The Weekly Eater: Rinka worth a second look at new Ward Village location

Rinka has always been a sleeper restaurant. It caught on quickly with the Japanese community, but whenever I mention it to kamaaina, they said they’d never heard of it. The restaurant has been around around for 5-1/2 years, although hidden in plain sight, its blank facade fronting both Makaloa Street and Kapiolani Boulevard.

There’s no more hiding, now that the restaurant has moved to a much more prominent space at Ward Village, sharing the same building as Whole Foods Market, and facing the Consolidated Theatres Ward parking lot.

Early crowds appear to be a 50-50 ratio of Japanese nationals to locals. Whether that lasts depends on how much we are willing to sacrifice for quality, because small portions here can be perceived as pricey. They’re actually no pricier than expected at any sushi bar or izakaya, but the dishes are so enjoyable, portions small and the menu so vast it feels painless until you get the bill at the end of the evening.

Where Rinka’s old space had a cavelike quality, the new space is bright, open and inviting, with a high ceiling and sculptural light fixtures. There’s a mix of table, banquette and sushi-bar seating and reservations are already a must.

LUNCH AND DINNER service vary greatly. By day, a compact selection of elegant teishoku sets come with entrees such as chicken karaage ($12.75) or beef sukiyaki and shrimp tempura ($21.75 each). Each set features chawanmushi, rice, miso soup and a choice of two out of about 15 zensai, or appetizers, from agedashi tofu to slices of tako. The multiple small dishes arrive grouped together on a tray, looking like Korean banchan.

Evening service is a cross between izakaya and kaiseki styles. Menu headings list sashimi, simmered, grilled, deep-fried, etc., specialties in keeping with the kaiseki tradition of serving a progression of dishes in varied preparations. Here, diners set the direction of the meal — follow a logical progression or just pile on the deep-fry or sashimi dishes to your liking.

As a test of any restaurant’s strengths, I like to order something from each category. When Rinka opened in its original location, I found a 50-50 split between hits and misses. Now, a miss is rare. With the handful of dishes I didn’t care for, such as the Grilled Rinka-Style Rib-Eye ($23.75), my main complaint was just that it was boring compared with other dishes.

Of course, there are dishes common to every izakaya, such as chicken karaage ($8.75), Kurobuta pork tonkatsu ($12.75) and miso-marinated butterfish ($16.75), but it’s more interesting to explore the specialties that make Rinka unique.

SOME OF my favorite dishes can be found among appetizers and simmered dishes. Among them is a mound of black sesame tofu topped with sea urchin ($9.75). The intense goma flavor comes through in the tofu. When accompanied by a small dollop of uni, the silky texture of the tofu mimics and amplifies the uni’s texture and flavor.

I didn’t know what the texture of mountain yam fries ($8.75) would be like. The uncooked yam has the crisp texture of jicama; when mashed it has the texture of slime. The deep-fried yam turns out to be starchy and more potato-like than other ingredients chefs have paraded as fries. These are served with mayo, salt and pepper for dipping.

A star of the menu is an unassuming dish of a single lotus manju ($8.75) that appears like a plump dumpling in a thick soy-based ankake (starch-thickened) sauce. Lotus root is pounded and mashed into a thick paste with a bit of crunch from tiny pieces of the root. The result might be compared to very soft, comforting mochi. It’s so wonderful and heart- warming. I could probably eat three of these in one sitting.

Dim sum came to mind when presented with a trio of crab and cabbage dumplings wrapped in delicate, silky bean curd skin ($9.75).

One of the more unusual dishes (in the West, anyway) comprises sliced tubes of humble fishcake ($8.75) filled with cream cheese and deep-fried in a seaweed-tempura batter. Creamy, crispy, briny and served with tempura sauce with ginger, grated daikon and matcha salt, it is a perfect bite-sized pupu.

Similarly, scallops are wrapped in nori, deep-fried in a tempura batter and crowned with uni (four for $19.75) in a crowd-pleasing dish that was recommended by diners at a neighboring table. You can count on sharing knowledge as people peer over to ask about dishes they spot on others’ tables. The menu is full of photos, but the scope of selections can be overwhelming to newbies.

To clean up after deep-fry dishes, there are plain shabu-shabu pots with main ingredients of beef ($21.75), pork ($19.75) or snapper ($28.75).

And you could also fill up on nigiri or specialty rolls of sushi such as the Diamond Peak Roll ($18.75) comprising tempura asparagus and shrimp layered with avocado and topped with a sprinkling of truffle salt. There was too much salt on our roll, but we put it to good use by mopping it up with that second order of mountain yam fries. Perfect.

The Yellowtail Heaven Roll ($19.75) is not for everyone, but combines the bright notes of cilantro with citrusy pearls of finger limes for uplifting flavors to set spirits soaring.

One visit is not enough to explore all Rinka has to offer, and will likely lead to planning your next meal there.

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