Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Sabal

    4.8 (42 reviews)
    InexpensiveJapanese, Noodles
    Closed 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    Sabal Photos

    Business Info

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Sabal

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Updated prices as of Aug. 2025
    Angelo Q.

    Finally tried this place for the first time. It was good, I got the rice bowl ($12) with chicken thigh and Korean spicy sauce. Also ordered the WonTons ($8). Will go back

    Sabal Noodle Bowl
    Joyce L.

    Another gem inside Topa building in downtown right next to Komala curry. Sabal offers very limited menu. If I read correctly, you can choose from three items. I chose the noodle bowl and that is dry noodle bowl with fresh made korean style vegetables and you get to choose a protein. Their noodles are from Sun noodle as stated. This is one man operation so there maybe a wait especially during peak lunch hour. If you're conscious about eating healthy lunch, this maybe an option for you for $10.

    Mika O.

    First time to Sabal did not disappoint! There's always food options in downtown, but Sabal is pretty affordable and fast for you lunch break. Located in Topa tower, it is right next to a nice eating spot with tables in AC! You can choose your carb - noodles, rice, or wontons and choice of meat. I love how easy but customizable the menu is. I opted for the noodles with pork and korean miso sauce. The bowl is topped with kimchi and pickled veggies and a soft onsen egg - the ultimate pairing! The portion size is good for the price and the meat is super tender! If you're looking for an easy lunch, stop by Sabal!

    Spicy garlic with pork
    Erica H.

    Delicious!!! I ordered the Sabal Noodle Bowl with spicy garlic chili oil and braised pork shoulder. The flavors were amazing! I saw this spot and just thought it would be typical Ramen, but it is so much more. It's inside of Topa and opens during lunch 11-2. Go check it out!

    Sabal rice bowl with pork shoulder! Yummy
    Jojo M.

    Sabal is a solid downtown lunch spot. Bowls from Sabal are really good and filling. The friendly owner/chef is a one man show cheffin' up protein bowls for lunch during the week on the ground floor of the Topa Financial Building right off Nimitz/Ala Moana Blvd. He has a very simple menu offering noodles, salad, or rice bowls w/ your choice of protein and mild or spicy sauce. He adds kimchee, pickled daikon, cucumbers, tempura flakes, and a poached egg. 1st visit I got my bowl w/ noodles, garlic shoyu, braised chicken thigh, and wontons. 2nd visit I got my bowl w/ noodles, spicy garlic shoyu, and pork shoulder. Now that I've tried all the proteins on the menu (excluding tofu), I highly recommend the wontons.

    Noodle bowl w/won tons
    Rhea A.

    Sabal is one of Downtown Honolulu's hidden gems. It's located in the Topa Tower, next to Komala Curry. It has been open for a few years now owned and managed by chef Jun. He's a one man show, and his food as he explained to me, is a fusion of Japanese and Korean cuisine. The concept is simple (noodle and rice bowls), but the flavor is anything but. You begin by choosing your starch: ramen style rice or noodles, then your protein: braised pork, beef, tofu, chicken, or won tons, then you complete the bowl with your sauce of choice: spicy garlic chili oil (most popular), spicy shoyu oil, or Korean spicy sauce. I've tried all three and all are tasty, but I prefer the spicy garlic chili oil. Each bowl comes with seasoned bean sprouts, kimchi, pickled daikon, green onion, and a perfectly poached egg. My go-to is the noodle bowl with won tons. The won tons are freshly made by Chef Jun himself and they are the perfect addition to the bowl. He has added kimchi to his menu, as well as hot sauce in 10-ounce containers. The lunch line can get long, but the wait is minimal. Unfortunately, when Covid hit, a lot of Downtown food establishments shut down, and with many still working remotely, the lunch crowds aren't what they used to be. However, I'd say that Sabal is here to stay. The bowls pack a flavorful punch, and I will continue to support Chef Jun and locally owned businesses.

    Sabal Noodle Bowl with pork and spicy garlic oil $9
    Nicole I.

