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Chingu – Honolulu, HI

Jun6

I’m not big on the bar scene, but it’s hard to resist some bars because they seem to serve up some of the most delicious looking grub! I went to two bars in May, that’s pretty big for me. But not to worry, I am not a bar fly by any means…we have gone when they open at 5. We have literally been the only customers in the bar and we basically eat the food…haha. Probably their worst type of customer, but hey, we’re still paying customers! The first bar I’m going to feature is Chingu, brand new place that serves up some delicious Korean food and soju concoctions! There was a bit of confusion when we walked in, a bunch of workers who seemed to point to the table right next to the bar…but now that I reflect back, I think they were saying we could sit anywhere. I would have totally sat in the corner if I had known that….not smack dab in the middle fronting their area. *facepalm*

Chingu = friend

Fresh Fruit Cocktail Soju (Strawberry Lemonade) • $20.00

Big portion! And yes, the soju is not weak in this drink so it’s a pretty good price. I know $20 sounds like a lot but you’re getting a lot of drink for it. At first, I enjoyed the lemon and strawberry pulp in the drink…signals the freshness. After a while, I wanted a non-chunky drink…haha.

Kalbi • $23.00

48 hour marinated/flame grilled

Hmm…didn’t realize we paid $23 for this. Could I tell this dish was 48 hour marinated? Is that even a difficult step to do? I think the kalbi was good, but it’s the same taste and quality you get from any Korean food joint.

Dukk Bokki • $15.00

Udon/Fried Eggs/Fish Cakes

Hmmm…this dish was pretty good! The sauce was a bit spicy but also sweet. I liked the fried eggs on top and the large pieces of fish cake. Biggest complaint? The udon noodles! The noodles were completely broken and they could have given more noodles, I mean aren’t the udon noodles the cheapest part of the dish?

Chicken n Cheese • $22.00

Thai Gochujang Glaze/Mozzarella Cheese

This is the dish that I wanted to come here for. If you go to their Yelp page, it’s like picture after picture of this dish. Koreans have an obsession with cheese in their dishes and I just really really really wanted to dip some of this spicy chicken into the velvety cheese. They bring this dish out on a metal cooking plate on a butane portable stove.

That’s the shot I was waiting for! The cheese melted and ready to eat. I guess this is like a form of fondue huh? This dish was good! But definitely great fresh…we couldn’t finish the food so I got to eat this as leftovers at home. Well the cheese did not melt that great the second time around. The service was good and the manager came around to talk to every customer, he was very nice. He mentioned that it’s best to come with 4-6 folks because the food and drink portions are best shared! He’s right. So I got here right when they opened and they have space for 3 stalls in front of their restaurant. When I finished, some person parked right butt up against my car. It was rude, I don’t know how he/she got out of his car…both driver side doors were blocked by each other! I had to climb into my car through the passenger side…it was a great sight to see with my skirt! Sorry for the free show Kapiolani Boulevard!

 

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Izakaya Danji – Honolulu, HI

May30

A new izakaya on the scene? I’m there. I’m a sucker for izakayas and Izakaya Danji is the newest one! The ratings on Yelp so far, quite mixed. We decided to give them a try anyway! We went in on Saturday night, right after they opened. I did call in to ask for a reservation and the waiter basically said, no need because they had a lot of tables open. Yes, yes they did. Some Yelp reviews state junk service and slow food service, well I experienced none of that! Great service and the food came out pretty quick!

Smashed Cucumber • $3.50

We’ve been really into smashed cucumbers lately and love that we find it in almost all the izakayas. How was the one here? Thumbs down. Absolutely no flavor. They seriously just smashed a few pieces of cucumber, dusted it with sesame seed powder and added a dollop of gochujjang on the side. No thank you. In fact, this flavorless dish inspired me to make my own smashed cucumbers the day after. I made a pretty good go at it, will probably post a recipe up when I perfect it. 🙂

Assorted Sashimi • $20.00

Another bummer of a dish! And for $20, I expected more. I mean…where’s the salmon?? Ahi, hamachi, hirame, katsuo (bonito), and fresh tako from Japan. The sashimi pieces were just okay, nothing to wow about. Wouldn’t order this again.

