Yotteko-Ya
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Garage, Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
14 Reviews for Yotteko-Ya
Good stuff! Reminds me of Santa Ramen in San Mateo but cheaper and just as good! For some reason its not that busy when we go, but maybe we're there at odd times. Either way its good stuff!
I believe this place is also called 'Kyoto Ramen' in case anyone is confused. The paitan broth was a delicious new sensation and the chaisu was probably the most tender that I've had in Honolulu. The only side that we tried was the chicken karaage, which had a tasty and freshly fried coating. Besides ramen and sides there were also an assortment of rice dishes that I'm eager to come back for. Two tips: 1) If there's no parking, use the garage on the side street (Pumehana St. I think) 2) Get a stamp card and go back as often as you can.
3.5 stars
I was getting tired of eating Pho so dining here was an interesting change of pace.
Thanks to an earlier, ravenous lunch crowd, their signature Kakuni Paitan Ramen was out. Therefore I had to resort to ordering Paitan Broth with vegetables. My wife tried the Shoyu based Ramen (Kyoto Style) with Kim Chee and Charsiu.
My wife and I didn't care for the Shoyu Ramen broth, but the Charsiu was tender and yummy.
The Paitan Ramen, which was richer and creamier, was excellent. Noodles on both dishes were tasty and cooked to perfection.
Side order of Gyoza was pan fried just enough to make it crispy on one side and still soft on the other side...just the way I like it.
I doubt my wife and I will return because we're not fans of Kyoto style ramen broth and the Paitan broth, while flavorful, was too thick and dense for my personal preference.
However, I definitely understand the appeal of this style and why some people gave Kyoto Ramen 5 stars.
To each his/her own.
Next stop: Jimbo!
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Been going here since they opened and it is absolutely delicious. The Paitan ramen is the best and their charsiu just melts in your mouth...
yummy! The only thing I hate that when I try to go at dinner time, the parking lot is always so full! Much easier to go for lunch.
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this place is great! me & my friends wanted to try some place new and we stumbled upon this place. i recommend the paitan ramen. the broth is mouthwatering and the charsiu is very tender. id pick this place over tenkaippin ramen (the one on kapahulu) D:
Good-Ness this place is soooo good. The Boy and I go here at least once a month and always walk away stuffed and satisfied. Next time we go we get to redeem our buy 10 get one free stamp card! Anyway, every part of the steaming bowl of happiness is delectable:
Broth: bursting with flavor
Noodles: perfectly cooked and slurpable
Pork: melt in your mouth, savory goodness
I get the shoyu broth, the boy gets the paitan and I inevitably sneak a few spoonfulls of his broth into my bowl (I wonder if I can get half-and-half...I should pursue this...) The option with extra veggies is tasty - usually sprouts, cabbage and broccoli - but I always end up lusting after more pork.
The soups are very filling too; one time I got one of the sets and couldn't finish my soup (very sad). The gyoza are really good though, so if you're eating with a few friends, split an order.
Oh! I almost forgot about the fried rice! Curry fried rice + savory pork bits = heaven.
The service can be slow so beware if you're in a time crunch. However, the two (yes, only two) waitresses who run the joint - and I think help cook - are super nice, so be aware and be patient. The staff here bust their a**es cooking and serving and it shows!
The decor and atmosphere is nice. The soup broth here is flavorful and not overpowering at all. The ramen was cooked nicely and not soggy like most places. I would definitely come again to enjoy their other menu selections. Their prices are reasonable as well.
A big drawback was the fact that we went during lunch hour so the place was incredibly busy. And for all the business they get there was only 1 lady who served as waitress/buser/cashier. This lead to many delays for anyone who decided to dine there. It was a struggle just to get the check so we could leave.
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Returning to my hometown of Honolulu with a new taste for ramen (developed in the SF Bay area), I was determined to hit some of the ramen-ya that has always been here but I hadn't appreciated before. Thus, my visit to Yotteko-ya was sort of like discovering a longtime girlfriend led a previous life as a lion tamer. I was a frequent visitor to Mccully Center in the past, for both the now-defunct Italian joint on the second floor and the awesomely-named Fook Yuen chinese place downstairs, but I'd never even noticed, let alone eaten in, the tiny ramen shop on the `ewa end of the upper deck.
