Olive Garden – Ala Moana, HI

It was the labor day holiday and I decided to take all three brothers out to Olive Garden because they have the special Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion going on. I mean, this is the way to go when you have three ravenous teenage boys (soon to be all men – cry face). It’s a great deal, you get never ending salad, soup, bread sticks and of course pasta! Well I got full super fast so it was wasted on me but at least one of my brothers went ham so it was worth it. It was laborious to get there (joke intended) but I hope they enjoyed.

House Salad

Bros ate this up! We got two servings. I went for the soup.

Zuppa Toscana
spicy italian sausage, kale and potatoes in a creamy broth

First soup up! First time trying this. Not creamy, I mean it looks creamy but it’s very thin. Not full on the fillings either, but I guess it’s meant to be a lighter soup. Tasted ok.

Chicken & Gnocchi
a creamy soup made with roasted chicken, italian dumplings and spinach

Got this just to try it. It wasn’t that good and was salty. I didn’t even finish it cause I had to make room for the pasta!

Fettuccine Alfredo

Creamy Mushroom Angel Hair

My pasta. Super good but super rich and I got full fast. Foolish mistake! And since angel hair is so thin, they give you more! Wasted tummy space!

Creamy Mushroom Angel Hair with Crispy Chicken Fritta

Meat Sauce Rigatoni with Meatballs

So there are two different deals with the bowl, you either get the pasta with no toppings (proteins) for $19.99 or you can choose to have toppings with your pasta for $27.48. Here are your choices when creating your pasta bowls:

Pasta:
Spaghetti
Rigatoni
Angel Hair
Gluten-Free Rotini

Sauce:
Traditional Marinara
Five Cheese Marinara
Creamy Mushroom
Meat Sauce

Toppings (extra $7.49 and not the full topping menu):
Meatballs (3)
Italian Sausage
Crispy Chicken Fritta

I’m perplexed why grilled chicken is not a choice but the crispy chicken comes with it. Weird. Also, the first plate of pasta is a full portion. After that, you basically get half orders which I don’t mind. You can order to your heart’s content. Also! They allow you to take home the leftovers…and! They don’t limit it to all or nothing, so only two brothers got toppings while me and another brother got the plain pasta. But honestly, you can probably sneak meat off the other person if they don’t mind I guess. It’s easy to make reservations because they are on Open Table. If you can eat plenty, go check them out!

Rainbow Drive-In – Kapahulu, HI

Decided to do a last summer lunch order before school started. I wasn’t craving anything special and wanted some comfort food so we went to Rainbow Drive-In! There is a Rainbow Drive-In near my home but that one pales in comparison to the original. Now that Richie’s is a disappointment, I had to give Rainbow Drive-In a go! The online ordering system makes it so much easier.

Mix Plate | $13.75
a combination of our BBQ Beef, Boneless Chicken and Mahi Mahi

Why do they serve gravy with the boneless chicken in the boneless chicken plate but not in the mix plate? A bit baffling and I didn’t feel like ordering extra gravy. Man oh man, if you check out their ordering site, they have really nailed down how to add things to your plate. I know in the past you could say gravy all over and it would be free, now gravy all over it 95¢. I thought the plate would be too dry but it was okay in the end. The boneless chicken had good flavor and I was surprised that I liked their bbq beef, I usually dislike meat prepared this way but their meat was not hard or rubbery at all!

Mix Plate | $13.75
Add Chili on the Rice | $3.75

a combination of our BBQ Beef, Boneless Chicken and Mahi Mahi

My co-worker’s plate. Do I think it’s worth it to get chili on the rice for $4.00? Ehh…

Boneless Chicken Plate | $12.75
tender, boneless chicken thighs seasoned, breaded and fried golden brown on our griddle served with gravy

Chili Tots | $6.50
Add Cheese | 95¢

Got some chili tots to share with my coworkers and yes I had to pay like $1 for cheese on top. Blah! But it was good. Super good. Worth it. This was definitely a good run! We placed the order and it was ready when we got there. We lucked out with parking, had choke tourists there.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House – Honolulu, HI

Ah yes, another birthday celebration! Good food and great company, can’t be beat! I don’t think I am ever disappointed by Ruth’s Chris Steak House. IDK what the name means but we came on a Sunday evening with a 5:30 PM reservation. We should have reserved for 5 because we showed up early and they were actually seating everyone at their assigned times so we had to wait basically 30 minutes. Just a heads up.

