20Nov / 2024

Golden Dragon – Seoul, Korea

First day in Korea! We went to the National Museum of Korea. I didn’t take much pictures inside because I didn’t want to be one of those tourists…hehe. But it was a very nice museum and definitely worth a visit if you are interested in Korean history.

The museum also has Namsan Tower as a backdrop so if you don’t plan to go up Namsan Tower, I recommend coming here and taking pictures. Admission to this museum is free! Warning, many school trips here so…many kids!

Lunch was Northern Chinese food from Golden Dragon, it was a restaurant located close to where we were staying.

When ordering Northern Chinese food, gotta have the raw onions, daikon and black bean paste!

Tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour Pork)

This is a must order dish anytime you get jjamppong or jajangmyeon. We had the sauce on the side and was dipping it at first and then just poured the sauce all over it. It was fried very crispy!

Seafood Gan Jajangmyeon

Gotta love jajangmyeon. Gan (dry) just means it’s like a less soupy sauce – I like the more concentrated sauce and of course I love seafood. Was delicious!

Jjamppong

This was Chan’s dish. He enjoyed. I think it would be too spicy for me, I tried some of the soup. Hehe…

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18Nov / 2024

Korean Airlines – HNL –> ICN

I’m back! Just got back on Tuesday and wow jet lag is real. Moreso like, I haven’t been able to sleep even though I am severly lacking in sleep! The trip was very nice and I really enjoyed meeting all of Chan’s family members! I relied a little bit too much on Chan and his Korean skills, woohoo. My favorite part of the trip was definitely in Chan’s hometown of Hamyang. The homecooked meals were amazing – best Korean food I ever had in my life.

Weather was a bummer, I was hoping for 40’s or at least 50’s but man it was basically high 60’s all the time. We brought cold weather clothes with us but it wasn’t needed and I was so sad. This happened last year in Japan! Same kind of weather in DECEMBER. Well Koreans must be like the Japanese because a lot of folks were dressed in puffy jackets, heck if I know why. Chan and I was basically walking around with a tee and jeans on. Chan said they tend to dress for the season and not the weather, I say…the weather report is there for a reason!

Anyway, first post will focus on the food on the flight over. We rode in Korean Airlines and wow, it was wonderful. Sorry to say this but it was much better than Japan Airlines. Here we go!

Seared Tuna Slices with Oriental Sesame Dressing

The salad was good, but too much ruffage for me. I just ate the cucumber and tuna. Gotta focus on the good stuff you know.

Korean ‘Bibimbap’ offered with minced beef and seasonal vegetables, accompanied by sesame oil and ‘Gochujang’ (Korean hot pepper paste)

Their famous dish! I don’t know what was up with me but I was not at all hungry. It was such a waste, I ate maybe 2 bites and stopped. I felt awful but I wasn’t feeling that great so I didn’t want to continue and get sick you know? I even passed on dessert and went straight to sleep but that worked in my favor because…

Ramen with Side Dishes

I could wake up hungry and order the ramen! I never get to try the side snacks so I was happy I was able to this time! It was good, nothing spectacular. It’s honestly just Shin Ramen. But I ordered their cookies along with this and she asked if it’s okay that they heat up for different times. Yes…sure?

Fresh Cookie

I understood why she told me the heating times now. The cookies took WAY longer. But MY OH MY was it worth it. They are freshly baked. FORREAL. Like so soft, ooey gooey and melt in your mouth. I don’t even usually like the plain cookies but I gobbled up all three. It was that good. I was dreaming of this cookies after the flight. I guess they used my cookie order to bake up a whole batch of cookies cause I saw them offering cookies to the rest of the passengers.

Salad and Bread Selection

Second meal starter. Oops, I got two breads. I picked the regular roll at first and then noticed there was a taro roll and asked for it too. LOL. The pineapple dressing was not good.

Grain mustard sauce with braised beef served with pasta and vegetables

Chan’s main dish – he enjoyed!

Seafood pasta with herb cream sauce served with broccoli and cherry tomato

Another risk for me, a cream sauce seafood pasta dish. I was fine tho! And it tasted good! I didn’t eat the tomatoes lol. Nice final meal.

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18Oct / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Buldak Fried Rice | $7.99 (on sale)

My brother loves buldak noodles so when I saw this in the Longs ad last week, I had to get em! At first I was disappointed because I kept looking around the oriental aisle thinking this was just like a powder seasoning I add to my own rice to make the fried rice.

Just by chance, I went to the freezer section and it’s actually the whole dish there! You just gotta heat it up on the stovetop or microwave. It comes with two individual packets inside.

Sorry, but I think the portion is kind of small. This is actually both packs heated up. It was enjoyed, also wasn’t that spicy but that’s according to my brother.

Homemade Bossam

Odeng!

I love Sundays with Chan. Sometimes we plan meals on a whim and on this Sunday, I told him I felt like odeng but odeng with the fish cakes on the skewers (just like you see in the Korean dramas). So we made our run to Hmart and got the kit and also picked up some fixings to make bossam! Bossam looks nice and seasoned yeah? It’s all thanks to Chef Chan’s skills. What a delicious dinner! Have a great weekend folks!

