'Ono Kine Grindz

Mario's Cocina

Finding a Puerto Rican restaurant here in Hawaii is quite difficult.  When you do find one, you will discover that the food served at these restaurants has taken on a "local" flair.  This is not to say that the food does not taste good, but I can tell you that it tastes a lot different than the Puerto Rican food that you can find in Puerto Rico or in places like New York or Florida.

Mario's Cocina has been open for about six months now.  Located at the gateway to Pauoa, it is another hole-in-the-wall that you would probably miss while driving by.  I actually happened to notice it while I was waiting for my chicken katsu plate from Jamie's Snack Shop.  Over the last several months, I have tried a few of the dishes here and have found that the portions are generous while the food is flavorful.

left: chuletas de guisada (pork chops, gandule rice, salad; US$6.50
right: corn(ed) beef gesada (US$5.00)

I have since added Mario's to my long list of "stand-bys" when I am looking for something decent to eat while on the go.  If you are interested in trying some local Puerto Rian cuisine, this is definitely one of the few places you would want to visit.

Pastele, gandule rice, salad (US$6.00)

Mario's Cocina
1989 Pauoa Road
Telephone: 384.6839

Thanks, Sydney!

More about my vacation in a few.  For now, I will leave you with this plate of ridiculously delicious oysters.  They were plump, succulent and obviously fresh out of the ocean.  Their clean, briny flavor was amazing.

Tasmanian Pacific oysters with ginger & rice wine mignonette

Sushi Izakaya Gaku

Creative, memorable and delicious beyond words.  The food at Sushi Izakaya Gaku is probably better than most of the Japanese food that you would find around town.  Open for about a year now, the crowds at this izakaya/sushi bar have been growing steadily.  Inexpensive Japanese food this is not, but it is so worth every penny spent.  It is that good!

Sushi Izakaya Gaku
1329 South King Street
Telephone: 808.589.1329

Disappointed?

I received the following comment after publishing my post on Manresa.  I have contemplated this comment more than anything else over the last few days and I have decided to post this while I consider the response.  The remainder of my posts on San Francisco -- Tartine Bakery and Citizen Cake -- are on hold.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm a little disappointed that my favorite Hawaii food blog has sorta lost its roots.  I read this blog every day to know about Hawaii eats, but now it seems it's taken a pretentious air and has decided to blog about food everywhere else BUT.  Yeah, I know there was a post several months back about "losing my appetite" but with the semi-comeback of recent blogs from abroad, I'm not so sure I'm interested any longer.  I'm really hoping you get back to making this a blog about Hawaii grindz once again.  - Disappointed

Manresa Restaraunt - Los Gatos, California

Dinner at Manresa was highly anticipated and to be quite honest, it did not disappoint.  Seafood dominated the tasting menu on the night that I was there and I have to say that the selection of ingredients was varied and extremely fresh.  You could still taste the briny flavor of the sea permeating through luxurious dishes like the abalone and foie gras and the assorted shellfish in bonito broth.

"Into the vegetable garden" gave us a taste of what grows in Manresa's biodynamic garden at Love Apple Farm.  And while the vegetables were crisp and definitely at their peak, I would have enjoyed more vegetables used throughout the various courses.

I will upload more photos when I have a chance.  Since the lighting in the restaurant was dim (even though we sat in the back room near the windows), the photos need quite a bit of re-touching.

Here are the rest of the photos...finally!  The descriptions will be up shortly.

Oyster in urchin jelly, nori croustillant

Into the vegetable garden...

Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane
Los Gatos, California
Telephone: 408.354.4330
website

Ubuntu Restaurant - Napa, California

Since I could not get reservations at the French Laundry, I decided to visit an up and coming "new" restaurant in Napa called Ubuntu.  Self-described as a "vegetable" restaurant, not vegetarian, Ubuntu brings a fresh approach to serving seasonal vegetables in an exciting way.  You will not find any meat on the menu here and we really did not miss it.  The combination of flavors and textures, the elegant plating and the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant will keep me coming back.  As I left the restaurant, I told my friend that if I lived anywhere near this place, it would be a second home to me.  I enjoyed it THAT much. 

left: carrot and orange juice with spiced rim
right: salt-roasted beets and horseradish mousse, orange, dill and Indonesian cubeb pepper (US$9.00)

Crunchy radishes with local chevre, mustard and banyuls vinaigrette, maldon salt (US$9.00).

left: UBUNTU greens dressed with bourbon maple, pear & almond chutney, px vinegar (US$8.00)
right: chickpeas with manchego, olive vinaigrette, pepper quenelles with mint & breadcrumbs (US$9.00)

left: cauliflower in a cast iron pot, roast-puree-"couscous", vadouvan spice, toast (US$13.00)
right: fregola: toasted pearl pasta in mushroom broth, pea tendrils, young carrots, green garlic (US$14.00, half)

potato puree, Robuchon style, with a slow egg, UBUNTU leaks with warm sherry vinaigrette (US$12.00)

left: winter citrus float, kieffer lime-lemograsss soda, grapefruit sherbet (US$8.00)
right: hot chocolate infused with teeccino with stroopwafel, foamed condensed milk (US$4.00)

vanilla bean "cheesecake" in a jar, sour cherries, pine nut sable (US$8.00)

Ubuntu Restaurant and Yoga Studio
1140 Main Street
Napa, California
Telephone: 707.251.5656
website

Taylor's Automatic Refresher - San Francisco, California

I really wanted to visit the original Taylor's location in St. Helena on this trip, but time was not on my side since there were so many other things that I wanted to do on this short hop to San Francisco.  I did manage to visit Taylor's at the Ferry Building and while it was not the best burger that I have had, it certainly was enjoyable.  The most interesting part of the meal was the side order of fluorescent green garlic fries!

Blue cheese burger (US$7.49)

Virginia-style BBQ pulled pork sandwich (US$8.99)

Taylor's Automatic Refresher
One Ferry Building, Space 6
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 866.328.3663

Sweet Home Café

Several weeks ago while looking for a place to eat, I found this spot.  Sweet Home Café occupies the shop next to Kiawe Grill (sorry folks, Kiawe Grill is NOT gone) and is located across the way from India Bazaar.  I believe this place is run by a Taiwanese woman, but I just might be mistaken.  In any event, the menu is dominated by hot pots and desserts.  It wasn't really what I was looking for that night, but the mala hot pot that I had was enjoyable.

Ingredients for the hot pot.

Mala hot pot (US$14.95)

Black sand beach (US$3.50)

Sweet Home Café
2334 South King Street
Telephone: 808.947.3707

Lox of Bagels

Lox of Bagels is in a mostly industrial area right off of Nimitz Highway.  I normally stop by here on Saturday mornings on my way to the office and grab myself a bag of bagel puffs (rounds of cinnamon raisin bagel dough filled with cream cheese) to go.  The bagels here are fresh and they are pretty good and so are the sandwiches.

(I still miss H & H Bagels.  I used to visit the shop on 80th and Broadway every week when I worked right up the street.)

Ham, egg and cheese on a whole wheat bagel (US$3.95).

Turkey on an everything bagel (US$5.25).

Lox of Bagels
111 Sand Island Access Road
Telephone: 808.845.2855

Kuru Kuru Sushi

I first discovered Kuru Kuru Sushi a couple of years back and was I glad to have found this place.  A worthy competitor to Genki Sushi, this conveyor belt sushi restaurant serves decent food at affordable prices.  The prices have increased a bit over the last year (the spicy tuna donburi increased from $5.00 to $7.50), but for the price, this place really can't be beat.  Try to stop by on a weekend evening, and you'll see just how popular this place is.

Ahi poke

Masago

Kalbi

Ingen

Spicy unagi

Coffee jello

Kuru Kuru Sushi
Pearl Kai Shopping Center
98-199 Kamehameha Highway
Telephone: 808.484.4596