Soba-Ya

Not sure why the reviews on this place are so harsh, I had a good experience at Sobaya.
The vegetable and tofu udon were amazing~ super decadent and not-​too-​salty broth. Lots of ingredients in the veggie udon and not a bad price for such a large amount of noodles. The waitresses were really friendly (depending on who is working that day, I guess) and if you’re lucky you’ll get to sit in the tiny side-​seating bar.
I actually prefer this udon quality to Marukame but wouldn’t necessarily refer others to the entire menu– in the udon department, Sobaya is good; but as far as their other dishes I can’t say I know best. At $ 8 a bowl in Waikiki, Sobaya is decent indeed.

I give them no stars.
The only reason there is one is because I wouldn’t be able to tell people about the poor quality.
Normally a few months ago I would regularly order the special combo which comes with your choice of chicken curry, Teri chicken, or chicken&egg on rice with soba noodles, 3 tempura (shrimp, eggplant, zuccini) miso soup and side cabbage.
We ordered 2 CHICKEN curry and one Teri chicken combo
1.turned out reasonable, but his curry was only about 2tablespoons
2. The second curry Don had NO CHICKEN.
3. my teriyaki chicken had 3TINY chicken scraps you know the part your supposed to throw away cover overed on teryaki sauce to cover it up. But that’s not it.
They forgot to give me my soba dip for my soba noodles so I ate my tempura by the time they brought out the sauce I noticed A HAIR IN MY SOBA NOODLE
Tangled in…
THERE IS NO REASON TO TAKE 20 MINUTES TO CORRECT AN ORDER WHEN YOU HAVE
NO LINE
NO OTHER CUSTOMERS
and yes, TALKING your heads of in the back is NOT a reason either.
I’ve worked in the food industry for 4 years, so I understand if it gets busy or if your closing but there is no excuse as to why it is OK to feed people for hairy food and scraps.
She also charged me for the food at full price although she gave me a discount on the hair noodles.
NEVER AGAIN
–10 000 000 000 000 000 STARS

Found this place in the mall. Looked interesting. Instead of sitting out in the middle there are actually a few seats against the all in this place.
Service was prompt and very welcoming. The Miso Ramen was pretty good, had nice flavor, the Ebi Tempura soba on the other hand had a strong greasy flavor in the soup from the tempura shrimp. Maybe they should have served it with those on the side rather in the soup.
If I were hungry and my choices were very limited I would go back for the Ramen only.

My fav place!

Shrimp tempura soba bowl. Quick fix and they have an bar style seating where you can eat, set apart from the main food court area.

Very good tempura udon for a food court.

Udon, yum yum yum! I always passed by this place when I walk around the food court. I finally got a chance to try it for real! We got seated inside for dining.
I order the kitsune udon and my friend order the tempura shrimp udon. I really love the soup! It’s not just regular miso or shoyu soup. The taste is really different. Add some chili flakes, it was oishii! I guess the kitsune was the inari pouch thing.
I love to try a different udon next time. Cost wasn’t that bad at Ala Moana. Around $ 6-​$ 7 for a bowl.

Big fan! This is a great little hidden gem in the corner of the food court. Udon & tempura was fresh, hot & TASTY!

Three stars for the food, minus two stars for the service = one star overall.
The last couple times I’ve gone here, the small middle aged Asian man (manager?) is always bothering the employees, complaining about what they’re doing. The last time I went he was scolding one of the girls in front of me! Needless to say that’s the last time I went there.
I feel bad for the people that work here.

I love eating at this place. It’s pretty much the same restaurant in Pearlridge Mall called «Tsuruya». I always get my usual, Teri Chicken with Tempura meal Mac Salad as the side.
At Soba-​Ya, I was greeted by waitresses. I dined in the seating area of the restaurant. The counter wasn’t wiped down & they did take a long time. The lady took my order & within 5 minutes, I had my food. Fresh & hot is how I got it & I loved it. The place would have gotten 5 stars if I had gotten my refill when it was completely empty.

