Restaurants in Honolulu

Kabuki Restaurant's tableside chefs continue a lively culinary tradition dating back to 1965, hypnotizing guests with gyrating flames as they grill Japanese specialties that complement the sushi bar's raw bounty of seafood-infused rolls. The teppanyaki masters inspire awe while unlocking the flavors of thinly sliced beef, chicken, and veggies on their fiery grills, tossing the ingredients skyward in a cruel game of monkey-in-the-middle with two other chefs. After furnishing empty stomach space with tempura, california, and spicy-tuna sushi rolls, diners can bring home bottled servings of the eatery's house yakiniku and butteryaki sauces for their own culinary adventures.

Behind Tokoname's dark-wood storefront and rustic carved sign, chefs craft of authentic Japanese fare by the light of hanging lanterns. Sushi standards such as ahi tuna nigiri and shrimp tempura share table space with more exotic seasonal items, including abalone and monkfish liver. Patrons can also opt to wash down meals with a round of sake cocktails or a beer tower for the table. During lunches at the Manoa location, chefs also drizzle juicy burgers in soy-sauce-based Wafu dressing and homemade teriyaki sauce, as well as constructing traditional bento boxes.

Dedicated to upholding traditional Indian recipes, Monsoon India's new management has designed a fresh menu of authentic fare such as coconut curries, house-made paneer, and juicy kebabs. Lentils, chickpeas, and eggplant anchor a large selection of vegetarian entrees, and chefs also simmer chicken, lamb, and shrimp in spiced curries. Traditional clay tandoor ovens remain ablaze through business hours, infusing heat into breads, meats, and snowmen that like to spend the summer as a cloud of steam. As soon as dishes are plated, servers whisk them to tables amid the melodies of traditional Indian music.

For more than 30 years, the chefs at Lung Fung Chinese Restaurant have been bringing China’s freshest, most vibrant flavors to the stomachs of Oahu residents. General manager Eddie Ma regularly updates the menu with popular Hongkongese and Chinese dishes that he learns about during his travels to those countries. He's fully integrated these new, inventive dishes with time-honored classics to create a seamless and hearty menu of traditional chop suey dishes, savory noodle soups, and seafood-based specialties. The restaurant’s banquet menu, meanwhile, accommodates customers planning large events, such as company lunches or clown-college reunions.

With an eclectic childhood that took place amid the bustling cityscape of São Paolo, Brazil, in the steamy kitchen of their parents’ Chinese restaurant and on surfboards riding the oceans of Mexico, brothers Wing, Ed, and Mingo have tasted a panoply of flavors. Their intimate familiarity with the international cuisines of their youth has coalesced into Wahoo’s Fish Taco, a taqueria with Mexican specialties that brim with Brazilian and Asian touches. House-made sauces, such as the roasted-pepper cilantro sauce and the spicy Mr. Lee’s sauce, drizzle wahoo- and mahi-mahi-stuffed tacos and fork-ready entrees such as the Maui bowl, a customer favorite that combines teriyaki steak with beans and rice. The full bar serves margaritas infused with local limes, house-made sweet-and-sour mix, and straws handcrafted by artisan strawsmiths to anoint tongues during lunch, dinner, or the eatery's daily happy hours. To add to the global flavors, live musicians flaunt their fingerwork in the restaurant three days a week.

Fresh Cafe strives to kindle both healthy eating habits and creativity with a locally sourced menu and regular cultural performances, which help the eatery fit in nicely within the trendy industrial district of Kaka'ako. Its chefs whip up sandwiches, salads, and soups using fresh portobello mushrooms from the organic Small Kine farm, lettuce from the family-owned Otsuji farm, and vegetables from the pesticide-eschewing Ho Farms. The baristas, meanwhile, press each espresso beverage with handpicked beans from Sunbean Coffee.

Wooden tables and cushy chairs are scattered in the colorful café alongside bookshelves filled with reading materials. Bright neon signs broadcast colorful messages from the walls, none of which are threatening or syntactically unsound. A green awning stretches over a lengthy patio where vibrant murals beam down from the walls onto an abundance of chairs and tables. The café's large warehouse hosts slam poetry, live music, and art performances.