    Now that their sauces have that oomph, I change my rating to 5 stars. Awesome service, awesome food, and decent price. $12 for a noodle bowl and I'm left full. I tried the spicy garlic oil again as well as the garlic shoyu and both were delicious.

    Pork noodle bowl with spicy sauce
    Gillian D.

    Sabal might be my new favorite lunch spot in downtown. Located in Topa tower right next to the seating area on the first floor. The menu is concise, but allows you to customize your bowl as you like. Choose from noodles or rice as a base, then a protein (braised pork, chicken, tofu, or wontons) and a sauce (spicy garlic, garlic shoyu, Korean spicy, or ssam miso). I decided on a noodle bowl with pork and spicy garlic chili oil. This meal honestly caught me off guard with how delicious it was. The pork is super tender, the sides are plentiful, and the chili oil ties everything together into a bowl of saucy goodness. The kimchi, cucumber, daikon and egg included were all great too. Mix it all together for maximum enjoyment. One of my favorite things about this spot is that it's so affordable. With lunch prices downtown going up, Sabal is definitely one of the cheaper options out there. I would gladly pay more though to support this small business as much as possible.

    Sabal Noodle Bowl with Braised pork belly
    Jeanette S.

    Week 2 of exploring downtown eats and I am glad I stopped at Sabal. The menu may not look like much but the options are definitely plentiful. I didn't know what to order so I listened to what the people ahead of me were ordering. Everyone in front of me ordered a noodle bowl, so guess what I ordered? I ordered the noodle bowl with braised, pork shoulder. OMG! It was so good. The flavors are on point. It came with the pork shoulder daikon, pickled cucumbers, kimchi, soft boiled egg, and tempura flakes, all the noodles were tossed in the garlic shoyu sauce that I wanted. The pickled veggies definitely paired well with the noodles and sauce. I must say that if was really filling as tasty for $9. Will definitely be back to try their other protein choices and sauces.

    Menu options
    Dathan C.

    Inner Monologue: You know we go to the same five restaurants over and over and over for lunch downtown, right? Super Inner Monologue: Why you gotta attack us like that? Not cool bro, not cool. Inner Monologue: I'm just saying that we could try something new for once. Rather than a musubi, poke bowl, burrito, hoagie, or Pad Thai ad infinitum. Super Inner Monologue: Fine. We'll try something new, but if we hate it, it's all on you Inner Monologue. Disney Singing Monologue: Stop fighting you two. Anyways (while putting on a skull mask), What's this? The bowls are lined with kimchee and pickled veggies, braised pork shoulder steaming, everything smells so happy, have I possibly gone daffy? What is this? Why, it's Sabal! Located in Topa towers, right past the Subway and Indian takeout place on the first floor, it's a relatively new rice and ramen bowl location selling wildly affordable yet filling lunches. The menu is extremely simple, offering just a few options. Sabal offers just three main choices of a ramen bowl, rice bowl, or a wonton bowl with protein choice of braised pork shoulder, boneless chicken thigh, tofu, or wontons for the bowls. The wonton bowl comes in pork or vegetarian options. Patrons then are offered four sauce choices of spicy garlic chili oil, garlic shoyu oil (soy sauce for you non-locals), Korean spicy sauce, or Ssam sauce which is Korean miso based. The takeout place is simple, clean, well lit, with a very personable and professional staff. Kimchee by the pound is available for sale as are soda and hot sauce. They share a communal dining area with the other vendors. Parking as always is a mess as it is downtown. I went with the braised pork over ramen with garlic shoyu. Presentation was very nice for takeout place, with pickled vegetables aligned in a pleasing manner, with a very soft-boiled egg in the middle along with tempura puffs for texture. The pork was tender, flavorful, with just the right amount of fat. Sabal gives quite a bit of meat, far more than I expected for a mere $9 including tax. The noodles had the right amount of chew and absorbed the garlic shoyu oil. Breaking the egg allowed for the barely cooked yolk to flavor the rest of the meal. The veggies were quite strongly pickled, but they needed to be to stand up to the pork. I'm not Korean, but the kimchee was solid. It did get a bit messy towards the end, but this is a solid contender for cheap eats downtown and I will be back for more.