Corn • $4.25

Okay, this was one of my favorite dishes. Yes, corn. I liked that they sliced it off the cob…this corn is cooked on the grill and slathered in a nice teriyaki type sauce. Loved the smokiness from the grill and the sweetness from the sauce, it was a nice balance. You still technically have to eat this corn off the cob, but in a more dainty manner and with your chopsticks. I would order this again!

Seafood Bowl (Sesame Soy Sauce) • $14.50

Another bummer. Why? It’s basically the same fish as the assorted sashimi, plus a few pieces of cooked fish here and there. Not a fan of the pieces of fish, but the rice and the sauce was good. Would order again if I knew what types of fish were in for that day.

Kakuni (Japanese Style Pork Stew) • $11.25

Droolll…look when is this dish ever wrong? Oh wait, it can go wrong. If they don’t cook the pork down enough, the meat isn’t tender enough. The first two pieces were plenty tender, the last piece wasn’t. Now that I see the price tag again for the dish, I wouldn’t recommend it. Also wish the dish came with a little bit of rice for all that sauce….

Chicken Wings (Salt and Pepper) • $5.99

Hands down another favorite of the night. They do a great job seasoning and frying up these wings. It’s too bad this dish was near the end, I would have liked it earlier so I could have saved room in my tummy for another order. Heh.

Salmon Fried Rice (Special of the Day) • $9.95 (?)

This dish wasn’t mine but it was highly enjoyed – so if you see it on the specials for the day, get it!

Tan Tan Udon (Szechuan Sesame Soup Udon) • $10.25

Okay, my dish! So, I had two things that affected me and this dish. Firstly, the picture in the menu is hard to see so I thought this udon dish was sauced, versus served in soup. That was a bit of a surprise…though the title says soup so I guess it’s my fault. Also, this dish comes with a level 1 to 5 spice. I chose 3 to be safe, well 3 might as well be called mild. My friend tried some soup and he can’t even handle spice and felt this dish was mild. LEVEL THREE. I guess if I get this dish again, I would ask for level 5, but I’ll bet it will be weak sauce. I should ask for a level 10…

So what did I think of the restaurant? Well, it was okay. It wasn’t great nor was it bad. The food wasn’t anything special so I think I will still stick to my usual izakayas. Don’t just take my word for it, try it yourself! By the way, the parking lot attached to this restaurant is open for customer parking even though the sign says clinic parking only – I checked with the waiter.

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Ginger & Garlic – Chinatown, HI

May23

Formerly Gold Fortune, Ginger & Garlic is now under new management and still serving up some good dim sum! And if you get the chance, spot out the guy with the majestic long hair. He’s almost like a unicorn to me, you don’t see much Chinese dudes with long wavy hair. He seems to take on different roles, I wonder if he’s an owner? Please enlighten me if you do know!

Seafood Bundle in Bead Curd • $4.95

One of my absolute favorite dim sum dishes. The bean curd wrapping is soft and holds together succulent morsels of seafood and a shiitake mushroom. I recommend this dish!

Shrimp Dumpling with Chives • $3.45

I like this dish, it’s not a must have for me but I like the thin skin of the dumpling and the shrimp and chives complement each other so well.

Shrimp Dumpling • $3.45

A staple in dim sum dining! It’s good here, not great.

Siu Mai • $3.45

This is my all time favorite dim sum dish. Nothing like the local kine (from da manapua man) – this is the real thing. I love it and they do it great here.

Seafood Chow Mein • $10.95

I have a soft spot for Seafood Chow Mein, not sure why. I think it stems from the Chinese parties I attended as a child, this was always a dish served to show wealth I’m sure. Every restaurant serves it up differently but I always enjoy it. While the crispy noodles are good, I actually like it when the noodles get soft under the gravy. Mmm…now I’m craving dim sum again…

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Mitsu-Ken Okazu and Catering – Kalihi, HI

May16

I haven’t been to Mitsu-Ken Okazu and Catering since they were located in their original School Street location. It was a miracle they had so much business in their original location with no parking! I decided to try their new location out last week because I had a hankering for some good ‘ole garlic chicken. Their new location has a lot of parking, much easier to maneuver especially early in the morning. It can be a bit confusing when you get in since there are a lot of folks standing around, head straight to the cashier if you are ready to order. The folks standing around are most likely waiting for their food.

