For A Good Time, Dial 855-Aloha

“Ichi…ni…san…sake bomb!”  

The chant from a young man a table over is followed by a thundering response from his eight friends, who pound on the table and yell back, “Sake bomb!” Shots of sake suspended by chopsticks over half-full glasses of beer shake, then drop into the suds as the 18 sticks that held them up spill onto the table. A server records them chugging their drinks with an iPhone. And everyone cheers.   

855-Aloha, the newest of three restaurants that Table One Hospitality opened in Honolulu in 2024, is on the ground floor of Romer House Waikīkī—the island’s first adults-only hotel. It captures the spirit of a Japanese izakaya, a casual Japanese bar where drinks flow and people eat from shareable small plates in a refined, luxurious setting. Here, the sake bombs, or “shake (pronounced “shock-ay,”) bombs”—a reference to the shaka—are just the beginning. With a beverage program curated by beverage director Phil Collins that includes 10 craft cocktails, highballs, beer (both local and Japanese), wine and sake (selected by master of sake Stuart Morris), you could drink here all night.

The sake bombs or “shake (pronounced “shock-ay,”) bombs” are a reference to the shaka.
Photo: Craig Bixel

My boyfriend and I sit amid hues of blue in a curvy, well-cushioned corner booth that enables us to watch the action in the dining room while still enjoying an intimate date night. Just the menu alone is entertaining. The cover features the same royal blue panel with white hibiscus flowers you find on the sides of phone booths throughout Hawai‘i. There are telephone references galore, such as the *69, the evening’s cocktail special, and the Party Line, a platter of build-your-own sushi hand-rolls. These landline terms take me back to the early ’90s, and 855-Aloha’s live DJ keeps me there, spinning hits such as “Can We Talk” by Tevin Campbell and “Come & Talk To Me” by Jodeci. (Almost all of the songs have talking or telephone references.) Everything, from the art and photography on the walls to the chefs’ coats that read, “Call me,” pay homage to pay phones.   

I start with the Who You Gonna Call cocktail, a citrusy Suntory Whisky Toki cocktail finished with salted coconut-macadamia nut foam, and follow it up with the Kiss Me Through the Phone, a matcha-flavored Awayuki white strawberry gin sour served in a ceremonial-style matcha bowl. Both pair well with chef and partner Shotaro “Sho” Kamio and executive chef Daniel No’s extensive menu of thoughtfully prepared Japanese comfort food.  

Kamio’s time leading top Bay Area kitchens such as Ozumo and Yoshi’s in San Francisco and Iyasare in Berkeley, and No’s experience working in Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, shows in their cooking, both in technique and intent.

Some of the restaurant‘s popular dishes include the kara ebi, 855 kaarage, tsukene with egg yolk teriyaki and Sho Me the Wagyu.
Photo: Craig Bixel

The 855-Kara-age, or karaage chicken, humble bar fare in other places, is lightly battered and flash fried at a high temperature until crisp but not greasy and dusted with aonori (dried green seaweed). The crunchy umami bombs are transformed by a lemon wedge dipped in shichimi togarashi (Japanese spice mix) and squeezed onto the chicken for seasoning.   

The menu is a hybrid, embracing traditional izakaya fare that Kamio grew up with in the countryside of Sendai, Japan. There’s the tsukune (a chicken, pork and beef sausage on a skewer) served with julienned shiso leaf and teriyaki dipping sauce with a bright orange egg yolk floating in the center; mapo yakko—chilled silken tofu smothered in a sansho pepper seasoned pork and shiitake mushroom ragu, simmered in agedashi and oozing chile oil; and the gyutan (beef tongue) caramelized on a sizzling platter tableside. Bun-bun hiyashi chuka—chilled ramen with crunchy vegetables in a goma (sesame) vinaigrette—is Kamio’s mother’s recipe, the yakisoba was his after-school snack growing up and the Sendai Motsu Ni “Chef’s Meal”—a stew made with a variety of beef cuts (including intestines), chicken offal and konjac (a Japanese root vegetable) in a sake-spiked miso broth—is the childhood dish he would eat as his last dying meal.

The What’s Your Math cocktail.
Photo: Brooke Fitts

There are also desserts—unexpected in an izakaya setting. Since they’re usually an afterthought in a traditional izakaya, I was thrilled to find kinako flavored panna cotta with Japanese pear butter and puffed rice—more like a custard than a jiggly gelatin, and the chocolate namelaka (“creamy” in Japanese), which is like a light and silky ganache. The sesame seed tuile adds crunch, while the tahini caramel offsets the richness of the dark chocolate with sweetness and a touch of salt. With the inclusion of POG (passion fruit, orange, guava) shave ice as the third dessert, and all of the local references scattered throughout the menu, the chefs have clearly done their homework.   

Fittingly, the evening ends when my server drops a wooden checkbook designed to look like a phone book at my table. I’m already planning my return visit. Once 855-Aloha hits the coconut wireless, reservations are bound to fill up fast. 

Open nightly from 5 to 10 p.m., 415 Nāhua St., Waikīkī, (808) 795-8012, izakaya855aloha.com 

This story was originally published in our Fall 2024 issue, which you can buy here. Better yet, subscribe and get HAWAIʻI Magazine delivered to right to your mailbox.