After having this restaurant pop up in conversations at least four times throughout the week, I thought it was about time we tried it. Momomo is an ikazaya that opened up a few years ago, replacing the Eastern Garden location. An ikazaya is a place that serves pupu (appetizer) style dishes and alcohol. In Japan, most ikazayas are also sports pubs. Cheap eats and entertainment. Here in the states, its more of a trendy and stylish bar, no tv. The Momomo building stood out when they first began renovations because they painted the entire building black. It made the place look upscale and trendy. Upon entering, they did not disappoint. Off to the left and right sides of the room were lower tables in the Japanese style except there was an area to put your legs into. The back of the room held the sushi bar and the immediate right of the door was an extensive sake bar. The center of the room were standard tables. Since one of our dinner companions is tall, we opted for the standard tables.
Upon viewing the menu, there were a few dishes stamped with their ももも stamp, my companions and I thought this meant the dish was a house specialty. About half the menu was a sake menu, which was pretty impressive to me. We refrained from tasting the sake this time around.
One of the first things we ordered was a seasonal specialty, the Umegohan Spring Roll. Translated, it means Pickled plum rice spring roll. The insides held ume, rice, a slice of lean pork, and shiso leaves. All wrapped with the standard spring roll wrapper and deep fried. The presentation was nice but we thought the rolls were a little lacking in flavor. There wasn’t enough of an ume flavor those of us that liked ume and generally overall, I didn’t think any flavors really stood out. This dish was passable.
The Mini Spicy Tuna Bowl was one of the stamped specialties for the rice portion of the menu and since we were all still unsure of what to order, I went ahead and got this. I figured you couldn’t go wrong with spicy ahi. It was served with a bit of wasabi on a side dish and some shoyu. Nothing spectacular about this dish and the size was about a single serving. There was a fried rice of a day as well, on the day we went, it was seaweed with fried rice.
Two of our companions wanted the Kimchee side dish so we go that but I think Momomo may have made a lot of profit off of us on this particular dish. At $3.00 for this little dish of kimchee, it was good but nothing earth shattering. Nothing has beaten the Kapiolani Coffee Shop kimchee just yet.
Another dish that caught our attention was the Crab Fried Rice with Thick Sauce. The fried rice was simple egg and scallion with rice. Topped with a thick sauce reminiscence of Chinese corn starch based sauces. The crab bits were generous but it lacked strong flavors. It was delicate probably because the chef did not want to take away from the flavors of the crab but I thought it was a tad on the bland side.
One of the stamped house specialities, the Tuna & Avocado mix with Dressing was one of my favorites. I think the sauce is ponzu based but I couldn’t tell what else may have been in there. Whatever it was, it was very good. Served with a bowl of tortilla chips and a spoon to scoop the mix and sauce onto the chip. When we ran out of chips, the waitress was nice enough to ask us if we wanted more. This would be a dish I wouldn’t mind revisiting again.
Another stamped specialty was the Handmade Cold Tofu. Served with a concentrated dashi broth with grated daikon, grated ginger, and chopped scallions on the side. While I did like this refreshing light and cold dish, one of the first comments out of the companion who ordered this dish was, ‘Its like eating Aloha Tofu’. I’ve been itching to pick up a pack of soft tofu to recreate this dish at home now.
From the seafood selection, we ordered Shrimp Mayonnaise. About six light battered and fried shrimps served on top of chopped lettuce and topped with sliced onions, drizzled generously with a mustard and mayonnaise sauce. This wasn’t a bad dish, I liked how the shrimps weren’t overly battered like how you find some tempura.
Another stamped specialty, served with a mound of grated daikon and ginger, lemon wedge, and a red pickled ginger piece for garnishment. Not sure what the sauce was but it was pretty good with the fish. No complaints about this dish, buttery like how hamachi should be and fatty like how the collar should be.
The Soft-shelled Crab Tempura was better than we expected. It came in two pieces but they were significantly larger than we expected. There was enough for us to split it into four pieces with each person getting quite a bit. The batter was light and flavored and the crab meat was sweet. This was a big winner with us.
By now, we noticed that we hard ordered quite a number of house specialties and decided on a lark to order the rest of the stamped items on the menu. We were more than halfway there. The Beef Diced Steak was one of them. Cubed and grilled steak on top of bean sprouts and topped with a few radish sprouts. This was not a bad dish if you’re craving beef.
The Shabu Shabu Salad was another stamped specialty. Served with lettuce, onions, grape tomatoes, lemon wedges and ponzu sauce. This dish is good if you’re looking for a light dish. The ponzu was enough to flavor the dish and the beef was soft.
At this point the only things remaining on the menu that were stamped as house specialties were the Deep Fried Baby Shrimps and the Creme Brulee. Unfortunately for us, we were unable to order the Deep Fried Baby Shrimps because they were out for the day. Since we couldn’t finish ordering all the stamped specialties we decided to go to Dave’s Ice Cream for dessert instead of opting for the Creme Brulee.
We did however, order the Deep Fried Garlic. Cloves of garlic with their skins on were deep fried and then salted. A simple dish but it was good and went well with the Beef Diced Steak. The dish came with an empty bowl for you to dispose of the skin that you peel off before you eat the cloves.
I came away from Momomo satisfied but not happy with the bill. Its expensive for the portions you’re served. I wouldn’t mind if the majority of the dishes were tasty but there was too much disappointment. I’d go back here for specific dishes but not if I’m hungry or feeling like trying new dishes. I’d go back but not often at all, my Carrot-rating:
Exceptional dishes: Tuna & Avocado Mix with Dressing and the Soft-shelled Crab Tempura.
Expensive.
Good to eat light and drink.
Nice atmosphere.
Get there early, they open at 5:00pm. It gets busy.
Small serve staff but they’re attentive and very courteous.
Momomo
3008 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-6666
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