonomiyaki) wasn’t bad but it was small.
The stuff were friendly and our server checked up on us frequently but it wasn’t like real Japanese service. The first thing I asked our server was to fix the table since it wasn’t even and moving as we touch but he forgot about it and never fixed it. And my partner wanted to talk to the manager and was told it would take 10 min but he never showed up to our table entire night.
Teppanyaki is competitive here in Hawaii since we have Kaiwa, Jinroku and Yakiyaki Miwa and these usually give me a good dinning experience. I came from Japan and I would say the best Okonomiyaki is Yaki Yaki Miwa. Oh… I haven’t gone back there for a while I need to go for their pancakes!
I don’t think I would go back here because I have so many places to go back and still would like to try new ones :)

I planned a birthday dinner at Nagomi for a party of maybe 14 people and it went well. The interior is really nice and the servers are really nice as well. The only thing that is a hassle is their parking! They have parking in the back lot, but it is kind of limited. I’m not sure if you will be able to find street parking as well, so if you have a big party, maybe carpool? I’ve only been to the restaurant side, but I heard the lounge side is cool too.
We all got a bunch of different Okonomiyakis, because I haven’t really heard of any places here that have it, well besides Chibo (which I haven’t tried yet). We got their Meat Lovers, Seafood, and idk LOL. But it was pretty good! The pricing was a little expensive to me because I can just make these at home…
Oh! On another occasion the server messed up on our orders, giving us 4 okonomiyakis instead of 3, and just paid for it himself, which was really nice that he was taking care the confusion. Soon after though ANOTHER one came LOL so we had 5 ??? But we told them to take it away… idk man that was really some bad miscommunication, but it wasn’t really a problem for us.
Their cocktail drinks are really sweet and yummy! I wish I remembered which one I got LOL, I think it was a Mango Daiquiri… anyways it was good and like $ 9?
Back to the birthday occasion, because I had made the reservation for 4 birthdays, lol… the server brought out 4 ice cream dishes with a candle on it I think? Gosh my memory is getting bad lol. But, they sang and it was really a nice first experience!
Oh! Also the mochi wrapped bacon is bomb!!! Make sure to try it!

I’m on the fence about Nagomi. It is a pretty big eating space. I think the entire staff greeted us when we came in. We were seated immediately. Not knowing how dead it would be, we had made reservations. I think there were 3 – 4 other parties dining while we were there… neat space, but unfortunately pretty empty.
They have a lounge area which you must sit in if you’re interested in happy hour. Honestly, happy hour seemed a bit pricey still. Didn’t really see any stellar drink specials.
So we had a $ 50 groupon to use up. We ordered the beef tongue appetizer, the mix seafood teppanyaki, the Japanese flan, and the Nagomi special dessert.
A few things that pushed my rating to a 3 rather than a 4:
— I thought it was really awkward how our server never introduced us to the guy he was training. It was weird to have this other guy just lurking in the background.
— Someone other than our server came by with a small plate of kimchi on the house. Our server brought a second plate and then when he noticed that we had already gotten a plate, he said «Oh, this is for someone else» and took away the plate he just placed onto our table.
— When we only ordered one entrée, I thought it was evident that we were sharing our meal. Well when they brought out the food, we were given a single bowl of miso soup and a single bowl of rice. I get that the entrée only came with one-​but we were never asked if we wanted to order an extra soup or even if we needed an extra bowl. Hell, I had been the server, I would’ve filled two bowls half way instead of bring one bowl… it just makes for a very awkward conversation. Luckily I was with the bf… what if it had been a friend or co-​worker? If anything, charge a small fee for splitting plates, but don’t be so damn petty about it.
— As we were wrapping up our entrée, our server asked if we would be full. It sort of offended me. How about rather than make me feel cheap, ask me if I’d like to order any additional food?
Honestly, we weren’t stuffed but we wanted dessert so we shared! So we ended up getting the Japanese Flan and the house dessert. To our server’s credit-​the black sesame ice cream was on point.
Would I come back to dine at Nagomi? Hmmm hard to say. The food quality is good but I just felt like a cheapo pretending to mingle with the cool kids. Funny how Alan Wong’s never leaves me feeling that way: p

