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Sea Salt Live Sashimi – Las Vegas, NV

May19

Chan found Sea Salt Live Sashimi and we were all excited to try it out! Although, Chan does think this meal is what did him in. Poor thing…there was one item that neither me or his friend ate so he assumed it was that. I wonder if Chan would still go back to this restaurant, you know…I think he would! They were kind of slow the night we went, I hope they get more business so they stay open!

Assorted Banchan

Salad and Dipping Sauce (samjang?)

This salad was like…dressed with soup. It spicy and sweet dressing but there was SO much of it. Salad soup lol.

Cheese Corn

Steamed Egg

Veggie Pancake

Gosh, I gotta ask Chan what this was again. Maybe like a pumpkin soup? Super thick and starchy – super sweet. Never had this served to me mid-meal before.

LA Kalbi

So, I didn’t know how this restaurant worked but since we only got sashimi – I wanted a side dish of something meaty so we got this LA Kalbi, Was good, basic. If I knew what else the meal came with, I would have never ordered this!!

Sashimi Combo (Halibut and Assorted Sashimi)

Raw Abalone

Look at how fancy this is! This was definitely a show. It took quite a while for them to serve up both dishes but I think Chan told me they kill the live seafood and then prepare it. I guess the name of the restaurant makes sense, Live Sashimi. Haha, delicious! Both were stellar, super fresh seafood and great quality.

Rice with Assorted Tobikko

So yeah, these dishes came out way after we were almost done with our sashimi. I was super confused.

Assorted Tempura

We were dying from being so full already…

Soft Tofu Stew

This was the last dish! Man, I kind of wish this was served with the food in the beginning. I really didn’t know what was coming out so this was all crazy. So. Much. Food.

Nurungi (Scorched Rice)

I’m not a fan of this particular dish and honestly I was so full that I didn’t even touch it. Great meal, enjoyed that we had our own booth so we had some privacy. If you come here, be prepared to EAT.

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Hell’s Kitchen – Las Vegas, NV

May14

From the last trip, no trip to Vegas is complete for us without a visit to Hell’s Kitchen. Previous post here. Yup, you gotta pay expensive parking to be on the Strip but the food is well worth it. Chan and I both ordered the prix fixe menu – I think next time we should order one prix fixe and just one entree cause it’s too much food!

Hell’s Red Infusion (Mocktail) | $12.95
apple, strawberry, rhubarb puree, simple syrup, fever-tree ginger beer

Mocktails are my treat! Got this last time and this time did not disappoint, delicious!

Steak Tartare | $26.95
piedmontese beef dijon mustard aioli, black truffle caviar, sous vide egg yolk

Another repeat dish. Not the biggest fan of these big triangle crackers haha but I guess it’s just a vehicle to get the beef to your mouth! I like raw beef, I know it’s not everyone’s thing.

Pan Seared Scallops
corn, prosciutto di parma, maitake mushrooms, citrus beurre blanc

I know it says prosciutto but it really just tastes like bacon bits on top of the scallops and I’m saying that in the best way possible. Super crunchy salty bits that off-set the soft and sweet meat of the scallops. Delicious!

Beef Wellington add Foie Gras ($22.95)
potato puree, glazed root vegetables, red wine demi-glace

We went a little bougie with the first sit-down meal and both added foie gras to our dish. Oh boy, was that rich and delicious. As you can see the beef wellington is perfectly cooked as usual. Winners dish but definitely share-able.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
speculoos ice cream

This is probably the star of the show every time and I’m not usually a big dessert person but this beautiful toffee cake…hot and ready for that scoop of speculoos ice cream to melt right into it. Man, Chan and I love this dessert but once again – for future, we should just share it. It’s a lot of food! So the scallops, beef wellington and dessert is part of the lunch prix fixe menu which is $105.95 a person. It’s pricey but a good deal if you were planning to get these dishes anyway. Yummy! Great start!