    Sabal Noodle Bowl with Pork Wontons and pork toppings.
    Maki K.

    Recommend by office friend. Tried Sabal Noodle Bowl with Pork Wontons and pork toppings. Overall pretty good but I wish they use Korean spicy cold noodle (black noodle) and spicy sauce goes well with their toppings! Since they boiled noodle, sauce got watery and spicy sauce doesn't stick well on noodle.... Price is great! Only $9!! Eat in space is next to the store, pretty clean!!

    Noodle bowl
    Kira K.

    new place downstairs in my work building, so I had to try! I ended up getting a noodle bowl (they only have 3 options right now: noodle bowl, rice bowl, and wontons), and I opted to pay extra to get beef instead of the pork. The noodles were cooked well, and I enjoyed the egg and toppings, but I felt the dish needed something more to it.. perhaps a sauce of some sort? Also, although the beef was a small portion considering I had to pay extra, it still went well with the dish and all the toppings that came with it were good. Next time I look forward to trying the wontons. I also hope they bring brown rice as an option instead of white rice and noodles. :)

    Sabal noodle bowl with Japanese poached egg, wontons, and garlic shoyu oil.
    Sonia T.

    Stopped by Sabal with a friend who has raved about their noodles and was not disappointed! Tried the Sabal noodle bowl with Japanese poached egg, wontons, and garlic shoyu oil. The bowl was so delicious and really filling for the reasonable price point. Bowls are made to order and everything is fresh, yummy, and perfectly seasoned. Just thinking about these bowls is making me hungry again!! Customer service was also excellent, quick, and friendly. I will definitely be ordering from here again soon.

    Pork Wontons Sabal Noodle Bowl

    See all

    4 years ago

    Awesome! Delicious Korean/Japanese lunch spot in Topa Financial Center, great value for money. Love the noodle bowl with tofu or wontons.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 2 of 2

    Sabal Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Sabal

    What are business hours?

    I'm not sure of the exact hours but I do know Jun is usually serving between 11:30 and 1:30.

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Japanese 45,451 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    I-NABA - Uni, ikura and hotate don with zaru soba

    I-NABA

    4.4(797 reviews)
    1.9 mi
    $$

    TL;DR This might be…read moremy favorite Japanese restaurant in town. Undisputed soba champion. ----- I'm surprised I haven't written a review for i-naba yet. This place has been a staple for my family ever since we moved back to O'ahu a few years ago. Bottom line? The soba noodles here are utterly fantastic. They are, in my humble opinion, the best on the island, and some of the best soba noodles I've ever had. I don't think anywhere else in Honolulu comes close. You come here to eat soba. Period. In addition to the soba being phenomenal, the other offerings at i-naba are also similarly great. Their tempura in particular is outstanding. I typically order the Jumbo Shrimp Tempura Bowl & Soba or the Dx Tempura Bowl & Soba. Plus an upgrade to a large size soba! The tempura is sooo good. It's crispy, light, and airy. The jumbo shrimp is especially succulent and tender. And the ingredients are always perfectly seasoned with the sweet and savory house sauce. Yummmy! If you're looking for the best soba and awesome tempura, this is your spot!!!

    Everytime I asked my Japanese clients which Japanese restaurant they enjoyed most in Honolulu,…read moreInaba consistently came up. And now I know why. I finally had lunch here a couple weeks ago and damn was my tempura and soba set broke da mout. The soba is housemade with a chewy consistency that I love. I had it cold with the dipping sauce and wow wow wow. So good. My friends suggested I get the shrimp and vegetable tempura as well which amazingly stayed crispy the whole time I savored each bite. Probably 30 minutes. Light crisp batter on perfectly cooked shrimp and veggies. Damn it was good. The service was great as well and I cannot wait to go back. Nice warm atmosphere and there's a free parking lot. It gets busy during lunch and dinner, so get there early or make a reservation. Enjoy!

