Asahi Grill: A Hot Spot of Local Flavors

July 29, 2012 By Kelli Shiroma Photos By Leah Friel

Asahi Grill, a homey local eatery located on Ward Avenue, is constantly bustling with activity. Friendly conversations can be heard among diners, while new customers are greeted warmly upon entry. According to manager Victoria Sayno, Asahi Grill is popular and well known among locals and tourists alike because of both its food and friendly customer service. The eatery opened Feb. 16, 2007 and continues to be a hot spot for local-style breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“We have a lot of tourists from Japan, Taiwan and from the Mainland, but we have a lot of locals, too,” Sayno says. “They know about the food because the food is really good.”

Asahi Grill is renowned for its famous Oxtail Soup ($12.95), which is its signature dish, according to Sayno.

“The Oxtail Soup is a hybrid of old and new,” she explains. “The Oxtail Soup is a recipe from Kapiolani Coffee Shop (where a lot of us at Asahi Grill worked previously) and has been re-created for the diners at Asahi Grill. It’s one of our top-selling dishes.”

Besides its famous Oxtail Soup, Asahi Grill also is known for other local favorites, including Chopped Steak ($8.25) — tender beef stir-fried with vegetables in a savory sauce — Loco Moco with Brown Gravy ($8.95), a homemade hamburger patty with two eggs and smothered with gravy; and three different types of fried rice.

“We have the Portuguese Fried Rice with Two Eggs ($6.75, $5.25 small order with one egg), Lup Cheong Fried Rice ($7.25, $5.75 small order) and the Kim Chee Fried Rice ($7.25, $5.75 small order),” Sayno says.

Two salads also are increasingly popular at Asahi Grill: Asahi Salad ($9.95), a medley of fresh romaine lettuce, shrimp, cucumber, tofu and avocado with soy dressing, and Soft Shell Crab Salad ($11.25), a mixture of fresh romaine lettuce topped with soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado and tobiko. Asahi Grill also features a number of daily specials, including Pot Roast Beef ($9.95) and Sweet Sour Spare Ribs ($8.75) on Sundays, and Roast Turkey ($8.75) and Tripe Stew ($8.50) on Wednesdays.

Besides its popular local favorites that are served all day, customers are sure to find delicious dishes on Asahi Grill’s breakfast menu.

“Our No. 1 best-seller for breakfast is the Asahi Breakfast ($9.50), which comes with tossed salad, miso soup, rice (we have brown rice available) and a choice of mahi mahi, salmon/saba or opakapaka,” says Sayno. “Our Banana Hotcakes ($6.25, $4.75 half-order) also are popular.”

Sayno explains that Asahi Grill is currently promoting its Early Bird Special from 6:30 to 10 a.m., featuring Mini Island Breakfast ($5) — morning meat with one scoop of rice and one egg — as well as Hotcake (one piece) and Egg ($4) breakfast.

Besides its dine-in menu, Asahi Grill also offers takeout and catering services to its customers. Items on Asahi Grill’s Catering menu include local favorites such as Garlic Chicken ($35 small, $65 large), Shrimp Tempura ($70 small, $110 large), Hamburger Patti ($55 small, $85 large) and Fried Rice ($40 small, $65 large).

While regular items on the eatery’s menu — such as Oxtail Soup — are often customer favorites, Sayno says that Asahi Grill is planning to expand its menu in the future to include more dishes. New menu items currently include Teriyaki Pork Chops ($9.50) and Special Steamed Fish ($9.50).

“Teriyaki Pork Chops is a really good menu item right now,” says Sayno. “I think we’re planning to add more dishes later on … like Filipino dishes; we’ve already added the Steamed Fish, which is a Chinese dish.”