California Beach Rock N' Sushi

I can't believe I haven't written a review for California Beach Rock N' Sushi! I've been coming here for years and this is probably my favorite, hands down, best sushi place on the island! They have everything from Japanese food to lunch specials, early bird specials and happy hour at the sushi bar from 5-6:30pm daily! And their signature rolls are out-of-this-world good! My favorite rolls are definitely the Principal Roll and the Tamanaha Roll. Their menu has a lot of different varieties of rolls, sushi handrolls, sashimi, nigiri, teishokus, and ala carte items; plus, lots of pictures on their menu to help their customers better visualize their meal! Oh and you gotta try their tempura ice cream for dessert! Super ono :)

Rock n' Sushi is located in a prime spot in Ward area. Across the street from the former Sports Authority, Rock n' Sushi has their own little parking lot. But there have been times when the lot was full, so we would just park across the street and walk over. But after this Saturday, August 27, 2016, instead of leasing out only until the end of the year (due to the Kaka'ako condo project), they found a new spot to relocate to at Pearlridge, permanently! Although I am sad that they're moving away from town side, I'm still happy that they're moving closer to my place!

When I was asked at a Yelp event where I felt had the best happy hour menu, Rock n' Sushi was the first place that popped in my head. Pretty much almost everything on their regular menu is on their happy hour menu for half off. And their signature rolls are half the size they normally come in, so it's definitely the best way to experiment all of their rolls for a cheaper price, $6 each. Their oyster shooters and sushi are $2 each, and their handrolls are $2.50 each. The most expensive item on their happy hour menu is $4 for their chester chicken, kicken chicken and sausage. Talk about a deal!

The staff here are friendly and quick. It's not a big restaurant, so sometimes it can be pretty busy, with a bit of a wait. But if you go in early for their happy hour or early bird specials, it's usually not too crowded.

One of Ladies night out or Womens night out where we craved for appetizers or pupu and made sure not to forget about sushi.

Started off with oyster shooters that is served with ponzu, green onions and limu in the middle. Limu adds a nice crunch to oysters.

Moved to creamy mermaids, man doo pi wrapped appetizer complete with shrimp tail showing, cream cheese mixed with fresh crab, fried until crispy, golden brown. This is one of my favorite appetizers I've tasted, crunchy on the outside and scrumptious on the inside.

Indulged in crunchy crab roll consisting of fresh minced crab. Reminded me of a fresh, delicious California sushi rolled in orange tobiko and crispy tempura flakes. Satisfied my appetite! Yummy!

Consumed hot crab roll, made of cucumber, spicy tuna, crab, nori, rice, rolled in wasabi, tempura flakes, rested on a bed of hot sauce and red tobiko. Wowzers! Definitely spicy sushi roll that lives up to their name.

Dining experience plus five star customer service is worth the indulgence.

Why, oh why, would you name a joint this? Ok, yeah, so it could always be worse, I almost feel like I never gave it a try just because of the name! Like another reviewer mentioned, don't let the name fool you. I still happen to think it sounds like something you would find at the food court in the mall but that's just my opinion!

So after I got over my "judging a book by its cover" or shall I say, after hubby convinced me just to try it. I'd like to think of this as more of a 3.5 star place but have decided to just go with 3 stars. I made reservations here for dinner. I espeically liked that it was one of those places we could walk to, a perk of living in the hood...even though they have parking behind and on the side of the restaurant. It's always nice to start a meal off when one doesn't have to fight or wait for the a parking spot.

The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived for our 6pm reservation. The place is quite open and spacious. It has high wood ceilings, white walls decorated with various tapestries and UH emblem stuff. There's plentiful seating with modern chairs and tables and a large sushi bar on the left side of the restaurant also accommodates quite a few guests many seats around it. I truly think this could be a great spot for larger parties/groups and with the parking! Yaaas!

Surprisingly, the restaurant boasts a nice selection of items! I would not have thought that given...the name! Lol! We started off our meal with some cold sake, 2 types of sashimi, few of their signature rolls (Stuntman $14 and Sunshine $11) and just to be sure we stuffed ourselves, we went with an order of Hamachi with diced chilies ($14). My, oh my, yes, child I could eat that all day. The last thing we ordered and my favorite by far. Don't get me wrong, the sashimi and rolls were good too, but that Hamachi was paired with a nice zesty tangy sauce and the chilies added some flavor. Perfect combination!

While, this place didn't "wow" me, it didn't let me down. I like it but don't love-love it. It's not one I would rate it in my favorites but it's one to keep in the back pocket.

So, the moral of this little story is...I'll still judge a book by its cover but I'm pretty sure it won't take me more than a few years to just "try it" anymore! Be like Mikey, and you just might like it!

I can't believe I haven't come here more often. The other night my gf mentioned coming here and it's been years coming to this location.

I went to their second location for the first time at Newport Beach in California over 25 years ago. That was a fun Rock n Sushi place. So when they opened here I tried it years back and somehow forgot about it till the other night.

Anyway...when we first arrived there was a seating issue (no available table big enough for 6 of us). I got them to bring 2 tables together from different waitress sections. At first they were going to make us sit apart. Which was totally weird. Why would we go out to dinner to sit apart from the people we wanted to have dinner with.

