We got the Tanaka Saimin. It's not good. I don't know how else to describe it. The broth is ok. The noodles are chewy. The sides are huge. But it's just not good. The broth is veers a little too fishy and the pork slices are weirdly sized and way too sweet. The flavors just all seemed like they don't belong together. Service is slow but very friendly. I wouldn't pick this place if this is your first exposure to saimin. There are better. read more

The restaurant was relatively packed, and that's a good sign on a Thursday night. The rain was coming down outside, and the trade winds were strong. I started to have some sniffles, and knew that I needed some warm comfort food. The reason why I gave this place two stars is because of the meal I ordered. I have just never ate something that almost made me throw up. The waitress was really sweet. I ordered the beef stew entree with a side of mashed potatoes and salad. Before she left, I asked if the stew was made daily, and she informed me that it was. About ten minutes later, the food was placed in front of me on a tray. The stew had an odd orange brown color. But, I don't judge a book by its cover right;). I then dug into the beef and it was hard. I ended up using a sharp knife to cut it. I put it in my mouth, and I almost gagged. The flavor was underwhelming, and the meat was terrible. There was thick coats of fat on the others, and the meat was no where near tender. The carrots and potatoes in the sauce was dry and hard, as if it had been sitting in a pot for days. I no longer had an appetite. The mashed potatoes were aged as well. It hurts me to write this experience. But, she did take the meal off the tab. It might be a while before I give this place another chance..... I'll stick with saimin next time!! read more

Tanaka Saimin - Beef stew with a side salad and mashed potatoes - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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"Ring..ring...It's okay that your soup tastes like my home made... I'm watching you soup people." - "Forgiveness by GrandMa" Progresso Soup commercial. We're into round two of our Bone Broth crazed search. As my borrowed quote suggests, the oxtail soup at Tanaka's Saimin tastes as good as my home made experiences. Oddly, another Chinese friend recommended this restaurant because her mother "swears by" the long, slow-cooked flavors and the quality and quantity of the ingredients. We were surprised to hear her recommendation as we have eaten at this restaurant before but to us, it was only known as the former Dillingham Saimin. It has been years since our first dine here but we were truly surprised and impressed by the upgraded menu. The restaurant space is quite large, bright and clean. When we entered, we were immediately greeted by a hostess who quickly pointed us to the direction of our already waiting friends. Our waitress, Julie, had previously set out place settings and menus. She quickly took our beverage orders and informed us of their "Early Bird" discount...20% off your entire bill if you order before 5:30PM. We joked about how old folks eat so early and that this discount entices the oldies (like us). Although, it's just a great deal and not age-related. We all ordered the oxtail soup. Julie informed us of the different options available such as additional condiments: Chinese parsley, green onions, or chopped ginger. Each oxtail soup meal comes with rice (white or brown) or saimin (Hawaiian version of ramen), a bowl of konbu Sanbai Zuke (Japanese pickled seaweed) and finely chopped fresh ginger. All for the price of $14.75. We chose saimin instead of rice while the rest of the folks at our table ordered rice. When our steaming hot bowls of soup arrived, I was truly impressed by the quantity..the bowl was huge and deep! The beefy aroma from the soup stock was rich and redolent as home made. Its stock was perfectly seasoned and so full of beef and mild vegetable flavor that I could have just drank this "elixir". While digging into the bowl (trying to not to look like I was playing with my food), there were lots of oxtails (I had 5 good-sized pieces in mine), skinless peanuts, shiitake mushrooms, long rice, mustard cabbage and topped with fresh chopped green onions and Chinese parsley (cilantro). The basic soup flavors made me have flashbacks of my younger years but there were the condiment differences that made this meal show its Japanese roots. It was absolutely delicious, comforting and filling! Geez, it was a warm and fuzzy moment for us. When we finished our meals, Julie, returned to tempt us with Tanaka's home made desserts. They feature home made banana cream pie, passion fruit (lilikoi) pie and cheese cake, Tempura-fried ice cream and...STOP! We settled on sharing slices of passion fruit pie and cheese cake! The desserts were light and airy and were a welcome sweet treat from the humongous bowls of oxtail soup. I have to admit, round 2 of our oxtail soup search has gotten me closer to the home made flavor and memories of my youth. Julie, our waitress, was really "on the ball" with her efficient service (beverage refills, delivering the food hot from the kitchen and clearing the table) and descriptions of the food. We received top-notch service, flavor and value! We'll certainly be back...REAL soon! read more

