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    Kogi Aina

    4.4 (361 reviews)

    Kogi Aina Photos

    KOGI AINA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Happy hour specials

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    Recommended Reviews - Kogi Aina

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    Ribeye and pork
    Brennan H.

    Came here for dinner. Unfortunately missed the early bird special from 4-5pm. Server was super friendly and greeted us as soon as we walked in. Sat us at a table and brought water and took soup and meat orders. After that, I went to the self-serve area to get sauces and vegetables. I was impressed by the selection of sauces. They also had a wide variety of seafood and vegetables. The seafood was on ice and the vegetables looked freshly cut and not withered. The sauces were good, but were on the sweet side. Meat was good and the server kept coming around to check on us. The restaurant is cold which is good once you start eating the hot pot. It wasn't too crowded on a monday night. Overall, I would come back. Reasonable cost as you could spend way more to have hot pot at home. Parking: About 8 or so stall on the right of the restaurant. May need to park on the street if it's full.

    A la carte menu 2/2
    Shay Y.

    Came here for the first time recently. It was empty at 4:45p. Small parking lot right by the entrance, or free street parking if you can find it. We walked in to a warm greeting. The hostess/server/cashier/bartender/foh asked how many in our party and told we could sit *almost* anywhere in the whole place. We chose a booth against the back wall, but I wish we had selected a table closer to the fridge and bar instead. The selections were great. I was really impressed with the availability of veggies, noodles, tofu, meats, sauces, and even seafood. All included with your AYCE hot pot. You can select your broth (I mixed the house shoyu and miso) and the pot comes out pretty quickly. Then you order meats and any rice. So, the food is good. It's not the bessst tasting hot pot I've ever had, but you can kind of make it your own with whatever you put in the pot. Totally all good, especially for the happy hour price of $27 per person before 5p. However, I read some reviews before we went, and they agreed about the food, but said the service was terrible. This was sort of our experience as well. The girl working was nice, but just not very attentive. We had to flag her down several times, and this is why I wish we had sat closer to the bar, closer to her. If you want good food and don't care about good service, then this is your spot. I'd still come back. At least I have expectations about service here. I really do hope this place continues to succeed. It's a decent local spot. Wish they were open for lunch on the weekends, though. Keep it up, maybe pay more attention to your few customers?

    Menu
    Matthew Y.

    Go to Hot Pot place on the island. Using the excuse to see the beautiful scenery from the H3.

    Menu
    Herbert L.

    It was Friday night and we didn't know where to go out for dinner. My eldest son suggested this hot pot restaurant in Kaneohe that he and his friends frequent. I'm glad that we tried it. The food was plenty and so tasty. Dinner was $33 per person for all you can eat. Definitely got my money's worth. Service was fast and friendly. Nice place to bring the family and friends for casual dinning or a casual get together. Recommended if you got a hearty appetite. My personal opinion: some restaurants are pushing their card card business fees of 3% into customers. All retail businesses are already pushing their general excise tax of 4% to customers and now some are pushing their card card business fees. Dining out is already costing more in Hawaii. I think I'm going to cook more at home

    Parking lot
    Travis N.

    Kougi aina didn't seem to have much parking, but I don't drive myself, so i could just have missed it. It is right across from the 61's bus stop, so it can still be convenient. The nabe are family sized, so it's best to be a group. And happy hour makes that easier as it's inly 23, compared to the usual 30. And that is still cheaper than the nearest alternative. The vegetables are individually portioned and wrapped. So if any in your party have food sensitivities or otherwise need to avoid buffet style options, here may be more convenient for you. But it does mean your portions of veggies are much smaller. The pot can boil very fast. I chose the beef bone broth for my first time, as it's an option I had not seen often. It was very good and imparts its flavor to the meat very well. The house ponzu is also good. But it had a nutty flavor profile the first time I had some rather than directly citrus, so you may want to double check if you have any food sensitivities. The sauces are done buffet style, so it may just have been a ladle touching the wrong sauce or similar in my case. I ordered the pork loin, brisket, and ribeye, and all the meats I had were good. I believe they slice it as ordered, so it can take a little for meats to arrive tableside. But at you know it's fresh as possible. The mandoo are quite large, so can fall apart easy when you try to remove them from the broth. One of the mando I ate had seeds in it. So just be aware that there are different textures involved. The fishballs were tasty and had a fair amount of imitation crab. The siumai style dumplings I believe are fish based as the inside is a white meat. The fridge stickers are post it notes on the shelf, so they cab be hidden when taking your chocies. The siu mai options were crab, shrimp, and pork. The ramen i ended my meal with was very al dente, so I suggest putting it in when you boil your last meats. I poured the hot broth over it, and it didn't work out the way I hoped. Even during happy hour, you can get a complimentary shaved ice at the end of your meal. It has two syrup flavors and a generous amount of condensed milk I went on a tuesday, so things were pretty empty during happy hour, but it stayed relatively quiet past 5, so if you're a party of 4, you should be able to get seated easily, and with the size of the nabe, even a party of six or eight should be able to squeeze in around the two big bowls, though it might be squishy.

