Gazen Izakaya is just around the corner from my home and as regular readers will know it’s a recurring theme here to stay close to home. Especially with the way traffic has been lately. It’s been around for probably over a year and we finally got around to trying it last night. When we walked up at around 6:30 we found the parking lot completely full. That’s always a good sign.

Gazen is a Japanese style pub, Izakaya. They have a full bar and it’s a cozy, warm and nicely appointed place, but not small by any means. It’s a bit loud with after work drinking and eating, but not so loud that you have to yell to others at your table. The two of us were seated between to big parties of after workers, which made for great people watching.

The menu is long and extensive and is centered on small plates. We ordered three, which was just barely enough. I could have eaten more, but didn’t need to. The kitchen got slammed right when we got there as several tables had just been seated. Consequently, they were a little slow, but our server was timely.

The first dish to arrive was the three choices of sashimi (chef’s choice). It was hamachi, ahi and snapper. They were all very fresh;

the ahi particularly buttery. The hamachi was good, but the snapper was even better. It was about $23 for this nice looking plate the best quality sashimi.

Gazen is known for their house made tofu. So, we had to order something tofu. We got the tofu steak with chicken miso sauce and it arrived next . The dish was tasty, but not extraordinary. I couldn’t tell that it was

homemade tofu, but I’m no tofu expert. The tofu had a medium firmness.

Our third dish was the deep fried scallop roll sushi. It was amazing. The took small chunks of scallop or small bay scallops and deep fried the to be the center of this roll. Also inside was asparagus, nori and probably other things I didn’t look for. Howard called this one a definite re-order. I have to agree. It came with a sauce that looked like miso, but I also like it

with soy sauce and wasabi too.

I was a bad boy, not noting the prices of each dish, but our total bill, with tip came out to $55. Not a cheap night out, but for the quality of the food it was worth it.

Gazen

2840 Kapiolani Blvd

Honolulu, HI 96806

(808) 737-0230