My shortest review: ^________^ The real deal guys. True sushi. No rolls, no baby stuff, amazing quality and freshness. Great service and ambiance! read more

Finally a place with High Quality sushi w/o the high prices in Hilo!!Very friendly sushi chef..I had couple pieces Hamachi,Salmon,Toro,Scallop,Unagi,Salmon Skin Handroll and Tamago to finish it off! All the fishes were melt in your mouth super fresh !! Left very sastified and definetly my favorite place to go to now for sushi!!Sushi bar sits only 8 people and reservations are highly recommended or youll most likely wont get in...Happy i dont have to drive to waikoloa now for good sushi read more

Takenoko Sushi - Sake/Toro/Hamachi - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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The very best! Although not big in size, with just seating for ten at the counter, Takenoko Sushi is big on freshness, flavor and service. Fresh seafood is the way. I enjoyed every thing, from the chawan mushi, the seafood salad, and of course the sushi. The toro, Iwashi, katsuo, and hirame melted in your mouth. The mentaiko and uni burst with flavor. The mirugai, ika and hotate were crunchy with fresh flavors of ginger and yuzu. I can't wait for our next visit, it's definitely worth the wait. read more

Hands down, best sushi on the island. The omakase (chef's choice) was incredible. Raw oyster sushi was better than sex. Toro (fatty tuna) was excellent, and the uni (sea urchin) was delicious, better than most top sushi places I've been to on mainland. Well worth the money to come here. The fish is flown in from Japan every week. Book a week in advance to get a seat in this small establishment. I've updated my review from 5 to 4 stars only because I've found throughout the last couple of years, that the omakase is not consistently top notch. But still very good! read more

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE! If you cant afford to fly to japan, dropping a few hundreds here is a close second! Massive slices of fish in the nigiri that leave beautiful oil slicks in your shoyu. High quality rice, great service, so glad my friends convinced me to go. read more

Takenoko Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Absolutely fabulous place to eat... Staff is super friendly, helpful and attentive. Ingredients are of the best quality. All items are made with attention to detail. You have to bring your own alcohol beverages, but not a problem. They will open and provide glassware. Must have the Green Tea Cheesecake! Seats 8 or 9 at most. Reservations were 2 weeks out, so call in advance to reserve. Lunch and dinner seatings at 5pm, 7pm and 9pm for dinner, not sure about lunch think it's 11am or 1pm read more

- Fresh sushi (I recommend the Uni, Scallops, Sweet Shrimp/Ebi, Fatty Tuna roll, King Crab) - I didn't like their Abalone (it was rather crunchy and rough) and Aji (really too fishy for me) - I tried their vanilla ice cream with hand-grated wasabi (good to share) - 8 people sitting (Make reservations in advance) - Friendly chef and staff - Overall, and excellent experience for a fair price. read more

$$$ Best toro (flown in from Japan) and chirashi is bang for your buck. read more

EPIC EPIC EPIC SUSHI!!! Authentic Japanese sushi with the freshest selections of seafood. If you can't afford to go to Japan then don't worry about it just CALL ahead of time and make your reservations because being the best sushi place in the whole state of Hawaii is gonna have a waiting list that's like 3-12 Months long so my suggestion take any day that's available cause it's so worth it!!! You know your in a real deal sushi establishment when they use real wasabi that he grinds on a bamboo paddle with a shark skin stretched over it and that's only the wasabi wait till you see him take his many years or craftsmanship and time to create your special lunch or dinner everything is done with such care and attention My next visit I think I'll just tell him to make me anything he like cause everything is just perfect and explosives to the taste buds. 5 stars is a major understatement for this 5 diamond restaurant read more

Just moved back to Hilo after living in Miami for nearly 10 years. The sushi was much better than any I've had in the mainland and maybe even better than the sushi in Japan. The sushi chef was super nice and the experience was all together, fun and ranks among my favorite restaurant experiences ever. The fish was melt-in-your-mouth fresh. Heads up - you need to make reservations well in advance. (I got lucky my sister made reservations about 6 months ago.) Also, they don't serve alcohol but you are welcome to bring your own. read more