Nothing new here, everything is so expensive but I spocked out a early bird dinner menu. It’s like a prix fixe menu that they call Ruth’s Classics. It’s only available from 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM so go check it out. It includes a starter, entree, personal side and a dessert! My friend and I got the two entree options so you can see below what you get and the cost!

Complimentary Bread and Butter

We were huuungry. I was hangry. I basically ate all the bread except one slice. The butter was so good too. Why does butter taste so much better in restaurants? Forreal! This was a fatal mistake because I couldn’t finish my dinner but it was worth it!

Starter Caesar Salad
starter options: steak house salad, caesar salad, louisiana seafood gumbo

Oh my goodness, this was a HUGE salad. And we each got one. It felt like the regular salad that could be shared. Was so good. Too good. That dressing is addicting!

Personal Side: Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach
personal side options: creamed spinach, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed white rice

You must be asking the question, what happened to Jenny? Why was white rice not ordered? Well I tell you what, I was super close to doing it but decided last minute that we should just share both sides and included a veggie side. Although creamed spinach isn’t really healthy yeah? Both classic sides and both are great!

Steak & Shrimp | $68.00
our tender 6 oz. filet with three large shrimp

Yes, $68 looks expensive but you get so much! The petite filet and shrimp ala carte $81(!) folks. Delicious as always, great cut of meat and great seasoning on the shrimp. Highly recommend!

Steak and Lobster | $78.00
buttery cold water lobster tail paired with a 6 oz. filet

Great deal! Look at the size of that lobster! You gotta get their prix fixe menu so you can enjoy this.

Chocolate Ice Cream

The dessert choices were the sorbet, ice cream or the bread pudding. I was pretty full so I went for the chocolate ice cream. Can’t beat the classic.

Creme Brulee | $5.00 (up-charge)

So, if you want to have another dessert on the menu that doesn’t come with the prix fixe, you have to pay an up-charge. What I don’t understand is…all the desserts, including the bread pudding is the same price so why is it an upcharge for the others? Who knows. It was enjoyed nonetheless.

Flaming Strawberries

A complimentary dish for birthdays. I didn’t know this was coming and wish I could have just told them to give me the strawberries with chocolate sauce. No need alcohol and the whole show. It burns for like at least a minute and the strawberries get all mushy. This time, it was mushy AND burnt. Sorry to sound unappreciative. It just feels like a waste you know? Anyway, great meal. I always choose the restaurant row location.

The Cutlery – Kaimuki, HI

For my birthday last weekend, Chan took me to The Cutlery (at my request). They are in Kaimuki and replaced the old restaurant, Town. They have both indoor and outdoor seating (which allows pets), you know I wanted air conditioning so indoor it is. The parking lot is a very small one and it’s shared so I highly suggest making an early reservation. I didn’t realize how busy this entire street was! Let’s check out the food!

Non-alcoholic Lilikoi Margarita | $6.00

Yay for non-alcoholic options! Make sure you mix it up real good before drinking, super sweet on the bottom! This was super good. I had two.

Fire Roasted Washugyu Bone Marrow | $28.00
hawaiian chili chimichurri, pickled red onions, crostinis

This is one of the dishes I was most looking forward to. I don’t know why I have such a thing for bone marrow. This was super good but also, I could hardly taste the marrow so it was basically a super buttery rich garlic bread. Was good – glad I tried, don’t need to get it again.

Charred Broccolini | $12.00
garlic butter, maldon salt

I love broccolini. This had a nice smokey flavor from the charring but in the end, the stems were too hard due to the flash grilling. It comes with a garlic aioli for dipping!

Duck Fat Fries | $12.00
duck fat, maldon salt, parsley

Here’s what Chan was looking forward to most. Duck fat fries are a rarity these days! I remember when Hank’s Haute Dogs used to serve them. So good. These did not disappoint! They were good fries but it’s not like I tasted duck in it. You know? It was just nicely fried…fries.

