Category Archives: Food

27Jan / 2025

Seasons Taiwanese Eatery – Chinatown, HI

YES! I’ve been wanting to try Seasons Taiwanese Eatery for years! They used to be in the middle of the Chinese Cultural Plaza (near the stage) but now they are located on the river side more towards Legend Seafood Restaurant. They specialize in a Taiwanese Beef Noodle dish and for some odd reason, I was expecting the same kind of beef noodles from other restaurants like Lam’s Kitchen but it is not. Don’t get it twisted! I think the other restaurants serve more of a Cantonese version while this is Taiwanese!

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (Medium) | $9.98

Medium portion is huge! More than enough to share between two people and still have leftover! Oh this was so nice. I loved the fried basil leaves and the chicken is spiced nicely. Not a hot spicy, maybe more of a five spice taste? So delicious!

Classic Beef Broth (Beef Only – Mild) | $16.98

Retro Spicy Broth (Combo Beef & Tendon) | $17.98

I gotta go for the spicy one. So they have a level of 1-5, I tried to order number 3 and the waitress’ face turned serious and she sternly said, it’s very spicy. So yeah, I lowered it to 2. Looks pretty red yet yeah? Compare that to the classic broth! Was it spicy? Yeah, maybe small kine leakage but I think I could have still handled level three! How do I describe this dish? There’s a sourness to the broth. It’s very different from the noodle soups I’ve had before, I liked it though. I would definitely return!

Parking, I think the first hour at Cultural Plaza is free, after that, you gotta pay and we just went over by a few minutes…and ugh, I had to pay at the card machine. I hate having to pay $1 with a credit card but they don’t take cash! Technology isn’t always helpful. Anyway, give them a shot!

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24Jan / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Baked Charsiu Manapua (U-Choice In) | $3.25 each

I have resisted going to U-Choice In for many many years. For one, I hate the name of it. U-Choice In, what?? I would let them get away with Ur-Choice In but here we are. Chan’s coworker talked about how much she liked U-Choice In so we decided to give it a try during one of our Don Quijote runs. Well, I hate to admit this but this is probably the best baked manapua on the island right now. I do not like the Royal Kitchen one but this one…it’s perfect. They give choke meat inside and the bun is perfectly baked. Small kine cripsy on top but also super soft. It’s a bit pricey for one but you’re getting a pretty big one! I think it’s worth it. I’ve tried their white rice cake and pork hash too and those are good too! Don’t pay too much attention to the Yelp haters – try it for yourself! If you like baked manapua, you won’t be disappointed.

Ain’t no party like a tako party! Takoyaki party that is. Chan provided this wonderful treat for Christmas Eve! He has the fancy pan that we put on top of camper stove (is that the name of it?). He even bought all the toppings…and made yakisoba like I requested…

Doesn’t that look great?? All professional with the sauce, mayo, bonito flakes and even the nori topping! It was so good!

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22Jan / 2025

MW Restaurant – Honolulu, HI

We had a gift card for MW Restaurant so we came for a little holiday dinner. What a nice treat! We enjoyed ourselves very much and the food was ono!

Lilikoi Yuzunade | $10.00

My non-alcoholic drink! Chan drank beer, you can see it in the background. I enjoyed the drink even though I’m not usually a fan of yuzu!

Brandt Brand Beef Tartare | $22.00
OK Farm Egg, Baguette

I know raw beef is not everyone’s thing. It’s my thing and I love it! Thankfully Chan is also an adventurous eater so we can share in all the goodies. Very good dish.

Crab Cakes | $27.00
Wasabi Koji Sauce, Corn Relish

Another great appetizer! Push aside those weeds and go for it (lol). Tasted great.

Miso Honey Glazed Butterfish | $49.00
Kimchee Potato Salad, Taegu, Bok Choy

My entree, a little pricey for butterfish but it was cooked and seasoned perfectly. I saw a friend eat it last time so I wanted to try it myself and it was so good! I enjoyed it a lot.

Here is the accompanying banchan for the butterfish, ehhh…they were just okay. Not my favorite. Maybe I didn’t like the taste of their kimchi…sorry!

Steak Au Poivre | $65.00
Brandt Brand Ribeye, Peppercorn Sauce, Roasted Potatoes, Vegetables

Chan’s entree. It was good but SUPER peppery. Like choke whole peppercorns in the sauce. I tasted a bite and yes, you better like pepper if you get this dish.

Garlic Parmesan Gnocchi | $18.00

We got these on the side with our entrees, it was like super buttery rich tater tots. So good, we couldn’t finish it so we took it home. Tasted good reheated in the air fryer!

