'Ono Kine Grindz

Bob's Big Boy

A slice of Americana right in my own backyard, Bob's Big Boy has been serving locals since the mid-70's.  One of just a few late night eateries around, Bob's serves up an eclectic mix of local favorites, diner classics and a small assortment of ethnic dishes too.

Mix combination (US$8.95).

On the plate, you'll find mahi mahi, teriyaki chicken and a small bowl of hearty beef stew.

Hot turkey open-faced turkey sandwich (US$8.95).

   Bob's Big Boy
   2828 Pa'a Street
   Telephone: 808.833.3440

The Eggbert's - Kapa'a, Hawaii

Banana pancakes (full stack, US$8.20).

Cheese and tomato omelette (US$7.95).

The Eggbert's Family Specialty Restaurant
Coconut Market Place
4-484 Kuhio Highway
Kapa'a, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.823.6799

Blossoming Lotus - Kapa'a, Hawaii

Spring rolls (US$11.00).

Rockin' Moroccan Seared Tofu (US$18.00).

Transcendental Thai Green Curry (US$16.00).

Crimson Carrot Cake (US$6.00).

Live Fruit Parfait du Jour (US$7.00).

Blossoming Lotus
4504 Kukui Street
Kapa'a, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.822.7678

Bubba Burgers - Hanalei, Hawaii

Bubba Burgers
5-5183 Kuhio Highway
Hanalei, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.826.7893

Hamura Saimin Stand - Lihue, Hawaii

Hamura Saimin Stand
2956 Kress Street
Lihue, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.245.3271

Chin's Kahala

Chin's Kahala
4230 Waialae Avenue
Telephone: 808.737.7188

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

The Seaside Restaurant & Aqua Farm - Hilo, Hawaii

Since the early 90's, the Seaside Restaurant has been my final stop in Hilo before heading to the airport for the short flight home.  On this trip, I didn't deviate from the usual routine.  Located in Keaukaha, right near the beach, this has got to be one of my favorites dining destinations in this quiet town.

Open since 1921, the Seaside Restaurant is in a converted house surrounded by 30 acres worth of fishponds on one side and Kalanianaole Avenue on the other.  You wouldn't expect too much from this place if you were to judge it on looks alone, right?

Entering the dining room shortly after 5:00 pm, I the first one in the dining room.  After getting settled, I ordered something to drink, then made my way outside to take in a view of the fishponds.

Two of the most popular menu items, the steamed mullet and the fried aholehole, are prepared using fish caught daily from these very ponds.  Other types of fish, are raised here as well and you will often see them appear as specials on the menu.

To start, I decided on the escargot (US$7.95).

These tasty snails aren't often found on local menus, and though these weren't served in the shell, the were succulent and tender.  Rich and creamy, they were a luxurious treat that complimented the crunchy ovals of toasted garlic bread quite well.

Since I couldn't decide on what I wanted for dinner, I asked for the volcano shrimp as an appetizer (appetizer, US$18.95; dinner, US$21.95).

Thin ribbons of phyllo dough were wrapped around skewered shrimp before being deep fried.  The result was a perfectly cooked shrimp inside and a nice crispy, deep-fried exterior.  Served with a dish filled with sweet mango mint chile dipping sauce, I'm glad I decided to try this.

For the main course, it was the Chinese-style steamed Kona kampachi (US$26.95).

The skin-on fillets were first steamed before being coated with some hot oil and shoyu.  The fillets were then garnished with slices of shiitake mushroom, matchsticks of ginger, slivers of green onion and a huge fistfull of cilantro.  The fish's firm, white flesh was mild yet slightly buttery and it was well suited to this style of preparation. 

Next came the pan-fried moi (US$26.95).

Once raised in fishponds and reserved for royalty, these days the moi seen on local menus is harvested from cages of the coast of the Big Island.  The delicate flavor of this fish is enhanced perfectly by this simple cooking technique.  A tiny squirt of lemon or a light drizzle of shoyu proves to be just the right accent for the crispy skin and flaky flesh of the fish.

After all of that, it was time for some dessert.  On this visit it was the taro and sweet potato bread pudding (US$4.50) and a scoop of Hilo Homemade gourmet ice cream (poha berry, US$3.00).

The moist and dense bread pudding was studded with tender chunks of taro and sweet potato.  I found the caramel/haupia sauce overly sweet, making this a rich and decadent dessert.  The ice cream, on the other hand, was tart and sweet with a smooth texture that was accented by bits of crushed poha berries.

The Seaside Restaurant & Aqua Farm
1790 Kalanianaole Avenue
Hilo, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.935.8825

Nori's Saimin & Snacks - Hilo, Hawaii

It's hard for me to visit Hilo without visiting some of my favorite places to eat.  Nori's is one such place.  Located away from the main shopping area, on what can be considered a "back road", Nori's can be hard to find if you haven't been here before.

Stepping through the door, there's a long narrow walkway that leads to the main dining area.  As you walk towards the cashier station and the main dining area, you'll notice several booths off to the side.  The decor here is nothing to write home about, but this is what casual, island dining is all about.

My initial choice was my favorite, the seaweed won ton min.  Unfortunately, they were sold out.  Instead, I ordered the New Hilo-style saimin with won ton (small special US$6.60).

A few minutes later, a steaming hot bowl of saimin was delivered to my table.  From what I was told a long time ago, Hilo-style noodles are "curlier" than normal.  I never really noticed that, but maybe because I was always too hungry.  The noodles here were cooked perfectly with the right amount of "firmness" to them.  The won ton had thicker than normal skins, but with a huge mouthful of juicy pork filing.  The only downside to this bowl of saimin was the broth.  It was much saltier than usual, rendering it "undrinkable" - definitely not what I was used to.

Here are the chicken sticks that were included with the small special that I ordered.

Two bamboo skewers covered with marinated and grilled teriyaki chicken.  The plump morsels of chicken were just a little too sweet this time, and I wish they had grilled them just a little while longer as I really like those crispy, charred bits.

And if all of that wasn't enough (!), I also had a Nori burger (US$3.50 ?).

Topped with a tiny square of nori, which didn't have much to contribute to the overall flavor of the burger, the teriyaki flavored burger was juicy and had a nice balance of salty and sweet flavors.  Simply dressed with pickles and lettuce, the bun was moistened with just the right amount of mayo-mustard dressing.

Nori's Saimin & Snacks
688 Kinoole Street
Hilo, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.935.9133

Café Pesto - Hilo, Hawaii

Arriving back in Hilo after a long day climbing mountains (or should I say volcanos), I was hungry, but the question remained, where to eat?  Hilo doesn't say up late, at least in my experience, and as soon as I took the exit from Highway 19 onto Kamehameha Avenue, I found my answer.

Located in downtown Hilo's historic S. Hata Building, Café Pesto has a reputation for serving contemporary Italian cuisine with a Pacific Rim twist.  It was my first time here, and it was still crowded when I arrived at about 8:00 pm.

(Don't be fooled, this was taken as I was leaving.)

To start, I had the wild greens salad (US$4.95).

On the menu, it said "an eclectic blend of organic baby lettuces, cucumbers and organic vine-ripened tomatoes."  When it arrived, it looked like a plate of nothing special.  I could have gotten a bag of these organic greens at the Hilo Farmer's Market for half the price!  Hey, by the way, where are my tomatoes?

Next, was the pizza luau (9" US$10.95; 12" US$17.95).

Topped with kalua pork, sweet onions and pineapple, this was a twist on the classic "Hawaiian" pizza.  Aww come on, you all know what a Hawaiian pizza is, right?  A Hawaiian pizza is garnished with ham (or Canadian bacon) and pineapple, and sometimes includes onions and green bell peppers.  Here, the smokey-flavored kalua pork perfectly balanced the sweet, but tart flavor of the pineapple and the crust was light, crisp and crunchy.

And finally, the coriander grilled tenderloin and blackened shrimp, garlic goat cheese mashed potatoes, honey buttered Manuka spinach, and Hamakua mushroom jus (US$28.95).

What looked like a great concept on the menu, was actually a mish mash of flavors when eaten.  The beef was expertly cooked and the coriander sauce gave a sort of Middle Eastern flair to this part of the dish.  The blackened shrimp were just that -- blackened and charred with very little flavor.  The honey buttered Manuka spinach was overly sweet while the mashed potatoes and the mushroom jus were just buried under all the other flavors.

On this particular visit to Café Pesto, the service was quite awful.  After setting the plates down on the table, my waiter was nowhere to be found.  My water glass was not refilled until I received the check and no one stopped by to ask how things were.  Given the prices for the food, I'm not really sure if I'll be back.  If I do come back, it might be to have a pizza for lunch after picking up some organic salad greens at the nearby Hilo Farmer's Market.

Café Pesto
S Hata Building
308 Kamehameha Avenue
Hilo, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.969.6640

Romy's Kahuku Prawns & Shrimp, Inc.

Years ago, there was only one shrimp truck on Oahu's North Shore that everyone knew about by name. A short time after this first shrimp truck became wildly successful, many others started popping up along Kamehameha Highway where a majority of Oahu's aquaculture farms were also thriving.  Today, some say the standard is still set by Giovanni's, but how do places like Romy's compare?

On a recent outing, while driving down Kamehameha Highway towards the beach, I immediately got the craving for some shrimp.  Not just any shrimp, mind you, but shrimp from one of the many trucks and stands that are in Kahuku.  After passing a couple of flashy trucks, I almost stopped at Giovanni's, but then the crowds forced me to go farther along the road (who wants to wait for 45 minutes when you're starving).  So I drove until I stopped here.

Romy's Kahuku Shrimp & Prawns, purveyors of fresh shrimp and prawns caught fresh daily ON SITE.  What does this mean to you?  You'll find out soon enough.

After placing my order, I made my way to tables off to the side to see everyone under the tent ravenously devouring their plates of shrimp.  After a wait of about 15 minutes, my number was called and I made my way back to the "shack" to pick up my plate of shrimp.

First up, the butter & garlic shrimp (US$11.00).

Fragrant chunks of garlic were spooned carefully atop a pile of shrimp (about 10 shrimp).  The shrimp were served with both the head and shell still intact, keeping them sweet and succulent.  The shrimp were indeed fresh, but I found them lacking any real flavor.  Something was definitely missing from the marinade.

Next, was a plate of sweet & spicy shrimp (US$11.00).

This time, the shrimp were slathered with a cloyingly sweet sauce with only the slightest hint of spiciness.  In fact, the base for this sauce was probably a Thai-style sweet chilli sauce with some sriracha mixed in to give it a little kick.  If it weren't for the freshness of the shrimp, this would have been pronounced a complete failure.

Being the only shrimp stand/truck on the North Shore that uses shrimp/prawns caught on site certainly gives Romy's the advantage in the taste department. Great service as well as great prices, give it a few more stars as well. The only thing lacking, in my opinion, was flavor.

Romy's Kahuku Prawns & Shrimp, Inc.
56-781 Kamehameha Highway
Telephone: 808.232.2202

Soul de Cuba Café

When I first heard about this place, I was excited.  You see, I haven't had any real Cuban food since my last visit to Miami in 1994.  All over the city, there were a number of tiny coffeeshops serving media noche and café con leche alongside plates of chuletas fritas, tostones and frijoles negros.  Delicioso, indeed!

Stepping inside, you'll notice the bar along the far wall.  The rich brown color and the photographs that line the walls, make this place feel homey and inviting.

Looking over the menu, the soul sampler (US$15.00) looked like a good place to begin.

On the plate you'll find deviled crab, a beef empanada, a veggie empanada and a small serving of the camarones bailando (dancing shrimp).  The empanadas were topped with a sauce that was a bit like Thousand Island dressing.  I've never eaten them this way, and the light, flaky pastry with its savory filling would have been much better without it.  The camarones bailando, were the stars of the plate.  Perfectly cooked, the tender shrimp were complimented by a smoky, black bean based "Cubano-chinois" sauce.  Last to be eaten was the deviled crab.  This deep fried cousin of the croquette, had a rock hard exterior that concealed a well seasoned and tasty interior filled crab.

On this visit, I also decided to try the pan con bistec (US$8.00).

According to the menu, this sandwich was "thin slices of pan fried Cuban palomilla steak and grilled onions served on pressed Cuban bread with mayo".  When the sandwich arrived, I discovered that it was filled with two thick slices of tough, dry beef and barely cooked onions.  Biting through the beef was a challenge from the very start and I was very disappointed.  The bread, however, was light and crispy, just like Cuban bread should be.

Giving the restaurant another chance, on a subsequent visit, I ordered the Cubano (US$7.00).

Traditionally, a Cubano sandwich is made by stuffing thin slices of pernil and ham, a slice of Swiss cheese and thinly sliced pickles between Cuban bread that is often slathered with mustard and sometimes butter.  It is then "pressed" in a fashion similar to a panini until the cheese barely melts and so that the pickles remain crunchy.  Here there was no mustard, or butter, to be found, instead there was quite a bit of mayonnaise.  In addition, there were small disks of a salami-like meat here too.  The combination of meats made this sandwich salty, and unlike a true Cubano, the pickles had lost their crunch.

Although I am appreciative that a Cuban restaurant has finally come to Hawaii, my only wish would be for the food to be more traditionally prepared with thoughtfulness and care.  The sandwiches were lackluster and uneven, and while the appetizers were good, only the camarones bailando really stood out.  The service is here is friendly and attentive, and if the food were to improve, even at these prices, I could see myself coming back.

Soul de Cuba Café
1121 Bethel Street
Telephone: 808.545.2822

Ken's House of Pancakes - Hilo, Hawaii

I'm sure that everyone who's visited Hilo has been to Ken's at least once.  Ken's is close to the airport and to all the major hotels that line Banyan Drive AND it's open 24-hours.

On my most recent visit to Hilo, I stopped at Ken's for a quick bite to eat before heading out for the day.  At 7:00 am, the tiny parking lot was already full and after circling around a few times, I was lucky enough to snag a spot.  Once inside, I was quickly whisked away to a table and placed my order for this....

This was the "original loco moco" (US$5.95) consisting of two scoops rice, a 5 ounce lean "home grown" beef patty, brown gravy and two eggs.  Two things about this loco moco -- first, the beef patty.  Unlike the beef patties that are normally associated with loco mocos, this one has that slightly smokey, charred flavor, like it was cooked on an actual grill.  And second, the eggs.  Piercing the thin layer over the yolks makes for delicious eating when the gooey yolk comes in contact with the thick gravy.

Otherwise, you can always choose something a little more straighforward.  How's this?

The Hobo (US$7.55), consists of two eggs scrambled with diced ham, onions and potatoes, then topped with hollandaise sauce.  This time, I chose to enjoy this with some hash browns and a fluffly stack of pancakes.

Although parking here is always an issue, the food is not.  At Ken's, simple homestyle food is served up efficiently and at reasonable prices.  Popular with both locals and with tourists alike, when visiting Hilo, a visit to Ken's is a must.

Ken's House of Pancakes
1730 Kamehameha Avenue
Hilo, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.935.8711

Tokyo Tokyo

My family is usually gone during the Christmas holidays so I often have the opportunity to dine out with friends.  This year, we decided to enjoy a Christmas dinner at Tokyo Tokyo at the Kahala Resort and Hotel.

Known as a "fine dining" Japanese restaurant, I was a bit excited to make the journey here. We encountered quite a few bumps in the road between making reservations up until the actual dinner, and maybe they were a sign of what was to come.

We tried for a while to get reservations for dinner here using the email at the hotel's website (three emails to the hotel went unanswered) and calls to the restaurant directly (2 voice messages left with no return call).  All the while, we remained upbeat and hopeful that we would get a reservation.  About two weeks before Christmas, a call to the restaurant was answered and we were able to get a reservation for 8:45 pm (!!!).

Upon arriving at the restaurant at 8:40 pm, we were told that our table was not ready yet and that we could wait in the hotel's lobby.  We sat, and waited....  and waited.... and waited.  In all, it was 25 minutes before the hostess came to the hotel's lobby to escort us to our table.  Once seated, at a table right next to the restaurant's entrance (probably the worst seat in the place), it was another 15 minutes before our server made an appearance at our table.

Before going any further, here is the menu, with accompanying photos, for that evening's dinner.

Special Christmas Menu

1st course (Appetizers)
Grilled white fish finished with saikyo miso cream sauce and garnished with ikura.
Japanese style onion soup with compliments of chicken and mozzarella cheese.
Succulent duck breast simmered in dashi broth to a perfect medium and finished with a red wine and shoyu reduction sauce, atop a mound of bacon and foie gras mashed potatoes.

2nd course (Sashimi)
The freshest sashimi in Hawaii including: Blue fin, kaware wrapped in Atlantic salmon, Shima aji, and boton ebi, all served under the warm glow of a daikon votive.

3rd course (Black Angus Beef)
Certified Black Angus Ishiyaki
The finest certified Black Angus rib-eye medallions cooked on your own heated lava stone at the table.
or
Certified Black Angus Shabu Shabu
Served with an assortment of vegetables and inaniwa udon.  Comes with a pot of Dashi soup broth. 

Intermezzo
Moscato di Asti sorbet with diced oranges and peach.

4th course (Sushi)
Includes: Blue fin zuke finished with sesame seeds, white fish, yellowtail and American Kobe beef finished with red chili ponzu sauce and garnished with fine julienne daikon and green onion.  Comes with a petite torotaku sushi roll.

Dessert
Chef's symphony of sweet Japanese delicacies featuring a butter cream Kona coffee "bouche d' Noël".

Cost: $98.00 per person

While the events leading up to the actual meal were disappointing, what I found even more odd, is that we were given a table right near the restaurant's entrance.  We were shoved into a corner near an artificial Christmas tree.  The tables in this area were very close together, so much so, that our server couldn't even sqeeze into the space between the two without us moving our table closer to the Christmas tree!

I'm not going to go over every dish that we were served because this dinner doesn't really deserve all of that attention.  What I will do is mention the highpoints, which aren't many, and give a quick summary of everything else.

The simmered duck breast was the highlight of the trio of appetizers.  It was indeed succulent, tender and perfectly cooked -- the center of duck breast was a beautiful pink blush.  The foie gras mashed potatoes were pure indulgence.  Earthy, creamy and smoky, I could have eaten an entire bowl of these potatoes and left feeling satisfied.

With the second course, the sashimi, we thought the restaurant would redeem itself.  Not so.  With a plateful of mediocre offerings, the only standout, on a plate that also included boton ebi and a tiny mouthful of uni, was the ootoro.  This ultra-fatty piece of tuna had a smooth texture with a creamy, almost buttery, flavor.  Sublime.

I would have enjoyed the third, or beef, course more if I had been given a choice.  Like the diner sitting at the next table, I had made up my mind to have the shabu shabu prior to coming here.  When I asked for it, I was told that it wasn't available and that the menu had changed.  Well, why wasn't I told this when they called to confirm my reservation the day before? 

The intermezzo, or sorbet, made with Moscato di Asti, was really bitter.  When asked if this contained alcohol (I'm allergic), I was told it was made of grapes (duh, grapes = wine?).  By the way, when did canned fruits become part of a gourmet meal?

The sushi "platter" left much to be desired.   There were no standouts here and I was really annoyed with the Kobe (Wagyu) beef sushi which I felt was cut too thick and was not marbled well enough.  It didn't help that it took me 5 minutes to chew through the entire piece of beef.

By the time dessert showed up, more than 2 hours later, I was more tired than full.  I'm not sure how a strawberry purée topped with a cream cheese ice cream would be considered a "Japanese delicacy", but I didn't find anything here satisfying.

The pacing of the meal was extremely slow.  Many times, we would be waiting 15 or more minutes between courses.  They did serve an excellent green tea throughout the meal and I must say that my cup was never empty, or that the tea was never cold (they continuously replaced the cup with a fresh one).  The waitstaff was knowledgeable and more than willing to answer questions, but overall, this experience was disappointing.  I'm not sure that I'll want to come back here again.

Tokyo Tokyo
Kahala Hotel and Resort
5000 Kahala Avenue
Telephone: 808.739.8901

Bombay Indian Restaurant

Dining out is fun when there are new restaurants to eat at, especially when they serve the type of food that isn't so widely available.  I had passed by this place a while back and wondered when it would open.  Then a week and a half ago, a friend of mine asked if I had tried the food at the new Indian place in Waikiki.  When I said no, she gave it a thumbs up and said that I should visit.

Bombay Indian Restaurant has been open for a little more than 2 weeks now in the space previously occupied by Capricciosa.  But judging by the crowd in the dining room a week ago, I'd say that quite a few people have already heard about it's opening and decided to make their way here as well.

This restaurant bring Hawaii's Indian restaurant count to 8 -- the others are: Café Maharani, India Café, India House, India Bazaar, Zafron Indian Restaurant and Komala Curry House (two locations).  Most of these restaurants serve decent Indian food at a decent price, how would the food here fare?

When I visited Bombay Indian, I decided to bring along a friend who enjoys Indian food as much as I do.  We decided to start out with the assorted platter ($9.95) and order the rest of the dishes family style.

Included in this platter were chicken tikka, palak pakora, seekh kebab, chicken 65 (2 pieces of each) and small dishes of mint and tamarind chutney.  The char-broiled chicken tikka had an excellent flavor profile, but as has been my experience, it was a little dry.  The chicken 65 was described on the menu as a specialty of Hyderabad and it was slightly spicy.  The flavor was definitely interesting and I think I'll order this next time.  The seekh kebab was a piece of grilled lamb "sausage" while the palak pakora was a batter-dipped and deep-fried spinach.

As we finished the appetizers, this plate of chicken biryani ($14.95) was brought to the table.

Garnished with some greens and accompanied by a small dish of raita, the biryani had a wonderful aroma.  The rice was cooked just the way I liked it -- dry with just a touch of moisture.  Delicately spiced, there were moist pieces of chicken scattered throughout.  This wasn't the best briyani that I've tasted, but it was as good as any that I have had here in Hawaii which can be good to mediocre at best.

Shortly thereafter, the nan arrived.  We ordered two types - plain ($2.50) and keema ($4.95).

The nan was soft and warm when it arrived in a basket lined with a cloth napkin.  Thick and just the slightest bit chewy, I enjoyed this as much as anything else that night.  The keema nan was a bit unusual to me, but the amount of lamb and cilantro stuffed between the layers of dough was just right.  I could still taste the deliciousness of the warm bread.

The nan was ordered to be eaten with our curry-like dish -- the lamb rogan josh (US$15.95).

Chunks of lamb were slow cooked in a creamy yogurt based sauce until tender.  This dish wasn't really a curry, as far as I could tell, but there was a faint spiciness to it and there were elements of familiarity mixed in.  I could detect the flavors of cumin and cardamom in the slightly sweet sauce and the yellow coloring was definitely from turmeric.  Tasty in a unique way, this is a dish that could be ordered again.

Bombay Indian Restaurant brings a few unique Indian dishes to Hawaii, but they come at a price.  The portions were on the small side for the price and even after eating all of this, we left feeling a little hungry.  Because of this, and because of the location (Waikiki), Bombay Indian will be come more of a once in a while splurge, rather than a regular dining spot.  The service here was great, and the food is interesting.  Next time I'll have to ask them to kick up the spice a bit more though. 

Bombay Indian Restaurant
Discovery Bay Center
1778 Ala Moana Boulevard Suite UL-8
Telephone: 808.942.3990

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

Happy Inn

This hole-in-the-wall next to a busy fast food restaurant probably gets by-passed quite often.  The food here is OK and inexpensive.  I'm glad that I decided to stop in a few weeks ago.

Happy Inn
1160 South King Street Suite A
Telephone: 808.591.2385

Kat's Sushi

I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

Kat's Sushi
715 South King Street Suite 105
Telephone: 808.526.1268

Fritz's European Bakery

Fritz's makes excellent breads, but it's been a while since I last had their sandwiches.  Were the sandwiches here as good as I remember?

The Boss on wheat, grilled.

Fritz's Special on multi-grain, grilled.

 

If you need a sugar rush afterwards.

Fritz's European Bakery
1336 Dillingham Boulevard
Telephone: 808.845.0650

Boston's North End Pizza

OK, you know that I'm running behind!  *sigh*

Boston's North End Pizza
3506 Waialae Avenue
Telephone: 808.734.1945

Chez Panisse - Berkeley, California

The food here was wonderful, the service lackluster.

Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, California
Telephone: 510.548.5525

Shalimar Restaurant - San Francisco, California

In Hawaii, there are a few Indian restaurants, but nothing like Shalimar.  The food served here was spicy and delicious with a complexity of flavor that I had not seen in Indian food since my days in New York City.  Definitely a keeper.

Shalimar Restaurant
532 Jones Street
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415.928.0333

Zuni Café - San Francisco, California

I was looking forward to eating here at Zuni Café because I had heard so much about it.  The food, in my opinion, did not live up the hype, and the service?  It sucked and I won't be going back anytime soon.

This hostess is the main reason why I will not be back.

Zuni Café
1658 Market Street
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415.552.2522

Limón - San Francisco, California

Limón
524 Valencia Street
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415.252.0918
website

Indonesia Restaurant - San Francisco, California

Now that we no longer have an Indonesian restaurant in Hawaii, I just had to come back here.  This second visit was just as good as the first, and I'll definitely be stopping by here everytime I'm in San Francisco.

