Mana Bu’s 10-Grain Rice Hijiki Musubi (front) and Shiso & Wakame Brown Rice Musubi

Oahu has been fortunate over the years to enjoy a number of fantastic Japanese specialty shops and restaurants, each putting their own fine touch on such delicacies as sushi, ramen, soba, tonkatsu, cream puffs and mochi.

Enter Mana Bu’s. After reading some very positive online reviews recently on the place, I just had to try it!

With their slogan being “Hawaii’s Musubi Headquarters”, this new specialty shop shines the spotlight on a diverse selection of hand-made, finely-crafted musubi. Yes, musubi – something we often overlook or take for granted – is taken to new levels of quality and sophistication by owner/operator Manabu Asaoka and his wife Fumiyo.

This explains how the business got its name. Manabu san (his first name) explained that he wanted “Mana Bu’s” to be a loose play off his name and the Hawaiian word “Mana”, which means spiritual or sacred power. This being in relation to the focus on health and wellbeing that they encourage through everything that comes out of their kitchen. I couldn’t agree more.

It’s obvious by first impression that plenty of tender-loving-care and attention-to-detail are put into each and every item presented.

But how sophisticated can a musubi be, you might ask.

Well for one, looking at the sign cards for each one, you see they use only the highest quality ingredients possible (all costs considered, of course), also noting their place of origin, which is a nice touch.

I found this wooden Onigiri block on display atop one of the shelves interesting. I didn’t get a chance to ask, but I’m wondering if this is modeled after the same one they use.

While they all share a common triangular “omusubi” shape and use Tamanishiki “super premium” California rice as their foundation, from there, it takes all kinds of interesting new twists and turns.

If you look at Mana Bu’s Musubi Order Form (<–download PDF!), that gives you a good idea how their selection is structured.

First there’s the rice, which there are four types: White Rice (Tamanishiki Super Premium), Brown Rice (Tamanishiki Super Premium), Ten Grains Rice (originally blended by Mana Bu’s) and Sweet Rice & Pilaf.

For the Sweet Rice & Pilaf, there are four sub-categories: Sekihan (Boiled with Red Beans), Green Peas Okowa (Boiled with Green Beans), Low-fat Curry Pilaf and Low-fat Chicken Pilaf.

Finally there are the fillings: Ume, Kombu, Shiso & Wakame, Baked Salmon, Tuna-Mayo, Teri-SPAM and Hijiki.

Manabu’s signature item is their 10-Grain Rice Musubi, which is one of four that I chose on my first visit…

This is the only one with a special sign encouraging patrons to try it…

As you see, there’s a few spelling errors on their signs, but that’s pretty good for a couple who are originally from Shizuoka prefecture. In fact, Manabu san’s eigo (English language) speaking ability is darned good!

What you do notice at Mana Bu’s is their emphasis on eating healthy, and this is something Manabu san reinforced in our conversation on my first visit here.

Back to the musubi, next time I’d like to order this one…

this one too…

I did choose one of these…

and hey, I had to honor the Hawaii classic and sample Manabu’s take on this one too!…

My final choice of four was the Baked Salmon Musubi, which looks just like this, except it has salmon instead of SPAM.

This one’s quite unorthodox…

As you walk in, there are two shelf displays to the left of the customer sales area, where all the wrapped musubi are…

On the second shelf from the bottom are a selection of muffins that are touted to have no eggs, butter or milk in them, with a note stating to “Enjoy the miracle texture”. Gotta’ love them funky translated sentences! lol

Left to right: Okinawan Potato, Sweet Potato and Green Tea non-oil Steamed Muffins

Tucked in the corner on the front-side of the merchandise area is an open refrigerator case with Mana Bu’s special healthy salads, which also were all just about sold out when I arrived. Boo!

Next to that at the center are the cold drinks, along with cold sweets by Mana Bu’s below that. This includes fresh fruit Mochi…

Here is blueberry, and off to the left of this was an Apple Banana version. A women who arrived in the shop the same time as myself quickly snapped one of these up, so it must be good!

Below that are Mana Bu’s custards and gelatins…

I added one of the two remaining Mana bu’s Custards (which I’ll show you in a bit) to my selection of four musubi and went to check out.

