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    The Kini Room

    4.9 (10 reviews)
    Open • 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    The Kini Room Photos

    THE KINI ROOM ATMOSPHERE

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    Jenny-Rose A.

    My friends brought me here for my birthday dinner and we had such a wonderful time! The Kini Room is intimate, serene, and super calming--we were seated right by the balcony and the view was beautiful. Gem if you're looking for a chill vibe. Ambiance & View: Beautiful balcony seating with a serene backdrop. Food & Service: Everything came out quickly, portions were reasonable, and everything tasted delicious! We ordered off the happy hour menu and also the regular dinner menu. The staff were warm, attentive, and friendly. Also let my friends bring in a bento cake! Parking: Valet was quick, easy, and they validate for up to 4 hours, which takes away all the parking stress. It felt like we were there for a while and really enjoyed the evening without feeling rushed or crowded. Will be back!

    Bailey G.

    First time visit to the kini room! They gave happy hour 4-6pm daily and the bartender was amazing. Highly recommend checking it out

    Happy Hour Menu
    Glenn G.

    Probably the best happy hour in Waikiki that no one knows about (Every Day 4-6pm). The recently reopened Kini room in the Ka La'i Hotel has excellent food at great prices for Waikiki. It's an elegant space with great views of Fort DeRussy park and beach. Excellent staff will take care of your every need. 4 hours hours validated valet parking. Get in there and take the elevator to the sky lobby level and enjoy. Go Friday to watch the Hilton Fireworks. Kimo from Koa Oasis goes there.

    Edamame & mushroom dumplings and wagyu sushi

    Spent a wonderful girl's night at the Kini Room to wrap up the week! Parking is valet, which is validated by the restaurant, and we were seated and welcomed quickly after checking in for our reservation. Sally was amazing! We ordered a few things to share per their recommendations, and all of the food was excellent. They also continued to check on us as we ate. It was quite warm due to the recent mugginess but we had a great view of the city from our table. Would definitely come back!

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    Ask the Community - The Kini Room

    Review Highlights - The Kini Room

    “The recently reopened Kini room in the Ka La'i Hotel has excellent food at great prices for Waikiki.”

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera Hawaii

    Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera Hawaii

    4.1(240 reviews)
    1.1 mi
    Free parking
    Wheelchair accessible

    Great place for sushi. We ordered -yamayuki bluefin…read morechu-toro 4pcs 10/10 no complaints. It melt in the mouth. Definitely recommend this dish. We even order another 4pcs. They have 4pcs and 8pcs option and they come up for the same price $34 for 4 and $68 for 8pcs as of Nov 2025. -Sashimi (3kind) 9/10 nothing wrong with this but after that chu-toro, it's hard to go back regular fish . This came with salmon, tuna and hamachi. 2pcs each and it was fresh. -torotaku roll 10/10 another explosion in the mouth. This is another must have for this place. It's a roll of chopped otoro, pickle and those green minty thing (sorry idk what it is but it's a good combo) -hamachi carpaccio 10/10 this is another really good flavor combo. Hamachi slices (not too think but same as sushi cut slice) in vinaigrette kind and the jalapeño just give a slight kick for each slice. It comes with greens as well and it's just a good pairing -green sea urchin 7/10 not my best but not that bad. This was $15 per piece when I came in Nov 2025. -black sesame ice cream Great place great food and very creative. Totally recommend

    We came here for a late lunch and after eyeing the spot for a very long time, it did not…read moredisappoint! This is not like any other kaiten sushi place, so don't expect it to be. You will order everything off of a tablet at your table. They have many options including classic delicious Japanese plates like karaage, firefly squid, and other "otsumami" type items. The lunch specials are a good way to get nigiri at a reasonable price. We got the tuna special and the premium plate. It comes with miso soup and chawanmushi which were both delicious. The fish on each nigiri were super fresh and cut very thick. The sake selection was also very nice and we were able to enjoy a couple bottles :). You will spend money here, but it's 100% worth it. The service was very attentive and friendly as well.

