The food wasn't bad; the service was just plain horrible. Came here on a Saturday night with a friend for dinner. It was steady and not super crowded. We were taken to a booth to be seated right away. The person who sat us didn't even wait for me to sit down before she started explaining what the specials were. Hello to you too. They have more than just saimin, so if you're thinking of checking this place out (which I don't recommend), you might take a little while to figure out what you want to get. Prices are a little on the high side. Our server was this middle-aged guy who didn't seem like he wanted to be there. Not friendly at all. He took our order and I swear, asked us three times while there if we wanted fries....interesting... I ordered the kim chee saimin and added on 3 pieces wun tun. My friend had the small wun tun mein. While just about halfway eating our saimins, we decided to get a burger, since it looked pretty good. Oh man, the service started going really, really downhill from there. Fast-forward almost 20 minutes, we're done with our saimins, in fact the busser cleared our plates, and no burger. The plan was to eat the burger with the saimin, you know? Anyway, we asked the server if they already made the burger, and if not, to cancel the order. He heard us, but I don't think he chose to hear us. Five minutes later, our burger came, which actually was pretty good. We then wanted to know how much the burger cost a la carte, since the price on the menu included fries. Much to our disbelief, you can only get the burger with fries. WTH? The server should have told us that, otherwise we would've gotten the fries too! Fast-forward another 5 minutes, then our oil-laden fries came. Oh man, we left not too happy. The people running this place need to make sure customers can order a burger separately, or if not, make sure the servers say you can't order it alone. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Kim Chee Saimin w/ 3 pc wun tun - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

For most places, you would think, their name sake is (and should be) their signature dish - that one thing that no matter what else they fu*k up on, they have down. And for a place that has "Saimin" as part of their name, you would hope: no matter how much the rest of the food sucks, Saimin will be their savior. Tanaka Saimin apparently didn't get the memo. Someone must have forgot to text them and say, "hey, if you name your place after a dish, you better be amazing at making THAT dish!" They must have not read the emails, I imagine, from other places that know, if you call yourself "Saimin" you better be using a family recipe that goes back centuries and perfected by some ancient emperor in some year that ended in "b.c." Tanaka, definitely did not get that message, or it maybe they haven't gotten to that voicemail on their phone yet. Whatever the reason, for a place that named themselves after a Saimin, they not only dropped the ball on making their Saimin, the ball must have shattered, and Tanaka must have stomped on the shattered shards. The GOOD: The actual restaurant is massive inside, which is not expected when you see the outside facade. You think its going to be this tiny family business, and then you walk in you may be surprised at the dark wood tones and black accents. They have several seating options, a bar to sit and eat at, and booths that go back for miles. We as a group of four, showed up at 8pm on Saturday night (12/11/10) and the restaurant was filled with several families, children and teens. Even with the crowded restaurant, we didn't have to wait long and were seated within 2 minutes. The BAD: The restaurant serves up empty dreams and false hopes. Our table ordered four different Saimin dishes because, well, we went to a place that promised saimin because they had "Saimin" in the fu*king name. I got myself the disappointment that is, Oyako, and I thought I would switch it up and get it udon style. Boulevard Saimin... errrr... Dillingham Saimin may have been around for 60 years and I have never been there; But if Tanaka Saimin was a spin off because of feuding sisters, then one of them definitely kept the family recipes and Tanaka was not the winner. At first glance, my bowl of Oyako looked like a globulous mass of regurgitated scrambled egg, onion and fish cake. As the bowl was placed in front of me, I nearly instantly lost my appetite because it reminded me of a chewed up, pail gray brain floating above a ominous netting of neuronal matter. I even asked my friends, what the fu*k did I order? Which they replied, "it's supposed to be like a donburi, but it looks like they added way to much fried egg." All I know was that I ordered something with chicken, and unless Tanaka counts the egg as chicken, I only got three bite size pieces of thigh meat. In addition, their must be a shortage of fishcake on the island, because they only managed to scramble together 4 or 5 slivers of a slice. The broth was insulting. Hoping for a savory sensation that tingles the throat, I received a flavorless liquid, with only a subtle hint of salt or any flavor. Floating in the bland mixture were horribly over-cooked noodles which also lacked flavor, care or inspiration. With ever mass of noodles I placed in my mouth, I felt as if I were eating flour, glued together with water. It was sad. Overall: for the price of the food, Zippy's can produce higher quality food (so I hear). For the price tag on the Oyako Udon $8.10, I would have been way happier taking my money to someplace that I know has the BEST udon, Michinoku (on Keeaumoku; http://www.yelp.com/biz/michinoku-honolulu). Will I come back? Only if this place burns down and Teddy's Bigger Burger opens up in its place. I can't wait for Bangkok Chef to open up around the corner, talk about Good Eats. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Not very appetizing at ALL. Oyako Udon. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Parking - 1 Wait Time - 1 Service - 2 Food - 3 OVERALL - 2 Parking in this area is bad . .even for a Sunday evening. You would think they would pave the road and ensure stalls were decently spaced, especially since this is a new venue. When we arrived there was a line of people waiting to be seated, despite the fact that there were over 5 empty tables. The hostess (which is different from the cashier, so please don't ask the cashier as she doesn't know anything and will tell you to ask the hostess) was not very friendly and very slow. After waiting for 15 minutes, we were seated and our waitress promptly approached. We placed our order, but had to wait another 20 minutes to get our food. Disappointed that the Teri Beef was sold out. I had a small wun tun min and cheeseburger and my friend had a hot soba min. My wun tun min and cheeseburger was good (same owner as Blvd Saimin so I knew what to expect). The soba min was marginal at best. If you're expecting a Japanese-style Ramen House, this is not the place for you. This is a Hawaii version, old school, saimin and local eats place. As this is a new place, everything is clean, well lit, and decorated. However wait time, speed of service, and friendliness all around was lacking. Don't think I'll be returning here again. read more

