Need to know
Area
Waikiki + Honolulu
​
​
Description
If you like musubi (or want to try it for the first time), you’ve got to visit Musubi Cafe Iyasume. It just might be the best musubi in Oahu. And it’s crazy affordable by Hawaii standards.
They’ve got a huge selection (like 50 different kinds of musubi and rice balls) and it’s all made by hand when you order it. Traditional spam musubi, breakfast musubi, teriyaki, plum, spicy cod roe, even cheese-spam… there are so many to choose from. Even the weird sounding ones taste good. You’re covered for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
What makes it so good? Fresh ingredients. Yes! But also they use a specialty Koshihikari rice that’s seasoned perfectly. This isn’t just for tourists, it’s popular with locals too.
It’s all grab-n-go so don’t plan on eating there in the restaurant, but do plan on grabbing a bunch for the beach, a hike, or your flight back home.
Oh, and they do have a few other items on the menu to mix it up from the musubi, like poke bowls, curries, and fried chicken.
​
​
Covid Specific
​
-
Pre Covid, there were 7 locations, but only 5 are open now. We're not sure if the other 2 are temporarily or permanently closed. ​
​
​
Website
​
​
Menu
​
​
Delivery
​
​
Location 1: Musubi Cafe IYASUME - Waikiki Monarch
2427 Kuhio Ave,
Pacific Monarch Hotel 1F,
Honolulu, HI 96815
808-921-0168
HOURS
-
Daily â– 7am - 8pm
​
​
Location 2: Musubi & Bento IYASUME - Waikiki Seaside
334 Seaside Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
​
HOURS
-
Daily â– 8am - 3pm
​
​
Location 3: Musubi Cafe IYASUME - Ala Moana Food Court
1450 Ala Moana Boulevard,
Honolulu, HI 96814
808-304-8558
HOURS
-
Daily â– 9am - 7pm
​
​
Additional Locations
-
Keeaumoku: 638 Keeaumoku St, Honolulu, HI 96814
808-955-8466 -
Kahala Mall: 4211 Waialae Ave #G-19, Honolulu, HI 96816
808-724-3229
​
​
Shop
​
​
Price
$
​
-
Musubi: ~$2 - $5
-
Bowls and Bentos: ~$4 - $10
​
​
Nearby
Musubi Cafe IYASUME - Waikiki Monarch
​
-
‘Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach — 3 min walk
​
-
Waikiki Beach — 10 min walk
​
-
Maui Brewing Co. Waikiki — 6 min walk
Musubi & Bento IYASUME - Waikiki Seaside
​
-
International Market Place — 4 min walk
​
-
The Royal Hawaiian — 6 min walk
Musubi Cafe IYASUME - Ala Moana / Lanai
​
-
Liliha Bakery — 2 min drive
​
-
Ala Moana Beach — 8 min drive
​
-
The Modern Honolulu — 7 min drive
Musubi Cafe IYASUME - Keeaumoku
​
-
Ala Moana Beach — 5 min drive
​
-
The Modern Honolulu — 3 min drive
Musubi Cafe IYASUME - Kahala Mall
​
-
Diamond Head — 10 min drive
​
-
KCC Farmers Market — 7 min drive
Might be the best musubi on the island. 50 different variations of musubi and rice balls. All made by hand to order. Multiple locations throughout Waikiki and Honolulu.
Musubi Cafe IYASUME
MUSUBI
Good to know
PHOTOS
TRY THE...
-
Spam Musubi
​
-
Teriyaki Spam Musubi
​
-
Avocado, Eel, Egg, and Spam Musubi
​
-
Breakfast Musubi (Egg and Spam)
​
-
Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)
​
-
Musubi Pack (Mini Bento): Musubi (flavor rotates), Fried Chicken, Sausage, and Egg [FYI: this is not a spam musubi but one with a filling instead.]
TIPS + TRICKS
-
How many musubi to order? One musubi makes for a good snack. Two can be a meal.
​
-
​With the exception of the Seaside location which accepts credit card, the locations are cash only.
​
-
By noon the lunch lines get pretty long. And because they make the musubi to order, it can take 10-20 minutes to get yours during the lunch rush. They also have some premade musubi ready to go if you’re in a hurry.
​
-
In some locations, you can call ahead to put your order in and skip the line when you get there.
​
-
The musubi come individually wrapped and travel pretty well. This is a good option if you want to throw a few in your bag and take on a hike, to the beach, or for the plane ride home.
​
-
This makes for a really cheap breakfast (or lunch or dinner for that).
​
-
They also offer organic brown rice and 10-grain rice.
​
-
If you like their musubi, then this is a good spot to pick up some souvenirs — musubi sauce, spam cookbooks, t-shirts, magnets of cute little musubi sitting on surfboards. They have an online store too.
FYI
-
No seating at any of the locations. Plan to take your musubi with you to eat somewhere else. FYI that the Ala Moana Center and Kahala Mall locations have seating nearby in the mall.
​
-
They serve both rectangular musubi as well as the triangular rice balls (still musubi). The rectangular ones all include Spam plus something else (like unagi, omelet, bacon, avocado, etc). The triangular ones include a variety of fillings ranging from spicy cod roe, to plum, and fried chicken mayo.
KID STUFF
-
Musubi are inexpensive, individually wrapped, and travel well. They’re basically kid size too.
DID YOU KNOW?
-
Opened in Waikiki in September 2000. It started as a hole-in-the-wall down a Waikiki side street.
​
-
It used to be called Musubi-Ya, which means “Musubi shop” in Japanese.
Last Updated 5 / 10 / 21​
This page may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, we might earn a commission. Thanks!