Breakfast Deluxe • $6.75

2 Scoops Fried Rice, 2 Eggs (any style), 2 Strips of Bacon & 3 Pieces of Portuguese Sausage

Great deal! I don’t really like bacon but wanted to get their breakfast so I got the deluxe! I shared the bacon with my coworker and enjoyed the breakfast. I like that you can order your eggs the way you want it, they are pretty quick too! This was ono.

Fried Saimin Bento • $7.50

Fried Saimin, Garlic Chicken, Egg Omelette, Portuguese Sausage & Rice with Furikake

This is a great deal! And this bento has everything I want in a bento! Great fried saimin, portuguese sausage (yes, I got it again!) and of course the garlic chicken! I didn’t get to heat it up for lunch but it still tasted good cold. I love that I can pick up breakfast and lunch before heading into work. Mitsu-ken, once a classic, always a classic!

 

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Pho Que Huong – Honolulu, HI

May14

This may be a controversial statement, but I feel like the pho I have had in Vietnamese restaurants have been generally the same. Of course there are going to be nicer restaurants that offer better broths, but I am not locked down to a specific restaurant because I know I can get a good bowl of pho in most restaurants. Pho Que Huong is the newest Vietnamese Restaurant in Chinatown and after viewing pictures on Yelp, I had to try it. For the pho? Sure, gotta have that…but mainly for the Prawns dish! I’m a sucker for prawns. Pics time!

Medium Pho • $9.00

Great bowl of pho, tasted delicious. I liked that they served up the raw meat with raw onions. Doesn’t the meat look nice and red? It was a good bowl of pho, was it something that knocked my socks off? No, but it was good.

Tom Kho Tau (Prawns in Roe Sauce) • $15.00

At first look, $15 for two prawns doesn’t seem like a great value. However, if you go to Romy’s in the North Shore and order a Prawn plate, you get three big prawns for over $25 so maybe it’s not a terrible deal. Although, I should probably just go to a seafood market and buy my own prawns to make a dish. Sorry, I got sidetracked.

This was a great dish, it is savory in a salty, fishy (in a good way), and caramelized sauce. Very flavorful. It was so awesome to put some of the sauce onto the rice…and the heads of prawns have the best “miso” to eat! I was very happy to eat this, would I order it again? It’s a bit pricey so it’s not going to be a mainstay but a once-in-a-while treat is nice! This is a great restaurant because they serve a variety of dishes – I consider it a very full menu with some dishes you can’t find elsewhere. Parking, this is in Chinatown so you should already guess how that goes. We parked in a private lot across the street and paid $2 for an hour, we were able to dine in the restaurant and leave within the hour.

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Ikinari Steak – Osaka, Japan

May9

As I mentioned in a previous post, our last day in Osaka was located around the main Osaka Station. After some shopping, we had a hankering for some good lunch. I had a hankering for steak, lo and behold…Ikinari Steak! This was a quick find, there was a line of Japanese natives outside the shop, this should be good no? The prices were reasonable and they were busy, LET’S DO THIS.

Coca Cola • ¥300 (yikes!)

Wild Steak (300 g) • ¥1,390

Lunch Set A (Rice and Salad) • ¥300

Being non-Japanese speakers, it was a little bit confusing to order at this restaurant. The waitress was very nice and gave us English menus and proceeded to help us with the ordering. It’s a bit confusing because you have to walk up to the grill master to ask him to cook up your meat. Well, he didn’t really know English so we couldn’t quite get across that we wanted medium rare. Well the steak still came out pretty nicely cooked, though the hot plate kept cooking the steak past my temperature liking. For about $14, the serving of steak was a decent portion but I didn’t think it was anything special. In fact, I think I enjoyed the salad the most (is this becoming a theme?). I liked that they have all the salad dressings and steak sauces at your table for you to use. Aside from the costly soda, this lunch was good and cheap! I would recommend it if you’re feeling up to some steak!

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Ichiran Dotonbori – Osaka, Japan

May7

There are two Ichiran locations in the Dotonbori shooping area, one is on the waterfront by the big Don Quijote Ferris Wheel, the other is located deeper within the Dotonbori shopping arcade. We went to the second location and I finally got to try their famous cubicle dining system. Boy was that…interesting.

Does it look cramped? Well, it kind of is. They have both the cubicle dining and regular seats. The restaurant is like a zoo, you get in line and then are led to a machine to place your order. We got our dining tickets and were led to the line for the cubicles, a narrow staircase. We had a bit of a wait but it wasn’t too bad.

