I have no doubt Saku would do well in Honolulu. It has everything diners want from a Japanese restaurant—good food, right-priced; an extensive menu; and flights of sake and shochu at decent prices as well.

The catch is, it's in Kailua, where residents haven't rushed over the years to support its Japanese restaurants. During the 10 years I lived there, I noticed favoritism directed toward all-American and Italian fare. Maybe things will be different this time.

For one thing, and unusual for an izakaya-style restaurant cloaked in hipster cool, the owners and manager want Saku to be a place where families feel welcome, and making sure young ones are entertained with kiddie portions served on colorful Disney plates.

Meanwhile, adults will feel secure with a menu that can accommodate the leanest of budgets, with plenty of items for the times you want to splurge. For less than $20, for instance, two could split a Caesar salad ($7.50), the comfort-oriented savory okonomiyaki pancake ($7) incorporating veggies and pieces of tako, and layered with bonito flakes, and perhaps two orders of tsukune ($2.50 for two pieces), bouncy chicken meatballs shaped more like flat lollipops than globular Tootsie Rolls. If these were on a buffet, I could eat dozens.

  SAKU, MEANING “;blossom,”; is part of a Nagoya restaurant chain making its first foray into the United States, and its specialty is its tebakara, Nagoya's version of Buffalo wings, coated with a thin sauce. Its top-secret recipe registers as a very light, balanced blend of garlic, soy sauce and mirin, for starters. An order runs $5 for five pieces and its the most popular dish on the menu.

Once you make your main selections, you can add on little bites, like a trio of inch-round pumpkin croquettes ($4), needlessly topped with ketchup, or a trio of panko-crusted fried oysters ($4). If you like mochi, you might want to try the potato mochi ($4) which had a delicate potato flavor, but wasn't distinctive enough for me to order again.

Grilled New York steak is $10, and delicate miso butterfish is $9. Sushi comprises the bulk of the menu, whether you like it nigiri style or in decked out rolls of red, white and green, the colors of ahi, scallops and avocado, depending on which rolls you prefer. These run $12 for the Caterpillar featuring unagi, cucumber, tamago and avocado, to $17.50 for the Rainbow with ahi, avocado, hamachi and salmon.

If I still lived in Kailua, Saku would be my new No. 1 destination, on par with many of my favorites in town. Problem is, Honolulu is saturated with Japanese restaurants, so it would take a lot more to compel me to make a special trip through the tunnels. Hopefully, Kailuans will support their new neighbor.