Mushroom Medley | $12.00
alii, shimeji, shiitake, browned butter

I was already like so full that I hardly ate this. Was super good though because I love mushrooms and butter. I told Chan we should make it on our own with some garlic and butter…and maybe ajinomoto? Hmm…

Steamed White Rice | $6.00
short grain

LOL, this was all me. I’m Asian and I can’t let anyone forget that. It was rice, I have no further comments. Well they cooked it okay, how’s that? I’ve had too many posts where I am disappointed in rice! This was fine.

New Zealand Rack of Lamb | $65.00
kiawe fire roasted, hawaiian mint chimichurri

My main dish! I do love lamb. Was already super full so I only ate one chop but it was good and they cooked it perfectly medium rare.

Nakamura Cut Prime Rib | $60.00
16oz., 7-hour kiawe smoked, USDA Prime, bone marrow au jus, creamy horseradish

Chan’s entree, it’s only available on weekends and holidays. Was good. Like I said, we were both so full that we barely had bites of our entrees. We packed up so much food to go, we were eating for days! It was delicious and this was also the entree that made me realize I really like horseradish? It was good! Thank you again to Chan for a wonderful birthday meal. They also gave me free ice cream for my birthday, she lit the candle and walked away (lol). I had to sing happy birthday to myself, Chan did too but was shame so we did it quietly (maybe I wasn’t so quiet). Have a great week everyone!

Lucky Box – Honolulu, HI

Mini Chicken Katsu | $9.50

Upon the urging from foodie friend, I had to return to Lucky Box to get the chicken katsu! Foodie friend is correct, the chicken katsu was super good and the sauce was good too. They give a lot and it tastes good! The mac salad is good too, thank god. Delicious!

Cold Ginger Chicken | $9.89

I guess my craving is still there because I ordered it again. All rice of course. I wanted to see what chicken pieces they would give me this time and it was thigh pieces again! Winner winner chicken dinner, literally. This time I ordered an extra sauce…

Side Ginger Sauce | $1.25

N, can you believe it!! They charge $1.25 for one more sauce! Sheesh! Did I use them both up? Yes. It went super well with the rice and chicken but dang…$1.25! Would still get it again lol.

Gyotaku – Niu Valley, HI

A fair warning, Chan already wondered outloud how this post will go down. It wasn’t a great experience but as you know, I will be honest! We came to Gyotaku on a Sunday afternoon for lunch, it was almost 1 and they obviously had a few big tables. We got seated in a booth, all the booths have high walls so you can’t really customers in the booths you know? Well, we weren’t greeted at all. For a long time. Long enough for us to consider a walk-out. Then a waitress came by as she was putting out food for another table and apologized and told us she would be right with us. Okay, that’s fine. Only, she wasn’t. After another long while, another person, I assume the supervisor came by and asked us how we were doing. Well…I don’t know how you want us to answer that when we had no waters and no one has helped us in like 20 minutes. So I was a bit short and said, we haven’t even been helped yet (because I’m not sure why she was asking us how we were doing when we had nothing at the table). She apologized and offered to take our orders.

Okay, I’ll have to explain more about this experience through the post.

Miso Soup and Salad

Their salad remains consistently good. Their wafu dressing is the best and just works so well with the salad. This is something that has remained the same and should never change!

Ahi Poke Don & Tenpura | $32.45

Sigh. When I used to frequent Gyotaku, my absolute favorite dish was their Assorted Poke Don (it used to be called the Mixed Poke Don) and I was massively depressed when they stopped carrying it after Covid. Well, imagine my surprise when I got to the restaurant and saw it back on the menu. I was sooo happy. Chan and I both ordered it. So what is it that you are looking at up there? Yeah, it’s plain ahi poke don. Both of us got just plain ahi poke so I flagged down the waitress and asked her if we got just plain ahi poke dons. She apologized and offered to take them back. Well, I certainly don’t want two big bowls of ahi poke dons get wasted. Maybe if I was the only one that ordered it and it was wrong, I might have said okay. I just told her, it’s fine, just charge us for the right item and ate it.