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I've been here twice, and despite the name of the restaurant, I have never eaten the saimin. On my first visit, I only had a piece of lilikoi chiffon pie and a cup of coffee. Man, that lilikoi pie is good. It's light and slightly sweet with a tiny bit of tartness. Add some cool whip and chopped macadamia nuts on top, and oh boy! We got a winner! My dining partner had the banana cream pie, and that looked good too. On my most recent visit, I had the oxtail soup. The portion is large, and you can order it with rice or with saimin noodles in it. I had mine with white rice. I forgot to ask for it without parsley because I hate it, but for those who like it, they give alot. They serve it with a large scoop of rice, and the soup is served in a big bowl with about 4-5 oxtails. The other thing I noticed is that aside from bok choy, peanuts, and the yucky parsley, they also put long rice in it. Interesting. I've never had oxtail soup with long rice in it before, but it was good. The soup was flavorful and the oxtails were meaty. Parking during peak times or on the weekends can be a beast to deal with, so be patient as you may need to circle the building once or twice. read more

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When in town this is where me and the hubby stop in for lunch the Tanaka special is our fav! Rice, crispy shoyu chicken,shrimp tempura and fried saimin! Hands down kanak attack!!! read more

This place is alwaiz the place to go besides others like this one. Love the staff also and can't complain about food portions shaloha

First time here and I always said if I do come here its to try out the Oxtail Soup. I ordered it with the saimin instead of rice. It came with grated ginger and some pickled seaweed. The Oxtail nice and hot and was definitely fall off the bone action and soft as well. The saimin was was a new twist from regular rice but was ono. Hidden on the bottom was some long rice noodles too. The broth was just fine. No need to add anything to it. We arrived a little after 10:00 am and was seated quickly. Not much people there yet either but it did slowly start to fill. Waited about 10-15 minutes tops for our order to arrive. Customer service was very friendly and not overly attentive which to me is kinda irritating. One thing I like about this place is the booth seating. It gives you more of a sense of privacy opposed to chairs and tables. Get here early before 10:30 am to receive your 20% off your tab!! read more

Tanaka Saimin - Oxtail Soup w/Saimin. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

My last review of "Tanaks" was about what I thought was an amazing Saimin Burger. Thankfully, stumping the many scathing reviews of this place by other Yelpers, we also had an EXCELLENT experience with their other dishes and overall service as well on a recent visit. Amongst our group of 5, we shared their massive Vegetable Tempura Platter, which included white mushrooms, string beans, sliced zucchini, sweet potato and onions rings deep-fried in local style tempura batter, served with Tempura dipping sauce for $13.95. I swear the local take on Tempura is so funny. It's more like a Hush Puppy or Corn Dog batter, sans the corn meal, being, thick, glutenous and airy. It was seasoned with just the right amount of salt, not greasy at all, while the veggies inside were buttery-tender. The Tempura dipping sauce was full-flavored and really kicked up the flavor, where overall, it was definitely a winner app'. For entrees, one order was the Korea Moco for $11.50. An obvious twist on the Loco Moco, in this case the Korea Moco being Kim Chee Fried Rice topped with 2 eggs cooked your way, Kal Bi, Fried Mandoo and Korean dipping Sauce. I swear, just the Kim Chee Fried rice alone and I would've been a happy camper, as it was that good. The guy who ordered it overall gave the Korea Moco a big thumbs-up, saying everything matched well and tasted great. I tried a little of the Fried Mandoo, and can attest to that, as it tasted as good as any I've had from a Korean restaurant. So there you go. Another order was the Tanaka Mix Plate $11.95, being choice of two meats, in this case Teriyaki Pork and Yakitori Chicken, served with a massive helping of Tanaka's Fried Saimin. The person who ordered it gave the two meats a big thumbs-up for char-grilled flavor and tenderness. I tried the Fried Saimin, and thought it was "OK", but no way can it touch the best Fried Saimin on the island over at Sato's in WaipaHOO. Still, FWIW, she go. Another order was the Deluxe Burger and Saimin combo for $10.95, a saimin house classic. I got a taste of the Saimin broth, and am happy to report it was SPOT-ON and very good. Full-bodied with a deep shrimp-based flavor profile and well seasoned, not being bland at all, unlike my last experience with the saimin "broth" served with my Saimin Burger, which tasted more like shrimp water than broth. This actually tasted like a true 100% Saimin broth. Not 20%, not 50%, but 100%. Good job Tanaka's, you finally listened to us Yelpers and fixed it! The deluxe burger was also said to be "tasty and juicy"... 'nough said! A side of crinkle-cut fries was ordered along with that for $3.50, which as back-to-basics as it seems, was cooked and salted perfectly, and I LOVE these fries, as it has such a nostalgia about them, where you know you're in a diner, not a haute burger joint. Dig that! Finally, two of our orders were the same, being the Miso Butterfish, which for $14.95, includes Miso Soup, Konbu Sanbaizuke (tsukemono) and rice (white or brown). Dude, all I can say is, if you're in doubt what to order here, and you like fish, ORDER THE MISO BUTTERFISH. OMG, it ROCKS! Then again, that shouldn't be surprising, as it's pretty hard to eff-up butterfish. So buttery flaky tender, where they pan-sear it to give just a slightly brown crust, and put just enough misoyaki sauce to flavor the naturally delicious butterfish without drowning out its flavor. For the Miso Butterfish dish alone, I give Tanaka's 7 Yelp stars, it's THAT oishii! And for the SUPERB Miso Butterfish dish alone, along with the hugely improved Saimin broth, I'm giving "Tanaks" 5 Yelp stars. Woot-woot! Further warranting that rating, our service was friendly and quick, where during our peak lunch hour visit with a full house (almost every seat was taken), all our orders arrived at the table within 10-15 minutes, and every dish was cooked perfectly, with nothing prepared incorrectly or having to be sent back. Water and other drinks were kept topped throughout, and of course the restaurant itself is very nice (still very new) and clean. Summing it up, on this visit, I'd say Tanaka Saimin has finally arrived and highly recommended! read more

