KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii is home to an abundance of fine dining and culinary celebrity, with names like Alan Wong and Sam Choy headlining the industry.
KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii is home to an abundance of fine dining and culinary celebrity, with names like Alan Wong and Sam Choy headlining the industry.
But according to crowd-sourced reviews on Yelp, none of those elaborate establishments or internationally known chefs can lay claim to the honor of best restaurant in Hawaii. Instead, patrons say it’s Chirashi Sushi Don by Jiro — located in a tiny kiosk at the Lanihau Center in Kailua-Kona — where foodies can find the best meal in the state.
Yelp compiled user ratings and reviews using an algorithm to isolate the most favorably viewed restaurants in all 50 states as part of a story that ran in USA Today. After the data was entered and the math completed, the answer to the question of which restaurant was Hawaii’s best came up Chirashi Sushi Don by Jiro.
No one was more surprised than Jiro Oki and his wife Jasmine, who opened their sushi shop only 18 months ago.
“It was really a surprise to me. I didn’t expect it,” Jiro said. “It is our passion to serve this kind of food. I always wanted to do authentic Japanese food but with the local flavors.”
The couple makes the jaunt from Hilo to Kona and back five days every week. Jasmine said it’s more than just a love of their craft that makes the trek worth it.
“When we first started this, I told (Jiro) please don’t say that we’re coming from Hilo because I didn’t want people to think we were crazy,” she explained. “Even though we travel so far, coming over the mountain, we love doing this. Having the people love our food, seeing the smiles on their faces, that’s what did it for us. It brings us joy.”
The smiles the Okis see come from all over the world. The restaurant is quickly becoming renowned as word of its cuisine spreads online, attracting customers from Asia to North America to Israel.
Jiro said interacting with patrons from so many different backgrounds is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the job. It’s something the couple could do more of if they expanded, but after more than three decades working in Hawaii’s massive tourism industry both as a chef and in management, Jiro said the couple’s quaint operation suits him best.
“We are not mass production style, we are just a mom and pop here,” Jiro said. “Everything is made fresh. I don’t pre-cut fish or avocado, everything is made upon order.”
It’s not a typical restaurant in that it doesn’t offer tables and chairs for patrons to sit and dine, only picnic tables outdoors. In fact, the wooden structure is only big enough for two people to work at a time, and from the outside it resembles more of a coffee stand than sushi spot.
While there may be more money to be made by renting a bigger space, opening a second location and hiring employees, Jiro and Jasmine feel like doing so may result in the loss of some aspects that make their restaurant special — such as four expertly trained hands preparing every single dish to order.
One result is that sometimes the line stretches out and customers must wait a half an hour or more for their food. But Jiro explained that in some ways, the anticipation can contribute to the restaurant’s charm as well as the overall experience of dining there.
“Quality comes first,” he said. “I really appreciate those people who wait that long and still tell us it was worth the wait. That makes our day.”
Chirashi Sushi Don by Jiro offers 18 distinct menu items and is open every Tuesday through Saturday.
The hours are listed as 1-4 p.m. and 5:30-8:30 p.m., although they can fluctuate slightly. But if someone is at the window, Jiro and Jasmine make sure they’re fed.
“We drive ourselves nuts,” Jasmine laughed. “But it’s all for love.”