Sashimi Lovers, We’re Letting the Fish Out of the Bag!

TAKE’S Fish Market

Moanalua 99

1151 Mapunapuna St., Honolulu, HI 96819

(808) 834-8485

Mon-Sat: 10:00am-5:30pm

Sun: 10:00am-3pm

The hidden gem we were reluctant to utter, Real Big Mouths finally opens up about TAKE’S.

Word of Mouth (Max. 5 👄):

Food: 👄 👄 👄 👄 👄

Price: Reasonably Priced

Service: 👄 👄 👄 👄 👄

Ambiance: 👄 👄 👄

Walking into Moanalua 99, the former 99 Ranch Market, you are immediately greeted with all the worldly food eateries: Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Korean. Despite the multitude of choices, there is one spot that always hooks us by the mouth and that's TAKE’S Fish Market.

TAKE’S is a modest little stall with no flashy menu, just a simple sign that reads “TAKE’S.” It is a husband and wife duo. TAKE’S wife is usually in the back cutting fish and preparing small platters of sashimi ranging in price from $10.99 to $16.95. She also makes chirashi bowls for $10.50. The word “chirashi” means “scattered.” It is a bowl of sushi rice topped with sashimi and vegetables. TAKE’S adds Ahi, Hamachi, ebi, kani, egg, cucumbers and green onions to its chirashi bowl.

We visited TAKE’S on a weekday afternoon and they had beautiful choices of fish. If you’re lucky, sometimes they offer limited delicacies such as Hamachi kama, Ahi belly, and blocks of Chutoro. We spent a few minutes drooling in our mask, debating about what to choose, before we decided on two small platters, both $16.95.

The first platter had a seafood assortment of Ahi, Salmon, Ika, Tako, Ikura, and Tobiko gently placed on shredded daikon and shiso leaves. The second platter had generous portions of Ahi and Hamachi sashimi. Each morsel of Ahi was thick and firm sans sinew. The Hamachi was oily, and melted in your mouth, giving you your dosage of omega-3 for the day. These little platters had the freshest slices of fish, which you will dream about later.

You don’t go to Moanalua 99 for ambiance. Get your food and go. But if you plan to ravish your “sash” right then and there, TAKE’S will serve your meal on a plastic tray, like the kind you would “borrow” from McDonald’s and use at Sandy’s. Pull up a plastic chair to the table, close your eyes, open your mouth wide, and enjoy!