Here’s the store front…

Being a take-out only shop, I brought the goods home for an early dinnertime sampling session. Here’s what I got…

Left to right: 10-Grain Ume Musubi, Miso Yaki Musubi, Baked Salmon Musubi, Teri SPAM Musubi and Mana Bu’s Custard, total $7.75.

Let’s take a closer look at each one!

Here’s the 10-Grain Ume-flavored Musubi…

Specifications (as listed on sign card):
Musubi Ume (10-Grain Rice)
Rice: TAMANASHIKI Super Premium (CA)
Grains: U.S.A., Mexico, etc. (as displayed)
Salt: Sea Salt (HI)
Umeboshi: WAKAYAMA (Japan)
Price (each): $1.50

So where’s the ume? Here!…

What’s interesting is how well the lentils, barley, brown rice and other grains adhere to one another. I thought this would fall apart as I bit into it, but it held together like a champ. Those grains also lent to it having a distinct woodsy, fibrous personality. As is always the case, the tang and salt from the Ume really helped bring out the flavors. I think this could have used a wrap of Nori as well. While I can’t say this one’s for everyone, if you’re into the type of ingredients this is made of, you’d be quite intrigued by the way their applied here.

Next, the Miso Yaki Musubi…

Specifications (as listed on sign card):
Miso Yaki Musubi (Brown Rice)
Rice: TAMANISHIKI Super Premium (CA)
Salt: Sea Salt (HI)
Miso Paste: MARUFUKU
Sugar: Maui Cane Sugar (HI)
Salmon: Canada
Price (each): $1.50

This musubi is baked to get a caramelized brown crust on the two sides. I forgot to ask, but I’m guessing they bake it to avoid unnecessary fat and calories by fry method.

There’s shredded pieces of salmon and goma (black sesame seeds) throughout the inside of it…

I thought the caramelized Miso Yaki crust was a bit overpowering. Perhaps if they did that only on on side, it would have a little better balance. Other than that, the flavor of the salmon and goma seeds, along with the nuttiness of the brown rice and robust Miso Yaki was delicious.

Next up we have the baked salmon…

.

Specifications (as listed on sign card):
Miso Yaki Musubi (Brown Rice)
Rice: TAMANISHIKI Super Premium (CA)
Salt: Sea Salt (HI)
Nori Seaweed: YAMAMOTO YAMA
Salmon: Canada
Price (each): $1.10

While it looks ordinary on the outside, when you bite into it…

A-ha! There’s the “meat”! Or, um, fish! Unlike the Miso Yaki version which had the salmon scattered in bits & pieces throughout, this one was all concentrated in the center, providing a central point for you to aim and bite for. I’d say, of the four, this was my favorite. It was simple, yet the balance of that moist, sticky, quality white rice, slightly salty, earthy nori, along with the distinctive salmon flavor was a winner. Everything was harmonious. I’d definitely order this again. Especially at just $1.10 each. What a bargain!

Last but not least of the choices for the day was the Teri SPAM Musubi…

Specifications (as listed on sign card):
Teri SPAM Musubi
Rice: TAMANISHIKI Super Premium (CA)
Salt: Sea Salt (HI)
Nori Seaweed: YAMAMOTO YAMA
Spam: HORMEL
Soy Sauce: KIKKOMAN
Mirin: TAKARA
Sugar: MAUI Cane Sugar (HI)
Price (each): $1.10

Obviously not the conventional local-style brick shape, with this triangle version, the fairly generous, thick-cut piece of SPAM – just like some of the other offerings – is tucked in the center, revealing itself only when you bite into it…

It had a perfectly-balanced sweet-salty-savory teri glaze coating the SPAM, without having too much as to over-seep into the surrounding rice. Again, what sets this SPAM Musubi apart from most others is that high quality, moist, small grain TAMANISHIKI Rice. Factor that it, along with a Seven-Eleven busting price of just $1.10 each, and – regardless of its shape – this is a formidable contender in any upcoming “best SPAM Musubi” contest.

In line with Mana Bu’s encouragement of a healthy lifestyle, there was also a lighter version of the Teri SPAM Musubi, which was made using brown rice and SPAM lite.