The menu is filled with so many goodies, you cannot bear to just pick one. Family style eating is in your best interests!
Parking:
Nagomi has it’s own lot right before the restaurant. Don’t mind that it says «reserved» I think they meant to make it say «Customers Only.»
Food:
Most of their dishes are good enough to split small portions between 4 people. Our group of say 20 – 24 was split into 4 groups or so. So for 6 people we had the following:
Cow Tongue (good)
Bacon wrapped mochi (a little plain, but interesting)
Scallops (pretty good!)
Garlic Shrimp Fried Rice (alright)
Kim Chee & Pork Belly Okonomiyaki (good)
Meat Lovers Okonomiyaki (good)
Pork Gyoza (alright — seems prepacked, not made fresh? not sure)
Garlic Fried Chicken (good — smaller than you would think)
Garlic Fried Shrimp (alright — smaller than you would think)
I will have you know, I used to cook okonomiyaki part time before I started wearing ties to work. Their version is almost like two layers and ingredients cooked separately. Then they stack ‘em up, throw some okonomiyaki sauce on there and BAM Japanese mayo. Done. Pretty good if I don’t say so myself.
Service:
Best service I have had in I don’t even know how long. It was almost unexpected because we had a few friends tell me right before dinner that they were not attentive unless you’re ordering alcohol. Behold! I was impressed with the service. They were always willing to explain menu items, make suggestions, and even make corrections to orders. Though I guess 3 of the 6 people in our split group ordered drinks, I didn’t really feel a lack of service being on of the 3 who didn’t order alcohol.
Conclusion:
Try it! The only problem I had, really, was the portion size, but I guess I can’t really say anything because these dishes seemingly were not meant to be eaten family style. Order one appetizer, entrée, and side dish FOR YOURSELF — you should be FULL, but will you be satisfied? I don’t know man, there is a LOT of good stuff to eat here! The time of preparation was okay. Definitely might give it another try someday.

A nice place to drink and dine.
I’m a huge fan of Japanese fusion food. I love traditional stuff too, but I find dishes more interesting when they mix different flavors and cultures together. Nagomi has a lot of things that work in a very nice atmosphere.
I made reservations on a Friday night and we sat at the teppan bar area, so we could watch the chef cook. It’s a lot like Chibo’s in Waikiki, where the chef is a chef, not a circus clown like kobe. The difference with Nagomi is the chef’s are more open to conversation and you asking them questions. At other places it’s almost forbidden or on the flip side it’s forced conversation and spatula flipping. Nagomi fits nicely between the two extremes.
I like to order izakaya style with my gf. I usually order lots of small dishes and share them, so we get to try an array of different things at once. I ordered the ginger pork, foil cooked salmon, kimchee pork, bacon wrapped mochi, miso calamari, beef tongue, and black sesame ice cream. I have to say I loved the ginger pork, bacon wrapped mochi, and kimchee pork. They make their own kimchee and it tastes great. The black sesame ice cream was interesting and tastes a lot like peanut butter.
The service was great. The teppan chef and servers were friendly and available to take our order. We keep ordering more food as we finished other dishes, so it was a constant interaction with our server, but it worked out great.
The atmosphere is very modern, like a «museum of art» type feel to it. The interior kinda presents itself like an upscale restaurant, but Nagomi is more of an affordable fusion restaurant/​lounge. I don’t mean that in a bad way, Nagomi is much more affordable than I imagined it would be. Our meal plus drinks came out to $ 30 per person, which is pretty darn good for dinner.
A good place along Kapiolani and even if I’m at Ala Moana Center, I can see myself walking over.

