On Thursday, November 29, I went to Ninniku-ya for dinner in honor of my birthday. Our reservation was at 6:30 p.m. I have heard really good things about this restaurant from a few of my friends. Basically, everyone who's told me they went there, liked it.
I tried to do some research on this place prior to going there, but finding information was a little difficult. Because it's kind of a boutique restaurant, there's no website or online menu. I did find reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp. Strangely enough, Trip Advisor contained mainly negative reviews, while Yelp reviews were mostly positive. Generally, I find reviews on these two sites to be fairly consistent with each other. That worried me a bit! However, while I find Trip Advisor helpful, I always take those reviews with a grain of salt because I've felt that the people who post there tend to be whiners who complain about every little thing. The reviewers on Yelp tend to be a little more fair and balanced, and for food reviews, I prefer Yelp.
So if you haven't heard by now, everything at Ninniku-ya is about garlic. "Ninniku" means garlic. "Ya" is used at the end of a word to indicate a shop, restaurant, or some type of business. For example, "Panya" is a bread shop or restaurant, "pan" meaning bread. Be prepared to smell like garlic for a while, although I didn't feel it was as bad as my friends warned me about (but who knows, maybe I just couldn't smell myself!).
The restaurant is located on Waialae Avenue, on the mauka side, across from the Kaimuki Shopping Center (the one with Times and Longs). You've probably noticed the blue Christmas tree lights wrapped around the trees outside. There is parking, but it can be a little tricky to find. If you're going down Waialae, with the restaurant to your right, there is an "additional parking" sign located just before the restaurant, which is where we parked. There's a little parking lot with approximately 8 parking stalls located behind some houses. You'll see the restaurant's main parking adjacent to it. The main parking is located directly behind Ninniku-ya, which is actually a house transformed into a restaurant. The main parking can be accessed from a narrow driveway right after the house. I think there was also another additional parking lot after that as well. While some people complained about the parking, I didn't find it a problem, and it seemed adequate for the amount of tables they have.
The restaurant can be accessed either from the front or the back of the house. We entered through the front on Waialae Ave., but we left out the back, which leads you directly to the parking lot. If you parked in the alternate parking to the right of the restaurant, you can cut through the parking lot to get there.
There are different types of seating areas here. In the house, the lighting is better, although some of the reviews say it gets hot and stuffy in there, since the kitchen is also in the house. There are also several types of outdoor seating in the front of the house. One part is up the stairs at the same level as the indoor seating. It reminds me of a porch or covered lanai. At the bottom of the stairs, to the right as you enter, is another covered area, kind of like a patio. It looks like it was designed for a small private party -- we saw a party of about 10 sitting at a table there. To the left is another area that is kind of like a garden, which is where we were seated. There is no roof, but there are very large umbrellas. This is probably the least well-lit area, so I can see some people having some issues here, although I kind of liked it. There were some plants that were adjacent to our table (like, our table was touching the planter), which scared me a little because of my fear of geckos. There was also a little pond with fish in it next to us, and my dining partner saw a toad appear. Toads are okay -- anything but a gecko!
The table was a bit small for two people, given their serving style, which I'll explain in a bit. I liked that there were two waiters serving us. They were fairly attentive, and while I wouldn't consider it exceptional service, I thought it was above average. My only very minor complaint was that they weren't great at keeping iced teas filled, but were prompt when asked.
We had iced teas, and I also had a glass of wine. We started our meal by sharing a Caesar salad. Unless you are ravenous or you're not eating an entree, don't even think about eating a Caesar salad by yourself! This was perfect for sharing. I think it cost about $10. There is a generous serving of chopped romaine lettuce, one boiled egg quartered, two big slices of prosciutto on top, and the best garlic croutons I've ever had! It was obvious that the croutons were made fresh, since they were still a little warm and toasty. The dressing was nice, kind of on the lemony side, and not too heavy. I could make a meal out of that salad.
Next, we ordered the garlic toast, which a lot of the reviews rave about. I like to call it a "heart attack on a plate." It was SOOO good! I think this cost about $6, and the presentation of this was kind of interesting. There was a bunch of oil, butter, garlic, and tomatoes on the plate, and there were two bread "pillars" that were standing upright. Some of the garlic mixture was on top of each of the pillars, and the server kind of shoved the mixture down into the bread, and left the rest to us. Again, this was perfect for two people, and I actually kind of overstuffed myself on this one because it was so good! The outside was nice and crusty, and the inside nice and soft. It soaked up the garlic and oil perfectly, so that every bite tasted yummy! I cut my pillar into pieces and would dip it back into the main plate to soak up more of the flavor.
Ninniku-ya has a variety of entrees to choose from, but are primarily pastas, some seafood, and steaks. They also have lamb, which I saw someone at the table next to us eating. The reviews on the pastas aren't that great, and the restaurant seems to be known mainly for their steaks. We had a New York strip and a rib eye. Both were about 16 oz., and we really could have just shared one. The steaks run about $34-$38 depending on the cut. The presentation of this is very unique. And you don't order your steak to a particular level of done-ness. The steaks are all prepared rare in the kitchen, then brought out to you on a sizzling platter. Both of our steaks and a huge mound of roasted garlic were on one hot "stone," as they call it, along with garlic mashed potatoes and a few slices of zucchini and baby tomatoes cut in halves (we each got a full ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes, and 3 slices of zucchini topped with the half tomatoes). They cut the steaks into big chunks, I think about 5 pieces each steak.