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I've been wanting to jump on the ramen burger craze for quite some time but didn't feel like waiting a gazillion years in line. When I heard Tanaka Saimin had a saimin burger, a couple of friends and I decided to give it a try. Though technically it's not a ramen burger since it's made out of saimin, I figured at least I'd get the concept and see what all the hype was about. The restaurant is a lot bigger than I thought. Open with lots of seating and well lit. It's more like a diner than a saimin place. Seemed to be popular with a steady stream of people walking in during the time we were there. Our waiter was friendly and not very attentive. I asked him about the samin burger and he said about 50% of diners liked it. I asked him if they "liked" or "loved" it. He gave it some thought and said "like". Lol! Way to sell me on a burger, but hey, at least he was honest. Still I wanted to try it, after all, that's the only reason I was there. The burger was meh. The saimin noodles that make up the bun wasn't crunchy, instead it was soft and chewy. I fully expected to bite into it and experience a crunch or at least have some crunch to it. It did not. The burger was moist which made the noodles more soggier and the watercress didn't help either. I couldn't hold it and eat it like a burger, because the noodles just fell apart. It was a soggy mess. I had to cut it up and eat it in pieces. Oh and it doesn't come with fries, you'll have to side order some. The burger had a teriyaki like sauce on it. It really wasn't your normal teriyaki sauce. It had a weird after taste like bamboo shoots. Oh! Duh! Ramen usually has bamboo shoots in the broth so maybe they put it in the sauce to simulate ramen? Anywho, the watercress was too bitter and the American cheese didn't hold the burger together. I didn't care for it. It might've been better if they deep fried the noodles instead of pan fried. One friend order the udon and didn't like the broth. We all tried it and couldn't figure out what the lingering after taste was. So like contestants on Hell's Kitchen blind taste test, all of us were trying to figure out what the hidden ingredient was. I won! Figuring out it was bamboo shoots. I could be wrong but as soon as I said bamboo, everyone agreed. Maybe they were just humoring me lol. Though I didn't enjoy the burger, I might be back to try something else on the menu. To be honest I barely glanced at the menu since I already knew what I was going to eat. Somethings I noticed: though it's a pretty big place, it must get busy since they have chairs lined up for people who are waiting for an open table and they have a sign in sheet. When we walked in even though there were open tables, the guy at the front pointed to a clip board and told us to sign in. We did. The guy glanced at the sheet and said table for 3 and walked us to a table. The same guy who told us to sign in and seated us, called my name about 5 mins later. It was kind of funny. He called my name about 2 times before I raised my hand from the dining area and said, "here!" p.s. Yea I know I uploaded pictures of the menu on here but hey, I just took the pics without really looking at the menu. Yes, I'm a dork, lol. read more