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In-N-Out – Las Vegas, NV

May12

Been back from Vegas for about a week, it was nice to take a breather. I pre-scheduled 3 weeks worth of blogs and it worked out very nicely. I was super looking forward to this trip, not just for the eating and gambling – but just to get away. I’ve been working non-stop with no vacation since early November. I know that sounds like a spoiled statement but especially after my dad’s health scare, I was just deflated.

Unfortunately, poor Chan came down with food poisoning on this trip. I felt so bad for him! That’s awful enough to go through but for him to go through it during travel…awful. No worries, I played nurse and even drove out on my own in Vegas to get nourishment for us. Gotta love navigation on phones – and thankfully the places I had to go didn’t require jumping onto a freeway lol. I enjoy driving but I guess I feel more comfortable with someone if I’m driving around some place unfamiliar. Vegas is pretty good to drive around – anywhere is better than Hawaii to drive around.

Anyway! The night of our arrival, of course gotta go In-N-Out! Just a short post today.

Double-Double!

Animal Style Fries

Long John Silver’s

LOL – yup we went to Long John Silver’s. I had a hankering for some fried seafood. Namely fried fish and shrimp. This didn’t disappoint! I enjoyed it a lot! Yummy…! Too bad we don’t have this here anymore.

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Mixed Plate Friday

May9

Straub Benioff | Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi

Shucks, I forgot the price! I got this plate during my Dad’s stay and it was a pretty good deal! I think like $14? They give you two big pieces of mahi and you get to choose two sides. The fish had a mayo sauce drizzled on top which helped to combat any dryness. The cafeteria isn’t too bad! Too bad they don’t post menus online.

Kotetsu Chaya Chicken Karaage Plate | $15.50

My brother felt like chicken karaage (random) so one of their dinners consisted of chicken karaage from Kotetsu Chaya, I never tried them myself but I have heard good things. A small Japanese shop run by a sweet couple. I would call in an order early if you can, if not, you gotta wait like 20-30 minutes. Also, they don’t seem to understand the concept of all rice because I tried to get one plate like that for the bro who doesn’t eat mac salad and all three plates were rice and mac salad. Also, they give super manani amount of mac salad! It was kind of wild. They ate it but I don’t think they consider chicken karaage a main meal you know? I also see it as more of an appetizer.

Kotetsu Chaya Garlic French Fries | $6.00

Like I am pretty sure they just gave them a small container of garlic powder to shake into the fries. LOL, so don’t expect nice garlic butter on their garlic fries okay?

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Onkee Korean Grill House – Ward Village, HI

May5

Ah yes, another visit to Onkee Korean Grill House. You can see my not so happy previous post here. How did this visit go? Much better thank you. I did not see that waitress all night and our waiter was a cutie pie Korean guy. Win win. I didn’t get a lot of pictures of the meat, sorry! They placed the tray of meat away from the table and the waiter cooked the meats one by one so it felt awkward taking pictures. I’ll just show you the sides and dessert we had!

Yup, I got a soda again. LOL. This time only asked for one refill but I’m sure if I asked for another one, the young man would have been fine with it!!!

Egg Souffle | $14.00
+Add Corn Cheese | $2.00

Was it good? Not really. I like egg dishes like this to have a nice strong dashi flavor. This didn’t have that, and then you have to pay $2 for that little bit of corn and cheese on top. And since this is served in this hot earthen ware pot, the egg continues to cook (overcook) so I just wasn’t a fan. I would pass next time.

Truffle Potato Pancake | $22.00

Yeah, no. Pass again. The potato is nice and crispy but the sauce is basically mayonnaise, you think think get strong truffle taste due to all those black specks. Nope. Not worth the $22.

Shaved Ice with Red Bean Topping | $18.00

Everyone on the table enjoyed this dish, I don’t know why but I never got into Korean style shaved ice. They do shave the ice super fine, it was nice! I did try it and it was good, if this is your thing, you would love it!

Okay I just realized that two of the dishes I shared were thumbs down for me but the meat is good! Very good. Pricey but good.

