Archive | April 2023

Mixed Plate Friday

Apr28

Cream Cheese Guava Danish

My wonderful coworker got me this nice morning breakfast treat this week! She got it from Wallflour Bake Shop. Oh my gosh, and I got to try it while it was fresh and it was soooo good. So buttery and flakey and just delicious. I’ve never been to this bakery but if this pastry was an indication, go for it!

Somen Salad

How cute is this? How cute is the spam heart? This was part of the offerings of a cute 15th birthday party. Oh man, the mother put so many details into the party. The decorations and the food, I could absolutely tell she put so much work into the party. It’s really all the little details that count you know? I noticed them all and I hope her daughter appreciated them too!

Spicy Black Bean Jalapeno Dip

I got onto this wagon too late. I know they had this a few months already and finally only got it like a week ago. Well dang it, it is GOOD. Not too spicy but guess what. It’s all gone already. And I see it says limited time so I guess I won’t get to eat it again. Sigh. Now I’m scouring the internet for bean dip recipes, who would have ever thunk it. If you ever see this in stock again, let me know!!!!

Post Views: 1,126

Uncle’s Chicken – Kalihi, HI

Apr26

When Uncle’s Chicken opened up a while ago, I really wanted to try it. I was intrigued by the whole fried chicken (well it’s a cornish game hen). My initial craving went away so I didn’t try it until last week. They have a supposed website to order online but it didn’t work the entire day so forget that.

Crispy Fried Whole Chicken | $15.95

How was it? Okay. The sauce that comes with it…it’s like a tangy creamy sauce. I’m not raving about this but I didn’t dislike it too you know?

Shrimp Sandwich | $9.25

Another thing we were excited to try. Maybe V would be excited to try it too but ehhh, no need. I tried it so you don’t have to. It’s texture is like fish paste so it’s not like you get any distinct shrimp flavor nor are there any nice morsels of shrimp in there. No can tell what you even eating.

Post Views: 9,480

Bac Nam – Honolulu, HI

Apr24

I’ve done a few postings here and there about Bac Nam but I don’t think I ever did a full post! How can?? Great Vietnamese restaurant, one of my favorites. Though…not for their pho. Sorry! I like their other dishes moreso than the pho so I recommend you coming here if you are not wanting pho. Well you can order the pho but you won’t be trying their best dishes!

Vietnamese Steamed Dumplings | $12.95
marinated shrimp, pork and onions wrapped into a thin layer of tapioca flour dough, then steamed – served with special House fish sauce

It went up one dollar within a few months but still as good as ever. I assume this is homemade, I think it would be hard to reheat this dish from frozen. Tapioca based flour is hard maintain after freezing or even putting in the fridge, delicious!

Crab Curry | $26.95
French Bread | $3.50

Wow, good thing I keep notes on my meals. The curry went up $2.00 and the bread went up 50 cents lol within a few months. Still one of my favorite dishes even though it pains me to pay for the french bread. While I am a huge fan of rice especially with curries, somehow, the bread just works best with this curry. Get plenty Japanese tourists at this restaurant and you know they all order the crab curry. It’s delish!

Side Order Rice | $3.00

Braised Large Prawn | $23.95

Okay, here’s the funny story. They have either entree style of this dish or a rice plate. The rice plate costs $20.95 while the entree costs $23.95…we asked how many prawns come in each dish. The rice plate comes with 2(!) prawns versus the entree which comes with a whopping…3. Well this was my main dish and I wanted to share my prawns but well…I didn’t really just want one freaking prawn for dinner so I went for the prawns entree along with a side of rice. Ridic. Well I ended up only eating one prawn cause I was full from the appetizers anyway. I wouldn’t get this dish again because it’s just not worth it. And if I were to, I’d get the rice plate. Blah! Anyway, tasted good just not worth the price.

Parking, they have a back lot that is a bit horrendous. If you go dinner time, I believe the metered street parking is free from 6PM – you gotta go read the sign.

