Ninniku-Ya Garlic Restaurant

My best friend and I had driven by this restaurant for almost 2 years and finally decided to go for her birthday. Probably turned out to be the worst idea ever.
One of our friends ended up waiting for over 40 min just for their food AFTER everyone got theirs.

I thought I wrote a review about this place… it was really cute and a garlic lovers’ dream and vampire’ worst nightmare. I can’t remember exactly when I went but it’s been a few years but I do remember it quite fondly.
It was a small restaurant in a house with a small parking lot in the back, very quaint. If you weren’t paying attention, you would have missed the place. You could dine indoors or outdoors.
The service was good and of course just like their namesake, everything had garlic. My boyfriend at the time and I ordered a sizzling steak with heaps of garlic on it an butterfish. The butterfish had hints of garlic but it wasn’t too overpowering. The steak was great and was the opposite, went well with all the garlic. We also had attic mashed potatoes which were very good as well, you could tell they were freshly mashed and made.
We, of course had garlic ice cream for dessert which really isn’t as odd as it sounds. It’s more like vanilla with a hint of garlic.
I miss this place. It was a great date place. One of the hidden gems that are now just a memory.
^^*

The Good:
*Service was excellent. The hostess was so friendly! Such a sweet girl. She kept checking up on us, I guess she is the hostess but she also takes the orders.
*The food was different. We ordered the Rack of Lamb, Pumpkin Soup, and the Ahi Appetizer. Everything was delicious!
*Food presentation was beautiful!
*Atmosphere was … ugh so wonderful. I felt like we were dining in the nice part of Thailand or something. So weird, it felt like we were put in the middle of the forest, when we were actually just near Waialae Avenue.
The Bad:
*If you don’t like earthy things, this is not the place for you.
*Parking in the private lot in the back is scary. So random and be careful if you have a low car.
*BATHROOMS are so weird and dirty. It felt like a scene in a horror movie. If you can, PEE or POOP before going to this restaurant
The Weird:
*In the bathroom, well. in the womens bathroom… I couldn’t even fully close the door and lock it. It’s unleveled and stuff! Like omg. Some one could have totally B&E (breaking and entering) my bathroom stall! Thank God it didn’t happen.

I never ate at a place like this before. An old house converted into a restaurant. Half of the seats are outside. If you sit inside the smoke and garlic smell will envelop you.
If you love BBQ w/​garlic then this is the place to go. A good date place or a place to entertain out of town friends that don’t mind $ 36 steak dinners. Large wooden tables. Friendly staff.
If you order the steak or lamb they bring it to your table sizzling and cut it at your table.
I had the garlic pasta and the lamb. Both were good. Also had the salad which had large chunks of bacon.

This is one of my favorite places to eat in Hawaii. The portions are very generous, the price is reasonable, and the steak is very good for a restaurant that’s not ordained as a steakhouse. (I never order steak unless it’s at a steakhouse, because I’ve always been disappointed in the past. This is one exception). The steak comes on a hot iron plate, like how it does at Ruth’s Chris.
The best thing about this restaurant is the atmosphere. It is a hole-​in-​the-​wall location, but once inside, you’ll feel transported to a secret, hidden place, unlike any other restaurant in Hawaii. The restaurant is a converted house, and comes with a nice, cozy, intimate feel.
The worst thing is the parking. There is parking in the back, but it is limited and painful to maneuver around.
If you’ve never tried Ninniku-​Ya, I highly recommend!