Although we were given instructions on the steaks, I wished I had paid better attention to the steak. I prefer mine medium rare, while my dining partner prefers his more well done. I tried to take one off immediately after the waiter left, but it wasn't cooked enough to have that nice charred outside. The stone further cooks the steak for a good 10 minutes. In retrospect, I would (a) leave the steak on the stone longer before taking it off; (b) turned the steak once to get it charred nicely on both sides; and (c) take all of the steak off the stone once it was ready to my desired done-ness. I ended up leaving some of the steak pieces on too long.
But, those complaints are all my doing, and nothing to complain to the restaurant about. The steaks themselves were seasoned perfectly, and were quite tasty. They provide 3 different sauces for the steaks, but the sauces really aren't necessary. As for the sides, they weren't bad, but nothing special either. I kind of wished I had ordered the garlic rice, which received good reviews. But, we really didn't need the sides after the salad and the toast. We ended up with a huge container full of our mashed potatoes, zucchini, and leftover steak.
And, I felt like because it was my birthday, we needed to have dessert, so we shared a chocolate decadence cake with was REALLY good and lived up to its name! They also had some interesting desserts including a garlic gelato. They also had a lavendar gelato which sounded interesting.
Some of the complaints in the reviews I read said that service takes forever, but I felt like it was fine. The only time I felt that things could have been sped up a bit was when we were pretty much done eating our meal. We sat there for a while before we were offered a box. Otherwise, I thought the servers were great at taking away dishes and checking on us to make sure we were okay. They even offered to bring out another hot stone in case we wanted our steaks to be cooked more. I think our dinner took a total of about 2 hours at most. The pace between courses was perfect, and aside from waiting after finishing our entrees, we weren't sitting around twiddling our thumbs. Not hurried, but not too slow either.
Overall, I thought this restaurant was great, and wouldn't hesitate to return. The next time, I would consider ordering something smaller, like the filet mignon, and ordering the garlic rice. I would also like to try their gelato for dessert. If you prefer indoor or outdoor seating, you might want to mention it when making a reservation. When we got there, it wasn't very crowded, but at around 7:30 or so, the tables were pretty full. And remember, this might not be the greatest place for a first date, given the garlic factor. But oh, it's so good!
Ninniku-Ya
3196 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 735-0784
I tried to do some research on this place prior to going there, but finding information was a little difficult. Because it's kind of a boutique restaurant, there's no website or online menu. I did find reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp. Strangely enough, Trip Advisor contained mainly negative reviews, while Yelp reviews were mostly positive. Generally, I find reviews on these two sites to be fairly consistent with each other. That worried me a bit! However, while I find Trip Advisor helpful, I always take those reviews with a grain of salt because I've felt that the people who post there tend to be whiners who complain about every little thing. The reviewers on Yelp tend to be a little more fair and balanced, and for food reviews, I prefer Yelp.
So if you haven't heard by now, everything at Ninniku-ya is about garlic. "Ninniku" means garlic. "Ya" is used at the end of a word to indicate a shop, restaurant, or some type of business. For example, "Panya" is a bread shop or restaurant, "pan" meaning bread. Be prepared to smell like garlic for a while, although I didn't feel it was as bad as my friends warned me about (but who knows, maybe I just couldn't smell myself!).
The restaurant is located on Waialae Avenue, on the mauka side, across from the Kaimuki Shopping Center (the one with Times and Longs). You've probably noticed the blue Christmas tree lights wrapped around the trees outside. There is parking, but it can be a little tricky to find. If you're going down Waialae, with the restaurant to your right, there is an "additional parking" sign located just before the restaurant, which is where we parked. There's a little parking lot with approximately 8 parking stalls located behind some houses. You'll see the restaurant's main parking adjacent to it. The main parking is located directly behind Ninniku-ya, which is actually a house transformed into a restaurant. The main parking can be accessed from a narrow driveway right after the house. I think there was also another additional parking lot after that as well. While some people complained about the parking, I didn't find it a problem, and it seemed adequate for the amount of tables they have.
The restaurant can be accessed either from the front or the back of the house. We entered through the front on Waialae Ave., but we left out the back, which leads you directly to the parking lot. If you parked in the alternate parking to the right of the restaurant, you can cut through the parking lot to get there.
There are different types of seating areas here. In the house, the lighting is better, although some of the reviews say it gets hot and stuffy in there, since the kitchen is also in the house. There are also several types of outdoor seating in the front of the house. One part is up the stairs at the same level as the indoor seating. It reminds me of a porch or covered lanai. At the bottom of the stairs, to the right as you enter, is another covered area, kind of like a patio. It looks like it was designed for a small private party -- we saw a party of about 10 sitting at a table there. To the left is another area that is kind of like a garden, which is where we were seated. There is no roof, but there are very large umbrellas. This is probably the least well-lit area, so I can see some people having some issues here, although I kind of liked it. There were some plants that were adjacent to our table (like, our table was touching the planter), which scared me a little because of my fear of geckos. There was also a little pond with fish in it next to us, and my dining partner saw a toad appear. Toads are okay -- anything but a gecko!