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Here was one place I was not excited to take pictures of my food....and how rare is that for a Yelper? I would have been happier if I followed that opening statement with...."but the food is awesome!". Unfortunately, its taste matched its drear appearance. Prior to my most recent visit, I've had the saimin here. Obviously it was nothing to be excited about (else I would have revisited), but it wasn't terrible either....(although really, you can't screw up saimin that bad). Most recently, I came for a company happy hour, so I got to try a huge array of dishes and pupus served up by Tanaka Saimin: an assortment of tempura, steak, fried saimin, inari sushi, edamame, teri chicken, etc. Props on the variety! Boo on the food. Everything that came out just looked.....blah; very dull and not very appetizing. Maybe the colors weren't vibrant enough, maybe plating could have been nicer, or maybe it was the fact that the ingredients just didn't look fresh? Either way, BOTTOM LINE: very lackluster food. Would you like to see some pics? (I really wasn't into it after a while so stopped after only taking a few photos) Edamame - http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tanaka-saimin-honolulu?select=_kl1qwGNEtvT9jPzlA4d_A#JeF4_V1do_JfLMF8U8O9zQ Steak with onions and mushrooms - http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tanaka-saimin-honolulu?select=_kl1qwGNEtvT9jPzlA4d_A#_kl1qwGNEtvT9jPzlA4d_A Fried saimin and teri chicken - http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tanaka-saimin-honolulu?select=_kl1qwGNEtvT9jPzlA4d_A#bOWYZVWmvXpUsx3aLHcwHA I wish I had taken a picture of the tempura platter. The batter was sooo doughy and so thick that I almost felt like I was eating a malasada filled with vegetables. Parking can be difficult, since it's in the same complex as Party City, La Tour, and a bunch of other restaurants. I think it was confirmed that you can overflow park in the Lowes parking lot though? Might want to check on that... I was very surprised to learn they serve bottled beers and some wines. They even have a happy hour until 5:30pm with pretty good deals on some of the beers. read more

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Less than $13 for the Tanaka Saimin. The teri beef was tasty and tender; shrimp tempura onos; mac/potato salad thumbs up; and saimin was onos. Will be going back. Went back twice today (3/25/17), for breakfast and dinner. The eggs benedict is mean. Most tasty hollaindais (sp?) eva! read more

Tanaka Saimin - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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TEMPURA ICE CREAM!!! I think they make the best fried ice cream on Oahu. It's not true tempura batter because it's thicker but it's not as thick as andagi-style batter like Mexico Restaurant and Uncle Bo's. Tanaka Saimin's tempura ice cream is rolled in cinnamon sugar and drizzled with honey. This is a perfect balance because it's not too heavy or sweet. Every place else cover theirs with whipped cream and chocolate syrup, no bueno. $5.95 or an extra $.95 if you get the combo with their plates. Anyway....on to some real food! It's just okay. I've only ordered their won ton min and hamburger combo. Soup base is tasty and noodles are cooked perfectly chewy. Meets my criteria for a decent noodle soup. BBQ sticks are nothing too special...typical BBQ meat. French fries.... ...whatever...I'm getting distracted with this review because the tempura ice cream is the only thing on my mind!!! Come here just for dessert or power through mediocre food just to make it to dessert because their fried ice cream is worth it! Trust. Service has always been quick and friendly so no complaints there... Tempura ice cream. read more

Not sure why they only have an average rating of 3 stars. My Hubs and I love this place. Only downside is waiting for parking sometimes but usually clears out fast. Service is good and we love all the local comfort food. My fave is the Crispy Shoyu Chicken. I always get the mix plate where you can pick 2 choices so it usually is just the dilemma of deciding what I want to eat with my Crispy Shoyu Chicken. Hubs loves the saimin with all the fixings. Can't beat that side of teri meat, shrimp tempura & mac salad. Reasonably priced as well and restaurant is always clean. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Tanaka Saimin Special & Tanaka Mix Plate with Crispy Shoyu Chicken & Beef Stew. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

If I could give 0 sta........... Nah I wont go there! The blackout brought us to Lowe's to get away from the darkness, crazy traffic in Kahala and to get some flashlights. Thats where my wife said oh look Tanaka Saimin! I knew the reputation of this place, but against my better judgment and Yelp's reviews (plus I was starving), we ate there. After eating Marukame 2x and Inaba over the weekend, this was a big mistake and a very bad way to start off the week. This place is terrible. The saimin noodles are weird, thin and soft. The soup is fishy and bland. The hamburger is big, with no taste, no lettuce and a plop of relish. Why is this place so crowded. BELIEVE THE REVIEWS! read more