Here is the one side of the cubicle, you can order any extra toppings/side orders here…and drinks!

So they give you a new order sheet for any impromptu orders. Cash only!

They have a button for you to make your extra orders, other than that, you have no real interaction with the servers.

You see that bamboo looking mat in front of my noodles? That’s what they lift up to serve your noodles, then it’s back down for your privacy.

I ordered my noodles with an egg. Wasn’t a big fan of having to crack my own egg for the ramen, would have liked it to have been served already in my bowl. I can report that the egg was cooked perfectly, of course it was!

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Yayoi Japanese Teishoku Restaurant – Osaka, Japan

May2

I was in Osaka for 4 days and ate breakfast at Yayoi Japanese Teishoku Restaurant twice, I think that speaks for itself. This was a great restaurant, I wish I had taken more pictures. You order your food at the machine located in the front of the restaurant (there is an English screen!), take your ticket, have a seat and hand your ticket over to the waitress. Within 5 minutes, your food arrives. They have a little area that offers hot tea and a big pot of rice, in case you want more. The prices for the food, super reasonable. We only got to try breakfast there but that was enough for me. I’m sold and would love to return when I return!

How can you beat these prices??

Fried Egg Breakfast • ¥460

This was my first breakfast, simple fried egg and sausage. The set comes with unlimited white rice, tofu, nori, and miso soup. I like that this restaurant automatically serves iced water when you have a seat, not all Japanese restaurants do. Oh yes, that is a mountain of shredded cabbage you see. Japanese people love their cabbage, I wasn’t feeling too hungry so I didn’t eat the cabbage…gomen…

Silver Salmon Breakfast • ¥530

Ummm…five bucks for all this?? Salmon, raw egg, natto, miso soup, unlimited white rice….$5?? Great deal. I should have gotten this set both days. Mixing the raw egg into the hot rice…adding soy sauce…and then of course the natto…was so delicious, so satisfying. This is what I call an awesome Japanese breakfast. I wish we had these breakfast sets sold here in Hawaii, I would totally go all the time. Well having the same price here would help too but let’s be realistic…haha. Highly recommend this restaurant!

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Mike’s American Grill – Springfield, VA

Apr30

I had a work trip to Virginia and was flown in literally for the one day meeting. Don’t get me wrong, I was incredibly grateful for the travel. We were flown in late Saturday night, got in late Sunday afternoon…a meeting all day on Monday and then flown out early Tuesday morning. I honestly, never adjusted to East Coast time. In fact, I didn’t sleep at all on Monday night after the meeting. It was insane…I don’t think I’ve ever done that before (yes, I am that cool). Anyway, Monday night was the only night I had to try a restaurant so here it is! I did my research beforehand and really wanted to check Mike’s American Grill out. This restaurant was super close to the hotel so that was great and the food pics looked great…with so many high reviews! How did it go?

Complimentary Bread Basket

The two donut hole looking pastries were actually probably that? There was a thin coating of sugar on them. Okay, I looked them up, they are called Aussie Rolls! I didn’t get to the raisin (?) bread? And a nice cheese bread, we didn’t partake in this too much because we had an appetizer and entree coming!

Special Appetizer of the Day: Crab Dip with Lavash • $14.00

We were really excited to try this dip but it was pretty mediocre. The dip was a bit salty and not very “crabby,” and I don’t think the lavosh is a good accompaniment. I would have preferred a flat bread, but they seemed so open that maybe you could have requested that? I wouldn’t get this dish again.

Drunken Rib Eye • $31.00

Certified Angus Beef® marinated in our Great American Pale Ale…with mashed potatoes & roasted cremini mushrooms

Well…here is the dish we waiting for. Sounds great, looks great…nothing but high marks on their yelp page. And how was it? Oh…I had such high hopes. But guess what? It was FULL OF SALT. This restaurant was located on Backlick road, and I cracked that it was more like saltlick road, get it? I’m just full of fun to be around, trust me. The potatoes were good, the three mushrooms (lol) were good but it was really had to eat through this steak because of how salty it was. Someone had a prime rib and that looked super good…should have gotten that instead. 🙁

