'Ono Kine Grindz

Manoa Bar-B-Que

I haven't been to Manoa Marketplace in ages, so a few days ago, I decided to take a trip out there to see what was still there foodwise.  I was in the mood for something quick and simple, and the first thing that came to my mind was sandwich.  The next thought after that was plate lunch.  Well, I wasn't really in the mood for bread so I decided that I would try the food at Manoa Bar-B-Que.

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I neglected to take a photo outside the shop.  I'll remember to visit and update this post.

From what I understand, Manoa Bar-B-Que has been at the Marketplace for a while now, but for some reason, I never noticed it.  Stepping inside, it looks just like any other Mom-and-Pop plate lunch shop in the Islands -- refrigerator(s) in the main dining area, boxes piled everywhere and the cheap tables with vinyl covered chairs.

After looking over the menu, I decided to have the bento (US$5.50).

The bento contained some teriyaki beef, a piece of Spam® (!), some chicken katsu and a piece of fried mahi.  The teriyaki beef was nicely seasoned, not too sweet and not too much shoyu flavor either.  The meat was tender, and just a little fatty.  The chicken katsu was crispy and crunchy -- well fried, but not oily.  In fact, it might have been fried just a little too "well".  And the piece of mahi was very generously sized.  It was seasoned, then coated with egg and flour, then pan fried until golden brown.  The fish was flaky and surprisingly, not too salty.

To go along with my bento, I decided to splurge on a side order fried won ton (5 pieces, US$1.95).

When the won ton arrived, I was a bit perplexed.  It was the first time that I saw won ton that were folded like these were.  Though the won ton were well fried and crispy, the won ton skin was just a bit too thick for me to enjoy.  It tasted a bit like eating some cooked dough even though each won ton was stuffed with quite a bit of ground pork filling.  What also surprised me was that I received "lemon" dipping sauce for these.  The sauce actually made a better match for my chicken katsu.

Even though I didn't enjoy the won ton, I did enjoy the bento.  The food here is a bargain considering the size of the portions.  And even though the girl at the counter wasn't the friendliest person, the food was quickly prepared and the tables were clean.  I wouldn't make a trip out to Manoa to eat here, but if I was in the area, I would definitely stop in again.

Manoa Bar-B-Que
Manoa Marketplace
2752 Woodlawn Drive Suite 5-111
Telephone: (808)988-4979

ManoaBar-B-QueMenu
(Requires Adobe Acrobat)

Bubbies Homemade Ice Cream & Desserts

This past week the weather has been quite strange.  One minute, there are thunder showers, the next minute, it's hot and humid.  My body didn't know what to think.  It's been a while since I've been to Bubbies, but I've been feeling in the mood for some ice cream so off I went....

Located near the University of Hawaii, this is probably the best known of all the locally owned and operated ice cream shops.  The quality of the homemade ice cream can't be beat.  Ice cream here is served by weight, so you can basically have a huge single scoop...or one that's not so huge.  Check out the menu, there are so many different types of ice cream desserts that you can get. 

See the freezer case to the left in the picture above?  Inside it, you'll find ice cream cakes of all sorts, as well as some strangely named desserts, like "Hair by Daniel".  Is that funny or what?

Bubbies is very well known for their mochi ice cream.  A bite of rich homemade ice cream surrounded by sweet mochi, similar to daifuku mochi (mochi wrapped around sweet red bean paste).  These little treats are bite sized, and they make the perfect snack.  And no...you can't eat just one!  I decided on a six pack (6 for US$5.30, or US$1.50 each).

In this take out container, I chose one of each of the following:  azuki (azuki bean ice cream surrounded by pink mochi), green tea (green tea ice cream surrounded by green mochi), guava (guava ice cream surrounded by pink mochi), lychee (lychee ice cream surrounded by white mochi), passion fruit (passion fruit ice cream surrounded by orange mochi), sakura (vanilla ice cream surrounded by cherry blossom flavored mochi).

My favorite of all these flavors has got to be either the green tea or the sakura. 

(Here's the inside of the green tea one.)

This was refreshing and delicious...and no, I didn't eat them all in one sitting!  Although I could have!