This restaurant is located in the middle of Kalihi. The parking is a hit or miss depending on the time of day that you go. I personally have always known it to be crowded though. When I walked in, my first impression was that it was nice and spacious. Lots of booths and tables, lighting was nice, furniture was new, and over all the place looked clean. My bf and I were told it was about a 10 minute wait if we wanted a booth or we could sit right away at the counter. Me being pregnant and hungry, wanted to be sat right away so the counter it was. We sat there for a good 8-10 minutes before anyone came to help us. Strike one. As we sat there we browsed the menu. The menu is very extensive with a lot of variety. I went there to try the saimin burger, but got distracted looking at the tempura platter. When we were finally helped, I asked if they had shredded dikon for me to have with the tempura. The lady said no and had no idea what that was. My thought:...isn't this a Japanese restaurant??? It is called TANAKA SAIMIN! Strike 2! I ended up getting the tanaka saimin special. It came with won ton min, Teri beef, Mac salad, and a shrimp tempura and my bf got the saimin burger. The food came pretty quickly. They placed the saimin in front of me. "What is that nasty fish smell?," was the first thing I thought when I got it. It seriously smelt so fishy!...like dried shrimp or cuttle fish to be exact. The smell was so strong and made me so nauseous! I tasted the saimin, and all i could think was that this was "haolified" food! I looked at the Teri beef, and it was legit. It even tasted good and had a nice little extra Teri sauce to top it off. The "shrimp tempura" was not tempura at all. It was battered fish served with tartar sauce! Gross! You cannot say its tempura and serve It with tartar sauce! Strike 3! My boyfriend enjoyed his saimin burger and said he'd order it again after trying other dishes there. I'm giving this place one star because there were 3 strikes. MAYBE I'll go back and try other things. Overall, this place isn't Asian at all. It's very Americanized or "haole-fied" and if you want legit saimin, don't go there. Zippys is more Asian than this place and the hype for this place is too much. Tone it down people. It isn't that great. read more

Always great food, never disappointed. Hardest part is always deciding what to eat as everything is always so delicious. And their take out is not to be dismissed as they separate the soup and noodles/ingredients so that the Saimin tastes just as if you were eating there! read more

Last night we went there for dinner and the waitress Claudia had no customer service. I ordered the butterfish and it wasn't fully cook. Didn't want to bother letting our waitress know since she didn't have great service. I'm all about supporting locals but having second thoughts on this place. Not worth giving one star either. read more

Came here for the saimin burger, left completely umimpressed. So I've seen all the craze for the saimin burger on the internet, and when I saw a blurb about the saimin burger being at Tanaka Saimin, I knew I needed to give it a try. I had never been before, so I made it my mission to stop here and try it out. Parking here is an utter nightmare. The lot is confusing, and there are many stalls blocked off or reserved. As a heads up, while the lot doesn't look like it connects, you can make a right turn where it points you towards Sherwin Williams, and it will route you back to the stalls for Tanaka Saimin. If you're unfamiliar with the area, I would keep this in mind. Since I was unaware, my rachet self and the boyfriend parked in the Home Depot parking lot (shh!) and walked over after we missed the entrance from Nimitz, twice. If you haven't heard of it, the saimin burger is a burger comprised of patties made of, you guessed it, saimin! The burger is topped with a slice of cheese and is accented with watercress. I liked that touch. It also came with a bowl of broth. The broth tasted like what I imagine moldy socks would taste like. Avoid this if you can! I'm not sure what I expected from the saimin patties, but I was thinking I would be wowed. The taste was good, but the texture just missed the mark. While the saimin patties were solid, they were almost rubbery and I found it hard to eat. The burger patty tasted amazing though. Teri flavor, which I love! I'm almost certain that I would love their regular burgers. The watercress in the burger added a nice, fresh contrast. Overall, glad I tried it, but definitely would not do it again. Korea Moco was a heaping mound of food. If you're hungry, get this! Kimchee fried rice, two eggs, kalbi, and fried won tons. The kimchi fried rice was pretty solid, but not remarkable. Kalbi was good, but also small. Good, but probably not something I would go out of my way to eat again. We also ordered the fries, and for me, the fries were the best part of the meal. They were the frozen crinkle cut kind. What does that say about my experience here? You can come to your own conclusion. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Saimin burger - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

No frills local restaurant that offers Saimin and a whole lot more. Lots of tables and booths. Parking is kinda tight. Servers are all local and friendly. Located on Nimitz near Lowe's. I always get the won ton mein and usually add the cone sushi if available and the purple sweet potato tempura. People next to us had prime rib for lunch and it was huge. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I like the family diner style atmosphere but the service was lacking. It was very unenthusiastic and a little uncomfortable. I didnt even know the ramen burger existed until I got there and there was a poster for it. It looked like something I would try so I did. I was not impressed. The noodles were rubbery and the patty gave me an impression that it was previously frozen, tossed in a microwave, and then thrown on a grill. Why would I say that? Because it had the same flavor profile as something I did at home! I thought they may have been the originator of this burger until I heard about the big fuss about it at Taste! Because of my experience at Tanakas, I decided not to try it out at Taste....it really turned me off to this burger. I heard that the originator is coming back since they had such a great turnout at their debut.....maybe I get to try it this time....but I would NEVER wait an hour in line for a burger. I will probably be back to Tanakas for something else, but not for this burger. read more

