My life consists of myriad dining daydreams. When new restaurants open, I add them to my mental list of places to eat, but excuses pile up: life is busy, the hype needs to die down first, I should give them time to train their servers and perfect the menu.
I tell myself I’ll go eventually, but that day never comes.
Such was the case for Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya. And, boy, what a mistake it was to not go sooner.
When doing background research on the eatery, I was blown away by owner Tina Wang’s business acumen. She’s a University of Hawaii at Manoa grad and started the Tanaka Ramen brand on the mainland in 2017 (she’s got a handful of locations in Georgia, Illinois and Texas). From there, she opened the restaurant brand’s first Hawaii location in June 2020 at Kapolei Marketplace, followed by Ala Moana Center later that year, Pearlridge Center in 2021, Town Center of Mililani in March of this year, and soon Maui Mall.
Tanaka Ramen’s continued success and expansion are due, no doubt, to its food offerings, which are pretty consistent across all its locations.
We started with a couple of seafood appetizers: crab stick tempura ($9.99) and takoyaki ($7.99). The former was my favorite, and it’s exclusive to the Mililani locale. That mentaiko mayo sauce is delicious, and I’m always a fan of fried foods. My husband really liked the takoyaki, which were topped with kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, green onions and a spread of bonito flakes. Pretty standard, right? But Tanaka Ramen goes above and beyond with a lush bed of the fishy stuff. Delicious!
So vast is the Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya menu that we had a hard time picking our entrees. Since “ramen” is in the restaurant’s name, we both opted for noodles. I got the spicy creamy vegan ramen ($16.25) with fresh garlic (add $1). Note: It is a heaping amount of fresh garlic, which I love, but it might not be for everyone. I surprisingly really liked the kale noodles. The texture wasn’t exactly traditional ramen noodles, but I could barely tell the difference. I mopped that bowl with no regrets since, you know, healthier noodles and all that.
My husband went big and bold with the Tanaka garlic volcano ramen ($20.25). The volcano name comes from the heat (automatically at least a level 2 out of 4 on the tongue-tingling scale), and instead of being spicy for spicy’s sake, it’s rounded out by the savory pork broth, fresh garlic and black garlic oil. I recommend getting this one with the suggested add-ons of Parmesan cheese ($2.75) and butter ($1.50). It bolsters the spicy flavor and adds a richness to the texture that’s comforting and satiating.
Because my eyes were bigger than my stomach, I also ordered the chicken katsu curry don ($16.25). It’s a pretty standard dish, but (this is a common issue with curry rice plates) I wish there was a bigger curry-to-rice ratio. It worked out, however, because I was able to use my leftover rice with the Tanaka garlic volcano broth for dinner later that night!
If ramen and rice plates aren’t your thing, Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya also has pupu like ahi/hamachi tartare ($15.99), arabiki sausage ($9.99), seafood dynamite ($15.99), grilled hamachi kama ($19.99), as well as salads, hot and cold don bowls, fried rice, sashimi and hand rolls.
As a final note, our stop at Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya Mililani took place on Halloween weekend when the shopping center was hosting its trunk-or-treat event, and I want to give kudos to the servers for not only taking orders, running food and bussing tables, but also for hustling back to the front with a smile and candy in hand each time a tiny costumed keiki popped in saying “trick-or-treat.”
Tanaka Ramen & Izakaya
Address
Town Center of Mililani
95-1249 Meheula Pkwy., Mililani
Phone
808-744-0127
Hours
11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays;
11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays
Website
tanakaramen.com
Food: 4/5
Price: $25-$35 per person (if you get appetizers)
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Parking: Free at each shopping center location
