GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Pre-clearance Requirement

All dietary restrictions must be cleared with the kitchen before placing prepaid orders. There will be no refunds or other forms of compensation for restrictions presented to the kitchen after purchasing and paying for a pre-paid meal or experience. A minimum of 72 hours’ notice is required for any restriction.

We reserve the right to impose an embargo on restrictions when the number of restrictions and exception processing requests presented to the kitchen on a given shift exceeds the capacity of the kitchen. We therefore may be unable to comply with certain restrictions during certain shifts even if they are listed as being acceptable or potentially acceptable.

Life Threatening Allergies

We operate a small kitchen and source ingredients from a variety of suppliers. We cannot guarantee no cross contamination with a specific allergen. Therefore, we cannot accept any dietary restrictions associated with allergies or conditions that would cause death, hospitalization, injury, or harm if the guest were to come in contact with or consume an item that contains or came into contact with a specific allergen or ingredient. Life threatening allergies cannot be accommodated. For example (but without limitation), if the “no shrimp” or “no nuts” restriction is presented, we can refrain from serving shrimp and/or nuts, but it is possible the food served that night might have come in contact with shrimp and/or nuts or might be subject to cross contamination at a supplier site that we are unaware of. If we accept a dietary restriction, we will commit to not serving that item directly but there is a possibility that our ingredients could be cross contaminated with or have come in contact with the restricted food product during food preparation or at a supplier site. We will not accept any restriction associated with allergies or conditions that would cause death, hospitalization, injury, or harm if the guest were to come in contact with or consume an item that contains or came into contact with a specific allergen or ingredient.

Gluten Free

We cannot comply with the gluten free restriction. There are absolutely no refunds, cancellations, or other compensation for any restrictions including gluten related restrictions declared after making a prepaid reservation.

Precise Definition Required

All restrictions must be presented in a binary format (i.e. the ingredient is okay or the ingredient is not okay). We will not accept any restriction that cannot be clearly complied with. For example “no shrimp” or “shrimp ok” are the two acceptable restrictions in relation to shrimp. No other restriction formulations will be accepted.

We will not accept restrictions that have other vague and undefined attributes which cannot be measured and for which compliance can never be certified. For example, “a little” or “a lot” or “some” are not acceptable modifiers for a restriction. The food item must either be ok or not ok.

We will not accept restrictions related to temperature when the required temperature is undefined. For example, “I will only eat cooked onions and not raw onions” is not an acceptable restriction. For the restriction to be potentially acceptable, the required cooking temperature needs to be declared so that compliance can be measured without ambiguity. For example, “I will only eat onions if they are cooked to a temp of 135F or higher for a period of at least 1 minute” is a clear restriction that might be possible to comply with. Please note that the more modifiers and restrictions that are added to a restriction, the more likely it is that we will not be able to accept it, as we also need to balance restriction loads and complexity with the need to focus on ongoing kitchen operations to ensure an excellent dining experience for all guests.

We will not accept nested and conditional restrictions. For example, “I will eat x but I will not eat y, however, I will eat x only if z is true and I might eat y if something else is true and I will not eat x or y if something different is true” is an example of a restriction formulation that is too complex for the kitchen to manage. As stated above, each ingredient must be a clear “yes” or “no” and the “yes/no” formulation cannot be made dependent on a series of other rules that may or may not be clearly defined.   

Restrictions on Restrictions

We will only consider one level of restrictions per ingredient. In cases where we have developed methods to accept specific restrictions by providing specific alternatives to the specific items, we will not accept further restrictions on the alternatives that we offer for restrictions preventing the use of the original ingredient. If an ingredient is restricted, and an alternative is offered, and the alternative is also restricted or rejected, then, there will be no further accommodations offered.

Recommendations

For pescatarians, we recommend the sakana dinner set.

For vegetarians who will consume dashi made with katsuobushi, we recommend the sakana dinner set.

POTENTIALLY ACCEPTABLE RESTRICTIONS WITH LIMITATIONS

The restrictions listed in this section may potentially be accepted.

No Beef: The sakana dinner set has no beef. Beef is included in the robata dinner set, however, fish or shrimp can be purchased for an additional fee.  

No Chicken: The sakana dinner set has no chicken. Chicken is included in the robata dinner set, however, fish or shrimp can be purchased for an additional fee.

