Kintaro Japanese Restaurant

MUST make Reservations to keep wait time to a minimum. If you can, request to sit in Richards section (hes ninja fast, and keeps the food & drinks coming!) He exceeds the standard of EXCELLENT service! We came on both nights we stayed in Kauai. Excellent pupus and Tempura, light batter and still warm, New York Steak was very tasty, Sashimi was fresh. Hamachi poke, won tons & The BEST Hamachi Kama Melt in your mouth deliciousness!!! Wish we had room for dessert but Richard kept us filled with pupus & drinks!!! This place is always busy and parking is packed. Worth the wait but make a reservation so you get guaranteed seating.

I was always told I had to try this place while visiting in Kauai, and I FINALLY got the chance to. I learned my lesson and decided to make a reservation (it was a Monday night, but I just didn’t want to take any chances. I came in on a weekend once and it was so busy that the girls at the front didn’t even acknowledge us to ask how many and if we wanted to wait for a table…)
Anyways, it wasn’t busy like a weekend that’s for sure. My husband, baby, and I were seated near the little fish tank. My baby loved it and was very amused, lol.
We were served a mini complimentary appetizer of tsukemono and takuan, and also pork fried won tons or something.
Our meals came out shortly after. Husband ordered a hanalei roll, and dinner set A (salmon, steak, and soba). He said he enjoyed his meal. I on the other hand am not a sushi/​seafood eater (hence this dinner was all for my husband’s palette) and ordered udon. The udon was filling! Lots of bamboo shoots and mushrooms, also has oysters (I think) and fish cake in it.
I wanted to thank our server who was a middle aged Asian lady. She was very nice to us and always checked on us to make sure we’re enjoying our meal. She seems very happy with her job and serving guests! Made the experience so enjoyable because of her warm service.
I know my husband definitely wants to come back and try their sukiyaki. We couldn’t stop looking at other guests’ meals who had ordered the sukiyaki. Yum!

We only waited a few minutes — but we were advised to make a reservation or the wait could be 1.5−2 hours, so I would heed the warning.
Three large rolls, a seared ahi poke and grilled veggie skewers with an iced tea — came to just $ 33! Meal started with some appetizers on the house, something to chew on. They care about you here, and the staff shows it in their attitudes.
Get the Bali Hai Bomb — as explosive as the name suggests. The ingredients were indistinguishable when I chowed down, and the resulting taste was magical.
The grilled veggie skewers were salty and full of juicy flavors. Excellent for even a veggie newbie.
Also try the Hanalei Roll. Come here for dinner on a weekday to maybe avoid the storied rush.

There is no shortage of Japanese food on Kauai. You can spend an entire vacation eating sushi, poke, and ramen without visiting the same restaurant twice. However, I could only find one teppanyaki restaurant, and that was Kintaro. I realize that teppanyaki isn’t the most authentic Japanese meal, but my inner child is delighted by it. My husband and I came here for dinner, and we both agree it’s the worst teppanyaki either of us has eaten.
Let’s start with the teppanyaki experience itself. The chef was friendly, but not very experienced. Rather than using a knife and spatula, he prepared the food with what appeared to be two Paine scrapers. The «onion volcano» is usually one of my favorite parts. The chef should carefully stack up the rings of an onion slice, fill it with oil, and light it. Smoke comes out, he pours in some soy sauce «lava», he might sprinkle on some sesame seeds that sparkle as they burn, and a good time is had by all. Then he throws it away, because it’s full of burned oil and soy sauce. Here, the onion volcano came out of the kitchen pre-​made. The chef doused it in vodka (?!) and lit it. It didn’t look like a volcano, it looked like a flaming pile of onion. Then he sliced it up and put it in with the rest of the veggies. Eww. There were no jokes, no egg tricks, and no catching of shrimp in mouths. Really disappointing overall.
This all would have been tolerable if the food had been good. However, the food was also terrible. The salad was soggy with bland dressing. The fried veggies were mostly bean sprouts and were also so soggy they left a huge pool of liquid on my plate. The fried rice was mushy, and clumped together, leaving lots of places that didn’t have any soy sauce. It also had undercooked bacon (?) in it. The meats themselves were doused in soy sauce and then had salt shaken on top. They were almost inedibly salty, which was even worse because my water glass hadn’t been refilled since I got it an hour prior.
This brings me to the other terrible thing about this place — the service. We arrived on time for a 7:15 reservation, but weren’t seated until about 7:30. By the time the chef actually started cooking our food we had been there for an hour. In the meantime, our food and drink order was taken by a guy who failed to mention that it costs $ 5 extra per person for the fried rice, which is not stated anywhere on the menu. He also forgot my husband’s soft drink for over 20 minutes. It turns out they also charge for refills on soft drinks, which the waiter did not tell us. The others at our table ordered alcohol and appetizers and seemed to get marginally better service. The waiter would walk away after serving them, despite us waving and calling after him.
For the privilege of experiencing this fiasco, we paid more than we had for any other teppanyaki dinner. Save yourself the frustration, boredom, and expense and skip it. From the other reviews it sounds like their sushi and Japanese entrees may be better, but I will not be going back to try. Like I said, there are plenty of other Japanese restaurants.