A girlfriend wanted to have lunch before embarking on her mainland trip so she asked me to pick the place. I suggested we meet at Nagomi since it’s spacious and they have ample parking. This is an important factor when you’re trying to eat at the lunch-​rush hour. The service is usually friendly, courteous and welcoming. I find the staff very helpful if you have question (s) about the menu items.
It’s kinda nice that they bring out the delicious complimentary kimchee before taking your food order. It’s a Friday afternoon and I was trying to be good so I decided on the tofu salad while my friend ordered the kimchee pork belly appetizer and spicy ginger pork. Such a lovely surprise when lunch comes with miso soup and it was so tasty, so savory with tender chunks of daikon and carrots. Kind of hard to find awesome miso soup. We both loved the miso soup and even entered into a lengthy comparative conversation about the miso soup served at other restaurants. Kimchee pork belly was not as spicy as we had expected but nevertheless, it was very good and enjoyable as a starter.
My tofu salad arrived first and we both really were impressed with this dish. Tofu squares were perfectly fried all around and the inside texture was really soft. But the nice surprise had to be the ginger dressing that complimented the greens to a tee. Great combo and healthy too! My friend’s spicy ginger pork also turned out delicious since the ginger taste was there and you can appreciate the sweetness of the thinly sliced onions. I liked how they give you the pickled sour daikon to round out your meal. It doesn’t get any better than that when you eat everything with hot white rice.
Even though we enjoyed the food tremendously, we could handled the food if it was spicier. I am not addicted to spicy food but when it’s labeled spicy, I expect spicy. Not a problem if I experienced a little hot sweat pain… lol. All in all, the lunch was a hit and we both decided we will return for more culinary adventures.

Before I comment on the food, I just want to say that the service here was fantastic! Our waiter was knowledgeable about the menu and very professional. We were given a change of plates when our okonomiyaki came out and our water glasses were attentively replenished throughout our meal.
Here’s what we had for dinner:
BACON WRAPPED ASPARAGUS
This was delicious… how can anything wrapped in crispy bacon not be?! I am curious about their Bacon Wrapped Mochi…
HONEY GLAZED CHICKEN
The honey glaze on this was tasty but unfortunately, the small pieces of chicken weren’t very good. The chicken looked fried but didn’t have the pleasing texture of something fried and was hardly lukewarm.
CHICKEN KATSU
This was the much better chicken dish. It actually came out hot and had a nice, thin crispy crust. Bigger portions than the Honey Glazed Chicken too!
PORK BELLY & KIMCHEE OKONOMIYAKI
I was quite disappointed with the okonomiyaki here. The cabbage wasn’t cooked down enough so it was slightly bitter and the okonomiyaki did not hold well together. Maybe we came on an off night?
YAKI GARLIC UDON
This was yummy but nothing super out of the ordinary and the portions were small.
JAPANESE FLAN
A great way to end the meal – the flan itself is only slightly sweet and goes great with the kuromitsu (Japanese «black honey») on top.

Nagomi has true potential and just needs to iron out a few kinks.
The food is great! Okonomiyaki is one of my hubby’s fave Japanese nom noms (that and takoyaki), so he was sold from the get-​go. The selection of menu items are well balanced: a list of teppan style dishes on one side and a handful of okono-​plates on another. They even have a few noodle dishes and fryer items too, but nothing too dizzying like other fusion Japanese places I’ve seen. Their list of apps are also reasonable with many yummy can’t-go-wrong favorites– Bacon Wrapped Tiger Prawns, Garlic Jumbo Scallops, and Sautéed Calamari (Lemon Butter or Citrus Soy) just to name a few. Mmmmm…
Nagomi (per our server Leo) translates loosely «to unwind, relax, and enjoy yourself». I’d be happy to! They are located on the busy Kapiolani intersection between Atkinson and Kaheka, on the Makai (ocean) side across from 24 Hr Fitness. A little nagomi around this area wouldn’t hurt.
Parking is behind the restaurant and can be reached on Kona street (a sign directs you so you don’t park in the wrong lot). There is a lounge that connects to the main dining area in the back half of the restaurant, probably for those waiting to be seated when they get busy.
The room is spacious and may need just a tad more interior decorating IMHO. I applaud its cleanliness and open views to the teppan bar, that is nice! Beers run around $ 4 for a 12 oz bottle and $ 5 for a pint. We ordered the sauteed calamari with lemon butter and the garlic fries, both yummy. The meat lover’s okonomiyaki had the right amount of okono sauce and house mayo to accentuate the flavor of the pancake. Dense but still fluffy enough to taste the air in each bite.
The sirloin teppanyaki was also well prepared with a retained juiciness that all carnivores can appreciate when working with a sirloin. Side garlic chips and veggies aided in complimentary textures. For dessert, we dove into the fried mochi with green tea AND black sesame ice cream (HEADS UP! If you check into Unilocal and show your server, you receive free ice cream!). A nice way to end the experience!
Overall, the food did not disappoint but the items can get a bit pricey (especially the teppan dishes). Our server did forget to bring us a melon drink that he wanted to create specifically for us, but the service itself was genuine and deliberate.
Great choice for special occasions, especially something unique and conveniently in town. Next visit, we would like to sit at the teppan bar to watch the chefs for a different experience!