After a bit of persuasion the waitresses gave in. Yay! We were finally happy we could eat together.

Anyway...cut to the food.

For the price, taste, and quality this place Rocks n Sushi!!!

A great place to come for families, groups plus there is a great early bird special for $14 (5-6:30pm)

Must tries was the Tuna tartare, hamachi w/ chile, the principal, sake was reasonable too. For $15 they give a little bottle that fills up your sake cup at least 4-5 times.

Strong Yay I Highly recommend to get your Sushi fix and not drain your wallet.

Tonight I spent one magical night getting together with old friends, and to honor a good friend who has left us too soon. California Beach Rock n' Sushi was the place of choice tonight, as it was also the place where our good friend had worked.

What can I say about this place.........the food is outstanding!!!! But the sake is even better!!!!

For my meal tonight, I ended up ordering a soft shell crab salad, but that's not where it stopped. I also ordered two round bottles of Otokoyama junmai sake. And no, I did NOT drink it all by myself..........my friends were nice enough to throw down with me. That's a good thing, as no one wants to drink alone. ;)

There were many other items we had ordered tonight............ just check out the pics! But a few outstanding items I immensely enjoyed was the Hamachi, Karaage Chicken, & Miso Butterfish.

Service was 100 times above EXCELLENT! But it sure helps if you know people too!

Thank you Chenay & Reid for taking good care of us tonight. There was a lot of us, but you ran the table like no-body's business!

As we were ready to part ways tonight, I could not help but reminisce about the good old days............can't believe we've known each other for about 20 years now.
So much has changed, but yet we are all still together, and looking out for one another. That's what FRIENDSHIP is all about! Life is short, take the time out to let your loved ones, & friends know that you care, and love them!

It's been a couple of years since I last ate here and tonight came w/ my family. We ordered the Early Bird Dinner Special ($14) and had so much food and the quality was great. I had grilled salmon, sashimi and tempura combo which also came with miso soup and a bowl of rice. I also ordered the UNI nigiri ($11) and for 2 pieces, the quality was sure worth the price.

When my Japanese friends came to Hawaii on their honeymoon, I took them here for dinner. I lived in Fukui (facing the Sea of Japan) for 3 years and we had fresh seafood all-year round and my friends thought the sushi and sashimi quality here at California Beach Rock N' Sushi were BETTER than what they've been eating in Japan! We sat at the counter and had the chef's OMAKASE and the food was fabulous.

The place was packed and the service was pretty good. Our waitress was attentive and overall we all enjoyed our meal.

For sure I gotta come back to this place. However, I didn't care for parking as it was busy and I had to park far away and walk to this joint.

Heard about this place from my boss. Said it was the best sushi on the island, so I decided to give it a shot.

Place was not too crowded, nice ambiance.

Ordered:
Oyster Shooters - YUM! Didn't expect yummy oyster goodness in a shot glass. Was totes worth the $5.
Calamari with Garlic Shoyu - Also yummy!
Salmon (Sake) Sashimi - I have pretty high standards for salmon sashimi and this was pretty good. Not as good as my #1 place though. (; I'd say it was second best.
Ahi Carpaccio - Deliciousness covered with fried onion! The sauce was perf!

The prices were a little pricey, hence the -1 star. Pricey for a student, I mean. I saw the reviews saying there was a special if I came earlier. I will have to try that next time. But the service was pretty good, waitress even gave us a discount because she felt that our meal Ahi wasn't as nice looking to the eye as it usually is. I didn't notice, but that is service right there! Wanting the best for its customers!

Good job CBRS!

Great place to come for a weekday lunch. The service is quick, and their lunch menu is attractively priced and comes with a lot of food!

The single item menu plates (i.e. salmon, teri chicken, tempura, steak, garlic ahi) are all either $9 or $10.

The "super combos" (single item plus a chicken wing, shu mai, california roll and croquette) are $11 or $12.

All of the above come with rice, miso soup, and salad!

Granted, it's not high quality Japanese food, but it's a pretty good deal for the price you pay and it's much better than some of the other Japanese restaurants I've been to for lunch.

Don't let the name fool you, this place is actually pretty good. I needed my sashimi fix and I have yet to find a place on the island that does it well for a reasonable price.

We arrived around 5:30 on a Tuesday night for the happy hour special. It wasn't crowded and we got seated at the sushi bar immediately. The sashimi and oyster shooters were so good and fresh! I highly recommend the rockin poppin shrimp. The only food item I didn't like was the spicy scallop nigiri.

This place is my absolute favorite sushi joint on the island. Service is great and the food is even greater. The sushi is so fresh and you can see the chefs making it behind the counter. They have a wide variety of appetizers, sushi rolls, and entrees to choose from. My go-to dishes are the hamachi carpaccio, gandubie roll, and the miso butterfish w/tempura combo and you wash it down with an ice cold glass of Asahi, YUM!

I omit a star because they are not open for lunch on the weekends. Why oh why would you do that?! I would be visiting you guys more often if I can stop by for lunch. Dinner time gets pretty crowded, and the place is pretty small, so I recommend coming in early. Parking is limited behind the restaurant, so there are times where I would have to park across the street at Ross.