I've been here several times and always had a wonderful experience. This is my first time back since renovations. Loved it. Food was ono (delicious), service was wonderful, food came out in a timely manner and atmosphere was nice. Restaurant was busy with couples, families and celebrations, really nice to see. No real formal attire is expected. Many dressed up, many very informal, others just wearing their board shorts and t shirt, or had just pau hana or finish work, saw a table of construction workers. Our waitress was Herenui. She was wonderful, easy to wala'au (talk with), knowledgeable, sweet and very attentive. read more

Second time in and still underwhelmed. Locals love it, however my bar is fairly low on service, presentation, and atmosphere when it comes to locals spots as I would expect a place that's busy with locals would demand their attention. Sat at the back bar and was still ignored a big part of the time, especially to get outta there. I had my wallet on the bar for a half hour before I finally said something. It was noisy, so I knew we would want to get outta there as soon as we finished eating. Food was good, however nothing special about it. Exactly what you'd expect from a busy sushi spot that locals love... just an okay experience across the board. read more

Kintaro Japanese Restaurant - Back bar view! - Japanese Near Me - Kapa'a, Hawaii

The Shirley temple is buss and all the food is amazing, and you always gotta look for Mr. Arnell. read more

Kintaro Japanese Restaurant - Shirley temple - Japanese Near Me - Kapa'a, Hawaii

There was a line outside the door before it opened. Luckily we got there early to line up because we didn't have a reservation. The restaurant itself is huge and really wonderful sushi that's a pretty big portion. I had the kama which was scrumptious. Service was quick, the place is clean, as are the restrooms. read more

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I wanted to put 2.5 stars but I can only do whole stars so I brought it up to a 3. The reservation system needs improvement. Their website said to email them for reservations. Which we did. They gave us two time options and we responded to the one for tepanyaki. They never confirmed and when we got there we had no reservation. Luckily they had room in the main dining area but no tepanyaki just regular menu. The waiter never greeted us or gave his name. He was always in a hurry and looking at other tables while dropping off food. The meat inside the crispy wontons was tough and chewy. The miso soup was good, it had some daikon in it which was a nice texture. Soba noodles were tasty. The rock and roll sushi roll was underwhelming, bland and not a good texture on the eel. The one thing that made me give a 3 instead of a 2 was the tempura combo dinner entree. It was tasty and well cooked with shrimp and local fish along with purple sweet potato, carrot, broccoli and green beans. Quite tasty. read more

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We had dinner at Kintaro and it was the best sushi we've had on the island. The miso soup is probably the best we've ever had. It's a nice big restaurant to host large parties. This place is worth stopping in and having dinner. read more

Kintaro Japanese Restaurant - Chefs special - Tsunami roll - Japanese Near Me - Kapa'a, Hawaii

What an experience! While waiting for the sushi bar (only a few minutes wait) they have a lounge that you can order cocktails while you wait. The Sushi Chef was amazing and the rolls were the best we've had! Can't wait to go back! Mae a reservation if you're going at a busy time but honestly we would wait for the sushi bar again. I had the ago, salmon, Maui onion and avocado roll, actually twice! Then we had the Cajun ahi roll. All of it was so good. read more

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While visiting Kauai, this restaurant was recommended by a local. It's NOT a touristy, fancy place but the food was soooo good & fresh! Great drinks, the tempura and sushi were very tasty & reasonable. The lillikoi Saki was yummy! read more

Kintaro Japanese Restaurant - Our variety of food selections - Japanese Near Me - Kapa'a, Hawaii

We recently had dinner here at Kintaro's. Made reservations by phone. Got sat on a four top table in the corner by the bar. I think it's one of the best tables because we weren't surrounded by shouting customers. It did get a bit loud later but later subsided. Service was impeccable. Fast, attentive and thorough. You can tell they work as a team. Food came out quickly. Very delicious. Presentation and plateing was on point. My husband ordered their filet mignon. He enjoyed the steak. I had the shrimp tempura dish. Batter was thin and crispy. The tempura sauce was tasty Very large restaurant inside. Loved their huge salt water aquarium. read more

