Kokorotei

October 2025, update. I wish they would allow sitting or waiting space inside the restaurant. It's hot and stink outside with many flys bothering everyone who is waiting. Kokoro-tei used to be my favorite bento place for the Nori Kara, the Nori Kara Deluxe and Nori Salmon Deluxe costing really cheap and containing lots of food for the price. Before and during covid, they closed their waikiki location and became exclusively a take out place. After covid, you can only step inside a few feet, order and wait outside. My advice, check their website for daily specials and call it in. I've called my order in and also ordered in person. I have to say, the wait outside...is of significant time, roughly 20 to 30 mins for your food (my orders are typical one item). That's because they get lots of orders per day, so the wait can be very long. In general service is typically slow. For atmosphere, I wish they allowed space inside their shop to wait. During the day, and waiting outside, it's hot and often smells/stinks. Some hang out in their cars and come back when its ready. Anyways, good bento place. Best to call in and pick up. There is no sit down place to eat, take out only.

Great authentic Japanese food, at an even better price. Their menu is pretty good, with a lot of your normal bento choices, but they have specials on the weekdays that are great values and only available on these days. One of my favorites is the Omelet rice, you need to call to see if available that day or not and make sure to reserve it early if you want to try it. they tend to run out of this special early.

Kokoro-Tei is a great Japanese bento place. It is take-out only and I would definitely recommend ordering ahead. The food was really tasty and even though the woman at the front didn’t speak very much English she was very kind.

Very authentic flavours, best Japanese bento I have ever had. Rice is topped with bonito flakes and then blanketed with nori. I would eat here every day if I were Kama‘āina. Only critique is that the salmon was overcooked, but everything else makes up for it.

Great place to pick up bentos for an event! recently when I've asked to pick up around 10 orders, vendors have made me wait 15 minutes but not here. the bentos were actually all ready, still warm too, when I showed up 5 minutes beforehand. amazing service. I'd place an order online on their website a day or 2 before if you plan to order a lot.

Super cute shop with a very kind and gentle elderly lady manning the front. Bento boxes are excellent value and taste really good. Highly recommend this place if you're on a budget and want to eat good bento box food!

My workplace ordered a bunch of bentos for a coworker brithday, and I picked the salmon bento for $10.98 (2022 prices). Excellent taste and would order again if offered another opportunity.

Great bento place! They are mostly made to order. Ebi fry was amazing, as was the fried chikuwa. Chicken left something to be desired, though. My friend loved his salmon and vege bento.

let this place speak for itself and please visit them if you have a craving for a high quality Japanese bento at reasonable prices! My favorite here is the ginger pork bento (so good!), and if you are hungry, they have mega sizes that pair two entrees together (my favorite is the ginger pork and hamburger steak with wafu sauce combo). I'm happy to see that this place looks to be doing really well, but that does mean you might have to wat in line for awhile to order, and some more waiting till they finish cooking your bento. I notice many people cal their orders in so that's a plus too if you can plan ahead. Really reminds me of meals I enjoy in Japan and their friendly service is really nice.

Food portions were huge. The steak didn't have much taste without the wafu sauce. The yakitori was great. I also liked the little side dishes. They were really tasty.