INhonolulu Magazine Issue #15 - March 2014 | Page 12

Review / Nagomi Teppan and Lounge

Ice cream with fried mochi ($8.50)

Bacon-wrapped mochi ($8.50)

Nago-‘meh’

Wagyu beef salad ($9.50)

Jackie Perreira
Photos by Jimmy Edens

N

o doubt, if you’ve ever driven past Nagomi Japanese
Teppan and Lounge, it has
caught your eye. Granted, that may be
because it’s neighbored by strip clubs.
Or it could be because it’s the newest
restaurant on Kapi‘olani. Personally,
its proximity to strip clubs isn’t bothersome. What did bother me was how
awkwardly empty, overpriced and altogether forgettable it was.
To Nagomi’s credit, its exterior
looks promising and swanky with its
color-changing light arrangements
and big open windows. Its interior is
everything you’d want for a date or
dinner with your coworker: nice and
polished without feeling too formal.
According to its website, “nagomi”
means “to be relaxed, peaceful and
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calm” in Japanese. The restaurant has
only been open for about two months,
but judging by a total of about ten
people there at 8:30 p.m. on a Tues-

day, Nagomi has no problem keeping
things peaceful.
In other words, it was as empty as
a strip club on a Monday afternoon.

Something that had never bothered me until my mom pointed it out
a few years ago is how uncomfortable
it is when a restaurant is empty and a
waiter seats you next to the only other
people there. The level of uncomfortableness depends on the atmosphere
of the restaurant, though. For instance, if you’re at Benihana, it’s not a
big deal because you’re focused on the
chef in your table who’s flamboyantly
preparing your meal.
In contrast, if you’re at Nagomi
where it is absolutely silent (I can’t
even remember if they had music
playing) and the only thing in the
middle of your table is some salt and
pepper, it is uncomfortably easy to focus on your neighbor’s conversations,
and vice versa.
As for the actual food, I should
mention that Yelp was misleading.
Under the price range category Nagomi has 1 out of 4 dollar signs, which is
supposed to mean that prices are low.
In reality, most of their main entrees
were $9 and up.
As a college student and just a
regular human being who values her
money, I judge food prices based on
how many McDoubles (which costs
about $1/each) I could get for the cost

of a dish. For the price of a plate of
Gyoza at Nagomi, I could get about
ten McDoubles. That is not deserving
of the one dollar sign rating. To me,
places like Marukame Udon deserve
that rating, where you can get a huge
portion of udon for about $5.
This scale is subjective of course,
and if something is expensive but
tastes amazing, I’m okay with spending more than usual. However, in this
case the bite did not match the buck.
To start, I ordered the bacon-wrapped mochi ($8.50). The presentation was on-point: it was served
on a white dish that had a nifty builtin sauce compartment. The bacon
was crispy and went well with the
mochi. If you like eating bacon and
rice together, you’ll most likely enjoy
this dish. Eat it while it’s hot, though,
because after that the mochi gets hard
and difficult to chew.
I also ordered the spicy grilled tofu
($5.50). This was awesome and I don’t
even care for tofu really. The outside
was dark brown and a little crispy,
and the sauce complimented it well.
For my entrée, I ordered the Wagyu
Beef salad ($9.50), which had bits
of Wagyu beef sautéed with onions
and spicy ginger dressing over mixed

greens. The menu said the beef was
“thinly sliced”, which in my mind signaled delicate slivers of beef. What I
got was a mountain of beef with some
lettuce drowning beneath. The lettuce
may as well have been a garnish. The
meat was bland and tough and the
dressing was too strong.
For dessert I had the green tea ice
cream with fried mochi ($8.50). It was
freaking delicious and it looked pretty. The mochi had kinako powder and
a caramel-like kuromitsu sauce that
tasted so good with the earthy-flavored green tea ice cream. It was the
best thing I ordered there.
Final verdict: Although eating
with your eyes is important, Nagomi’s
strong presentation is not enough to
leave you feeling satisfied. ■
Nagomi Teppan and Lounge
1687 Kapi‘olani Blvd.
Mon.–Sat., 11am–2:30pm,
5:30pm–midnight
Sun., 5:30pm–midnight
312-3534
nagomilounge.com

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