Gado gado (US$6.25).

Nasi padang (US$7.95).

Nasi goreng (US$7.50).

Es chendol (US$3.50).

Indonesia Restaurant
678-680 Post Street
San Francisco, California
Telephone:  415.474.4026

Dragonfly - San Francisco, California

I first heard about Dragonfly when I picked up a copy of San Francisco magazine.  I was excited to eat here because they proclaimed the food to be on par with the food at the Slanted Door, which I paid a visit to last year.  Was my experience here just as good?

Dragon taste for two (US$13.95).

This was an appetizer sampler of all of their favorites -- tom chien (golden shrimp), goi cuon (spring rolls), bo nuong (sesame beef) and goi sen tom thit (lotus root salad).

Shaking beef (US$19.00).

Bamboo rice (US$13.00).

Marinated frog steamed in bamboo tube with rice.

Dragonfly tapioca (che ba mau, US$3.00).

Black sticky rice (xoi nep than, US$3.00).

Take a look at what's inside.

Dragonfly
420 Judah Street
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415.661.7755

Canteen - San Francisco, California

A jewel box of a restaurant hidden away in a corner of the Commodore Hotel.  The menu here is short, and changes constantly, and the people that work here are cool and fun.

Bread and butter.

Dates+Bacon+Blue Cheese and Endive Salad (US$7.95).

Egg pasta with fresh tomatoes, parmesan and mint (US$9.95).

Roasted pork tenderloin filet, with horseradish, on soft roll (US$10.50).

Want to see what's inside?

Canteen
817 Sutter Street
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415.928.8870
website (not yet updated)

Aziza - San Francisco, California

In Hawaii, there is little diversity in culinary landscape.  Besides the most obvious, Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese), you'll find only a small handful of restaurants serving Middle Eastern, Eastern European or North African cuisines.  When I first heard about Aziza, I was quite excited as I had never sampled Moroccan food before. 

Arriving at Aziza about 10 minutes late for my reservation, I was afraid that my table had been given up.  The restaurant was almost filled to capacity and when I provided my name at the podium and explained that I was late, I was told that my table was ready and waiting for me.

Inside the restaurant is cavernous and quite dark.  Shortly after we were seated by the hostess, our server Rebecca stopped by to take our order. We decided on the 5 course tasting menu (US$42.00).   

The bread arrived in a large bowl a moment before the soup was brought to the table.

The first course was soup.  Since there were two of us, we got one of each type of soup being offered that day.  Here is the vegan soup of organic green lentils served with a Medjool date on the side.

Traditionally served on special occasions and during Ramadan, harira is normally accompanied by dates or chabakkia.  The harira here was thin and light.  The lentils were still a bit firm and the overall flavor was tangy with just a touch of spicy flavor.  I could see why this soup would be eaten along with dates, the flavors complimented each other perfectly.  The harira was both interesting and delicious.

The other soup being served that day was a Moroccan spiced carrot soup.

Smooth and creamy, this soup was a little sweet with a hint of subtle spiciness.

Mediterranean spreads -- balsamic-eggplant mousse, roasted pepper-pomegranate-walnut, and yogurt-dill -- served with flatbreads.

The balsamic eggplant mousse was made with roasted eggplant and it had an earthy, smokiness to it.  The roasted pepper, pomegranate and walnut spread was perhaps my favorite as the sweet, tart flavor of the pomegranate really came through.  The yogurt dill spread was probably the least creative of the trio as it reminded me of raita or tzatziki.

Fresh bodega goat cheese with spiced cherry tomato and citrus jam, pistachios and zataar croutons.

The crisp croutons were made "zippy" with a light sprinkling of zataar (a mixture of oregano and ground sesame seeds, among other things).  The fresh goat cheese had none of the usual tanginess, but it did have a subtle sweetness to it and the texture was reminiscent of cream cheese. 

After we had finished course number three, Rebecca stopped by to clear away the dishes.  It was then that she announced, "the next course is basteeya."  As we turned our heads in her direction, we discovered that she had floated away from the table and was already three quarters of the way to the kitchen.

As quickly as she had departed, she had returned.  I wasn't able to take a photo before she began cutting into the basteeya's crisp pastry.

Traditionally, basteeya (or bastilla) is made with pigeon meat and warka pastry.  Here at Aziza, phyllo pastry is wrapped around a filling of saffron braised chicken and ground almonds before being baked until flaky and golden brown.  Once baked, the basteeya is given a light dusting of cinnamon and powdered sugar.  The combination of sweet and savory makes an accurate description of the flavor sensation next to impossible.

Next to arrive were our individual entrées.  First up was the prawn tagine.

The prawns arrived perfectly cooked -- slightly tender and succulent.  The vegetables included in the tagine were well stewed, rich and bursting with flavor.  The preserved lemons, tiny chunks of them, made this dish bright and vibrant, while the tomatoes brought a bit of balance with some acidity.

The other dish that we selected was the stewed lamb and charred eggplant.

Tender chunks of fork tender lamb were combined with smokey, charred eggplant rendering the usual gaminess associated with lamb well hidden.  The saffron flavored sauce that so elegantly decorated the plate was fragrant, but to be honest, I thought there was really too much going on here.  I would have preferred if this dish were more simply presented.

Shortly after we had finished the mains, Rebecca stopped by with the dessert menus.  The first dessert selected was a roasted lemon sorbet.

The sweet, yet mildly tart sorbet had a wonderfully balanced flavor.  Cool and smooth, it contrasted well with the "gritty" chamomile-citrus granita on which it sat.  A nice juxtaposition of textures and flavors, the addition of the "twirlly" tuille.  It was crisp and a tiny bit sweet.

When we had to choose the second dessert, I was torn.  In the end, instead of choosing the lavender-black pepper angel food cake with slow roasted strawberries and crème chantilly, I chose the baked spring rhubarb.

Recommended by our server Rebecca as her "favorite, to-die-for dessert" on the menu, after the first bite, I was already singing its praises.

The stalks of tart rhubarb were cooked until tender then topped with crisp and flaky "biscuits".  A small cup of rose geranium crème anglaise was poured over the dessert, rendering it absolutely sublime.

Amazing food, knowledgeable and friendly service, great atmosphere -- what more could anyone ask for?  Our server, Rebecca, took the time to explain each dish, which made dining here fun.  Her casual attitude and her willingness to answer our questions made this a meal worth remembering long after the food had been consumed.  This is definitely a place that I would recommend, and would come back to time and time again.

Aziza
5800 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415.752.2222
website

Yank Sing - San Francisco, California

Some people call Yank Sing, the best dim sum restaurant in San Francisco.  Others believe that it never lives up to the hype.  One thing is for sure -- Yank Sing has some unique dim sum offerings and at premium prices too.  Is it worth it?

Stepping through the doorway into Yank Sing find me in some dim sum parlor in Hong Kong, nor does it make me feel like I'm in Chinatown.  Instead, I'm confronted with a sleek, modern interior that looks and feels like fine dining.

As we slowly make our way to the table, a server stroll past hawking her wares -- steamer baskets full of tasty treats like har gau and siu mai.  Once seated, we wait as the procession of carts begins.

Before any carts arrive a server approaches our table and asks if we would like some xiao long pau.  Shortly thereafter, we are presented with a steamer basket filled with six pieces of xiao long pau (Shanghai pork dumplings).

Taking a dumpling out of the basket, I slowly put it in my mouth and awaited the explosion of flavor from the steaming broth as I bit into it.  Sadly, there wasn't much broth here.  The skin was a little thick and just a bit chewy, while ground pork filling was quite tasty.

As our server set the basket of xiao long pau down on the table, I asked if I could have an order of braised chicken feet.  Speaking into her headset, she placed the order for me and in a couple of minutes, the basket of braised chicken feet arrived at the table.

Tender and succulent, if you can call them that, the chicken feet had a hint of spiciness to them.  The skin and tendons, practically melted in my mouth.  After finishing half the basket, I wanted to order more, lots more -- they were that good.

Just as I was about to ask for another basket, a server approached our table and asked if we would like to try the baked sea bass.

As she held out the plate for me to look at, I immediately said yes and smiled hungrily.  Slightly sweet, and a little sticky, the fish flaked nicely once my chopsticks touched it.  The flesh was smooth and kind of reminded me of misoyaki butterfish, which I absolutely love.  Nevermind that this was just a small chunk of a huge fish, I enjoyed every bite.

With a bit of sea bass in still in my mouth, a server approached with a plate of shrimp with honey walnuts.  Since my mouth was full, I couldn't say no (could I?), so I just motioned for her to put the plate on the table with everything else.

There were seven or eight medium-sized shrimps on the plate and they sat next to a pile of honey-glazed walnuts on a bed of shredded head lettuce.  The shrimp were a little soggy -- almost as if they had been cooked a while ago.  The sweet walnuts contrasted well with the shrimp, though I was wishing that the shrimp were hot and crunchy, and that there were just a little more mayonaisse on them.

Finally, this cart here stopped at the table.  The served told me that she was preparing lettuce cups.  Since I had seen this cart stopping at quite a number of tables around the restaurant, I wasn't about to refuse the offer of a serving or two.

The lettuce cup shown here is filled with a mixture of ground chicken and lup cheong which has been sauteed with chopped water chestnuts and bamboo shoots.  Its finished with some hoisin sauce and a generous sprinkling of green onions and pine nuts.

The filling is a bit dry with a texture similar to that of larb.  The crisp texture of the lettuce helped to enhanced this dish, but there was little flavor here.  I felt like this needed some chilli or some more hoisin sauce.

Shortly after we had eaten our fill of lettuce cups, we were presented a plateful of chicken wrapped asparagus (I think that's what our server called it).

Ground chicken was wrapped around tender asparagus spears before being batter coated and deep fried.  It was served with some sweet sour dipping sauce on the side.  This was an unusual flavor/texture combination that didn't really work for me -- the asparagus didn't really go well with the sweet-sour sauce.

Just as I thought I was full, this cart pulled up to the table.  Now I could have gone for one of the desserts -- either the egg tarts or the creamy mango pudding.  Instead, I chose a plate of shrimp toast.

Tiny rounds of hard toast (think stale bread that has been toasted or fried!) was topped with some shrimp paste then decorated with the tiny tail of a shrimp.

Our server told us to use the sweet-sour sauce with these and I thought the flavor combination for this dish was perfect -- sweet, sour with a touch of saltiness -- excellent.  The crunchy toast and the "springy" shrimp ball made this dish interesting texturally as well.

Overall my experience here at Yank Sing was good, though not exceptional.  What I liked was the clean, modern space and the interesting variations on dim sum.  I actually wanted to be "wow'd" by the selection and by the flavors -- neither really happened.  And when you're dining without knowing what the prices are (no menus are given), you might be in for a surprise when the check  arrives.  The 7 dishes here plus a pot of jasmine tea (US$3.00) was almost US$60, not including tax or tip.  Though nothing here was done poorly, in fact some of the dishes were excellent, maybe next time I'll skip the glamour and enjoy my dim sum in more "traditional" surroundings.

Yank Sing
One Rincon Center
101 Spear Street
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415.957.9300
website

The Original Pancake House

Most mornings, breakfast for me consists of two slices of sweetbread toast, a cup of coffee and a banana.  Every now and then, I feel like something a little more elaborate and if I have the time, and the opportunity, I like to eat breakfast out at the Original Pancake House.

And even though there's a Pancake House right near my apartment, I will normally visit the location in Kalihi, if only because it holds some special memories for me.  Since I've been working a number of weekends lately, every few weeks I've made it a point to meet some friends for breakfast before going in to the office (or for brunch).

On one visit, we arrived shortly after 8:00 am, only to find the restaurant fairly crowded.  On that ocassion, we ended up waiting about one half hour for a table.  On a more recent visit, it wasn't nearly as crowded when we met for brunch.

On the first ocassion, it was the Swedish pancakes served with lingonberry butter (US$6.75?) and a nice hot cup of coffee.

The pancake itself has really crisp and crunchy edges with a slightly "chewy" middle that's still a bit tender.  The batter probably uses buttermilk as the pancake has a slightly tangy flavor to it.  It's one of my new favorites here.

Here's what the lingonberry butter looks like -- it's just a small bowl full of tart lingonberry jam with a scoop (or more accurately, a blob) of whipped butter in the center.  Most of the time I'll mix the jam and butter together, spread the mixture all over the pancakes, then roll them like crepes before eating.

The next time I was here, it was R&D's Favorite Omelette with three buttermilk pancakes (US$8.80).

The R&D is one of the house specialties.  Described as a baked omelette, the eggs are perfectly whipped and have a delicate, fluffy texture to them.  Stuffed inside was some spinach and ground beef that had been seasoned with Italian herbs, garlic and onions.  Spooned on top was some "Spanish" sauce that was tomato-based.  This savory omelette was perfectly seasoned and packed with flavor.  Satisfying.

Take a look at these light, fluffy, golden brown pancakes.  Need I say more?

The Original Pancake House may be a little pricey when compared to similar eateries around town, but the food, and especially the pancakes, are well prepared and are delivered to the table while still hot off the grill.  The service here is excellent, which makes dining here all the more enjoyable.  Just make sure you get here early, otherwise, you may encounter a long line (and a considerable wait) at the door.

The Original Pancake House
Waiakamilo Shopping Center
1414 Dillingham Boulevard
Telephone: 808.847.1496

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

Shokudo Japanese Restaurant & Bar

When Shokudo opened a little more than a year ago, they opened on the premise of having this restaurant serve as a model for others to follow.  Located in a spot most recently vacated by the Bank of the Orient, Shokudo is located in an office building and is a neighbor to another Japanese restaurant, Angelo Pietro.

Stepping inside, you notice the clean, modern interior that is done with red, black and cream with lots of light wood surfaces.  On the left half of the restaurant, the expansive space is filled with tables for four and tiny dining nooks.

On the right, Noguchi-styled paper shades hang above tiered seating that might remind one of the tiered rice paddies found in Japan.  If you're seated at the top, you get a nice view of the entire restaurant, including the bar area which is located between the two distinct areas of the restaurant.

I had actually visited Shokudo a number of times before today, and many of the dishes are hit and miss.  Like most other places, there are dishes that are outstanding (like the fresh tofu), and then there are those that should immediately be forgotten.  On this particular visit, I decided to sample something from the new lunch menu.  But first, I decided to start with a salad that I had been wanting to try for a while -- the daikon salad (US$5.75).

Thick strips of fresh daikon were tossed with tiny dried anchovies (chirimen) and garnished with grape tomato halves and a small mountain of kizami nori (sliced dried seaweed).  The crisp strips of raw daikon radish were refreshing to eat, but I would have preferred if they were julienned thinner.  The thickness of the strips made it difficult for the daikon to hold any of the dressing's flavor (I couldn't tell what it was) and there weren't really enough anchovies here to make an impact on the flavor either.

After looking over all of the choices on the set lunch menu, I decided to go with the stewed beef hamburg set lunch (US$13.25).

Considering the amount of food I got, this was a bargain at $13.95 -- a bowl of miso soup, a bowl of rice, a side salad, tsukemono and "beef hamburg" which was topped with an egg and served with grilled zucchini, eggplant and tomato slices.

Red bean honey toast (US$8.75).

Two thick slices of toast were drizzled with some warmed, and slightly carmelized, honey then topped with a healthy spoonful of azuki beans and a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream.  The crust was crunchy and a bit buttery, while the inside of the bread had been cut into bite sized cubes that were soft and fluffy!

Shokudo Japanese Restaurant & Bar
1585 Kapiolani Boulevard
Telephone: 808.941.3701

Dillingham Café

Months ago, a reader of this blog suggested that I pay a visit to Dillingham Café.  Located in a small strip mall (if you want to call it that) on Dillingham Boulevard across the street from Saint Germain Bakery (formerly known as Dee Lite Bakery), and on the site of a former gas station, Dillingham Café is one of many unassuming neighborhood restaurants. 

Although it isn't what I would call homey, it's very much an everyday, casual sort of place -- more like a coffee shop than a café.  The interior is clean and brightly lit, and on the day I visited, there was a crowd of people standing at the counter ordering some lunch.

The extensive menu is made up of local favorites, burgers and sandwiches with a smattering of Filipino specialties thrown in for good measure.  On my first visit here, I decided to try the beef stir fry (US$5.25).

Slices of beef were stir fried with long beans, red bell peppers and onions, then plated with two scoops rice and your choice of tossed or macaroni salad.  The strips of beef lacked tenderness and seemed to be barely seasoned, but the salty and slightly sweet sauce along with the medley of stir fried vegetables kept me interested.

On a subsequent visit, I decided to try one of the specials.  I chose the garlic steak and mahi (US$7.95).

Slices of beef were coated in a thick, flavorful garlic sauce, while a piece of pan fried mahi sat alongside it on the plate.  On its own, I doubt that the beef would have had much flavor as it seemed unseasoned.  While the mahi, on the other hand, which was coated in egg before being pan fried, was moist and well seasoned.

While my experience here was average at best (tastewise), the friendly staff, the prompt service and the great prices will probably bring me back again.  Since this is a new addition to the Kalihi dining scene, it may take a little while before Dillingham Café becomes a major contender here. 

Dillingham Café
1901 Dillingham Boulevard
Telephone: 808.847.1500

Pink's

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I LOVE Pink's!  Nuff said.

Chicago Polish dog (US$3.55).

Bacon chili cheese dog (US$3.95).

French fries (US$1.95).

Onion rings (US$2.25).

Pink's
709 North La Brea Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
Telephone: 323.931.4223
website

Carney's - Los Angeles, California

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I've been coming here for a while now and while Carney's doesn't serve my favorite burgers, or my favorite hot dogs, a visit here is a trip down memory lane.

Chili fries (small, US$2.55; large, US$3.40).

Cheeseburger (US$3.55)

Carney's
8351 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
Telephone:  323.654.8300
website

Warszawa Restaurant - Santa Monica, California

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I had never tried Polish food before, so when I heard about this place, I put it on my list of must tries.  Surprisingly, the food is not much different than Austrian or German food, and some of the dishes were quite distinctive and delicious.

Home made pierogi with wild mushrooms and cabbage (appetizer, US$9.00).

Hot dried plums wrapped in lean bacon garnished with carmelized walnuts (US$8.00).

Steamed cabbage leaves filled with beef, jasmine rice, and sautéed onions baked in tomato and paprika broth (US$16.00).

"Warszawa" beef stroganoff with wild mushrooms served over egg-drop dumplings (US$16.00).

Vanilla crêpe filled with lemon cheese served hot with raspberries (US$6.50).

Warszawa Restaurant
1414 Lincoln Boulevard
Santa Monica, California
Telephone: 310.393.8831
website

Border Grill - Santa Monica, California

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This is not the first time that I've been here, and it definitely won't be my last.  I first dined here in 1999, before visiting the Las Vegas outpost, located at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, back in 2001.  I definitely look forward to my next visit here.

Complimentary chips and a trio of homemade salsas.

Border classics (US$14.50)

Carne asada tacos (US$9.95)

Border Grill
1445 4th Street
Santa Monica, California
Telephone:  310.451.1655
website

Penang Malaysian Cuisine - West Covina, California

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When I heard about this place, I was quite excited.  The last time I had eaten Malaysian food was on my trip to Seattle.  The food at Malay Satay Hut was quite good.  The food here at Penang Malaysian, which is a chain restaurant, was fair.  It did little to satisfy my craving.

(Please accept my apologies for the blurred image.)

Penang satay (5 sticks, US$5.95).

Belacan kang kung (US$9.95).

Ikan pangang (market price, US$19.95).

Chendol (US$2.95).

Bobo cha cha (US$2.50).

Penang Malaysian Cuisine
Hong Kong Plaza
971 South Glendora Avenue
West Covina, California
Telephone: 626.338.6138

Jun Bo Chinese Restaurant

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What's a Chinese restaurant doing hidden away in a dark alleyway?  Is it any good?

New Diner's Drive In

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Many years ago, this was one of my late night haunts.  I've stopped by here a couple of times recently and discovered that the "new" Diner's isn't nearly as good as the "old" one was.

Diner's combo special #1 - charcoal broiled New York steak with/without teriyaki sauce, mahi mahi, and fried chicken (US$6.45).

Homemade hamburger steak smothered in brown gravy and sautéed onions (US$5.65).

New Diner's Drive In
1333 North King Street
Telephone:  808.842.0344

Big Kahuna Pizza

Big Kahuna Pizza is located along a stretch of roadway that is home to warehouses, and auto body and repair shops.  Since most of the surrounding area is industrial, one wouldn't expect to find a little green and yellow "shack" serving some of the Island's best pizza here.

A long time destination of both local residents and visitors, you'll have to keep your eyes open for the signs announcing da Big Kahuna's and quickly turn into the gravel parking lot.  If you drive too fast, or aren't looking for it, you'll drive right past it.

Walk past the "porch" and open the screen door to enter the tiny restaurant.  You'll see the menu board above the counter where the orders are placed.  The menu is quite lengthy, and includes a number of pizzas and sandwiches.  If you don't like waiting, take my advice and place your order over the phone -- well in advance of your anticipated pick up time.  But be forewarned.  If it's busy, the wait can be as long as 30 minutes or more!

After placing your order and paying for your meal, you can choose to dine-in (you food will be brought to the table), if one of the four tables inside the restaurant are available.  Otherwise, you'll have to order to go.

Since I had some time to spare, I decided to eat in.  It was busy, and crowded, so I ended up waiting 15 minutes for a table to open up and another 10 minutes for my food to arrive.  What did I order?  I had "da sumo special" (6" personal pan, US$5.95; 12" medium pan, US$16.95).

This perfectly sized pizza contains an extraordinary variety of tasty toppings.  Here's the short list of what's on here: pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, kalua pig (!), Portuguese sausage, bacon, onions, fresh mushrooms, chopped tomatoes and black olives!  Is that artery clogging goodness or what?  Even with all those toppings, the thick, fluffy and slightly sweet crust remains crisp and crunchy until the last bite.

I also ordered the garlic cheese balls (one dozen, US$3.35).

Fluffy and slightly chewy, these garlic cheese balls are brought to the table straight out of the over.  Rich and buttery, and made flavorful with all of that garlic and cheese, the bottoms of these are crispy, making these so fun to eat.  I do have to tell you that these garlic cheese balls are addictive -- you can't eat just one.  In fact, before you know it, you've eaten them all.

Sometimes when I'm in the area, and don't feel like having a pizza, I'll go for one of Big Kahuna's amazing sub sandwiches.  Here is the surfer sub combo/grinder (with turkey and roast beef, US$6.35).

The paper plate-sized homemade bun was slightly sweet, yet dense and fluffy.  Nicely stuffed with more than a few slices of roast beef and turkey before being topped by some shredded lettuce and tomatoes, this is one heck of a sandwich.

Big Kahuna Pizza
833 Puuloa Road
Telephone:  808.833.5588

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

Goma Tei Ramen Restaurant

Within the last couple of years, the area around Ward Warehouse and Ward Centre has been a flurry of activity.  New condos are coming up as well as stores and restaurants.  The first of these to be completed was the small building which houses a new Starbucks, Jamba Juice and the Wahoo's Fish Tacos place.  Meanwhile, work begins on the site that will house a new Whole Foods store and I believe construction has already begun on the PF Changs that will also be located in the same area.  The activity is not only confined to currently empty spaces though.  Ward Centre has also gotten some new tenants in where the old Scoozies was.  Besides Red Pineapple, which opened before the 2005 holiday season, there is this place, Goma Tei, which only opened about a week ago.

Upon entering the restaurant you'll notice the blond wood tables and counter as well as the black wood stained chairs.  The restaurant is clean and modern, and was fairly empty at dinner time, with only two seats at the counter and one table being occupied.  Perhaps word hasn't gotten out about this place yet.

After looking over the menu, I made an inquiry with the waitress.  It seemed as though the restaurant specialized in tan tan ramen, which, according to the menu, is a "Japanese style soup broth with spicy sesame flavor".

So I ordered #5, chicken tan tan ramen (US$7.50).

On the menu, it said that this was made with the restaurant's ban ban ji chicken and veg. garnishes.  When the bowl arrived, there was a pile of choy sum on one end of the bowl, and a pile of sliced white meat chicken on the other.  Well, I don't quite remember what the ban ban ji chicken was (I should have taken better notes), but I'm sure it didn't mean dry and flavorless -- which is exactly how I found this chicken.  The soup, however, was thick and flavorful, with only a hint of spiciness.

To go along with the ramen I also ordered a side of gyoza (5 pieces, US$4.95).

The gyoza took way too long to come out of the kitchen and when the plate arrived at the table, they were already starting to get cold.  There was just enough filling inside the wrapper, but if you ask me, these seemed a lot like the gyoza that's found in the frozen section of the supermarket.  Average.

On another visit, I decided to try the tonkatsu tan tan ramen (US$8.95).

The broth was the same as the first time (how I wished it were spicier) and the ramen was garnished with both choy sum and chopped leeks.  The piece of tonkatsu was quite big, filling up almost the entire surface of the bowl.  It was still crunchy when the ramen arrived, but I felt it could have been tenderized a bit more -- it was a bit tough when I bit into it.

