Dinner @ Shokudo (Ala Moana)

For some reason, I thought Shokudo was going to be a very traditional Japanese restaurant, so I was surprised when I walked in to see all locals eating there, and a creative / fusion Japanese menu.

I wasn't blown away by any of the food (except the honey toast!) but I thought maybe it was just me, and I should get some second opinions. I checked out the Yelp reviews, and even though it has 3 1/2 stars, no one really raves about it or swears by this place. There's an interesting quote from one Yelper, saying "Shokudo was one of those cool places where all the cool kids went to eat. Now, and I'm sure thanks to Yelp, it's just some place that sells you toast that isn't toasted." hee hee

We ordered a bunch of appetizers to share, since we were saving room for dessert.

Cucumber ume salad with bonito - this was tasty
Homemade tofu - very different from Chinese homemade tofu. Curious how they make it. Much creamier, although I got a slightly powdery and roasted flavor as well. Comes with a soy sauce, green onions, chopped up nori, and kosher salt (the big crystals) to sprinkle on
Spicy scallop roll - this was not very good. It was falling apart, not much rice, and had this weird white nori - type wrapping
Yukari french fries - couldn't really taste the yukari sprinkled on, not very hot
...and then dessert...the famous honey toast. 2 giant slices of white Japanese toast, hollowed out. The innards are cut into cubes, fried in butter, drizzled in honey, then stuffed back into the crusts, and topped with two scoops of ice cream :)
Shokudo
1585 Kapiolani Blvd
941-3701
Yelp