Big Island Grinds

It was a beautiful day in Hilo and my friend suggested we go to Miyo’s for lunch. I’ve only been to Miyo’s once years ago, and I remembered how nice it was there, so I was happy to go.

Miyo’s sits on the second story of a small building right next to Wailoa Pond.

The view is beautiful, making for a very peaceful and relaxing dining experience.

Inside the restaurant is a very Japanese, homey, quaint atmosphere. Big opened Japanese style doors line the wall, leaving the room feel open. The kitchen is also in plain view, adding to the Japanese homey feel.

There was a good amount of people for the time we went, considering it was well before noon. I noticed a lot of reservation signs on the tables, so reservations would probably be a good idea if you plan to go during prime-times, considering the small size of the restaurant. All of the window seats were taken, so we sat nearer the middle.

Within a couple minutes, we were served water, tsukemono, and miso soup. Service was very nice.

I have to say that the miso soup was amazing! It was definitely the best miso soup I’ve had in recent memory. The broth was perfect, full of flavor and not too salty, with beautiful pieces of tofu and seaweed… very fresh and mouth-watering. The tsukemono was refreshing too. Great start. I was happy.

Looking over the menu there was a lot of reasonably priced (~$6-$9 a plate) homestyle Japanese food like tempura, teriyaki, sashimi, udon, curries, fresh fish, sukiyaki, various donburi dishes, sesame chicken (lots of people were ordering this), vegetarian dishes, and others. It was so hard to choose. I ended up ordering the beef curry. *sigh* I know, I’m sorry. Only after I’ve ordered did I remember that I just wrote about beef curry in my last entry! I just had a beef curry craving again, ok? No worry though! My friend ordered the sesame chicken and tempura, which I have also tried.

A green salad came with the beef curry.

All the vegetables were crisp, fresh, and organic tasting. The tomato was plump and sweet. The dressing was a great tasting homemade oil and vinegar dressing.

The beef curry came shortly after.

This has got to be one of the most healthy beef curries I’ve seen. There was lots of broccoli, carrots, eggplant, and mushrooms along with the beef. So how did it taste? The curry sauce was good. It had a good flavor and it had a good heat/spiciness to it. It wasn’t as rich as Curry House’s curry, but it was still satisfying, especially with all the vegetables. The rice was good and the pickled radishes were nice, sweet and tangy. It tasted healthy, which is a good thing I guess, but I will probably not order it next time.

Then came the Sesame Chicken & Tempura combo.

Now this looked really good! The sesame chicken and tempura (shrimp and vegetables) was served over fresh greens (similar to my salad) and served with rice and tempura sauce. I managed to steal a good piece of the sesame chicken. The sesame chicken was crisp deep-fried boneless chicken with a sweet, thick, and rich sesame sauce. It was hard to tell what was in the sauce, but it was very good. I think this is one of their more popular dishes since I’ve seen other tables around with the same chicken. I also stole a bit of tempura. The tempura and the sauce was excellent, although the sweet potato tempura was a little undercooked. Otherwise, it was very yummy.

Miyo’s was a great experience and I don’t know why I haven’t come back here for a long time. Along with the great atmosphere, attention to freshness, and healthy food choices, Miyo’s is a great place to go. I will most likely be returning here more regularly.

Miyo’s
400 Hualani Street
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Tel: (808) 935-2273

This entry was posted by James on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005 at 10:49 pm and is filed under Hilo, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.