Beef Up Your Lunch

Red-wine Braised Beef ($13)

story by MARIA KANAI

Whether at a casual backyard barbecue or a fancy restaurant, something about charring your own meat over high heat appeals to our carnivorous sides. At Japanese B.B.Q. Yoshi, yakiniku’s (Japanese for “grilled meat”) simple concept of cooking meats is taken to a new level of upscale delicious. The restaurant is renowned for serving prized A5-grade cuts of Miyazaki wagyu beef — the highest grade of Japanese beef from cattle raised on premium feed — as well as gold-grade U.S. wagyu beef.

After hitting its first anniversary in February, Yoshi’s is introducing a new takeout menu for lunch, serving exclusive dishes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.

Starting April 1, customers can enjoy meals made up of premium portions of meat, a variety of sides and fresh vegetables.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken ($11)

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Restaurant supervisor Mason Kiyomoto-Isara says, “Our lunch menu will start out as a soft opening, since we want to see what kind of response we get from customers. We’re known for high-quality meats, so we definitely don’t want to skimp on that quality during lunch.”

As of now, the restaurant’s takeout lunch menu is kept on a simple rotation of four dishes currently not available on the dinner menu. Try Red-wine Braised Beef ($13), short ribs flown from Omaha doused with a bacon-and-mushroom gravy and paired with vegetables and a savory bacon-and-potato salad. Chef Salad ($8) is a lighter option, with ginger-poached chicken and fresh vegetables with a chili aioli dressing, and Rosemary Lemon Chicken ($11) serves up sautéed chicken cooked to tender perfection with ginger and tomato.

Pork Kimchee Bowl ($10)

Pork Kimchee Bowl ($10) is sure to be a crowd favorite, with a bed of rice topped with gourmet Kurobuta pork belly, onions, kimchee, nori (Japanese seaweed) and an egg cooked to your liking. Customers can call 784-0067 to make an order, then pick up their food at the restaurant on Young Street.

Kitchen manager Ryan Lai says, “We put a lot of thought into our lunch menu because we know that if the food is too heavy, folks are going to come, eat and fall asleep at work. We made sure the portions are not overly filling, and each meal comes with a healthy amount of protein, vegetables and carbs.”

Meat connoisseurs will be happy to hear that Japanese B.B.Q. Yoshi’s regular dinner and happy hour menus also will be tweaked and updated in April, with details soon to be announced. “Now that the restaurant has passed its first-year mark, we want to make sure our menus are updated accordingly … and we will, of course, continue to have the same quality and service that we have,” says Kiyomoto-Isara. “That’s what sets us apart from other yakiniku restaurants — everything from the customer service to the quality works together as a whole.”

Japanese B.B.Q. Yoshi

1316 Young St., Honolulu
784-0067
Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Dinner: Sunday – Thursday, 5:30-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 5:30 p.m. – 1 a.m.