Sekiya's Restaurant & Delicatessen

Sorry, but I will be working late for the next couple of nights so I won't be able to update this post until Thursday or Friday.  But rather than leave you all hanging (especially you Clinton and Kirk)...ENJOY!

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Located across from Kaimuki High School, Sekiya's has been serving local-style homecooked favorites for almost 50 years.  Starting in 1957, generations of locals have grown up eating the food served here, and everytime I visit, I'm reminded of some of my favorite home cooked dishes -- saimin, pork tofu, beef tomato and butterfish nitsuke. 

As you enter the restaurant, the first thing you'll notice is the okazuya counter.  During the day, the warmers are filled with many different dishes that are combined to create your very own "mixed" bento box (plate lunch).  Since I almost always visit at night, this area is usually closed.

Inside, there are a number of booths with can accomodate 3 or 4 dozen people.  Near the "wall of glass" at the far end of the room are a few tables that will accomodate larger parties, and right outside, is a Japanese garden.

The last time I was here, I dined with a friend who lives nearby.  For some reason, my friend had never been here and wondered how the food was.  After we looked over the menu, and place our orders, we sat and waited for the food to arrive.  First to be delivered was a pot of tea, a bowl of rice, a dish of tsukemono and a bowl of miso soup.

When eating a local Japanese restaurants, these are the things that will most accompany your meal.  The miso soup contained cubes of tofu and lots of chopped green onions.  The tsukemono (Japanese pickles) served here consists of salted Chinese cabbage.

Soon after, the hash tempura (6 pieces, US$4.50) arrived at the table, fresh out of the fryer.

Corned beef is mixed with potatoes and various seasonings before being rolled into balls, covered in batter and deep fried.  Piping hot, I took the first bite.  The first thing I tasted were the creamy, slightly sweet potatoes inside.  It was only then that I noticed the lack of actual corned beef.  It was quite surprising that these weren't as good as they usually are.

This was my friend's choice, the oyako donburi (US$7.95).

Slices of onion are cooked with pieces of dark meat chicken in some dashi before the egg is added.  The egg left a little "runny" and is served in a bowl over hot rice to create the donburi.  Here the rendition is pretty straightforward, but I believe they used just a little too much sauce.

Tonight, I decided to sample the nitsuke butterfish (US$13.25, with tofu add US$1.00).

Cubes of tofu were combined with pieces of butterfish in a classic nitsuke "sauce" (flavored with shoyu and mirin among other things).  The "sauce" was well seasoned, and neither too sweet nor too salty for my tastes.  The pieces of butterfish had a very "fishy" aroma and consisted of many small pieces full of bones.  This dish would have been much better had it been prepared using a single butterfish "steak" rather than chopped up, leftover pieces of butterfish.

In my opinion, over the years, the quality of the food at Sekiya's has slipped as the prices have increased.  It has often left me wondering if the changes in ownership has been the cause of this.  Granted, there are quite a number of dishes that remain favorites, but for a few others, there are many other places that serve food that tastes just as good, or better, and are a lot more reasonably priced.

Sekiya's Restaurant & Delicatessen
2746 Kaimuki Avenue
Telephone: 808.732.1656

Comments

[clare eats]

You are such a tease Reid!

[Chandler]

Re: Island directions from below. Mauka, Makai, Diamond Head, Ewa. Maybe that all makes more sense. By the way, how badly did I botch the spelling?

[Clinton]

Auwe! All I can say that "It's about time"! I've been waiting for this post for months and now that it's here, I wish I didn't have to look at it. My stomach is growling big time Reid. Yup, my wife's sister's favorite is that oyako donburi while mine is the fried saimin (not shown). *sigh* I can smell the miso soup right now! Need to book a flight back ASAP.

[Kirk]

Oh My - The wonderful Sekiya aroma is coming back to me just looking at those photos. I love the fried saimin there as well. We used to cut out of class and cross the street to "grind", until they put one of the Counselors there to "bust" us.

[Clinton]

Oh, I forgot about the steaming bowl of saimin with the BBQ teriyaki sticks on the side...

Bad boy Kirk! We probably had the same kind of counselors at St. Louis who would stand post at Mama-sans across the street on Waialae and hand out demerits for violators. Ah, the good old days!