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Aloha Manapua – Manoa, HI

Apr23

I am fully aware that this post will be confusing. I title it Aloha Manapua (get online ordering!) but then the store front says Island Manapua. Please bear with me. It looks like Island Manapua was bought out by Honolulu Kitchen who is owned by Regal Foods (right?) and they brand themselves Aloha Manapua (per their website and sticker on the box) but still keep Island Manapua on their storefront (maybe they haven’t had time to change it yet).

In any case, my coworker brought in manapua from here to work twice and I liked it so I wanted to try some of the other food. In the end, I still think U-Choice In is the best baked manapua on island right now. I still have to re-try Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery’s version before I can make the ultimate decision. So much food so little time.

Ginger Fried Chicken w/White Rice | $14.95

Not my plate, but my friend enjoyed it! Nice crispy chicken with the cold ginger chicken sauce. How do you go wrong with that though? Not bad price for this big portion!

Roast Duck & Ginger Chicken w/White Rice Plate | $16.95

This was my plate and ehhh, it was just alright. The chicken is cold (which is expected) but the duck is also cold and I asked the very nice gentleman helping us if there is sauce for the roast duck. He apologized and said there isn’t but he could get me hoisin sauce if I wanted which I declined. I wanted to try the dish as is, how they serve it. I know the side sauce is usually just the drippings of the roast duck but I think it makes a difference. I definitely missed the sauce. The chicken was good, and I liked that I got all dark meat. Not bad but not great, but a good option to have in Manoa.

Pork Hash | $1.85 per piece
Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) | $1.85 per piece

Chan found a short hair stuck to one of the pork hash…haha? Groce. But its okay, we powered through The pork hash is your typical local style (meaning not dim sum style) pork hash. Good, Chan liked it! The har gow is a pass for us, mushy texture. Nothing great.

Half Moon | $1.85 per piece

This is one of my favorite dim sums of all time. I grew up eating the homemade version of it and this is very similar. I heard him telling another customer it’s vegetarian, main filling is wood ear mushroom and shiitake. I enjoyed this a lot and the skin is nice and soft. I would get this again!

Baked Char Siu Manapua | $3.00 per piece

Prices of manapua is no joke guys. This box of dim sum and my roast duck/chicken plate was $61. I had to do a double take! The char siu manapua is good, nice amount of filling inside. The bread is soft but it’s mushy although we did eat it after refrigeration. I did try it fresh before but it’s not as good at U-Choice. They actually make the manapua and dim sum out in the west side and bring it to the store to sell.

Here’s a legend of the different types of manapua they have. I did not see all these flavors at Aloha Manapua at all. I would say go check them out in person to see what they have, I don’t know if I would trust the inventory control in-person versus their online ordering system.

All in all, I think it’s a nice option to have in Manoa but it’s not the best Chinese food I’ve had.

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Ringer Hut – Ala Moana, HI

Apr2

Quick post today! I already posted about Ringer Hut before so Chan and I do come here once in a while. See previous post here. It’s a good casual sit-down restaurant. The food and service is good and they bring out the food pretty fast!

5 pc Karaage | $10.00

Our favorite appetizer, these are huge pieces of chicken so I think it’s worth the $10.00 price tag! You might be tempted to get the 10 piece but don’t, the 5 piece is PLENTY. Moist and juicy with a wonderful crust, delicious!

Spicy Karamaro Champon | $19.50
spicy, tantanmen taste

Spicy Saraudon | $18.50

Do I regret getting the spicy version? A little bit. Don’t tell Chan. This has somehow become my go-to dish, though I think I would like to try their tempura don next time. It looks so good and they give huge pieces of tempura! This dish is like a Chinese crispy chow mein dish, slathered in thick gravy. Delicious!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Mar28

Chicken Katsu Curry | $6.99

Don’t get to frequent 7-eleven too much now but was excited to see this on my last visit so I had to try it! Not going to be a good judge because I had to microwave it myself and timed it wrong so it was still kind of cold when I was eating it but was too lazy to continue heating it after I already opened it up. They have a transparent sheet that separates the chicken katsu from the curry that you pull out when you dig in. Interesting way to keep the chicken “crispy” but let’s be real, it’s not crispy when we are grabbing this from the fridge lol. This was okay but the chicken portion is small, would rather just go L&L to grab a freshly made one.