My GFs & I dined at Nagomi on a Tuesday at around 6pm. Upon stepping in, the modern interior made me feel like I was back in LA (for some reason). Supposedly happy hour is from 5:30pm — 7:30pm, Tuesday thru Sunday, but we didn’t have a happy hour menu & our waiter never mentioned that happy hour was going on (bummer).
UPDATE: Happy Hour is only available in the Lounge. Wish I read through some reviews to figure that out, asked about happy hour, or was told about it upon arrival.
We ended up sharing the special appetizer of the day, which was pork belly sauteed in yuzu with onions & greens (pretty good, but I was hoping the pork belly would be thick cuts & not bacon), bacon wrapped mochi (mochi & bacon were cooked beautifully & the sauce was great too), seafood fried rice (loved that seafood went beyond just shrimp… it included octopus & fish!), Ma Special Okonomiyaki (My first time eating okonomiyaki & it was delish!), & finally for dessert, we ordered the Japanese style flan (ABSOLUTELY AMAZING… A DEFINITE MUST-​HAVE).
Service… Friendly & attentive. Four stars because we just weren’t fully informed of the Happy Hour thing. Not too big of a deal. If I could, I would have deducted .5 stars instead of 1. Otherwise, everything at Nagomi was great :). Will be back (especially because I have that Groupon that I forgot to use during this visit!) soon!

Today was the first time we tried Nagomi and we left full! It’s nice that they have parking right outside and two doors to enter from into the restaurant. We had reservations and sat by the window. Since it was our first time, we wanted to try multiple dishes to get the full experience. This is what we had:
— Chicken Gizzard 4 out of 5 stars. This exceeded my expectations.
— Jumbo Garlic Scallops 4.5 out of 5 stars. I love scallops.
— Bacon Wrapped Asparagus 4.5 out of 5 stars. Anything with bacon is awesome!
— Lobster Claw Appetizer Special 5 out of 5 stars. This was my favorite dish of the night.
— Garlic Fried Rice 4 out of 5 stars. Mink loved this dish!
— Garlic Yakisoba Udon 3.5 out of 5 stars. My least favorite dish of the night.
— Wagyu Beef Okonomiyaki 4 out of 5 stars.
— Pork Belly & Kimchee Okonomiyaki 4.5 out of 5 stars. Kimchee really added a lot of flavor to the dish.
— Nagomi Special Dessert
– Green Tea 4 out of 5 stars
– Black Sesame 3.5 out of 5 stars. If you like the taste of peanut butter, you have to try this!
The service was excellent and the servers would come very often to fill up water, ask if we wanted more sake and cleared our finished dishes to make room for our next dishes. IMO, they should tint the windows slightly in the front to minimize glare from cars driving by and to give you a little more privacy from the pedestrians walking by. It was a very good experience. The Groupon made the meal even better!

