Rijo - Honolulu

When we arrived in the afternoon, it felt like there was almost nothing left at the buffet. We had to wait for the salad and the miso soup, and no sushi was replenished. However, what we did eat was delicious, and the service was excellent.

When we arrived at 7:30, the restaurant was nearly empty and incredibly quiet, which felt a bit awkward. The buffet was decent, but for $55 per person, I expected a nicer presentation and a wider selection. Overall, the food was good and plentiful, but it was strange how the staff seemed to completely ignore us, as they never came by to take drink orders. After waiting for over 30 minutes, when someone finally approached us to take a wine order, another staff member came to our table with two open bottles of wine. He informed us that the options were unavailable, but offered us the chance to taste one of the open bottles. It was unclear whether we were supposed to take the open bottle or if we would receive an unopened one. By 8:30, they closed the restaurant around us (on New Year's Eve) and began clearing the food away. What could have been a delightful evening ended up feeling a bit odd and disappointing. At least the staff had the chance to finish their work early and celebrate New Year's elsewhere.

My parents really love this restaurant, so we took my father to Rijo for his special day. I’m not sure if it was due to the post-Christmas rush, but our dinner there on December 26th was quite disappointing. It seemed like there were only one front waiter and three back waiters working, and the front waiter appeared overwhelmed, possibly due to inexperience, as he apologized frequently. They ran out of the Christmas Island dish from the skalopps menu and forgot one of our starters until almost the end of the meal. I had a much better experience when I came here for brunch on Mother’s Day. Overall, I was not impressed with our dinner on December 26th, and I also noticed that there are not many options for children on the menu.

The Christmas buffet sounded amazing on the website. reality was a great disappointment. decor was not existent, eating was displayed in unattractive warmer, selection and service were extremely subduing for the $60 per person price! the highlight was the sashimi . super fresh and the cuts were generous. the rest of the food was meh .

Have been here numerous times and food is consistently good and service has always been excellent. A great go to spot for a nice lunch in downtown.