'Ono Kine Grindz

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

Hata Restaurant

Check out photos of the food while you wait for a table.

(Folks, I think you should replace these.)

Under the nabemono section of the menu, it's the pork tofu (US$8.95).

Dinner special "C" (US$13.50).  It includes sashimi, tonkatsu and ahi (fried or nitsuke).

Here is the ahi nitsuke.

Hata Restaurant
1742 South King Street
Telephone: 808.941.2686

Ebisu Catering Service

This is a classic example of an okazuya. Okazuyas bring another dimension to the phrase "have it your way".

My "own" mixed plate (US$7.86; price varies depending on items selected).

Ebisu Catering Service
1915 South King Street
Telephone: 808.941.6055

Makino Chaya

I'm not really a fan of Japanese buffets, but this one's not too bad.  Instead of serving pre-prepared food like at Todai or Hanaki, dishes are ordered off the menu.

Makino Chaya
1936 South King Street
Telephone: 808.955.5966

Tudo De Bom

Back in 1992, I had the pleasure of spending 3 months touring Brazil.  A majority of my time was spent in the southern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.  Land locked and picturesque, I had an extremely memorable time there.  When I first heard about Tudo De Bom, I was excited -- I loved Brazilian barbecue (churrasco).

It took me a while to get here, but I finally did.  That was almost 6 months ago.  Recently, I returned with a couple of friends for dinner.  At the front door, you'll see the menu which lists the meats available during dinner (weekends offer a wider selection) as well as a list of some of the buffet items that are offered.

(click on the photo for a better view)

Rodizio is what's normally served in churrascarias, which is what Tudo De Bom is.  When we arrived on a Thursday night at 7:00 pm, the restaurant was about half full.

Brazilians like beef, so many of the meat selections here consist of a number of beef cuts and preparations -- top sirloin, garlic steak, pepper steak and beef tenderloin.  Sausages (two types), chicken, pork tenderloin and lamb round out the rest of the menu.  There is a nice sized buffet selection and a salad bar.  All this for $19.95.  Good deal?

At first glance, the all-you-can-eat concept seems like a bargain.  In the end, what really matters is not what cuts of meat are served (though this is important), but how quickly the food turns over and how quickly it is replenished and served to the customer.  This is where Tudo De Bom fails. 

In Brazil, you can expect meat to be constantly delivered to your table which will definitely lead to overeating.  Here it can sometimes be a lengthy wait.  At times, we waited up to 20+ minutes for a server to pay us a visit.  In addition to this, the evening's meat selections are not always available -- we asked for lamb and it arrived 1 hour and 20 minutes into the meal.  The server, though, was nice enough to mention that spaghetti was available instead (can you imagine spaghetti at a churrascaria?).

And while the meat was well seasoned, sometimes too salty even, it was moist and tender.  The buffet was missing some Brazilian standards like farofa, couve or even polenta, but included a wide selection of Western ones like the aforementioned spaghetti as well as mashed potatoes and Caesar salad.

Dinner here was a long one (we spent well in excess of three hours to finish our meal) and when we left, we were actually more tired than full.  Tudo De Bom offers a great alternative to the usual steakhouse fare, but with a fair amount of wait time between servings, the experience here left much to be desired.

Tudo De Bom
McCully Shopping Center
1960 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 204
Telephone: 808.942.0267

The Well Bento

Back in July of 2005, The Well Bento announced that it was closing after several years of operation.  A little less than a month had passed before I discovered that the business was bought, and reopened, by a faithful customer and her fiancé. 

The Well Bento is actually located in a very outdated, and well worn, two story walk-up that looks more like an apartment building than anything else.  You'll know you've found them when you see this sign which is visible from the street as you're driving past.

In any case, once you've entered the parking lot, you'll notice Well Bento in the corner on the second floor.  It's not much to look at, if you ask me.

As you step through the doorway, you'll notice the front counter and the open kitchen.  Nowhere to sit, this is strictly take out.  Notice the mural on the wall?  That's a recent addition that brings some color to an otherwise, utilitarian space.

The menu is short, consisting of 7 different plate lunches, and a few sides.  Half of the menu consists of vegetarian options -- the zen macrobiotic, tempeh, tofu or seitan.  The other half of the menu is noted as "transitional" -- grilled chicken, salmon or steak and hamburger steak.  In my opinion, even though the options seem a bit limiting, the menu offers something for everyone.