This is our favorite sushi restaurant on the island great food great service simply the best!

Awesome sushi. Teppanyaki filet mignon was really tender, the rest of the meal was good but nothing outstanding. Next time I would just get sushi. We arrived at 5:15 and waited 15 min until they opened and got seated immediately. Best way to go! Service was so so, not the friendliest, but they were very busy.

The best part of this meal was the free appetizer thing they handed you when you sat down.
Came here on vacation because they had the most diverse sushi menu, and we figured they might have some delicious stuff and according to locals they were the only place in town that likely had Uni (which we were craving after a day of snorkeling).
The edamame was waaay over-​boiled. The rolls (both hand rolls and maki rolls) were about 80% rice, and the nigiri was meh.
Moral of the story: don’t come here for sushi. After viewing what others ordered, consensus was that we likely would have had better luck with the Japanese dishes.

Kind of disappointed. The service was fine, but the sushi wasn’t great. We got 3 rolls to share among two people. You get a pretty good amount for your money, but the quality suffers.

Legit.
Make a reservation.
Fish is super fresh and the rolls are prepared with impressive stealth.
Large bar with a wide variety of drinks and sake. Decided to forgo the teppanyaki experience due to the heat. Their sushi really hit the spot. Fast, friendly service.
Don’t cheat yourself, treat yourself. Get the green tea ice cream pie. It’s big enough to feed four. One of the best desserts on the island.

On our 8 day stay we went here twice, the sushi is very good they catch it daily so sometimes they run out of things. Be warned that I would recommend reservations, the place was packed both nights and we had reservations at 7pm.
Our waiters were great, gave us a few tips on the specialties. The food came quickly and at a good pace the drinks are well priced and a very fair value.

DELICIOUS! We love good sushi — and this was delicious — super fresh, and generous portions! And living in the bay area of California, we found the prices at Kintaro to be incredibly reasonable! We didn’t sit at one of the Benihana-​style tables — I hate that kind of thing — but sat near the side door — which was good because the power went out during dinner — the waitstaff then moved quicly to get little battery powered lanterns on each table, and opened the doors for a crossbreeze — which is good because the gas powered tables were making the air thick with food cooking — all ver yefficient, and added extra ambience ;-)
We were a bit worried about paying as we were planning on using a credit card — but they said they would be able to run it through an old school slider that they had if necessary —
We had a great time, and fed 4 of us with alcohol for $ 100 — crazy! If I go out with just my husband in CA it’s $ 250! We would definitely return when we come back to the island in the future.

Kintaro is usually one of our favorite places to eat at on Kauai but we were a little disappointed this past time. We had reservations for teppanyaki at 6pm and got to the restaurant right on time. We got seated at our table right away and our waiter came to take our order within 10 minutes. The sushi appetizers we ordered came out really fast– faster then normal– but we had to wait a really long time for our teppanyaki entrees to be cooked. By the time the cook came to start on our food it was already after 7pm! We had a different guy cook our food and he seemed to be rushing. My father-​in-​law and my oysters weren’t the usual golden brown color and my mother-in-law’s opah was still raw on the inside and she was unhappy with how tough it was. The fish usually just melts in your mouth and she had a hard time just breaking it apart with her chopsticks.
We noticed that we didn’t recognize any of the guys cooking teppanyaki and were wondering if they have a lot of new workers because we saw a couple of guys in-​training.
I still think that Kintaro makes the best soft shell crab sushi but I think we may stay away from teppanyaki for now and just order from the regular menu next time.