    Photos
    I-NABA
    I-NABA - Tempura Zaru soba with edamame rice

    Tempura Zaru soba with edamame rice

    I-NABA - Hana soba

    See all

    Hana soba

    Kaimuki Shokudo

    Kaimuki Shokudo

    4.2(445 reviews)
    4.4 miKaimuki
    $$

    Sunday April 19, 2026 first time, coming here at the 11th Ave. location…read more We were looking for a place for lunch after Planet Fitness Kahala and walking around the Diamond Head Triangle Park. Metered street parking or they have a paid private parking lot. As it was Sunday, we found a parking on Koko Head Avenue and walked there. We were seated right away at 2:30pm and they close at 3:30pm. Then dinner is at 5:00pm. Service was fast and friendly. We ordered right away. Food came out shortly after. It looked good and it tasted good too. The purple potato salad with the 2 sweet potato chips was different and really good! After lunch, we decided to order 2 Kirin beers and a bottle of Iichiko with green tea. We drank 1/3 of the bottle and decided to save the rest for the next time. We will be back again. Support local businesses.

    Great Japanese fusion restaurant with interesting dishes!…read more We ordered the quail eggs, corn, unagi ochazuke, blue cheese shishito peppers, and watercress salad. The peppers might not be everyone's cup of tea but it was certainly unique and interesting. The ochazuke was a favorite! Service was great and ambiance was cozy. Pretty busy on a Friday night. Although I miss their honey toast, I still love their new menu!

    Photos
    Kaimuki Shokudo - Just an opening 11/15/25. The restaurant was filled within minutes. Featuring Yelp Elite All Star Donna O.

    Just an opening 11/15/25. The restaurant was filled within minutes. Featuring Yelp Elite All Star Donna O.

    Kaimuki Shokudo - Chicken kaarage

    Chicken kaarage

    Kaimuki Shokudo - Their famous " Honey Toast"

    See all

    Their famous " Honey Toast"

    Rinka - Spicy ahi roll (not spicy)

    Rinka

    4.1(646 reviews)
    1.1 miKaka'ako
    $$

    This review is overdue, but I absolutely had to share it because I was so impressed with Rinka's…read moredinner menu! I used to think the dinner menu was a bit too expensive compared to the lunch menu, but after tonight..., I believe it was worth it. The variety of Dinner Sets were all sooo amazing! The portion sizes were awesome, and the flavors/freshness of the food were all outstanding. Did I mention how the portion sizes were amazing? Yup Everything tasted great..., and I really mean everything! It's hard to find a casual/semi-upscale Japanese restaurant like Rinka. Our server was very kind and helpful because it was our first time dining with Rinka during their Dinner service hours. I got to try a piece of the Bluefin Tuna Toro sashimi and it was WOW! WOW! WOW! Appetizers were fantastic as well! Great for sharing and tasting different items. This is a place I'd want to introduce to my friends and family for a great dining experience and a higher quality food selections. Very satisfied with our dinner service on this night!

    My friend and I had dinner at Rinka bc I had a $100 Resy benefit on my credit card. In addition, I…read morehave had good experiences with Resy restaurants. Positives: Our waitress Hailey was super nice; The food came out quickly; Clientele was all locals, including a fair number of J clients Negatives: The tables are tiny and the seats are low. The table was as wide as my body. We had a hard time squeezing the food on the table. One of the ladies that sat on the inside had to hang out quite a bit outside the width of the table bc she was too close to her friend; Secondarily, even a woman a foot shorter than me said the chairs were low (I'm 6'2"); None of the food had a wow factor and it seemed expensive. Our tab was $157 for four items inc 2 beers b4 tip; 3.5 Stars overall bc of the good service. I will likely not return bc of the small seats and just ok food.

    Photos
    Rinka - Inside seating

    Inside seating

    Rinka - Grilled unagi (deluxe)

    Grilled unagi (deluxe)

    Rinka - Beef sukiyaki

    See all

    Beef sukiyaki

    Sabal - japanese - Updated June 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...