Last March, we stopped into Ono-Ya Ramen to show our support for their COVID-19 era move from the former Waikīkī Yokocho and Shirokiya Japanese Village Walk sites to Kapahulu. We remembered slurping their specialty tonkotsu (pork bones and meat) broth served with hearty portions of ramen at their Waikīkī location and their superb and friendly service. Yes, we've known about Ono-Ya's Award-Winning Shoyu Ramen, but we prefer the unctuousness of tonkotsu.
Ono-Ya Ramen is located in a small strip mall and shares a small parking lot with Papa John's Pizza and Kapahulu Xpress Laundromat. When we drove into the lot, we, fortunately, snagged the last available stall and strolled into the restaurant.
As soon as we entered, we were greeted by a hostess who asked if we had reservations or signed up for their waitlist. We could see that the restaurant was jammed with customers. Unfortunately, we didn't have reservations but certainly didn't expect to see this place crowded since it was a weekday around 3 PM. The hostess directed us to take a seat along with the entry as she dipped around the corner to check for an empty table. She kindly motioned us to follow her to the cleaned table and seated us.
No more than a minute had passed by after we were seated when a friendly server quickly stopped by to provide us glasses of iced water and asked our ordering preference through the use of either a printed menu or the QRC on the table. Before I could answer, my husband, piped in to say he wanted printed menus. To our surprise, the server brought us a Happy Hour menu featuring discounted appetizers and alcoholic beverages and their full menu. She gave us a few moments to look through the menu and returned to take our order. As our server took our order, she mentioned Ono-Ya's FIRST Anniversary BOGO special, which was going on from March 1 through 10. How lucky that we came in during Happy Hour and during their Anniversary.
FOOD:
- Gyoza: the gyoza wrapper had nice pan-fried bottoms, and its upper pleated wrapper was delicate and tender. Each gyoza was filled with a flavorful ground pork mixture. Five pcs/$4
- Tonkotsu Tan Tan Men: all-natural pork bone broth flavored sesame seed and chili oil. Toppings included seared pork belly char siu, seasoned ground pork, bok choy, seasoned egg (ajitama), chili threads, and green onions. The collagen-rich broth coated the strands of ramen and my husband's tongue as he slurped the noodles. Tonkotsu broth is made from pork, chicken, and vegetables then slowly simmered until a creamy, milky white broth is created. Its cooking process creates "umami," or the 5th human taste. The broth's rich, meaty and thicker consistency is a mouthwatering coating over the tongue. The firm and chewy ramen's texture helped the broth and oils (sesame & chili) coat each strand. That is why slurping is the correct way to eat ramen. My husband remarked that he was full after eating 2/3 of his tonkotsu tan tan men, but he continued slurping up the noodles. $15
- Tonkotsu Black: this bowl of ramen came with Ono-Ya's tonkotsu broth flavored with their signature black garlic oil and garlic chips. Luckily, we both enjoy garlic and have shared garlicky kisses before...oops, sorry, TMI. The toppings included seared pork belly char siu, bean sprouts, kikurage, nori, seasoned egg (ajitama), and green onions. I tasted the broth before mixing the toppings into the steaming hot bowl. After pushing the toppings into the hot broth to warm each ingredient, I pulled up the noodles to aerate them while allowing the broth and oils to coat the strands before greedily slurping them. $0 because this was the Anniversary BOGO special. However, this specialty usually costs $15.
The steaming hot bowls of ramen were satisfying and fully flavored. We were happy with the excellent service and pleased to have caught the final day of their Anniversary Specials--shame on us for taking a year to return to Ono-Ya Ramen. We'll be back, soon. read more