Tanaka Saimin - "Their" burger - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

saw a picture of some saimin and cheesburger that a friend posted and I just couldn't get the saimin out of my mind thinking of Saimin and Teri Beef sticks and greasy Cheeseburgers all day... So when lunch came around I just had to head down and try Tanaka's Saimin I was not prepared for what awaited me I knew parking is quite busy there but I was lucky to get one right in front of the door as someone was pulling out when I came in. Walking in the front door for the first time I thought oh, I must be in the wrong place! This doesn't look like a Saimin Shop it's too nice inside like a restaurant. after my initial shock I was wandering around trying to sign up because a sign in front said to sign in for a seat. I finally found it and okay it's wait time.... About five minutes later I hear my name called and whoo time to sit! I guess the staff is still trying to get into the groove of things as the lady who sat us forgot our menus but was nice enough to come back to apologize to us. At least they were friendly in there, I ordered the combo Saimin and Burger but upgraded the burger to a Cheeseburger Deluxe $.45 for the Cheese and $1.25 for the Deluxe no prob... a short wait later we got our food and well it wasn't the Greasy Cheeseburger I was thinking of but nice Cheeseburger although nothing spectacular it was good. The same can be said of the saimin good but not spectacular, so basically a comfort thing like you always remember it except for the cheeseburger memories from kid time with all that grease dripping down your arms which I didn't need anyway. The ambiance of the place isn't like your typical Saimin shop it almost scares you thinking it's a nice restaurant or something and the saimin is out of place there.. nice pictures adorn the walls and quite a bit of tables in there, I could get used to that... although I kind of like the old homey feeling saimin shops too.. read more

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The wait staff was awesome. The kalbi with fried saimin was amazing, my wife had the combo yakitori chicken , roast pork with potato salad and let me tell u delish. To top it off we had a slice of lilikoi pie and tempura ice cream and both were amazing. This is a must for good local food. read more

My coworkers and I are, perhaps not surprisingly, fans of the original Boulevard Saimin on Dillingham. We heard about the split, and looked forward to the debut of Tanaka Saimin, as surely two good saimin spots are better than one. And Tanaka Saimin on Nimitz Hwy. seems like a more convenient location for most people. I've been there twice so far, and while I see a lot of service-related complaints, I give them some leeway as they work out the kinks. This should be the case for any new restaurant. Yes, our server wasn't sure where her section was, and the cashier was still sorting out the system, so there were certainly delays. These things, I hope, get smoothed out over time. Even with the confusion, we were seated relatively quickly and served in under 15 minutes. Tanaka Saimin immediately distinguishes itself with its huge, shiny, modern and clean interior. I personally prefer the modest, homey vibe of a hole-in-the-wall eatery, but I can see this place actually drawing a lot of new people who probably wouldn't dare wander into the Dillingham location. But the great new look, I think, raises your expectations for the food, and after sampling all the traditional mainstays on the very familiar menu, the best we could muster was "good, not great." Does it taste the same as Boulevard Saimin? I think so. Perhaps there's a little something missing now that everything is being cooked in a shiny new kitchen, rather than being "seasoned" by equipment and tools with years of history. But even so, it was nothing special. I think Tanaka Saimin needs some time to break in, get some scratches and dents, and generally loosen up. Right now it feels almost sterile, like a furniture store showroom, and even the best saimin wouldn't be enough to warm you up. The other problem? Parking. It's a disaster. There are only two businesses open in the building right now, and already the one-way single-row lot fills up fast and cars quickly back up. Imagine what it'll be like when every retail space is open for business? Or when Lowe's opens up next door? I hope there's a neighborhood master plan for parking somewhere, because right now, we headed over because we could walk over from our office in Dole Cannery. I doubt people driving over from downtown or elsewhere will put up with a lunch hour traffic jam. On the plus side, the prices aren't as fancy as the decor... and we were told they were seeking a liquor license. Tanaka Saimin could have a whole second life after the sun goes down, and I'm curious what that might look like. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I've been to Tanaka's a couple times before, and also to Dillingham Saimin. Their food is pretty consistent diner food that doesn't disappoint. My most recent visit was part of the great Oxtail Soup Search of 2015...(yes, I just made that up). Table for seven, oxtail soup all around, please! Read Lyla's culinary details on the soup. It was really, really good. A tad salty, but Li said there was hot water available if we needed to water it down. I'm no specialist on Oxtail Soup...the only recipe I really, really like is my Mom's, and she puts so many peanuts, we grew up calling it peanut soup! The only other place I had OTS will not be named, but it was a popular place. I was so disappointed in it that I had to go home and make Mom's recipe. I hadn't ordered restaurant OTS in almost 20 years because of that experience. Tanaka's was super duper tasty, and had so many different things in there--long rice, shiitake mushrooms...and the pickles on the side really were refreshing. Now I know where I can go for OTS if I don't have the time or energy to make my own. Julie did a great job with our large-ish party. I got there late, so everyone else had ordered, but even if we ordered the same soup, there were options to keep track of. Extra parsley for some, no green onions for me, rice, saimin, or neither (for me). She got everyone's orders taken, and my food even came with everyone else's even though I put in my order late. Since I chose not to have rice or saimin, Julie even brought me a nice big side salad with my meal. Separate bills made the finances really easy, too! One of the great things about a big party is that everyone can do the talking while I feed my face...which is what I did. Yummy! When I told a friend that I was going to Tanaka's, she recommended the banana cream pie, but I didn't order it ahead (to take advantage of the 20% discount before 5:30) because I wasn't sure if I'd have room for it. Sure enough, there was no room. When dessert came around & a couple members ordered lilikoi dessert "with 7 spoons", I just had to pass. It looked really good though. Hooray for Tanaka's OTS!! read more