Being that Goma Tei has only been open for about a week, I feel that they still have time to improve.  If the food stays on course, then they could be in for some real trouble.  While the ramen was quite good (the broth could use a bit more spice), it's the toppings that need a bit of work.  The service was good, but it could have been because it wasn't too busy.  The ramen is a bit expensive though, so I'm still a bit unsure if my initial impression warrants a return visit.

Goma Tei Ramen Restaurant
Ward Centre
1200 Ala Moana Boulevard
Telephone:  808.591.9188

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

OnJin's Café

Quite some time has passed by since my first visit to OnJin's Café.  Back then, the restaurant was hidden from view by a parking lot that was often gated.  With the surrounding area in the midst of redevelopment, gone is the parking lot and in comes a new street.  OnJin's Café now finds itself located on a busy corner and a lot more accessible to the masses.

I've been to OnJin's Café a number of times over the years, but usually for dinner.  More recently, I stopped by during lunch and found it a bit more relaxing since there weren't too many people here.  The restaurant is bright, clean and spacious with a mixture of dark and light colored wood furnishings.

There is also an outdoor seating area which makes al fresco dining the way to go when visiting for lunch -- as long as the weather is nice.  After placing my order inside, and paying for my meal, I take a seat outside in the "garden".  Here there are fresh herbs growing and I wonder if the basil, rosemary or sage is actually used in the preparation of dishes here.  The only thing that distracts is the traffic beyond the gate.

On a recent weekend visit, I ordered the boolgogi and kimchee sandwich (US$7.25).

Thick, tender slices of Korean-style barbecued meat were piled high atop a toasted onion bun before being garnished with a few pieces of won bok kim chee.  Sliced tomatoes and a crisp lettuce leaf were provided as added garnish for the sandwich while a salad drowning in dressing, a small pile of beans and a couple of crowns of broccoli covered the other half of the plate.  The beef was well flavored being neither too salty nor too sweet.  The kim chee, on the other hand, could have been a lot more fiery. 

On a subsequent visit, I decided to order the Korean style ahi don (US$9.25).

Intrigued by the name of the dish, I was a little disappointed when what was basically an ahi salad was delivered to my table.  Seven slices of sashimi-grade ahi were placed strategically on a combination of chopped romaine lettuce and Nalo greens.  Thin slivers of white radish were piled in the middle before being garnished with a spoonful of kaniko (crab eggs) and a few bits of dried seaweed.  Served with a bowl of brown rice and some spicy kochu jang sauce/dressing on the side, the salad proved to be a light, refreshing, and surprisingly,filling lunch.

Whether you stop by for lunch, or for dinner, the food here at OnJin's Café is sure to be enjoyable.  However, if you are the type of diner that requires constant attention (i.e. constant refilling of water, clearing of dishes, etc.) you should consider dining elsewhere.  On both visits, since I was seated outside, the server only stopped by to deliver my food and beverages to the table.  There was no follow up to ask how my food was, nor did she stop by to refill my iced tea or water.  Good food, mediocre service, and moderate to high prices, does not make OnJin's Café a frequent dining destination.

OnJin's Café
401 Kamakee Street
Telephone:  808.589.1666

Shanghai Bistro

I have been here a couple of times and the food is good, but not exceptional.  I enjoyed this meal on Chinese New Year with a couple of friends (one of them visits this restaurant quite often).  I did not order the food, but the owner of Shanghai Bistro, Li May Tang, prepared this special menu for us.  Cost was US$30.00 per person.

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Located in the Discovery Bay Shopping Center, Shanghai Bistro seems a little out of place with a McDonald's and a Starbucks nearby.  It's by chance that I had the opportunity to dine here on Chinese New Year and I honestly expected there to be more of a crowd -- but there wasn't. 

When we arrived at noon, the restaurant was practically empty.  If I had visited a dim sum restaurant like Fook Lam, Legend, or Panda Cuisine, I can guarantee you that there would have been hordes of hungry people around.  Not so at Shanghai Bistro.  After being seated, I glanced around the room to discover four or five tables occupied in the bright and expansive dining room.

Instead of being brought a menu, owner, Li May Tang approached our table at the front of the restaurant and chatted in Mandarin with one of my friends.  After their little exchange, I was told that she was going to prepare a special menu for us.  Several minutes passed by before the first course arrived.  I don't know what the names of the dishes are, but I'll try my best to describe them.

First up, was a salad that was served in a champagne flute with a long, thin shrimp roll jutting out from it.

The shrimp roll was still hot and the shrimp were fresh and cut into small chunks.  The salad consisted of baby greens and alfalfa sprouts with a bit of spicy thousand island dressing on top.  The dressing made a wonderful "dip" for the shrimp roll and this only had me wondering about what was to come.

Just as I was finishing my salad, the next course arrived at the table.  It was a crispy bacon tofu roll.

A block of tofu is wrapped in bacon, then deep fried until golden brown.  Crisp outside, and mouth meltingly tender inside, this dish was a wonderful contrast of textures and flavors.  Salty bacon, savory dipping sauce, soft tofu and crisp bacon -- this was probably one of the better dishes.

A few minutes later, the house specialty, Shanghai style pork dumplings with broth, arrived.

Thin-skinned wrapper shaped like a rose concealed a tiny bite of minced pork and lots of steaming hot broth.  I carefully picked up one of the dumplings and sucked the broth out from a hole in the top.  Afterwards, I found myself dipping the dumpling into the red vinegar and ginger so I could finish it off. 

As we sat there enjoying the dumplings, our server brought out this -- the Shanghai bamboo cup.

In a "cup" consisting of a length of bamboo, was a bit of clean, fresh tasting broth filled with chicken, pork, mushrooms, ginger and other ingredients.  A palate cleanser, no doubt, but a very warming one.

Next came this dish, the pan fried Dungeness crab with garlic and chillies.

The Dungeness crab was pan fried with lots of minced garlic and chillies.  And although this was probably the most expensive dish served that day, it wasn't the tastiest.  I felt that the crab had been overcooked as the meat in the legs and pinchers was quite dry.  The garlic and chillies, though, were a wonderful addition to the seafood fried rice.

This plate of kung pao chicken arrived at the same time as the crab.

Boneless pieces of chicken were stir fried with sliced garlic, peanuts, dried chillies and some green onions.  This dish was the sweetest, and the spiciest, of all the dishes we had, but it wasn't necessarily the best.  The chicken was moist and tender, though, I wish it had been a bit spicier.

As we were starting to get full, our waiter brought out a bowl of seafood fried rice.

Stir fried with pieces of scallop, shrimp and squid, the rice was a bit tasteless.  It took several spoonfuls of the garlic and chillies from the crab dish to perk this bowl of rice up.  I was kind of surprised that this came at the END of our meal.  I almost feel like it was an afterthought.

For dessert, we were presented with this.

If you asked me what it was, I couldn't tell you.  It's best described as a combination of rice (black rice and glutinous rice), azuki beans, sesame seeds and various herbs.  It was slightly sweet, very sticky, chewy and medicinal in taste.  Interesting, but not something I would have served a guest, nor would it have been something I would have ordered.

The food at Shanghai Bistro has never wowed me.  It's borderline good to mediocre, even though some of the dishes like the garlic butter rice, the crispy bacon tofu rolls and the xiao long pau are better than average.  The food here is a expensive given both the quantity and the quality, while the service leaves much to be desired.  Based on this experience, as well as a few past experiences, I don't think I'll be heading back here anytime soon.

Shanghai Bistro
Discovery Bay Center
1778 Ala Moana Boulevard Suite UL-10
Telephone:  808.955.8668

H & T Burgers

I don't often get out to the Windward side of the island, but when I do, I usually make a stop at Windward Mall.  There isn't really a great selection of stores there, but I do like to stop in for a bite to eat at one of the many small restaurants that one can find there.  One of these is H & T Burgers.

The shop is fairly small with 5 tables along the left side of the shop.  On the right, is the counter where you place your order, tender payment and pick up your food.  Everything is prepared to order (although I think some of the food might be pre-cooked) so it's usually quite fresh.  And even when it's busy, I've never had to wait for more than 5 minutes.  Looking over the menu, I usually skip the plate lunches and head right for the combo meals.  For a decent price, you'll get a burger or hot dog, french fries and a medium drink.  There are four combo meals to choose from...

After I made my selection and paid for my food, I watched as my food was prepared.

This time, I had the teriburger with french fries (US$4.90).

The teriburger is seasoned with teriyaki sauce before being cooked.  The sweet, slightly salty sauce is not as good as what you'll get at W & M, but it's decent.  The french fries were light and crisp and unsalted!

On another occasion, I sampled the chili hot dog with french fries (US$4.90).

The hot dog was a little over done.  It's possible that they don't sell many of these so it was sitting for a while.  The chili was a little spicy, but it tasted like it was from a can, rather than homemade.

The food here is a departure from the usual mall type of eatery (i.e. McDonald's, Pizza Hut, etc.) and the food is decent.  The prices are right, which is why this place is quite popular.  If you do happen to visit Windward Mall and find yourself at H & T Burgers, try the teri fries -- french fries covered with teriyaki sauce.  They are delicious.

H & T Burgers
Windward Mall
46-056 Kamehameha Highway
Telephone:  808.235.1311

The Mandalay

For a while now I've been walking by the old Yong Sing location in downtown Honolulu wondering if that space would ever be occupied again.  Then about 9 months ago, I noticed a bit of activity around the restaurant.  First, the entryway was cleaned -- it actually looked like someone homeless was camped out there.  A few weeks after that, I caught the doors open and it looked like the insides had been gutted.  Shortly there after, I would pass by every now and again to check out the progress.

At the end of June 2005, I visited the Mandalay's booth at the 14th Annual Taste of Honolulu.  After speaking with the owner, Linda Chan, I learned that the restaurant was planning an October opening (if I remember correctly).

Soon, October came and went, and the Mandalay still had not opened.  Then on Wednesday, January 18th, I saw a "Now Open" sign in front of the restauarant as I was walking back to the office from Great Harvest.

[insert photo here]

Interested, I walked in and got a menu.  When I got back to the office, I called the restaurant and attempted to make a reservation for the following evening, only to be told that the restaurant was going to be closed for a private function.  From what I was told by a co-worker that had lunch there that day, the restaurant was closed for an industry party. 

Since I wasn't able to enjoy dinner here on Thursday, I decided to have lunch here on Friday.  Walking up to the restaurant, I noticed a small area dedicated for take out lunches (great idea) which was set off to the side from the main dining room.

[insert photo here]

Looking over the options, I decided to try the dim sum which is noted on a sign right inside the door.  There were two options -- the "A" plate and the "B" plate. 

Since I was hungry, and because I wanted to sample as many items as possible, I decided to try the dim sum plate "B" (US$6.95).

The plate contained one of each of the following (individual photos where necessary):

Steamed sticky rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf, steamed pork dumpling, steamed BBQ pork bun, deep fried shrimp dumpling, deep fried mixed meat dumpling, mini egg tart in crispy shell & mochi with peanut and coconut.

Here is a photo of the steamed sticky rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf after it has been upwrapped.

And here is the inside of the steamed BBQ pork bun.

As a whole, this plate of dim sum wasn't very good.  The steamed BBQ pork bun was mostly bun and not enough filling.  What was there was mostly fat.  The deep fried shrimp dumpling was soggy and cold -- almost as if it were sitting on a cart for a long, long time.  The steamed pork dumpling was cold and oily.  I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth for a while.  I wish that I had ordered, or brewed, some tea to wash away the oil.  The other two fried items were really oily as well.  The mini egg tart in crispy shell?  Well, it was named incorrectly because the shell wasn't really crispy.  And the steamed sticky rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf was probably the best thing here, even though the rice was a bit "wet", it was still flavorful and stuffed full of ground chicken and dried shrimp.

After the lackluster experience with the dim sum plate, I decided to go back for something else.  This time, I decided to have something from the hot food station.  I decided on a two choice plate (US$5.95). 

All of the plate lunches are served with white rice, seafood fried rice or gon lo mein.  Since I didn't feel like eating rice, I had gon lo mein with orange beef and stir fried green beans.  The orange beef was overly tenderized and really sweet.  It didn't feel like I was eating meat.  The stir fried green beans were selected because they had just brought a fresh pan out of the kitchen.  The beans were crisp and stir fried with ground pork and dried shrimp.  I really enjoyed these and would have asked for a double order had I known the beef was going to be such a failure.  The gon lo mein, on the other hand, was dry and flavorless.  Some chilli sauce improved the taste a bit, but not enough to make this worthwhile.

After the poor showing during lunch, I am reluctant to visit the Mandalay for dinner.  I've come to two conclusions here.  One, don't order the dim sum for take out.  By the time you get back to the office, it's sure to be cold and nearly inedible.  Maybe the Mandalay should reconsider offering dim sum to take out.  Two, when visiting during lunchtime, make sure you select whatever has just been brought out.  I had a feeling that the gon lo mein and the orange beef had been sitting a while.  The stir fried green beans were a hit because they were freshly made.

Was it worth the wait?  Definitely not and it definitely wasn't worth the cost.  Will there be a next time?  It's hard to tell.  Ask me in a few weeks.

The Mandalay
1055 Alakea Street
Telephone:  808.525.8585

Fook Lam Seafood Restaurant

Several weeks ago I was in Chinatown hoping to have some Taiwanese food for lunch.  As luck would have it, it was a Monday, and K C Kitchen was closed.  I also thought about visiting Season's Ice & Eatery, but remembered that the owners of the shop were out of town for two weeks.  Since I was already in the area, my friend suggested having something to eat here.  After that first visit, I decided to come back again and try a few different things. 

Upon arriving at Fook Lam, I found the restaurant to be crowded.  Stepping inside, I left my name at the counter and was given a little slip of paper with the number 71 on it.  Below that was written the number 2 (for two guests).  After waiting for about 5 minutes, I heard over the loudspeaker "chat yap sat", "qi shi yi", "number 71" -- funny!  At least they gave me three chances to respond.

Once inside, we were seated at a table in the far corner of the restaurant.  This is the crowd at 1:30 pm.  Can you imagine how many more people are here at 11:00 am?

Once seated the carts started coming around to visit.  This one was on it's way and contained mostly fried stuff in the bottom and a number of desserts up top.  See the hungry look on the man in red's face?  And how's the girl with her mouth open.  I think she saw something she wanted.

We chose a few items off the carts and also ordered a few items that are not on the menu.  Let's start with this -- #24. honey tripe (US$1.90).

Sweet and just a little spicy, the tripe retained just enough bite to make this enjoyable.  One thing that I don't usually like about tripe, is that it's most often overdone -- too tender, with not enough texture. That was definitely not the case here.  If you like tripe, you'll definitely like this.

#9.  Chicken feet with black bean (US$1.90).

After the first bite, I couldn't really tell that the chicken feet were braised using black bean sauce.  Instead, the flavorful chicken feet seemed to have been flavored more with chilli and star anise.  Distinctive in flavor, I wish this would have been braised for just a little while longer so the chicken feet would have been just a bit more tender.

#21.  Steamed spinach & scallop dumplings (US$1.90).

Tiny bay scallops and wilted spinach were surrounded by a thin, semi-translucent rice flour skin.  Soft and tender, with just the right amount of filling, these dumplings were nearly perfect.

#33.  Beef look funn roll (US$2.75).

Thick and slippery look funn noodles were wrapped around lots of flavorful minced beef before being topped with sweet soy sauce and a healthy sprinkling of chopped green onions and cilantro.

Pan fried turnip cake with XO sauce (US$4.95).

This dish is actually not on the menu, but they will make it for you if you ask.  Mashed turnips were mixed with flour and dried shrimp before being pan fried until crispy with savory XO sauce.  Garnished with slices of cut red chillies, chopped green onions and cilantro, this was one of my favorite dishes here.  It reminded me of the chai tow kway that I had in Singapore.  All this needed was some of that sweet, dark soy sauce.

Xiao long pau (US$3.80).

Ever elusive, this dish is another that is not on the menu.  Xiao long pau, or pork dumplings with soup, are a rare find on dim sum menus here.  If you know to ask, you'll be in for a treat.  Eat them while they're hot, otherwise, the soup will be absorbed by the skins.  These were nicely filled with ground pork and well flavored with lots of ginger.  The skins could have been a little thinner though.

#43.  Fish rice soup (US$3.95).

Rice soup, or congee, is another favorite of mine, but one that I don't indulge in too often.  Normally, I will have the century egg (pei dan) with pork rice soup, but this time I decided to try something different.  Large chucks of fish were swimming in the bowl of smooth textured rice soup.  Add a little vinegar and a sprinkling of pepper and you're set.

After all that, I still had room for dessert.  I decided to have the red bean jelly (US$1.90).

Cool, refreshing and not at all sweet, this red bean jelly hit the spot.  It's not often that I indulge in dessert after having dim sum, but was so irresistable. 

The dim sum here at Fook Lam is, in many ways, just as good as the dim sum at my favorite place, Panda Cuisine.  The selection of items here is good and the dishes are thoughfully prepared, flavorful and well portioned.  In addition, the service here is better than at most dim sum places and given the quality of the food, the prices are very reasonable. 

Fook Lam Seafood Restaurant
Chinatown Cultural Plaza
100 North Beretania Street Suite 110-112
Telephone:  808.523.9168

Hale Vietnam Restaurant

In the Honolulu Advertiser's annual poll of Hawaii's top restaurants, Hale Vietnam has often been mentioned in the Southeast Asian category.  I have often wondered about this, and a couple of months ago, I had a bowl of pho here and left unimpressed.  Here are the details of that visit, and of one that was more recent.

Hale Vietnam is located on the outer fringes of what I like to call Kaimuki's "restaurant row".  Being on a side street doesn't help with visibility, but word of mouth surely must as the restaurant is always packed full of people.  As you approach the restaurant, you'll notice the distinctive round windows that glow with an otherworldly blue at night (caused by the neon signs).

As expected, I stepped inside the restaurant at 8:45 pm to find most of the tables occupied. 

After looking over the menu, I decided to start with a Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da, US$3.25).

Shortly after the coffee was delivered, the imperial rolls (cha gio, 6 pieces, US$7.95) arrived.

A filling of ground pork, carrots and taro, among other things, is wrapped in translucent rice paper before being deep fried to a golden brown.  The cha gio is served garnished with some shredded carrots, a few thin slices of cucumber, a mound of rice noodles (bun), some crisp romaine lettuce leaves and a dish of fish sauce (nuoc mam cham).  Perfectly fried, I thoroughly enjoy the roll's combination of textures and flavors.

To go along with the cha gio, I ordered the pho #1 (rare steak, cooked flank, tendon and tripe; medium bowl, US$6.75; large bowl, US$7.75).

First to arrive at the table was the plate of garnishes -- basil, beansprouts, a wedge of lime and some cut green chillies (no ngo gai).  A minute later, the bowl of pho was placed on the table in front of me.  I could tell right away that the broth wasn't hot enough to cook the herbs (it wasn't steaming), so I sent the plate of beansprouts back to the kitchen to be blanched.  After taking a sip of the broth, I realized that there wasn't much of the usual beefy flavor.  Also missing were the underlying, and subtle flavors, of anise, cinnamon and cloves.  And since the soup really wasn't all that hot, the noodles remained clumped together in the bottom of the bowl.  The worst thing, though, was the meat.  There were only four pieces of "rare" beef here, a couple "ribbons" of tripe, five chunks of tendon and couple pieces of really fatty flank steak -- in fact, the flank steak was so fatty that I didn't eat any of it.

On another occasion, I decided to order a dish with rice -- the sautéed lemongrass beef (US$9.50).

The lemongrass beef was served on a bed of steamed rice and garnished with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.  A small bowl of consommé was also served alongside the dish.  Taking a bite, I found the beef to be tough and dry with none of the flavor, or aroma, of lemongrass.  The consommé was quite salty and I left it untouched.

On many of my visits to Hale Vietnam, I have walked out of the restaurant feeling disappointed with the food.  Aside from the cha gio (which are great), the food here is generally bland and it lacks the strong, vibrant flavors that are normally associated with Vietnamese cuisine.  The portion sizes are good, but the prices are high.  So now I'm left wondering if there's any real reason to keep coming back. 

Hale Vietnam Restaurant
1140 12th Avenue
Telephone:  808.735.7581

Greek Marina

It's been a couple of months since I last had Greek food, and although I enjoy it, there aren't very many places here that do it well.  So after I had posted about my visits to The Greek Corner, a reader of this blog sent me an e-mail and asked me to visit Greek Marina.  So after a recent visit to Costco in Hawaii Kai, I decided to stop by Greek Marina for some lunch. 

Greek Marina is located in a small strip mall where you'll find a 24 Hour Fitness and a Yummy's Korean BBQ.  There may be other food places in the general vicinity, but there wasn't anything else that really stood out.  The Greek Marina offers both indoor and outdoor seating and since it was really hot out, I decided to eat in air conditioned comfort.  Since it was 1:00 pm, I thought more people would want to eat indoors, but I guess I was wrong -- I was the only one eating inside.

The white walls were trimmed with bright blue waves, and the furnishings consisted of light wood tables and chairs.  After reviewing the menu, I decided on the gyros plate (US$10.95).

When the plate arrived, I noticed that half of it was covered with salad.  On the other half of the plate, there was a huge pile of gyros and a stack of pita bread (one pita cut into 4 wedges).  The well seasoned and slightly spicy gyros was fork tender, but just a little dry.  The salad was refreshing and covered with just the slightest amount of tangy dressing.  The pitas, while warm and a little crispy around the edges, were just a little too brittle.

About two weeks after the initial visit, I decided to stop by Greek Marina again after running a few errands.  Again it was lunchtime and the restaurant was surprisingly empty.  This time, I was considering either the souvlaki or the Greek steak (if there is such a thing), but instead, I decided to go "healthier" and opted for the chicken gyros (US$10.95).

When the plate arrived, I was really shocked by the presentation.  On the plate where the gyros was last time, was a mangled mess.  The chicken was chopped and shredded, and it looked completely unappetizing.  After the first bite, I declared this a failure.  The chicken was extremely dry and flavorless.  The salad was drowning in dressing and the pita bread was cold.

While I was deciding what I was going to do, out came the side order of falafel (US$5.95) that I had ordered.

Here's a closeup of the falafel.

Garnished with lettuce and sliced tomatoes, the deep fried falafel arrived overdone.  When I tried to bite into the first one, I could have sworn my teeth cracked on the hard exterior.  The inside was moist and tender, but what little flavor was here was obscured by the bitter and burnt tasting "crust".

After the second visit, I left in utter disappointment.  The food here was inconsistently prepared, and expensive -- the quality of the food certainly did not justifying the price I paid.  And although the service was good, it isn't enough to warrant a repeat visit.

Greek Marina
Koko Marina Center
7192 Kalanianaole Highway Unit E-126
Telephone: 808.396.8441

Seasons Ice & Eatery Ltd

This is actually a Taiwanese snack shop located in the Chinatown Cultural Plaza.  Here is a sampling of what's available here.  I've actually tried almost everything on the menu and it's all pretty good.

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Several months ago, I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch at K C Kitchen. On that particular occasion, I parked in a different location and ended up walking past Seasons Ice & Eatery and that's how I discovered this place.  It's kind of funny to think about because both of these places serve Taiwanese food and they are within walking distance of each other.  The atmosphere inside each restaurant is quite different and so is the food. 

As you approach Seasons Ice & Eatery, you'll notice the food photos on the window facing the mall.  The photos do give you an idea on what's on offer here and most of it looks good...especially when I'm hungry.  When I arrived, there were only a couple of people here inside the small shop -- there are only 3 tables (or was it 4?) inside this tiny shop.

There's a small area in the front of the shop which contains a refrigerator full of cold drinks, and a small ice shaver to make some icy treats which are especially good when the weather is hot and humid.  To be honest, I have never had dessert here, only because I'm usually too full after eating all of the delicious food.

If you've been to the Taiwanese restaurants that are in the area, then you're probably familiar with the bright colored strips of paper that adorn the walls -- I've been told that this is the menu.  Now, if I was able to read the Chinese characters, then I'd probably place my order based upon what I read there.  But...

...instead, on the table is a menu covered in tiny photos with the name of the dish in English as well as a number.  You'll soon find out why this is helpful.

You see, on each table is a laminated sheet of paper and a black marker, like what's shown below.  When you're ready, you indicate which dishes you want by writing the number of servings in the little boxes next to the description of the dishes.  Now, it's much easier, in my opinion, to look for numbers rather than the names of dishes and that's why I like the numbering system.  Besides, there should be no confusion with having an incorrect order brought to the table, or an incorrect tab, right?

I often order this combo -- #17. seasoned boiled egg (US$.50) and #18. seasoned tofu square (US$2.00).

The tofu is braised before being topped with some yellow bean sauce and chopped green onions.  The tofu has an interesting flavor, one that I've become accustomed to over the last several months.  The seasoned egg is tasty, but could use a bit more flavor.  Perhaps they could braise it for a longer period of time?

Depending on how hungry I am, I will also order the #12. fried rice noodle (US$2.50).