I haven’t been here for a couple of months, but here goes…
As you can tell by the name of the restaurant, GARLIC is the name of the game. The menu is literally emblazoned with garlic dishes, ranging from a ridiculous (and stomach-​challenging) appetizer made up of roasted garlic cloves and bleu cheese dip, to an awe-​inspiring metal slab of garlic ribeye, all rounded out with a healthy dollop of garlic ice cream.
Every time I came to this restaurant, I retained the pungent garlic smell for days. It’s something that only fellow garlic addicts can respect. Everyone else is like, «Whoa, stand over there. All the way over there. Please.»
My appetizer of choice is garlic french bread, because the right hostess/​server will bring it to your table and present it by standing the two baguettes upright, then driving a slather of garlic and butter topping from the top to the bottom before splitting the bread for your consumption. It’s this table-​side theatric that kind of gives a little extra class to the place.
Of course, the menu is full of pastas and pork and all this other stuff, but it’s very difficult to get past the big GARLIC RIBEYE STEAK near the top of the page. This steak is huge, and has all of its original fat and gristle intact, for true ribeye lovers. I warn you, this is NOT a fillet, and if you can’t appreciate the buttery beef fat flanked by whole cloves of roasted garlic, then please don’t order this. I would cry to see all that flavor cast aside, only to be discarded by the kitchen.
For dessert, you’ll be surprised that garlic ice cream has a subtle, almost nutty flavor. The pungency is pretty dull, but the garlic essence is apparent. If anything, it’s a great novelty, but it’s hard to select it over some of their seasonal flavors like honeydew and lychee, all made in house.
Service here is generally very attentive, as you might expect for any similarly priced restaurant. The setting is kind of «house-​like» in that it’s literally like they packed a kitchen and a dining room into an old house, then filled the front yard for more outdoor tables and the backyard for parking. Very unique, and very enjoyable feeling.
Lastly, you may need to be patient. The steaks are served on preheated iron slabs, of which there are not many. Many times I’ve been here, I’ve had to wait upwards of an hour because the slabs were all being used, or being reheated in the oven. It never made me mad, because the servers are so attentive and communicative regarding the wait, that I never felt neglected or jerked around.
The quality of the food is all-​around superb, and you should probably make a reservation when you do decide to drop in.
Also, buy some Body Mints. Your friends, families, and colleagues will thank you.

My first experience at this restaurant.
1) I had a difficult time finding it around 830pm. I ended up passing by it 2 or three times before I finally saw a sign for the parking area.
2) Service, as most of the other reviews state, was very kind, albeit a bit slow. They were pretty attentive throughout the night until it got to actually paying the bill. It took them a good 15 minutes to bring the bill and another 20 for me to get annoyed and bring it to the front desk.
3) Food. Dear God. Delicious. My friend and I nearly melted into the rack of lamb and filet mignon. Garlic, though it is a central theme in many of their dishes was not overdone. I actually liked that every bite wasn’t jam packed to the gills with garlic.
4) Price. Ouch. I understand that this is more of a fine dining experience minus the suit and ties, but the price tags definitely threw you back into that mindset. For the quality of the food I would probably skip the lamb and get the much heftier steak. It reminded me very much of Alan Wongs, actually.
Overall I give this restaurant a ⁴⁄₅ due to the fact the waitstaff was a little slow at the end, the parking was difficult to find on a single pass-​by and that the prices were a little high for some of the dishes. Other than that it was a very enjoyable experince.

A lot of my friends have been talking about this «garlic» restaurant for a long while now, and who doesn’t love garlic in their food, because I know I sure do but to my expectations of this place was let down.
PROS
–Lychee martini was amazing. It’s not strong like how others hit you, just a light, not over board on alcohol, not over board on the sweetness, just, a just right drink.
–Our entrees were delicious. the Cabanara & jumbo shrimp pastas were more then enough portion sized and the taste was all there, and all garlic in every bite.
CONS
–The service was horrible. Took them over 15mins for us to even order anything to drink. They checked on us once when our drinks came out and didn’t even check back about our apps or entrees. We were already full from our entrees and was dying to try the garlic ice cream but again, they lack on service. After 20 mins. had passed by, my bf ended up going up to the counter to pay & to grab take out boxes.
–Appetizer — Beef Tataki wasn’t even made Tataki style. It was more of beef cooked at med/​to med well which totally defeats the purpose of being beef tataki.
Overall, this place was not worth the hype that it was made out to be. I was expecting to be drooling over how amazing this place was to rant and rave to my friends, but this is just another restaurant in my book. Maybe i’ll go back if I ever feel the need to get crappy service for okay food.