Prepped by other yelpers' comments that the place gets busy for lunch, we arrived about 11:30 and were seated immediately. I ordered gyoza, a small chashu bowl for the three-year-old, and the house special "Paitan" style ramen for both adults. The delicious chashu came out immediately -- "rocketed from Kyoto" indeed! -- and our bowls and gyoza appeared not long after. Very nice presentation, good temperature on the broth and my first chomp of the ('japanese style' as they say on the menu) noodles brought my eyes rolling skyward with delight.
After ladling out some soup into the cute Hello Kitty bowl the waitress brought (unasked-for! Bonus points) for Gunnar, I got down to the business at hand: devouring the thick, chewy noodles and deep, well-balanced broth in equal measure. I punctuated the slurping with a nibble of the bowl's five chashu slices, which were sweet and delicate but smaller 2" ovals rather than the sandwich-sized slabs I've grown used to from my local haunt, Maru Ichi in Mountain View CA. The bamboo was crisp and cool and made a nice counterpoint to the broth.
We made our way down to the bottom of our bowls; Gunnar polished off his chashu and kept asking for more of my soup. The gyoza were decent but not spectacular.
I'd really love a bowl with this broth topped with the kakuni pork and more vegetables; perhaps they'd make that if I asked. My ramen-eating time is limited and there are lots of other places to try, but Yotteko-ya was superb; good enough to try to make it back before I have to leave Honolulu again, and its secret ramen history with it.
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I love this place. Not only is the broth the best I've ever devoured, but the chashu melts in your mouth. If I was a local, I would come here 3 times a week...but since I live on the mainland, when i come out, I come as many times as I can. Yes the kukuni ramen is AWEsome...but regular chashu ramen is better than any here in sf.
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Located on the 2nd floor of McCully Shopping Center, at the end of the hallway. I love the decor - it's cute and everything is really clean.
The big thing about this place is that the broth is supposed to be really healthy in that they boil it (with bones?) for about 10 hours, so there's a lot of collagen, etc. in it. The broth is good, but tastes much different than what I'm used to at other ramen shops. It actually kind of grossed me out thinking about the collagen in the soup; I don't know what my issue is... But I managed to put it out of my mind and eat the ramen.
I really enjoyed the gyoza here. YUMMM!!
Kind of more than what I like to spend on ramen, but a good place to go for a change and fun atmosphere every once in awhile.
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Best ramen place EVER! They make a special ramen called Kakuni Ramen which they only sell 20 bowls a day. The Kakuni cha siu (BBQ meat) is marinated for three days and is so tender that it falls apart at the touch! The broth of the japanese style ramen is so tasty that you're sure to drink it up. There is also a hawaiian style ramen which is not as good.
They also serve other ramen restraunt classics like gyoza, chicken karage, and fried rice. The white rice is also something amazing altogether.
If you're ever in Hawaii and feel like eating ramen, this is the place to go.
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Definetly a must try out place if you like Ramen. The place is Japanese style ramen so those of you who like local saimin might not be into it but still worth while.
The prices are overall pretty decent because you can easily get a bowl of saimin for under 10$. I would recommend getting any of the combinations meals, its da bomb.
Service wise the restaurant is pretty decent. Usually the restaruant is only has 2 waitresses and it always seems like its the same two women so at least everything is somewhat consistent.
What to try: Just any of the ramen. I've tried the special 20/day ramen and I thought it was good. The fried rice, gyoza, chicken karaage, and char sui with rice are all great eat.
The restaurants appearance is super cool and I'm really suprised more people don't know about it.
They serve mostly japanese types of beers but there aren't anything cheap and no beer specials.
The main gripe I have about the place is parking. McCully Shopping might have the worst parking lot for any bigger strip mall on the island so you might end up parking in the neighborhood and walking a block to the restaurant.
love the broth here. different than your standard miso, shio or shoyu --very tasty. i think i drank every last drop of soup. yummy!
Really good ramen, but I sorta feel like they were better when they first opened. Still I gotta agree with the other reviewers that it is so much tastier than other ramen places.
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