Thin strands of glass noodles are stir fried with vegetables before being topped with a some minced pork and chopped cilantro.  Despite the low cost, this is the perfect portion size for a light lunch and the flavorful noodles taste even better when a healthy spoonful of chilli is added on top.

More frequently, I will order a bowl of the beef noodle soup or niu rou mien (US$5.50).

The piping hot soup arrives with a ton of noodles floating around in the bowl of beefy broth.  Along with the chunks of lean, tender beef, there's a lot of chopped cilantro and chopped green onions in here as well.  The soup here is almost always a little sweet, and more often, almost never spicy enough.  While "fishing" around in the bottom of the bowl, I discovered one of their "secret" ingredients -- tomatoes!

If I don't feel like having too much starch for lunch, I'll order the above mentioned seasoned tofu and this dish, #7. Meat dumpling with beef soup (US$5.50).

Eight thick-skinned and plump dumplings are found floating around in the same bowl of broth as the signature beef noodle soup.  The slightly sweet flavor of the broth pairs well with the beef and chive filling.  Stuffed until they are almost ready to explode, the dumplings are excellent.

Despite being in the vicinity of the more popular K C Kitchen, Seasons Ice & Eatery definitely holds its own.  The food here in inexpensive and tasty, and the service is great.  Now all that's left is to decide who makes the best niu rou mien.

Seasons Ice & Eatery Ltd
Chinatown Cultural Plaza
100 North Beretania Street Suite 117
Telephone: 808.538.1978

Hakkei

Originally scheduled for an August 2005 opening, permitting delays pushed the grand opening of Hakkei out by 5 months.  I am happy to report that after 5 months of waiting, Hakkei is now open -- the first meal was served on Sunday evening.  Let's just say it was well worth the wait.  I will definitely be back!

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Located on Young Street, near the old main police station, Hakkei occupies the space formerly occupied by Restaurant Kariyushi and more recently by Okinawan restaurant, Hatsune-ya.  Unless you are looking for it, Hakkei will probably be quite difficult to find as it's not really visible from the street.

According to the owner, whom I chatted with briefly, the original Hakkei is located in Okayama, Japan and is actually an onsen ryokan (a hot spring inn).

When I arrived, with a friend in tow, we found the restaurant to be packed full of people.  It's a good thing I decided to make reservations.  Upon providing my name to the gentleman at the door, he quickly led me to the table that was waiting for our arrival.

Since we had reviewed the menu prior to coming here, we already knew what we would be ordering, the "A Course" dinner menu (US$35.00 per person).  Within minutes, the appetizer "set" arrived at our table.

The "set" consisted of three items set on a black lacquer tray.  The dishes were beautiful to look at and even more of a pleasure to eat.  I do not remember the names of these dishes, but I will do my best to provide you with a description.

This first appetizer dish was some boiled vegetables that had been mixed with some fresh tofu (I believe).  The tender vegetables tasted wonderfully when combined with the cheese-like texture of the tofu.

This next appetizer reminded me of chawan mushi.  It was thick and custard-like, as well as smooth and ultra-creamy. 

And finally, some thin strips of gobo (burdock root) and carrots.

Once we had finished our appetizers, we were asked to choose the items for our oden.  On the menu, two kinds per person were included with the dinner set.  Luckily, we were asked to select three choices each.  If you do not get a set dinner, the oden selections are available individually.  Here is the list of oden items including the prices -- the items in bold are the ones we selected:

US$2.20 per piece:
konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly), firm tofu, atsuage (deep fried tofu), chikuwa (cooked fish paste), egg, daikon (Japanese radish) and potato.

US$3.20 per piece:
hirosu (deep fried tofu paste with clams, carrot, mushrooms and gobo), toridango (chicken dumplings), ebidango (shrimp dumplings), ikadango (squid dumplings), goboten (fish paste and gobo deep fried), nankin chiizu rooru kyabetsu (simmered pumpkin with cheese rolled in cabbage) and gyuusuji (beef tendon).

Combined in a beautiful pot with some dashi and vegetables (Chinese cabbage and mizuna), the oden was simmered at the table atop a portable gas burner.  As the dish cooked, the pleasant aroma of the dashi filled the air.  After what seemed like an eternity, it was ready to be eaten.  In no time flat, the contents of the pot were quickly consumed.  Each item was fresh, well prepared and so delicious.  I especially enjoyed the variety of items that we had selected.  Next time, though, I think I'll add on a few items to make this a part of the meal a bit more filling.

To finish off the broth, I normally will order rice to create zosui.  Tonight, I decided that I would sample the udon.  The udon noodles arrived on a plate and I hurriedly pushed them into the simmering broth.  After a couple of minutes, I switched off the burner and allowed them to finish cooking.  The noodles were slippery and quite tender (instead of chewy).  Were they freshly made in house?  I'll have to ask the next time I'm there.

After we had polished off the pot of udon and broth, the table was cleared and the tsukuri (chef's special appetizer of the day) was brought to the table.  The plate was topped with a single leaf of lettuce, a mound of cubed chutoro (fatty tuna) and thin slivers of red onion, daikon, carrots, cucumber, red and yellow bell peppers and some kizami nori.  The fish was definitely fresh and all of the flavors here blended wonderfully.

Finally, he last of the dishes, the nimono (or stewed vegetable), had arrived along with some tsukemono and a bowl of rice.

On the left is the tsukemono -- a few slices of kyuuri no nukazuke (salted cucumber) and some slivers of takuwan (pickled radish).  On the right, is a bowl filled with tender simmered vegetables -- a few pieces each of zucchini, carrots and eggplant.  On top is a ball of pureed kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) that has been covered in something (the name of this eludes me as I write this).

And finally, a bowl of okoge rice.  According to the waitress that delivered the bowls of rice to the table, we were quite fortunate to be able to eat this, and I wholeheartedly agree.  You see, I love okoge rice -- you know, the browned rice that you'll find at the bottom of the pot?  The flavor of the slightly burned bits of rice, combined with the subtle crunchiness and the overall stickiness of the rice makes this enjoyable.

After finishing the bowl of rice, a small flower shaped dish was brought to the table.  Inside, were three thin slices of chewy mochi, a piece of tart pineapple, and a dollop of sweetened azuki beans.  A refreshing end to a relaxing meal.

Hakkei
1436 Young Street Suite 103
Telephone: 808.944.6688

Sekiya's Restaurant & Delicatessen

Sorry, but I will be working late for the next couple of nights so I won't be able to update this post until Thursday or Friday.  But rather than leave you all hanging (especially you Clinton and Kirk)...ENJOY!

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Located across from Kaimuki High School, Sekiya's has been serving local-style homecooked favorites for almost 50 years.  Starting in 1957, generations of locals have grown up eating the food served here, and everytime I visit, I'm reminded of some of my favorite home cooked dishes -- saimin, pork tofu, beef tomato and butterfish nitsuke. 

As you enter the restaurant, the first thing you'll notice is the okazuya counter.  During the day, the warmers are filled with many different dishes that are combined to create your very own "mixed" bento box (plate lunch).  Since I almost always visit at night, this area is usually closed.

Inside, there are a number of booths with can accomodate 3 or 4 dozen people.  Near the "wall of glass" at the far end of the room are a few tables that will accomodate larger parties, and right outside, is a Japanese garden.

The last time I was here, I dined with a friend who lives nearby.  For some reason, my friend had never been here and wondered how the food was.  After we looked over the menu, and place our orders, we sat and waited for the food to arrive.  First to be delivered was a pot of tea, a bowl of rice, a dish of tsukemono and a bowl of miso soup.

When eating a local Japanese restaurants, these are the things that will most accompany your meal.  The miso soup contained cubes of tofu and lots of chopped green onions.  The tsukemono (Japanese pickles) served here consists of salted Chinese cabbage.

Soon after, the hash tempura (6 pieces, US$4.50) arrived at the table, fresh out of the fryer.

Corned beef is mixed with potatoes and various seasonings before being rolled into balls, covered in batter and deep fried.  Piping hot, I took the first bite.  The first thing I tasted were the creamy, slightly sweet potatoes inside.  It was only then that I noticed the lack of actual corned beef.  It was quite surprising that these weren't as good as they usually are.

This was my friend's choice, the oyako donburi (US$7.95).

Slices of onion are cooked with pieces of dark meat chicken in some dashi before the egg is added.  The egg left a little "runny" and is served in a bowl over hot rice to create the donburi.  Here the rendition is pretty straightforward, but I believe they used just a little too much sauce.

Tonight, I decided to sample the nitsuke butterfish (US$13.25, with tofu add US$1.00).

Cubes of tofu were combined with pieces of butterfish in a classic nitsuke "sauce" (flavored with shoyu and mirin among other things).  The "sauce" was well seasoned, and neither too sweet nor too salty for my tastes.  The pieces of butterfish had a very "fishy" aroma and consisted of many small pieces full of bones.  This dish would have been much better had it been prepared using a single butterfish "steak" rather than chopped up, leftover pieces of butterfish.

In my opinion, over the years, the quality of the food at Sekiya's has slipped as the prices have increased.  It has often left me wondering if the changes in ownership has been the cause of this.  Granted, there are quite a number of dishes that remain favorites, but for a few others, there are many other places that serve food that tastes just as good, or better, and are a lot more reasonably priced.

Sekiya's Restaurant & Delicatessen
2746 Kaimuki Avenue
Telephone: 808.732.1656

Wahoo's Fish Taco

Here in Hawaii it seems as though quite a number of Mexican food restaurants have been opening up lately.  Some have met with great success, while others, can be considered mediocre.  It was with great interest that I watched the corner of Ward and Auahi come alive with the construction of a new building that was completed in about 6 months time.  Several weeks ago, tenants finally started to move in.  First, of course, it was a combination Jamba Juice and Starbucks.  Shortly thereafter, came this place, Wahoo's.

Doing a quick search on the internet, I found that this was part of a chain of restaurants that got their start in California more than a decade ago.  Was this going to be another Del Taco, or even worse, a Taco Bell?

When I arrived on a recent weekday, I found myself confronted with a sign upon entering:

"10 minute wait from this point."

Were they trying to tell me that it was really busy and I had to wait, or were they trying to scare me away.  After looking over the menu, which was rather extensive, I paid the cashier and took my number (#29) to the table.

As you can see from this photo here, there was just enough of a crowd for me to believe that I had made the right choice by coming here.  There were quite a number of tables inside, and there were a few that were unoccupied.

After waiting for a little less than the anticpated 10 minutes, my #3 combo, Banzai burrito combination platter (US$9.75) was delivered to my table.

Stuffed with the filling of your choice (I chose blackened fish), Ahee rice, black beans, and sauteed teriyaki veggies (!), this combination sounded much worse than it ended up being.  The combination of the veggies, chunks of fish, rice and black beans, made this an interesting flavor combination. 

Here, take a closer look.

On the one hand, the teriyaki veggies were a bit sweet and mildly salty, while the beans lent a slightly "smoky" flavor to the burrito. The burrito was served on a plate with more Ahee rice and your choice of white or black beans.  Since this was my first time here, I asked for a little of each and have to say that I enjoyed the black beans more.  Next time, though, I'll just order the burrito and skip the rice and beans.  I honestly don't think that I need more carbohydrates in my daily diet.

On a subsequent visit, I decided to start with the chips 'n salsa (US$1.50).

For $1.50, you get a small basket of stale chips and some OK tasting salsa.  This wasn't anything special as the salsa itself wasn't too spicy, and the tomatoes lacked the necessary sweetness.

To go along with the chips and salsa, I decided on the #2 combo, two tacos combination platter (US$7.75).

According to the menu, this is the "bestseller".  It comes with your choice of two tacos (what I had) or two enchiladas, with the filling of your choice (I had one carne asada taco and one flame-broiled chicken taco) and a side of rice and beans (I chose black beans).  It was also served with more of that salsa.

A close up of the carne asada taco.

The taco itself with filled with a few cubes of beef that were a bit tough and quite dry.  There was a light sprinkling of cheese and to top it all off, was a huge handful of lettuce.  The taco was pretty much flavorless even with the addition of some hot sauce and all the salsa that was spooned on top. 

The flame broiled chicken taco, though, fared a bit better.  Here's a close up.

Well-seasoned white meat chicken chunks were flame-broiled before being stuffed inside a flour tortilla.  And although, the chicken was a bit dry, at least it had a lot of flavor.  I added a bit of hot sauce to give it some kick and squeezed a bit of lime over it all to give it some tanginess.

When I first walked into Wahoo's, I actually thought it was going to be an upscale taco shop.  Instead, what I walked into was all looks and not enough substance.  Combine the wait time, the mediocre food, and the premium prices and what's left is a place that I probably won't be revisiting any time soon.  In fact, I would much rather pay a little less and get a little more at Maria Bonita's or even Diego's. 

Wahoo's Fish Taco Hawaii
Ward Gateway Center
940 Auahi Street
Telephone:  808.591.1646

Ichi-Ryu Noodle House

If you'll believe me, I'll tell you that it's been a little cooler than normal around here lately. Because of this, I've been eating lots of soups and soupy noodle dishes -- saimin, won ton noodle, pho and ramen.  About a week or so ago, I went out for a bowl of noodles at Ichi-Ryu.

Located about 5 minutes drive from my apartment, Ichi-Ryu is located on the corner of South King and Pensacola right across the street from McKinley High School and down the block from Bac Nam.  Inside, a small television sits atop a refrigerator and a set of curtains separates the dining area from the kitchen.  And most times, when I am driving by this place, I peer inside and find that all of the 14 seats around the oddly shaped counter are occupied.

On the night I was here it wasn't too bad.  There was a couple to my left, enjoying a couple of bowls of noodles, and on my right, this man and his son sharing split a bowl between the two of them.

After looking over the menu and placing my order, I was given a small dish of kim chee.  By the way, am I the only one who noticed that quite a few ramen shops are run by Koreans?  I enjoy this because I like to add the kim chee to the ramen.

About 5 minutes later, my piping hot bowl of won ton ramen (US$5.50) was set down on the counter.

A half dozen, thick-skinned won ton floated in a shoyu based soup.  The soup had just a little too much shoyu in it, which made it too salty.  The won ton had just a small amount of ground pork filling, but there was quite a bit of ginger mixed in and that made the won tons quite enjoyable.  To round out the garnishes was a slice of kamaboko (fish cake), chopped green onions, lots of thin stips of nori and a thick slice of lean, Japanese-style chashu.

To go along with my ramen, I ordered the gyoza set (4 pieces, US$1.50).

Cooked using the traditional steam-frying method, the gyoza had a tender skin and just the right amount of ground pork filling.  Again, like the won ton, the homemade gyoza was seasoned with a lot of ginger which gave them a wonderfully sweet-spicy flavor.

On a previous visit here, I had the chicken katsu donburi (US$6.00).

The bowl that this was served in was a lot smaller than the bowl the ramen came in, but I have to say that this was the perfect portion size.  I was satisfied, but not stuffed.  There were a few pieces of chicken katsu mixed in with egg, then topped with a slice of kamaboko and a small pile of benishoga (red pickled ginger).  I found that there was a bit too much sauce on this and I also felt that it could have been cooked a little longer.  The rice ended up being really wet -- almost like sauce was poured over it.

A cozy neighborhood noodle shop that serves decent food with prices to match -- who could ask for anything more?  In addition to all of the above, the service is better than average and the food was delivered piping hot in just about 5 minutes.  I guess that's why this place is crowded everytime I pass by.  I'm just hoping that the next time I'm here, I can snag a space at the counter without having to wait.

Ichi-Ryu Noodle House
1103 South King Street
Telephone:  808.591.8033

Genki Sushi

I'm not really one to visit "robot" sushi places as I think I'm a little old fashioned.  You see, I like to be able to interact with the guys behind the sushi counter -- talk to them about what's fresh, and most of all, find out what they enjoy.  This was my first ever visit to Genki Sushi, and let's just say that it might not be my last.

A couple of weeks ago, after spending a few hours at the mall, I was asked if I was hungry.  When I said yes, my friends asked if I had ever been to Genki Sushi.  Well, once they discovered that I had never eaten there, they told me that I didn't know what I was missing.

When we arrived, it was about 8:15 pm, and there were a few people there.  It was strange to see the plates of sushi going round the room on a little conveyor belt. 

What I didn't know at the time was that you could actually "order" sushi off the menu.  There were quite a number of choices available here -- much like you'd find in any sushi bar, except at 1/3 to 1/2 the price!  The prices start at US$1.35 for a "gold" plate, US$1.90 for a green one, US$2.45 for a red one, US$3.60 for a silver plate, and the most expensive plates, the "black" ones, are US$4.40.  This sort of tiered pricing system can either work for you or against you.  As you can see in the picture below, the items are pictured in the corresponding "plate" section of the menu so you know what to look out for on the conveyor belt.

Tobikko (green, US$1.90).

Vegetable croquette (gold, US$1.35).

Inari (gold, US$1.35).

Ahi (tuna; red, US$2.45).

Chicken karaage (red, US$2.45).

Shishamo (river smelt; gold, US$1.35)

Ebi (shrimp; green, US$1.90).

Dragon roll (silver, US$3.60).

The photos above represented a small sample of what we actually ate.  As you can see below, we enjoyed a few more dishes that were not photographed.

While the sushi here may not be of the best quality, the ingredients seemed fresh and some of the items sampled were just as good as any that I've had elsewhere -- the chicken karaage and the vegetable croquette come to mind.  The sushi is worth the price and now that I know about ordering from the menu, I'll be sure to visit again.

Genki Sushi
885 Kapahulu Avenue
Telephone:  808.735.7700

Zaney's Restaurant

Located in the space previously occupied by New Century Chinese Restaurant, and the extremely short lived Welcome Inn Café, Zaney's is a somewhat unique player amongst the Asian food establishments that one would normally find in the area.  Situated on the ground floor of the Smith-Beretania Apartment building, Zaney's is far enough away from the heart of the business district to make a visit here a planned event.

Inside, the restaurant spacious and furnished simply with large number of tables and chairs.  The menu is located right above the entrance to the kitchen, and each day is marked with the dozen or so items that are on offer for that day.

On one of my many visits here, I ordered the mini garlic chicken with brown rice and tossed salad (US$4.00; regular US$5.75).

To prepare the garlic chicken, pieces of boneless chicken thighs are battered and deep fried until they are golden brown and crunchy.  They are then tossed in a garlic-shoyu sauce which is sweet, salty and just a little spicy.  Though they were well coated with sauce, the pieces of chicken still had quite a bit of crunch to them.

On other ocassions, I've also ordered the hamburger steak (regular US$5.75; mini US$4.00).  The regular plate comes with two scoops rice and one scoop macaroni salad.

To be quite honest, this really isn't like local style hamburger steak at all.  In fact, it reminds me more of the salisbury steak that you'd find in the freezer section of you local grocery store -- you know, like those in the Hungry Man type of TV dinners.

On other ocassions, I've had the beef stew and the beef curry, both of which had lots of beef, tender carrots and potatoes, and thick gravy.  The only thing that made those dishes less than stellar was the amount of flour/cornstarch used as a thickening agent.

The garlic chicken is the stand out here at Zaney's.  In my opinion, it's probably some of the best garlic chicken around.  The other dishes here are a bit hit and miss, but aren't really too bad -- especially if you take the portion size and price into consideration.  Give it a try, you're bound to find something there to like.

Zaney's Restaurant
1170 Nuuanu Avenue Suite 102
Telephone:  808.523.3380

Eastern Paradise Restaurant

I don't often eat at "new" Chinese restaurants, preferring to stick to my tried and true favorites.  Tonight, I didn't even intend to eat Chinese food, but was coaxed into it by a friend, when the Italian place that I wanted to eat at was already closed. 

Several months ago, I visited a Northern Chinese restaurant called The Mandarin.  Since I wasn't too impressed with the meal that I had there, I actually refrained from visiting any Chinese restaurant that identified itself as being Northern Chinese.  I did receive a few recommendations for this place, Eastern Paradise, after that review and although I was reluctant to eat here, I was also quite curious.

Near the corner of South King Street and Keeaumoku Street, Eastern Paradise is located at a very busy intersection.  I often drive by this place and have noticed, on more than one occasion, that the restaurant consistently drew a nice sized crowd.  When we pulled up to the restaurant for dinner, we found the place more than two-thirds full at 8:15 pm.

After looking over the menu without a clue as to what to order, I asked the waitress for a bit of direction.  She was quite helpful in explaining some of the dishes and even threw in a recommendation.  Once my order was placed, I sat back and waited.  A couple minutes later, she delivered this plate of kim chee.

Slightly sweet, a bit spicy, and quite tangy (?), this kim chee could have been served at a number of Korean restaurants around the city. 

The first dish to arrive at the table was this one, the hot and spicy garlic chicken (US$9.95).

Boneless pieces of chicken were deep fried until lightly browned.  Prior to serving they were tossed in a wok with some garlic, crushed chillies and some chopped green onions before being served.  The chicken arrived at the table steaming hot, and slightly crisp.  While the slightly sweet flavor of the garlic was balanced by the gentle heat of the crushed chillies, I was expecting a lot more heat, and a little more flavor.

The next dish to be brought to the table, was a vegetable dish that was recommended by the waitress, the Northern style vegetables deluxe (US$8.95).

The vegetables included were mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, Chinese peas and bamboo shoots.  Stir fried with a little too much oil, this dish was well prepared and flavorful, with the vegetables maintaining their bright, fresh texture. 

The final dish was the Mongolian beef (US$9.95).

Served on a bed of fried rice noodles, thin slices of tender beef were supposed to be sautéed with green onions and red peppers.  And although there were quite a few green onions here, I didn't see any red peppers in this dish, so perhaps they ran out of them.  The beef was quite lean and sweet, and not the least bit spicy.  This dish was good, but could have been much better had it been spiced up a bit.

As you can see by the photo below, none of the dishes were really wasn't spicy enough for me.  Chilli, anyone?

Even though the food here wasn't what I expected taste wise, I thought the dishes were quite well prepared.  They could have used a little more flavor and spiciness, but that wouldn't stop me from trying more of the dishes here.  The service here was excellent.  Even though the restaurant was busy, and it was nearing closing time, the wait staff was helpful and didn't try to rush us into finishing our dinners.

Can anyone recommend dishes for my next visit?

Eastern Paradise Restaurant
1403 South King Street
Telephone:  808.941.5858

Poke Stop

I have to mention before going on with this review that Elmer Guzman and his wife, certainly are personable people.  When I walked into the shop, a several weeks ago, Elmer greeted me and asked me if it was my first time there.  When I said that it was, he proceeded to walk me through the layout of the store, explain the menu board, and the lists of specials.  I found this quite impressive.

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Located in the Waipahu Town Center, Poke Stop has been open for about five months now and has been on my "to visit" list since then.  Recommended by Gail and Fran over at Hawaii Diner, and Jupiter over at Nattokun, it was just a matter of time before I made my way to this gourmet plate lunch and seafood shop.

Upon entering the shop, I was greeted by owner, Elmer Guzman.  He asked if I had ever been to the shop before, to which I responded, "No."  He was quick to point out the fresh fish and seafood, on the right side of the shop.

Slightly to the left of the door way was the poke selection.  And in between, were some cold items (sorry no photo).

As I looked around the tiny shop, the locations of the various menus were pointed out.  The regular menu was posted along the left wall, while the daily specials were posted on a white board above the kitchen's stainless steel range.

Here was the specials board on the day I visited.

I was so tempted to order the fried garlic blue crabs, but decided to have the Poke Stop surf and turf with Puna's potato salad (US$9.00) instead.

One scoop of white rice, one scoop of Puna's potato salad, a piece of kalbi and three huge shrimp (prawns) were staring at me in the face when I opened up the styrofoam container.  Chunks of red potato were mixed with some mayonaisse and secret seasonings to make this potato salad an excellent alternative to a plate lunch's usual macaroni salad.  The kalbi was tender, with a sweet shoyu based marinade.

And the shrimp?  Take a look for yourself...

Pan fried and well seasoned, this was so much better than your average peel-and-eat shrimp.  It was more like "peel-eat-suck-the-shells-and-want-more" kind of shrimp.  I don't know what he used in the marinade, but I can tell you that after eating these shrimp, I won't even give Giovanni's scampi another thought.

A friend who came along for the ride (and for lunch), had the Shoreline Chef bento with tossed greens (US$11.00)

This "bento" contained tossed greens, one scoop rice, Casian (Cajun-Asian) island fish, furikake salmon and two pieces of that tasty garlic shrimp.  I didn't get to taste any of this, even though I paid for it, but I was told that everything was expertly prepared.

When asked about the food here, yeah, I could say it was a little pricy.  I could also say that the portions were a little small too.  In the end, only taste matters, right?  Most often times, I feel you get what you pay for.  In this instance, what I paid for was friendly interaction with a chef who knows what it takes to make people happily satisfied, a tasty satisfying meal that made me feel full (not stuffed) and a desire to visit again...hopefully it will be soon.

Poke Stop
Waipahu Town Center
94-050 Farrington Highway Space E-4
Telephone:  808.676.8100

XO Seafood Restaurant

This review is a "first taste".  XO Seafood Restaurant only recently opened and when I stopped by with a friend, the dish that I had wanted to try, was already sold out.  The restaurant is clean and the interior is unlike most Chinese restaurants that you're likely to encounter here. 

