Kaimuki’s newest offers lovely kaiseki

When I heard a new restaurant had popped up in the space of Ninniku-ya, the garlic restaurant, I headed to Kaimuki, only to overshoot my destination. I knew the general vicinity and, out of habit, was looking for the familiar old building and coconut trees wrapped with lights.

I caught sight of a glossy new white building, drove on and then quickly realized my mistake. Much has changed since the Ninniku-ya days, with Restaurant and Bar Ko designed to look more like a home. There’s a plush sitting area, private dining room and front porch dressed with frilly cushions.

The restaurant aims to become a hangout for neighborhood night owls, open for drinks and pupu until 2 a.m. daily. Owners Keiko Inai and Ritsuko Asahi ran restaurants in Japan before starting anew in Honolulu.

Dinner can be as casual or formal as you want, but for now they are pushing two kaiseki dinners, the best way to get to know the essence of Ko.

The menus are impressive, nine courses either for $40 (Asahi menu) or?$55 (Ko menu) per person, with a minimum order of two per menu. The menus are essentially identical, save for different sashimi/salad and main dish offerings. Right now, because the restaurant is new, we ordered the Ko menu and were allowed to make substitutions from the Asahi menu.

The kaiseki started with six miniature appetizers beautifully presented in a sectioned tray. My first bite was tamago, the folded egg soaked in dashi and topped with ikura pearls. Heavenly. The other appetizers — simmered pork, simmered pumpkin, spinach with shrimp, ika and soft daikon, and vinegared fish, disappeared quickly.

A sashimi or salad course came with options, so with two people we were able to share both. The sashimi dish featured two pieces each of ahi, salmon and yellowtail, a single amaebi and "muscle." I assumed that was mussel, but it turned out to be two pieces of scallop. It was agreed I would eat the sashimi amaebi and my dinner companion would eat the head that’s deep-fried when the sashimi’s gone. She might have had the better deal. The legs and shell were as crisp and light as potato chips, with all the flavor of the shrimp. Amazing!

The sushi course was eel hakosushi, made by layering and pressing the ingredients in a box. I really started to fill up with the vegetable course of lotus root manju. This took the form of a large flour dumpling filled with thin-sliced lotus root, edamame and sliced shrimp. It was served in a silken crab sauce, with a bit of wasabi. It was both elegant and comforting.

To date, main course selections on the Ko menu comprise miso butterfish, shabu shabu nabe and grilled wagyu steak. Selections on the Asahi menu are a salted chicken thigh, pork loin with yuzu, and shrimp and scallop saute. We opted for the steak and the shellfish saute and were happy with the choices. The shrimp and scallop were beautifully presented in a dish that also included a couple of pieces of steamed broccoli and chewy octopus.

After all the preceding dishes, the steak seemed rather boring in comparison. It was no less exacting in preparation, however, served on a bed of grilled onions and topped with layers of grated radish, green onions and ikura.

I was starting to feel stuffed, which made the fried course, an upscale spring roll, less appealing. The yuba wrapping was chewier than crunchy, and the snapper and mountain potato inside increased the soggy quotient.

Next came the vinegar course, with namasu served in the form of a single slice of a makizushi roll. Thin sliced marinated carrots and cucumbers were wrapped around pieces of surimi in this eye-catching cross section, accompanied by a helping of beautifully sliced pickled vegetables.

I felt I could not eat another bite, but next up was the kamameshi, rice stirred with your choice of salmon and ikura, or simmered pork belly. Both are excellent.

And incredibly, I perked up with dessert of vanilla ice cream and azuki beans sandwiched in a clam shell-like ice cream cone that looks like a flower.

Many of these dishes are also available a la carte, and next time I might try some of the stone-grill specialties.

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Nadine Kam‘s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.