Homemade Udon Salad

Made a variation of the Japanese Udon Salad I usually make, linked above. Same concept, I just varied up the ingredients a bit! The biggest main stay for me is the goma dressing and fresh cilantro. Other than that, you can do whatever you like! I even made Japanese styled seasoned shiitake mushrooms for the first time. Yum!

Corned Beef

Happy Belated Saint Patrick’s Day! This kine food is more Chan’s style but we bought some corned beef so we made it the other week. Threw in some potatoes, cabbage and carrots. He sous-vide the beef and then we threw it in with the vegetables into his pressure cooker insta-pot. It was spewing things out like a volcano when I released the vent. I don’t use these contraptions like ever. Anyway, have a nice weekend!

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Alii Fish Market – Moilili, HI

Mar24

I’ve seen various social media posts about Alii Fish Market and even tried a bit of their poke at a party once but never got to experience it myself. Since last week was Spring Break, I was willing to venture off campus for lunch due to decreased traffic and better parking options when I return! Alii Fish Market is located in…and correct me if I’m wrong, old stadium mall? It’s the one with Kozo Sushi, Aloha Vietnamese Foods, Golden Eagle Chinese Restaurant. It used to house Sweet Home Cafe before it closed too…oh and Tori Ton! Anyway, Alii is nowhere you would expect but it’s definitely in the same lot…just more towards the Young Street side.

Well let me just say, why did it take so long for me to come here?? Oh my gosh. How good was it? I came two days in a row lol. I first came with my co-workers and got take out for lunch. The next day I was going to have lunch with Chan in downtown and offered to do a pick-up here for him and his colleagues and they all jumped at the chance. So yeah, get ready for a long post…but man the poke here is so fresh and their prices are crazy good. Support local folks! And!! When I came the first time, it was just us in the store and the staff were so so so nice to us. The chef kept giving us suggestions and let us try the different pokes…it was really nice. And like Aunty said, being nice matters!

Clockwise from top: Spicy Creamy Garlic Ahi x2 ($10, 1/2 lb each), Smoked Shoyu Ahi x 2 ($13, 1/2 lb each), Ginger Ahi ($10, 1/2 lb), Spicy Hawaiian ($10, 1/2 lb), and Limu Ahi ($10, 1/2 lb)

Spicy Lomi Ahi (1/2 lb) | $10.00

All the pokes are good, forreal. I actually bought the spicy creamy garlic ahi myself which goes very well with sushi rice (which they have!) and some Korean seasoned nori (which the chef gave us for free – he asked if we were eating now and gave it to us!). This is the spicy lomi ahi, this was very good too, my coworker was nice enough to share a taste with me. For the lomi version, they cut the ahi up more negi style, tastes great!!!

Filet A Fish Market Sandwich | $10.00
buttered bun, fresh fish katsu, takuan tartar sauce, cheddar, local tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise

I feel a bit bad because I am sharing two sandwiches which will probably not be in season when you read this. But hey, I HAD to share it. This fish sandwich was SOOO good. And I don’t know if you can tell but they give you two huge pieces of fish katsu. The takuan tartar sauce is good and different. I enjoyed it a lot! And $10?? Way worth it! If you see this on the menu and love this kind sandwich, GET IT.

Teri Ribeye Beef Sandwich | $12.00
buttered bun, cheddar, local sweet onions, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise

Here is my sandwich on day 2 lol. Again, another sandwich you probably wouldn’t get but it was DELICIOUS. I’m not usually a teri beef kind of gal because it’s usually hard to chew but I was intrigued by ribeye. Well, I was not disappointed…it was delicious! Great flavor and the buttered bun, for both, you can definitely taste the butter. $12 is a great deal too!