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Visited this restaurant for the 1st time a few Saturdays ago and found it to be very reasonably priced and the food was really good. My MIL had the miso butterfish and she said it was delicious. I had the teri burger with their mac/potato salad and it was also very tasty. The burger itself was bigger than the bun and it was really good. The bun was really soft which was great, but it does fall apart because of that. Not a problem at all but it does make it a messy dish. For dessert we had their lilikoi chiffon pie which was sooo good. I am not a lilikoi fan but my MIL has had it before and she insisted I have one, so I did; I was not disappointed. The one downside was that the restaurant was quite warm as though the AC was not working. Not sure if it is always like that but it made for an uncomfortable dining experience because of the warmth. It was very busy which was nice to see. I would return. read more

We was seated right away. Cristal was our Waitress. And she was amazing. Very attentive to our needs. And food was good. It came quick. And the fried ice cream was yummy read more

Ordered the king cut prime rib!!! It came with rice, corn chowder, and veggies. Truly a local spot in the middle of town. Food is really local style here and also the atmosphere is as local as u can get. The prices are decent as well, not expensive at all read more

Tanaka Saimin - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I'm leaving for a 2 month trip around the world... and though I don't eat saimin when I'm here in Hawaii, I started craving to eat some because I'll be away from home for so long. I decided to go here since it was close to my friend's work place... and I got the saimin and added veggies... I thought it was just ok... It didn't have enough flavor. I like my noodles soggy, so yes, they were soggy, but I'm pretty sure other people don't like them soggy... read more

Tanaka Saimin - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I really wanted to try the ramen (saimin) burger due to the craze! But I didn't want to wait in line for the original one so I figured I would just try tanaka saimin. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed and felt like it was just "meh" okay. The noodles weren't crunchy, even though I thought they would be a little. Although the noodles were hard, I felt that it lacked "bite" and I kept sorta having to rip apart the bun when I bit into it. The hamburger patty is just a regular one with teriyaki sauce but I did feel like the whole thing was very plain. The noodles overpowered the whole burger so I wish the buns were actually made a little thinner. It was a bit too carb heavy and made it difficult to enjoy the hamburger itself. The soup it came with was really...fishy. One whiff of it and I felt a little sick since it was so strong. I haven't tried any of the other food but here's my full report for the saimin burger craze. It's definitely overrated. And it's ridiculously messy...like get me more napkins so I don't look like a 3 year old messy. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Wanted to check out the hype for myself... - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Delicious food and amazing service! They screen for Covid and look at your COVID vaccine card at the door before seating you. The waitress was so nice and the service was quick. Their oxtail soup was so good, it made my mom emotional. My favorite was the lilikoi chiffon cake! I'll definitely come here again! read more

The aesthetics were very dated but that's OK. The menu is extensive and the staff serve you with the "aloha" spirit. The menu is extensive so you will want to take a moment to ponder everything. I had the Tanaka siemen. They loaded me up with a good serving of meat. The staff recognized that i was an out of "towner" so they took extra care to provide answers and assist with correct pronunciations. They showed a genuine intrest in me and made every effort to make sure i enjoyed the food. So in summary, the food was OK (not the highest of quality) but i give it 5 stars for the overall experience. read more

