Whenever I think about eating a nice hot bowl of Nabeyaki udon, or enjoying a bowl of delicious oyako donburi, Jimbo’s always comes to mind. This little restaurant located on King Street has had a long standing tradition of serving excellent food, but it is known best for the quality of the udon noodles that it makes and serves.
The biggest challenge of eating at Jimbo’s is parking. Right off King street, Jimbo’s shares a few stalls with its neighboring food business Gulick Deli. Behind the restaurant is a small parking garage, but at peak times it is almost impossible to find an empty stall.
Inside Jimbo’s
When you walk into Jimbo’s you are immediately confronted with tables. The small restaurant space is packed in with tables in order to meet the needs of its high customer volume. The restaurant is normally so busy that servers will normally direct you toward a table, which has been preset with menus and a little caddy for chopsticks and napkins.
The menu itself is very simple. The first page features a list of combinations, and the rest of the menu lists the different udon, curry, and donburi dishes you have to choose from. Whenever I eat at Jimbo’s I always get a combo, unless I order the big pot of Nabeyaki udon. Service in this restaurant is very fast and efficient which helps cut down wait time during busy hours. After a few brief minutes with the menu we placed our order. Just as quickly as we had decided on what to eat, the food rolled out of the kitchen. Here’s what we enjoyed:
Tendon Combination
One of the combination sets offered on the menu, the tendon combo features a large bowl of tendon (in this order we chose shrimp) over rice, a small bowl of udon (you may order hot or cold) and tsukemono (picked vegetables). The tendon at Jimbo’s is well battered, giving just enough crunch to the shrimp and vegetables without enveloping the ingredients with too much batter. The bowl of udon was very good, but I’ll elaborate more on that in the next section!
Nabeyaki Udon
For my meal I got the “small nabeyaki” set, which features a half size portion of Jimbo’s popular Nabeyaki udon, kayaku rice, and tsukemono. The Nabeyaki udon is definitely the star of this combination. In addition to Jimbo’s excellent udon noodles the dish offers shrimp/vegetable tempura, eggplant, chicken, and shiitake mushroom. All the ingredients come together well, but the real stars are the udon noodles and broth. The udon noodles prepared at Jimbo’s are soft and silky, absorbing all the flavors from the other ingredients. With each delicious slurp the high quality of the noodle can be tasted. The broth in this udon is very well prepared, with just enough salt to compliment the flavors of the stock.
Kayaku Rice
The kayaku rice served in my combination is a seasoned rice that includes a mixture of vegetables like carrots and mushrooms. The rice itself is well seasoned and served hot, making for a great pairing with the nabeyaki udon.
Final thoughts: Jimbo’s has always served consistently good food in the many years that I have been a customer. The quality of the ingredients, especially the udon, shine through and make every visit a great one. The staff fast and efficient, but can be a bit impersonal at times. Despite this small pitfall, Jimbo’s is one of my favorite spots for lunch or dinner. This is definitely one of my favorite places to go for Nabeyaki udon!
| Service: |    |
Average + |
| Food: | |
Above Average |
| Atmosphere: | |
Above Average |
| Overall Value: | |
Above Average |
*Star ratings are based in comparison to similar establishments
Jimbo’s Restaurant
1936 South King Street Honolulu, HI 96822
Phone: 808.947.2211
Tags: Hawaii Food, Hawaii Food Review, Jimbo’s restaurant review, udon, nabeyaki, noodles
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I know that ramen, even saimen, is really popular here in Hawaii, but UDON is my favorite type of noodles!!! If you are ever on Maui, try the Gomoku Udon at Archie’s restaurant in Wailuku. My dad loves their noodles and we’ve been eating there for years!