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16Oct / 2024

King Restaurant & Bar – Ala Moana, HI

I was so disappointed when I heard Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum closed down. Chan and I liked going to eat there and grabbing take-out from there. No worries, they still have their take-out location at the Lanai in Ala Moana but that’s just not the same to me. King Restaurant & Bar started serving dim sum recently so we decided to give them a try! They make great lunch/dinner food so let’s see how the dim sum is!

Sesame Mochi w Red Bean Paste Ball (Jin Dui) | $6.50

I’m not usually in the mood for like deep fried dessert items but I had that craving this day! I enjoyed it a lot. And it wasn’t super greasy like I’ve had in other places.

King’s Pork Hash (Siu Mai) | $5.95

So puny looking. I enjoyed it! Tasted good, just like the other Chinese restaurants. If I look at this closely, it looks like they put an ikura on top? Usually places put a carrot lol.

King’s Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) | $5.95

I’m impressed by the look and size of these har gow. Nice and soft skin with jumbo tender morsels of shrimp inside, would recommend!

Pan Fried Chives & Shrimp Dumpling | $5.95

Chives and shrimp make such a great combo together, especially in a pan fried dumpling. I don’t make the rules okay? They have a steamed option but I think the pan fried option is the only way to go.

Stick Rice in Lotus Leaf | $8.50

Chan loves sticky rice so we got this. He enjoyed it! I need to make him my version of sticky rice, nice home cooking that will have a lot more innards and flavors than restaurants (sorry, not sorry!)

Twist Cruller | $3.50

Another favorite of Chan’s. I’d like to get this next time with their jook. I love eating this with jook.

Chicken Feet w/Special Sauce | $5.95

Okay, no need gag. Yes, I eat chicken feet. Just me. I only like chicken feet dim sum style. They did a good job!

Beef Chow Fun (Dried) | $16.95

Can’t have dim sum without one noodle dish. I usually like to order seafood chow mein but they make a good beef chow fun here and it has nice wok hei taste. What is wok hei? Look em up brah! Shootz.

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14Oct / 2024

Recipe: Spicy Nametake Tofu

Not much of a recipe today folks. Went to a potluck and someone brought a dish similar to this and I loved it so much. The recipe was of course…oh just throw these things together (lol). So I had to just guess at what to throw on. I just got a block of soft tofu, a bottle of the nametake (seasoned mushroom) which I mixed with some crunch garlic chili oil. Oh brah, I can just eat this whole block of tofu in one sitting.

Look at how pretty! I usually buy the tofu from Sam’s or Costco so you know it doesn’t look like this. I bought this one from a grocery store, forgot the brand but if you want this one, just look at the bottom of the tofu package for this design and you will get this!

Yum yum yum.

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11Oct / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

7eleven Kibun Sesame Tofu Noodle | $4.19
new, ready-to-eat tofu noodles with delicious sauce packet included. the noodles, made from tofu, are very simliar to somen noodles but lower in carbs and 0 cholesterol. healthy with only 110 calories and 7g of protein. can be eaten cold or warm by heating in the microwave for 1 minute.

I saw this at 7eleven last weekend and just had to try it. I was so curious how the noodles would taste. I almost didn’t get it because let’s be real, $4.19 for this little packet didn’t seem worth it. But something told me just go for it.

I opened the cellophane and drained out the water. I ate it cold with the sauce packet. Doesn’t look like much in this picture but bugga was GOOD. It really does taste like regular noodles. How do they do that! It was so good, but dang, I wish they would sell this in bulk at Costco or Sam’s so I can get a better deal. I would absolutely get this again.

When I sent a picture of this to Chan, he mentioned he had it in Japan before and really enjoyed it! They finally brought it over to us! Give it a try!

Sushi Robot Breakfast Bento | $5.00

I’ve talked about Sushi Robot before, they are located in the food court of Kaheka Don Quijote (the indoor one not the outdoor one). They used to be outdoors. Well, they are the only ones who open super early which helps me since I do my shopping early. They open at 6 but when they have some foods ready, they just open at 5 something.

I was actually staring from outside to see if they had food out but didn’t have…was about to leave when the lady waved me in. I reluctantly went in and she said she can make whatever I want. I said I wanted the portuguese sausage omelette bento. I didn’t know the real name but they knew exactly what I was talking about and put this together fresh for me! They already had all the different components cooked and ready to go. And yes, $5.00 total…this is with tax. Where else can you find prices like this???

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09Oct / 2024

Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant – King Street, HI

REDEMPTION POST HERE. I came back to Gyotaku after my recent disasterous visit and I can happily report that this visit was SO much better. Super good. And I got the right food! Also, my cousin treated me for my birthday so how can this meal go wrong?? FREE! Check it out!