Ate here one time because my Aunty had a reservation and invited me to try it out with her. I enjoyed it here. The sushi is fresh and delicious. You pay for what your getting. So glad I got to try it out at least one time, speaking of I should call them to make a reservation for next year. Haha. read more

Doh!!! First 1-star rating for Takenoko! Oooh, an opportunity for a pro-tip: Call and make a reservation in advance and all your worries go away. If you do this, then you can experience what everyone yelping on this restaurant has praised over and over again...Takenoko has the best sushi, the freshest fish, and sushi you can't find anywhere else on the island. Also, I've called on the same day, at around 4pm, on 3 occasions and asked "did anyone cancel their reservations today?" and I was accommodated 2 of 3 times, and we ate through almost his entire menu, which we thoroughly enjoyed to the very last bite. Maybe I'm just a lucky guy. read more

Don't waste your time if you don't have a rez. Don't even think you're going to get take out either. There may be only 2 ppl in this place at 7pm on a Monday night, but you will NOT get served. Patronize a place that can serve more than 8 ppl at one time...that's not this restaurant. read more

WOW...as of today 8/28/15...they are booked more than 3 months in advanced for dinner! Holy baloney. Dang you YELP for making people find this place and impossible to eat at! I so want to give THAT a one star but I cannot tell a lie, you're still yummy. read more

A friend brought us here. Let me say.....it is sooooooo ono. The sashimi is the best. Melts in the mouth. When we left, I ordered the Chirashi bowl to go (x2) and took it home to Honolulu. Well worth it!!! We sat at the counter watching Chef Igarashi. He was quiet but friendly. The service was great and well, you already know what I think about the food. Enjoy. Aloha. read more

I never do reviews, but felt compelled to after I read a bad review. I have a standing reservation hear for lunch on Thursdays for lunch,and Friday's for dinner. It's the best sushi you will have outside of visiting Japan, and I have been there many times. If you can get a reservation don't hesitate! read more

This is by far the best sushi place I have been to in my life. The fish is so fresh. You can taste the quality of the ingredients. Even the wasabi is grated fresh on an authentic shark skin grater. I always order Omikase (chefs choice). Tip: They do not serve rolls here, strictly Nigiri style sushi. This is a little spot with seating for only about 10 people. They are open for lunch and dinner. Be warned: this place is sooo good they are booked out 1 year in advance. Yup you heard me...1 year and it is that good! It is also quite pricey. Stop in even though you dont have a RSVP, you never know, you may be lucky and get in. My favorite place to eat in Hawai'i. I drive 2 hours to get here and its worth every minute. read more

This sushi place is located in a market place and it is a little hard to find. Overall, it's a nice small sushi place, you order from the bar and see the sushi chef (?) make the sushi in front of you. He was very nice and makes good tasting sushi. And you must try the fresh wasabi on vanilla ice cream! It taste very weird but in a good way. Once you eat it for a while you started to think that eating the ice cream alone is weird! read more

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Omg. So rude and such liars. Called for reservations today and was told they were completely booked for the rest of the year. I'm sure they are not booked for the entire year. Funny they always have empty tables. RUDE!!!! read more

It's not even up for debate, this place is the best place for sushi on the Big Island!

Almost forgot I had a reservation here, so I had to fly into Hilo and leave the Ferrari at home. Here's a secret, the best sushi bar in Hawaii is in sleepy Hilo. But be forewarned, you absolutely need an advance reservation for this tiny 10 seat sushi bar. Watched over a dozen people turned away at lunch today. Make a reservation! Next available one, how about in about 2 months? So this means if you are touring Hilo for a day, forgetaboutit! Pricey, but you get what you pay for. Near perfect sushi, no crowd, personal attention. Bring the Amer Express card for this place, you will need it, but it is worth the wait. Aloha, MPI read more

