Japanese Grandma's Cafe - Hanapepe, Hawaii

Mary C Valdez

Loved the food, service, and their live performer. We were walk-ins (didn’t have a reservation), and it was so yummy. Unfortunately, they didn’t have Japanese curry on their menu, but I really enjoyed the quality of their food. We had the green bean tempura, miso soup, agedashi tofu, Hanapēpē roll, tamago, and the chocolate & coconut gelato. Absolutely would come back again whenever we come back to Kauai.

Maria Thi Mai

The front of the restaurant is a bit deceptive as it wasn’t open despite the reservation giving us the option for indoor or outdoor dining. To access the restaurant, you have to go around the corner and down a hallway to get to the garden patio. Once there the evening lighting was welcoming. We were entertained by a solo guitarist with a nice voice. I had the sashimi wow my friend had the. Both were delicious. The salad had a nice ginger sesame dressing.

Jingxi Z

As an avid lover of Japanese cuisine, I went straight to eat here on the first day of my trip. If you were expecting authentic Japanese food…. It would be an understatement to say you would be underwhelmed by the overpriced and white washed “Japanese cuisine” being offered. $27 for a tiny poke bowl, $20+ for small rice bowls, 20+ for sushi rolls. The cold tofu appetizer tasted like store bought tofu drenched in soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, the food is fine, it’s just NOT authentic Japanese food. A bit misleading to name a restaurant Japanese Grandma’s Cafe and not have authentic Japanese food. None of the workers were even Japanese and our server kept calling the yuzu cheesecake “yo-zu”. For anyone who has ever had decent Japanese food, please keep your expectations low.

Spencer Thorpe

We came here a few years ago and just could say enough good things.

We centered our whole day our our reservation and loved the outdoor garden seating and good service. However we just didn’t find it to be as delicious as we remember. While they were very knowledgeable of the gluten free options, there didn’t seem to be a ton of sushi that was gluten free. Very very expensive but still an overall nice experience.

If you don’t get reservations good luck!

Michelle Andrews

the fish is fresh and smooth - it didn’t have a fishy taste. our favorite dish was the tempura and soba. the tempura was perfectly fried (not oily at all) and the soba sauce wasn’t overly salty which i appreciate.

the outside seating is relaxing and great for a lunch/dinner outing.

Kat

We came here for lunch and loved it! We ordered the house poke and a bento bowl with the mixed tempura. The poke was the best we ate on our entire trip. The tempura was super light and tasty. We appreciated the fresh veggies in both. Would come here again!

We sat in the back outdoor area which was super cute. Staff were friendly and helpful.

Stephen OBrien

By far some of the best authentic traditional Japanese food ever! The location, service, drinks and food was so special! Come here when visiting this side of the island.

Nathan Li

This is unfortunately some of the most uninspiring food I've had in a while. Everything was way overpriced (average $25 for rolls), and fish tasted like cardboard and not fresh. We got the daily special which was the steamed ono, but it was hard like a well-done steak. The rolls were also unpleasantly mushy and sticky. The service was almost nonexistent: despite being charged a 22% tip (being a large group), we waited forever to order and had to pour water by ourselves, and the server came to our table only twice.