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Outstanding Japanese food and service you have to make reservations gets busy fast. Out of all the Japanese restaurants I have attended. Kintaro's is on the top of my list. Highly recommended. read more

An upscale Japanese restaurant that is very highly patronized by locals and visitors alike. The interior is huge, clean and beautifully appointed in separate areas- a bar, tables, sushi bar and hibachi area. We sat at a table and it was quite pleasant looking out at the varied scene of diners, with many large groups and families coming together. Make a reservation! We called at 5:15pm one day to see if we needed a reservation if we came right over when it opened at 5:30, no reservation needed... when we arrived several minutes after we were told it would be an hour wait. So, we made a resreservation for another evening. The places packs up with diners quickly, and the parking lot out front always seems full, people waiting in line out front. As for the food, it's quite good, yet not a 'knock your socks off' eitner. Four stars. The menu is massive with way too many choices. It's hard to decide. I opted for the fish of the day, which was a Mahi Mahi. I got it with the aioli sauce and it came with string veggies on the side and a bowl of rice. The fish was tender, good sized portion and delicious. The veggies were rather watery and diefficient to eat, pick up with chop sticks, and bland. The rice, however, was perfect. Right after arriving we were given three of their well regarded fried won tons with a mustard dipping sauce. Amazing! The highlight of the meal. We ordered eight more and woofed them down in little time. They are made at the owner's factory on the island. Ed got a Nabeyaki with a large prawn. They kindly brought a small second bowl for me to try some. The broth was the best I ever tasted. Now, the service was outstanding. Once getting the gatehouse of the reception desk the wait staff were ever so friendly, attentive, helpful, cheerful and accommodating. Kudos. An example was the water glass never got less than 3/4 full without it immediately being refilled. I had a giant Sopporo beer with my meal and the drink menu is also quite extensive. Overall, a good experience although not particularly stellar either. I believe it's all the apparent hype that turns out to be just a good quality establishment. read more

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Several people recommended checking out Kintaro during our Kaua'i visit so I made sure to make reservations a week in advance. Although we had reservations, it was so busy. We didn't get seated until 15 min later. This restaurant is huge as it has a teppanyaki side as well. That being said, I think they were a bit short staffed tonight as there were several large parties. Our server was an older woman and she was so patient with us and gave us a bit more time to decide on their extensive menu. As far as food goes: - Complimentary wontons - 6/10 (comes with a spicy wasabi sauce, be prepared to clear your sinuses) - Bali HI bomb roll - 7.8/10 (highly recommended item on yelp, Atlantic salmon over a California roll with tobiko, topped with spicy aioli sauce, then baked) -Uni shot (uni, tobiko, ikura) - 7/10 (there was a lot going on and it didn't go down as smoothly as other uni shots I've had but still tasty) -Nabeyaki noodles - 8.7/10 (very hearty and warm, filled with lots of vegetables and fishcake) -Rock and roll - 8.9/10 (this was the favorite of our table, you could actually taste the unagi and it paired well with the avocado.) -Green tea mud pie - 7.5/10 (my friends and I wasn't expecting it to be all ice cream, I thought it was mousse and one person thought it was cheesecake ). Overall, even though we got our table a bit after we arrived, I would still recommend making a reservation as this place seems like the place to be. read more

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We were recommended to visit Kintaro Japanese Restaurant during our honeymoon, and overall, our experience ended up being a bit mixed. We had a 7:30 PM reservation for the teppanyaki experience, and when we arrived, we waited about 5 to 10 minutes for our table, which was understandable. However, once we were seated, we waited another 10 to 15 minutes before our initial order was even taken. Shortly after that, another couple sat down and placed their order fairly quickly, but despite there only being four of us at the table, it still took quite a while for the actual cooking to begin. Service throughout the evening also felt fairly slow. Early on, the restaurant was busy, so we completely understood, but even after the crowd died down, things still seemed delayed. At one point, I had to ask multiple times for a refill before receiving one. That said, I do not want to take away from the quality of the food, because the food itself was genuinely excellent. We ordered the Hanalei Roll, which came out later than expected but was fantastic. The teppanyaki meal overall was delicious. I ordered the steak while my wife had the chicken, and both were cooked very well. While the service side of the experience could definitely improve, the food absolutely deserves credit and was the highlight of the evening. read more