I have to start this review by stating the obvious: this space is absolutely beautiful. The team that was responsible for designing this restaurant did an awesome job.
We came here for a pretty late dinner. It was near closing and we were the only patrons in the place until another party of three showed up. Our server told us that the dishes were family style and meant to be shared. He gave us a few minutes to look over the menu and when he returned, we proceeded to order our dishes.
We started off with the pork and mushroom udon and an okonomiyaki. We also ordered some garlic scallops since we love the stuff. When the dishes came out, we were satisfied in terms of flavor. The udon was awesome. The scallops were fresh and flavorful, and the okonomiyaki was pretty good as well. It did take a little while extra for the okonomiyaki to come out. Why that is, I don’t know. I read some other reviews and the writers of those reviews were warned that it could take up to 20 minutes for the okonomiyaki to come out but for some reason, we were not warned. Not a big deal.
Overall, pretty neat spot. I can see myself coming back here again and again since the food was delicious and the service will get better over time. It also helps that its located right behind the mall that I work in.
Parking here wasn’t that bad at late night. I know during the day it can get crowded and parking might become a little difficult, but I don’t see it as a deal breaker.

I thought this place was alright. Nothing amazing but a good place to go for a bite to eat with friends.
The restaurant itself is spacious, lots of tables and counter seating. The staff here was friendly, however they were a bit slow. When we arrived it was pretty busy, so I’m sure they were just backed up.
The Grub.
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus $ 7
Assorted Mushrooms $ 7
Okonomiyaki (Meat Lovers) $ 13
Fried Mochi with Black Sesame Ice Cream
The food was good. Northing here really wowed me. It did take awhile for the food to come, but like I said earlier it was busy.
When we were leaving we noticed a Nagomi Lounge in the back. We took a peek inside and it looks really nice. I definitely wouldn’t mind checking that out! I wonder if they have Happy Hour? :)

My experience at Nagomi was wonderful. We were greeted when we walked in, and got seated right away. We had a choice and ended up choosing to sit at the teppan table, which ended up being a great idea. We were able to chat with the cook. I wanted the Ma Okonomiyaki, but since I don’t eat bacon, I asked, can I get that without and extra mochi and cheese instead? He recommended, adding shiso instead. So I agreed. And oh my… that okonomiyaki was sooo good.
My friend got the seafood okonomiyaki, which I had a bite of too. I thought it was really good. Especially because the seafood inside the okonomiyaki was still nice and soft (instead of hard and chewy) and because they top it off with an egg. Usually okonomiyakis kinda all taste the same, but these two were completely different. Both good!
I can’t wait to go back and try the mushroom okonomiyaki!

I saw photos of Nagomi on Unilocalhawaii’s instagram page and thought the food looked trendy and delicious. Debating on what to eat for dinner, their instagram photos had me convinced it was time to try something new.
The restaurant itself is visible from Kapiolani but it’s nestled between all the strip clubs with limited parking in the back. I stopped a few times on the road just to make sure I hadn’t passed it but you can see the restaurant while driving so you don’t have to worry about looking down all the lots/​alleys.
The food is really really good but it can be a little pricey.
Bacon wrapped mochi: 4 stars. At first it can seem a little strange because it’s definitely «interesting» and «different» from any flavor that you’re used to. The mochi is wrapped in a shiso leaf, which is then wrapped in bacon. Surprisingly, the flavors work really well together and I would definitely order this dish again. $ 8.50.
Negiyaki, Meatlovers: 4 stars. Instead of cabbage like the typical okonomiyaki, this one has a looooo tof scallions. If you like green onions, this dish will most definitely satisfy any craving you may have. The meat doesn’t overpower the other flavors but it is heavy on the scallions. $ 15.
Okonomiyaki, Ma Special: 5 stars. OMG I almost cried, this was so delicious. The blend of mochi and cheese and bacon was to dieeee for. Whoever invented this combination should earn a medal! The okonomiyaki was a little «heavier» in comparison to the negi but the flavors were bolder. This is what I’m ordering next time and every time after that.
Nagomi’s Special dessert; 5 stars. For something as simple as fried mochi with icecream, this was melt-in-your-mouth-delicious…like a little piece of heaven. The mochi wasn’t overly sweet or heavy with the kinako and the sauce so the creaminess of the icecream balanced it perfectly. We chose to have the black sesame icecream instead of the green tea and I was soooo glad we did. The flavor of the icecream is strong, unlike other places I’ve had black sesame icecream. It works so well together, this is a highly recommended dessert. $ 8.50.
Flan: 5 stars. I don’t really like overly sweet flan so the flan here was perfect. To sweeten it up, they add the kinako and sauce from the nagomi’s special dessert. It compliments the flan well and I wish I had more. $ 4.50.
Overall the portions are a bit on the smaller side and it can get very pricey if you order a lot of food. Unfortunately the kitchen/​food delivery was on the super slow side. It took us over 40 minutes to receive our okonomiyaki… The staff was really apologetic and they took the dish off our bill and the owner gave us a complimentary dessert, which was really nice of them. Since it is a new restaurant, they are trying to work out the kinks but I think the biggest problem is the fact that the food comes out really slow. The service itself is wonderful, the servers are super attentive and our waters were refilled promptly.
Despite the slow food delivery, I do think the quality and the taste of the food is amazing. I would most definitely return once they have things fully sorted out. We’ll stop by again in a few months to see how the restaurant has changed. Hopefully the kitchen can cook/​prep faster by then!