After sampling all four of these, I was “gohan’d” (riced) out, feeling like a Sumo Wrestler in training. lol

Time for dessert!….

Specifications (as listed on sign card):
Custard Pudding
Egg: (CA)
Milk: (CA)
Evaporated Milk: NESTLE
Sugar: MAUI Cane Sugar (HI
Gelatin Powder: KNOX
Pure Vanilla Extract: KIRKLAND
Price (each): $2.00

Notice there’s a deep-brown caramelized sugar “sauce” sitting on the bottom layer, which is typical in Japanese-style custards. It taste sort of like a super-concentrated, thin caramel, which you sort of evenly spoon along with the rich, gelatinous, creamy custard, then have it…

Sugoi oishii desu! Oh yeah, I’d certainly buy this again as well.

As mentioned earlier, on my first visit as outlined above, I arrived towards the end of the day when many items were sold out already. So I returned for a hana hou visit the next day at the same time to see what else I could try. Nice to have Mana Bu’s on my beaten path home from work! Turned out Manabu san still had a few musubi on-hand that I missed from the last visit!. So I picked these up for a second-day sampling!…

Mana Bu’s 10-Grain Rice Hijiki Musubi (front) and Shiso & Wakame Brown Rice Musubi

Here’s a look inside the 10-Grain Hijiki…

Hijiki Seaweed 10-Grain Rice Musubi, $1.50 each

Sorry I don’t have the specifications for this, but it’s quite similar to the 10-grain musubi I first tried, except with the addition of Hijiki seaweed (that dark green/black stuff) and carrots. It also tasted like there was a piece of salted ika in there, but I’m not sure. What I do know is that this is absolutely my FAVORITE one yet! I’d buy this again and again and again!

Here’s a look inside the Shiso & Wakame Brown Rice Musubi…

Shiso & Wakame Brown Rice Musubi, $1.50 each

This one, while a bit less flavorful than the Hijiki 10-grain musubi, was still delicious. If this were the only type remaining on the shelf, I’d still buy it! The specs for it are pictures in one of the photos above.

Finally, along with those two quite exotic musubi, I picked up a Coffee Gelatin to cap it off…

(Hawaiian Isles) Coffee Gelatin, $1.50

This is much lighter than the custard, being basically a coffee flavored “Jello”. They offer either French Vanilla or Half & Half coffee cream (shown poured on top) to accompany the gelatin, which needs no explanation on how it enhances it.

I understand they also offer a fantastic grilled Teriyaki Corn-on-the-Cob, which I think would be a fantastic accompaniment with any of these musubi. I’ll have to go early one day during lunch and try and get one of those while it’s hot!

Manabu san recommends arriving when they open at 11am for best selection. IIRC, he mentioned still working out some details, including their daily inventory and hours of operation.

As for the establishment itself, it’s very clean and contemporary, reinforcing the impression that you’re at a place that focuses on quality and sophistication.

While they didn’t have a take-out menu (or any “menu” for that matter), they do have a special order form (<–download PDF!), which you can fill out to place in advance. This would be perfect for small business functions where a lighter meal is desired

Just as there’s good, and then there’s GREAT sushi, ramen and tonkatsu, now there’s also GREAT musubi to discover at Mana Bu’s!

Mana Bu’s is located in a small strip mall on the Mauka (left) side of S. King street as you’re heading east, across from Washington Intermediate school, just as you pass Checker Auto Parts (formerly Cinerama Theaters) and Punahou street. Look for the Baskin Robbins sign on the front corner and turn in there. Slow down as you approach or you’ll miss it!

Mana Bu’s Homemade Japanese Musubi’s & Sweets
“Hawaii’s Musubi Headquarters”
1618 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
TEL 808-945-2323
ALT 356-0287
FAX 945-2323

Business Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11am – 2pm, 4pm – 5:30pm
Saturday: 11am – 2pm
Sunday: closed

The Tasty Island Rating:

(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)

Related Links:
• Mana Bu’s – Yelp user reviews
• Mana Bu’s – HawaiiThreads.com forum discussion
• Mana Bu’s – For the Best Musubi Ever – Photos by Jalna

Final note – Big mahalo to Manabu san for being so gracious, friendly and for allowing me to take photos of the shop. Arigato Gozaimasu!