The sushi at Takenoko is some of the best that I have eaten. The sushi is expertly prepared and presented. Much of the fish is from Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. The Toro is melt in your mouth delicious. The broiled giant clam appetizer was tender and deliciously sweet. The kabayaki appetizer was large and delicious with a light coating of sweetened soy sauce. The ankimo was exquisite and had a light bright taste with the citric ponzu sauce. My wife had the chirashi. It contained very bright clean fresh looking variety of seafood. I had the omakase. I was served a representative variety of fresh seafood sushi. All sushi were nice thick slices with a small amount of sushi rice. This allows you to taste the seafood. The sushi rice had the right amount of tsu flavoring so that you can taste the high quality of rice used. Fresh wasabi grated on a shark skin grater is served with your sushi. There is no comparison of fresh grated wasabi with the reconstituted wasabi powder provided at most sushi restaurants. To me the fresh wasabi is less pungent with a slightly sweet after taste and perfectly compliments the raw delicate seafood. Once you have tried fresh grated wasabi with your sushi you will know what I am trying to say. I do not rate sushi restaurants like a race: first second third etc. I group them in tiers. Takenoko sushi is right up there in the top tier. In my opinion it is as good as you can get in Hawaii. For the quality of sushi that you get the prices are much lower at Takenoko than comparable sushi restaurants. The owner and his wife are very friendly and provide efficient attentive service. My wife was very impressed by the very clean nicely appointed bathroom. When ever I am on the big island even from the Kona side I will make it a point to visit Takenoko Sushi. Reservations are recommended. Also no alcoholic beverages are served but you can byob. read more

By pure good luck, we got a reservation 24 hrs in advance. The fish is worlds above other sushi we've tried, and we eat a lot of sushi! Some are so fresh that they taste like different fish (uni). Some are too exotic for anywhere else to have (mantis shrimp). The greatest distinction, though, is traditionally ground, fresh, pure wasabi. Friendly staff and a kind, very talented chef made this a perfect experience. read more

For the price, you will most likely never find this type of omakase experience again. I dream of going back to partake in this ceremonial sushi-ya. read more

The sushis and the Avocado crab and scallop dish were very good, however, the sushi chef should be a bit more friendly. We walked in and chef and two workers just looked at us... Never said HI, Good Morning, nor the traditional Japanese greeting: "Irashaimase". Felt quite uncomfortable at first because there was just silence! Being there is a huge demand at this restaurant (dinner reservation full till June 2017!), I hope they remember their humble beginning... read more

Best sushi I've ever had in Hawaii bar none and is right on par with Japan. I was not a big sushi fan but I am now that I know how good it can really be and that I don't have to travel all the way to Japan to get the real thing. The unagi nigiri and negitoro maki were my favorite. The wasabi and ginger were fresh and complimented the meal perfectly. I'm very ecstatic to have found this place and will frequent it often. Make reservations to dine in! There are only 8 seats available. Take out orders are only prepared before they actually open since they are too busy during business hours with the dine in patrons. read more

The best sushi in United States! Fish, wasabi, rice, almost everything import from Japan directory. Amazing!

What? No California Rolls???? Yep, This is real Japanese sushi, not the western version. If you watched the movie "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" you will catch glimpses of the same dedication and detail to quality. There is only one sushi shokunin (traditional sushi chef) behind the counter, and in order to provide the best service possible, there is limited seating. If you walk in without a reservation, you might think a table is open or there are open seats at the sushi counter, and get upset when the staff says they are full. The reason is simple; they carefully schedule the seating times to try and make sure the chef does not have to rush in preparing the orders. Definitely make reservations, and enjoy the experience. Appreciate the sushi chef's devotion to his craft, the precision of his movements, the sharpness of his knife, and his attention to detail. Everything from the tea to the wasabi to the taste and texture of the rice are several cuts above!!! read more

We went there on Sunday night. The food was very good. Toro, salmon w/ikura, and hirame were excellent. FYI, a sign on the door said they are booked for lunch and dinner for the coming year. read more

Best sushi on the island and it's not even close. No stupid rainbow rolls or anything like that. Just REAL nigiri sushi made with the freshest and best quality seafood you can find on the island. I could go on and on but what's the point? If you want to experience the best sushi on the island just make a reservation, wait, wait, wait, and enjoy the experience when your lucky day finally rolls around. It's all well worth it. read more