Bubbies Homemade Ice Cream & Desserts
1010 University Avenue
Telephone:  808.949.8984

Kit n' Kitchen

A friend of mine told me about Kit n' Kitchen a few months ago, but I never got around to visiting this place.  Well, this past weekend I didn't have any choice.  Said friend, invited me to lunch and brought me here.

Kit n' Kitchen is located near the University of Hawaii and was described to me as a "Chinese-Italian" restaurant.  I had never tried Chinese-Italian food before, but I was interested.  Once inside a few of the many tables were occupied.  In fact, as I was walking in, a woman was walking out and told me that I would definitely enjoy the food!  How's that for advertising?

After glancing at the menu, we decided to start with an appetizer, the meat en croute (US$3.95).

On the menu, it's described as "our classic meat sauce baked over crunchy toast".  The toast was crunchy and the bread was very light and airy.  There was just enough meat to give the bread some weight, however, to my tastebuds, the meat sauce was quite bland.  I guess I'm used to the rich, "tomato-y" flavors of traditional Italian cooking.

For the main meal, we decided on having a dish each and sharing.  We first chose the roast garlic chicken on rice (US$6.95).

This was pieces of chicken topped with a tomato-based sauce and crunchy bits of garlic.  The sauce was much better than that on the toast, however, I found it a bit too sweet for my tastes.  The chicken was nicely flavored, but I found that there was too much sauce on this dish.  The crunchy bits of garlic added an interesting texture to this dish...

We also ordered the black pepper pork chop on rice (US$7.50).

This was a typical Chinese-inspired dish.  Here the pork chop was pre-sliced, placed on jasmine rice, and topped with black pepper sauce and cheese (!).  While most of the pork chop was tender and juicy, there were a few pieces that were hard and gristly.  There was also quite a bit of fat here.  For me, this rendered about a third of the dish inedible.  The sauce here was very thick and only mildly spicy.  There was actually so much sauce on this that the rice became "mushy".  I normally don't like this type of food to have too much gravy or sauce, so for me, this was overkill.  The cheese, by the way, did little to enhance, or detract, from the overall flavor of the dish.

While I didn't throughly enjoy what I had here today, it wasn't half bad.  There were actually quite a few items on the menu that I found appealing and that I would be willing to try.  I'm looking forward to sampling more of the dishes on the menu, and I'll remember to ask them to "go easy on the sauce" the next time.

Kit n' Kitchen
1010 University Avenue
Telephone:  808.942.7622

Golden Dynasty Chinese Restaurant

A friend called to invite me out for a bowl of won ton soup, so I said, "Sure, why not!"  We decided to meet a Golden Dynasty.  Now at first glance, you wouldn't think much of this place...

...and believe me, I didn't think much of this place when I first saw it either.  My friend, however, convinced me that the food here was reasonably priced and the servings were huge.  Since then, this has been a place that I've come to enjoy when I'm in the mood for some won ton soup.

First, we ordered the shrimp won ton soup (US$4.25).  This bowl is large enough to feed 2-3 people and tonight, I counted at least 8 won tons!  This bowl also contains a few pieces of lean char siu (Chinese barbeque pork), won bok (Chinese cabbage) and some green onions.

I've never had such a large bowl of won ton soup at such a reasonable cost!

Next, we ordered the egg fu-yung (US$4.50).  This one is plain, with no meat in it...just some bean sprouts, onions...

This dish is nothing to get excited about, but the best thing about this is, that they don't make it with MSG and they don't use too much oil. 

And to finish, we ordered the sea bass with sweet and sour sauce (US$7.50).  This dish is also not so oily considering it's deep fried. 

The sauce is just right...not too sweet and not too sour.  My only regret is the fish fillet.  They do use big pieces of fish, but the batter is just too thick.  I like a nice thin coating of batter before the fish is deep fried.  When this dish arrives at our table, some of the pieces are already soggy.  I attribute this to the amount of batter on the fish itself.

All in all, this ended up being a fairly satisfying meal. 

Golden Dynasty Chinese Restaurant
University Square
2615 South King Street Suite 108
Telephone:  808.955.1067