We first tried Tanaka Saimin eagerly when they first opened as we were loyal Boulevard Saimin fans. The experience was awful but we attributed it to Tanaka Saimin being new. Fast forward to September 2012. We tried the wun tun min and tamago wun tun min with veggies. Both saimins had tastless floury noodles. The broth tasted terrible, as if it was prepared from a powdered pack. The wun tun was okay. However, the veggies in my saimin had brown spots, and the won bok cabbage pieces looked like they came from the core part of the cabbage...the part that is usually thrown away. The aburage was overboiled, rubbery and tasteless. Midway through our meal, our stomachs hurt, really hurt. We got sick...the kind of sick from food poisoning. I really wanted to like this place, and I hope this review will help the restaurant to make improvements. The dining room is clean, and the bathrooms are decent. Please, please fix the food, especially the saimin! If your main product is saimin, then this dish needs to stand out. I notice that the menu has a variety of items, perhaps the food offerings are so vast that the priorities have strayed away from making the saimin at top quality? read more

From hostess to waitress to food, a disappointing experience. Upon arrival you must write your name on the clipboard. Like most places, your name is called when your table is ready. Unlike most places, the hostess crossed out our name without calling our name. It is loud in here but, she did not make any attempt to ask the people sitting down waiting for a table, so I don't think that warrants a pass. When we spoke with her, she mumbled something like she couldn't seat us anyway. No apologies. Nothing. She then seated us. The waitress took our orders. She didn't know what the special was called except that it was fish with garlic. Supposedly came with salad. She returned with miso soup saying it didn't come with salad. This was fine. The interesting part was when our food came, she attempted to take my soup before I was done with it. She did not ask if I was done, just grabbed it. I had to grab it back. The food was also a bit disappointing. The fish was loaded with garlic and that's all that it tasted like. It's pretty bland. I have to say that their cooked veggies tasted better than the main dish. I felt like it needed some zest and waited for the waitress to return to ask for some lemon. She didn't return, only to ask if we wanted desert. By that time, I had already forced myself to eat my dinner. We ordered the lilikoi pie - which was decent. The banana pie was also pretty good. Positive side - food came fast. Negative - mediocre service. OK, edible food. I don't think I will come back here. It's not worth the parking head ache, poor service and OK food. read more