Since I had previously tried the vegetarian options (and loved them), this time, I opted for items from the transitional menu.  Here is the grilled salmon (US$8.25).

The salmon is first seasoned with some olive oil and tamari sauce before being grilled to perfection.  The salmon was served on top of some Lundberg brown rice that had been covered in what the menu said was tahini sauce.  Looks like brown gravy, doesn't it?  Tastes a little like it too, only not as rich.  Garnished with some grilled/steamed vegetables, and served with a side of coleslaw and "healthy" macaroni salad, this made a satisfying lunch.

On another occasion, I decided to try a local favorite, the hamburger steak (US$7.50).

Here at Well Bento, you can have your hamburger steak prepared Louisiana style (with a homemade blend of Cajun seasonings), with Western BBQ sauce (which is a homemade maple barbecue sauce), or seasoned with tamari sauce.  This time I chose the Western BBQ.  The sauce gave a rich smokey, sweetness to the tender hamburger steak.  The only downside was that the hamburger steak wasn't all that juicy -- probably because it wasn't too fatty or full of fillers.

The Well Bento offers diners healthy alternatives to the standard plate lunch and is a place that should not be missed.  Keep in mind that the food here is cooked to order so be prepared to wait, sometimes in excess of 15 minutes.  With nowhere to sit, this could make the wait time seem unusually long.  It's recommended that you call ahead so that your plate lunch is ready upon your arrival.  Since there are very few healthy plate lunch alternatives, I consider the Well Bento to be a bargain.  Healthy, freshly prepared and delicious, what more can you ask for?

The Well Bento
2570 South Beretania Street Suite 204
Telephone:  808.941.5261

Bistro A Un

For several years now, I've passed by Bistro A Un on my way to CoCo Ichibanya, never giving a second thought to the restaurant that used "shower curtains" as window dressings.  Several weeks ago, however, my curiosity finally got the best of me.  I was walking by with a friend on my way to eat curry, when I decided to stop and read the menu board outside.  There were a number of interesteing, reasonably priced dishes on the menu, so we decided to give this place a chance.

Entering the restaurant, I discovered the place to be empty.  On one side of the room was a bar, on the other, were five or six tables situated along a wall of banquette type seating.  The soft, dim lighting made the inside of the restaurant feel quite relaxing and created the perfect atmosphere for a quiet night out.

Since we had already looked over the menu outside, there were a couple of dishes that we ordered right away.  The first to be ordered, and to arrive at the table, was the omurice with pork cutlet (US$8.75).

Under the egg "omlette" was a pile of fried rice that had been seasoned with ketchup and onions.  A lot of ketchup was also poured on top of the rice, giving it a lot of sweetness.  The tonkatsu (pork cutlet) was crisp and well fried.  Lacking the usual oiliness, the pieces of tonkatsu were also quite tender.

Next to arrive were the crabmeat croquettes (US$4.75).

Crunchy and golden brown, the croquettes arrived in a pool of sauce.  Hot out of the fryer, the creamy insides spilled out after I took my first bite.  Along with the chunks of crab, these were sinful and quite tasty.

Following the croquettes was the eggplant gratin (US$5.50).

Thick pieces of eggplant were first topped with a tomato based sauce and lots of cheese.  The eggplant was baked, resulting in a tender eggplant dish that was savory, gooey (from the melted cheese) and satisfying.

Shortly thereafter, the sautéed spinach with bacon (US$4.75) was brought to the table.

Fresh spinach was sautéed until tender with pieces of bacon.  This dish was a bit oily because it was probably sautéed in the bacon grease, but the spinach was also tender and smokey, just like the bacon.

Shortly after the spinach arrived, came the tofu leaf spring roll with shrimp (US$4.95).

When I saw this coming, I was actually disappointed.  I actually ordered this because I was curious to see what tofu leaf actually meant (it meant yuba).  The crisp and crunchy spring rolls were filled with cabbage and tiny pieces of shrimp.  The rolls were good, but not exceptional.

And finally, our last dish arrived,, the deep fried yakisoba (US$8.95).

I was actually quite interested in seeing how this was going to turn out.  To my eye, it reminded me of cake noodles that we get here.  Pan fried noodles topped with gravy, vegetables and meat.  Ordinary and my least favorite dish.

The food here at Bistro A Un is a bit eclectic, and that's not really a bad thing.  You can enjoy standards, like the omurice with tonkatsu here, or you can enjoy something fusion, like the eggplant gratin.  There really is something for everyone here, and most often, the food is good to better than average.  Although the serving sizes are a bit small, I found the prices to be quite reasonable.  Besides, we like to share, right?  The service is great and the staff is helpful in providing recommendations.  I definitely look forward to visiting Bistro A Un again sometime soon.