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Located at the former Dunkin' Donuts site across from the Hawaii Convention Center, XO Seafood Restaurant opened quietly within the last couple of weeks.  I stumbled upon this place, by accident, while driving down Kapiolani Boulevard on the way home from shopping at Ala Moana.  I called a friend, who quickly came down to meet me for dinner.

Since it was already 9:00 pm, I wasn't surprised to find very few diners in the back of the restaurant where I was seated.  There was a nice sized crowd up front though, and by the time my friend arrived, I had looked over the menu and decided on a dish to order.  Sadly, when I made an attempt to order one of the house specialties, the Mongolian lamb ribs, I was told that they were already sold out for the day.

Not one to give up, I looked over the menu a while longer before making my selections.  The first dish to arrive, about 15 minutes later, was the crispy sweet and sour fish fillet (US$8.00).

Pieces of fish were battered and deep fried until golden brown.  They were served on a plate that had been coated with sweet sour sauce.  Taking the first bite, I discovered that the pieces of fish weren't crunchy at all, even though they were still extremely hot.  The sauce was thick, gooey and extra sweet with almost no sourness to be found.

When we were three quarters of the way done with the fish, the next dish arrived at the table -- Chinese broccoli stir fry with crispy fish chips (US$8.00).

Now when I saw this on the menu, I thought it sounded interesting.  I was more curious about the crispy fish chips than anything else.  When the plate had finally made it to the table, I discovered a mix of broccoli AND Chinese broccoli (gai lan).  When I questioned the server, he told me that they didn't have enough Chinese broccoli to provide me with a full serving.  After eating a few of the "woody" stems of Chinese broccoli, I happened upon a few "burnt" tasting crispy fish chips, which were no more than flattened pieces of dried fish that had been fried.

And finally, the last dish that we ordered was the three flavor chicken casserole (US$9.00).

Arriving just as were finishing the two previous dishes, this dish arrived at the table in a small pot. We were served the equivalent of approximately 1/2 a small chicken  and there were bones here that had been crushed to tiny pieces, making this dish a challenge for us to eat.  Flavored with soy sauce, whole cloves of garlic and lots of fresh basil, I throughly enjoyed the flavors of this dish, even though I found it salty.

Even though there were lots of employees around the restaurant, the service was quite slow.  Food took a long time to come out from the kitchen, and water was refilled only once during the hour we spent there.  The food seemed a bit average overall -- some of it was overcooked, some of it was undercooked, and some of it was over seasoned.  All in all, this time around, I was slightly disappointed. 

XO Seafood Restaurant
1718 Kapiolani Boulevard
Telephone:  808.942.2020

Pae Thai Restaurant

About ten years ago, I ate at a Thai restaurant that was in the same location that is now occupied by Pae Thai.  I can't recall if the restaurant was actually called Pae Thai then, but I do know that the food was decent and worth a return visit.  Since this place is right near my apartment, I frequently passed by the restaurant without actually stopping to eat there. But one evening, not too long ago, I decided to satisfy my curiosity and stopped in for dinner with a friend.

Upon entering the dimly lit restaurant, the first thing I noticed were the colorful paintings on the wall that were ringed with rope lights.  Below the painting on the left hand side of the photo is a small waterfall and pond!  The restaurant was spacious and clean and just barely occupied at about 9:00 pm (yes, it was late).

After looking over the menu, I decided to start with the combination appetizer plate (US$11.95). 

This appetizer sampler included 3 spring rolls, 3 fish cakes and mountain of mee krob in the middle.  The spring rolls, which were stuffed with chicken, vermicelli, mushrooms and other vegetables, were hot and crunchy when they arrived.  Served with a side of sweet/sour dipping sauce, I enjoyed these because they were well drained and mostly oil free.  The mee krob, which is a crispy fried rice noodle, was supposed to have been stir fried with garlic, green onions, tofu, chicken and bean sprouts.  Instead, it arrived doused in way too much of the overly sweet chilli sauce rendering the noodles a bit soggy and with just a few  bean sprouts to be found.  And finally, we arrive at the tod mun pla, or fish cakes.  Normally, these fish cakes are seasoned with kaffir lime leaves and are served with a cucumber relish.  The small, rubbery fish cakes were lacking any of the kaffir lime leaves' fragrance and the cucumber relish was nowhere to be found.

After the slight disappointment with the appetizers, I was hoping to fare a little better with the Pae Thai ong choi salad (US$10.95).

Described on the menu as a "signature selection", I was hoping that this dish would prove to be a worthy selection.  When it arrived at the table, I was a little surprised to see the dish "garnished" with four deep fried ong choi leaves.

Have a closer look. 

This dish was a combination of seafood (squid and shrimp) and chicken that had been stir fried with lemongrass, red onions, tamarind juice and cashew nuts.  There were some cut red chillies, some chopped green onions and some chopped cilantro here as well.  After taking the first bite, I found the dish similar in texture to a favorite of mine -- larb.  The combination of flavors was interesting and familiar, yet different and well balanced, making this the most enjoyable dish of the evening.

The last dish to arrive at the table is one that I usually order at any Thai restaurant that I visit -- green curry with beef (US$8.50).

When the dish of curry was placed on the table, I found it odd that I couldn't detect any of the usual fragrance that is so common with green curry.  The curry was thick, and full of beef and eggplant.  There was just the slightest hint of coconut milk here and there was a small scattering of basil leaves throughout the dish.  The curry lacked the depth normally found in most curries and it certainly lacked the subtle flavors that make this one of my favorites.

The food here at Pae Thai is good in some instances and average in others.  The service here was good, and the food arrived quickly at the table.  The prices are in line with what you'd pay at a similar restaurant and I probably would come here again, if only for the ong choi salad.  There were a few other items on the menu that I was curious to try, and the next time I'm here, I'm going to have to remember to choose my dishes wisely. 

Pae Thai Restaurant
1246 South King Street
Telephone:  808.596.8106

Bangkok Chef

Housed in what looks to be a converted garage, Bangkok Chef, is a spot that is unknown to many.  It's located on Nuuanu Avenue, in a row of shops right alongside a small strip mall.  Parking is a bit of a problem here, especially since you're parking in three tightly compacted spaces on the section of real estate that's known as a sidewalk. 

Tipped off by a co-worker about 6-months ago, I finally had the chance to visit Bangkok Chef for myself.  When I pulled up to the shop, it seemed to me like serving Thai food was not part of the original plan as evidenced by the sign announcing that this was the Nuuanu Open Market.

Once inside, on the left side of the shop, you'll find a few produce items, as well as a some spice mixes and canned goods, and a refrigerated case filled with beverages and dairy items.  At the far end of the shop, you'll notice the counter where the orders for the food are taken and payment is made.

When I stopped by on a recent weekend, there were a number of customers inside the cool airy space enjoying their mid-afternoon meals.  After looking over the menu, and learning that they were sold out of sticky rice, I decided to order the pad thai (US$4.75).

According to the menu, the pad thai noodles were stir fried with a house special sauce and contained egg, chicken and tofu.  Once the frying was done, the dish was topped with a handful of bean sprouts, some sections of green onion and a light dusting of crushed peanuts.  The noodles were quite mildly flavored, which made them refreshing to eat.  The texture of the noodles was different too, they were chewy rather than "tender" -- almost cooked al dente if you will.

For dessert, I had the tapioca pudding (US$1.25).

Served warm, tender tapioca pearls were swimming in lots of coconut milk that had been sweetened with palm sugar.  I found this dessert to be just a little too sweet for me, but it was perfectly portioned.  Maybe I should have enjoyed this with some coffee.

On a subsequent visit, I had intended to try the green curry, but unfortunately, they were again sold out of sticky rice.  Instead, I decided to try the basil chicken with jasmine rice (US$4.75).

Tender slices of chicken were stir fried with fresh basil, bamboo shoots and cut red chillies, then seasoned with oyster sauce.  Served in a styrofoam container with half a plateful of jasmine rice, made this one huge meal.  And while I found this dish to be thoughtfully prepared, I think they could either cut down on the fish sauce, or the oyster sauce -- it was much too salty for me.

Since I had the tapioca last time, I decided to try the one remaining dessert item on the menu, the gluay buad chee (US$1.50).

Served warm, this dessert consisted of apple-banana chunks simmered in coconut milk sweetened with palm sugar.  The bananas had remained firm and had just enough bite to them for me to enjoy this.  Unlike the tapioca dessert, the sweetened coconut milk helped to balance out the flavors of the tart bananas.

Bangkok Chef seems to be quite a popular weekend lunch spot.  On both occasions, when I visited at lunchtime, there seemed to be a steady stream of customers flowing in and out of the restaurant.  With great service, great prices and decent food, who wouldn't want to eat here.

Bangkok Chef
1626 Nuuanu Avenue
Telephone:  808.585.8839

Maria Bonita's Authentic Mexican Food

Lunchtime dining options in downtown Honolulu rarely rise above the fast food joints, or the usual Asian fare that's found in Chinatowns across the country.  There are a few power lunch spots, Indigo and Che Pasta come to mind, and a few Italian places to be found, but for the most part, the options, though great, are quite limited.  When Maria Bonita's opened several months ago, I was happy, but also quite skeptical.  What in the world is a Mexican restaurant doing here?

The sign announcing the shop declares this to be authentic Mexican food and the gorgeous photos of the dishes lining the windows in front, makes sure that your mouth starts watering before you find your way inside.

The inside of the restaurant is spacious, with a few booths available for customers who want to eat in.  There is no lighting or air conditioning inside, but the place is clean and has a homey feel.  When I arrived for a very late lunch (3:00 pm), there was no one here.  Lucky me!

After looking over the menu, 13 regular menu items and a couple of specials, I decided to order the #6 -- taco salad plate (US$7.00; ala carte US$5.00).  The taco salad, as well as most of the other menu items, comes with your choice of meat -- shredded chicken, carnitas pork, shredded beef, asada beef (steak), or ground beef -- or veggies (grilled green and red peppers, onions, tomatoes and zucchini).  On this particular occasion, I chose the shredded beef.

A crisp fried flour tortilla was lined with beans and shredded beef, then topped with lettuce, tomato, onions, and cheese.  It was further garnished with some chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream and served on a plate with some rice and refried beans.  How does this look?

The crunchy taco shell, crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes proved to be the perfect compliment to the shredded beef.  Fork tender and well seasoned, the shredded beef used here were more like the chunks of beef found in beef stew.  The refried beans and fluffy rice added just the right touch to round out the meal.

On a subsequent visit, I decided to have the #1 -- tacos (2) plate (US$7.00; ala carte US$5.00).  Again, I chose the shredded beef.

This time I was smart.  I actually snapped a photo of the shredded beef that's used in all the dishes.  Have a look at the chunks of beef that were in this taco.

On my most recent visit, just a couple of days ago, I didn't have time to eat in, so I decided to bring lunch back to the office.  This time, I had the #8 -- burrito plate (US$7.50; ala carte US$5.50).  I was leaning towards the carne asada, but instead, had the shredded beef.  What is it with me?  I guess I'm just a creature of habit. 

The flour tortilla wrapped burrito is filled with rice, beans, and shredded beef.  In addition, there is just a sprinkling of lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro and cheese.

The flavors of these dishes are similar, with the dishes only being different in their presentation.  The food here is excellent and the service is quick.  On the day that I ordered my food to go, it took all of 5 minutes for me to order, settle the bill, and collect my food.  Even though the prices may seem a bit high, they are in line with what you'd expect to pay at other Mexican eateries around town.

Maria Bonita's
15 North Hotel Street
Telephone:  808.536.6185

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

Cho Dang Restaurant

One evening a couple weeks ago, I was driving around town trying to find a place to have dinner.  By some stroke of luck, I came upon Cho Dang Restaurant.  I would have to say that it's pretty new since I haven't seen it on my previous visits to either Kaffee Imperial or The Mandarin. 

Stepping into the brightly lit shop, I notice that it's small and cramped.  There are only six tables inside with the two of them being occupied -- one by a group of Korean women and the other, by a solitary diner (like myself).

After I browsing the menu, I made my selection and waited for the food to being arriving.  Like with any other Korean restaurant in town, what arrives first are the small dishes of ban chan.  Here, there were six dishes presented, in contrast to the usual 8 to 10 dishes that are commonly served at most other places.

Bordering on the sweet, savory side of the spectrum were the slices of marinated lotus root and the thickly sliced potatoes.  On the spicy side, there was only the dish of Chinese cabbage kim chee.  The other dishes were standard fare -- mung bean sprouts, seaweed and chap chae.

As I started to eat my way through the ban chan, the beef soon dubu (US$6.24) was brought to the table.

Arriving at the table hot and bubbly, the small pot was filled with lots of tofu and beefy, spicy broth.  The soon dubu was topped with just a small sprinkling of chopped green onions, and again, I have yet to see the raw egg that customarily accompanies this dish.  Althought there was a lot of tofu in this dish, most of it was "firmer" than I was used to.

To go along with my soon dubu, I decided to have the fried rice with kimchee & beef (US$6.99).

A mound of kim chee fried rice was topped with a fried egg that had been decorated with a thin drizzling of ketchup.  Here, have a closer look at the fried rice.

The rice used was a bit too "fresh" (if that's the word I want to use) and caused the rice to be a little too "tender".  The kim chee gave the rice the necessary spicy-sourness and added some crunch as well.

On top of all that, I decided to add an order of meat jun (US$5.99).

When the plate arrived, I was a little shocked.  There was so much meat jun here (three pieces) that I knew I wouldn't be able to come close to finishing it all. 

To prepare this dish, thinly sliced beef is first marinated in a sweet soy-based sauce, then it's dipped in egg and pan fried.  Ideally, the layer of egg should be thin and slightly "crispy" -- there should also be a slight separation between the egg and the beef.  While there was a lot of food here on the plate, I found the meat jun to be just a little too sweet for my tastes, but enjoyable nonetheless.

With large portions, great prices and tasty food, this is another restaurant that will be added to my "visit frequently" rotation.  Though the food wasn't prepared exactly to my liking, there wasn't anything here that would stop me from coming here again.  The service was better than average with the waitstaff being attentive and the food arriving quickly.  Oh, and by the way, there was a lot to choose from on the menu.

Cho Dang Restaurant
725 Kapiolani Boulevard
Telephone:  808.591.0500

Double Eight (88) Chinese Restaurant

Chinese restaurants in downtown Honolulu are a dime a dozen.  It was surprising that I had never eaten at this restaurant before, especially since it's right across the street from one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants, Pho 97.  I came here for dinner one night with a friend after we both finished work at a very late hour.  It was raining and I was really craving some pho, but we had just missed our opportunity, as Pho 97 had just closed.

Stepping inside this restaurant, we found only one of the tables occupied.  As we looked over the menu, we discovered that the couple eating here were friends with one of the workers.  They were having a few drinks with her before heading out for the evening.

While I expressed some shock over some of the menu items (trust me), we were brought a pot of tea, two tiny cups and a plate of salted peanuts.  Each cup held a small sip of tea which we enjoyed.

Since I already knew what I was going to order for the main course, I was looking for either a tofu dish or vegetable dish to go along with it.  Since I don't see this dish on menus too often, I decided to order the pei-pa tofu with spinach (US$7.95).

Although the menu said this was served with spinach, when it arrived at the table, it was served on a bed of lettuce.  Not as tender and flavorful as the dish I had about a month ago at Cuisine Tony, this seemed quite unrefined and "doughy" in nature.  Perhaps it was because they used too much cornstarch to stabilize the tofu.  What I did enjoy were the crunchy lettuce leaves in the yellow bean and garlic sauce.

For the main course, I chose the house specialty -- the lobster with mochi rice in lotus flavor (US$21.99).

A live lobster was scooped out of the tank at the front of the restaurant for this dish.  I was almost tempted to ask to visit the kitchen so I could see what actually happened when they prepared the lobster (but I resisted).  About 20 minutes after the lobster left the tank, I lifted the cover of the bamboo steamer to discover this...

A large lotus leaf lined the bottom of the steamer basket.  Layered on top of the lotus leaf was some glutinous rice that had been stir fried with a bit of soy sauce and topped with the pieces of lobster and a healthy sprinkling of chopped green onions.  After the lobster and glutinous rice had been steamed, the lobster was covered in a sauce that was similar in flavor to the one that accompanied the pei-pa tofu -- a slightly salty yellow bean sauce that had been heavily perfumed with lots of minced garlic.  To add more flavor to the rice, it seemed like lots of tiny eggs (don't know if they came from the lobster or not) were sprinkled all over the rice. 

Although the glutinous rice had a delicate and light flavor, I found the texture to be a little mushy.  The mushiness of the rice was most likely due to the sauce that accompanied the lobster as some parts of the rice seemed to be slighty chewy, with just the right amount of bite.  The pieces of lobster were perfectly cooked and gently cracked for easy eating.

While the pei-pa tofu lacked refinement, I felt that the presentation of the lobster with mochi rice in lotus flavor was quite interesting and unique.  While it wasn't the best dish that I have ever eaten, it would probably be more enjoyable with a few minor adjustments.  The service here was great.  Our waitress came by often to ask how we were doing, to see if we needed more water and to find out if everything was.  We both agreed that we would visit again to try some of the other unique items that were found on the menu.

Double Eight (88) Chinese Restaurant
1113 Maunakea Street
Telephone:  808.526.3887

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

O's Bistro - Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

The last time I was here, O's Bistro was in this same location at the Crossroads, but it was known as Oodles of Noodles.  Oodles of Noodles has grown up and in a nice way -- in fact, I think the name alone makes this quite apparent.

Amy Ferguson-Ota's claim to fame is an appearance on Julia Child's program, "Cooking with Master Chefs".  She has also been nominated for a James Beard award and has the destinction of being the first female Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani.  AND if that weren't enough, she part of the original group of twelve chefs that started the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement back in the late-80s and early-90s.

At 5:45 pm, my dinner guest/companion arrived.  We made our way into the restaurant which was almost empty.  I had actually called earlier in the day to ask if a reservation was necessary and was told that the dinner rush didn't start until about 6:30 pm.  Inside, the walls were painted a dark shade of purple and there were lots of colorful paintings on the walls (the paintings were for sale).

After looking over the menu, we decided to share a salad, an appetizer and two noodle dishes.  First up, was O's organic baby greens house salad with Asian green goddess dressing -- tomato, cucumber, onion (US$9.00).

Fresh, tender baby greens were piled high then garnished with julienned cucumbers, ribbons of carrots, paper-thin slices of onion and some croutons and grape tomatoes.  On the side, was a little dish of Asian green goddess dressing.  I don't often see green goddess dressing on menus here, and it's always been a favorite of mine.  Traditionally made with mayonaisse, anchovies and few other ingredients, this is one dressing definitely gives a little oomph to any salad.

Next to arrive was our appetizer, the spinach tofu pot stickers -- ginger scallion sauce (US$13.00).

When the plate was set down on the table, I just had to stop and look at it for a moment.  I enjoyed the plating, but was it going to taste as good as it looked?

Set in a pool of sauce that included both chili oil and ginger, among other things, I felt that the pot stickers were just a little undercooked, though the skins had a nice chewiness to them.  Topping the pot stickers was a handful of mung beansprouts, some chopped green onions and chopped cilantro.  The garnishes provided a bit of textural interest to the dish as well as some additional flavor.

As soon as we finished the plate of pot stickers, the first noodle dish arrived.  It was the Mongolian beef chow funn -- sweet spicy hoisin, onions, scallions (US$15.00).

A huge mound of chow funn noodles (of different thickness) arrived on a plate topped with mung bean sprouts, chopped cilantro and chopped green onions.  The sweet, sticky sauce had a bit of a spicy kick to it, but I was hoping for a bit more "heat".  The noodles and sauce were stir-fried with some sliced onions, a bit of chopped ginger, and lots of lean chunks of beef.  The lean beef meant that this dish was somewhat "healthy", however, it also meant that the beef was a bit tough and a little dry. 

And the last dish to arrive, is probably the restaurant's most popular one.  It was the "Kona Style" tuna noodle casserole --  orecchiette, wok seared or cooked spicy ahi, shiitake cream, crisp onions, scallions (US$18.00).

Orecchiette, ear shaped pasta, was tossed with a light shiitake cream sauce, then topped with lots of chopped green onions, crispy fried scallions and five thick slices of blackened, wok seared ahi.  The cream sauce was light without being over bearing.  The fresh, yet delicate flavor of the ahi, complemented the crunchiness of the fried shallots and the tender, but slightly firm bite of the pasta perfectly.  After a few bites of this, I didn't want to give it up.

Were we done yet?  Of course not.  There's always room for dessert right?  Again, we selected two and decided to share.  One of the desserts we chose was O's cheesecake (US$7.00).

Light and creamy, the individual sized cheesecake sat atop a tender crust.  Here, take a peek.

The flavorful topping included poppy seeds and lemon zest among other things.  This dessert had a very interesting flavor, one that I wouldn't mind trying to replicate at home.  The addition of poppy seeds to the topping was something that I found interesting, yet so exciting.  Excellent.

The other dessert we chose was the Hawaiian cream cake (US$8.00).

A tiny white cake was spread with frosting, then sprinkled with shredded coconut.  Since the cake was flourless, I found it to be a bit too dense and too dry.  The frosting was a bit too sweet for me and to be honest, I didn't really enjoy this dessert.

The food here at O's Bistro was a bit of a mixed bag.  There were a few items that were done very well -- the orecchiette with wok seared ahi and the O's cheesecake.  There was a dish that showed promise, but could use improvement -- the  Mongolian beef chow funn.  There was also a dish that was OK and not really worth the price we paid for it -- the spinach tofu pot stickers.  And there was an item that I would not order again -- the Hawaiian cream cake.  Although the portions here are quite large (except for the pot stickers/desserts), the prices are still a little high.  The service here was excellent.  Our waiter was friendly, knowledgeable about the restaurant's offerings and he continuously stopped by to see how we were doing.  And although I enjoyed my dinner here, no doubt due to the company I was with, if I were to eat here again, I would be very selective when making my decisions on what to order.

O's Bistro
Crossroads Shopping Center
75-1027 Henry Street Suite 102
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Telephone:  808.327.6565

Teshima's Restaurant - Kealakekua, Hawaii

Lunch at Teshima's was a difficult decision as I had also wanted to have lunch at the Aloha Angel Café.  Teshima's was a recommendation from a reader of this blog who actually lives in Honolulu, but was raised on the Kona side of the Big Island.

According to this sign on the wall in the main dining area, Teshima's started out as a general merchandise store, retailing beer and wine, in 1929.  In the years that followed, Teshima's expanded until it became a full fledged restaurant in 1940.

I arrived at the restaurant first and proceeded to stand in line.  There was a full house here at 1:00 pm on a Sunday afternoon.  As we proceeded to wait, the line of patrons behind us started to build.  After 15 minutes of waitiing, we were finally offered a seat, not in the main dining area, but in the dining area off to the side.

Looking over the menu proved to be no easy task.  There were so many things here that I really wanted to try.  In the end, I decided on one of my favorite comfort foods, pork tofu "in-a-kettle" (US$9.75).

This dish was served with rice, miso soup, tsukemono (salted vegetables), sunomono (sweetened vinegared vegetables) and some ocha (hot tea).  Here's a close up of the pork tofu.

In the pot were chunks of tofu, julienned bamboo shoots, slightly chewy shirataki (thin konnyaku noodles), some thinly sliced onions and shiitake mushrooms, chopped green onions, slippery long rice noodles and quite a bit of sliced pork.  Although most of the pork was tender, there were quite a few gristly parts in the pot as well, making this a challenge to eat.  The sauce which was flavored with shoyu, sugar and ginger, was just a little too sweet for me.

I addition to my lunch set, I also ordered the shrimp tempura appetizer (US$6.00).

Included were two pieces of shrimp, two pieces of eggplant, as well as two pieces of Okinawan sweet potato (there was something else as well, was it green beans?).  The tempura was crunchy and surprisingly, very light.  I appreciated the assortment of vegetables here and I was so happy that this wasn't oily.

Here is the "PUPU TRAY" (US$9.00).  I had planned to order it, but I wasn't quick enough.

Included in the tray was vegetable tempura, BBQ beef, and sashimi as well as a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, tsukemono, and sunomono.

Does this fish look fresh or what?

When asked if I wanted dessert, I really couldn't make up my mind one way or the other.  The waitress recommended the chocolate truffle (US$3.75), which she said was one of their more popular offerings.  Sure, why not right?

When the dessert arrived, I thought to myself is that it?  I took the spoon, scooped up some of the dessert and aimed for my mouth.

At first, the thick consistency and firm texture of the truffle reminded me of fudge.  Then, as the chocolatey goodness dissolved in my mouth, the flavor reminded me of...what else?...chocolate truffles.  Cool and smooth, this had just the right combination of bitter and sweet flavors.  Much thanks to the waitress who recommended this dessert.  It was perfect for sharing over a cup of coffee.