Since the Boulevard Saimin family split and opened two different establishments, I'll call Tanaka Saimin the bad twin because it just doesn't measure up. I was a frequent Boulevard diner, and found the dashi at Tanaka to be much less flavorful. Seems to me that they are trying to cut corners by maybe using less of their secret special konbu - whatever it is, it's not the same. Too bad because the dashi is what made Boulevard special; at Tanaka's it's just watery. What makes it worse for me is that the food just doesn't match the decor. A mom and pop saimin stand shouldn't have granite counter tops - you know what I mean?! But I won't wax poetic about the loss of Boulevard, because the great dashi (and cone sushi too!) still lives at Dillingham Saimin aka the good twin complete with appropriate decor. read more

I was expecting a lot more because of the location but honestly, this place isn't that bad. The saimin itself is unfortunately not good quality noodles but I think it's not bad. It's kind of the same as S&S brand saimin. If going to a restaurant, however, I prefer more dense noodles and these were just... kinda meh. Also, sadly, they didn't have anything spicy on their menu but they do have togarashi on the table (or in their cabinet). I was able to spice up my saimin quite a bit with the togarashi and it was amazing after that, lol. As for pricing, it wasn't so bad. For the quality, it kind of matched. I think i paid around $10 for my saimin. Unfortunately the prices and the quality don't seem to match with the interior and location. By that I mean that the inside looks pretty nice. I expected higher prices and better quality noodles. What you're getting though is pretty much the same as what you get from Sumo Ramen but in a nicer setting. The good thing is that the price is low, and that afforded this place a good deal of stars. Unfortunately because the taste of the saimin was sub-par and the noodles were junky quality, it lost a star for me. In addition, the tea was not pot-brewed jasmine tea. If you want tea they give you hot water and a tea bag. That... was interesting. I also believe that the desserts are just scoops of store-bought ice-cream which I also find very... interesting and kind of "chang" so to speak. That's where they lost another star for me. Other than that our waitress was an absolute pleasure to have. She was SO nice, I wanted to give five stars for her alone. read more

Reminds me of a throwback diner that I grew up loving (Columbia Inn, Wisteria Inn, etc). But they are severely understaffed. Waited 15 min at the table before someone came to take my order. It's a shame. Really want to love this place, but you need to be held accountable. read more

Working offsite yesterday, I came here for lunch with a couple of my co-workers. I wasn't in the mood to try anything new, so I ordered the Catch of the Day sandwich (Mahi Mahi). The fish was very good, but when will I learn that moist fish as a sandwich just doesn't work? I ended up eating it with a knife and fork. The fries were crinkle cut and obviously straight out of the freezer. One of my co-workers had the Saimin. Not sure if she liked it or not...and she didn't say. My other co-worker had the Monday special: Stuffed Chicken. She seemed to like it okay, but again, I didn't hear any raves about this place. Probably wouldn't go out of my way to come back here read more

I went here last night for dinner and ordered their Curry Stew Ramen with Wun Tun. It was actually really delicious, until I found plastic inside the meat of their Wun Tun... Our waitress said it must've gotten there from the plastic wrap when they were rolling their wun tun, but that doesn't explain how it got into the middle of the meat... I really don't know how it got there, and I really don't want to know. -_- Let's just say I won't be going back, until they up their sanitary standards. read more

You can't have the name of a product within your company name if the product is less than mediocre. Bleh, came here originally to get the ramen burger . . . it sold out by around lunch time. We resorted to getting their saimin which tasted like dish soap was residually left behind or just wasn't washed off the bowl sufficiently. I still proceeded to eat because hunger gets what hunger wants. Medical bills here I come! :) We got their teriyaki and katsu plate and it tasted like they just bought it from Zippy's and just laid it back out on a plate and resold it to our asses. A saddening first day experience. The second day we attempted to try and shoot for a ramen burger again, SUCCESS!!! This is the highlight of the restaurant for sure. I was not disappointed. The burger meat is juicy and the ramen is moist . . . it can get a bit messy so come packing with napkins prior. They give a ramen broth dipping sauce adjacent to the burger so you can pick/choose your style of how you want to demolish this thing. If you're prepped to do dessert, don't do anything else besides the deep fried ice cream. Everything else was, meh. I ordered the Adult's Only Sundae which was a mistake in life, they have liquor in it but could taste too much of the alcohol. I recommend this dessert for the recovering alcoholics, not for the sweet teethers. This restaurant has exponential potential, just don't make your saimin taste like dish soap . . . that is all. FIN. read more

