"Funeral and memorial services are our specialty."

Ah, yes, that's what I want to read when opening a restaurant menu. I can order the boneless karaage chicken and, if I really like it, I can have it catered when Grandpa goes to heaven.

But catering funerals is one of the specialties of Futaba, a charming, family-owned restaurant in Waipahu.

It was at a funeral where I first experienced their potato tempura, karaage chicken and maki-zushi. We liked the food so much, we ordered catering from them when my grandmother passed away.

Because I continued to rave about the dishes, my brother gave me a Futaba gift certificate so I could get the food without the funeral.

Futaba doesn't fall into my usual cheap-eats territory, but going there one recent evening fulfilled my off-the-beaten-path criterion. I turned into the parking lot of a dark, deserted mini-mall and thought, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

Then I saw the light and warmth radiating from the 32-year-old eatery. It is a beacon for locals who want high-quality Japanese food in a comfortable setting, where you're greeted with "Hey! How you?"

You'll find "auction-fresh sashimi-grade ahi nitsuke with tofu" ($14.99) and the Manaita Mori dinner, which offers a little bit of everything —sashimi, shrimp tempura, chicken, beef teriyaki and a butterfish misoyaki that has been marinated for three days ($19.99).

You could say we were eating food fit for an emperor. Tadao Nezu, the co-owner and executive chef, once cooked for the Imperial family of Japan. He was one of the official chefs at the wedding reception for Emperor Akihito, who was the crown prince at the time.

Futaba starts off its meal set with a gelatinous egg-drop soup that contains onions, carrots, egg and shiitake mushrooms. They offer combination dinners with two or three selections starting at $13.99. Choices include Angus beef rib-eye teriyaki and panko-crusted chicken katsu.

Daily specials, such as the made-from-scratch katsu curry and the chicken dumplings, have such a following that some customers leave their names and numbers so they can be notified when chef Nezu decides to make these dishes.

On my first visit, I ordered the soba noodle salad with shrimp tempura ($10.99). I like combinations of fresh and fried, healthy and heart clogging. The salad was a feel-good medley of greens with tomatoes, cucumber, egg, nori strips and cold soba, served with tsuyu or sauce. The tempura was a deep-fried delight. Both hit the spot and I got the salad again the next time, and the next. Futaba also offers more interesting amalgamations such as beef tofu soba or oyako udon (both $8.99).

Oyako, by the way, means parent and child in Japanese. As a meal, you get chicken (the parent) and egg (child), usually served over rice in a donburi or large bowl.

Charles Nishioka of Mililani was having the oyako donburi for lunch during one of my repeat visits. He called the food at Futaba "outstanding, Japanese-kind kau kau."

Chef-owner Nezu's wife, Carol, said, "Charley is my charter member."

He certainly is a big fan. Nishioka, who was named National Small Business Person of 1987, presented his own award of appreciation to Futaba. The plaque shows him with former President Reagan and graces the restaurant's wall, along with autographs from Akebono, Magic Johnson, Ichiro and other luminaries.

The fashionably dressed Carol is a Mid-Pacific grad who came here from Japan when she was 10. She handles the welcoming duties in the most attentive and engaging manner. When I blew off two tiny white particles on the table, she came and wiped it down three times with two different washcloths. When she saw me shivering, she immediately turned down the air-conditioning.

Carol tells me that Futaba is named after a prominent tea house in Tokyo, where Tadao trained for 10 years. He started at the very bottom, "where you don't even touch food, you wash dishes," she said. "This gives you gumption and keeps you humble, so you can survive the life. It's like the sumo stables."

That's good preparation for dealing with the ebb and flow of the restaurant business. When Futaba opened in 1975, the place was packed with workers from O'ahu Sugar Co., recalls Carol. Some customers came in for lunch and stayed until dinner. "Those days, everybody drank and smoked, and both doors had a fan blowing the smoke out."

Business slowed down when the mill closed. Then Arakawas, the beloved plantation-era general store nearby, closed. But with the Waipahu Festival Marketplace now open where Big Way Supermarket used to be, perhaps things are looking up. Carol said, "I hope so! I hope for the best."

I hope so, too.

Lisa Sekiya works in The Advertiser's marketing department and periodically reports on cheap eats.