Bistro A Un
McCully Shopping Center
1960 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 107
Telephone:  808.947.4914

Kohnotori

I thought that I would do this post and the one for Imanas Tei together since this restaurant is located right next door.  If this place was never mentioned to me by one of my readers, I would have never thought that it was a different restaurant.  But then again, I never really paid any attention because there are always people loitering in front of both places.

After entering the restaurant, you'll notice a counter area to the left, with a charcoal (?) grill towards the back, while straight ahead, and off to the right, were a few tables.  When I arrived, there were a couple of seats open at the counter, but I chose a table right inside the front door so that I could get a good view.  Not being too familiar with the restaurant or the items it served, when I was handed a menu, I immediately thought izakaya or yakitoriya.  Anyone know?

Being that this was my first time here, I decided to sample a few of the grilled, skewered items (kushiyaki).  Here are the ones that I ordered:

Sasami (chicken breast) with ponzu (US$1.60).

Clean and lightly seasoned, and a little dry (I guess because it was white meat), but the citrus-based ponzu sauce gave this a refreshing flavor.

Tori (chicken, US$1.20). 

Boneless pieces of dark meat chicken coated in a sweet shoyu-based glaze.  The chicken was moist and flavorful, but I would have preferred if it sat on the grill a bit longer and was a bit "charred".

Chicken back (US$1.80).

Boneless pieces of chicken seasoned lightly with just a little salt.  I somehow expected the back meat to be "different", but I enjoyed it with a light spritz of lemon.

Tsukune (US$1.40).

A ground chicken "meatball" that was lightly coated with a little of the sweet soy-based glaze and served with a dab of mustard on the side.

I wanted to order the negima (chicken and leeks), the tebasaki (chicken wings), nankotsu (chicken pieces with cartiladge) or the sunagimo (gizzards), but thought I would save those for my next visit.

Instead, I decided to order something a little more substantial -- the liver and chives (US$4.40).

Chicken livers were stir fried bean sprouts and chives, and seasoned with, what I presumed to be, a soy-based sauce.  The tender livers proved to be an interesting contrast to the crunchy beansprouts and the overall flavor was savory and slightly smoky.  I wondered to myself if this dish, or at least the livers, had been cooked on the charcoal grill as well.

After all of that, I decided to end my meal with a bowl of ramen (US$4.80).

This was a small bowl of shio ramen (salt based broth) that had been simply garnished with a square of nori, one quail egg, a piece of okra and some chopped green onions.  The broth was clear and light, with just the faintest hint of saltiness.

Kohnotori
2626 South King Street Suite 1
Telephone:  808.941.7255

Imanas Tei

Sorry folks.  I guess it's time for me to finish up this post.  I have been quite busy lately, but it's no excuse.  Please accept my apologies.

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Here are the details of my latest visit to Imanas Tei.  I've been here off and on over the last couple of years and have yet to be disappointed.  Imanas Tei is located in the same spot that was occupied by Apple Motoring so many years ago.  If you don't know where it is, you might just pass right by it -- it's not easily seen from South King Street as it's set a good 50 yards back from the street.

Inside Imanas Tei, you'll find a sushi bar to the left of the entrance.  At the front of the main dining area you'll find screened off section with seating on the floor (tatami mats) at low tables.  I believe two parties of four can sit there.

The main dining area consists of a curved table in the middle of the room surrounded by several tables for four.  The light wood furnishings and dim lighting make for a relaxed atmosphere.

Since I was in the mood for some chanko nabe, I decided to invite a couple of friends.  Luckily, when we arrived at 9:30 pm, there was only a five minute wait for a table.  After placing our order for the chanko nabe (US$18.50 per order, minimum two orders) we sat back and waited.

About five minutes later, our waitress returned with a hot plate, a huge pot, a pitcher of dashi (broth) and a huge platter of ingredients for the chanko nabe.  She started by pouring the dashi into the pot.  After the dashi started to bubble, she slowing started preparing "meatballs" by scraping some a ground pork mixture from a bamboo tube into the hot dashi.  The meatballs were made with ground pork, ginger and green onions among other things.