Pescatarian: The sakana dinner set is a pescatarian meal. The robata dinner set includes beef and chicken. There are no substitutions permitted on this menu, however, pescatarians can order kona kampachi and/or Kauai shrimp for an additional fee when making a reservation.

No Fish: For the sakana dinner set, we can replace the fish in the fish course with tofu and we can replace the ahi in the ahi tartare with edamame. For the robata dinner set, we are unable to offer a “no fish” alternative to the ahi tataki course. In both cases, we make extensive use of dashi which is created with katsuobushi, a smoked bonito fish. We therefore cannot comply with the “no fish” restriction because we cannot produce an alternate menu that contains no dashi. Therefore, the only acceptable fish restriction is “no fish, dashi with katsuobushi okay” for the sakana dinner set.

Vegetarian: Please see the description for “no fish” above. We can offer a version of the sakana dinner set that substitutes tofu for fish and edamame for ahi but we cannot eliminate dashi, and our dashi is made with katsuobushi, which is a fish, and is therefore not vegetarian.

No Pork: We do not cook with pork. This restriction is acceptable. 

No Meat: The “no meat” restriction will not be accepted, as it is too vague, because some guests consider fish to be meat and some guests consider fish not to be meat. If a guest wishes to request a substitution for a specific item, that restriction must be specified clearly and precisely (i.e. no beef, no chicken, no fish).

No Shrimp: There is no shrimp in the sakana dinner set. There is no shrimp in the robata dinner set if this dinner set is ordered in accordance with the menu. If a pescatarian version of the robata dinner set is ordered or if a “no chicken” restriction is declared with the robata dinner set, then the “no shrimp” restriction will not be accepted because shrimp is substituted for chicken in these cases.

No Shellfish: We use no shellfish other than shrimp and shrimp is only used when the “pescatarian” or “no chicken” restrictions are declared in relation to the robata dinner set. 

No Nuts: Both dinner sets include macadamia nut sauce. We can accommodate a “no nuts” restriction by excluding macadamia sauce, however, we are unable to offer an alternative sauce. When declaring a “no nuts” restriction, the allowability of coconut must also be declared. For example “no nuts no coconut” or “no nuts coconut ok” will be required. If a “no nuts” restriction is declared without clarifying whether or not coconut is okay, then a coconut restriction will also be assumed.

No Coconut: Coconut is used in dessert and we are unable to formulate alternative dessert items that don’t use coconut. Since dessert is optional, please do not order dessert when declaring a “no coconut” restriction. If dessert is ordered and a “no coconut” restriction is declared, items made with coconut will be excluded and no substitutes will be provided.

No Eggplant: Both sakana dinner set and robata dinner set may include eggplant. We can accommodate a “no eggplant” restriction by not serving eggplant, however we may not be able to offer an alternative to eggplant for the eggplant dish.

No Mushroom: Sakana dinner set: Includes no mushroom. This dinner set is compliant with this restriction. Robata dinner set: Includes mushroom. We can accommodate a “no mushroom” restriction by not serving mushroom, however we may not be able to offer an alternative to mushroom for the mushroom skewer.

No Sesame Seeds: We can accept a “no sesame seeds” restriction but we cannot accept a “no sesame” or “no sesame oil” restriction.

No Milk: With the possible exception of cake, ice cream, or other dessert items, milk is not used in our cooking. We can accommodate a “no milk” restriction however we cannot provide alternatives to specific dessert items that may use milk. We are unable to produce alternate ice cream options that do not include milk. If ice cream is accepted even though it contains milk, please specify “no milk ice cream ok” as the restriction. As of this writing, we do not use milk from animals other than cows. We are not able to offer milk from animals other than cows as an alternative to milk from cows.

No Cream: With the possible exception of cake, ice cream, or other dessert items, cream is not used in our cooking. We can accommodate a “no cream” restriction, however we cannot provide alternatives to specific dessert items on our menu that may use cream. We are unable to produce alternate ice cream options that do not include cream. If ice cream is accepted even though it contains cream, please specify “no cream ice cream ok” as the restriction. As of this writing, we do not use cream from animals other than cows. We are not able to offer cream from animals other than cows as an alternative to cream from cows. If we receive a “no cream” restriction it will be assumed that this restriction applies to cream made from cow milk and that coconut cream is okay.   

No Cheese: Cheese is not used in our cooking.

No Butter: With the possible exception of cake or other dessert items, butter is not used in our cooking. We can accommodate a “no butter” restriction, however we cannot provide alternatives to specific dessert items on our menu that may use butter. As of this writing, we do not use butter from animals other than cows. We are not able to offer butter from animals other than cows as an alternative to butter from cows. 