Driving on Kapiolani… hey look there’s Femme Nu and Centerfolds. But what’s in between them? Nagomi? Well it’s definitely not a new Japanese strip joint. But meat is served here. This is a new teppanyaki and lounge that has opened less than a month ago.
They have a parking lot in the back and you can enter from Kapiolani or Kona Street. It is few but a bit tight. They have valet too. Currently byob until the lounge will be done at the end of the month. The service is great, the staff was really friendly and the food came out pretty fast. The only thing is depending what you order, it can get a little pricey.
This place is full of common and unique dishes. The appetizers are small to moderate size. The noodle/​rice dishes and desserts are a good portion. The okonomiyaki/​negiyaki are small, like the diameter of my hand and yes, I mean my hand. For those who haven’t met me, I have very small hands. We didn’t get the teppanyaki but our neighbor did and it looked like a good amount. The desserts were a good amount too. Definitely recommend going as a group so you can do family style. We tried a bunch of dishes so here goes…
Appetizers–
Sautéed long beans– crunchy and not too oily but a nice addition to the appetizers we ordered
Garlic jumbo scallop– they are huge and moist! Definitely one of my favs
Beef tongue– good and not too thinly cut like some places
From the Fryer
Deep fried chicken gizzard– first time trying a gizzard… fried chewiness is all that comes to mind
Chicken katsu– wasn’t too oily or fatty.
Salad
Wagyu ribeye salad– small plate and not much beef. Forget the salad.
Teppanyaki
Tristan lobster tails– this was delicious. The meat was moist and rich. You can tell this wasn’t the cheaper quality lobster.
Okonomiyaki
Assorted mushrooms– full of mushrooms and well put together.
Wagyu beef — the beef was a bit dry. I wasn’t a fan of this one.
Ma Special– it had mochi, cheese & bacon bits. The top was a hard crust with sauce on top. This was actually very tasty and the sauce wasn’t too salty.
Negiyaki
Pork belly & kim chee– good and not too much Kim chee. It was fluffier than the others.
Surf and turf– good mix of things
Overall the okonomiyaki and negiyaki were small and in my opinion, okay. I prefer negiyaki to okonomiyaki since it’s less starchy in my opinion.
Fried Rice
garlic shrimp– simple with a good amount of shrimp and wasn’t too garlicky.
Yakisoba/​udon
Nagomi special soba– full of seafood and well flavored.
Nagomi Specials
Gyoza Nakami– gyoza inside out. This was really tasty and had a nice crispness to it.
Bacon wrapped mochi– I died. Never thought of bacon wrapped mochi but it works and the shiso leaf is a nice compliment. Eat it right away so The bacon is crispy and the mochi is warm and chewy.
Pork wrap– it looked like pork wrapped asparagus cut up. It was good in the dipping sauce.
Desserts
Nagomi special-​fried mochi which looked like tater tots and topped with kinako powder and kuromitsu sauce with green tea ice cream. Loved this dessert… different textures and flavors that went well together.
Kuromitsu flan-​my mind was playing tricks. It looks like tofu so I kept thinking with every bite, it would taste like tofu. Thankfully it didn’t. This was a good dessert but for overly sweet for my taste, a little too much kuromitsu sauce.
They are still working on their menu so some items may change. Overall, this place is pretty good and one great thing is you don’t come out smelling like your food. Overall most of the dishes were pretty good, some stood out more than others. Definitely coming back… so many more dishes to try!