There's little that excites me more than finding a miracle sushi spot. This is just that. Owner and head chef, Mitsuru Igarashi gets his fish from Tokyo and it was evident from the moment I sat down that I was in for a ride. The Omakase, something I normally stay away from was straightforward, here's the beef kind of experience. Then I looked at the specials. Wow. I've been eating sushi for over 25 years. It's a great meal when I get to have a kind of fish or dish that I've never had before. At Takenoko, I had four different dishes/fish choices that I'd never had before. Not one, or two. FOUR! The mantis shrimp, (Shako) something I'd never even imagined would be on my plate, was divine. A cross between shrimp and lobster. Unique in every way. Torigai, cockle clam, might even be better than than hokigai, which is one my favorites. Mitsuru then asked if I'd like "something special". Uh, yeah. It was the muscle of the Hirame, the flounder, flamed and roasted with an Unagi-type sauce. Damn. How about Tsubugai? Never heard of that either. A type of clam that might have been better than the Mirugai I had earlier. I could hardly be happier. A small, no, TINY place that demands advance reservations, that is worth every bit of extra from you, the consumer. Oh, and that was just lunch! I can't wait to go there for dinner. read more

This is my go too spot, when I want to appreciate culture, great sushi chef & and a family feel. I've been there a number of times, and have two more reservation on the books. read more

The best sushi in Hawaii and it's not even close. They only seat 8 people at a time, but have seating for 10. You can get takeout but have to order a day in advance. The quality of the fish is incredible. This place is booked about 8 months out for dinner and close to 5 for lunch. It's worth it. I just wish they had one on Oahu. A must have for sushi lovers. Book early if you want a chance to eat here. Very impressed with the quality and flavors. Went in August 2015 and already booked a reservation for April 2016 because that was the next availability. I can't wait to come back. read more

All I can say is WOW! I am a "fish snob". I've worked in the fish business since I was little and have owned and operated numerous retail and wholesale fish businesses. I am an avid fisherman, spear fisherman and seafood connoisseur. I know seafood and am extremely particular and critical of the seafood I eat, buy and look at out in the marketplace for sale to the public. One of my favorite hobbies is going to sushi bars all over the islands, the country and abroad. I heard about this little gem from a family member and had to wait more than 1 month to get a reservation. I was very intrigued by his business model. Super high quality seafood, attention to detail, exquisite preparation and presentation, excellent service, yet, extremely limited seating and only 3 set dining times. All I can say is WOW! This is by far, one of the best sushi bars I have ever been to. He has the freshest seafood, many items flown in from Japan and such an attention to detail and quality. He also uses only the finest rice. This is something only high end sushi bars pay attention to (perhaps with the exception of sushi bars in Japan). I could go on and on but it's late and I really don't want to to promote this little gem too much so as to make getting future reservations for me harder and harder to get because you all want to check it out. *LOL* Check it out. It's definitely worth the wait. If you want to impress someone special, this is the place to do it! Plus, it's BYOB! It doesn't get better than that, trust me! p.s. Please make sure to give Chef a beer from your cooler for all his hard work! Aloha, Len read more

updated: make reservations a year in advance. if you're really lucky or have really nice friends, they might just invite you along or give one of their standing reservations to you. if you really really want to go i would suggest asking to put your name on a waiting list in case there are cancellations. if not, best of luck getting in. it's THAT good and worth the wait. read more

Lucked out and got in for dinner. Usually need reservations several weeks in advance. Dinner was awesome as usual. Fish is incredibly fresh. Service is always great. Chef is very attentive. Omakase is a safe bet. Don't usually like uni but would eat his again. So many great sushi choices! read more

if the five plus plus plus stars dont get you, then somethings wrong w/you fresh, fresh, fresh... hilo is so damn limited. but wen u come here it's kinna like ur not in hilo... hard to explain. right out the best sushi shop on this ISLAND!!!!! was worth the drive. read more

Awesome great quality Japanese sushi! Very friendly staff and comforting atmosphere! read more

Takenoko Sushi - Spicy Poke Salad. Winnahs! - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Awesome sushi!! Everything fresh. Wasabi on ice cream was fantastic! Food is 5stars. The atmosphere and lack of restrooms inside are rating droppers. Based on prices I expected more in atmosphere. read more

I have never eaten here at this restaurant because I can never get a spot. Every time you call, there is no openings. They are open for lunch and dinner but I called and there are no openings for two years! I peeked inside and there is only a few seats so how is someone supposed to eat here? Yelp, you need to remove this joint from your list because how can anyone review it if you can never get in to taste the food? read more