I ordered the small udon. I almost couldn't eat it because of the smell of the broth. Do they add fish sauce? It tasted fine but the smell made me feel a little ill. Apparently they're also famous for their Lilikoi pie; I recommend it!! I may give them another chance so that I can try their specials; today's options were miso butterfish or basa fish. They also have a banana creme pie and a chocolate creme pie that I want to try as well. read more

A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend here for lunch per my suggestion. I figured since this place is centrally located and I needed to run an errand in the area, this place would be a good spot. I have only eaten here once before and if was ok. Well this last experience is why I am rating them a 2 of 5 stars rather than a 4 which is what I usually give even if the place is average. Parking: should be negative stars!!! Whoever designed that flow pattern should quit, it's horrible and the signage to direct you is so small that if you blinked you would miss it. Im shocked that businesses there survive due to all the one way traffic pattern. Food: 3 stars...nothing really special and portion size is small. I ordered the mix of roast pork and crispy shoyu chicken. The roast pork was good and tender. Crispy shoyu chicken sounded interesting and I was eager to see what it was...basically like Korean chicken...what a disappointment. Barely any shoyu chicken flavor...personally I think they need to rename that or come up with a better recipe. Instead of Mac salad I had a toss green salad...which by the time I was done I found a piece of plastic in it which the waitress said was Saran Wrap because each salad is individually wrapped. Offered another one but declined... Service: 2.5 stars: the waitress was pretty good, although she did give me the wrong bill and credit card. Needed to ask for water refill several times. Overall 2, would I go back? Possibly since now I know how to navigate the horrendous parking lot. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Mix of roast pork and crispy shoyu ckn - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Food is tasty. We order takeout from then at least once a week and are pleased. Make sure to call your order in before heading down so it is ready when you arrive. read more

I usually enjoy coming here and usually have an overall great experience - this review is based on one visit and the service received on Sunday, 9.16.18 My family and I walked in, signed in, and waited for no longer than 5 minutes. So many things went wrong after this point - (1) Amongst walking in, we weren't welcomed or greeted. (2) When we were seated, our server, yet again, didn't give us a greeting, didn't introduce herself, and had no eye contact whatsoever with us. When I asked for sugar on the side with my unsweetened iced tea, she asked what kind I wanted and I kindly asked for Splenda. (3) She hands me Equal while saying, "This all we have..." and walks away. (4) After we ordered our food, she literally took the menu out of my hands without confirming if we were even done ordering! So after she walks away with the menus, I wave her down to finish ordering. (5) I asked to order a beef stick and she commented, "That takes long to cook but I'll put it in." - It came to our table not too long after the rest of our food did. (6) After we got our food, we weren't checked on until we were ready for our check. (7) As I tried to be nice and thanked her for serving us, she replied, "Yep" and again quickly walked away. This review gets 2 stars because 1: I usually enjoy coming here, like I previously stated and 2: we all enjoyed our food. The rest of it was really up to the service we received and it clearly wasn't there for us. Our server was rude and seemed to be in a rush each time she came to our table. I occasionally visit this restaurant so I won't say that we won't be back. We just hope for the better service! read more