No Dairy: Due to ambiguities in the definition of “dairy” we cannot accept the “no dairy” restriction. Guests with dairy restrictions are requested to use the “no milk” and/or “no cream” and/or “no butter” and/or “no cheese” restrictions so that the kitchen is clear on which forms of dairy are restricted. If a “no dairy” restriction is given despite our request to refrain from the use of this restriction, then the most restrictive interpretation will be assumed and this will include all forms of milk, cream, cheese, and butter, regardless of the animal it was derived from, and regardless of whether it is raw, pasteurized, cooked, and/or frozen.    

No Eggs: With the exception of tempura, katsu, tamago, cake, and ice cream, we offer a range of menu options that do not contain eggs. We are not able to provide tempura, katsu, tamago, cake, or ice cream made without eggs.

Fruit Restrictions: We make extensive use of locally grown fruits in our cooking. Typically, the fruits used in our cooking include without limitation: banana, pineapple, mango, coconut, guava, surinam cherry, citrus, jaboticaba, soursop, watermelon, papaya, and lilikoi. For guests with a specific fruit restriction, we may be able to suggest menu items that don’t include the restricted fruit, however, in cases where we do use a restricted fruit, we are unable to develop alternative dishes or sauces that exclude the fruit. For guests purchasing a pre-paid meal, we can make our best effort to exclude items that contain a restricted fruit, however, we cannot offer alternatives or refunds, discounts, or other forms of compensation where ingredients were excluded to comply with the fruit restriction. We don’t typically use strawberries. We use umeboshi plum as a condiment and within some sauces. We do not use peaches, apricots, or nectarines. We cannot accept the “no stone fruit” restriction due to the potential for confusion in determining which fruits may or may not meet the definition of stone fruit. We sometimes offer locally grown watermelon. We do not use cantelope or honeydew. We sometimes cook with winter melon. Although this item is referred to as a “melon” it is also typically classified as a squash and considered to be a vegetable. We cannot accept the “no melon” restriction due to the potential for confusion in determining which fruits may or may not meet the definition of a melon. When specifying a fruit restriction, please indicate the specific fruits included in the restriction. We cannot accept restrictions that specify groups of fruits due to the risk of making an error in classifying specific fruits into groups.

No Bell Pepper: We can accommodate this restriction.

No Chili Pepper, No Capsicum: Chili is used extensively as an ingredient. We may be able to accommodate this restriction with more than 1 week advance notice. Since chili pepper is used as an ingredient in several dishes and sauces, we may be able to exclude the dish or sauce, but we may be unable to offer an alternative item in place of the excluded item.

No Garlic: We use garlic chive oil throughout the menu but this can be limited to comply with a “no garlic” restriction however we cannot guarantee there will be no cross contamination since items prepared without garlic chive oil will be prepared in close proximity to items that have garlic chive oil. We cannot offer an alternative flavored oil so items where garlic chive oil is excluded will have less flavor.

PROHIBITED RESTRICTIONS

The restrictions listed in this section will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Gluten free

No gluten

Limited gluten

Adjusted gluten

Celiac disease

Celiac compliant

No soy sauce

No soy products

No soy beans

No beans

No miso

No Ahi

No Tuna

Vegan

No cooking oil

No seed oil

No sesame oil

No vegetable oil

No sea products

No seaweed

No alcohol (used in cooking)

No salt

No sugar

No vegetables

No fish

No dashi

No mercury in fish

Low mercury in fish

Undefined limits on mercury content in fish

No cooked food

Keto complaint diet

No carbs

Pregnancy diet

No vinegar

No onion

No citrus

No Specific Fish: We serve the freshest fish available each night. We cannot comply with restrictions against serving specific fish since we choose the best available fish for each dinner service and this fish is not known in advance.

Pregnancy Diet: It has been our experience that each guest requesting a “pregnancy diet” has distinct requirements. Therefore, due to the lack of consistency and clarity around the definition of “pregnancy diet” and the risk of confusion or misunderstandings arising from this lack of definition, we are unable to comply with the “pregnancy diet” restriction. We welcome pregnant guests and ask that pregnant guests consult with their doctors to determine the specific dietary restrictions appropriate to their situation then order items from the menu that align with the guidance of their doctors. Please review No Raw Food, No Raw Fish, and Mercury Restrictions, above.