Amazing garlic fried rice! It’s topped with a big blanket of egg and contains lots of veggies including mushrooms, pineapple and cherry tomatoes. Quite a good lychee martini too. The garlic toast was a fun experience.
In my opinion, the food was all pleasantly garlicky, but not dangerously garlicky in a way that would impress die-​hard garlic fans.
Dishes come out at different times, and we were expected to box up our own leftovers. I think it fits in, though, as it seems they intend for the dishes to be enjoyed family-​style.
Cute outdoor patio. Altogether a grand experience as I was with some lovely company.

I am a huge fan of Ninniku-​Ya and have been for years. If you are fond of garlic, you will dig the food here.
For starters, the garlicky escargot and caprese salad are my usual picks. The escargot is thankfully different from the usual garlic & butter sauces other restaurants like to do. I’ve had it here 2 different ways before: with a creamy, cheesy, garlicky butter sauce, and a garlicky, slightly creamy pesto sauce. Both were really tasty.
Caprese salad is pretty much the same everywhere. Ninniku-​Ya just adds unnecessary garlic slivers, but I don’t mind.
For my main course, it’s always the lamb chops. It arrives at the table sizzling on a hot plate. I like my lamb rare to medium-​rare, so I have the server cut and plate it immediately. The roasted garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic mash that come with the main course complement the lamb nicely.
Sometimes I order a side of the garlic rice too… Garlicky, salty, black rice. Yum. It’s great the next day for lunch!
Dessert for me is usually the garlic ice cream. It took me a few tries to actually like it. It’s definitely an acquired taste, and may even be on the verge of being too garlicky. It’s definitely worth a try. Remember, 3^rd time’s the charm!
My suggestions: sit outside unless you like smelling like smoky food, and make a reservation to be seated right away. Also, don’t come here if you’re on a time crunch… Sometimes service is really slooowwwww.

4.75 stars! No vampires here for sure! Garlic reins supreme.
Dinned here in celebration of a friends’ birthday. Have never been before and always heard great things. The electric blue lights I often see in passing are always alluring. Atmosphere & service: 4.5.
We ordered two appetizers, the escargot and the ahi with avacado stack. Both dishes, of course, were infused with garlic and pretty much to die for. We then proceeded to have the tomatoe and mozarella salad which was your usual fair, but the beefy tomatoes were substantial and the olive oil just tasted better. Appetizers: 5 stars.
Our party of four ordered: The King Crab pasta; The mushroom pasta; and I shared the Mushroom Risotto with saffron. Yeah, not the usual standbys they are noted for, but all dishes were ample and delivered fine flavors. Everyone ended their entrees extremely satisfied. Entrees: 4.5 stars.
Dessert was the cheesecake and the garlic ice cream with honey and vanilla. Nice! You could definitely taste the garlic in the ice cream, though the honey and vanilla smoothed it out nicely. Dessert: 5 stars.
Thanks to Kit N. for treating us to an unusual find. A lot of garlic behind these doors and a surprising Zen atmosphere to boot. We look forward to returning and having the much hyped rib eye and the garlic toast.
Tally: 4.5+5+4.5+5= ¹⁹⁄₄ = 4.75 stars!

