Restaurant Highlight: Musubi & Bento Iyasume

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Chris Laporga in beach, Food, fun in the sun, Island Colony, Restaurant, Waikiki

Hawaii is famous for a lot of things. From slang to location to FOOD! One marquee food in Hawaii all visitors must take the time to snack on is a Musubi.

Musubi – A traditional Asian food consisting of cooked rice and one or several other ingredients that are made into small shaped servings to be eaten at home or for meals away from home, such as picnics or lunch box meals. Musubi is most often hand shaped into a ball, a triangular form, or a cylindrical shape that becomes a single serving. There are a wide variety of ingredients that can be added to the rice to make musubi, such as vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, and eggs. The rice and meat can be deep fat fried, baked, or served cold, after cooking the rice. Dried seaweed is often used as a wrapper to secure the triangular or circular shaped rice. Musubi may also be referred to as o-nigiri, o-musubi, or onigiri.

Many gas stations, convenient stores, grocery stores and even restaurants offer some form of musubi. More specifically, SPAM musubi has been made famous in Hawaii. Musubi comes in all shapes, sizes and choice ingredients, but all keep the same idea with the sticky rice and seaweed wrap all packaged up in an easy-access Saran Wrap. It’s the perfect on-the-go snack or can be easily packed for a cruise day at the beach!

Another famous easy access/fast eat is the bento.

Bento – a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento holds rice, fish or meat, with pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Bento boxes are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops, railway stations, and department stores. However, Japanese homemakers often spend time and energy on a carefully prepared lunch box for their spouse, child, or themselves.

Same as the musubi, bento boxes are located virtually any place on the island where food is sold. It’s a little more food than just a musubi, but it’s still just as easy and quick to serve up a meal for yourself. They come in all shapes and sizes. Also perfect for the beach!

As mentioned before, musubi and bentos can be purchased anywhere. But in Waikiki, there’s no better place to get it than a small hole-in-the wall shop called Musubi & Bento Iyasume!!! It’s located right in the heart of Waikiki. For those staying at one of our Island Colony studios, it’s located on the same road about a block towards the ocean. It’s a 5 minute walk! There’s enough choices of delicious bentos and musubi to satisfy your curious taste buds. These foods are quintessential Hawaii! During prime breakfast, lunch and dinner hours, there’s usually a long line forming out to the sidewalk. They’ve built up a reputation as having some of the best tastes in Hawaii for musubi and bento!