No Reservations

A spontaneous visit to Shokudo Japanese Restaurant & Bar

My first visit to Shokudo Japanese Restaurant & Bar in May of last year was one of the most frustrating dining experiences I’d had in recent memory. The restaurant, located on the edge of Ala Moana Center, along Kapiolani Boulevard, was only about two weeks old at the time and was requiring diners to pre-order their meals when they made their reservations. I agreed to the strange policy, but the restaurant wouldn’t fax over a menu, nor was there one posted on its Web site. Instead, I had to order blind, handwriting a long list of menu items on a piece of scratch paper. I felt like I was booking a trip to Maui with a travel agent in Tokyo.

The Soy of Cooking: Shokudo’s tofu salad is a feast for the senses. photo: Jimmy Forrest

A year later, I went to lunch at Shokudo with several co-workers. We didn’t pre-order. We didn’t even have a reservation. The service was helpful and efficient, and the meal turned out to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable lunches I’d had in a long while.

Much of the well-deserved buzz surrounding Shokudo revolves around the restaurant’s spectacular interior design. The place looks like a very classy Las Vegas showroom, circa 1960 or 2060.

We started our meal with two appetizers and two salads, which turned out to be the highlights of the day: Mochi Cheese Gratin ($5.75), Deep Fried Battered Tofu ($5.75), Tofu Salad ($6.75) and Seafood Salad ($7.75).

SHOKUDO JAPANESE RESTAURANT & BAR Ala Moana Pacific Center • 1585 Kapiolani Blvd. • Sunday through Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. • Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.

The mochi cheese gratin was brilliant, a perfect marriage of gooey rice cake and gooey, savory, white cheese. As a little bonus, there was a crunchy crust baked on top and a sprinkling of tasty, shredded nori.

While the deep-fried tofu was tasty—and a little messy—I preferred the fresh-made tofu that was showcased in our salad. The bean curd sat naked on a bed of field greens, but it was complemented by crispy, fried noodles, shredded nori and a smooth soy vinaigrette. The tofu was tender and smooth like custard and contrasted nicely with the crunchy noodles and greens.

Our other salad offered an entirely different look and taste. It featured small chunks of ahi and salmon assembled in a small fish tower and surrounded by a sea of greens and sliced cucumbers. It was flavored with a powerful wasabi ranch dressing that cleared my head and palette at the same time.

After munching on all these fresh, innovative dishes, the rest of the meal was almost anticlimactic ... almost. The Grilled Herb-Spiced Chicken ($8.75), served on a small hot, cast-iron pan, had a pleasingly crispy skin. However, it was a little on the salty side. The Deep-Fried Flounder ($12.75) was impressive. The fish was filleted, cut into bite-size pieces, fried and then served in the deep-fried skeleton of the flounder, which was shaped into a basket. The fish bits were served with a spicy sauce infused with grated daikon. With a very mild flavor, the pieces were tender and easy to eat. The Unagi Rice ($8.75), prepared in a hot stone bowl at tableside, was rich and luscious. The bits of eel made the rice slightly fishy and sweet. The dark-brown sauce gave it a slippery mouth feel.

As I mentioned before, it was a very pleasant meal filled with plenty of surprises. The cuisine was inventive and presented to us creatively, with a feeling of spontaneity. What a difference a year makes.

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