Strawberry Shave Ice | $17.00
Strawberry Yuzu Sorbet, Coconut Tapioca, Laie Vanilla Panna Cotta, Strawberries, Shaved Strawberries

When you go MW, gotta get dessert. We were stuffed but shared this shave ice together. It was nice and refreshing! I enjoyed it! Oh! And they gave us two free cookies to take home too. Valet parking only and it’s a bit pricey. It was a nice experience!

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17Jan / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Chan and I went over to a friend’s house for mochi making before the New Year. This is the first time I’ve ever been to one and wow…they have a freaking system for it! More like 4 systems, look at those mochi makers! They make a whole bunch to share with friends and family. I was a part of the assembly line to shape the mochi. They even bought a new contraption this year that also cuts the mochi down to size! What an efficient process!

Mini Garden Express Roast Duck & Chicken on Rice | $15.50

I haven’t been to Mini Garden Express in such a long time. We used to go to Ranch 99 all the time because they just had so much options for meals. Do we really need another Home Depot so close to the one in Iwilei? I don’t think so. Or could Home Depot have considered my feelings and kept the food court at the bottom and just built on top of it (lol)? Anyway, came here the other weekend to grab dinner. My god, the prices. I mean if I think about it objectively now, I guess this is actually a good price. You’re getting roast duck and shoyu chicken and roast duck is not cheap nowadays. They don’t make the best roast duck but it’s good enough. I used to get it with fried rice but I didn’t want to pay the additional $3, I’m broke right now okay? LOL.

Prime Rib

Christmas calls for a prime rib. Prime rib is so crazy expensive, I think this hunk of meat which wasn’t even that big cost me upwards of $83. It gets gobbled down so fast that I wish I just baked a chuck roast hahaha nah nah. Gotta do it up at least once a year. The cooking method is perfect as always – and because I was tired and lazy, I didn’t even do the slits with garlic inside and it still turned out good. Now I can be even lazier.

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15Jan / 2025

Recipe: Japanese Miso Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

I try my best to meal prep every weekend so that I have lunch for the week. It’s not always easy but hopefully it keeps me eating a little healthier and helps me save money. I follow Haruma Recipe on YouTube and have made a few of his recipes, he makes some really good dishes – just simple Japanese dishes. This one couldn’t be simpler, I had to try it! It doesn’t even ask for minced garlic, no real chopping needed. I don’t know about you folks, but I have always bought fresh garlic and peel and mince it myself. I would never use the “jarlic” but I am seriously considering buying the pre-peeled garlic and one of those garlic crushers – I think it would make me a much happier person lol. I’ll keep you folks posted.

Junkest part is cutting up raw chicken breast and seasoning it, I don’t love handling raw chicken. He is genius, he cuts up a milk carton, cleans it and lays it flat on his cutting board to cut up the chicken. You gotta watch his video, I’ll link it below.

A simple miso sauce, broccoli and chicken breast and you’ve got a dish! So easy. I taste tested it, not bad! Nothing crazy delicious or fancy, just a good simple dish you know?

Taste of Japan: Umami-Packed Miso Chicken and Broccoli Stir-fry Recipe


[Ingredients / 1-2 servings]

  • 250-300g Broccoli
  • 300g Chicken breast

[Seasoning / Miso sauce]
・25g Miso
・10g Soy sauce
・18g Cooking Sake
・12g Sugar

[Toppings etc.]
・Black pepper

Recipe Source: [Haruma Recipe]Japanese Food Recipes in English

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13Jan / 2025

Katsumidori – Waikiki, HI

I used to come to Katsumidori Sushi Tokyo every month. Seriously. I even have a table I request to sit at which isn’t anything special but it’s the right fit for us you know? Nowadays, Katsumidori is a rare treat but it’s always good and I think the prices have stayed somewhat the same – still reasonable I think. Gotta make your reservation on OpenTable at least a month out and the parking can be a nightmare, I like to reserve the earliest reservation so I can self park. The self parking with validation is up to $5 now, kind of pricey but it is Waikiki.

Deep Fried Wrapped Shrimp Cake & Shiso Leaf | $6.75

One of our favorite appetizers, a must order! They have a sprinkling of salt on the side, gotta dip your shrimp cake in there – it makes a difference! So good. This order comes with 3 pieces.

French Fries | $5.00

LOL, yeah okay it’s french fries. They fry it fresh so it’s nice but I am sad that it is no longer crinkle fries. Were good but not as good as crinkle fries.

Yellowtail Sashimi | $18.00

Nice cuts of hamachi sashimi – it was so buttery and soft. Would recommend!

Fatty Tuna Cut Rolls | $14.00

Salmon (8pcs) | $24.00

I don’t know if any of you remember or are OG like me, but they used to top it with some green onion and ginger. Even the picture in the menu has that! I guess the toppings don’t make a big difference to me. Nice portions of salmon! Honestly, I was so full from all the other food that I didn’t even take a bite this time haha.

