With the start of the new year (and New Year’s resolutions), everyone’s looking to save money and get the most bang for their buck. This series where show you where you can save while still savoring a good meal.
If you’re missing Japan or craving that authentic yakitori experience, this happy hour is right up your alley.
Chinatown-based Yakitori Hachibei’s happy hour omakase is daily from 3 to 5:30 p.m. It’s $35 for 10 courses, and diners can always add on a la carte dishes.
The regular omakase course ($65 for 13 courses) is still available and started last December, according to Ryan Ko, vice president/chief operating officer of Westman Corporation.
“For a limited time, we are offering a great omakase special at happy hour ($35),” he confirms. “The ingredients change frequently, based on what’s fresh and available. A recent addition on the grand menu is the momoyaki; it’s one of my favorites. The chicken thigh is roasted in chicken fat — similar to a confit — for a full flavor; the skin gets nice and crispy for texture, and it’s served with a small onigiri to soak up all of the delicious juices.”
For the ultimate dining experience, I recommend getting a seat at the counter so you can watch the expert chefs at work. The chefs are all from Japan and trained at the Yakitori Hachibei locations there, according to Ko.
“I didn’t realize it was such a labor of love, almost similar to training for a sushi chef,” he says. “They use fresh chicken here, which is really important. The charcoal plays a huge factor; the chefs fan it very often just to control the temperature of it. It’s very different from American charcoal.”
Ko explains that American charcoal features a certain smell and burns a lot hotter, which makes it difficult to control when cooking protein.
“We invest a lot into purchasing the right Japanese charcoal and bringing it here to cook with; that’s something I wish people would know more about,” he says. “There’s a lot less CO2 that’s emitted from this particular charcoal.”
The happy hour omakase starts with an appetizer before segueing into the grilled skewers. The ‘ahi poke was a fresh starter, but the local corn karaage stole the show. Sweet, smoky and slightly crispy, corn was never so tantalizing.
The tsukune, or chicken meatball, was one of my favorite dishes of the evening. It’s juicy and flavorful, and if you opt to add the egg yolk ($1.50), it enhances the dish’s overall savoriness.
Butabara, or pork, is another highlight of the omakase. It comes a choice of tare or shio sauce. The eatery’s tare — a dipping sauce often used for grilled meats — is also unique, according to Ko.
“The tare is really special; it’s more than 25 years old,” he says. “They start with a base and keep building it with the same recipe. Instead of dumping it, they keep mixing the old batch into the new batch. In theory, you’re getting a little bit of tare from 25 years ago, so that’s a fun fact.”
If you’re still hungry, you can order a la carte dishes (all $5.90 each). Choose from options like grilled edamame, shishito peppers with blue cheese and tako karaage. I appreciated the blue cheese flavor — which could still be stronger — and it comes in handy to combat the spice if you happen to bite into a hot pepper.
Hachibei’s regular omakase ($65 for 13 courses) is still a good deal. Some of the dishes are the same as those on the happy hour menu, while others are more elevated. For instance, the tofu comes with a miso glaze instead of a shoyu broth; mune comes with yuzu kosho instead of wasabi shoyu. This omakase also includes a vegetable of the day, along with a rice dish — a choice of Sumiyaki jidori don or oyako don.
The dessert course features black sesame pudding with Kuromitsu, or Japanese sugar syrup. The pudding has a texture similar to that of panna cotta, and the syrup gives it a nice, nutty flavor, resulting in the perfect salty-sweet treat.
If you enjoy your dining experience at the restaurant, save the date for a special dining experience coming Feb. 4 to 7.
“Yashima-san, the Hachibei founder and president from Fukuoka, will be offering a special menu,” Ko says. “It will be labeled Hachibei’s San Kyuu ($39) omakase special. It will help us celebrate Hachibei’s eighth anniversary in Honolulu and serves as a way to thank all of our patrons.”
CONTACT
Yakitori Hachibei
20 N. Hotel St., Honolulu
808-369-0088
Instagram: @yakitorihachibei_hawaii
Happy hour omakase: Daily, 3-5:30 p.m.
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
