All the Ways We Love Oxtail
O oxtails, how many ways do we love thee? More than seven, actually.
O oxtails, how many ways do we love thee? More than seven, actually. Oxtail is so popular in Hawai‘i that Gregg Hoshida’s two reviews of Jamaican eateries, both with “oxtail” in the headline and excerpted below, were our No. 1 and No. 3 most read posts of 2023. So many Vietnamese restaurants serve oxtail pho (four in Kaimukī alone, and that’s not even getting to urban Honolulu, Chinatown and the rest of O‘ahu) that we gave up on trying them all.
Still, the island shimmers with enough variations that in place of a love letter, we have here a roundup of our favorite ways to nosh and gnaw on this lip-smacking delicacy.
Kori gomtang at Sorabol Korean Restaurant
Ke‘eaumoku

Photo: Diane Seo
This is my comfort food on cold days, hot days, lunch, dinner—in fact, I can’t remember the last time I ordered anything but this traditional Korean soup ($23.50) at Sorabol. Just looking at this photo makes me long for the milky white broth made from boiled oxtails. The flavor is gentle and mild until you season to your liking with coarse salt and pepper, which accentuates several pieces of oxtail and glass noodles within. Accompanied by various kim chee and banchan, it becomes a Korean flavor bomb of a meal. —Diane Seo
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., 1525 Rycroft St., (808) 947-3113, sorabolhawaii.com, @sorabolhawaii
Oxtail yellow curry at Saigon’s Restaurant
Kaimukī

Photo: Mari Taketa
Vietnamese curry is yellow curry, a thin, unspicy soup tinged with lemongrass and sweetened with coconut milk. It gets its hue from turmeric and typically cradles a simple trifecta of chicken on the bone with chunks of potato and carrot. At Saigon’s, where it comes with rice, the heady curry ($17.99) is so good that it’s a while before I remember the oxtails, and then my spoon moves quickly between meat, soup, scoops of long-grain rice and the softness of sweet potatoes, eggplant and onions. Writing this, I decide to go back for more, until I remember I’ve brought home the leftovers, and they’re waiting in the fridge. —Mari Taketa
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 3624 Wai‘alae Ave., (808) 735-4242, saigonshi.com
Oxtail at Jr’s Jamaican Jerk
Wahiawā

Photo: Gregg Hoshida
A generous serving of meat glistens like beefy, fatty diamonds in a dark, complex, rich sauce. Each morsel pillowy-soft and bursting with flavor, the meat releases itself from the bone with the slightest pull. Not to be overlooked, underneath the stew is a bed of rice and peas. Equally delicious, this is cooked in a savory spiced broth, each pea retaining just a little bit of textural bite. If you want to treat yourself, this $26 dish would justify your decision. —Gregg Hoshida
Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 93 Kamehameha Hwy Unit 102, (808) 744-5338, jrsjamaicanjerk.com, @jrs_jamaican_jerk
SEE ALSO: Don’t Sleep on the Oxtail or Curried Goat at Jr’s Jamaican Jerk
Oxtail stew at Ray’s Cafe
Kalihi

Photo: Diane Seo
It’s only available Fridays. You have to find Kalihi street parking. It takes 15 minutes to get your order. So is the oxtail stew worth it? Absolutely. All the regulars at this tiny, old-school diner are ordering this $17 plate, which comes with two hefty oxtails full of fall-off-the-bone meat, a hunk of potato, lots of tender carrots, two scoops rice and mac salad. The tomato-based stew is mildly seasoned and comforting, a bit reminiscent of the Campbell Soup recipes my mom made when I was a kid. “Everybody likes it,” owner Felix Pintor tells me. A note to those who have never been here: Don’t expect frills. I sit at a table by the kitchen, and several customers waiting for takeout orders put their bags and stuff on my table while I’m eating. Okay … but, yes, the oxtail is worth it. —DS
Open daily from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., 2033 N. King St., (808) 841-2771, @rayscafehonolulu
Oxtail stew with rice and peas at Irie Jerk
Downtown

Photo: Gregg Hoshida
Pillowy soft, the four oxtails ($23.99 for this plate) are cooked to perfection with glistening jewels of collagen making every bite sticky and satisfying. Under the meat, a bed of flavorful rice and peas soaks up the gravy, compelling me to finish every grain. The ballet of complex, savory flavors finishes a little sweet with just a slight tickle of heat. A cup of ginger-pineapple-lemon ice tea refreshes my palate between moreish bites. —GH
Open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., 1088 Bishop St., Suite 101, (808) 536-1049, iriejerkhi.com, @iriejerkhawaii
SEE ALSO: Finally, Amazing Jerk Chicken and Oxtail at Downtown’s New Irie Jerk
Oxtail soup at Westman Cafe
Temporarily closed; slated to reopen in Kaka‘ako later this year

Photo: Thomas Obungen
I dipped in my spoon for a taste. No joke, it was the beefiest oxtail soup I’ve ever had. Caramel-colored, full-bodied, with a faint star anise undertone, it was cousins with and different from Your Top 5 Oxtail Soups on O‘ahu. The oxtails, they delivered too, sizable and generous and fall-off-the-bone. Softly cooked peanuts dotted the soup; freshly grated ginger came on the side. A couple of people noted the saltiness; I noted the soup went with the mixed-grain rice like it was God’s plan, mouthfuls of rice chasing sticky, lip-smacky bites and slurps. —MT
Oxtail stew in red wine rosemary sauce at Panya Bistro
Kaka‘ako

Photo: Mari Taketa
Once you get past the sticker shock of paying $37 for oxtail stew (with rice or side salad), you realize that unless you’re Jason Momoa, this small boatful will feed two. It brims with five tender, meaty oxtails in a thick sea of melting vegetables, the rich stew pulling the red wine notes we’ve never forgotten. Panya’s classic tastes just as it did when we fell in love with it at Ala Moana Center. Note: A friend who shared this bowl reports that on a subsequent visit, it came with only three oxtails. —MT
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., 1288 Ala Moana Blvd., (808) 946-6388, panyabistro.com, @panyabistrohawaii