After she had finished with the meatballs, she expertly placed all the remaining ingredients into the pot.  How she fit it all in there is beyond me.  The ingredients included salmon, king crab, clams, scallops and shrimp; won bok (Chinese cabbage), watercress, green onions, gobo (burdock root) and mushrooms; long rice, tofu, aburage (fried tofu) and sliced mochi; sliced beef and pieces of chicken.  I hope I didn't forget anything.

As the aroma of the simmering food started to rise from the pot, we got anxious, even though we knew we had to wait.

Finally, after 15 minutes, everything was cooked perfectly and it was time to eat!

The dashi was lightly flavored with bonito and shoyu.  It had a slightly sweet, savory flavor that combined wonderfully with the all additions to the pot, soaking up the flavors of the meat and seafood.  This hearty "stew" was at once warming and comforting, with the freshness of the ingredients playing a big part in my overall satisfaction with this.

After we had finished eating everything that was in the pot, our waitress came back and asked if we wanted to finish off the dashi with either rice or udon.  We chose to have this made into zosui (rice porridge).  First, she skimmed the broth to make sure we had eaten everything.  Then she added a little more dashi and a large bowl of rice to the pot and started stirring things around.

Add a bowl of whisked eggs, stir a bit more and it's done.

Ladle the zosui into individual bowls, top with some kizami nori and eat!

Zosui is a Japanese-style rice porridge, with the rice being similar in texture to jook (Chinese rice soup), and with a flavor that is reminiscent of risotto.  The rice soaked up all of the flavorful dashi that was in the pot making this a tasty end to a wonderfully filling meal.  This was so good, that I ended up eating two bowls!

Since the three of us split two portions of chanko nabe for dinner, we each had a bowl of green tea ice cream (US$2.50) for dessert.

Cool, sweet and refreshing, this was a tasty end to a great meal.

Imanas Tei
2626 South King Street
Telephone:  808.941.2626

The Greek Corner

For the past several months, I've been driving by this place wondering if I should stop in for a bite or not.  After all, when it comes to flavors of the Mediterranean (Greek) persuasion, there aren't very many restaurants to choose from here in Honolulu.  So a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I would indeed stop in and have some lunch at the Greek Corner.

As I opened the door to enter the restaurant, I was confronted by a blast of cool air and a mostly empty dining room. 

After being seated at a table near the window, I looked over the menu, made my selections and waited for the food to arrive at the table.  By the time the waiter brought my food out, the restaurant was half full.

First to be delivered were the Greek fries with garlic mayo sauce (US$2.75).

Thick cut potatoes were deep fried until golden brown and served with some creamy garlic mayo.  Served unsalted, the potatoes were crispy outside and tender inside.  Dipping the fries into the garlic mayo gave the potatoes a slightly sweet, and somewhat savory flavor.

Shortly after the fries arrived, the beef and lamb gyro (US$5.95) was delivered.

Well-seasoned, tender and juicy slices of rotisserie cooked beef and lamb were stuffed inside a warm, fluffy pita.  The gyro was then filled with lettuce, onions and tomatoes and topped with some tzaziki (cucumber-yogurt) sauce.  This gyro was tasty and definitely something that I would have again.

On another occasion a week later, I decided to stop by again. On that second visit, I decided to start with the spanakopita (spinach pie, US$2.95).

Philo dough is layered with spinach and feta cheese before being baked until crunchy and golden brown.  Usually this dish is served without any toppings.  Here, at the Greek Corner, they serve it with lots of yogurt sauce spooned on top.  After taking the first bite, I discovered why.  The inside of the pastry was dry and the spinach, well, we won't even go into that.

I also decided to have the chicken gyro with side Greek salad (US$7.95; gyro only, US$5.95; add $2.00 for side Greek salad or Greek fries).

Here's a better look at the chicken gyro.

Chunks of dark and white meat chicken were marinated with various spices before being baked and stuffed into a warm pita filled with lettuce, tomatoes and onions.  It was then topped with some garlic mayo before being served.  Taking the first bite, I tasted something spicy.  When I looked into the gyro, I discovered red pepper flakes.  Now this would have been perfect if the chicken hadn't been a bit dry and over cooked.

The food here at The Greek Corner is a great bargain, especially when you consider the prices that are charged elsewhere.  The food here is tasty, but unevenly prepared -- one day it's pretty good and the next it's bordering on mediocre.  The service here was great.  The waitstaff was helpful and the food was served up quickly.  If they can be more consistent with the food, I think this could eventually be a winner.

The Greek Corner
1025 University Avenue
Telephone:  808.942.5503