Watermelon-ade | $8.50
refreshing watermelon juice served over ice & topped with mint & lime

Not good. Not awful but it just soounds much better than it tasted. Maybe the watermelon taste wasn’t as strong as I would have liked…

Pele Lava Roll | $17.95
california roll topped with spicy ahi tataki, green onion, volcano sauce & wasabi aioli sauce

Yummy appetizer to start! If you know me, you know I love spicy ahi. We ate too much at this meal but hey, it’s my birthday and I’ll eat if I want to, eat if I want to.

Miso Soup & Salad

I don’t have to explain this one right? This is their signature! Signature for a reason, love their salad and dressing.

Assorted Poke Don & Tenpura | $33.45

YESSSS!! I got the right dish this time and it was heavenly. I’ve been missing this dish for YEARS. I am so dang happy they brough it back. It’s a simple sesame oil salt seasoning for the poke but I feel like the different cuts of seafood just creates the perfect taste and texture profile. You know? Plain ahi poke is boring to me, but this dish just has almost any seafood you can imagine. I love it. And it’s not just random seafood they plop in, it’s consistently the same seafood each time when I order it.

Hit you with the last shot. So good. The limu and sprouts work well with it too. Man…I want to eat it again…

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07Oct / 2024

Kokoro-Tei – Moilili, HI

Kokoro-Tei has been in the Moilili neighborhood for many years now. I am super glad they were able to get through the pandemic and thrive. I say thrive because when I went to pick up today’s meal, they had so many orders stacked up and ready to go. You used to have to phone in your orders but they now have online orders, thank goodness. Chan was treating his co-workers for a birthday and I got to jump in on the order! Check it out!

Nori Shrimp Salmon | $11.98
Plate upgrade | $3.00
2 piece chikuwa, 2 piece fried shrimp, 1 piece salmon

Three people ordered this! Chan nicely upgraded their bentos to plates. Not super sure what you get more…it looks like the proteins are the same size so maybe more rice and side dishes? Anyway, it was enjoyed by the diners!

MEGA NORI | $18.98
2 pc chikuwa, 3 pc karaage, 1 pc croquette, 1 pc deep fried shrimp, 1 pc white fish, 1 pc regular salmon with extra large white rice

Maybe my picture isn’t showing the size in true fashion. The description sounds mega! Sounds like a great mix too! Chan enjoyed it!

Steak & Vegetable Bento | $21.98
comes with multigrain rice

This was my dish. For some odd reason, I was feeling like red meat so I went for this. I was also super excited for all the side veggies! How was it? Sigh. The steak is super tough and overcooked. They don’t ask how you want the steak cooked. I really enjoyed the garlic tare (sauce) they serve with the steak but Chan thinks it’s just a bottled sauce you can buy. Well, I want it then! Anyone know the secret? I still enjoyed this a lot because some pieces of meat were okay and the veggies were good as always!

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04Oct / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

7-Eleven Lemon Butter Chicken Pasta | $6.49

Newish offering from 7-Eleven! How was it? Pretty good. Not like mind blowing but I’m glad I tried it!

FRENCH BUTTER

If you know me, you know I’ve been on the search for some freaking French butter. I heard so much good stuff about it and I’ve been desperate. Chan found out that Foodland Farms carries one and omg I AM SO HAPPY. Gotta get the salted one, not the unsalted because part of the appeal are the sea salt crystals in the butter. Toast some bread up and spread this bad boy on…I get the hype. I GET IT. So you go get it! Okay, only if you want bougie butter.

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02Oct / 2024

Ginger & Garlic – Chinatown, HI

Ginger & Garlic used to be my favorite dim sum restaurant. Hard for me to say used to be…it’s still one I will go to but the quality has really gone downhill in recent times. I went about a month ago? Found the dimsum to be much smaller than before and the restaurant just seems not to be aging well. It definitely did not make me want to return soon. Here’s some dim sum items we got!

Baked Egg Custard Tart | $5.50

Good stuff! I love this.

Deep Fried Taro | $5.50

Basic – nothing special.

Siu Mai | $5.50

Good, not great. I feel like they used to make it really well. Maybe the original chef left…

Seafood Bundle in Bean Curd | $6.50

One of my must have dim sum items. There’s another dim sum restaurant that I don’t want to name that is opening locations left and right and I don’t think they have this on their dim sum menu. What a shame! I love it.

Seafood Chow Mein | $15.95

Another must have item for me at dim sum, seafood chow mein. The aforementioned restaurant chain also doesn’t have this? This is a staple for me! Unless that restaurant chain ups their game, I’m good. I wasn’t impressed with their dim sum anyhow.

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Category Archives: Food

Golden Dragon – Seoul, Korea

Korean Airlines – HNL –> ICN

Mixed Plate Friday

King Restaurant & Bar – Ala Moana, HI

Recipe: Spicy Nametake Tofu

Mixed Plate Friday

Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant – King Street, HI

Kokoro-Tei – Moilili, HI

Mixed Plate Friday

Ginger & Garlic – Chinatown, HI