[Kathy]

That set of hash tempura is calling my name! I'll have to be dragged to the airport at this rate - how can I return to school with such good food here?!

[MBS]

Omg, now I'm really hurtin'...

[Veruca salt]

G'day. All looks so yummy. Especially the donburi.

Please explain the delicatessen part??

[Mama BoK]

Love the looks of the hash tempura .. Reid..! how did it taste..??

[RONW]

it's well worth the wait for the completed version of the post-in-progress. it won't effect your tip.

[Amy]

Just stumbled upon your page. You ought to join Yelp!

Http://yelp.com

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - Downhill, eh? That's too bad. I'll make sure to see when I get back home. The prices sure seemed to have risen quite a bit as well.

[Clinton]

Oo-o-o-o...so sorry to hear of the bad review. For me, I personally go there for nostalgia since I grew up nearby many many years ago. Sekiya's is one of the many places we hit when we go back but maybe the times have changed. No matter, for me the ambience and past memories is all that's worth it. I'm in hog heaven when I get my char shu fried saimin!
Sad to see that they chopped down that big humongous red plumeria tree in the parking lot. That's alright since I took a little branch the last time we visited and it's growing great here in LA. The dream still lives on...

[Kirk]

Clinton - I feel rather sad....but you're right, I'm going to make sure to stop by and grab fried saimin next time I'm home just to be sure. As for BBQ stick; I still miss Tanoue's.

[MBS]

Sekiya's is like Wisteria--good in it's prime, but slipped as it got older. Last time I was at Sekiya's, the teribeef sandwich was too expensive, portion was too small, etc. It's just one of those things that happen, unfortunately.

I wonder if the okazuya is good, though. The okazu counter is usually pretty busy during the day.

[Clinton]

I sure miss the old-time delicatessens where the warm tropical air was permeated with the fragrant aroma of fried ahi, tempura, nishime, teriyaki, etc. Gone are the days where little kids were standing in line for shave ice and figuring what kind of candy they can get for a nickel. Ah, I loved to nibble on a little dish of gobo (burdock root) on my way home from school from St. Louis Drive In. Sure miss those old places...

[Reid]

Hi Clare,

Sorry about that. I've just been overloaded with work lately that I really have much time to devote to this let along read all of my favorite blogs! *sigh*

Hi Bob,

Spelling is just fine. I don't think you botched anything up at all! =)

Hi Clinton,

I love the fried saimin too and I really don't know why I didn't order it. I should have, but the butterfish was calling my name for some reason.

Hi Kirk,

I wasn't close enough to cut out of class. =( I grew up in Kalihi, so Kenny's was the closest place for me.

Hi Clinton,

LOL! Mama sans?

Hi Kathy,

The hash tempura used to be much better. In fact, now it's almost all potato. *sigh* Please try to get here for lunch. The okazu is quite good.

Hi MBS,

I guess you like Sekiya's too huh? =)

Hi Veruca Salt,

Long time no hear!

The donburi is usually quite good, but for some reason it wasn't on this particular evening. =(

Here in Hawaii, when they say delicatessen, it usually is the same as okazuya -- a place that sells different side dishes that you can put together into a plate lunch (bento).

Hi RONW,

Sure about that?

Hi Kirk,

I'm not sure how long it has been since your last visit, but since I've been back in Hawaii, I've been to Sekiya's quite a number of times. In the beginning, the food was pretty good to OK. Now, I'd say the food was OK to not OK, depending on when you visit. It's quite sad because I actually used to like this place... =(

Hi Clinton,

While I didn't grow up in Kaimuki, I used to eat at Sekiya's quite often. I visit here and think of how good the food used to be and I still patronize them for the same reasons you mentioned.

Hi Kirk,

I'm glad that I still manage a visit here every now and then. I'm afraid that it will go the way of Wisteria when I'm not looking. That would be really sad.

Hi MBS,

I believe you're right. Wisteria was like that in the end as well, but there were still dishes that I could eat there -- namely the pork tofu. =)

The last time I was here for the okazu was a three or four months ago and it was still pretty good.

Hi Clinton,

Nickel? That was a really long time ago! I love gobo and always order it when I eat at okazuyas. Mmmm. =P

[J]

Heard that Sekiya have open up again.