Teshima Restaurant (located at 79-7251 Mamalahoa Hwy, Kealakekua, HI 96750) is a family restaurant, with 3 generations currently working in the Japanese-style joint. Shizu-Obaachan, who recently turned 107, is still running the place as cheerfully as ever. It's a little in the middle of nowhere on the Kailua-Kona-side of the Big Island, but if you're in the area and want a nice lunch or dinner, stop here!
Price: $$
Overall Experience: 4 stars/5 stars
Teshima is best known for their tenpura/tempura, or Japanese battered and deep fried foods dipped in a brothy-sauce, so naturally I had to sample this on my first trip to the restaurant. ("What the Big Island Likes to Eat" highly recommends the kettle-cooked tofu dish and I can say that was also fantastic--my huge family ordered basically half the menu, so I had a good go at everything.) I ordered the Thursday lunch special, which comes with a cup of miso soup, a tray of pickled veg, a bowl of rice, barley tea, a side of really tasty and well-marinated spare ribs and gorgeous platter of golden tenpura. The tenpura was traditionally done and perfect--not over or undercooked, not too oily, great colour, etc... Teshima served up these things in my tenpura: ahi, yam, zucchini, eggplant, green bean and a lovely surprise of purple potato! Look at that colour!:
The dipping sauce was also great, not overly salty, with a nice sweetness. The spareribs were magnificent (I'd just gotten my wisdom teeth done, so a bit tough to eat for me still) and soo well-marinated! Just the smell of them would do a number on you! It sat on a bed of lettuce, which I was really yearning for (local Hawaiian food does not generally serve up much veg, just a lot of meat, starch and gravy). The tenpura was definitely the star of my plate and I would order this again when revisiting Teshima Restaurant.
Don't worry, eat happy!
-Raechel
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