Enjoy Japanese Teppan without the unappealing after-​smell of food, oil, and smoke. FTW?! Yes, it’s possible. (I wouldn’t purposely sit next to the grill, though… I’m pretty sure that will leave you smelling like it.)
Anyway, Nagomi Japanese Teppan & Lounge has found a way to harmoniously blend the perks and comforts of modern restaurant /​lounge-​esque dining with Japanese Teppan cuisine. The Teppan cooks don’t do the flare and tricks, but they’re still cool to watch. *And FYI — the actual Nagomi Lounge (bar side) hasn’t officially opened yet, but its rumored to soon. (Yay!)
In terms of the food, Nagomi presents a variety of Japanese dishes including okonomiyaki, negiyaki, yakisoba /​udon, and more.
SEAFOOD SALAD ($ 12.50)
Teppan-​grilled shrimp, calamari, Madako tako, and scallops on a bed of mixed greens, with sesame vinaigrette.
Seafood lovers, this is a salad for you! They definitely don’t skimp on the goods in this dish. It was (no joke) like a 50:50 ratio of greens to seafood. I know. Insane, right?! And the sesame vinaigrette was on point — complementary and mild enough to highlight the flavors of the seafood. No overpowering flavors. Overall, a really wonderful salad.
SPICY GINGER PORK ($ 8.50)
Bursting with flavor. I hope they never take this off the menu or change it in any way bc I love it. It came on a bed of cabbage, which was nice. Actually, it was more than «nice» bc I think if there weren’t any cabbage, I would want rice. #figurefriendly
NEGIYAKI
Negiyaki is technically a scallion pancake, so pretty similar to okonomiyaki. just with lots of scallions. At Nagomi, they make their negiyaki with flour, pickled ginger, mountain yam (yamaimo), egg, tenkasu, bonito flakes, sweet cabbage, Hawaiian taro, and a shoyu lemon sauce.
MEAT LOVERS ($ 15): Negiyaki with pork belly, beef, and bacon.
This was a winner. I love green onions /​scallions, so this was tasty. And meat is always good. Try it with a squeeze of lemon! :)
KIMCHEE SOBA ($ 13)
Made with kimchee, shrimp, calamari, thinly sliced pork belly, sweet cabbage, and white onion. Think kimchee fried rice, but with awesome noodles instead. Loved the flavor!
BACON WRAPPED MOCHI ($ 8.50)
Anything bacon-​wrapped is great, so, it’s really no surprise that I liked this a lot. And it’s not JUST bacon-​wrapped mochi. It’s bacon-​wrapped mochi with SHISO. Yes, shiso. That is their secret weapon (IMO)!
SERVICE
Service was polite and on point. They were quick, but still very genuine. My water cup was never empty, or even close to it. They enthusiastically watered me up! :)
Also, they make it absolutely impossible to sneak in and out of the restaurant with their observant and welcoming /​appreciative nature and energy — shouting «Irasshaimase» every time someone walks in. Haha.
VERDICT
Absolutely yes.
It’s currently BYOB until they get their liquor license (in a about a week), so take advantage of that while you can.
All in all, my SS and I had a great experience and will be back for sure. We enjoyed the food, service, and the feel of the place. Can’t wait for the lounge to open!