Iyasume Musubi – A Gem for Food in Waikiki, Hawaii

Iyasume Musubi - A Gem for Food in Waikiki, Hawaii
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Iyasume Musubi is a wonderful place to eat local Hawaii Japanese food in Honolulu. Get more details here: http://migrationology.com/2014/03/iyasume-musubi-taste-delicious-local-food-heart-waikiki/

Waikiki is not exactly a gem when it comes to local Hawaii style food. Sure there are some good restaurants that serve Japanese food, but don’t expect to find good Hawaii food (I’m talking Hawaii food not Hawaiian food) when you’re in Waikiki – for that you need to head out of Waikiki and go somewhere else in Honolulu. But after hearing about Iyasume Musubi, I decided I needed to go check them out.

Located in the heart of Waikiki, Iyasume Musubi serves a menu of mostly Japanese style local Hawaii food, and as the name suggests, musubi is one of the most popular things to eat there. The restaurant is very small, and most of the people get their food for takeaway. But myself, having plenty of time, I decided to eat there, and luckily there was a spare table available when I arrived. I immediately noticed the the beautiful stack of bentos on the table, and to the left of that, was a beautiful tray of SPAM musubis – and that’s exactly what I came for.

So at Iyasume Musubi, there’s actually an entire menu of different rice balls (musubis), that you can order, and some of them are stuffed with some really delicious ingredients, but again I came mostly to eat the SPAM. There were three different types to choose from; the original classic, the SPAM ume, and finally the bacon and egg SPAM.

At first I began with an original and an ume (which is a Japanese pickled plum sauce), and I also ordered one of the bentos which was filled with rice, fried chicken, and some small sides. I first dug into the original SPAM musubi. Unlike at some places where you get a full block of rice, at Iyasume, it was more of a ball of rice – and it wasn’t just any rice, it was some of the best rice I’ve ever had in my life – somehow they cooked the rice to absolute perfection – it was moist, and each individual grain stood out – yet at the same time each grain was soft but not mushy. Okay I don’t really know how to explain how good the rice was, but I’ll just tell you, it was some of the best rice I’ve ever had in my life.

I also really like that Japanese pickled plum sauce, with SPAM, and a slice of cucumber, all wrapped into seaweed – that was quite a wonderful complementary combination. As for the bento, again the rice was beyond stunning, cooked with such precision and care. The piece of salmon was delicious. I guess I’m overall not a huge fan of fried chicken that sits for too long, it’s so much better if you eat fried chicken fresh out of the oil. So overall the fried chicken wasn’t as good as it could have been, had been hot and fresh, but it was still good.

And after I had completed two musubis, and one bento box, I somehow had the urge – that wouldn’t go away – to try the bacon and egg SPAM musubi. I reached over to the tray, picked out the fattest one, and sunk my teeth into that absolute beauty of a treat. It was the entire Hawaiian breakfast in one easy to hold food – fantastic!

Iyasume Musubi – Waikiki, Honolulu
Website: http://www.tonsuke.com/eomusubiya.html
Phone: 808-921-0168
Open hours: Monday to Friday from 6:30 am – 7:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 am – 4:00 pm
Address: 2410 Koa Avenue, Hale Waikiki Hotel, #4, Honolulu, HI 96815

Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network

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Follow my adventures on http://migrationology.com/blog & http://www.eatingthaifood.com/blog/
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Thai Food Guide: http://www.eatingthaifood.com/eating-thai-food-guide/

Thank you so much for watching this food and travel video by Mark Wiens. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss my next tasty adventure. You can subscribe right here: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=migrationology

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About the Author: Mark Wiens

50 Comments

  1. Mark each time you eat. You eat too much . but never gain weight. Has you ever been so full after eating. Coz you will go to another and eat more..me I don't eat much. And will be very full if I eat as much as you eat my stomach will be full easily and just few minute will go to the toilet. Am fat but don't eat much. I never lost weight. What your secret
    . I want to enjoy food too. But my stomach will stop me

  2. I'm so glad you mentioned the rice. Rice isn't just rice. Some places just don't know how to cook rice properly.

  3. I went to this place on Mark's suggestion. The rice was fantastic. Musubi – delicious. As for the little throw in there Mark made about the food being salty, the food was really salty. That kind of turned me off.

  4. As much as I love this place, 7-eleven is pretty good too!! Their musubi is pretty small compared to others but like he said the rice is on point! Mark always makes people feel like they're starving at night…

  5. I was just in Waikiki last week and past this place every day. I kept wanting to go there but my group would outvote me for different places. Definitely need to stop by next time I go.

  6. Everytime I watch your blog or video in youtube Im really amaze in your work,Im your no# 1 fan here in tarlac, Phillippines..mabuhay!!!!!

  7. Great video! I plan on going here next week and I'm so glad to have a good idea of what to order. Looks wonderful, I can't wait!

  8. hey Mark, I finally tried the famous musubi,and it was literally everything you've described!!!! thanks to your videos, I'm in love with Hawaiian food✔

  9. Wow Mark, this place was recommended for me to try out when I was in Hawaii two weeks back.  Parked on the 3rd floor of the hotel/structure and discovered that it was a little hole in the wall.  Went there maybe around 10 in the morning, so it was deserted.  Didn't think much of it so we crossed the street and ate at the Korean rib place instead.  After seeing your video, I think I must've made a mistake to not have eaten there.  Next time for sure!

  10. I went to Hawaii a week ago and per your suggestion, I went to Iyasume Musubi. I actually thought I was at the wrong place because the interior looked so different from your video. I got 2 original musubis, one with egg, one with egg and bacon, and a chicken bento box. My god the food was so good and made spam taste so much better!  I don't regret the 30 minute walk from my hotel to and from at all. Thank you so much for the suggestion!

  11. I had never eaten spam in my life. (Ew! Spam!). That is, until I started vacationing in Hawaii. (I've been blessed to have been 10 times so far). I now consider a $2 musubi to be a vacation delicacy! Thanks for a great video!

  12. Thank you so much, Mark-san~~
    We have moved to a new location, Pacific Monarch Hotel; 2427 Kuhio aveneu July 28th , 2014.
    please come again~~~Mahalo

  13. I went to Hawaii on vacation last week and I found this place 😀 the Musubi is so simple and scrumptious!!! I think most would like it…mine wasn't salty at all surprisingly…it tasted more like Chinese sausage with spam texture.

  14. just a tip, i think you should try to put ur videos into a category ( countries ) i mean , JAPANese food into JAPAN and stuff like that. easier to find, i kindah was only interested in your korea/japanese food videos.

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