I grew up on Kauai and a lot of my friends rave about Kintaro’s. I finally decided to try it out for a recent trip back home on my birthday. We made the trek from the west side on a weekday night and it was pretty busy. We went in without reservations and had to wait about 40 minutes for a table which is about what I expected based on what my friends told me.
Once we were seated, our orders were taken quickly but it took a while for us to actually get our food. I had a Bali Hi Bomb, Hanalei roll, and a salmon skin roll. I also tried some of my friend’s soft shell crab roll. One of my friends ordered a regular dinner entrée but the rest of us ordered sushi. The rolls were all decent/​good. My favorite was the Hanalei roll.
The worst part about our meal was that everything came out at completely different times. My friend who ordered a regular dinner (I think it was the tempura zaru soba) was already done with her meal by the time our sushi started coming out. The last roll to reach our table was my salmon skin roll which was also my least favorite. I’m not sure if it was my least favorite because it was the worst of the 3, or if it was because I was already too full after finishing my first two rolls.
After our meal, my friends all said I needed to get green tea mud pie so we did. I thought it was so-​so but if I want an ice cream pie again I would rather get a hula pie from Keoki’s.
Overall, my experience here was good. Our server was nice and came back several times to see how our food was and to refill our water. I think we definitely got our money’s worth for the amount of food we had. If I were to come back here, I would definitely make reservations because driving out from Kekaha and then having to wait 40 minutes for a table wasn’t the greatest. I would definitely check this place out again next time I’m home!

We were told this was a nice sushi place… nope. I found it a bit dirty and rude staff.
There was a long wait and I should have turned around, but locals said it was great and there were a lot of locals there.
The food was average at best. I would have figured that this would have been better. I enjoyed the cold soba; it was very tasty. The tempura was good. My sushi was tough and bland. I could not eat all of my plate because of the unappetizing presentation; some pieces did not appear that fresh.

It was recommended by a tour guide as a local favorite for sushi. I would say it’s good for the price. Getting a roll here is actually cheaper then probably any where else on island. The seats are a little in comfortable. Service was quick and attentive. You should make a reservation or show up a few minutes before the doors open. It should be noted the I thought salmon was amazing.

I am confounded as to why this restaurant was so crowded when my boyfriend and I visited it. It was among the worst-​tasting sushi I have ever consumed. The fish tasted odd, the king crab was chewy, and the muscles left much to be desired.
It was so terrible that as we were eating our meal, we debated whether or not if we should just throw the food away. We did not want to risk food poisoning for such a disgusting meal, especially not during our precious vacation time.
We chose to consume our food and prayed fervently before we went to sleep. We miraculously escaped food poisoning, for which I heartily thanked the Food Gods for.
Avoid this place and you will not have to spend the night wondering if you will have to dash quickly to the bathroom.
*Update: Someone sent me a message saying that I must not have tasted fresh fish before (hehe) I wanted to mention that yes, I have, I’ve eaten omakase in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and in Asia… so I think I know what fresh fish tastes like. Mahalo!

This place was recommended to me by a local, my colleague on Oahu, who was born and raised in Kauai and moved for work. In a Saturday night, the place was packed. I tried making a reservation earlier in the day but they said it was booked out and just do a walk-​in. We walked in at 815pm. The host stated that it was an hour and a half wait time. That would push the time past their closing we stated; she then said that they’ll seat us if they know we’ve checked in before closing. The place was packed, it’s weird because they have a waiting area which was quite big, inside the restaurant. It looked like they could’ve sat and served us in that area along with the 30 others that were waiting as well. The place was crowded, and loud. They mentioned that you could get bar seating which was first come first serve, but that was difficult with all the bodies in there. While we waited, sitting at a table, two other parties sat after us and a woman came to take their drink orders. Only after she realized we weren’t in their oarty, did she pay attention and take our orders. We weren’t provided any drink menus, so we ordered what we knew Japanese restaurants would have, Kirin. An hour and a half lster, we knew this spot was the local go-​to fancy drinking place. Locals came in dressed up like they were hitting the club, being loud and boisterous while they drank and ate, which was cool but unexpected. The same lady approached us to close out our drink tab and we were finally seated. We were immediately given waters and a small side dish f pickled somethings. I was starving so I ate it in five seconds. The wait help did not come till a few minutes later and when she did we put our orders in. Tin foil, some soft shell crab roll and fried Hamachi was all we asked for. For a small order, it took quite a long time, about twenty minutes later, our server appeared and as she put down a plate, she mentioned spicy ahi? I took a look and it was our soft shell crab roll… hm must’ve been a long night for her, she then came back with a plate of fried wontons, which I didn’t care for. I think it was complimentary, as it wasn’t charged to us. The tin foil was a bunch of seafood, mushrooms and mayo baked together, a tad bit too much mayo if you ask me. The fried Hamachi was a little too dry. The soft shell crab roll was a disappointment too, it was crumbling from not being rolled tight enough and I felt that they had too much rice on it. Price was okay, but food was mediocre for such a long wait time. The place looked outdated and a little dirty. I don’t think I choose to eat here again, unless there was no wait then perhaps I’ll try something else on their menu, as there was a soup that looked interesting to me.

