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The Weekly Eater

BY NADINE KAM

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A private tatami room is
a must to enjoy Kyo-ya dining

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Festive times call for much fuss and instead of doing all the dirty work in their own kitchens, celebrants have wised up to the idea of protecting their carpets and glassware by dragging the clan out to a restaurant.

Yeah, there's nothing like sharing your private party with dozens of strangers, separated by the flimsiest of partitions.

Kyo-ya offers a great solution, with private tatami rooms for four (two could also request a room) to 70 that offer a magical combination of kick-your-shoes-off hominess, excellent cuisine and no fuss, save for placing that reservation. There's no rental fee as long as you place your order before your big day.

COURTESY KYO-YA Call ahead to reserve one of the second-floor tatami rooms for privacy and old-country ambience.

Although the restaurant has been here for 46 years, I'd never stopped in. It's quite a compound. Renovations done in 1991 have resulted in a fortress of concrete, marble and glass. There are some plants downstairs providing a garden ambience and Zen gardens of sand and stone adding a relaxing, meditational air to the second-story rooms. From an American perspective, accustomed as we are to noise, lights and color, it's quite stark. Thank goodness for the tatami, which, due to its color, brightens rooms with a pale golden glow. Otherwise, you'll just have to rely on each other for warmth.

If you fail to plan ahead, you will have to sit in the public dining room downstairs, which, with its exposed concrete walls, has virtually no ambience.

Between now and New Year, chef Shigeaki Inoue is offering a seasonal makunouchi, or bento box, of celebratory dishes. Those who revel in usual hearty teishoku offerings of salmon shioyaki ($20), shrimp tempura ($24), tonkatsu ($24), and the like may be perplexed by the ritual of kaiseki dining with simple, uncluttered fare symbolic of nature and the four seasons.

Foods chosen reflect diversity from mountain to sea in a contrasting display of colors, shapes, flavors and textures, which, while aesthetically pleasing, can be a challenge to more timid diners. You know who you are and you would probably be happier with izakaya-style a la carte items or complete dinners of sashimi ($28), chicken katsu ($20) or teriyaki ($25), or one of Kyo-ya's combinations, such as the triple-threat Take Teishoku ($32) featuring deep red ahi sashimi, a generous portion of miso butterfish and shrimp tempura.

COURTESY KYO-YA Chefs can prepare dishes to order, such as an elegant sashimi platter.

If you do choose December's menu you'll find the emphasis on winter's chill, starting with a dish of cold buckwheat noodles topped with slivers of nori, and pieces of deep-fried smelt, served in chilled sweetened vinegar.

In all dishes, there is a minimal use of sauces or flavor enhancers, allowing patrons to enjoy the flavors of key ingredients au naturel.

And those varied textures are present in a single dish of the chef's special sushi, which can change from day to day. I was presented with a trio of gelatinous jellyfish; a quail egg served over easy over the mound of rice so a bite would send the yolk sliding down the sides; and crunchy kazunoko or herring roe, the many eggs signifying many descendants.

Easiest for most to handle is a central platter featuring sweet tamago (egg); a single perfect deep-fried prawn, a symbol for long life; three tender pieces of soy-brushed and fried chicken; and miso-marinated grilled flounder.

Portions are bite-sized and the only dish I left unfinished was a mound of diced ahi stirred with slimy okra, never a favorite unless it's deep-fried.

What was lacking was an equal graciousness in service. Being new to Kyo-ya, I was relegated to the downstairs restaurant, where kimono-clad waitresses seemed to know or care very little about the food. I couldn't help but compare the experience to that at Miyako, where servers knew every detail about the cuisine and its symbolism and were enthusiastic about sharing these details, enhancing guests' appreciation of the food.

After 46 years it's natural to get complacent, but because the restaurant is in Waikiki, it's new to many every day and those first impressions matter.

KYO-YA 2057 Kalakaua Ave. (valet parking available) / 947-3911 Food Service 1/2 Ambience downstairs Ambience upstairs 1/2 Value Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. daily Cost: About $50 to $60 for two without drinks

See some past restaurant reviews in the
Columnists section.

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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:

	excellent;
	very good, exceeds expectations;
	average;
	below average.

To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to nkam@starbulletin.com