Kohnotori

I thought that I would do this post and the one for Imanas Tei together since this restaurant is located right next door.  If this place was never mentioned to me by one of my readers, I would have never thought that it was a different restaurant.  But then again, I never really paid any attention because there are always people loitering in front of both places.

After entering the restaurant, you'll notice a counter area to the left, with a charcoal (?) grill towards the back, while straight ahead, and off to the right, were a few tables.  When I arrived, there were a couple of seats open at the counter, but I chose a table right inside the front door so that I could get a good view.  Not being too familiar with the restaurant or the items it served, when I was handed a menu, I immediately thought izakaya or yakitoriya.  Anyone know?

Being that this was my first time here, I decided to sample a few of the grilled, skewered items (kushiyaki).  Here are the ones that I ordered:

Sasami (chicken breast) with ponzu (US$1.60).

Clean and lightly seasoned, and a little dry (I guess because it was white meat), but the citrus-based ponzu sauce gave this a refreshing flavor.

Tori (chicken, US$1.20). 

Boneless pieces of dark meat chicken coated in a sweet shoyu-based glaze.  The chicken was moist and flavorful, but I would have preferred if it sat on the grill a bit longer and was a bit "charred".

Chicken back (US$1.80).

Boneless pieces of chicken seasoned lightly with just a little salt.  I somehow expected the back meat to be "different", but I enjoyed it with a light spritz of lemon.

Tsukune (US$1.40).

A ground chicken "meatball" that was lightly coated with a little of the sweet soy-based glaze and served with a dab of mustard on the side.

I wanted to order the negima (chicken and leeks), the tebasaki (chicken wings), nankotsu (chicken pieces with cartiladge) or the sunagimo (gizzards), but thought I would save those for my next visit.

Instead, I decided to order something a little more substantial -- the liver and chives (US$4.40).

Chicken livers were stir fried bean sprouts and chives, and seasoned with, what I presumed to be, a soy-based sauce.  The tender livers proved to be an interesting contrast to the crunchy beansprouts and the overall flavor was savory and slightly smoky.  I wondered to myself if this dish, or at least the livers, had been cooked on the charcoal grill as well.

After all of that, I decided to end my meal with a bowl of ramen (US$4.80).

This was a small bowl of shio ramen (salt based broth) that had been simply garnished with a square of nori, one quail egg, a piece of okra and some chopped green onions.  The broth was clear and light, with just the faintest hint of saltiness.

Kohnotori
2626 South King Street Suite 1
Telephone:  808.941.7255

Comments

[FatMan Seoul]

I have a sudden craving for Japanese ....

[Jo]

I'm with you FatMan! On the good side, I got my craving satisfied on Wednesday night. We went to Minato for dinner. I was desperate for tempura (my fav method of frying and theirs is particularly tasty). I the normal shrimp and veggie but I also tried "Nasu Agedashi" which was an appetizer "special" that evening. The eggplant chunks were outstanding. I liked the grated daikon topping but would have prefered less of it as it made the fried pieces soggy very quickly. I was so intent on ordering "fried food" that when the waitress cleared out table she teased me by asking if I had enough fried food! ::laughing:: All I could do was nod in bleary eyed delight!

[MBS]

OMG! That looks great! It looks more like a yakitoriya than an izakaya, though.

Moiliili, huh? Is it by Puck's alley, by any chance?

It's interesting how Moiliili is getting a new influx of Japanese. Small kid time, that neighborhood used to be mostly local Japanese.

I miss Kalei Poi Bowl, though. That's one thing that I miss, the neighborhood poi bowl...

[renee]

the first time i went to imanas, my sister & i walked into kohnotori (it's the first door you see from the parking lot) and it took several minutes (after reading the menu and looking at the grill set up) to realize we were @ the wrong place. we would have stayed, but since we were meeting friends, that was not an option... so embarrassing! the staff said that they get that a lot, though - we wanted to go back just 'cause the staff was so nice about it (& the menu did have some interesting items), but haven't made the time to go yet --- glad to see you posting on it! i love restaurants like that. my family went to one in mitaka (tokyo) and it was fun - interesting to see how they prepare all the funky chicken parts... =)

[Reid]

Hi FatMan,

I'm glad you like Japanese food. It's one of my favorites. In fact, I think I could eat it every day!

Hi Jo,

I'm glad to hear that you are still visiting Minato. Have you, Mike and the boys tried all of the menu items already...and have you taken Mills with you? I ate there again a couple of weeks ago and had the steak with ponzu sauce, it was really good.

Hi MBS,

Kohnotori is right next to Puck's Alley. In fact, it's between Puck's Alley and the 7-11 that's right there. If you've ever been to Imanas Tei, it is in the same building, only right next door.

Hi Renee,

I almost made that mistake too. I thought the door leading to the bathroom on the side of the room, actually connected to the sushi bar at Imanas! LOL!

Do visit Kohnotori when you have a chance. I think the food is great and the service wonderful.

[Jo]

This was our fourth and probably final visit I'm sad to say. I didn't see ponzu steak on the menu! Mike had that night's special meal which was teriyaki mixed platter. Steak, chicken, and ribs. They do a wonderful job with the marinade and the meats are cooked to perfection. Mike really enjoys their sushi and had the hamachi maki. I just wanted tempura everything! Especially since I don't know when I will get a chance to have it again! On the other hand, I understand that near the place we hope to live is an Amish family who produces and sells fresh milk, butter, and cheese... trade off?

[Colette]

I just went here last night with my cousin, his boss, and boss' family. His boss and family are from Japan, and they did all the ordering. Good thing too, because they ordered stuff I would never have thought to try.

The chopped watercress salad with dressing is divine. They also ordered pretty much every kushiyaki on the menu: chicken back, chicken cartilage, chicken butt, chicken gizzard, beef tongue, bacon and quail egg, chicken skin (thin slices, deep fried, and eaten with mayonnaise and kim chee. Very tasty and I don't even like mayo), shiitake mushroom, chicken with shiso, chicken liver, okra, etc . . .

Oh, and we started with boiled daikon in some sort of broth and eaten with Japanese mustard. The daikon was soft and picked up the flavor of the dashi (?, I think).

All washed down with sake served in real green bamboo containers, and to finish, some of the same ramen you had.

How filling was it? We rolled out of there like sumotori after a double serving of chanko nabe and I didn't eat anything for breakfast this morning.

[Reid]

Hi Colette,

Thanks for the report back. I've been back to Kohnotori once since this review and enjoyed the food just as much as you obviously did!

There are so many more dishes here for me to try, so I can see myself visiting for a long time to come.

Next time, I'm definitely going to try the chicken skin. I was a little afraid since I really didn't know what it was, but now that you've told me, I think it's something that I will enjoy.