Any affordable sushi joint can offer up a California roll and a bowl of edamame. And any expensive one can serve fancy rolls at budget-busting prices. But it’s a rare restaurant indeed that can pull off a high-quality but affordable sushi menu.
Welcome to Kintaro. There, you’ll feel like you’re at a hip hotspot while not paying through the nose for it. True, on weekends, you’ll have to wait, but that’s the case with almost every restaurant worth patronizing. Besides, the wait is due to all of the locals flocking to this oft-praised sushi palace—which is the kind of endorsement every eatery wants.
Some recommendations: No visit to Kintaro is complete without an order of the Bali Hai Bomb—a smoked salmon and crab roll that’s oven-baked and slathered in wasabi mayonnaise. Another to-die-for roll: the Hanalei Bay roll, which is a deep-fried—read: decadent —take on that old standby the California roll.
If you like your meats and seafood cooked, try the Teppanyaki or tempura. Unlike at many sushi restaurants, these aren’t throwaway items for non-sushi lovers. They’re well-prepared offerings in their own right.
Kintaro
4-370 Kuhio Hwy.
Kapaa, Kauai, HI, 96746, United States