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    Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera Hawaii
    Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera Hawaii

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    Nami Kaze - Dining area

    Nami Kaze

    4.5(801 reviews)
    4.0 mi•Iwilei
    •$$

    It was so sad this business is closing down by Oct 31st. With rising food costs, inflation and…read morestaffing, it's understandable but I wish best endeavors for Chef Jason Peel and his staff. My fiance won a gift card actually 2 of them (from his coworker whom could not get a reservation secured), we knew we had to make the trip over before they officially close. We had multiple dishes, but staff made Kauai prawns and tomato miso black cod dishes on the house since they ran out the Hokkaido scallops. We ordered the short ribs, lobster appetizer, hamachi crudo and lastly sashimi moriawase to finish food palate. Lukki lemon dessert was great way to end to night. Ordered the Milk tea bouquet cocktail while my better half had water ( either way the food coma knock him out cold the rest of the night lol). To be honest, it was difficult to determine which dish was the best because the staff kept quality there despite it being busy every night since they announce the closure. Sashimi moriawase, fish was so fresh, reminded me of my time spent in Hokkaido and Sapporo. Short ribs was soft and rich in flavor. Both me and my fiance liked the lukki lemon dessert, like lemon meringue pie but broken down version. If you have a chance to dine here before closing and got a reservation, definitely will have a lovely dining experience and your stomach will be full by end of the night.

    Husband and I tried Nami Kaze in our recent trip to Hawaii. This place is huge! I was so glad to be…read moreseated in the side room because I found it to be a lot calmer, less people and no TV. The staff were friendly and very helpful with giving us recommendations. We ordered 3 appetizers and 2 entrees, and honestly it was too much food for us. We had leftovers for breakfast the next day! - For appetizers we got: Ulu Tots, Japanese Eggplant, and Corn Beignets. The Corn Beignets was the best. - For entree we got: Tomato Miso Black Cod and the Short Rib. Both were delicious and worth a try. Sad to see that this restaurant appears to be closing.

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    Nami Kaze - Nami bento

    Nami bento

    Nami Kaze
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    Sushi Izakaya Gaku

    Sushi Izakaya Gaku

    4.5(1.1k reviews)
    1.5 mi
    •$$$$

    OH MY GOOSHHHH! This place has got to be the most underrated place on this island. Like why aren't…read moremore people talking about this hidden gem??? I know you guys drive by it and see it but have you dined in? If not, this is your sign. My friends and I walked in around 8pm and got seated right away. The place was packed (as it should be) but we were so lucky. The waiter took us to the back room where we sat on those "floor" tables... it was awesome! I felt like I was in Japan. Service was 10/10. Waiter gave us GREAT recommendations as it was our first time. Let's talk about the food. My top 3 dishes of the night -- 1) Uni charwanmushi - to DIE for. So much flavor, so much protein. 2) the beef skewers - incredibly tender. We ended up ordering another order bc it was so good. 3) sushi- Negitoro, torotaku, spider roll and spicy tuna... the rice and fish texture was just so perfect. The fish tasted fresh and the rice to fish ratio was a 10/10. Ambiance: chill, friendly, not too loud and everyone was so respectful. I'm craving it as I type this. So yeah, check it out. You won't regret it.

    Haven't been here in years! Mom and dad celebrated their 67th anniversary so we decided to go and…read moreCELEBRATE! It was 4 of us and I made reservations at the beginning of the week. We go the first seating (5 pm) since we need extra space and time to get around. We had a nice spacious table seating. I can only suggest maybe cushions for the chairs for they're hard wooden seats for elderly especially. Our server was friendly and explained a few items. We ordered the top sushi platter but unfortunately she didn't understand and made the mistake of bringing us a different one. It was fine for I ordered a bunch of side dishes. My parents and friend enjoyed almost everything. I think the three items I enjoyed the most were the yuzu pickled vegetables, the yuzu sorbet and the chicken karaage. Those stood out the most for me. For the whole experience it was rather enjoyable still how I remembered it used to be. There is ample parking in the back if you come early or street parking. It was a little difficult with someone with a walker but slowly we moved in and out so just need patience. Pricing was what I was are used to going out to eat sushi nowadays. I think they were supposed to give us a special dessert for I asked ahead of time and it wasn't brought. I didn't want to bother asking but this was a special day for them which I thought should possibly not be overlooked when people make reservations. Luckily I made a cake which they enjoyed at home. However the place is cozy, the food is fresh and the service is good.

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    Interior

    Sushi Izakaya Gaku - Salmon skin salad

    Salmon skin salad

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    Nori Bar

    Nori Bar

    4.5(402 reviews)
    1.8 mi•Kaka'ako
    •$$
    Casual dining
    Romantic vibe

    Second time being here, the food and service are consistently good. We ordered mostly hand rolls…read moreand the quality is just impeccable. My favorites are : Oyster shooter with Sake Unagi roll, Blue crab roll (no truffles) Spicy tuna roll and of course: The chicken thigh skewers. I can't wait to come back!

