Musubi Cafe Iyasume

Top choice in Waikiki


This hole-in-the-wall keeps busy making fresh onigiri (rice balls) stuffed with seaweed, salmon roe and sour plums. Other specialties include salmon-roe rice bowls, Japanese curry and island-style mochiko fried chicken. In a hurry? Grab a bentō box to go. The namesake musubi is a definitive version with grilled Spam atop a block of white rice wrapped in nori (seaweed sheet).

By noon, the lunch lines are long. Mostly take-out (get a beachside picnic table) but there are a couple tables.