REASON FOR GOING: I went to run some errands and grab a bite to eat. I have heard from many that Tanaka Saimin has not been the greatest, but I was in the neighborhood and decided to give it a try. SERVICE: When I first sat down, the server was very friendly and received water right away. This is important as I just came from running. :) It was pretty busy for a Tuesday evening at 7PM. SELECTION + PRICE: Tanaka Saimin has an extensive menu ranging in hot noodles, cold noodles, sandwiches, salads and breakfast classics. My boyfriend ordered the Kim Chee Saimin ($6.45) and I ordered the Kayaku Udon ($8.00). The Kim Chee Saimin was okay, the soup/broth was regular saimin broth and there was a side of kim chee for the customer to add to the dish. The saimin noodles were "so-so" my boyfriend claims that it tastes like something you could get at a Chinese restaurant. My Kayaku Udon seemed promising as I loved everything in the dish. It included won bok, mustard cabbage, and tofu aburage. The soup/broth tasted the same as my boyfriend's. There was not anything really special about the dish however, the udon noodles which tasted okay. It was kind of pricey considering there is a lack of flavor in the soup. VALUE: I did not try anything else, however Ed Morita from Nonstop Hawaii reviewed this place and said that fish tempura sandwich was one of the better items to order. I would agree with Michael Choy that Tanaka Saimin is not a place that would be my first pick. I would give this place 3 stars out of 5, nothing is out-of-this-world. I could not vote yay nor nay-Tanaka Saimin get and "okay" from me. Tanaka Saimin 888 N. Nimitz Highway 808-524-2020 read more

I walked down to Tanaka Saimin today for lunch, craving Won Ton Min. The restaurant is close to nothing but the building where I work - but it's on a busy road. On my way in I read the words "Oxtail Soup special..." on a banner and made a mental note. It was pretty full with a busy lunch crowd and you should know, it's a large restaurant. I sat at the bar; an unusual wavy counter with individual seating. The waitress came right away and offered up Oxtail Soup, Lemongrass Pork Chops, and Corned Beef with Cabbage as the specials. I didn't even crack the menu to find that Won Ton Min I was craving. I just ordered the Oxtail Soup. I'd never had it before, but it seemed like a good choice. The waitress agreed. It was quick to arrive, maybe 8 minutes or so and it came with a few sides. The waitress brought out: a small empty bowl, a smaller bowl of mashed up ginger, a plate with two scoops of rice and my large bowl of Oxtail soup. She asked me if I wanted tabasco and I declined. She left me with these items and being an Oxtail Soup newbie, I was confused. I first put a scoop of rice into the smaller bowl and spooned some of the broth over it... This got me a sideways look from an old man sitting on my right. Then I pulled the meat off of the bones in the soup and put them into the smaller bowl. After a while, I had deboned all of the meat, and realized there was long rice noodles in the bottom of the soup. At this point I had lined the plate with the bare bones and realized where I went wrong. Eventually I put the empty bones into the small bowl, ditched the ginger mash altogether, and put the rice and meat back into the big bowl of soup. It was delicious. The service was good, and the waitresses were all very nice. I cant tell you how their saimin is, but I can tell you if they offer you Oxtail soup - you should take it. It's a little pricey though. I'm not a fan of spending nearly $20 at lunch. $13.95 for the soup, $2 for the soda. $16.95 total. read more

Manini portions, hamburger doesn't come with lettuce or tomato, saimin is just a littttttle bit of noodles and a few pieces of charsiu, the broth does taste funny/fishy, the prices are too high for the amount of food you get. Although the waitress was very nice, the restaurant was very clean and we got a free bottle of hot sauce. Go to La Tour instead. read more

The Cold Soba was horrible. The soba noodles were all stuck together so I had to ask for a knife to cut it into "pieces" since the huge globs of soba wouldn't fit into the tsuyu sauce bowl. Can't say I ever used a knife to eat noodles. Needless to say, it was tasteless and dry. At least the hot tea was nice and piping hot! Just a quick note about the counter: It's uncomfortable. Don't sit there if you don't have to (We did because I didn't want to wait for a table). The shape of the counter makes it difficult to get comfortable with its wave-shaped edge, which seems fit for just children or really tiny people.. read more