    Betty Q.

    Kogi Aina in Kaneohe on 46-138 Kahuhipa St, across from Lex Brodi's. Love their ayce hot pot! Saw Shawn Kaleponi's (The Hawaiian Traveler) post of his visit to Kogi Aina and had to dine here. Many people were waiting in line as they saw Shawn's post on YouTube. Although I had made reservations two days in advance, we still had to wait an hour. It was worth the wait!

    New Sauce station
    Sade P.

    Very conflicted sharing this review . Kogi Aina has always been my top hot pot place , just not sure if i will be returning , it really sucks because we love the service i have been coming here since the owners were workers. It doesn't deserve 0 stars because they have always been so good, but at the same time i've always had 5 stars for this place Some things that have changed there's no complimentary shave ice , which i personally feel was kind of what made them special aside from other hot pot places . It just gave a local vibe to it. We've always done the AYCE but now it's AYCE only. The option to do ala carte has been discontinued too. The new refrigerated section was interesting , i liked it but we noticed there weren't the same staples we enjoyed in the past (i.e. enoki mushrooms, arabiki sausages, okra, and the bamboo pork hash). The restaurant layout is different as well it's definitely a lot more open and feels more spacey. The gochujang was the usual soup base i liked but that seemed to taste more watered down this time like it was being stretched out . It lacked its usual punchy savory flavor. I also get the oxtail broth but opted to try the beef bone broth , it was decent. The ponzu sauce also tasted a bit different too, it kind of had a lemony taste to it which it didn't have in the past. The serving sizes for meats seemed a lot smaller compared to before when we'd get the AYCE too. Overall, you can feel the change it's a mix of sadness because no regular likes to see their favorite places to eat out at change the things that made them special and hesitation because we've grown to love the workers and we always want to support local. it's just hard to want to come back after these changes :/ they've basically become like every other hot pot restaurant.

    Sign
    Suri S.

    Highly recommend this place for AYCE hot pot! We came after going to Kualoa Ranch and it hit the spot after a fun day zip lining. Pros +AYCE (All You Can Eat) hot pot is a really good price compared to other places on the island. Everyday until 6pm is $21/person. Regular price after 6pm is $28/person. +Good cuts of meat. My favorite was Rib Eye & Short Rib. Pork Belly and Cow's Tongue was tasty as well. +Variety of hot pot broths! I recommend the Oxtail and Shoyu, really flavorful. +Drinks are on sale during happy hour. We got a 22 oz of Kirin for $7. There's also soju cocktails for $13. +At the end of the meal, they generously give you shaved ice! Complimentary and shared family style. I believe the flavors were Orange, Melona +Good service overall given it was super busy. Cons +parking is tight, however there is street parking and you are allowed to park at the Pancake House after 5pm. +Sunday happy hour is only from 5-6pm. +Located in an industrial area, easy to miss! It's next to Johns furniture. I would definitely come back here for AYCE, and even try their Ala cart menu (ranged from $5-$7).

    GMonkey do 2023
    Ghost T.

    $21 AYCE Hot Pot 3-5pm, $28 5-9pm. Need Monkey say more??? Order your broth, meats and drinks when seated. Self serve veggies, tofu, fish and shrimp in fridge, sauces next to left. Be there at 3pm bumbye get turned away when tables are full. Very small lot, but get street parking too. Pack your patience, as Emma ran a one woman show at first. All tables filled by 330pm, but received 2nd & 3rd round orders quickly. When refilling broth, it already hot so hotpot soup stayed hot. So efficient! Don't forget complimentary shave ice (one per table) for dessert. THE best shave ice in town. As busy as Kogi Aina is, staff is all smiles and doing their very best to serve customers. Great family owned & operated business. GMonkey support local. See you tomorrow! I would hope they do reservations for larger parties after 5pm so they wouldn't have to turn away so many parties of 3 or 4 away during Happy Hour. A reservation of 14 people at 430pm did damage.