Post Views: 1,523

Mixed Plate Friday

Apr21

Breakfast Bento | $4.77

Sushi Robot is located outside of the Kaheka Don Quijote – they been there forevers and sell all kinds of good grab and go foods. I got this bento one morning after an early shop. Can’t lose with a $5 meal! And it’s definitely filling. I would get it again!

Okinawan Soba | $13.00 (or $14.00)

Raysam Hawaii is a cute little Okinawan food truck that comes onto the UH Campus! I like to support him when I can, it seems like a one man operation. I enjoyed their handmade omusubi and decided to try their okinawan soba this time. It was delicious! And I love that he serves it separate from the broth, no bloated noodles!

I saw this bag of turtle chips at 711 and couldn’t resist because I love truffle. Bugga was expensive, $6.09 and how is it? Junk brah, no get it. It’s still too sweet and the truffle taste is minimum yet artificial and just tastes like MSG or something. No waste your money.

Post Views: 1,635

SXY Szechuan – Ala Moana, HI

Apr19

It is very hard for me to take a restaurant seriously with a name like SXY Szechuan. Also, how do you even pronounce it? Do I just say sexy szechuan? If you read my blog, you know I have a thing for spicy foods. I love Chengdu Taste with all my heart but we pass by SXY all the time and we decided it was finally time to try it. How was it? Good, but not better than Chengdu. Wouldn’t mind returning to try other dishes but Chengdu still reigns supreme in my heart.

Stir-fried Green Beans | $15.99
with szechuan flavor

Nice dish, nicely seasoned. Love the crispy garlic on top! The reason it tastes so good is probably because they deep fry the beans in oil.

Griddle Pork Intestines | $23.99
with vegetable mix

Super cute presentation. A mini wok! I almost wish they served it with like a mini spatula but we got just a spoon. It also comes with a tealight candle at the bottom keeping the dish warm. There is a similar dish to this at Chengdu and I think it’s better at Chengdu. I guess I like that Chengdu cuts the intestines a bit thicker and I like the meatyness. They cut it thinner here but you may like that because it’s crispier that way! Good flavor. Spiciest dish of the night even though we asked for the same spice level through all.

Spicy Fried Chicken Wings | $17.99

Good dish. Not spicy. Tons of garlic. You can’t lose!

Stir-fried Jiangxi Noodles | $16.99

Boo, junkest dish of the night. Absolutely no flavor, and not at all spicy, forreal. It was so disappointing and this is coming from someone who loves noodles. I would have asked for hot sauce on the side but I didn’t. Blah!

Spicy Pork Dumpling | $12.99

You can order either won tons or dumplings, I wanted something a bit more substantial so I went with the dumpling. It was good!

Lychee Beer | $5.00

Ha! If you know me, you know I don’t drink (don’t make me bring up Suntory) but I was curious about a lychee beer. Well it was super good. Why? Because it just tastes like lychee soda. I could probably down a 6 pack of this. I heard you can find this at Hmart or Don Q so no need spend $5 for one can here.

Post Views: 1,780

The 220 Grille Restaurant Pt. 2 – Diamond Head, HI

Apr17

I’m back again with yet another 220 Grille Restaurant review! Part 1 can be found here. Last time, I shared it a bit too late so they closed for a bit. They are open again but you only have until the 27th! I am not sure how often their sessions open up, I do hope they have summer menus! Support KCC culinary students and enjoy some nicely priced food!

Pūlehu Island Grass Fed Beef Steak | $14.00
w/ Spicy Shoyu Lomi Tomato Salsa, Steamed Rice & Furikake

Shared this plate with my coworker, we enjoyed it! Very simple salt and pepper seasoning on the steak. What I like is the nice sear and char. They also ask how you want it, we asked for medium rare. The tomato salsa didn’t have a lot of flavor so it didn’t bring a lot to the plate. The veggies were nice and rice is rice. I would order again!