    First time here! Food was good, I wish I could say the same about the service. We were told we only…read morehad 30 minutes to eat since we had no reservation, totally fair. However, in the 30 min we ate here no one showed us how to order, no one checked up on us during our meal, and we weren't even properly seated. We were just told to sit at certain numbers. I totally understand a busy restaurant and the hustle as I've been in food service myself, however, there's no need to treat customers with a cold shoulder for not having a reservation. We finished within the 30 minutes no problem. However, if I knew service was going to be cold and not friendly, we would rather just be turned down. Had we've been shown how to properly order, been lead to our spots at the restaurant, told us what's recommended at this restaurant and even a simple check in during our quick meal, all would've been well. On the bright side, the rolls are super fresh and delicious. Will not be returning due to the lack of hospitality this place has.

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    Nori Bar - Counter very clean

    Counter very clean

    Nori Bar - Take out set roll box. Available for 4,5 and 6 roll sets.

    Take out set roll box. Available for 4,5 and 6 roll sets.

    Nori Bar - Try our specialty hand rolls!

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    Doraku Sushi Waikiki - Royal Hawaiian Center - Sashimi 8

    Doraku Sushi Waikiki - Royal Hawaiian Center

    3.8(3.6k reviews)
    0.2 mi•Waikiki
    •$$$

    Doraku has one of my favorite happy hours from 4-6pm everyday. I recently came by with some friends…read moreto catch up and talk story, and Doraku is the perfect spot for that. I love their small shared plates (especially during happy hour)! Craft cocktails are $4 off and my favorite is their lychee martini or the smoky negroni. On the happy hour for food, my favorites are the salmon carpaccio, spicy salmon handroll, agedashi tofu, shishito peppers, and the chicken karaage. Other must-haves are the hamachi garlic roll and misoyaki butterfish. I love the ambiance here and the service is always great too.

    Oh man... I'm sorry to say I was not impressed. While we were seated right away service was slow…read moreand though the food was beautiful and fresh it wasn't delicious (we would have rather had delicious sushi at a $ or $$ place instead of mediocre fancy looking sushi at this $$$ place). I also don't understand how Yelp lists this place as a "good for kids". It's not. There wasn't a kids' menu and the dishes were not kid-palate friendly (other than maybe the basic California style hand roll). For example, the fried tofu had shredded ginger on top that permeated the dish and the karaage had a very mild (but present!) note of spice that reminded me a bit of buffalo sauce. Our waiter didn't even give us a heads up or point us in the direction of any dishes to consider for the kids (surely we must not be the only family who has brought kids to this restaurant). Lastly, I understand that the tempura brownie is popular but after tasting the "tempura" on the tofu I'm sure the brownie is just the star that shines through. The "tempura" on the tofu was gummy and not the authentic Japanese tempura we are used to (my husband, who is part Japanese, said to me "What is this?! Cornstarch?"). This is probably a great restaurant for drinks and hanging out with some adult friends but the rolls and appetizers were just not to our tastes. We were also sat outside when the restaurant was near empty inside and out (we went around 4PM) and it was a hot day (though the AC wasn't particularly cool enough for my preference inside either).

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    Doraku Sushi Waikiki - Royal Hawaiian Center - Interior + Edamame

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    Doraku Sushi Waikiki - Royal Hawaiian Center - Green Salad

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    Sushi Ginza Onodera

    Sushi Ginza Onodera

    4.6(279 reviews)
    1.2 mi
    •$$$$
    Luxury
    Free parking

    Did the lunch omakase with a friend. The service was very nice, very quiet space with subdued…read moreambiance. It was challenging to get through all of the courses, but I succeeded. There were standouts and overall we loved the meal. A local id gets the 10% service fee removed which was nice. I would recommend the $150 lunch omakase - I don't think the $50 abalone dish was worth the upgrade.

    Had an amazing omakase experience at Sushi Ginza Onodera. The staff were incredibly friendly and…read moreattentive, which made the whole experience feel welcoming rather than overly formal. Every piece of sushi was beautifully presented not overwhelming. You can really tell the chefs put a lot of thought into the balance of flavors and textures. One of my favorite bites was a sashimi piece topped with something that looked like finely grated cheese (not sure what it actually was), but it melted perfectly with the fish and added a really unique savory flavor. The chefs and staff also had a good sense of humor. At one point they served kinki fish and jokingly explained that the English translation sometimes gets called "idiot fish," which got everyone laughing at the counter. The omakase is definitely on the pricier side, but the quality, presentation, and overall experience made it very satisfying. If you're looking for a refined sushi experience with great service and beautifully crafted bites, this place is worth the splurge.

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    Sushi Ginza Onodera
    Sushi Ginza Onodera
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    The Kini Room - hawaiian - Updated September 2026

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