Field Greens Salad (comes with the Drunken Rib Eye)

with tomato, sun dried cranberries, dates, pine nuts, croutons & champagne vinaigrette…with blue cheese or Laura Chenel goat cheese, add $1

THIS WAS THE STAR OF THE NIGHT. Yes, a side salad. It was DELICIOUS. I don’t usually rave about a salad, but the level of detail in each topping was impressive. I loved that the salad came with dates and cranberries. Sorry, but where have dates been all my life? It was delicious. And the slices fresh tomatoes, they had some kind of Italian herb oil on them too. Full of flavor. So I will digress, I didn’t feel like a champagne vinaigrette and asked for ranch dressing. Their ranch dressing is like homemade, chock full of fresh herbs. Oh man, I am just salivating at this picture…over a salad. If all salads tasted like this, I’d be a vegetarian, no problem.

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Universal Studios – Osaka, Japan

Apr25

What trip to Osaka would be complete without a visit to Universal Studios? This is my first ever visit to any Universal Studios and boy was I excited! I already know Disney in Tokyo is awesome, I’m afraid I may have visited the best Universal Studios before I even got to see the rest! Although, I’m told the Florida location has much more to see and do so I’ll save my judgement for a later time.

Why was I so excited to go to Universal? HARRY POTTER WORLD OF COURSE. We had planned to get to Universal right when they opened, it didn’t work out in our favor…we got there maybe 15 minutes after they opened. Was there a ton of people already there? Yes. We bought our tickets from Klook, have you heard of Klook? It’s a phone app that you can purchase tickets, food certificates, etc. from! I used it in both Hong Kong and Osaka, and it works great! I connected my Klook to my paypal account so I can purchase things in Osaka through the app and not get charged any foreign transaction fees and second, not have to use my valuable yen. Usually Klook offers a bit of a discount off tickets, in this case, the Universal tickets were about the same price as you would get at the door…but it was nice to walk right past the ticket lines and scan my phone at the entrance.

For those who know me, you know I get motion sickness. Hardcore. So why did I stand in a three hour line to ride the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey? You got me, I don’t know why but I did it. Decided if I was going to ride a ride, might as well ride a crazy one and see if I die. I didn’t die. I didn’t throw up! Well, it is a crazy ride that is crazy fast and flips you all ways…I thought in the beginning that if I close my eyes, maybe I wouldn’t get sick. Nope, closing my eyes made me dizzy so I kept my eyes wide open the entire time. And well some images of the snake and deatheaters aren’t so pleasant but I’m sure my riding companions wouldn’t have appreciated projectile vomiting either. Hahaha, I think as I stood in line, I saw at least three signs saying if you have motion sickness, get out. I’m glad I rode it to say I rode it, I will not be riding it again.

Rotisserie Chicken and Pork Ribs Platter • ¥1950

Rotisserie Smoked Chicken Platter • ¥1900

Originally, I got the Chicken and Ribs plate but when we sat down, I suddenly didn’t feel like the ribs and switched. The plate is pretty good! Well it’s $20, so it better be good! The chicken was nicely cooked and the corn was delicious and sweet. The drink of course is not included in the meal, it costs extra. I want to say it was about $3.00, theme park prices. There were a ton of birds in the area. When I finished my food, two birds climbed onto my plate and started to pick at my food. Was pretty unreal. I missed the actual sight but a crow flew in and grabbed a chicken from one of the other tables! I think it was a leftover plate of food, not from a dining customer. Whew. I can’t get over how cheerful and nice the workers are at these Japanese theme parks. The lady who was cleaning up all the finished plates of food was incredibly gracious and patient, wish we had some of that service here!

Isn’t this a great shot? I have to give credit to my cousin, she spotted that it would be a great shot with the reflection in the water and boy was she right. If you want to get this shot, you will have to dine at Three Brooms because this was from their outdoor dining area.

Finally, I had to get that churro shot with Hogwarts in the background. Thank you to my hand model. Universal Studios offers churros, turkey legs, cute treats…very similar to Disney! There is also a Coca Cola truck that allows you to customize Coke bottles! What a nifty souvenir! My cousin got one and the worker kept stating that the word on the bottle you customize must be the name on your passport. He kept asking to confirm that it was her name on her passport. She said yes, he doesn’t check, he just expects the answer to be yes. I’m assuming they are trying to curb any bad words being placed on the bottles…but as an FYI, they do not check your passports!

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