Really love the ambience in here there food tastes great, not much sushi places left from my childhood but I appreciate them keeping the same menu as good as I remember great service from the waiters I got everything quick and easy read more

Kintaro Japanese Restaurant - Bali hi roll tsunami roll - Japanese Near Me - Kapa'a, Hawaii

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The best sushi and tin foil on Kauai. Loved it. Service was awesome. Very quick service.

Great food and service. Our server was great and made sure we had everything. Checked on us regularly considering how busy they get. Sushi was cut really thick tho. Couldn't enjoy a piece in one bite and had to bite it in half, after the first bite it just falls apart. Nice setting and vibes tho. read more

Great place to have fresh sushi...It's crowded all the time so I highly recommend you make reservations! The service was great and the food was made very fast and fresh! We ordered several types of sushi so we could try different kinds. The mud green tea pie was very delicious too and plenty for 2-3 people to share!! read more

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Honest review for honest taste buds- The first appetizer was delivered within seconds of sitting down. It was a small piece of beef fried into a wonton. The wonton was fine, but the mustard sauce lacked flavor and focused more on the spice factor than the taste. We were then served cold soba noodles with Tsuyu sauce. The noodles were a cool-toned purple and served with ice cubes and a side of thin Tsuyu sauce. The noodles tasted like watered-down buckwheat, while the sauce was some sort of soy sauce with green onions thrown in it. The second appetizer was miso soup.. if you can even call it that. The miso soup could have been sweaty football sock water, and I wouldn't have been able to tell a difference. My meal was some sort of chicken tariaki that lacked flavor, and I was overall unimpressed and left hungry. pros- !!Great service!! Fast service Clean cons- Mid mustard sauce Scary, cold noodles Sweaty miso soup unimpressive food 2/10 read more

Good japanese sushi restaurant! Service is great. Call for reservations to ensure a table with no waiting. Had the Hmachi chunks for appetizers. Very tasty! Ordered the Hanalei roll & the Bali hi bomb sushi. Excellent! Everything is very fresh! For dessert we had the green tea mud pie for hubby's birthday! Corkage only $15! read more

Ono Kintaro! If you're ever in the beautiful and lush area of Kapa'a, Kauai...Kintaro Japanese Restaurant is an absolute must! We came here on a Monday night at 6pm...by 7 it was absolutely packed and buzzing with good vibes and energy! Service was professional, quick and top notch! Our food was devoured as was our dessert. We ordered edamame as an app and the Tempura Combination and Tender Hibachi Shrimp as our entrees. For dessert we settled on the Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Mud Pie. TDF...so good! 5-Stars all-around and then some. Will more than likely hit this place up again before we leave HI! Mahalo! read more

