Yakitori Ando

A hidden gem that serves great yakitori. It is a omakase style resturant that is also byob. They have a ice chest that you can put you drinks in. They serve about 7-8 dishes and you can end with a hot pot or a grilled musubi that is glazed with shoyu. The hotpot is to die for. to finish you can choose to add rice or udon to the hotpot for a filler if you are still hungry. Must go to place. Warnings: they do serve innerds so they will ask if you can't eat those. This may limit the selection that comes out. Also the hotpot has tripe in it so if you can not eat that, I suggest the grilled shoyu musubi.

Most adorable Japanese man award goes to... Chef Ando! He's so fun and you almost want to come here just so you can watch him cook yakitori and drink wine and sake with customers. He has such a good time you can't help but laugh and have fun.

I was lucky enough to enjoy Yakitori Ando with a lovely group of Yelpers who'd been able to secure a reservation for ten guests on a Sunday night. Located right behind the Bank of Hawaii on Waialae there are two pay lots across the street from the restaurant and we just popped in $2 into the metal pay box. You walk in and there's a long counter of seating and a few tables in the back for patrons. If you decide to BYOB there's also a giant cooler where you can ice down all your drinks. Brilliant!

I have a love/hate relationship with omakase. On one hand I love not having to make any additional decisions, but on the other hand I don't really eat all the weird things such as liver, heart, intestines, etc. I just give those to my husband and he eats double. Thankfully we didn't have any really weird dishes but the control freak in me still had a hard time not knowing what was coming out.

-Sesame chicken wings: Tiny little wings but oh so delicious! I really could have eaten ten plates of this by myself and called it a day. You're perfect. Don't ever change.

-Bacon wrapped quail egg: Anything bacon wrapped is automatically labeled genius level but I didn't personally care for the quail egg.

-Bacon wrapped asparagus: All the piggy fat wrapped around a veggie which will make your pee smell weird an hour later. Yet somehow it always works.

-Motsu Nabe: A pot filled with silken tofu, vegetables, shrimp and a broth made from baby angels. I don't know how many angels had to die to make this broth, but it was worth it. Baby angels are made of 100% fat and you can taste it in the richness of the soup. We all basically had a group orgasm and then did it again when the waitress brought out noodles to put into the leftover broth. I'd go back just to have the noodles which were a fusion of ramen and udon.

All that was missing from the overall equation was a big bowl of rice, but thank goodness I didn't eat any during the meal because the noodles left me bloated from gluten for three days. Ha ha ha ha ha...

A Great little hidden gem. The food is great, and the service fantastic. Food is served omakase style so you just inform the waitress what you DON'T eat and they'll send you everything else. I love this style as the food keeps coming until you tap out and say "no mas." One unfortunate thing, the group I went with wasn't too adventurous so no Cartilage or Offal, which to me are some of the best things grilled. The great thing is that our waitress brought me a couple of dishes of these after our group was done with skewers and starting on the nabe. A good way for me to end on things I wanted. The price is also very reasonable for the quality of food. I'm a heavy eater but was accompanied by four ladies and a late guest but the bill still came in under $200. Our waitress and the chef were nice enough to make individual skewers of what our late guest missed to make up and catch him up to us. I can't say enough about the taste of the food. The flavors off the grill can't be beat. I even missed taking pictures of half our food including the nabe (soup) and Japanese noodles because I was enjoying the tastes. And, as a bonus, the place is BYOB with no corkage fee. Parking is conveniently across the street in the Bank of Hawaii lot and is a reasonable flat rate after hours ($2.00 on 7/3/19). This place should be on any foodies list of places to get to.

Omakase yakitori restaurant that is byob. Everything is delicious, and you can specify if you have any food allergies or dislikes. Very reasonable for the price

**Yakitori revolution in Honolulu**
This place reminds of me yakitori place in Japan. Nothing fancy, but all dishes are prepared by good hands of someone who really care about good food. Omakase course (which is basically only one option they have) starts with three kobachi (small appetizers) that are simple and ordinary, yet very comforting. Then next, you have chicken salad with sesame dressing, which is another non-fancy one yet pleasant. You can taste the quality of chicken.
Now, your grill party starts — the owner keeps making you skewers until you stop, and they check on you how you’re doing interns if appetite periodically. Besides classic yakitori items like gizzards, hearts, tsukune (chicken balls), they have shrimp, beef, and pork too. All yakitori was flawless, made me forget the fact that I live in Honolulu.
I was really pumped for motsu babe that everyone was raving about, and my expectation was never betrayed. Save space in your stomach for Okinawa soba in the end — you’ll thank yourself in the end of meal.
The variation of food items might not be extensive, but this is first time that I had a very satisfying Yakitori experience in Hawaii without feeling ripped or meh. Service was prompt and genuinely attentive, despite the place packed and pretty busy. Honestly, just hoping that it won’t become too popular so that we can come back soon again.