My family and I have patronized Soba-​Ya for as long as I could remember. At one point of time, we were going at least once a week and knew most of the employees! However, it has been a while since we stopped going as regularly. My dad and I decided to order take-​out from them yesterday. My dad decided on the double shrimp combo and I ordered the tendon combo. I do love their teriyaki chicken & udon combo, but sadly I have given up chicken and there wasn’t much on the menu that I could pick from :(I was very impressed at how nice and helpful the lady was, and how they packaged our meal to make sure the broth and udon were separated, to prevent the noodles from becoming cold and soggy.
Overall however, Soba-​Ya has gone a little downhill from before. Their prices are a little expensive, especially considering the quality of food they serve. At a little under $ 10, my tendon combo was filling, but sadly the portion size has decreased dramatically over the years. Also, I was very sad to see that I had only three pieces of tenpura in my donburi.
I would go back to Soba-​Ya the next time I want Japanese food and am at Ala Moana. I do believe Soba-​Ya has the best Japanese food in the food court, although their quality has decreased through the years.

Yay for Sobaya at the Ala Moana Food Court! Love their lunch combos! You can’t beat this deal!
I always order the Super Combo for lunch. You have your choice of Teriyaki Don, Curry Don and other main items and then it is served with a ton of food. Miso Soup, Soba noodles and sauce, shrimp tempura, veggie tempura, and mac salad! Can you believe that?! All for like 8.95. This is the best deal ever!
You have to try this place. You can even sit and eat like in a casual dining restaurant but beware they expect you to tip! So, I always opt to just sit in the food court area.
The service is generally very good and it only takes them a little bit to get the food out.
This is my favorite place at the food court now that Blazzin Steaks is gone.

This place is normally on my radar when I come to the food court wanting Japanese food. It’s pretty authentic… as authentic as a fast-​casual restaurant can get here in Hawaii. The girls that work there are nice. And, they pronounce «irashaimase» right! unlike a certain place I know… especially on Kauai. *cough* Genki *cough* Oh… what? That wasn’t me.
The prices are ok… can get kinda pricey. I usually end up paying $ 10 for my meal & a bottle of water. Almost everything on their menu is good. I normally get the tenzaru soba. I love soba! The curry is good too.

My noodles were okay. Nothing special. My wife’s cold noodles were ehh. bland and boring. I should have gone back to Yummy’s (also located in the food court).

I usually come here whenever I decide to eat at the food court at ala moana.
Their teriyaki chicken bowl is delicious! They have combos with the teri chicken, such as their teishoku (miso and tsukemono) or their Udon or Soba combo. Their other food looks good but I am a huge fan of their chicken bowl.
I think that the cost is ehh… ranges about $ 6-​$ 10, depending on what you order. Servings are good… at least, the food I get is. I did notice that if you get tempura, you don’t get much.
They do take yen and travelers check… not that I use either but just thought that’d be a tidbit to share.

I laughed when I saw my takeout order from the Ala Moana food court. My combo order of soba plus egg donburi looked nothing like the appetizing photos they have up. Still, it wasn’t bad for mall food.
Next time, I’ll try the ramen stand because that looked better.

Good food
But no so much food for your buck

Aside from the incredibly rude cashiers who attempt to ring up the Japanese tourists standing BEHIND you in line first, Soba-​ya is… meh. It’s very pricey and not very tasty. I’ve tried the ramen, tempura, soba, teriyaki chicken. all very bland. You can get a lot better elsewhere in the food court. Donburiya Don Don is one of those places and it sits at the opposite end of the food court.

Why do I bother?
It was raining and we were at the Ala Moana Shopping Center and hungry. We didn’t want to wait long for a sit down experience and ultimately just wanted something quick and fast. Enter the Makai Market Food Court and there are plenty of fast food joints to choose from.
My mistake was picking Soba-​Ya to get my dinner. It just reminded me as to why I don’t like mall food.
Eight dollars ($ 7.59) for two pieces of shrimp and one piece of vegetable drenched with sauce and sitting on rice. Oh yes, some very average tsunomo sitting on top too and more average miso soup with seaweed on the side.
Please shoot me if you find me dining here again.

Pretty good for a food court establishment. Serving up soba and udon Japanese style, you can get pretty much the traditional style of accompaniments.
Prices range between $ 5 and $ 8. There are soupy noodles as well as cold ones.