The food here at Teshima's was quite good, though not great.  It was flavorful and tasty, just like the food straight out of Mom's kitchen.  The prices here were quite reasonable considering the amount of food we received.  And the service?  Well, since it was really busy, I'll give them a break.  Because we weren't sitting in the main dining room, it took more than 15 minutes for someone to come by to take our orders.  Once our order was placed, the food arrived in a timely manner.  Water and coffee, however, were not refilled regularly.  I guess the old adage "out of sight, out of mind" applied to us on this particular visit.  Would I come back?  Well, if I wasn't in a hurry, and if I was in the mood for some value-priced, homestyle cooking, I just might consider it.

Teshima's Restaurant
79-7251 Mamalahoa Highway
Kealakekua, Hawaii
Telephone:  808.322.9140

Manago Hotel - Captain Cook, Hawaii

The Manago Hotel first opened for business in 1917.  It's been upgraded and remodeled (a little) since then, but the hotel, for the most part, retains the quaint charm that makes this a place that is not to be missed on a visit to the Kona side of the island.  Located a short drive away from Kailua-Kona in the town of Captain Cook, the Manago Hotel overlooks Kealakekua Bay and is in the midst of the town's coffee farms.

The restaurant is located just inside a small door off the lobby of the hotel.  There is a porcelain basin right outside the door so you can wash your hands before entering the dining area.

As we walked through the door, I recalled a familiar scene of years past.  Dozens of hungry people eating, talking and enjoying the food.  The atmosphere here reminds one of a family party, everyone seemed to be having a great time.  The was just one table available in the entire place, at the far end of the restaurant near the windows.

The menu is posted on the wall, and hasn't changed much from the last time that I was here.  There are a few breakfast items, and a few more items on the combined lunch and dinner menu. 

After we had place our order, the waitress returned with these four dishes (clockwise from top left): kalua pig with cabbage, macaroni salad,  limu tsukemono, and a huge bowl of rice.  These were all included with the meal, just in case you're wondering.

When placing our dinner orders, we decided that we would share because we both wanted to eat the same two dishes.  First to arrive at the table was the pork chops (US$8.75).

Two thick, bone-in pork chops arrived on a platter with just a little of the pan juices on the plate.  Cutting into one, I discovered that while tender, the pork chop still had a lot of bite to it (good).  The juicy, pork chop was simply seasoned -- salt, pepper and maybe just a little garlic -- but extremely flavorful.  After I was done with my piece of pork chop, I couldn't help but gnaw on the bone just a little.

The last dish to arrive was the pan-fried butterfish with ginger miso sauce (US$10.00).

Instead of having this served nitsuke-style, braised in a shoyu/sugar sauce, we opted for the pan fried version with the ginger miso sauce on the side.  I have to say that this was an excellent choice.  The slightly sweet and buttery flavored fish was lightly coated with flour before being pan fried until browned on the outside.  The subtle flavors of the fish were further enhanced by salty spiciness of the ginger miso sauce.  I was almost tempted to order more.

The Manago Hotel has been serving the residents of Captain Cook, as well as the rest of the Kona coast, for more than half a century.  I have no doubts that people keep coming back because of the casual and friendly atmosphere, the homestyle cooking and the excellent service.  All in all, the Manago Hotel is a great value and a place that I will continue to visit everytime I'm in the area.

Manago Hotel
82-6155 Mamalahoa Highway
Captain Cook, Hawaii
Telephone:  808.323.2642
website

Shaka Restaurant - Na'alehu, Hawaii

Billed (self-proclaimed) as the most Southern bar in the USA, this restaurant's claim to fame is probably true, especially since South Point is 500 nautical miles farther south than Florida.

Attracted more by the sign than anything else, I had an idea that Shaka's would be a fun place to eat.  As we pulled into the parking lot, there was just one other car parked in the lot, way off to the side.   

Stepping inside the restaurant, we were escorted by our waitress over to the bar area and given a booth right near the windows.  I was surprised to discover that four of the other booths were already occupied.  Filled with wood furniture and tile flooring, Shaka's felt a bit homey and it reminded me of my aunt's dining room circa 1975.

After looking over the menu that consisted of stuff like sandwiches, salads, burgers and a few Tex-Mex style dishes, I decided to have a Shaka's basket.  I ordered the cheeseburger with french fries (US$7.00).

All the burgers are served with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles and all baskets are served with french fries or home fries. 

When this basket was brought to the table, I felt like I had made a good choice -- a nice sized hamburger patty, melted cheese, a thick slice of tomato, lots of lettuce, a couple pickle chips and some red onions made up this monstrous looking cheeseburger.

Here it comes...

The verdict?  The bun was light and fluffy, but the patty was dry and almost flavorless -- it seemed as though the patty hadn't been seasoned.  In fact, we turned to each other in mid-bite, to see if the other of us felt the same way (we did).  Even when I added ketchup to the burger, it had very little, if any, effect on the burger's overall flavor.  The fries on the other hand, were done well.  Light, crisp and free of grease, the fries arrived at the table hot and salt-free.

My friend had a Shaka's basket as well - this was the mushroom and onion burger with home fries (US$7.50).

Although the burgers looked good when they arrived at the table, we were in for quite a surprise when we actually bit into them.  The food here was quite a disappointment, but the service was a different story.  The waitress was helpful and friendly, and she stopped by every few minutes to refill our glasses and to chat.  The food here was definitely not worth the price, but when you're practically out in the middle of nowhere, you don't really have much choice now, do you?

Shaka Restaurant
95-5673 Mamalahoa Highway
Na'alehu, Hawaii
Telephone:  808.929.7404

The Pavillion Café

If not for a reader of this blog that resides on Maui, I would have never thought to visit the Honolulu Academy of Arts for lunch.  But several months ago, this reader told me about a delicious lunch she had at the Pavillion Café while visiting with her sister.  Since I live in close proximity to the Honolulu Academy of Arts, I decided to pay Pavillion Café a visit for lunch.

After walking through the entrance to the Academy, take a right and walk until you see the wooden podium.  There are no signs to guide you here, but the Pavillion Café is quite easy to find.

Once inside, I had a seat on the far end of the restaurant.  Even though it was already after 1:00 pm, the restaurant was still a bit crowded.  I'm glad I decided to make a reservation.

When I arrived, I actually wanted to try the beef tenderloin sandwich, which received raves from this blog's reader on Maui.  Unfortunately, due to a problem with the kitchen's gas supply, the beef wasn't being served on the day that I visited, so instead, I decided to go healthy.  I ordered the sashimi salad with Nalo greens & shoyu mustard vinaigrette (US$10.95).

When the salad arrived I was amazed -- the fish looked so fresh.  How's this for freshness?

To create this salad, a mountain of crisp fresh greens was topped with 10 (!) pieces of fresh sashimi (raw fish) before being drizzled with a little shoyu mustard vinaigrette.  To be completely honest, although I thought the salad was refreshingly simple, I didn't particularly care for the dressing.  This would have been nice with perhaps a wasabi-based, or even a kochu jang-based dressing.  I just didn't enjoy the flavor of the mustard with the greens.

To go along with my meal, I had a cup of coffee (US$1.25).  The brand served here is Graffeo, which is a small roaster out of San Francisco, California.

For dessert, I really wanted the chocolate and walnut torte.  Unfortunately, it was already sold out when the waitress came by to take my dessert order.  Instead, I had the chocolate pot de crème (US$5.95).

The chocolate here was thick and smooth, and almost fudge-like in texture.  The whipped topping added just a touch of additional sweetness to the slight bitterness of the chocolate.  By the time I was finished, I was wishing that I still had more.

On a subsequent visit, I had the salmon burger (I think that's what it was called) on a house made roll with dilled horseradish sauce & green salad (US$8.95).

The soft, fluffy roll was topped with a "meaty" salmon burger, with the dilled horseradish sauce providing a savory, spiciness to the well seasoned salmon.  The generous side salad was garnished with a few walnuts and thinly shaved bits of cheese.  This was a healthy, filling and tasty way to satisfy my lunchtime cravings.

The food here at the Pavillion Café is delicious and reasonably priced, especially when the quality of the food is considered.  The service here was a bit uneven, as there were times on both visits when refills of both coffee, and water, weren't offered for an extended period of time.  For the most part, lunches here at the Pavillion Café have proven to be relaxing, making this a place that I will frequent quite often.

Addendum: A reader brought to my attention the fact that this place is actually more of a bargain than I originally made it out to be.  How so?  Well, if you do decide to have lunch here, admission to the Academy of Arts is actually free (admission is normally US$7.00 for non-members).  So in addition to some delicious food, you can also view the Academy's wonderful exhibits as well.  How's that for a bargain?

The Pavillion Café
Inside the Honolulu Academy of Arts
900 South Beretania Street
Telephone:  808.532.8734

Arirang House Korean Restaurant

NOTE:  You will not see any prices in this post because dinner was paid for by a couple of friends.

A couple of days ago a couple of friends called and asked me to join them for dinner.  Since it's been a while since I had seen them, I said sure...where?  When they mentioned this place, I was stumped.  It was practically in my backyard and I didn't even know about the place.

Arirang House is just like any number of neighborhood Korean restaurants that you'll find all over Honolulu.  It's on a major roadway, but since I pass by so often, I seldom glance in the restaurant's direction.

When I arrived here, I found the restaurant to be filled with a number of diners.  The restaurant was bright and clean, and in the air was the sweet, smokey aroma of barbecue.

After placing our order, a number of ban chan (side dishes) started to appear at the table.  Some of these were sour, others were bland, a few were spicy and still others were salty.  This is really what I enjoy most about Korean food -- all the side dishes with various tastes and flavors that are included with each meal.

Have another look.

The assortment of ban chan here was excellent, and if I remember correctly, there must have been 8 or 9 different dishes on the table -- definitely something for everyone.  I was also happy to discover that they served this multi-grained rice with the meals here.  This purple-hued rice (sorry, I don't know the Korean name for it) is mixed with different types of grains before being cooked and served.  It has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor that I enjoyed.

For starters we had the haemul pajeon (seafood pancake).

The pancake itself wasn't as crisp as I was used to and maybe just a little too oily. 

And finally, the waitress came by with a plate of sizzling kalbi (barbecued short ribs).

Our waitress proceeded to slice the meat for us into bite-sized pieces.

With steam rising fast and furiously from the sizzling platter, I popped a piece of just delivered kalbi into my mouth.  Tender, juicy and well-marinated, the kalbi here was some good stuff. 

And finally, the meal was finished off with a few cups of ginger tea.

In this particular area of town, you're bound to find at least 20 or so Korean restaurants that serve kalbi and ban chan.  What separates Arirang from the rest of these is not necessarily the food, but the service.  The waitstaff is helpful and efficient.  Our waitress came by every few minutes to refill our water and replace any ban chan that we may have finished.  I'm not sure about the value as I didn't pay for this meal, but I guess I've just been introduced to another neighborhood joint that I might just want to visit again.

Arirang House Korean Restaurant
1334 Young Street
Telephone:  808.593.8830

Angelo Pietro

It has been a long time since my last visit to Angelo Pietro.  In fact, now that I think about it, the last time I was here was when the restaurant's location on Kapahulu Avenue was still open.  Back then, I think that Pietro's was probably the only Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant around. 

When I arrived for a late afternoon lunch, there were quite a number of people inside the restaurant.  As I was escorted to my table, I happened to glance at the other tables around me to see what everyone else was eating -- looked like a wide variety of dishes.

There was an open view to the kitchen and from where I was seated, I could view all of the action.

After glancing over the menu, I had a difficult time deciding what I would order to start with.  In the end, the fried calamari fritti (US$6.95) won out over the raw potato salad.

A couple dozen calamari rings were lightly seasoned, then breaded and deep fried until they were a gorgeous golden brown.  The crunchy coating contrasted wonderfully with the tender and slightly chewy calamari.  Creamy mayonaisse that had been spiked with lemon juice was served on the side and made an excellent accompaniment to the calamari.

For lunch, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and ordered the natto & bacon spaghetti (US$8.25).

For those of you who don't know, natto is a Japanese food consisting of sticky fermented soybeans.  It has an unmistakable odor, texture and flavor.  I have tried natto only once before, and really have to say that I did not really care for it at all.  However, since so many people recommended this dish to me, I decided that I just had to order it.

When the plate arrived, I saw that the noodles were topped by a mound of chopped bacon and garnished with a mound of kizami nori (thinly sliced dried seaweed) in the center.  As I glanced around the dining room, I saw four others indulging in the same dish.  That made me feel a whole lot better.  Holding my breath, I took the first bite -- noodles, bacon and nori.  The noodles were perfectly cooked, firm and springy, though slightly sticky (from the natto, I presumed).  I thought the flavor of the dish was interesting as it really didn't taste like natto at all.  Eating a bit more, I felt that the noodles were a bit too oily, and overall, I felt that the dish was just a little too salty. 

The dishes here at Angelo Pietro bravely combine elements of both Japanese and Italian cuisine.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  While the natto and bacon spaghetti was an ambitious idea, I felt that the dish itself needed a little improvement.  The prices here are about what you'd expect to pay at other Asian-Italian fusion restaurants -- Bistro Sun and Kit 'N Kitchen come to mind -- and the service here was great.  Have I finally come to accept natto?  Well, not exactly.  Will I come back to eat at Angelo Pietro?  Quite possibly.

Angelo Pietro
1585 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 110
Telephone:  808.941.0555

Kirin Restaurant

Open for a little more than a year now, Kirin first arrived on the scene as Hei Chin Rou.  Since I am a frequent visitor to Ala Moana Center, I was highly anticipating this new restaurant, but each time I visited, I was unable to go inside for one reason or another.  This past weekend I was shopping at Ala Moana for a birthday gift when I decided to stop in with a couple of friends.

The interior of the restaurant is well appointed -- dark carved wood panels and recessed lighting.  Unlike the interiors of most Chinese restaurants, this one was actually quite pleasant and calming.

What makes this different from most dim sum restaurants in Hawaii is the lack of carts.  Instead of carts making their way through the restaurant, your dim sum order is placed via an "order form" of sorts.  At each table is a large picture menu and a small sheet of paper with most of the dim sum items listed on it.  Check off the box next to each item, hand it to a waiter or waitress that just happens to be passing by, and your dishes will start to arrive in a few minutes.

We ordered a number of dishes and the first of these to arrive was the crispy green onion patty (US$2.95).

Lots of green onions were scattered throughout this crispy and slightly chewy pancake.  By the time was placed on the table, the pancake was a little cold and started to turn a little greasy.  The pancake itself, while tasty, was just a little too "doughy" for me.

Next came the seared bean curd rolls with vegetables (US$2.95).

Thin sheets of bean curd skin were wrapped around julienned mushrooms, carrots and bamboo shoots.  These were fine for what they were, but I would have liked just a little less filling and a lot more crunchiness.  These bean curd rolls were just a little too "tender".

The bean curd rolls were quickly followed by the deep-fried shrimp puff with thousand island sauce (US$3.25).

Huge pieces of succulent shrimp filled these deep fried puffs.  A dipping sauce consisting of a standard thousand island dressing accompanied this dish.  While the dipping sauce was unconventional (these are usually served with mayonaisse), these were quite good. These were not as good as the ultra thin skinned ones found at Legend though.

After we were done with the shrimp puffs, we waited a while before the next dish, the spicy Szechuan pork won-ton (US$2.75), arrived.

Four won-tons were filled with pork and arrived at the table floating in a mildly spicy gravy.  After taking the first bite, I discovered that these won-tons were overly salty and decided not to eat anymore.  I did taste the gravy and discovered that it contained coconut milk.  In fact, it tasted very much like laksa!

Finally, the steamed items started to arrive at the table.  First up, were the steamed barbecued pork buns (US$2.95).

Sweet chunks of barbecue pork (char siu) filled the over-steamed bun.  The barbecued pork filling had an unusually intense flavor (it seemed to be anise) and the bun lacked the standard fluffiness.

After the disappointment with the char siu bao, I was happy to see the next dish arrive at the table.  That dish was the glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf with chicken and dried scallop (US$3.75).

Unwrapping the lotus leaf , I discovered this...

Lots of chewy, al dente-style glutinous rice filled with minced chicken and dried scallops.  There was a lot of gelatinous fat here as well as something gooey that I couldn't quite make out.  The overall flavoring of the rice was good, but I found that it was much too "wet" for my tastes.

The final dim sum item of the day was the Shanghai style juicy pork buns (US$3.25).

Four small buns, if you can call them that, arrived in a steamer basket.   

Previously, when I had eaten xiao long bao, the "skin" was paper thin and translucent.  When you picked up the bao with your chopsticks, you could see the liquid "sloshing" around inside it.  Here the skin was thick, just as thick as a normal won ton skin.  When I pierced the skin to take this photo, there was hardly any liquid inside it.  There was, however, quite a bit of pork filling inside each tiny "bun".

After a somewhat mediocre experience with the dim sum, I decided that I was going to  order something for dessert.  I settled on the almond tofu (US$3.25).

Chilled almond flavored tofu was topped with a couple of spoonfuls of fruit cocktail.  The sweet, smooth tofu was refreshing and really hit the spot.

Upon entering the restaurant, we thought that the room full of people meant that the food here was good. After the first couple of dishes, we knew that our assumptions were wrong.  Did people just come here because it was convenient?  The food here was OK, and with each dish, something seemed to be lacking.  For a lot less than the premium prices charged here, better values, and tastier food, can be had elsewhere.

Kirin Restaurant
Ala Moana Shopping Center Street Level
1450 Ala Moana Boulevard Space 1215
Telephone:  808.946.1888

Boulevard Saimin

Whenever it's wet and rainy, I seem to crave noodle soups and tonight was no exception.  Initially, I had planned to go and grab a bowl of pho at Pho 97, but it was already after 8:00 pm and I believe the restaurant was already closed.  Instead, I decided that I would visit Palace Saimin, but as I pulled into the driveway, I discovered that they were closed too.  Since I was already in Kalihi and craving a bowl of saimin, I decided to stop by Boulevard Saimin.

A number of years ago, when I used to work in the neighborhood, Boulevard Saimin was a popular lunchtime spot for both myself and my co-workers.  The bowls of saimin were huge and filling, and there were quite a number of different choices that were available on the menu.  When I arrived tonight, there were people occupying a few of the many booths inside the restaurant.

Since it was already late (a little after 8:30 pm) when I arrived, I decided to quickly place my order for a bowl of the tsukimi (poached egg) saimin with wun tun, which is something that I've always ordered here.  Just as I was placing my order, I recalled an e-mail that I received from a reader of this blog not more than a couple of hours ago.  I decided to try his usual, the kayaku saimin with wun tun (kayaku saimin US$6.25; with wun tun US$6.80).

A few minutes later, the bowl of piping hot saimin arrived at the table.

The bowl was filled to the rim with noodles and broth, then garnished with some char siu, a couple of slices of kamaboko (fish cake), some chopped mustard cabbage (kai choy) and Chinese cabbage (won bok) and quite a bit of aburage (deep fried tofu).  The bowl of saimin was warm, flavorful and comforting, but just a little salty.  There were six wun tuns floating in the bowl, and although they were meaty, the wun tun skins were just a little to thick.

To go along with my bowl of saimin, I also ordered two bar-b-q beef sticks (US$1.85).

Marinated pieces of beef are first skewered before being grilled.  This time, the beef was a little tough and dry, and I really didn't enjoy the coating of overly sweet bar-b-q sauce.  In fact, when the bar-b-q sticks were brought to the table, the bar-b-q sauce started to become a little "firm" and jelly-like.

The saimin here at Boulevard is OK.  Not the best, in my opinion, but definitely good enough to be considered when you're craving saimin and it's raining outside.  There are quite a few choices on the menu, so you won't be stuck with too few options.  The service here is efficient and friendly, and the prices are reasonable considering the size of the bowl and the amount of ingredients in it. 

Boulevard Saimin
1427 Dillingham Boulevard
Telephone:  808.841.7233

Buk Chang Dong Soon Do Bu

It's been a little cool and rainy lately, so making a decision on what to eat for dinner was not a difficult one.  I initially felt like having some Korean food, and soon du bu sounded just right.  I was actually on my way to So Gong Dong when I decided to take a detour and stop here instead.

I had passed by Buk Chang Dong quite a number of times, and if I'm not mistaken, this hole-in-the-wall spot used to house So Gong Dong.  Anyone?

When I arrived, it was quite late -- almost 9:30 pm.  It's a good thing this restaurant was open until 10:00 pm.  Clean and bright, I sat on table number 2 right near the front door.  There was only one other party in the restaurant, a group of Japanese nationals, that were enjoying some soon do bu as well.

After placing my order, the ban chan arrived at the table -- seven little dishes in all.

Top photo: Clockwise from top - sukju namul (mung bean sprouts), sweet potato roots (I thought it was doh rah gee, but I was told that it wasn't.), won bok kim chee, radish kim chee.

Bottom photo: Clockwise from top - nokdu muk (green pea jelly), odeng (fish cake), cabbage.

I decided to order the bi bim bap + soon do bu combo (US$9.95).  First to arrive was the bi bim bap.

A bowl of hot rice was garnished with vegetables -- mung bean sprouts, mushrooms, cabbage and sweet potato roots -- and some pieces of marinated beef (bul go gi) before being topped by a sunnyside up egg that had been sprinkled with some sesame seeds.  Add a liberal amount of kochujang sauce, mix and eat.  The combination of flavors and textures in the bowl are was really make this enjoyable to eat.  This bowl of bi bim bap was no exception.  The quality of the ingredients, not to mention the perfectly cooked egg, make this worth eating again.

Shortly after the bi bim bap was delivered, the soon do bu arrived at the table bubbling hot.

Large chunks of soft tofu floated within the pot that also contained pieces of beef, thinly sliced onions and mushrooms, and a light sprinkling of chopped green onions.  There was a lot of the soft, silky tofu in the pot and the stock was just the right spiciness for me.  In fact, it was so spicy that I could just make out the beefy undertones of the stock.  This was the perfect dish for a rainy evening dinner.

At US$9.95 for a combination set, the price here is definitely a bargain.  The food is fiery and well prepared, and the portions are sized just right.  The food arrived at the table promptly and the service was friendly.  Given all of the above, it should be no surprise to discover that Buk Chang Dong has been added to my rotation of favorite dining spots.

Buk Chang Dong Soon Do Bu
1518 Makaloa Street Unit B
Telephone:  808.953.2299

Cuisine Tony

UPDATE:  November 2005
Cuisine Tony has closed.
Pho One now occupies this space.

Several years ago, Cuisine Tony used to serve up some eclectic dishes with some pretty far out names like Saturn pork chops and escargot de France.  A couple years later, you could find such things as African chicken and Hungarian oxtail soup on the menu.  More recently, I paid another visit to Cuisine Tony only to find that the menu had been revamped yet again.

When I arrived here for dinner with a friend a couple weeks back, we found the place to be quite empty.  There were a couple of tables that were occupied near the front of the restaurant, but the rest of the restaurant, which was filled with soft, high backed booths, was empty.

(This is a bad photo, but you get the idea right?)

While looking over the menu, I noticed that the funky menu items, like those mentioned above, as well as the Italian-inspired ones, were gone.  The menu had been totally revamped with Chinese specialties. While we looked over the menu to make our selections, we decided to start with an order of the crispy chicken wings with shrimp sauce (US$6.95).

As the plate made it's way to the table from the kitchen, I could smell the distinct aroma of shrimp paste wafting through the air.  Pungent, and smelling of the sea, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into those crispy wings.  Crunchy and slightly salty, these chicken wings were moist and juicy on the inside.

The next item to arrive at the table was the fish fillet with Szechwan hot chili sauce (US$9.95).

Chunks of tender fish were first deep fried then stir fried with lots of dried chillies in this spicy, yet savory dish.  Dark soy sauce, minced garlic, slivers of ginger, green onions and just little shrimp paste were used to create the mouth watering sauce that soaked each bite of fish.  The amount of heat was just right and the gravy was perfect spooned into my bowl of rice. 

Besides the two dishes mentioned above, we also wanted to order the stir-fried snow cabbage with dried tofu.  When we attempted to order it, we were told there was no snow cabbage.  So just as I was about to choose the bala chaung on-choi, the waitress recommended the pe pa tofu (US$12.00).  Since this dish is not commonly found on menus here, I was easily persuaded to order this.

As the dish was brought out to the table, I was delighted that the waitress recommended it.  Silken tofu was first mixed with bits of shrimp and lots of cilantro, then coated in batter and deep friend until golden brown.  Served on a bed of sautéed spinach, it was then covered in a light soy based sauce.  For me, this dish was the evening's highlight.  The unmistakable flavor of cilantro was enhanced by the subtle flavor of soy sauce in every soft, yet crunchy bite.  Excellent.

It's been a while since my last visit to Cuisine Tony and I'm so glad I came back.  The dishes are expertly executed and are made with quality ingredients.  The service here is attentive, friendly and helpful.  And the food?  The portion sizes here were the perfect size for sharing, and judging by the dishes that I ordered, the food here is worth every delicious penny. 

Cuisine Tony
1617 Kapiolani Boulevard
Telephone:  808.941.1234

Shabu Shabu House

Shabu shabu ("swish-swish") is the Japanese term for the sound created by the swishing action used to cook the thinly sliced cuts of beef, or other meats, in a boiling pot of broth.  It's said that when the meat is "swished" around in the broth-filled pot, the unhealthy fats are released from the meat, making shabu shabu a "healthy" dining option.

