Shokudo Japanese Restaurant & Bar has been a staple since my college days. The chic interior and beautiful plating made dining feel upscale, but reasonable prices made it affordable for my friends and I.

So, I was a little hesitant to try sister restaurant Kaimuki Shokudo, as I heard the menus were vastly different; the latter is a more traditional soba/izakaya joint. But one Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves exploring the 96816 area and happened upon Kaimuki Shokudo.

From the soba and donburi to the tempura and sushi rolls, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal — which I chalk up to both the superb chef skills in the kitchen and my matured palate. And, of course, we concluded our meal with honey toast ($12), which is on the lunch and dinner menus.

After reading the description of the neba-neba cold soba ($16) — “served with tororo (sticky grated yam), nametake (enoki mushrooms), takuan (pickled radish), okra (a green seed pod veggie) and natto (fermented soybeans)” — I knew it was for me. It’s slime upon slime upon slime, and I absolutely loved it. This dish is a 5 out of 5 for me, and a 0 out of 5 for my husband, so I got to enjoy it all to myself. The salty, savory flavors pair well with the sticky ingredients and slurpable noodles.

My husband eyed the tempura selections, which included options like kabocha, shrimp and veggies, and settled on the maitake mushroom tempura (three pieces for $5). Perfectly crisp on the outside and piping hot on the inside, the mushrooms gave off a great aroma even before I took my first bite.

The unagi roll ($16), another one of my husband’s choices, comes with shrimp tempura, cucumber, unagi, unagi sauce, mayo, white sesame seeds and green onions. The crunch of the tempura and the smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture of the eel worked well together, and though it’s something you can find on many menus, this one stood out for its rice-to-seafood ratio.

I appreciated that some of the donburi bowls — like the washugyu sukiyaki ($8 half) and washugyu beef curry ($8 half) — had half portions, so you can try a little without getting too full. I ended up eating all of the washugyu beef curry donburi and took home half of the neba-neba cold soba, but I should have done the opposite. The soba noodles got too soggy from all the stickiness, and the beef curry sits atop a bed of nanatsuboshi rice, which maintains its chewy texture even after being refrigerated and reheated.

Since becoming parents, we experience nightlife vicariously through dinner menus, and a glance at Kaimuki Shokudo’s version had us “oohing” and “ahhing.”

“I’d get that,” I said, pointing to the mozuku shot ($4) with vinegary seaweed and ikura served shot glass style.

“That looks good,” said my husband, whose eyes went to the entree list’s rib-eye steak ($24).

“One night, we’ll come, just the two of us,” I said, fully knowing that “one night” might be years from now.

But until then, I’m completely happy with returning for more lunchtime slimy soba — they should seriously consider changing the name … or not, since slime isn’t for everyone.

Kaimuki Shokudo

ADDRESS 1127 11th Ave., Honolulu
PHONE 808-367-0966
HOURS 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily lunch; 5 p.m.-midnight dinner Sundays-Thursdays; 5 p.m.-1 am. dinner Fridays-Saturdays
WEBSITE kaimukishokudo.com
INSTAGRAM @kaimukishokudo
FOOD: 4/5
PRICE: $
AMBIANCE: 4/5 (indoor seating, counter seating, takeout)
SERVICE: 4/5
PARKING: street or municipal lot

Nicole Monton is the managing editor of Crave and contributing editor for Kakaako VERT magazine. Follow her on social media (@nicmonton).