gaku sushi izakaya

gaku sushi izakaya is a little difficult to find, especially at night.  it's located on a one-way street, so it can be easy to miss.  if you are driving, there is a small parking lot in the back of the restaurant.  upon entering, we were enthusiastically greeted in the traditional "irasshaimase!!!" by the staff and the sushi chefs.  despite it looking deserted outside, the restaurant was busting at the seams with happy, boisterous patrons.  the energy in this place was amazing!  we were promptly seated at a corner table and were given the menu.

the menu itself has a positively intimidating selection of sushi, sashimi, authenticjapanesemeals, and more.  it also seemed endless, to be honest.  i also noticed that the diversity of their alcohol were predominantly from japan and that they pair excellently with fish textures and types (i.e. cooked fish, raw sashimi).  our server was a young man who was very attentive and eager to help.  we came to gaku after seeing a recommendation to try their omakase style ("i'll leave it to you, chef"), which they had different versions of.  after taking our server's advice, we ended up ordering the omakase sashimi dinner, the moi yaki cooked fish, a side order of sushi rice, and the "iki" drink to pair with the sashimi. the meals arrived after a decent amount of time (about an hour?), but, for some reason, i felt it was a lot shorter so i did not mind the wait.  

the omakase sashimi dinner came out with beautiful colors and presentation.  our favorite pieces were the toro and tuna; these tasted the freshest and melted in our mouths so delicately.  the others were good too, but we enjoyed the flavors and cuts of the tunas better.  the iki drink, despite being sneaky, strong drink, had excellent crisp and fruity flavors that paired nicely with our meal. the moi yaki was also a very delicious surprise; the fish was cooked in its full integrity and seriously had a flaking, butter texture that melted in our mouths deliciously as well.  if you order this, i suggest ordering a side of sushi rice - it completes the meal in my opinion.  

unfortunately, what ruined our experience was that after we were served the food, we seemed to have been forgotten and didn't leave for another hour, approaching an hour and a half from the time we were done with our meal to the time we were able to pay for ticket (even after catching the server and asking for the ticket several times).  that ending left a sour taste to our experience, but even with our large bill (with just the 4 items our dinner cost $84.82 without tip), long waiting times, and end service, gaku sushi izakaya still deserves at least a 4.0 rating for its originality that pays homage to thejapanesecuisine and the boisterous energy in the air from its chefs and patrons.

tip #1:  the sushi chefs seemed very passionate and were always beaming with positive energy.  if you can, i recommend following mr. bradshaw's tip - sit at the sushi bar and watch them in action.

this meal, was one of the bestjapanesemeals i have ever eaten. everything was just so good – all the tastes were spot on – portions were the right amount. i have no complaints.

really, i could put nearly anything we had at gaku up here and feel comfortable. the whole meal, no matter what we ordered, was flawlessly fresh and perfectly presented. uni happens to be one of my favorite foods, so it was the winner. sitting at the sushi bar, we spent most of the time watching what went out and pointing at what looked good, as well as soliciting excellent recommendations from our server and chef. we were led to local fish like moi, which i’d never heard of, andjapanesespecialties like something called tofu jelly, which i simply had never tried. if you have one dinner to spare on oahu, you will not regret spending it at gaku. reservations are hard to come by, but we headed over at 7:30 and only waited about 30 minutes for a spot.

best traditionaljapanesein honolulu. definitely a hidden gem recommended to us by a nice chattyjapanesewaitress at a totally different restaurant, and a place frequented by the localjapanesecrowd. went for dinner may 2010 - we initially felt a bit out of place as customers in the small bar with a few dark wood tables were primarily japanese, however, we were soon put at ease by the excellent service facilitated by the english speaking caucasian host and one of the chefs working in the open kitchen/bar assigned to us as we were seated at the bar. giving free rein to the chef, he created an excellent menu, choosing to prepare dishes made with our input on taste preferences, whatever seafood was present that night as well as a few of their house specials. the spiced hamachi paste with quail egg was especially memorable as it combined the richness of quail egg yolk with hints of acidity and spicy peppers that never seemed to overwhelm the subtle sweetness of the hamachi. mixing it all together and spreading it on small pieces of roasted nori added an element of interaction and play with your food.

there was an elderly gentleman who was celebrating his birthday, and our chef who was happily explaining different elements of whatever dishes he was happening to be preparing for other tables, took time to make a gorgeous plated mango pudding and fruit platter au gratis for the birthday boy. his knife skills were amazing as he deftly cut up a blueberry into 5-6 slices amidst other fruits and arranged the dessert into a piece of art.

if you're only going to try one item on their menu, you must have a piece of their seared o-toro nigiri. pure pure bliss.

with amazing service, super friendly staff (despite language barriers), i was truly sad i didn't discover gaku earlier and was only able to have one incredible meal before heading home to canada. then again, if i ate there everyday day, i'd be happily broke. thank you again chef hedecki and the other 2 sushi masters for a truly amazing gastronomical experience!! (and i'm sorry i probably horribly misspelled your name) definitely will be heading back soon!