For more than a year and a half, I've been driving past the Shabu Shabu House with the intent of stopping in for either lunch or dinner.  However, it wasn't until just recently that I actually managed to visit the restaurant with a friend for lunch. 

When we arrived at 1:00 pm, there were a number of diners inside the brightly colored, and sparsely decorated, restaurant.  There was a counter area surrounded by bar chairs and there were individual tables for four situated throughout the dining area.

After selecting a table near the front of the shop, we looked over the menu.  For lunch there were a few "set" menus -- beef & pork, pork, beef, vegetable, seafood or beef or pork with shrimp.  There were also quite a few a la carte menu items that could be selected to either add on to your existing set, or to create your own mix-and-match meal.

After placing our order, and while waiting for the meats and vegetables to arrive, I looked over the condiment tray.  I found squeeze bottles filled with sesame, ponzu and ginger sauces available in the middle of the table.

There were also these containers of grated daikon and chopped green onions as well.

Each lunch set comes with a plate of vegetables.  On this plate here was some won bok, spinach, bok choy, a small handful of udon noodles, a slice of kabocha, two blocks of tofu and one gyoza.  Seems like quite a bit, doesn't it?

As the pot bubbled on the table, with a piece of konbu thrown in for good measure, the vegetables were slowly added and cooked to the desired level of doneness.  We were almost done with our plates of vegetables when the plates of thinly sliced meats arrived at the table.  The waitress apologized for forgetting our order.

The set that we both ordered was the beef & pork shabu shabu (US$8.95, large portion add US$3.00).

Eight ounces of thinly sliced, well marbled beef and pork arrived at the table at long last.  Dip each slice of meat into the "broth", if you'd like to call it that, swish it around a few times until cooked through, dip into some sauce, and pop each tender slice into your mouth.  The meat was nicely tender, with the beef being the better of the two quality-wise.  Of the three dipping sauces present on the table, my favorite had to be the ponzu. 

After we were finishing up both the plate of meat and vegetables, we decided to order a dessert to share.  We ordered the green tea and azuki chiffon cake (sorry, not sure of the correct name of the dessert; US$4.95).

We waited more than 10 minutes for the dessert to arrive.  When it was brought to the table, it was starting to melt.  Our waitress again apologized for forgetting about us and our order.

A thin layer of cake was topped first with a thick layer of azuki ice cream and finished with an equally thick layer of green tea ice cream.  The plate was covered with some azuki bean sauce and garnished with a thin rolled chocolate wafer.  The dessert, while sweet, was definitely not as sweet as it looked.  It was a light and refreshing end to our meal.

Specialty restaurants such as this one, can be a good thing or a bad thing.  The good thing is being able to focus on a single item, which in this case is shabu shabu, to provide the best possible product to your customers.  The bad thing is a customer expecting the best and coming away feeling slightly cheated by either the quality or the freshness of the ingredients. 

While the prices here were very reasonable, I felt that the quality of the ingredients could have been a little better.  The service, while pleasant and friendly, was often lacking.  And even though I found the lunch to be satisfying, I'm highly unlikely to return unless the quality of both the food, and the service, improves.

Shabu Shabu House
1221 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 108
Telephone:  808.597.1655

Pho Thuan-Loi

Over the past year or so, I've often driven past this place curious about what type of food it served -- Vietnamese and Italian -- it sounded interesting.  Back then the restaurant was called Smooth.  More recently, the name on the sign has changed, but the type of food served is still the same.  So one day, I decided to be adventurous and have dinner here.

The first time I was here, it was about 8:00 pm and I found the restaurant practically empty.  Was that a good sign?  Well, it was a Friday night, so maybe people had already eaten, who knows...

Expecting to see strange combinations on the menu, I was surprised to see a separate menu of Vietnamese dishes and another containing Italian ones.  Was that what I was afraid of?  So I proceeded to order the lemongrass fish on rice (US$6.50).

On the menu, it said that this was made with seabass.  Unfortunately, there was no seabass that night, so it was substituted with opah (moonfish).  The fish was stir fried with lemongrass, garlic, green onions and some other herbs until "dry".  When I say dry, I mean really dry.  I could have choked if I ate this the way it arrived.  Thankfully, a dish of fish sauce arrived at the table and the waitress explained that I needed to pour the fish sauce over the dish before eating.  After spooning a little of the fish sauce over everything, I took a bite, and then another.  The salty, tangy, and savory flavors along with the chunks of flaky fish made this worth every bite. 

A few weeks later, I stopped by again and had the pho dac biet (US$5.95).

It was cold and rainy outside, so pho would have made the perfect meal.  The pho dac biet served here had sliced beef, meat ball, tendon, tripe and brisket in it.  The meats were lean and tender, the tendon was slippery and jellylike, and the tripe, well, let's just say that it was cooked perfectly.  As you can see above, they were skimpy with the herbs.  On the plate were three stems of basil and just a small handful of bean sprouts, some lime and cut green chillies, but no ngo gai.  The broth here was very light and practically tasteless even though I could smell the aroma of anise as the bowl was being delivered to the table. 

To go with my pho, I also ordered the cha gio (spring rolls; 5 pieces, US$5.95).

Served with butter lettuce, mint, sliced cucumber and a mound of rice noodles, the spring rolls were perfectly fried, they were crisp, crunchy and golden brown.  Each bite was tasty, yet there was something unfamiliar there.  Upon closer inspection, I found that inside each spring roll was some vermicelli noodles, a bit of ground pork, and lots of potato (or yam), giving the spring rolls a starchy flavor.

The food here at Pho Thuan-Loi is quite uneven.  While the lemongrass fish was interestingly prepared and a delight to eat, the bowl of pho made me think twice about coming back.  The service, at this family run establishment, was good and the prices are fairly reasonable.  The next time I'm here, if I'm not having the lemongrass fish, I'm definitely going to try some of the Italian dishes.

Pho Thuan-Loi
2080 South King Street Suite 103
Telephone:  808.955.8387

Utage Restaurant & Lounge

A while back, when I did a post on Sunrise, one of my readers asked if I knew of any other Okinawan restaurants.  I mentioned this place, Utage, and offered a review on my next visit.  Utage is located in the City Square building next to Young's Fish Market, Kalani Korean Bar-B-Q & Sugoi.

Friends of mine asked me to call on my next visit here so they could sample some of the Okinawan specialties served here.  When we arrived at about 8:00 pm, a few of the high-backed vinyl booths were occupied.  Although it looks small from the outside, this place is actually quite spacious.  There are quite a few seats inside the restaurant.

This was the table next to mine. From what I could hear, it seemed as though the two couples enjoyed their food here tonight.

After looking over the menu and making our selections, this arrived at the table.

It was an appetizer of sorts, consisting of some pickled daikon that was crunchy, tangy and slightly sweet.  Each meal comes with a beverage of your choice, so I decided to have some ocha (tea).  Take a look at this teapot.  My grandmother has one just like it at home. 

A bowl of piping hot miso soup came next.

Filled with lots of firm cubes of tofu, chopped green onions and knotted konbu (seaweed), this was just a little too strong and a little too salty for my tastes.  Nonetheless, I found it quite satisfying.

I chose the goya (bittermelon) chanpuru (stir fry with tofu and eggs) with shoyu pork (rafute) (US$9.25).

This dish can be prepared with shoyu pork, as shown above, or it can be prepared with pork, chicken, Spam, bacon or tuna.  The shoyu pork was mouthmeltingly tender, its sweetness complimented the bitterness of the melon very well.  The pieces of bittermelon were tender, yet still retained some bite.  There was lots of flavor here, but much of it was too sweet.  I also didn't like that there was a lot of "gravy" on the bottom of the dish -- I guess I don't really like it when the dish is served "wet".  By the way, I didn't eat much of the fat that was on the pork.  I ate a couple of pieces of pork with the fat and that was about enough for me. 

For dessert, which was also included, I had a scoop of Dreyers green tea ice cream.

Both of my friends had the nabera (squash) chanpuru (stir fry with tofu and green onions) with chicken (US$9.25).

One had green tea ice cream, the other, tapioca.

The food here at Utage reminds me of home cooking -- nothing fancy, nothing spectacular, but comforting, even when they are not prepared exactly to my liking.  In fact, many of these same dishes have been cooked for me at home by my grandmother, who is half Okinawan.  I felt that for the price, the meal here was a good deal.  For less than US$10.00 each meal comes with soup or salad, a drink (coffee, tea, iced tea, fruit punch), an entrée including rice, and dessert.  These days, deals like this are very hard to find.

Utage Restaurant & Lounge
City Square
1286 Kalani Street Suite B102
Telephone:  808.843.8109

Restaurant I-naba

Several months ago, I drove to Dairyu House of Noodles hoping to get some ramen.  Unfortunately, when I pulled into the parking lot, I found the place closed.  So instead, I went and got a bowl of pho instead.  Several weeks ago, I drove past Dairyu on my way to Yamagen, and noticed that the sign outside had changed.

[insert photo here]

There was red banner that said "Grand Opening" on it, and a blue banner with some Japanese writing on it.  I decided that I would stop by some time to see what was on offer at this "new" (obviously) Japanese restaurant.  Well, I did happen to stop by a couple of weeks later and found out that the restaurant was called I-naba.

Restaurant I-naba is the 7th in a chain of restaurants that are spread throughout Southern California.  According to some literature on the wall near the entrance, the restaurant's focus is soba and tempura.  That sounded great to me.  The restaurant is full of light colored wood, and a few translucent room dividers to some how create a sense of separateness between each table.  On the banquette, there were little straw mats (goza) to make the seating more comfortable -- nice touch.

After looking over the rather short menu, I placed my order and waited for the dishes to begin arriving.

First, was a small dish of edamame (soy beans).

Next, came this serving tray.  I ordered the tenpura gozen (with hot or cold soba, US$17.95).

Here are the contents of the tray, one by one -- a bowl of rice with baby lima beans.

Some takenoko with katsuo bushi sprinkled on top (Bamboo shoots with shaved bonito).

A bit of kinpira gobo (simmered burdock root).

This was my favorite side dish.  Hidden amongst the slivers of gobo were a few thin strips of carrot and a some strands of gelatinous konnyaku.  This had just a bit of spiciness to it.

Three pieces of nasubi tsukemono (pickled Japanese eggplant) and two of takuan (pickled daikon).

Here is the zaru soba.

The handmade soba noodles are made fresh daily using buckwheat that is imported from Nagano, Japan.  To prepare this dish, the noodles are first boiled, then chilled so that they retain their firm, chewy bite.  There is a subtle, nutty flavor to the noodles which are served in a pile on a bamboo "sieve" lined tray.  The soba tsuyu (dipping sauce) had the right balance of both bonito and shoyu so that it was neither fishy nor salty.  Add wasabi and chopped spring onions to the tsuyu, then start eating.

And finally, the tempura (ebi, shrimp; long beans; kabocha, pumpkin; hasu, lotus root).

Fresh out of the deep fryer, the tempura was served piping hot.  Although there were a few oil stains on the paper lining the dish, the tempura was not oily at all.  The plump and succelent shrimp were firm and sweet and surrounded by that extra crunchy, deep fried batter.  The vegetables retained their crispness even after being cooked in a fryer.  What did that mean?  Perfectly timed cooking in super hot oil.

I enjoyed the food here at Restaurant I-naba immensely.  It was refreshing and expertly prepared.  The wait staff was pleasant, courteous and extremely helpful.  My water and tea were both refilled on a regular basis and the food was delivered in a timely fashion.  The price at dinner is a bit high for the quantity (not quality) of food that you get here.  My recommendation is to come at lunch when the same dishes are offered for almost a 30% reduction in price.

Restaurant I-naba
1610 South King Street
Telephone:  808.953.2070

Sweet Basil

A while back when I ate at Pho My Lan, I noticed a new Thai place next door.  Since I don't venture into Chinatown as much as I used to, I promptly forgot about this place until I went to buy some mooncakes this past weekend.  As I was walking to Legend for some dim sum, I walked right past this place and decided to come back the next day.

And here I am.  It was late when I arrived for lunch with a couple of friends.  In fact, it was almost 1:00 pm and four of the eight (or was it nine?) tables in the narrow space were occupied.  We chose the table furthest from the door so that we could see the expressions on people's faces as they ate -- almost everyone had a look of satisfaction on their face. 

Across from our table was the head of the buffet (weekdays, US$8.95; weekends, US12.95 includes seafood), so we decided to take a look before making up our minds (sorry, no shot of the buffet).

As we looked over the items on the lunch buffet, I remembered hearing good things about it from a couple of friends.  Since I don't normally like buffets, and since the individual menu selections seemed to be interesting, I convinced the others to order an appetizer, a salad, and two entrées to share.

We decide to start with a Thai classic, larb, listed here as 'Good Fortune' salad (US$7.50).

Ground pork (I'm checking on this because it tasted like pork, but I'm not sure) and toasted rice are stir fried then seasoned with fresh mint, scallions, cilantro, lime and chillies.  This was served with a garnish of sliced cucumber, a lettuce leaf and more fresh mint.  The flavor of this dish was muted and mellow, with not a hint of spiciness. 

Since this wasn't nearly spicy enough, we asked for some chillies.  Our waitress brought over this cool chilli (condiment) tray.

Colorful, as well as fiery, there were different types of chillies here for all the different types of dishes which we were about to eat.

Next to arrive was the eggplant & shiitake mushroom with chili-basil sauce (US$7.95).

This dish was one of our entrées so it was served with some tossed greens topped with a peanut sauce based dressing, and a bowl of sticky rice (white or brown also available).   Deep fried chunks of tofu were stir fried with whole shiitake mushrooms and pieces of eggplant in a chili-basil "sauce" (oil).  The eggplant was fork tender though it seemed to maintain most of its "bite".  The mushrooms' savoriness was balanced by just a hint of sweetness from the basil.  Again, as with the larb, this dish wasn't as spicy as I would have liked, and it was too much too salty and oily.  We all agreed that this was something that wouldn't be ordered again.

Then came our appetizer, the golden shrimp medallions (tod mun kung, US$7.95).

Three panko (?) crusted shrimp cakes were deep fried, and served with a sweet, spicy chilli sauce.  The plate was garnished with some sliced carrot and cucumber, and some tossed greens.  Despite being deep fried, these thick, crunchy shrimp cakes were well drained and I could see no sign of oil anywhere.  The cakes were sweet and meaty, and they reminded me a lot of Japanese-style croquettes.

Finally, our second entrée arrived, the soft shell crabs with panang sauce (puu tod lad panang, US$11.95).

This was the dish that I was looking forward to the most.  Deep fried, almond crusted soft shell crabs were served topped with panang sauce.  Fragrant, crunchy and flavorful, the soft shell crabs were the highlight of the afternoon.  The nuttiness of the almond crust went well with the peanut and kaffir lime leaf based panang sauce.  Again, there was not really enough heat here for my tastes, but overall, the sweetness of this dish proved to be most enjoyable.

To drink, we had the Thai iced vanilla tea (US$3.00).

Cool, sweet and utterly refreshing, Thai iced tea is the beverage I normally choose to compliment all the spicy food.  This one was not as sweet as the ones that I normally get and that made it all the better.

The food here at Sweet Basil is described as "Neo Thai", which in my opinion means fusion.  It combines classic Thai flavors and cooking techniques with new ingredients, especially those not normally seen in traditional Thai cooking -- an example of this is the almond crusted soft shell crab with panang sauce.  And even though the food preparation was a bit uneven, I would definitely come here again to try a few of the other menu items, and maybe even the buffet.  Cost may prohibit me from coming here often, but Sweet Basil could possibly be a sweet indulgence.

Sweet Basil
1152A Mauankea Street
Telephone:  808.545.5800

Legend Seafood Restaurant

Since I was in Chinatown buying some mooncakes today, I decided that to have some dim sum for lunch.  There are quite a few restaurants that serve dim sum in the area, such as Mei Sum and Tai Pan, but today I decided to have dim sum at Legend Seafood Restaurant.

Ask any local where to find good dim sum, and many times the response will be Legend.  So even when I arrived at 1:00 pm, this place wass packed.  I guess it shows how popular this place is, right?

Every few minutes the ladies pushing carts come around to each table hawking their wares.  This one is serving rice soup with preserved egg and salted pork as well as ox intestines with turnip.

This one here is offering pan fried turnip cake as well as pan fried dumplings with chives and shrimp.

My first selection of the day, was #22, B.B.Q. pork manapua (char siu bao, US$2.85)

Soft and fluffy, the bun was a bit moist when it arrived.  Tearing it open, we have this.

The soft, dense bun was a bit too "wet".  Don't know why this was the case, but for some reason, the bun seemed "soggy".  When I tore it in half with my fingers, I had pieces of the bun stuck there, and when I bit into it, it seemed as though it had absorbed quite a bit of water.  The pieces of B.B.Q. pork were a bit fatty and not flavored with not enough char siu sauce.

Next was #27, mochi rice in lotus leaf (US$2.85)

This is probably one of my favorite dim sum items.  After unwrapping the lotus leaf a bit, you can see what's inside.

Concealed by the tender, sticky grains of glutinous rice are bits of pork and black mushroom as well as half a chestnut (!).  Perfectly cooked, the flavor of the glutinous rice was enhanced by the fragrance of the lotus leaf.  The pork and mushroom filling gave this a savory flavor.  One of the best dishes served here.

Then came #19, the bean curd roll (US$2.85).

Bean curd "skins" are wrapped around a filling of minced pork, bamboo shoots, and black fungus (among other things), then steamed until soft and tender.  These were quite meaty with lots of crunchy pieces of bamboo shoot throughout.  I enjoyed these, but I thought the seasoning of the accompanying "gravy" could have been a bit more flavorful.

Here is #38, the pan fried turnip cake (US$2.85).

Grated turnip is combined with dried shrimp and bits of pork, then seasoned before being steamed until firm.  Before serving, the turnip "cake" is cut into squares then pan fried.  When this turnip cake was served, the outside was crisp, while the inside was still soft and tender.  There was lots of dried shrimp here, but there was an unusual flavor as well -- something that I didn't really care for.  I ate these smeared with a lot of chilli.

Since there was no more deep fried shrimp, which is actually one of my favorites here, I instead ordered the #33, barbecue pork pastry (US$2.85).

Pastry dough is wrapped around minced char siu (barbecue pork), then brushed with egg and sprinkled with sesame seeds before being baked.  The glossy pastry was a little sweet and just a little salty too.  Taking a bite of the overstuffed, flaky pastry caused crumbs to fly every which way and the savory bits of char siu offset the overall sweetness quite well.

The next to last dish was this one, #43, steamed look funn with beef (US$3.75).

Soft and slippery look funn is wrapped around a filling of minced beef before being steamed.  This is served with a bit of shoyu (soy sauce) poured over the top of the steaming hot noodles.  When this arrived, the beef filling was literally oozing out from the ends of the look funn noodles. 

For the final dessert "course", I selected #4, the small egg custard tart (US$2.15).

The flaky crust enveloped the jelly-like custard which was smooth and creamy.  I actually found this to be quite good -- better than average actually.  Why?  Don't know really, but it might have been the "slipperiness" of the custard.  It seemed to be more eggy than milky.

The dim sum here at Legend is often described as some of the best on the Island, but judging by my visits here, I have to disagree.  After eating the dim sum here on many occasions, I find the quality of the offerings quite inconsistent, and vary from one visit to the next.  Although there are several dishes that stand out, the mochi rice in lotus leaf is one, there are many more that do not.  The service here is spotty at best and although the prices here are reasonable, I would rather pay a little more for a better overall experience.

Legend Seafood Restaurant
Chinatown Cultural Plaza
100 North Beretania Street Suite 108
Telephone:  808.532.1868

Bistro Sun

Much like what happened to that stretch of Kaimuki (anchored by Town and 12th Avenue Grill), this section of Moili'ili has seen a few new restaurants open over the last several months.  Restaurants such as Spices , Aki-No-No and Bistro Sun have brought a new flavor to the neighborhood around old timers such as Imanas Tei, Sushi King and India House.  What does this mean?  For the residents of the neighborhood it definitely means more eating options.

As a frequent visitor to Spices, which is located up the block, I have often walked past this place wondering exactly what was served here.  According to the signage, this is an Italian Fusion restaurant.  But what kind of fusion food did it serve?  My curiosity finally got the best of me and I decided to pop on in.

My first visit here was a while back and the visit I'm going to describe here, is the latest and most recent one, just about a week ago.  "Irasshaimase!" (Welcome), is what I heard when I walked in the door at about 1:00 pm.  Glancing around, I found the restaurant to be quite empty.  There was just a family of four at a table in the corner, and a couple seated at the table next to mine. 

The restaurant's decor is whimsical and eclectic.  If you've been to the homes of a few friends of mine, you'd probably see something similar.  A mish-mash of styles much too difficult to describe, I thought it odd to see an artifical palm near the entrance and the string of Christmas lights that went clear across the middle of the walls.

Since I was here for lunch, I noticed a few specials on the menu.  After some thought, I decided to have the "Bistro's Original Daily Pilaf Special (2 choices)".  When I asked what the choices were, I was told that I could select either the Sicilian Pilaf or the Gorgeous Antonio Pilaf.  Just on the name alone, I decided to have the Gorgeous Antonio Pilaf lunch special (US$7.95).

According to the menu, this lunch special includes salad, soup of the day, garlic bread & coffee or ume kobucha tea.  What a deal! 

The first dish to be served was the soup.

It was a tomato based soup with thin slivers of onion and sliced cabbage floating around in it.  On top, was a generous sprinkling of dried oregano (I think).  Although the soup was a little thin, I loved the rich tomato flavor.  It was just enough to start off the meal.

Next came the the salad.

Thinly julienned pieces of cabbage, some lettuce and cubes of tomato were covered in an olive oil and citrus based dressing.  When I tried to coax the dressing ingredients out of my waitress and the manager, I was told that it was a secret.  The dressing was really sour, and while the manager said it contained lemon juice, I thought it was made with yuzu kosho. 

Here was the garlic bread.

Crisp and crunchy, but not really garlic-y.

And finally, the Gorgeous Antonio Pilaf.  Does it look gorgeous or what?

A mound of rice was topped with a corned beef hash sauce, a couple cubes of beef, some cheese and the chef's "secret" sauce.  The rice pilaf, seemed to have been cooked with some tomato sauce before being baked in the oven with the rest of the ingredients.  The cubes of beef on top were fork tender, while the cheese added a bit of saltiness to counteract the sweetness of the "secret" sauce.  The rice itself was savory so there was a really complex flavor party going on here.  In fact, the sauce was so good, I ended up soaking up what was left with those two pieces of garlic bread.  You should have seen me in action.

Here's a closer look at that rice.

Not one to leave without dessert, I ordered Bistro's sautéed banana (US$5.95).

Slices of banana were first pan fried with a little white wine (I think that's what the manager said).  Next, the bananas were "returned" to their peels and topped with a healthy drizzle of chocolate sauce (fudge?).  The dessert wass then garnished with some whipped cream, a couple of mint leaves and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  While I liked the flavor of this dessert, it was from different from what the manager described it to be, so I was expecting just a little more.

Bistro Sun
2671 South King Street
Telephone:  808.946.7580

Pee Wee Drive In

Way back in 1985, a friend used to live a block away on Young Street, her mother used to own a shop around the corner on Kalakaua, Emilio's was still serving Italian food next door to her shop and Cinerama Theatre was still showing movies across the street.  Cinerama Theatre is now long gone as is my friend's mother's shop.  Emilio's closed down a short time ago, and my friend's mother also moved out from the apartment on Young Street.  My friend has now been living in Switzerland for 12 years, but Pee Wee Drive In is still going strong.

Quite a number of years ago, I had read in the local paper that the ownership of Pee Wee's had changed hands and I wondered if the food was still the same.  It has been many years since I was last here, even though I live quite nearby.  When I drove into the tiny parking lot, there was just one space left.  All of the tables fronting the shop were occupied and there were a few people sitting around waiting for orders that had already been placed.

I initially wanted to have the beef curry, but sadly it was sold out.  Instead, I opted for another old favorite, the BBQ burger with cheese, deluxe (plain, US$1.85; add US$.30 for cheese; add US$.35 for deluxe, includes lettuce, tomato, onion).

In less than 5 minutes, my burger was ready.  I also got a small order of the crinkle cut french fries (small, US$1.75; large, US$2.50) to eat with my burger.

Get a good look before it's gone!

The burger was just as I remembered.  More sweet than salty, this had a really strong BBQ (teriyaki) flavor.  The firm, well-cooked patty, the slightly melted cheese, the crisp fresh lettuce and sweet tomatoes all give this burger it's signature flavor.  Not quite as good as W & M or Bob's, and on par with the ones at Saint Louis Drive-In (no photo of the burger), it was good to know that some things never change.

By the way, I was even suprised to see green river on the drink menu.  How's that for a trip down memory lane?  Since I haven't seen that drink on a menu in ages, I got a medium sized green river to wash down all those delicious memories.  Ahhhh....

