Tamura’s Express

From the moment you walk in the door and are greeted with the best customer service ever. A cute mom & pop style kind of store to the most delicious food on the Okazuya line, daily specials, bentos, set menu, and those humongous ume rice balls and poke, everything is so Ono. The prices are reasonable and the portions are huge, hope that never changes. A big big shout out to Berna & Verna who are amazing at the food counter. They manage to take orders over the phone, and service their customers with so much aloha. Thank you ladies for all that you do. Thank you Tamuras for your new extended kitchen hours and moving into the neighborhood. You are on my speed dial.

Fresh ahi poke bowl is what I was craving for and the only place that came to mind was Tamura’s Express. This small space in Wailuku industrial is easy to access with lots of parking. Once inside you’ll find an array of poke that will have your mouth watering. My favorite is the ahi with ginger, but everything else is so ono-​licious. The bonus is that this place also have plate lunch. I always go for the poke but will definitely try the plate lunch the next time I’m there.

You know, this place continues to amaze!
Now serving plate lunches during the weekdays, the Wailuku Tamura’s has become THE go-​to place for everything! They have a hot line which has some okazuya stuff like shoyu hot dogs and fried chicken (which is fricking finger fricking licking fricking GOOD!!!) they also have daily specials, like beef stew and other local favorites. I believe the plate lunch counter stops taking orders at 2:45 p.m., so mostly for the lunch crowd, but still worth it!
I’ve tried the chicken Katsu plate and the Korean chicken plate, which are regular items on the menu, and both were pretty fricking damn fricking good! The chicken Katsu was way better than the typical L & L or Kings Katsu, and the sauce is not watered down plum sauce like those places either! First time I had the Katsu, the sauce was obviously kikkoman brand Katsu sauce, but the last time I had it, it was local style homemade sauce. Was pretty fricking damn fricking ono!
Plates run about $ 8.50, if I remember correctly, and is worth every penny. Tamura’s is definitely doing it right in Wailuku. Plus they open on most holidays, including Thanksgiving! Fricking MEAN!!!

This is Tamura’s second location in the central valley, and what a great addition they are. At first, I thought this was an odd location to be in, but when you think about it, there is only one market in the area but a ton of local neighboring businesses that they could and do benefit from. Excellent business sense. I wish he’d venture into the ramen shop biz and spread some love on this rock, but that’s another story lol.
They’re located in the Wailuku Industrial Park with plenty of parking and easy access from major roads. Compared to the Kahului location, this one has way more groceries, about 80% more, though their wine and liquor selection is way less. There’s a nice selection of dry goods, produce, and meats. Grocery prices are comparable and some even less than supermarkets. The pok’e bar features the same offerings, along with my ultimate favorite dish, the spicy crawfish.
Service here seems to be more professional than the Kahului store, especially the cashiers. The woman at the pok’e bar is very friendly and full of aloha. Great job gals!
TIP:
See my Unilocal review of their Kahului location on Dairy Road for detailed pok’e & pupu reviews.

This Tamuras has almost every thing you need, fresh produce, fresh meats and groceries. They have a good variety of local products and they are also my go to for crack seed (li hing mui) items due to their prices.
The main reason I come here is for the poke bowls. They offer the option of a Kalua pig bowl with lomi salmon and poke. They also offer a hawaiian plate with lau lau (which I haven’t tried).
I like this store better than the Kahului location. It seems cleaner and larger and seems to carry more groceries. But the Kahului location may have a wider variety of alcohol products.