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Kintaro... We love you so. When we started coming to Kauai, Kintaro was closed due to fire damage. Driving by often, I always wondered how it was. Then the pandemic hit and it remained closed during those 2 (years) summers. Finally in 2023, we were able to sample what Kintaros was all about. I made reservations way ahead of time. We actually ate at Kintaros TWICE during our 14 day stay on the island. That should tell you how much we liked it. During our first dinner there (Wednesday night) we ordered gyoza ($12.95), Bali Hi Bomb roll ($13.95) and soft shell crab roll ($11.95) to share. The gyoza was good. You get 5 pieces and comes with a rice wine vinegar & shoyu dipping sauce. The Bali Hi Bomb roll came highly recommended and it was good. But it wasnt our favorite of the rolls we ordered. Its a baked California roll topped with Atlantic salmon & tobiko plus special seasoning. The soft shell crab roll was amazing. It wasnt like your regular soft shell crab. What they do is panko crust the crab then chop it up then put it in the roll. It was so good. We loved it. The texture was perfect. The flavor was great. For my entree, I ordered the Unagi Ju ($27.95). This is grilled fresh water eel served over rice with a sweet sauce... IT. WAS. DELICIOUS. It was so good. I love eel and this was an exemplary one. You get 2 generous butterflied pieces. It comes with soba & dipping sauce, miso soup and tsukemono. It was a lot of food especially after an appetizer and sushi. I couldnt finish all my unagi but I gladly took it home. I was really happy with my entree. The lady ordered the sukiyaki dinner ($34.95) and it came with a crab & shrimp salad and a bowl of rice.. She liked it but it wasnt her favorite version of sukiyaki. The broth had some bitterness to it instead being sweet throughout. On our 2nd dinner at Kintaros the following week, we ordered the soft shell crab roll again then added salmon skin roll ($11.95). We were given the fried wontons complimentary as soon as we were seated. They were great. Apparently, the owner of Kintaros makes these for wholesale and they are really good. They are filled with whole cuts of tender beef. So good. It comes with a hot mustard dipping sauce. I got an Unagi Ju again for my entree and the lady ordered the butterfish dinner ($32.95) which came in a bento box with a side salad, pickled vegetables and a grilled potato. She liked the butterfish a lot. Alex (?) was our server both times. She was a nice lady. We were seated at the same table both times which was right by the 2nd bar. It was perfect. Kintaros is great for both group dinners and date nights. It is huge inside and they have private rooms as well as teppanyaki dinners with chefs cooking your group meals tableside. Plenty of parking in their lot right next to the restaurant or the bigger parking lot across the street. Reservations are a must. We loved Kintaros. We will for sure be back next Summer. Multiple times, most likely. A hui hou. read more

Great sushi and food all around! Well priced and service was fast. They give you a yummy appetizer for free right when you sit down! We will definitely be back! Get the Hamachi chunks ;) read more

hands on the BEST sushi place on kauai been coming here for a while. enjoy the bali bombs and tin foil special. i love their soft shell crab i always order it on the side - and the green tea pie is a must make sure you leave room for that. read more

Food was ok, had the udon noodles which was not very tasty, the Matcha Mud pie was delicious. Service was friendly. The Hokkaido scallops were wonderful. read more

I wasn't sure what I was walking into as when I looked up the restaurant it had 3.5 stars. It could be because I don't live on Kauai that I actually like this restaurant. The server that we got was very on it and took care of us very well. Very attentive and quick. I guess this place had closed and reopened according to some of the reviews I read. But the inside of this restaurant looks very fancy. They even have teppanyaki tables towards the back of the restaurant! So I heard that the hamachi chunks is a must when you visit this restaurant!! So that is exactly what we got! We also ordered the in foil special, I think the bistro special rolls?, and the seafood nabe! Omg!! That nabe was huge!!! But it is soooo good!! There was even real crab legs in there!! Overall I think the food was yummy and the service was great!! Will definitely come back when I'm in Kauai!!! If you never been, should definitely try!! :) read more

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Food: Tako Salad was delicious! So fresh and refreshing :) I would've ordered more if I was hungrier, the sushi rolls looked delicious! But pricey though... this tiny appetizer cost me $16 but I guess it IS Hawaii pricey. Service: Food was pretty fast. Ambiance: This is definitely where it lacked. It was loud and rowdy for sure, not a super fancy setting. read more