Pee Wee Drive In
1602 South King Street
Telephone:  808.949.5781

Malay Satay Hut - Seattle, Washington

After a pretty forgetful meal at Baba Neo in Mountain View, California earlier in the year, I was a bit hesitant to visit any restaurant claiming to serving "authentic" Malaysian food.  But the food here got an OK from a couple of friends and a few others found the food inconsistent and in need of "work".  So instead of ignoring the urge to eat here, I decided that I would give it a try.

Located in the International District near Chinatown, Malay Satay Hut is a foreigner amongst the Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants that fill the area.  It is located in a small strip mall and can be difficult to find, especially if you're like me and had no clue where you were supposed to be looking.

Once inside, I found the dining area to be about half full.  It was shortly after 11:00 am, so I didn't expect too many people to be here anyway.  After all, it was a little early for lunch, don't you think?

After looking over the rather extensive menu, I decided to stick with the basics.  I decided to start with a vegetable dish, the kang kung belachan (US$9.95).

At US$9.95, this was the most expensive dish that I ordered.  The kang kong (ung choi, water convolvulus, or swamp cabbage), was cooked perfectly.  It retained its crisp texture, and although the menu indicated that this was hot and spicy, it was neither.  There was quite a lot of dried shrimp used in the rempah (spice paste), but they definitely could have used a lot more chillies.

Next, we have the Penang chow kueh teow (US$7.25).

Thick, flat rice noodles are stir fried with bean sprouts, green onions and shrimp in a thick, sweet black sauce, then served with some chilli on the side.  This dish was similar to one I had in Singapore several months back.  The only thing missing was the spiciness and more of that sweet black sauce.  Otherwise, I found this to be quite good.

Here we have the Malay-style rojak (US$5.95).

There was a lot of pineapple, mango (!), cucumber and turnip here.  There was no you tiao (fried dough sticks), tau pok (deep fried tofu) or beansprouts in this at all.  That said, the dressing was too thin and too watery.  There was not enough belacan (shrimp paste) or chilli used in the preparation of the sauce which was much too sweet.

And finally, the nasi lemak (US$6.95).

A huge mound of nasi lemak was served with ikan billis, acar, rendang ayam, and a sliced boiled egg.  The rice was fragrant and had just the right amount of coconut flavor.  Sadly, I could not detect either the fragrance or flavor of pandan leaves here.  The acar seemed to be homemade and it was perfect.  The slightly sour sweetness went perfectly with the other items presented here.  The rendang was a little sweet and not really too spicy, but the meat was fork tender and quite flavorful.

Before I came here, someone told me that the food was quite good, but needed a little "work" to be better.  I have to agree.  With some dishes, the level of spiciness was not there, in others, key ingredients were lacking the "oomph" needed to make the dish more than just ordinary.  If the restaurant were to improve the quality of it's cooking, it may be able to justify the somewhat steep (in the case of the kang kong belacan) prices that they charge.

Malay Satay Hut
212 12th Avenue S
Seattle, Washington
Telephone:  206.324.4091
website

Typhoon! - Seattle, Washington

Even after all the food I ate throughout the day, I was still hungry when I arrived at Typhoon! for dinner.  I had heard a number of good things about the place and I was ready for a nice relaxing dinner.

When we arrived, the sun was still out and the restaurant was not crowded.  In a nice twist of fate, we got seated at a table right near the front window (great for taking pictures of the food).

After ordering our dinner, I proceeded to wash my hands in the restroom.  Along the way was this wall of tea -- Literally hundreds of glass jars filled with all types of different teas. 

As soon as I got back, the dishes started arriving, one by one.  Here is the beef salad (US$9.95).

Lean and tender slices of beef were combined with raw onion and tomato in a tangy lime and fish sauce based dressing.  The salad was ordered medium-hot and it didn't seem like there were any chillies in this at all.  While I enjoyed the tangy sourness of the dressing, this dish wasn't all that special.

Next to arrive was the miang kum (US$8.95).

The waiter recommened this dish and explained that this was the restaurant's signature appetizer.  It is described on the menu as follows:

"Rare Thai peasant dish.  Wrap a pinch of toasted coconut, shallot, ginger, lime, peanut, dried shrimp and Thai chili in a spinach leaf with Bo's signature sauce, then pop in your mouth to burst in a medley of flavors."

Following the instructions above, I put a little of each ingredient inside a spinach leaf, spooned on some of Bo's signature sauce, which coincidentally tasted a lot like mango chutney, then popped it into my mouth and waited for the burst of flavors.

Crunchy peanuts, spicy ginger, fiery chillies, salty shrimp, tangy lime, smokey coconut and sweet chutney, made for an extraordinary taste sensation.  I was initially worried that the flavors would be a bit unusual together, but they actually complimented each other quite well.  In only a few minutes, we had worked out way through the entire plate.

The next dish to find its way to our table was the chicken in green curry (veggie or chicken, US$10.95; beef or shrimp US$11.95).

This is something that I always order in any Thai restaurant that I visit.  In my opinion, it's quite hard to produce a green curry that has the right balance of all the essential flavors -- coconut milk, chillies, kaffir lime, lemongrass and galangal.  This one was no different than most of the curries that I've had before.  Not great, and not bad, but just OK.  With all the Asian produce markets out there, why don't these Thai restaurants use authentic ingredients in their curries?  By that I mean, makheua praow (Thai eggplants) and the much smaller, makheua phuang (pea eggplants, which are very bitter).

The last dish to arrive at the table was this, the pineapple fried rice (US$10.95).

Jasmine rice, pineapples, shrimp, chicken and cashew nuts were fried and seasoned with some curry powder, among other things, then garnished in this dish with some sliced cucumber.  I've never had Thai pineapple fried rice that was seasoned with curry powder before, and this was definitely interesting.  However, it was too interesting for me and I really didn't enjoy this.  What's also funny is that given the price one pays for a dish like this, one always hopes that it's going to be served in the traditional fashion -- which is the hollowed out half of a pineapple.  Sadly, I've never had it served this way at any Thai restaurant in the US.

After dinner, we looked over the dessert menu.  I decided to have an old favorite, the mango sticky rice (US$5.95).

For almost US$6.00, the portion here was really small.  The portion of sticky rice was similar in size to a deck of cards.  The mango, was equal to a third of a nice sized fruit.  That said, the sticky rice was prepared quite nicely although it needed just a little more coconut milk.

The food here at Typhoon! was OK at best.  The standout and best tasting dish of the evening, the miang kum, was probably the simplest to prepare.  Given the prices, and they hype surrounding this place, I expected food that was significantly better that what I was served.  Maybe that's why the place was half empty when we arrived.

Typhoon!
1400 Western Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Telephone:  206.262.9797
website

Monsoon - Seattle, Washington

Arriving at Monsoon at just about 9:30 am, I was surprised to see that the restaurant was still closed.  The website did say 9:00 am, didn't it? 

I stepped through the door, only to be told that the restaurant would be open at 10:00 am and that I could return later if I wished.  Later?  I took a cab there and once I left, I wouldn't be back.  So when I told the waitress that I would be waiting, she directed me to the cafe across the street since she didn't have anything to offer me.

As soon as 10:00 am came around, I made my way across the street just as the sign was being changed from "closed" to "open".

Since I had already waited for a little more than a half hour, I was happy to be the restaurant's first customer of the day.  I selected a table in the corner of the room and proceeded to review the menu.

Many of the dishes seemed interesting and at the last moment, I almost decided to have something other than the dim sum that I came for.  Since the list of dim sum offerings was short (7 items), I ordered one of each item and a pot of tea (ti kuan yin, US$4.00), then sat back and waited.

The dim sum slowly made their way to the table.  Among the first to arrive was the wrapped lotus leaf pork sticky rice.

This is one of my favorite dim sum dishes, and looking at it here in the steamer basket, the lotus leaf didn't look like it was steamed for long period of time.

After unwrapping the bundle, my suspicions proved to be true.  Even though there was a great deal of minced pork here, the glutinous rice had not been steamed long enough.  The grains of rice were still firm and "dry" instead of being "chewy" and slightly sticky.  Aside from being just slightly undercooked, this had excellent flavor.

Next to arrive were the vegetable potstickers.

Plump and full of vegetables, these potstickers had the required chewy skin although the bottoms were a bit overcooked.  I don't like it when they taste burnt.

Next came the pan fried daikon cakes.

To prepare this, daikon is first grated then mixed with ground shrimp, ground pork and various seasonings before being steamed.  The "cake" is then cut and pan fried to order.  To somehow make up for the slightly overdone potstickers, these were perfect -- slightly crisp outside, moist and tender inside.  Add some chilli sauce, and these were even better.

Pork shui mai with dried shiitake mushrooms.

When these arrived at the table, I knew they were going to taste good.  Cutting into one, I found that they were half cooked.  There was lots of lean cubes of pork (not minced pork) inside that wrapper, but it was still pink.  The waitress apologized then took it back to the kitchen and advised that it would be replaced.  As she turned to leave the table, she commented, "I'm so sorry.  I guess you're the one we pick on today.  It always happens for some reason."  I laughed as she left the table.  You see, besides receiving half cooked shui mai, when the pot of tea arrived at the table, the water inside was lukewarm.  It was definitely not hot enough for brewing tea.

As the shui mai made their way back to the kitchen, the shrimp dumplings emerged.

As the waitress set the basket down on the table, I curiously peered inside it.  Three translucent dumplings appeared to be stuffed full of shrimp.  After taking a bite, and then another, I was impressed.  Perfectly steamed, slippery dumpling skins were filled with large succulent shrimp until each was almost ready to burst.  Excellent!

Finally, another one of my favorites appeared at the table -- steamed bbq pork buns.

For this classic dim sum dish, you'll often find soft and fluffy bread surrounding savory bits of bbq pork (char siu).  Splitting this one in half, I found this.

After taking the first bite, I discovered that this tasted more like hoisin sauce than Chinese-style bbq pork.  Sweet and sticky, the lean chunks of bbq pork were tender and the filling to bun ratio was perfect.  I just wanted the filling to taste more like char siu than anything else.

And finally, the last item to make an appearance at the table were these crispy shrimp Chinese chive wontons.

Resembling "cakes" more than the wonton I was used to, the crisp, pillowy skins were filled with lots of Chinese chives (garlic chives) and shrimp.  I liked the presentation here as the dish had lots of character as well as flavor.  The dipping sauce was used sparingly to provide an additional layer of salty flavor to this already well seasoned wonton.

As I was getting ready to leave, my waitress arrived at my table with another basket filled with shui mai.  As she proceeded to apologize for the delay, I explained that it wasn't necessary for her to give me another basket, as I was already full and ready to leave.  She again apologized, returned the basket of shui mai to the kitchen and brought my check.  Looking over the check, I realized that she had removed the charge for the original basket of uncooked shui mai.

The dim sum here at Monsoon was flavorful, but a little expensive when compared to the prices I pay back home.  Though there were a couple of mis-steps with the cooking, overall, I found the food to be slightly better than average tastewise and I have to say that there was no skimping on the ingredients either.  Lots of whole shrimp, lean chunks of pork, and fresh vegetables found their place in each dim sum offering.  If they can iron out all the rough spots, I predict the weekend dim sum brunch will be just as popular the nightly dinners.

Monsoon
615 19th Avenue E
Seattle, Washington
Telephone:  206.325.2111
website

Flying Fish - Seattle, Washington

Located in Belltown, Flying Fish has been occupying the space at the corner of First and Bell for a little more than 10 years.  I had heard many good things about this restaurant, so I thought this would be a good introduction to food here in Seattle.

Serving Asian-inspired seafood dishes, I was told that the menu here changes daily depending on the ingredients available.  Upon entering the doorway of the restaurant, one is greeted by the orange glow of this here flying fish.

Stepping inside the restaurant, I advised the hostess of our 9:00 pm reservation, which she promptly acknowledged.  Even at 9:00 pm, the restaurant was quite crowded.  In fact, it was almost full.

Just as we were being seated, I spotted a table opening up outside.  Instead of sitting inside, I asked if it would be OK to sit at the table being vacated (so I could take photos of the food) -- "Sure, one moment while we get it set up for you," was the reply.

After looking over the menu, I couldn't decide what to order.  My initial selection was going to be the wok blackened opah, however, I was told that there had been a last minute change and that the dish was being prepared in similar fashion with ahi instead.  After looking over the menu again, I decided on a couple of appetizers, or small plates as they are called here, in lieu of an entrée (or large plate).

First up, was the Thai crab cake with lemongrass mayonaisse and orange shiso salad (US$9.80).

This appetizer came highly recommended by our waitress.  In fact, she proclaimed this to be the most popular appetizer on the menu.  The combination of flavors here was incredible -- sweet/tart orange, spicy shiso leaf and creamy/savory lemongrass mayonaisse -- all combined with the thick and meaty crab cake.  I can see why the waitress recommended it.  After I was done, I wanted another.

Next to arrive, was the field greens salad, toasted hazelnut vinaigrette, parmesan crisp (US$6.95).

Crisp greens were tossed with a hazelnut vinaigrette and served with a lone, spicy parmesan crisp.  There was little flavor to the vinaigrette which should have been infused with hazelnuts.  In fact, what I didn't like about this was that there was way too much oil here, rendering the greens a bit soggy as I worked my way through the salad.

And to round out the appetizers, the steelhead, lobster and wild mushroom tart, sorrel sauce (US$11.55).

A piece of pan fried steelhead was propped up against a slice of wild mushroom and lobster tart.  The crisp skin of the steelhead proved to be a great contrast to the moist, flaky meat.  The tart, which was served at room temperature, had a flaky crust and just the right ratio of savory mushrooms to sweet lobster meat.  To finish, the dish was plated with two very different tasting sauces -- a slightly sweet, citrusy butter based sauce (yellow) and a slightly sweet, grassy tasting sorrel/olive oil based sauce (green).

The friend who had joined me for dinner ordered the crispy monkfish, curried vegetables, rice, spicy peanut curry sauce (US$23.90).

I had a taste of this and found the curried vegetables, which were served cold, to be seasoned quite well -- the vegetables had a nice spiciness to them.  The fish, which was crisp, and perfectly cooked, was just a bit too salty.  And I didn't find that there was anything remotely spicy about the peanut sauce.

Since I had eaten a light dinner, I definitely was going to have dessert.  I chose Elsie's miracle meringue cake, strawberry ice cream and berry sauce (US$6.75).

Dense, rich and moist, this layer cake had a slightly crunchy meringue topping and strawberry infused cream that was sandwiched between the layers.  To add to the strawberry overload was a scoop of fresh strawberry ice cream and some tart strawberry sauce.  After the first bite, I declared this a success, even though it tasted a lot like strawberry shortcake.

The other dessert that we decided to order was the nectarine blackberry crisp, almond meringue topping, lemon ice cream (US$7.50).

Unlike the first dessert which had been successfully executed, this one did not appeal to me at all.  The topping had a "sandy" mouthfeel to it, the nectarines were still a bit too firm (undercooked) and the blackberries were just too tart.  To add to that, the lemon ice cream was really tart as well (this would have been good on its own).  The combination of flavors here just didn't work well together.

The food here was almost exactly as I had imagined it would be.  The appetizers, with the exception of the salad, were tasty and well prepared.  The entrée, was a bit less refined tastewise, but was acceptable for what it was -- a few pieces of crispy fried fish, served with some vegetables and rice -- and certainly not worth the price.  The desserts, on the other hand, were a bit hit and miss and definitely not anything that I would rush to order again.  Would I come back here again?  For the service, definitely.  For the food?  Well, let's see.  If I did, I would be more inclined to order the small plates, selectively order an entrée and definitely skip dessert.

Flying Fish
2234 First Avenue
Seattle, Washington
Telephone:  206.728.8595
website

Sunrise Restaurant

After making a few calls this afternoon, a few of us decided to get together tonight for dinner.  Since everything was planned at the last minute, we wanted to go somewhere that didn't require reservations and that didn't require us to get dressed up.  Someone suggested Okinawan food, and since it was still early, we ended up here at Sunrise.

As you enter, you can hear the sound of Okinawan music as it fills the room.  The restaurant is small and cozy, with seating for about 25 people.  It was quite busy when we arrived as there were only a couple of tables available.

Besides a few specials listed on a couple of boards behind the sushi bar, the dinner menu is quite short.  Actually, there are 10 different items on the regular menu to chose from.  On the bottom of the single paged menu are the sushi combination dinners.

While snooping around in the condiment tray, which is something that I often do, I noticed this.  Anyone know what it is?  I wanted to open the bottle to smell the contents, but I decided not to.  These actually looked like pickled chili peppers if you ask me.

After placing our orders, the first items to arrive were the tea and some takuan (pickled daikon).

Two of us ordered the sushi combination with Okinawan soba (US$12.00).

Topped with a tender, meaty pork rib, the soup was further garnished by a lone slice of kamaboko (fish cake) and some chopped green onions.  The bowl here was on the small side, but it was full of noodles.  The broth was clear and had a meaty, slightly spicy flavor.  After eating some of the noodles in the bowl, I was surprised to see lots of benishoga (shredded pickled ginger) in the broth.

Here is a close up of the Okinawan soba noodles.  See how the noodles are thick and somewhat flat?  These noodles are usually made using wheat flour instead of buckwheat flour, which is what traditional soba noodles are made from.  These noodles were firm and slightly chewy -- perfectly cooked if you ask me.

(Sorry this one's a little blurry.)

The other two ordered the sushi combination with the special miso soup (US$12.00).

The miso and shrimp flavored broth was garnished with a slice of kamaboko, some chopped green onions and a shrimp head.  After digging through the bowl of soup, we discovered it filled with all sorts of stuff -- bean sprouts, tofu, luncheon meat (!), wakame (seaweed), salmon, daikon and Chinese cabbage.  I'm not sure if I missed anything, but if I did, it's because there was quite a bit in that little bowl of soup.

This was the sushi platter that was served with our combination meals.

It contained three pieces of tekka maki (tuna roll), three pieces of kappa maki (cucumber roll), two pieces maguro (tuna), two pieces hamachi (yellowtail), one piece tako (octopus), one piece unagi (eel), a pile of gari (pickled ginger) and a mound of wasabi.  The fish was fresh, and I felt we were given a nice assortment of sushi.  As always, my favorites were the hamachi and the unagi.

The food here at Sunrise is good, and to some, it's just like homemade.  Even though the portions may seem small, by the time you're done eating, you realize that you're full.  All those things, along with the homey atmosphere, the prompt service and the not-so-usual flavors and dishes, give me enough reasons to keep coming back.

Sunrise Restaurant
525 Kapahulu Avenue
Telephone:  808.737.4118

Royal Kitchen

Manapua shops are a dime a dozen here in Hawaii.  A few of these shops have their specialties and I'm sure that many people have their favorite shops too.  Royal Kitchen is the home of "baked manapua", so if it's baked manapua that I want to eat, I will usually come to get it here.

Located outside the Chinatown Cultural Plaza right next to Nuuanu stream, you'll see a lot of elderly men out front playing mah jongg, card games or checkers.  Inside, the shop is small and cramped -- see for yourself.

On the wall facing the counter you'll see the menu board listing the various types of manapua being offered as well as some of the menu items.  On the right is the warmer where the manapua is kept once it comes out of the oven. Since the warmer was nearly full, I got to sample a few of the baked manapua.  Here is the baked cha siu bun (US$.90).

The bread here is light and fluffy with just a touch of sweetness.  The ratio of filling to bun was good and the minced char siu was quite tasty though a bit fatty.

I also tried the baked kalua pork bun (US$.90).

The kalua pork bun didn't really "WOW" me this time.  The pork had a smokey aroma and flavor, however, it was just a bit too salty and a little too dry.  Since this was the last one in the warmer, it may have been sitting for a while. 

And finally, the baked lup cheong bun (US$.90).

An "elongated" bun was filled with a piece of sweet, oily lup cheong.  I rarely eat lup cheong, but this was good -- imagine eating a Chinese "hot dog".

To go along with the manapua, I also ordered two pork hash (siu mai, US$.50 each).

The pork hash were bite-sized, meaty and not at all salty.  The skin was thick and chewy and just the slightest bit oily.

And for an after lunch snack, I got a small package of shrimp chips (US$.50; large US$1.00).

Light and crisp, these made a nice snack.  However, the shrimp chips were a little salty and not as shrimp-y as I would have liked.

Royal Kitchen calls itself the "Home of Baked Manapua" and it's a statement I think many people agree with.  There are about 10 different varieties of baked manapua served here -- from kalua pork to vegetarian to chicken curry -- definitely something for everyone.  The prices here are reasonable and the food is quite tasty.  Royal Kitchen also offers a limited menu of plate lunches featuring Chinese dishes as well as catering and roasting services. 

Royal Kitchen
Chinatown Cultural Plaza
100 North Beretania Street Shop 175
Telephone:  808.524.4461 or 808.524.2843

Mahalo Hawaii BBQ

Sometimes you're not always served the best food when you eat out somewhere, but what brings you back is time and time again is the people.  That's exactly how I feel about Mahalo Hawaii BBQ. 

Over the course of several years, I had visited L & L Drive-Inn near the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Young Street (restaurant #12 for those in the know) whenever I wanted something quick and inexpensive to eat -- most often, it was the mini chicken katsu, or the mini loco moco.  On a visit about six months ago, I discovered that this place had changed, it was not L & L anymore, it was now Mahalo Hawaii.

Inside, the tables and fixed seating were the same.  The walls had been painted over with some bright yellow and orange paint.  And then there were the light fixtures.  Tiny pendant lamps hung over the tables casting a strange orange glow over the place. 

Instead of the usual stuff that I normally order, I decided on the mini general's chicken with fried rice (US$5.00; regular plate, US$7.95).

The fried rice was quite bland in the typical fast food, plate lunch place way and contained frozen peas and carrots, lots of onions and tiny bits of egg.  There were two pieces of steamed broccoli instead of the generic macaroni salad, and a huge mound of general's chicken.  Now, when I asked what this was, the girl at the counter (who was new, I suppose) told me that this was spicy "orange flavored" chicken.  When I tasted it, it was neither orange flavored, nor was it spicy.  Go figure.  It was probably the restaurant's attempted at serving General Tso's chicken.  Now I don't know of this is a Chinese creation or an American Chinese creation, but I do remember that I ate it for the first time at either a Hunan Garden or Ollie's Noodle Shop in New York City in the late 80's or early 90's.

On another occasion, I had the chicken katsu and fried mahi mixed plate (US$5.75).

A deep fried piece of mahi mahi was served alongside some deep fried chicken katsu.  It's stuff like this that makes me really love places like this.  In fact, I think they were made to serve this type of artery clogging goodness.  Most often times, at least in my opinion, the deep fried stuff is generally the best stuff on the menu.  Too bad I couldn't eat this all the time.

Mahalo Hawaii BBQ, much like the L & L's before it, doesn't really serve the best food in town, but it's OK.  If you're on a budget, you will get a huge portion of food for your dollar which makes this an attractive deal for many.  Mahalo Hawaii continues to offer the same menu as L & L -- local style plate lunches and sandwiches with a few pseudo Chinese dishes added on for good measure.  One thing for sure, the service here is fast and most often times pleasant.

Mahalo Hawaii BBQ
1513 Young Street Suite 101
Telephone:  808.951.4300

The Chef's Table

Located in a strip mall that's also home to Costco, Jamba Juice, Starbucks and Panda Express, the Chef's Table seems to be a little out of place.  It's one of the few restaurants that I know of that serves European cuisine in the state -- in this instance, the restaurant's specialty is Austrian food.  The restaurant has quietly existed in the Hawaii Kai Towne Centre for just about 8 years now, and after hearing so much about this place, I decide to pay it a visit.

With a frequent dining partner in tow, we make the drive out to Hawaii Kai (about 20 minutes from my apartment) and since it's a little after 7:00 pm when we arrive, the parking lot is empty.  I was surprised to find that the restaurant was doing brisk business as close to 75% of the tables were already occupied.

After rattling off a list of specials, our waitress brought us some break and left us so that we could look over the menu.  It has been a while since I last ate Austrian food so I had to ask the waitress for a little help in deciphering the menu.  She was very helpful in making recommendations, and after we had placed our orders, the dishes started appearing in a slow procession.

First to arrive was the carrot and orange zest soup (included in the meal).

The soup was warm and delicious and not at all like what I expected.  It was light and full of tender shards of carrot, onion and celery. 

Next was the appetizer recommended by our waitress, the roasted mushrooms in cheese and walnut sauce (US$7.50).

Underneath the cheese were tender slices of mushroom surrounded by a delicious gravy.  I couldn't quite make out the flavors, but it was definitely something that I would come back for.  As we worked our way to the bottom of the bowl we discovered bread there -- great for soaking up all that rich gravy.

Next was the house salad with onion vinaigrette (included in the meal).

(Sorry for the terrible photo.)

For dinner, I ordered the wienerschnitzel (US$18.50).

A lightly breaded and pan fried piece of veal cutlet was served with a lemon wedge, some steamed broccoli and carrots, a mound of red cabbage and some onion potatoes.  The veal cutlet was moist and fork-tender.  The breading was not too thick and the veal had been seasoned perfectly.  The braised