Pork Belly Marinated in Soy Sauce | $15.50
Bowl of White Rice | $3.50

This dish is so rich but so good. We always order a side order of rice and split this dish together. We make our own kakuni bowls…so delicious!

Seared Mackerel Oshi Sushi (4 pcs) | $9.35

This was an impulse buy. I think it’s been on the menu all this time but I never noticed it until the table next to us ordered it and man I just wanted it. My friend doesn’t eat saba so guess what, this was all me. I was so freaking full but it was good. I think it’s a good deal too! I’ll have to get this with Chan next time so he can eat it with me.

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10Jan / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Marron & Tiramisu Cream Bread

Were you folks into the Culinary Class Wars craze when the show first premiered? Chan and I was, it was a great show! I am so excited for season 2. I liked Edward Lee but I was actually happy Napoli Matfia won – though I wonder how he would have fared if he had to take part in the tofu challenge. Sorry, are these spoilers? You should have watched it already!

Anyway, one of the dishes Napolia Matfia won was for his chestnut tiramisu recipe where he utilized ingredients from a convenience store. Korea is so smart, they were able to turn it around and create the dishes for sale in their stores real quick. Of course it was always sold out. I never found the tiramisu dessert but found the bread and had to try it!

How was it? Eh, just alright. It’s a very rich and dense chestnut cream in soggy bread. Not great. I wonder if I would have liked the actual tiramisu dessert if I found it. Maybe I should have just tried the cheetos ice cream (lol).

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08Jan / 2025

Jirisan – Hamyang, Korea

We drove up to Jirisan for some scenic pictures. It was beautiful up there, a perfectly crisp Autumn day. I just did some quick research and it’s the second highest mountain in Korea!

The trees were all different autumunal colors and it was gorgeous. Nice and chilly up top too! I don’t know how many mountain pictures you want to see so why not share the cafe we went to there!

Cafe Yodojae

It’s a cute space but not a cafe I would recommend to go to out of your way, just to pop in if you’re already in the area.

Chan’s Drink – I forgot what it is haha

Affogato!

Affogato for me because I love affogato. Did you know that the ice cream has no calories when it’s renamed a coffee drink? Don’t check on that.

Cranberry Nut Bread

I think that’s what this was. I didn’t realize it was a whole freaking loaf of bread haha. I just wanted to try their clotted cream and it sounded like it would go well with this bread. Well the workers were not so friendly and this bread was basically cold. Wish it could have been warmed up a bit because I was trying it with….

English Clotted Cream

I’ve been wanting to try this for ages and it was disappointing. I think it might have been because the bread was cold and doughy. I’m not out there dying to try clotted cream again anytime soon. If anyone likes clotted cream, please tell me how you eat it! I’ve seen it sold at Foodland Farms.

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06Jan / 2025

Hamyang Family Breakfast #2

Yes, you heard it here first folks. Another round of breakfast at the favorite Auntie’s house. I don’t mind SWEATING MY BUTT off for this. Heated floor, home and sofa be damned – we ready for grind! Dare I say…this breakfast might have been better than the first??

Like, even the fried piece of spam as. Although, is fried spam ever bad? I think I like Korean spam more than American spam. I’ll laugh if it’s the same spam lol.

Had to take two pictures to get all the dishes in. Yup, just sliced potatoes fried with spam – freaking good. Simple dishes are always best.

Star dish of the day, stir fry octopus. Man, this trip really awakened my love for octopus. There’s no way to replicate this kind of cooking, I could never find this anywhere else. It tastes as good as it looks folks.

Of course gotta have soup and rice. Gosh, I don’t even know what kind of greens were in this soup. I should ask Chan. There’s my bowl of rice with spam of course. I think the egg omelette had spam too, three spam dishes, no can go wrong! I miss these breakfasts…*sniff*…

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23Dec / 2024

Hamyang Family Dinner #2

Amazing banchan of course. Would you expect anything less?

Could even get all the banchan in one shot! Each banchan was delicious.

Fried Yellow Croaker

Sorry if the eyes freak you out. I’ve always seen this on TV but never had it myself. It’s super good. A bit dangerous since it’s so bony. You really have to be careful when you eat this dish. I guess that’s what makes each morsel taste so good.

Jeju Black Pig

So soft and tender! Delicious.

Miyeokguk (Seaweed Soup with Beef)

Yummy, such a nice warming dish. I know this is traditionally a birthday dish, I don’t think it was anyone’s birthday that night? Anyway, another wonderful dinner. Good times with such a warm and welcoming family, just warms your heart!

I’m going to take a brief break from posting during the holiday week so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you in 2025 and stay safe!

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