Kintaro Japanese Restaurant - Inside - Japanese Near Me - Kapa'a, Hawaii

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Our experience was so uninspiring and mediocre that the sanity of the person whom recommended Kintaro could be called into question. It was our last night on the island and we were on a mission to end our stay with a bang. I put in a late reservation for two for teppanyaki (they state on their web site that same-day post-2pm reservations will not be honored) and to my surprise a confirmation email arrived in about 7 minutes. Excellent. Upon arrival we were checked in and proceeded to wait in the lounge. The dining room was bustling. Many larger parties took up the majority of the tables, but only two smaller parties were seated for teppanyaki. This seemed a bit odd. Said parties were finishing up and so was the cook who seemed to be in training. Our poor server who took the brunt of (spoiler alert) my complaint... You know what, I'm too tired to churn out a long, drawn out epic review so let's just do some bullet points. The Good: -Hamachi and Scallop nigiri were fantastic -Hamachi roll and Snow crab nigiri were also great -The beef potions were generous and fairly priced versus what we are used to in other cities. Very nice The Bad: -Having to explain to the server that we would like some ramekins for soy sauce when the sushi was dropped. I had to grab some off another table. -Realizing that the cook we thought was in training was actually the trainer and the trainee could barely handle a spatula. If this would have been a situation where the trainer had made that part of the show, it could have been entertaining. It wasn't. The Ugly: -This was, by far, the worst teppanyaki experience we have ever had. I mean, all others have been great experiences, which amplified the amount of disappointment created. -There was no greeting or initial interaction from the cooks, we just watched as one person tried to train another how to be as mediocre as possible. -When, after we had received our vegetables and steak, I asked if we got fried rice with the meal, the trainer simply said that it was an add on. I explained to him we had not been offered it (also it's generally part of the teppanyaki experience), he left and came back shortly thereafter to plop two bowls of steamed rice in front of us. Later, after I voiced my opinion of the meal to our server, the cook came back and threw down a bowl of fried rice stating "Compliments of the kitchen." WTF -I let our server know exactly how bad our experience was and he looked both uncomfortable and unsurprised. He meekly squeaked out an "I'm sorry" and walked off. -The cooks made some Panko-encrusted thing after the steak was cooked, which evidently was not for us. They fumbled with it on the grill then managed to coax it clumsily onto a plate, then walked off. Why would you do that? Very confusing and unprofessional. In summary: Overall the sushi was good, although the roll was a little thick on the rice. The whole experience frankly sucked and although we were offered a free dessert, there was no real attempt at service recovery. We paid, my better half left a much more concise note than I would have been capable of writing then we took our dessert back to our condo and basically threw it way. Would I recommend Kintaro? Not even a little bit. Kintaro is the opposite of its namesake, it's a super-zero. read more

The food was amazing, the service excellent, and the ambiance relaxing. The staff was friendly, and ambience had a romantic appeal. read more

Fabulous! Amazing service by Travis- the vibe is upbeat and lively with lots of local families celebrating special occasions, too. The food was soooo good- honestly it had the best shrimp tempura we have ever had - their fry oil is so fresh and their tempura batter just perfect and so light! We also got the fresh catch which was sautéed and then baked in their house made aioli which was really good, as well as a delicious selection of nigiri to start. All in all, an amazing dining experience and we highly recommend! read more

For our last night in Kauai, we wanted to find a great local asian restaurant. The hotel recommended Kintaro. We planned to get take out and bring back to our room, so we tried to call in an order for pickup, but despite a dozen attempts over 30 minutes, they didn't pick up. So we drove over and placed our order. We were told it would take 25 minutes which was a bit long but acceptable. We were also told there was a mandatory 18% gratuity added which I feel was inappropriate for a takeout order. I always tip but not that much when I'm picking up since there was neither a server nor a delivery person involved. The order took close to an hour till it was ready and when we got back, we realized they'd given us a wrong item for one of our appetizers. We ordered mussels but got mushrooms. This all put us in an annoyed mood, but we were hoping for great food. The mistaken mushrooms were fair at best and the crispy wontons were flavorless and a bit soggy. The sushi and tempura were good as was the miso soup. In the end, we wished we'd stayed in our hotel and eaten in the restaurant there. read more

Coming from Seattle I can say that the sushi was decent! The restaurant's atmosphere was calming and authentically Japanese, which was nice. The staff, however, was not so friendly. I mean, a few of them were, but it took forever to get their attention (just to ask for a fork and a Diet Coke) and even then they didn't seem thrilled to be serving us. Once we ordered our drinks only half came out and we reminded our server at least twice about the others... my sushi roll also came out 10-15 minutes after everyone else's dish came out. I will admit, we got there around 830pm and they close at 930pm, but we ordered quick and I feel like an hour is plenty of time to order, eat, and cash out. No excuse to be rude even though closing time is 60 minutes away. read more

