BY LINDSEY MURAOKA / Special to the Star-Advertiser
Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2014 is a great year filled with fun, excitement, and even more delicious food!
I recently checked out a new Japanese nabe (hot pot) restaurant located at Market City Shopping Center called Nabeya Maido. The decor is bright and inviting with wood paneling and seating.
One of the owners is Kevin Suehiro, who previously worked at Yakitori Glad. If you’ve been there before you know they are all about quality food with great customer service, so Kevin made sure to bring that same concept to Nabeya Maido. Throughout dinner he stops by at each table to help cook the food and crack a few jokes.
Just like most hot pot places, you choose the types of meat, seafood and vegetables you would like with your soup. The prices are based on the color of plates: Green ($2.90), Red ($4.90), Yellow ($3.90) and Blue ($5.90). The chicken, chicken slices and pork belly pork plates are $3.90 each. There is also beef for $4.90 and Wagyu for $7.90.
Although the selection is not as big as other places, they have the usual standard favorites like mochi, tsukune, lobster and shrimp balls, mushrooms and a variety of fishcake. The quality of the meat and vegetables is very good. Everything tasted vibrant and fresh.
These are the dishes that my friend Avy Chan and I chose to put into our soup. I always get tons of mushrooms and pumpkin because they soak up the broth.
There are five different types of broths to choose from. We choose the Bijin Nabe ($7.90). Suehiro said he put this broth on the menu because it’s his wife’s favorite, a soy based broth that’s light, yet creamy and full of flavor.
As the soup warms up it starts turning into chunks of silky tofu. This particular broth should be cooked at a low temperature to keep it from burning on the bottom.
This is what it looked like when it was ready to eat! I feel incredibly hungry looking at this picture again.
I didn’t get to try the other broths since there were only the two of us at dinner, but Suehiro kindly sent me some pictures of the others so I could share them here. I did try a small sample of their signature Maido broth ($7.90) which is their most popular broth. It has a nice deep flavor with a touch of garlic and just a small kick of spiciness. They also have a kochujang infused spicy Pirikara nabe ($8.90).
On the left is Maido broth; on the right is Pirikara. (Courtesy Kevin Suehiro)
Suehiro said his favorite is the Japanese curry nabe ($8.90) because after your meal you can order cheese risotto to eat with the remaining broth.
Japanese curry broth. (Courtesy Kevin Suehiro)
There is also a simple shabu shabu nabe ($3.90) that comes with their creamy house made goma and ponzu dipping sauces.
As for dessert, there is a selection of ice cream cakes for $3.90 per slice. We tried the green tea ice cream with azuki cake; I loved that the ice cream had a strong green tea flavor and was not overly sweet.
The ice cream cakes are currently the same ones that are served at Yakitori Glad but Nabeya Maido will soon have their own unique flavors.
Green tea ice cream with azuki cake. (Courtesy Avy Chan)
By the way, it’s BYOB until they get their liquor license!
Nabeya Maido is located at 2919 Kapiolani Blvd. They are open daily from 4 to 10 p.m. Call (808) 739-7739.
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Lindsey Muraoka blogs about food and drink for the Pulse. Contact her on Twitter or via email at foodlalablog@gmail.com.