    Buffet items

    I feel torn writing this because in the past Kogi Aina was my favorite restaurant in Kaneohe, but I don't think we will be returning anymore. It doesn't deserve 3 stars bc they've always been awesome but at the same time I'm hesitant to give 4. If you haven't visited in awhile, here are some updates: - Shave ice has been discontinued. Not a deal breaker but just fyi. - Hot pot is AYCE only. The option to do ala carte has been discontinued which was a disappointment for us bc I was planning to order hot pot ala carte & my significant other wanted bibimbap but we both had to get AYCE since everyone at the table has to get AYCE and ala carte is no longer an option. - The new "buffet" was nice and had some options I did not recall seeing in the refrigerator previously. I did enjoy that. - The platform where there were previously 2 tables sitting above the rest of the tables is now gone so all tables are on the same level. I never sat up there and it doesn't bother me either way but thought I'd mention it. The shoyu house spicy was always my favorite. Of course I ordered it again, but this time the server brought regular shoyu broth and then brought a cup of whole chili peppers on the side and told me if I put it in it's the same thing. Not at all the same as the house spicy broth they used to have. Also the thicker spicy sauce from the sauce bar was not there. Really bummed if this is the "new" shoyu house spicy broth, and my other half is not really a soup person so we probably will not return if he has to get the AYCE instead of his bibimbap.

    Shave ice
    Brianna B.

    Don't sleep on Kogi Aina and their location. I drive past this place all the time and finally stopped for dinner. The all you can eat option is very worth it-$20. The price for all you can eat is like $9 cheaper than their competitors. The broth I tried was good! They had fresh vegetables and house made noodles. Could tell it was a small family ran business because everyone was hustling. The service was amazing , always clearing the table, filling water, chatting etc. Lastly, i took a picture but already dug in to the shave ice. It was complimentary and had the best texture of shave ice I've had in a long time. Love this place ! Thanks for the great experience.

    Fried mandoo

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    Page 1 of 10

    Ask the Community - Kogi Aina

    AYCE days and times?

    Everyday from opening to closing!

    It still pops up as a BYOB, but you serve liquor. Is it still BYOB?

    No.. sorry. We will change it thank you

    Does this restaurant have Vegan dishes?

    The side dishes or entrees like bi bim bap or Korean Military stew are definitely not vegan. However, there is a wide variety of fresh vegetable dishes that are available. I'm not sure if the shoyu broths for shabu shabu are vegan, but there is a… 

    When is Kogi Ainas happy hour?

    3pm-5pm and 8pm-10pm

    Does this place serve wine or can you bring your own wine if they don't have on menu?

    They serve beer, soju, and soft drinks but no wine. I'm not sure if they allow BYOB, I've never seen it in all the times we've been there.

    View All 8 Questions

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    I can't even count how many times we've driven by this place en route to the North Shore. Finally…read moredecided to stop by for lunch. While they do have a parking, I suggest just parking on the street and walking up to the place. Signs clearly direct you to which window you can order food from and another for food pickup/dessert only ordering. We opted for combo plate (kalua pork and chicken long rice) w/ a side of poi. Both the kalua pork and chicken long rice were tasty but wished we had ordered rice instead so that i could mop up the delicious fat from the kalua pork! Loved the haupia pudding but wished they would give you a bit more. For dessert we ordered the tahitian sweet lady which was delicious! Wasn't a fan of the salmon lomi as it was pretty fishy for me. As we waited for our food, we noticed a dessert chilling on the ledge and joked with my wife that it was likely ours. Sure enough after 10 mins, the ice cream guy asked the cashier whose it was and at that time was our number called. Sadly, the ice cream had already started to melt. Wished they wouldn't have prepared the dessert until after our food was ready. Would definitely head back for their plate lunches and to try the sweet lady of waiahole dessert.

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    This is my go to Korean bbq spot. Grab and go plate lunch style…read more Choose your size, mini or regular. Choose your protein. I normally get meat Jun*, bbq chicken, mandoo, or kalbi. Can have em with rice or if you go no rice, you get an extra side. Choose your banchan. I normally get shoyu potatoes, corn, mac salad, Kim Chee, tofu, bean sprouts, and choy sum*. This place has been here forever. Same people. Great staff. Please support your local plate lunch spots. Tons of parking. A few tables to sit down inside, but mainly grab and go.

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