I was very hesitant to try Tanaka Saimin because I read the reviews, but a friend really wanted to try, so a bunch of us went one night for dinner. We each ordered saimin and a burger or entree. We figured since there's "saimin" in the name, we ought to try it. We all came to the same conclusion that we wouldn't come back for the saimin, as it isn't anything special. But on the bright side, we LOVED the burgers! Homemade patties, moist, succulent! YUM! We definitely want to come back again and try other items as there's got to be like 50 menu items. It was quite a daunting task to decide what to eat, but in a good way. I think I'll try one of the entrees next time. Also, if you have the room for dessert, you need to have one of them. I wanted to try the guava bar thing, but they were out, so i had the lilikoi. It was delicious. My friends had other flavors, banana and taro, i think. We loved the desserts! Hats off to the dessert chef! The waitress who helped us was very helpful and friendly. And I'm not sure if it's because they were still working out the kinks, or perhaps understaffed at the time, but the hostesses seemed to take a while to seat us. In the grand scheme of things, it's minor, but is an important area of improvement as that's the first contact and judgment that customers will make of an establishment. read more

On our way to Ala Moana, we were looking for some place to eat. We had seen Tanaka Saimin opened a few months ago and figured now would be a great time to check them out. Meh, it was just ok......definitely nothing special. I had the Combo special that consisted of a Large Won Ton Min, a piece of shrimp tempura, and teri beef. The soup base was a little bland, and the texture of the noodles was softer than I would've liked. The Shrimp Tempura had too much batter on it, and the Teri beef was a little tough and pretty cold. My wife was also disappointed in her Teri Beef saimin as well. Unlike what many others here have said, the service we received from our waitress was very nice and the food came relatively quickly. All in all, it was pretty disappointing and we probably won't return. read more

Read the mixed reviews. Hubby and I decided to give it a try. Sure wish we hadn't . I tried the tanaka saimin special. He tried the curry saimin . Both had the same wierd flavor to the broth. The best part of my dish was my wun tons. Not quite sure what the flavor was but the odor that came off my dish was nauseating. I ate what I could and do not send it back as everyone else around me seem to be enjoying their saimin. Not quite sure what I am missing to have enjoued this dish, but nonetheless we will never come back. And oh I feel nauseas. read more

I like to eat at Tanaka Saimin for some really good tempura and the saimin combos. The service it quite friendly and fast. I've never been at Tanaka and was crowded, it always seemed quite empty when I came. So if you like less crowded spaces and less wait times this is a place to go. I was surprised that you can a 20% discount for early bird special. I'm guessing anytime before 5PM. read more

Tanaka Saimin - Wanted to pay a visit to Tanaka Saimin for some late lunch with my two nieces and my mom. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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First impression: Big huge space. I mean huge! And really clean. Before I get into the reason why I gave 1 star, I just wanted to say that I really did want to like this place, despite the reviews. The reason for the 1 star -- my boyfriend and I got sick mid-dinner. Sick as in, stomach aches, etc. and we just had to leave. We didn't finish our meal, we quickly asked for the check and left. We couldn't even stay to make a complaint, cause we just wanted to be in the comfort of our own home. Needless to say that night we were sick. Food poisoning? I ordered the shrimp omelette and grilled fish with brown rice. Boyfriend had the saimin combo. We had the crab cake appetizer (maybe it was the crab cake that made us sick???). Nothing special about the food. But, I do love the old school type of feel the place gives, it reminds me of small kid times... but without the food poisoning. :( read more

Eating breakfast with my Man!! I love the Japanese breakfast! Hubby loves the crispy shoyu chicken

Wow this place was bad. The broth tasted like bad water and the noodles tasted bland and washed with the same bad water. However very successful at ruining easy, Saimin. 5*****'s. read more

Being a long time Boulevard fan, we decided to check out Tanaka for lunch before heading to the airport. It a lot cleaner, brighter and has hands down more convenient parking. Prices are higher. An older woman was our server and she was a little spitfire- so on top of it. The food was ok. There was no cone sushi available the day we went in. That was disappointing. Miso soup and burger were good. I had the teriyaki chicken. Not great but not bad. A green salad of all iceberg lettuce came with it- nothing to write home about but the oriental dressing was delicious. The biggest let down was the onion rings. The onions were still raw inside and the batter was soggy. Didn't have the crunch you expect when biting into an onion ring. The waitress was nice enough to take it off. I loved the service. I think the food just depends on what you order and may be hit or miss. read more