Old School Teri Burger | $10.00
made with Locally Sourced Grass Fed Beef with Sauteed Onions and Mayo served with Fries, garnished with Mari’s Garden Lettuce, Tomato and House Made Pickles

Not my dish but I had it before and this is still the hands down most bang for your buck dish. Huge burger with homemade patty. Where can you get burger and fries for $10? Get down here!

220 Grille Pan Fried Calamari Steak | $13.00
w/ Creamy Lemon Caper Sauce, w/ Kahuku Sea Asparagus, Tomatoes, Edamame, Carrots & Small Kine Farms Mushrooms served w/ Mashed Potato

They had two calamari dishes that day, I kind of wish I got the one on special versus this one. The calamari was nicely breaded and fried, and nice and tender inside! The mashed potatoes were bland, if no more gravy, the mash should be buttery and salty. Not so. The creamy lemon caper sauce was needed for the dish, but was so thick and chunky that it was like a stew. I mean I liked it but are we stretching the term sauce here? Tasted ono!

2 Lady Farmers Pork Cutlet | $13.00
with Gravy, Mashed Potato and Succotash

Not my dish, but it was nicely cooked! And they pack the gravy separately which is great! No soggy pork cutlet!

Warm Pineapple Peach Cobbler | $4.00
with Fresh Whipped Cream

My dessert, I love myself a cobbler. If you want fresh pineapple and peaches, you won’t find it in this. It’s canned for both I think but I don’t mind that. I enjoyed the dessert because I love the cobbler topping. And it’s $4! I wouldn’t mind trying their other desserts though!

Post Views: 1,229

Mixed Plate Friday

Apr14

For those who know, know! Gateway Cafe is located in the Gateway Student Housing for UH students but their cafeteria is open to the public! For $12.25 at lunch – you can get a pretty good buffet! They put up daily menus every week so you can take a look and see if you are interested. Here’s a sampling of a recent lunch I had. The pasta is hit or miss but on this day, it was a hit! The pink vodka sauce is chef’s kiss. I can’t forget to eat my hot dog. They also advertise their in-house baked bread but I am pretty irked that the last few times I’ve gone…no bread!!! I would pay just to eat that bread. Give me the bread!

Jajangmyeon | $12.95

Is it time for me to compare the different black bean noodle restaurants in Hawaii? This dish is from Dowon Chinese Restaurant, it was alright. To me the sauce was a bit watered down and kind of sweet. A bit odd. I guess I gotta try On Dong again to compare. Also, I don’t know if they give it for dine in but when you order take out, they don’t give you the raw onions and black bean paste as a side. Boo.

Pan Fried Dumplings | $5.00

This is a funny story. I am usually the runner for food pick-ups in Chinatown. This time, my coworker helped do the run and boy did she get a sweat. I ordered pan fried dumplings from Heaven Chinese Noodle and BBQ Cafe. This place is a super hole in the wall Chinese place at the Chinese Cultural Plaza. And when you find it, it’s hit or miss if you are able to communicate with the staff. I gave an easy enough order, pan fried dumplings for $5.00. They go and ask my coworker how many dumplings. Like what??? How many pieces. So she’s texting me asking and I’m like…whatever comes in that order? I was so confused. I think they eventually said it’s 5 pieces, okay that works great. She got super flustered because they weren’t that friendly too lol.

Anyway, the dumplings were really good and they ended up giving I think 7 dumplings so thank you. I really enjoy their food, very home cooking kine and their prices are good! If you’re curious where they are, they are right next to Royal Kitchen.

Post Views: 1,271

Recipe: Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

Apr12

I eat broccoli all the time and after a while, I get tired of the same old roasted broccoli. I saw this recipe on TikTok and wanted to try it because I always love how the vegetables are made in Chinese restaurants but I never made them myself before. I love this, it’s super savory and flavorful and chock full of garlic. I adjusted this recipe for my own needs since I buy the big bag of broccoli from Sam’s/Costco. I also probably add way more garlic.

Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

Ingredients:

2-3 lb Broccoli (I get the ready to use bags from Costco/Sam’s Club)

2 T neutral oil

2 t salt (for boiling broccoli)

3 T minced garlic (I used a whole head of garlic lol)

6 T oyster sauce

3 T shaoxing wine

¾ C Water

Cornstarch slurry: 3 t + 3 t water

Directions:

Steam the broccoli to your liking. I boil it in a big pot of salted water for about 2-3 minutes, I don’t want the broccoli too soft. Drain broccoli from water and set aside.

Heat up oil and garlic until fragrant in a pan, no need to brown the garlic. Add the oyster sauce, shaoxing wine and water and bring to a boil. Add cornstarch slurry and stir immediately, take pan off the heat. Pour the sauce over the steamed broccoli, mix and serve!

Post Views: 1,462

Big Kahuna’s Pizza – HNL Airport, HI

Apr10

I’ve been wanting to try Big Kahuna’s for a long time now but I am never out by the airport. I had a pick-up at the airport this past weekend and it married up perfectly for a dinner run. I called in my order and timed it perfect for the pick-up. It was a Saturday night so I called in about an hour beforehand and the order was ready to go when we got there. They also have a special, buy one get one half off of their 12″ pizzas. The parking lot is pretty expansive and the restaurants validate for 2 hours I believe. There is a grace period of 10 minutes so we didn’t really need validation.

12″ Sumo Special | $23.85
pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, bacon, Portuguese sausage, kalua pork, onions, fresh mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, and black olives

Hands down the best pizza of the night. Look at all those toppings! And the crust is perfect, thin but not too thin. Nice and crispy. We noticed that although our pizzas were ready, they grab it from the oven when you get there so you’re not getting pizza that is sitting around getting cold! Super good.

12″ Portagee | $23.45
Hawaii’s king of sausage with sliced tomatoes and sprinkled with green onions

Good, not great. How can I compare this one after I had the Sumo?? And the price difference is so small! This one was okay but hands down, order the sumo!!

Garlic Cheese Balls (12) | $8.95
baked in butter and garlic, topped with our five cheeses

This is one of the dishes they are known for and it’s one of the dishes I was dying to try. We actually ordered the 6 pack and they gave us the 12 pack (charged us for the 12 pack too) by mistake. It’s okay, it’s double the amount of balls for only 2 bucks more, so this was a better deal. how was it? Well…good, not great. I think if they served it alongside marinara sauce (even better, spicy marinara), it would have been way better. So yeah, a bit dry for my taste.

Post Views: 2,222

Mixed Plate Friday

Apr7

Bobo Chicken with Red Chili and Mixed Vegetable Skewers | $24.99

Just wanted to share a new dish I tried at Chengdu Taste, not new for their menu just new for me. It was pretty good. It’s a pure spectacle to see each piece of meat or vegetable on a skewer. It comes with plenty of that “soup” but unless you like burn a hole in your tummy, I wouldn’t eat it over rice. I tried, I couldn’t hack it. Good dish though! Got a good mixture of vegetables, chicken and quail eggs.

Poke Nachos | $17.95

Aloha Cones started offering up Poke Nachos so I treated my brothers to lunch there. Gotta support local but also look at the price. LOL, I’m a broken record about price. What I will say is…they give a good portion and I am pretty sure they fry the chips fresh when you order it. They really enjoyed the dish and I guess this is the running price for poke now so I guess I would recommend!

Guava & Cream Pie ($2.19 for 1 | $3.19 for 2)

Hawaii McDonald’s has a limited time Guava & Cream Pie and it was all over social media so of course I had to try. The day I wanted to try it, all the locations close to me were sold out. I think they make a batch for the day and when they’re out, they’re out. So I went to a location and sent my brother in to buy it. I’ve had bad luck with online ordering sometimes and I didn’t want to order it online and then get there and get told no more. Well instructions were misunderstood and he picked up 4 pies instead of the 2 I wanted. Ha! Anyway, so how was it? Pretty good. Like a guava cheesecake! And I may be in the minority on this but I actually like baked pies, more so than fried pies.

Post Views: 1,141