Truffle Cheese Fries | $7.00

Good truffle flavor but a bit too greasy and oily for my taste. The fries come with sandwiches so it’s probably not on the menu unless they carry sandwiches again! I actually got the fries with the fish sandwich so I just felt like it was too much fried food for one meal you know?

Poke Yaki Onigiri – Spicy | $5.00

I didn’t get this but all the diners who got this raved about it…and it absolutely remains crispy even though it is sitting out under a heat lamp since it’s pre-made. They have poke inside that’s cooked but remains soft and melt-your-mout kine goodness. Recommend!

Unagi Musubi with Wasabi Aioli | $5.00

This is probably one of my all time favorites. The unagi is wonderfully seasoned and soft, not bony like it can be sometimes. Works so well with the wasabi aioli. This must be a popular one because it was completely sold out when I tried to get it the second day. I highly suggest you utilize their online ordering located on their website! Highly recommended!

AFM Fish Patty Musubi | $4.00

Another favorite of mine. The name and look of it, not too impressive right? Wrong. The fish patty is nicely seasoned, a little bit sweet and the fish patty is moist! Not pressed too hard, no bony bits…and no real filler. It’s the perfect size musubi, didn’t think I would like it this much but I do! Recommended!

Smoked Fried Noodles (10 oz) | $7.00

Good fried noodles but nothing special, and no particularly strong smoked taste either. Good enough to get since I enjoy noodles but again, nothing special.

Ahi Patties | $15.00
Add Sauce | $1.50

Chan got this pack to share with everyone and I got to try a patty. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with it’s smothered in sauce right? But I suspect this is the same patty they use in the musubi so I think it would be good either way but don’t quote me on that.

I didn’t get a picture but got to try the Sesame Garlic Fried Ahi Belly, that was just okay. They bread it and fry it up and then smother it in sauce (imagine Zippy’s Korean Fried Chicken) so to me…it was just okay. The ahi was dry and a bit of a chew which I don’t equate to how belly should taste. I would pass on that one.

All in all, Alii is winnahs! I would definitely return, their hours are a bit hard for me to…10AM – 3PM everyday but Tuesdays (closed). When you’re there, make sure you check out the snacks and sides in the cases! I got a container of chili garlic peanuts which our friends seemed to enjoy a lot!

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Thai Issan Cuisine II – Moilili, HI

Mar19

Chan and I had a lazy weekend and decided to order in from Thai Issan Cuisine II! I’ll try to post the prices at the restaurant because we probably paid way more for delivery. First time trying this restaurant and it was really good even though it was delivered! I had a hankering for Thai food and am glad Chan agreed to it lol. Okay, I just tried to find the prices on their website but two of our dishes aren’t even on their main menu? That’s so odd. So here are the Uber Eats prices!

Thai Stuffed Chicken Wings | $19.95
deboned chicken wing stuffed w/mushrooms, carrots, long rice, chicken and spices fried until golden brown. served w/sweet chili.

Any dish that I cannot or will not make automatically get a yes from me. I will not be deboning chicken wings and stuffing them and then deep frying them. These were delicious and pairs very well with the sweet chili sauce. Yum!

White Rice | $4.50

LOL. Crazy price but it’s delivery. Chan and I shared one order.

Lemongrass Pork Belly | $21.95

This dish is not on their menu in the restaurant. What? I don’t know why. The dish tasted fine but I couldn’t taste a lick of lemongrass on the pork at all. That was disappointing and I think some pieces could have used a bit better balance of meat and fat.

Ribeye with Crack Sauce | $24.95

Oh yum! Okay, very good dish and the crack sauce was really good. Steak is basically medium well/well but still tasted good cause it was tender and had enough fat to keep it juicy. The sauce is what makes it, I already found the recipe for the sauce so I guess I can just make this myself in the future!

All in all, it was a good meal! Chan really enjoyed it too.

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