Before doing our Christmas gift exchanges and returns (apparently some relatives feel I've lost weight, others feel I've put on more than I actually have), we decided to have lunch at Rokkaku at the Ala Moana Center. As the sister restaurant to Tokyo's Yukimura where diners wait up to 2 months to shell out several hundred per meal, the clientele since opening still seems mainly Japanese nationals either working in or visiting Hawaii. The decor is similiar to any fine Japanese restaurant in the Waikiki area.
I started lunch with a "mixed" cocktail, actually the Daiginjo sake sampler consisting of three different sake. Daiginjo sake is the top tier of the sake hierarchy above both Ginjo and Junmai with the rice grains polished to at least 50% of their original size before steaming (some Daiginjo producers polish off more than 70% of the grain for a pure starch grain). Of the Kokuryu "Kyu", the Masumi "Nanago" and the Tedorigawa "Yamahai", I enjoyed the Masumi Nanago the most. It had a nice perfumy nose with white flowers, papaya and a touch of lime like most Daiginjo but enough body to leave a nice finish on the palate.
Lunch started with the house salad with a light ume flavored dressing then progressed to the main course. The Mrs selected the Spicy Chicken Nabe while I had the Beef Tongue Curry. My curry was beyond words... 3 large cubes of simmered beef tongue that was so tender you didn't need teeth to enjoy it. They were sitting on potato mash surrounded by mixed vegetables and topped with strips of deep fried... something. But the crunch of that "something" nicely contrasted the velvety texture of the tongue. The Mrs enjoyed her nabe which had quite a few pieces of chicken sunken on the bottom of the nabe - I didn't try her dish since spicy foods tend to make me perspire and since I was donning my Montecristi, I didn't want to imbed sweat stains into the hatband. Both selections also included miso soup, assorted pickled vegetables and rice - we both chose the multi-grain rice which was very good on its own.
We plan on returning again since this is the restaurant where I had the BEST Loco Moco to date. A Kobe beef patty nicely charred on the outside and medium rare on the inside with a thick brown gravy that wasn't too salty and perfectly cooked sunny side eggs. Unfortunately it was a special item (probably only served when enough Kobe beef scraps are lying around from some dinner special). And of course it didn't cost us several hundred to dine.
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