Casually dine or extravagantly celebrate

If you need a little creative inspiration this holiday season as you consider your shopping list, you’ll be delighted to hear that Shokudo Japanese Restaurant and Bar is offering gift cards — with a little bonus for you, too.

Handsomely printed with Shokudo’s distinctive logo, the cards make fine gifts for your favorite gourmets and gourmands. Gift amounts are preloaded onto cards in any denomination or amount that you like. And for every $100 purchased in cards, you’ll receive a $15 gift certificate that you can use on your next visit to Shokudo. The gift cards have no expiration date, but $15 certificates must be used before the end of 2019.

Famed for delectable Japanese fusion comfort food inspired by Chinese, Korean, Italian and French cuisine, Shokudo welcomes family celebrations, office parties and corporate events. Its Kapiolani Boulevard location, near Ala Moana Center, is spacious and upscale with modern, friendly decor. With a variety of unique party packages, onsite catering, and personal sushi chefs, Shokudo is a fabulous place for parties of all sizes.

“We’ve hosted parties with up to 100 guests before, and we also do buyouts of the entire restaurant, for 200 seats,” says general manager Ryan Ko. “We can also do catering pickup orders for holiday parties; we customize the menu to the party, and there’s no minimum order.”

No matter what sort of holiday or milestone you celebrate with Shokudo, your guests will love the fusion cuisine that flows from its creative kitchen. Sushi pizza, lobster dynamite, sukiyaki bibimbap, and 60 other dishes and plates provide a wonderful palette with which you can paint a lovely holiday feast for your family and friends. Shokudo also offers a fully stocked bar with a variety of beer, wine, shochu, sake and specialty drinks.

And don’t forget dessert! There are several on the menu, but don’t be surprised if your guests opt to try Shokudo’s world-famous Honey Toast, a tower of deliciousness that begins a loaf of white bread, carefully hollowed out and cubed. The cubes are toasted, placed back into the hollowed-out loaf, drizzled with plenty of honey and topped with vanilla ice cream.

HONEY TOAST ($9)

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Shokudo is rightly famous for its Honey Toast. This unique dessert earned the restaurant so much fame that the owners decided to trademark its name in 2009. It’s a spectacular ending for any meal. Add toppings like hot fudge, salted caramel banana, sweet red bean, or Kona coffee for $2 each; upgrade to Maui Roselani’s scrumptious vanilla ice cream for $3, or Matcha Green Tea, Cookies & Cream, or Kona Coffee ice cream for $4.

LIFE OF THE PARTY

With the holidays approaching fast, Shokudo is gearing up to host a plethora of parties, perhaps even yours! No matter who you’re planning to entertain, this is a wonderful setting for a gathering. Shokudo offers a friendly, comfortable, upscale venue for parties of all sizes, and a menu of mouthwatering Japanese fusion comfort food inspired by Chinese, Korean, Italian and French cuisine.

ONE TASTY GIFT

Give the gift of Shokudo to everybody on your gift list, and treat yourself at the same time! For every $100 in gift cards that you purchase this holiday season, you’ll receive a $15 gift certificate that you can use on your next visit. Printed with Shokudo’s unique and handsome logo, gift cards have no expiration date, but the $15 certificates must be used before the end of 2019.