The table was a bit small for two people, given their serving style, which I'll explain in a bit. I liked that there were two waiters serving us. They were fairly attentive, and while I wouldn't consider it exceptional service, I thought it was above average. My only very minor complaint was that they weren't great at keeping iced teas filled, but were prompt when asked.
We had iced teas, and I also had a glass of wine. We started our meal by sharing a Caesar salad. Unless you are ravenous or you're not eating an entree, don't even think about eating a Caesar salad by yourself! This was perfect for sharing. I think it cost about $10. There is a generous serving of chopped romaine lettuce, one boiled egg quartered, two big slices of prosciutto on top, and the best garlic croutons I've ever had! It was obvious that the croutons were made fresh, since they were still a little warm and toasty. The dressing was nice, kind of on the lemony side, and not too heavy. I could make a meal out of that salad.
Next, we ordered the garlic toast, which a lot of the reviews rave about. I like to call it a "heart attack on a plate." It was SOOO good! I think this cost about $6, and the presentation of this was kind of interesting. There was a bunch of oil, butter, garlic, and tomatoes on the plate, and there were two bread "pillars" that were standing upright. Some of the garlic mixture was on top of each of the pillars, and the server kind of shoved the mixture down into the bread, and left the rest to us. Again, this was perfect for two people, and I actually kind of overstuffed myself on this one because it was so good! The outside was nice and crusty, and the inside nice and soft. It soaked up the garlic and oil perfectly, so that every bite tasted yummy! I cut my pillar into pieces and would dip it back into the main plate to soak up more of the flavor.
Ninniku-ya has a variety of entrees to choose from, but are primarily pastas, some seafood, and steaks. They also have lamb, which I saw someone at the table next to us eating. The reviews on the pastas aren't that great, and the restaurant seems to be known mainly for their steaks. We had a New York strip and a rib eye. Both were about 16 oz., and we really could have just shared one. The steaks run about $34-$38 depending on the cut. The presentation of this is very unique. And you don't order your steak to a particular level of done-ness. The steaks are all prepared rare in the kitchen, then brought out to you on a sizzling platter. Both of our steaks and a huge mound of roasted garlic were on one hot "stone," as they call it, along with garlic mashed potatoes and a few slices of zucchini and baby tomatoes cut in halves (we each got a full ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes, and 3 slices of zucchini topped with the half tomatoes). They cut the steaks into big chunks, I think about 5 pieces each steak.
Although we were given instructions on the steaks, I wished I had paid better attention to the steak. I prefer mine medium rare, while my dining partner prefers his more well done. I tried to take one off immediately after the waiter left, but it wasn't cooked enough to have that nice charred outside. The stone further cooks the steak for a good 10 minutes. In retrospect, I would (a) leave the steak on the stone longer before taking it off; (b) turned the steak once to get it charred nicely on both sides; and (c) take all of the steak off the stone once it was ready to my desired done-ness. I ended up leaving some of the steak pieces on too long.
But, those complaints are all my doing, and nothing to complain to the restaurant about. The steaks themselves were seasoned perfectly, and were quite tasty. They provide 3 different sauces for the steaks, but the sauces really aren't necessary. As for the sides, they weren't bad, but nothing special either. I kind of wished I had ordered the garlic rice, which received good reviews. But, we really didn't need the sides after the salad and the toast. We ended up with a huge container full of our mashed potatoes, zucchini, and leftover steak.
And, I felt like because it was my birthday, we needed to have dessert, so we shared a chocolate decadence cake with was REALLY good and lived up to its name! They also had some interesting desserts including a garlic gelato. They also had a lavendar gelato which sounded interesting.
Some of the complaints in the reviews I read said that service takes forever, but I felt like it was fine. The only time I felt that things could have been sped up a bit was when we were pretty much done eating our meal. We sat there for a while before we were offered a box. Otherwise, I thought the servers were great at taking away dishes and checking on us to make sure we were okay. They even offered to bring out another hot stone in case we wanted our steaks to be cooked more. I think our dinner took a total of about 2 hours at most. The pace between courses was perfect, and aside from waiting after finishing our entrees, we weren't sitting around twiddling our thumbs. Not hurried, but not too slow either.
Overall, I thought this restaurant was great, and wouldn't hesitate to return. The next time, I would consider ordering something smaller, like the filet mignon, and ordering the garlic rice. I would also like to try their gelato for dessert. If you prefer indoor or outdoor seating, you might want to mention it when making a reservation. When we got there, it wasn't very crowded, but at around 7:30 or so, the tables were pretty full. And remember, this might not be the greatest place for a first date, given the garlic factor. But oh, it's so good!
Ninniku-Ya
3196 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 735-0784
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