This is one of the few okazu places remaining in town. They also make breakfast items that are made to order. The real hidden gem is the sweet potato crumble. That is also made to order but takes about an hour to make. Really nice family owned business

Update on Mitsuba this morning I stopped by to get some Okazuya for my coworker. I ordered their famous Potato Crumble. If you haven't try this before it's a must . Made out of Okinawan sweet potato in a warm mini buttery turnover. I also ordered hot dog sushi and regular Maki sushi . Support local the best breakfast is Okazuya can't go wrong

This Japanese delicatessen has the oddest hours of operation that I have ever seen with an opening time of 2:00 in the morning! There must be a healthy number of graveyard shift workers who work nearby that can patronize this business to maintain such a schedule. Parking was limited to several spaces in front of the deli which handles take-out orders only as there is no available on-site seating. We came here just before sunrise to get some food to eat while standing in line for the opening of a local attraction. There was no wait at all which was good for us. Hawaiian comfort food could be purchased a la carte or in combination as breakfast, plate lunches, or bentos. Many of the items were on display at the service counter. My friend ordered the hot dog sushi as an eight piece maki roll. Hot dog is not a protein I would have thought to use for sushi, but it's just another form of sausage to pair with rice. I picked a mini bento that had cold chow fun noodles as a base, one rice ball wrapped with dried seaweed, a piece of garlic fried chicken, a link of Portuguese sausage, and a slice of pickled daikon radish. The noodles were starchier than those of a traditional beef chow fun. The chicken was a bit over-fried because the meat was dry. The sausage contained mild spices that added some punch to the bento. The amount of food you received made the prices a decent value. For the late night owls or super early risers, Mitsuba Delicatessen offers a better choice than going to the drive thru of a fast food joint or making a pit stop at a 7-Eleven. I gave a 3.5 star rating for our experience at this okazuya.

Okazuya in Kalihi, Honolulu, Hawaii... When a Yelper receives "Review Of The Day" (ROTD), it's quite a momentous occasion! I was extremely happy for my friend, Paul C., The Unofficial Mayor of Chinatown, when his review of Mitsuba Delicatessen was recognized on 11-27-22. My Lunch Buddy, Dear Daniel, had never been, so, I agreed to go with him at 5am on Wednesday (it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays) because I needed to finish my review. He chose that time of morning because he didn't want to go all the way to Kalihi and have the hot dog sushi sold out. Plus - the parking... It's shared with the apartment building that's above Mitsuba. Yup... The parking lot is crowded. I actually wasn't thrilled about "hot dog sushi". I envisioned a plain hotdog surrounded by rice and covered in a layer of nori (seaweed). That's totally not what it is. Hold that thought... I'll come back to the hotdog sushi... Anyway, Daniel texted me at 4am - to make sure that I was going to be there. OMG... I asked Daniel why he needed me there because It's a takeout place anyway! Where would we eat? He doesn't usually eat that early in the day anyway! LOL! We met at 5am... All four of us! It was a nice surprise for Daniel and a wonderful celebration for Paul! It's a happy event when your friends show up and share your joy! Thanks, Peter and Daniel, for making Paul's ROTD come full circle! Back to the food: I ordered three maki sushi rolls for the ladies at church. I got the nishime and pork tofu for mom, and the eggplant, hamburger, fishcake, and cone sushi for breakfast. The hamburger was kind of dry. The fish cake had some hard spots. The moist cone sushi wasn't the best. The eggplant, nishime, pork tofu, and maki sushi were okay. Paul "highly encouraged" me to have a piece of hotdog sushi... WOW!!! Like he said... It was "life-changing"! The textures, colors, and flavors were popping! The Crunchy, yellow, pickled takuan (Dijon radish) with savory, soft, red hotdog, combined with white, sweet, sushi rice and the kick from the mustard was amazing! I wished that I had ordered one for myself! Aiyah! I guess I need to return... And maybe get garlic chicken and butterfish! P.S. the service was very friendly! The lady came out front to cut up and pack the freshly made rolls of sushi for us. The man seemed quite pleasant for such an early morning!

It's scary how powerful an idea can be. Paul C was honored with a Review of the Day (ROTD) and a group chat I belong to was blowing up with congratulations messages to him. They were all talking about Mitsuba Delicatessen in the Kalihi area. I personally have never been there but their hotdog sushi struck my interest. Nadine C asked if anyone wanted to go and so the idea was planted. Too bad they were closed till Wednesday and Paul C's ROTD was on a Sunday. Time for the idea to simmer in the brain. Sure enough, I jumped at the chance to check them out. Paul C mentioned the selection gets slim the later it gets in the day so I suggested meeting there at 4am since they open at 2am but I'm so happy we met at 5am vs 4am. So, so early for food lol. When I arrived around 4:30am, the parking was packed and there was a line of people out the door! The lot is also shared with residents in the building so that could be a factor in limited available parking stalls. If you are in a rush and can't find parking in the private lot, you can street park on School St. It didn't take too long to secure a stall though and I waited for Nadine C to arrive. Sure enough, she arrived in a blink of an eye and I jumped in with her waiting for a stall for her vehicle. After she parked and while we stood in line, Peter Y drove by. I wasn't expecting anyone else. Shortly after that, Paul C swung by too! Wow! It's a party now! Nice morning surprise to celebrate Paul C's ROTD. Some people ahead of us bought a lot of items so several things were already out. One being the hotdog sushi which is one of the primary reasons I wanted to check them out. Paul C asked about availability and the kitchen made some for us! Lucky us! Maybe they made it specially per his request because they know he's the Mayor of Chinatown? The hotdog sushi comes with 2 rolls per order and they cut them up then place them in a clear plastic container by itself. They asked if I wanted anything else and of course I did! Especially this being my first time there. I ordered their chow funn, hamburger patty, sweet & sour pork and shoyu chicken. They were out of their sweet potato crumble but I would have also ordered that. After I ordered, everyone else did too. I was kinda regretting ordering first as all the items everyone else ordered sounded really good. Darn, I should have ordered the egg though to make the photo pop more lol. The cone sushi also looked good. Small regrets but it's ok. A good reason to come back again. As mentioned by several reviews, the price can add up for okazuya here. I was expecting it to be more than anticipated due to the rising cost of everything but my order being a little under $30 did shock me. The origin of Okazuya is affordable food items that are easy to eat at work for plantation workers. With that in mind, all good with the current cost trying this place out as you can't put a price tag on nostalgia. Congrats again on ROTD, Paul C!