Teishoku That Trascends

Sushi Teishoku ($63.75)

With a wide selection of authentic Japanese dishes, Rinka Japanese Restaurant will have customers going home satisfied and smiling. The restaurant opened in March 2013 and has continued to provide meals of the same taste and high quality over the years.

Rinka’s concept came about through a need to bring Japanese flavors to Hawaii. Located in Ward Village, the restaurant also offers a private event space for special occasions such as family gatherings and business dinners.

Rinka prides itself on its variety of teishoku — translating to “meal set” — offerings. Teishoku are typically served on a tray or platter, and are more commonly found during lunch or dinner. Manager Midori Omura shares more about Rinka and these delicious balanced meals.

DO: How would you describe the ambiance of the restaurant? MO: The restaurant has a modern and open space. It depends on the weather, but the patio seats are also very comfortable in the shade on sunny days.

DO: What are five of your bestselling dishes?

MO: One of our bestelling dishes is the Misoyaki Butterfish Teishoku ($45.75), which comes with miso-marinated butter-fish, tempura, sashimi, salad, udon, pickled vegetables and rice. Another popular dinner option is the Crab and Ikura Chawanmushi ($8.75), comprised of a special combination of snow crab and ikura. For a meat option, there is the Chicken Karaage ($11.75), which features house-marinated chicken with a special seasoning.

A popular sushi roll is the Spicy Salmon R&R ($24.75), and this includes spicy tuna wrapped inside and salmon and avocado on top. The spicy mayonnaise and the sweetness and saltiness of the eel sauce is an addictive combination. Plus, the fried onions balance out the texture.

As for dessert, my favorite dish is the Strawberry Pudding ($6.75). This features our homemade creamy pudding. We also have two kinds of sauce — one is a fresh strawberry sauce and the other is a thick, bittersweet caramel sauce.

DO: What items are unique to Rinka?

MO: The Black Sesame Tofu ($12.75) is a unique item to Rinka. Everybody might know black sesame tofu as coming from a package at a grocery store. However, ours is housemade and combines well with the flavors of uni and wasabi with sprinkled nori on top.

DO: Do you have any current or upcoming specials?

MO: We have a variety of teishoku menus, especially a Wagyu Shabu-Shabu Teishoku ($63.75) offered only in May. We have had Wagyu Sukiyaki for Two ($79.75) before, but this is the first time we’ve served it with paper pot, which is regularly used in Japan. We would like to share this special experience of eating hot pot in Japan (with our Hawaii customers). There is also the Wagyu Sukiyaki Teishoku ($59.75).