Stuck in traffic, decided to have dinner here. Mind you I pau work 4pm and its already 830. originally wanted to go to Zippys, but traffic wasn't moving so had to go here. Was busy, not too crowded. Got seated in 10 minuets, mmm not bad. Was all prepared for a harried bummed out service. Was greeted promptly, with water. That was good cause I was thirsty. Water was good too! No chlorine aftertaste. Ordered the oxtail soup, they were out of the oxtail stew. Soup was good, a little thin on flavor. Oxtail must have cooked a long time. Meat fell of the bone, even the marrow slid out enough for me to slurp it. Had peanuts and slivers of shikaite mushrooms. As busy as they were, it wasn't chaotic. Dined peacefully with little interruptions. Wasn't rushed to get another patron in my seat. Felt like the old Kings Bakery Coffee shop.. Was left alone, but was very attentive to my needs. Got out if there around 1030, people were still coming in, and traffic was still slow. But I was fed and calm enough to drive home without yelling at anybody. Return trip is in the plans. I want to try their grilled cheese sandwich. It looked good... read more

I have to start off by saying food quality is horrible. I'm sorry but that's all I remember of this place or when I pass by... Maybe too much dried shrimp taste in the base of soup?? I kept telling my boyfriend that name of the company should not have the "saimin" in it. Instead, maybe the fried burger? Might've been better. My waiter was nice n courteous. That's why I decided to give an extra star. THATS IT tho. I Hate to also say that the fried noodle burger tasted better than it's name "saimin." I felt like drinking glass of wine so I ordered. They gave me a little bottle of wine that they sell at 711 for $2.00. Kinda ghetto... Location is not bad. Parking can be a pain in a** specially weekends. Wait time was not bad at all since they have lots of booths and tables. Over all, the taste ruined it for me. I will not go back there again. Sorry.... read more

Tanaka Saimin - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Crappiest service ever. Staff of nearly 20 people and nobody came to even drop water. Never going back. I arrived at 11 am got seated right away because the place is nearly empty. Waitresses talking to each other and could care less about the customers. I get memorized watching the tv so I forget about ordering until my kids tell me they're hungry. I look at my watch and it's 11:20 am and realize nobody has even come to serve us water. Talk about a poorly run business. Did I mention that I'm never going back? Guaranteed Gong For Life. read more

I agree with some of you, the parking is a challenge. Whoever designed that.... NO COMMENT!! I had the Oxtail Soup, my BF had the combo with Teri, Chicken and noodles. I must say this is my favorite place for Oxtail. I have tasted quite a few and this by far is the BEST. The Teri was pretty darn good also. The service was GREAT!! Will definitely return!! read more

HORRIBLE! They ran out of everything we tried to order, and the server was unaware of this so everytime we ordered something, she came back to offer us something else only to find out they were out of that too! On top of that i ordered my steak medium rare, and of course it came out way over well done. Never coming back EVER read more

Last year I told myself that I would never return to this restaurant. The food was lousy. One year later my parents decided to have lunch at this restaurant. I hesitated on going back however, because my parents wanted to go I had to be a team player. The food was terrible one year ago and it still terrible today. I ordered a Simin and burger combo, My father ordered pork chops with brown gravy brown rice and Mac salad, my mom ordered a mixed plate. Everything was going fine until my dad's order came. He was given pork cutlet instead of pork chops. My hamburger tasted like kangaroo meat. I never tasted kangaroo meat but I'm sure it would've tasted like that. The food is not meant for human consumption. My dad tells the waiter Chad that he gave him the wrong order. He went to his manager and we overheard the conversation so my father said if it's too much trouble just give me the plate back, and the waiter did. There was no correction to his mistake, the manager did not come over to see if everything was OK. We were not offered any refills on our drinks. Conveniently the table across from us was given refills. I will never go back to this location or business again. I don't care for Zippys but I'd rather go to Zippys at least I'll have somewhat service and better quality food. It baffles me to see management and employees act the way they did today. Most importantly the food. How could anyone eat at this restaurant? The food is horrible. See my pictures that I have posted. The owner of this restaurant really needs to review the menu and the quality of their food most importantly train their employees on customer service, and the manager on how to be a manager. This restaurant deserves no stars. read more