Whenever I make a trip back to Kauai, I almost always go to Kintaro with my family.
This place gets SLAMMED, so HIGHLY recommended to make reservations or be prepared to wait upwards of an hour or more to be seated.
The food here is delicious. There aren’t many sushi restaurants on Kauai, but this place rivals some of those on Oahu, but at a fraction of the cost. The soft shell crab handroll and the tin foil special is a must. I also recommend the unagi (either the dinner combo or nigiri). It’s nice a tender and literally melts in your mouth. They also have a teppanyaki dinner, but I’ve never done it.
Drinks are pretty standard along with a few sake specials that my family usually gets. The purple haze is warm sake mixed with chambord and Kryponite is warm sake mixed with midori. Both very fun drinks to have.
Parking is free, but can be tight if you go late. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a delicious meal on the Garden Isle.

Overall impression:
Outstanding service at reasonable prices. And the food is very good, too!
Average price (dinner): $ 16 – 20
Tips:
–order the unagi dinner. It tastes amazing and they give you so much for only 16.50!
–ask for server, Gwen. She is incredibly nice and on top of it!
–try to sit in the back (quieter and better atmosphere)
Positives:
–free parking
–customer service is outstanding
–granite tables
–large portions for incredibly reasonable prices (for japanese food, anyway)
Negatives:
–the chairs are a bit dirty
Neutral:
–I forgot to assess the bathroom
–I haven’t tried the sushi
We came here right at opening (530pm) on a weeknight and there was already a really long line. Thankfully, we had made reservations ahead of time. I was coming with my aunties who live on Kauai and they come to this place all the time.
Service:
Absolutely excellent. Ask for Gwen. She is very nice. She served us and I believe we got some complimentary appetizers, although it was probably because my aunties are regulars here and know the owner and the servers.
Ambience:
Not bad. The tables are granite, which is a really nice touch. There is a bar in the front and a cool fish tank in the back. I would advise sitting in the back of you want a bit more privacy and quiet. It does seem a bit on the old side though. Could maybe be due for some renovation.
Food:
I had the unagi and it was absolutely outstanding! Two huge, fat pieces with just the right amount of sweet Teri sauce and crispy skin on top of hot rice. Hits the spot! I could only eat one piece because it was so much food! Comes with soup (a delicious sweet miso that may have had sake in it), and pickled vegetables. Others had very appetizing meals, as well. Extremely reasonable prices for the amount of food you get and for the quality. Japanese food like this at most places is twice as much!
Highly recommend for both locals and visitors!

Make a reservation or you’ll be waiting for a while. We waited 30 minutes before being seated. They are very busy which unfortunately takes away from their customer services. The lady at the front desk was kind of out of it and the bar lady took a while before she even noticed I was there waiting.
The lady walked to the table, put the menus down and walked away. The waiter walked up to the table, put down wontons and then walked away without saying a word. I’m vegetarian, so I had to Waite about 5 minutes for him to notice me so I could ask what was in it (beef and pork).
We ordered the Bali ahi Bomb roll which was amazing! We also ordered the ahi sashimi which was very fresh and a nice red ahi! We order two other rolls, one with tuna and avocado, the avocado wasn’t fresh at all which ruined the roll. Also, we didn’t get our waters until half way through our meal, and only because my boyfriend got up and found someone to bring us water.
Overall, this place was «ok». When you walk into the Restraunt you definitely expect better service!

Bestes Suhi ;) WAU so etwas bekommt man nicht in Österreich! Mhhhhhh