Came here awhile ago, and only remembered to do a review now!
I really love garlic! To the point where I used to stand in front of my parent’s fridge and smell the jar of raw chopped garlic my mom always has in there. So I’ve always wanted to eat here, and only had the opportunity a few months ago.
First off, I was being «surprised» & didn’t know I was going to be eating here until we pulled onto Waialae Ave, so I couldn’t read up on it & get some inside info :(
Parking is on both sides of the restaurant, but it’s on the smallish side and can get tight when busy (very frustrating).
Secondly, we walk in to the front area and stand there with no acknowledgment for almost 5 minutes, very frustrating. We’re finally greeted and seated on the outside porch area of the restaurant. I really like that it’s a renovated home and that it has that «dinner at aunty’s house» kind of feeling, but this definitely ain’t aunty’s house.
We look over the menu and decide on our meals: garlic steak for both of us and some kind of appetizer that had garlic in it (DUH!). We also order wine and wait. And wait. And wait.
I want to say it took a good half hour for our appetizer to come out, and then another 20 minutes for our entrées to arrive. And for the steak to come out rare, on that sizzling plate, I would’ve expected it to come out in 5 minutes! I like my steak medium rare, and the sizzling plate couldn’t sizzle long enough to get it there :(
It pretty much was a rare steak with a bunch of raw garlic thrown on the plate. I hate that — I like my garlic roasted and then thrown on to the sizzling plate!
Slow service and a disappointing meal = 2.5 stars. At least I can cross this off my «must try» list. I say, go to The Stinking Rose in San Fran or LA; but then again, I think I complained that the food came out too fast in my review for that place!

This place is very quaint. It feels like someone’s house was converted into a restaurant. If you have a party of 6, ask for the area in the front, it feels like a mini private room, even though it’s not.
The night we went, service was intermittent. They’d check on us a lot at times and at other times, it would take forever to get their attention. The carbonara pasta was excellent and the mushroom medley was delicious. The chocolate cake and Kona coffee cheesecake for dessert was good.
You can bring in your own wine for $ 25 corkage fee. It’s worth it if you have a lot of the same wine drinkers.

They are known for their steaks served on a sizzling cast iron plate so it can get pretty smokey, so the pretty seating area outside helps to offset it and has a romantic vibe. The service was friendly but like many other reviewers mentioned, it is very slow. It took a long time to order food and then a really long time for our food to come out and the server rarely came to check on us. The problem was that there were only two people serving and bussing the entire place. Another thing was the timing of the food. We received one appetizer at a time, which was fine as we were all sharing. However it’s not preferable with the entrees as it was between 10 – 15 minutes between different people being served at our table. There were only 5 people at our table, and it would have been optimal to have been able to eat approximately around the same time.
As far as food goes, there were a lot of hits and a few misses. Highlights for me was the caprese salad (though the raw garlic slices layered between the other ingredients wasn’t necessary) and the filet mignon. As someone who likes to eat my steak more well, the sizzling plate was perfect because I was able to continue cooking my steak longer on it. The steak comes with a vegetable side (nothing exciting), decent garlic mashed potatoes, and really good roasted garlic cloves.
The crab appetizer that we shared was really dry and I wouldn’t recommend.
The garlic toast was good but with each bite of the bread you get a gush of oil in it which was a bit much.
I also had the garlic pasta which was described as pasta with bacon and crushed red peppers. It turned out to be spaghetti noodles with pork belly and cabbage. It really was like eating chow mein and the garlic flavor wasn’t that pronounced and it was also really greasy. For $ 16, I didn’t enjoy that very much and would have much rather ordered chow mein somewhere else.
For dessert we tried the garlic ice creams. Our table ordered the honey garlic and the coconut garlic and I thought the garlic flavor was very subtle and interesting. It may have tasted subtle only because of chomping down on the roasted garlic pieces earlier though.
Anyway, I’m glad I tried it but not really my thing. For crazy garlic craving I would much rather opt for a garlic shrimp plate.

Experience: my third time here over a span of 3 years.
i agree w/​most of the reviewers here as far as my last 2 visits go (bad service, long wait, etc.) but this time around it was a better experience.
my g/​f and i got there before the restaurant opened @ 530pm on a saturday evening. no reservations but they sat us even tho we were there @ 515pm. two other couples who had reservations were also seated.
525pm our orders were enthusiastically taken (drinks, apps, entrees)
drinks came out quickly, food took a little longer although the couples who had reservations got their food first and fast.
good service, waiter checked in on us frequently.
Food:
*garlic toast — crisp crust, pillow softness stuffed w/​garlicky goodness. yum!
escargot — my third time having it, it was ok but my g/​f enjoyed it. baked w/​cheese and served w/​bread
*filet mignon — 8oz wrapped in bacon, tons of roasted garlic and topped w/​cream sauce on a sizzling/​cooking tray, served w/​3 dipping sauces… wow!
baked salmon shichimi — huge/​thick salmon steak served w/​veggies. mediocre
*garlic honey vanilla ice cream — blend of flavors in perfect harmony!
Bottom line:
amazing food relayed thru superb service was worth the minor wait and $ 100 tab