Yesterday I went to Tanaka Saimin to pick up my take out order which was a Mushroom burger & fries. I took it back to my workplace to eat & after I bit into my burger, I noticed it was hard to chew. I spit out a piece & noticed it was a big roach. So everything that was in my mouth I spit out. I was so disgusted by this. I called Tanaka Saimin to report what happened. The person that answered the phone offered me a discount on my next meal there. I declined & asked to have my whole meal comped. The person gave me my meal comp. I usually eat there quite frequently. But I won't any more after this. I am traumatized from eating out, especially there. How did they miss a big flying roach in my mushrooms. I am in absolute disbelief that this evening happened to me. A few of my coworkers said the same thing happened to them. They need to be more aware when prepping food & cooking food. I had the shits after this experience. read more

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I didnt know about this place until a friend told me its next to Party city in Honolulu.I was like ok sounds great we can go eat here.Once i got in the place looks big and spacious.You dont feel like your in a tight spot.So much room.Waitress showed us to our table.I didnt know what to order so i asked waiter about the menu.She recommended a few dishes and one of them was the korea moco.I had to try it and wow it was a good amount of food.I was so excited to try it out.If u like kimchee.Then u would luv the kimchee fried rice amd Kalbi steak and two sunnyside eggs on top of fried rice and three pork Gau gee.I hope i spelled that right lol.I ate it all and i usually dont order dessert because im always full from meal.But i saw on menu that the banana pie is popular and the fried ice cream as well.So u know i had to try it out.I luv them both.I was so happy and full from the food i ate i gave half of the fried ice cream to my friend.She enjoyed it alot.The waiter was on top of it with everything.I must come back again to try out more different dishes soon.Local spot.Love it.I parked at the 90 minute side because we went in party city first then tanaka saimin for lunch.Great place read more

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I was expecting a lot out of this place seeing as it is connected to Boulevard Saimin, and my cousins LOOOOVE Boulevard Saimin, and would always rave about... but sadly, I was not impressed. The interior is very neat, and not to mention clean, and even the outside looked inviting. While I was in Hawaii visiting family, this was one of our first places to eat, since I hadn't had actual "saimin" since living in Vegas for 5 years. I was super excited, and the food looked great. I had gotten the saimin with ongchoy, and it was seriously under-cooked, and spread a bitter taste throughout the entire saimin bowl. We also had some sweet potato tempura, and shrimp tempura. I was expecting the delicately fried, light battered tempura that is served in Japanese restaurants, and at least a few pieces of it, but nope. I got one big piece of each and it looked like it was fried in a thick onion ring batter. The batter was seriously about an inch thick all around, and it wasn't the best either! More oil than I'd hoped for. My cousins had no complaints, but then again I forgot what they had because I was too caught up in trying to be polite and finish my order since they were treating. :X Oh well, I'll stick to Shiro's or finalllllyyy try 49ers when I return to the islands. read more

Tanaka Saimin - whomp. not as good as it looks. & yes, that's the "tempura" back there. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Tanaka Saimin a descendant of Boulevard Saimin and related to Dillingham Saimin with flavors of the past incorporated with the present. The location provides a very spacious dining area with television and clean restrooms with only parking being an issue because it shares the lot with surrounding businesses and has a tendency to be very busy during peak hours which occur primarily at lunch and dinner. The menu reflects an assortment of local favorites which are reasonably priced and the portions are adequate. You can taste the past in dishes like the broth of the Saimin, the batter of the tempura, the mac salad, cone sushi and the teriyaki sauce which are flavors consistent with the Okazuyas of the good old days. Some of the " Gotta Havz" are of course the Saimin, mac salad, shrimp tempura and deep fried tempura ice cream for dessert. The service overall after several visits has been average not outstanding but never experienced any real bad ones to share. read more

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Large portion of saimen, however noodles were too soft and broth had an overwhelming dried shrimp taste. We did add the extra veggies, which were very good. The loco moco was good - generous portion and came with Mac salad. The restaurant itself is large and very nice with well spaced tables. read more

I like coming to this place! The food is good! The service is great, every time I go the waitress are very friendly and on it!

I stopped here today and was going to eat the sizzling rib eye steak but instead I ordered the garlic rib eye steak with mushrooms and onions by recommendation. I'm glad I did because it was better than the sizzling steak. It had a good garlic flavor the I love. My mom ordered the tanaka mix plate and she loved it and my dad ordered the oxtail soup and he said it was good also. so I guess the food is good. we asked if they had military discount and they said no. We asked if they had senior discount and they said yes, over 65 years old. they said that they used to have discount for people in uniform but they got rid of it because someone complained. I would eat here again. prices are reasonable and food taste good. I know it can busy at meal times so I'll make sure I go early. read more

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Their food is so delicious and prices are really good. Love Aunty, she is such a hard worker and she is always checking in to make sure everything is good. read more

Food is horrible and the service is even worst. Don't waste your time calling to make a take out order. These dumb people won't answer. Would not recommend this shitty restaurant read more