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Kintaro's went through a recent rebuild due to a kitchen fire. It's very nice and spacious today. Inside is modeled after a typical Japanese family restaurant. Think Gyotaku's on Oahu. Even with spillover parking across the street, parking fills up during peak times: We were there just before 7 pm on a Friday night and we were lucky someone was pulling out. Food offerings are also similar to Gyotaku. Maybe the difference is teppanyaki but we didn't try that. Extensive sushi menu - we had the combo nigiri that the 4 of us shared. All fresh and good. Complimentary fried wontons with shoyu-mustard sauce were served. Tasty and meaty. My wife and I both ordered the shrimp tempura combo that came with 4 medium sized shrimp, carrot, sweet potato and string beans tempura. Sides included a generous bowl of rice, miso soup (excellent!), and a serving of zaru soba with dipping sauce - was okay. The tempura was perfectly cooked and tasty. All in all the food is pretty good, just like Gyotaku's. Service was excellent. The salt water aquarium we were seated next to was a nice attraction. It is well-maintained and the fish appeared healthy. read more

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Yummy as usual. Arrived @ 5:00 pm to be first in line for a walk-in table. No reservations so we were offered a seat at either the sushi bar or two other bars. We chose the sushi bar. The sushi chef served up delicious fresh ahi and hamachi and an ahi maki. The mahi was garlicky and served w capers. Delicious! read more

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Great service and great prices for what you get. Sushi and Japanese food is the best on Kauai. Ambiance is nice, especially the back private rooms. read more

Best restaurant on Kauai. Busy place and they tend to rush you. Teppenyaki tables have the best food.

We got there right when they opened and it was packed so I suggest making reservations if possible. We were lucky that bar seats were available for walk-ins. The wait staff and bartender were awesome. They were very friendly and helpful with the menu as we haven't been there in over 5 years. We were given a free appetizer and it was delicious. We both enjoyed our food very much and the service was fast considering how busy it was. The bar seats were very comfortable and the restaurant environment was loud, but still very welcoming. We will definitely come again when we are back. read more

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Alright I'm from California and am aware that sushi from California isn't real sushi. This place was talked up way too much. Really not good. Food was mediocre at best. Except for the ginger that was the only thing that was good. Could not eat more than 1 roll and run out as fast as possible. Everything inside is horribly noisy. It's louder than a sports bar and not enjoyable for a nice dinner. Feels like a slum more than anything with all the loud drunk people. Going to go for monster sushi tomorrow hopefully it's a much better experience. read more

Always a great meal in terms of price and quality. The sushi was great and udon tasty. The combos are perfect in serving size and variety. Nice that the restaurant doesn't smell like fried foods and fishy. Only downside is the acoustics. It gets very loud with diners escalating their voices over each other. Certainly not a calm, relaxed atmosphere with soft easy listening music. More of a busy, chaotic party venue. read more

I usually never ever do this but man am I disappointed... Came here for my birthday with my family, wish we went elsewhere. Such a disappointment especially since It's been a couple years since our last dinner here and we were looking forward to satisfying our cravings. We arrived 15 mins before our reservation time, hung out in the waiting area, if it didn't take 45mins PAST our reservation time for them to bring us to our table only to be waiting another 20mins for service after getting seated?? At that point, I wish we just got up and left. The server decided to buss tables in-front/around us that were not going to be turned as they were nearing closing time (tempenyaki). Simple things as getting a sushi menu etc did not happen (had to look online). Our tempenyaki items were cooked perfectly and delicious. Sushi was disappointing. Soft shell crab didn't seem fresh felt like they fry it/mix it way prior to it being rolled giving it a very very soggy texture. Sadly, will not be going back such a bummer. read more

It's okay to eat there but it will cost you almost an arm and leg. The food is great, service is great, the atmosphere is spot on. Raymond Kim is the owner and he's awesome. read more