Tanaka Saimin - No refills for the hour that we had spent in the restaurant. Chad was our server. - Japanese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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What strikes me about Tanaka Saimin is how little I remember about the food. I remember the space, which is cavernous, like three diners stuck together. I remember the waitress, who was friendly and attentive but couldn't make easy substitutions, even though the menu is huge. I remember that the food didn't arrive terribly quickly, on a not-too-busy Tuesday evening. But the food... I had chicken katsu, and I guess it was unremarkable, since it left no impression on me. Well, the sauce was definitely out of a bottle. My wife had saimin, and didn't have much to say about it. Maybe we should have stayed for dessert, but we weren't exactly inspired. Also, I'm sure it's not the fault of any of the restaurants there, but what is up with that parking lot? It's easier to find your way out of an Escher drawing than to get into that lot without breaking some rule. read more

Sorry for the late post as I tried this place a couple of months ago. I had their burger and won tun min, and the kids had a couple of small saimins. The flavor of the dashi was old style mild without much character, and the burger was okay. I can understand that some think that you have to go with the mindset that it's an old style saimin house, but there is no nostalgia in the decor and it didn't seem to help the taste of my meal. I don't think that I'll be back. For a nostalgia kick, I'll stick with the forty-niner diner. read more

Don't let the name fool you! Tanaka Saimin is a off shoot of Boulevard Saimin. The taste of Boulevard Saimin was alright but not great! When I first ordered my Saimin with Teriyaki I noticed the similarities with the way the Teriyaki is served, Not in whole pieces but chopped similar to Boulevard Saimin. The Taste of the Saimin Noodles and Broth was also the same as Boulevard Saimin. When I paid for my bill I noticed photos of Boulevard Saimin from it's very start - very intereting history. I then found out that a daughter of Boulevard Saimin owns Tanaka Saimin and the other daughter owns Boulevard Saimin but since changed the name to Dillingham Saimin. What came to mind is if Boulevard Saimin was so very popular why change the name to Dillingham Saimin? It's apparent that Tanaka Saimin either took one of the cooks from Boulevard Saimin or used the same recipes. They are probably using the same suppliers as well especially for the noodles. If I were to open a Brand New Saimin Restaurant and invest all that money they did I would want to create my own identity with a "Special Only At My Place Recipe" so why use the same recipes??? I am very disappointed with the taste and sincerely hope that Tanaka Saimin gets the message and makes some changes before they lose customers. None of my friends had any good comments and word of mouth travels awefully fast in Hawaii! read more

I always drive by this place when going to Costco and finally got a chance to try it, twice. One of the first things I noticed is that the restaurant was clean; second, was that the service was good. Our waitress was very friendly, always smiled, took our order and checked up on us frequently; third the food was fresh and the portions were just right; not to little, not too much. Not many people know that an array of restaurants have made the "switch" from using fresh products to frozen as a result of significant increases to general goods and electricity, gas etc., which all affect the bottom line for any business. So when I find a restaurant that is reasonably priced with good service that makes good old fashioned fresh food, I always appreciate the concept. I've read a few comments that the portions were "manini." I found the fresh food portions satisfying and spot on; and I'm a decent sized person with a decent sized appetite. The food was good and they make FRESH corned beef hash; one of my favorites. Overall, I appreciated the concept as it is what I expect anytime I dine out; fresh, tasty food, a clean environment, reasonable prices and good service. The ambiance felt casually contemporary yet had a good old-fashioned feeling about it. I will definitely be back for a meal the next time I'm in the area. read more

Juliet was an an awesome server and the breakfast of eggs, waffles, hash and link sausage was delicious and very filling! The corned beef hash was really good! read more

Eh, went again earlier this year. They fixed the seating issues a little, but the food is still nothing too special. Bland, bland bland. The service is alright, nothing horrible but nothing spectacular either. Still an "ehh" for me. read more

Service was very slow and food was cold the Tanaka's special teri beef shrimp and salad came out first waiting for the Saimin about 15 minutes disappointed. read more