I love garlic so I love this place! I give it 5 stars because the food is delicious and the chef was super friendly. Service is slow but I guess it’s because there aren’t many people cooking in the kitchen.
I like the atmosphere… kind of dark but pretty quiet, and of course the whole place smells like garlic. The escargot, mushroom risotto, and spinach bacon garlic salad were all very good. I wish I could have ordered the whole menu.

Omg… This place is a must in hawaii…
The food, GOOD. The service, GREAT. The quanitty, WOW! :D
The place is pretty neatly decorated and lit at night; Its really nice.
My friends tried a assortment of things and all of it was good.
This place is for people who like garlic, if you don’t, this would be horrible for you. Everyone ordered something different, and everything came out with good proportions and tasted like heaven: D.
We even tried the garlic ice cream :).
Definitely recommended to eat here.
Pros: Quantity, Service, Food, Quality, Decorations
Cons: Price?
** Escargot is very good.

I came back with a bunch of friends. Escargot was delicious. Steak was yummy. French Onion Soup was good, but can’t beat Michel’s. My friend enjoyed her pasta dish and remarked that it was as good as one she ate in Europe. The sorbets (I ordered 2, watermelon and something else, I suspect Lilikoi) weren’t that great — next time I’ll stick to the chocolate decadence cake.
Don’t get the salmon carpaccio. I hope they just got the order wrong because this carpaccio was god awful. My gf who loves salmon couldn’t even eat it. The salmon was swimming in a light soy sauce with bell peppers!!! and other random items that shouldn’t have been in the dish — the flavors were just clashing and awful. Next time I’ll get some balls and tell the waiter instead of eating that crap.
This place does have a reputation of slow service — but just keep in mind it’s not easy keeping track of everyone and who ordered what, etc. When ever I’m about to get upset, I just try to remember it’s not easy and cut them some slack (or just don’t give them good tip).

BIg ups to Ninnikuya for getting us a table on Christmas Eve… when we only called to reserve that same afternoon! They were actually booked but opened a half hour early to accommodate our family.
That being said, the food was just OK. I felt like were were the judges table on Iron Chef and the secret ingredient was… GARLIC! My main complaint, the Garlic didn’t really STAR in any of the dishes. They just roasted it by the boatload and dumped a pile of it over every dish.
High points:
Home made croutons on the Caesar salad
Tons of crab on the King Crab Pasta
Very cute place, reminded me of our old Kaimuki house
Low points:
Service was slow (but it was Christmas eve)
Risotto was junk (pass on this one)
I’ll go back again, but not on a major holiday.

One week later, R and I finally made it to Ninnikuya for our post-​Valentine dinner. The restaurant, the atmosphere… it was very nice, serene and romantic! If you’re a garlic lover, then you must, must eat here because everything is cooked with or contains garlic in it. After reading through many garlic surprises and specials in the menu, we decided to start off with the garlic toast (yum!), and as for our entrees; R ordered the filet mignon (double yum!) while I ordered the rack of lamb (triple yum!).
We were catching up on our daily «how was your day, sweetie?» when the food finally arrive. It was served on a sizzling hot stone and as it continued to cook, our server goes on to cut the meat. It was perfect… cooked to perfection as the meat was simply tasty and ohhh so tender. The service was great and our server was so friendly and efficient! We ended dinner with a sweet, cool pineapple sorbet.
Overall, it was amazing and hoping to go back again real soon :)