Karaage Chicken | $9.25

This one almost got me over edge. We ordered Karaage Chicken with Fries as an appetizer and this was what was dropped at our table. Yup, no fries. I was about to flag the waitress down again and just ask to be charged only for the chicken when someone else came by and dropped a big plate of fries…

Whew, that saved me from anger. The supervisor actually came by afterwards and apologized for the mix-up with the food and that they recently revised their menu so the kitchen might be a bit confused. She mentioned that she is only charging us for the karaage chicken and gave us a bigger serving of fries. She also gave us free drinks and even offered up dessert which we declined. Why oh why was I so full?? My Chinese soul is taking a beating for not taking up something free.

So all in all, not a great service experience but in the end, the supervisor did her best on service recovery and it was fine. I appreciated the effort. I am still missing the assorted poke don so I think I’ll have to pay them a visit again, sooner rather than later.

Mixed Plate Friday

Sushi Robot Breakfast Bento | $4.77

When Sushi Robot first closed down, I was sad! They were a great place to swing by to grab food after my early morning Don Q run for work. Well, they reopened in the mini food court on the side and I was elated! They are open early and serve up super cheap foods.

Richie’s Drive Inn Mini Mushroom Chicken | $10.14

Oh man, to watch Richie’s go down like this is sad. I know they changed ownership recently but I still wanted to give them a chance. My laziness loves that they have a drive thru option even though it’s a hot mess system lol. I decided to give their mushroom chicken a try this day. It’s basically their chicken katsu smothered with mushroom gravy. Was salty and not good. And their mac salad? OH THE BIGGEST HEARTBREAK. They used to have one of the best mac salads around, now they add big chunks of potato and olives? It’s so odd. Did not taste good. Their chili dog plate still seems to be good so I will probably just get my bro that from here on out since that’s his favorite.

Somen Cone Sushi

What is the official name for this dish? I made this for a get-together last week. Was a hit! Family loved it, office loved and the friends loved it! I’ve seen variation of this dish but I made it a little different. It has taegu, ocean salad, imitation crab, cucumbers, tropics dressing, etc. And you can’t forget the fresh sprig of cilatnro on top. What a pain to make, it’s easy to cook up but stuffing over 40 of these? It took like over an hour, my back hurt. Anyways, delicious!

Hangang – Ala Moana, HI

When Hangang first opened, they were touted as a high end Korean BBQ place. The reviews were all over the place, a lot of people complained of the price and service so I laid low. I had the pleasure of trying Hangang for dinner one night with friends and it was delicious! Then I saw Kat and V’s lunch visit and that made me want to return! My coworker loves kalbi and naengmyun so this was the perfect reason to go.

Complimentary Banchan

I only talk about my love of banchan all the dang time and it doesn’t end here. Hangang is giving Frog House a run for their money on the banchan. I loved every dish!!

Cold Noodle Combo with Kalbi | $ 26.95
1 arrowroot cold noodle with short ribs BBQ

LOOK AT THIS. I am salivating look at it. My friend and I actually ordered this combo and a noodle ala carte ($15.95) because we are dainty ladies who shared the kalbi. LOL…nah nah not dainty but it was like the perfect amount of food. And sounds pricey but given the price of kalbi alone nowadays, I think this was a great deal!

They offered to cut it and we accepted. Good thing I got my noodle shot beforehand! Never seen tomato slices in naengmyun before but what was interesting was that the tomato slices are pickled. Very interesting (in a good way). No gray ring of death on the egg yolk. They serve up hot mustard and vinegar on the side which I have never used. Great meal! Would definitely return to try their other lunch specials!

Liliha Bakery – Honolulu, HI

Today’s post is brought to you by the OG Liliha Bakery. For some odd reason, I don’t feel right about going to any other location. Love the old school feel of the original location, a bit sad they aren’t 24 hours anymore but it allows them to be open 7 days a week which is a win. I brought the youngest to Liliha Bakery for a quick breakfast for his first day of high school. What a whirlwind, all three bros are almost adults. It’s a bit sad for me but I’ll make do. Anyway, he said okay to breakfast as we were driving there and when we got there, he said he has a stomachache and didn’t want to eat. No worries, I didn’t blow my top. I packed it up and said you better eat it later or die (lol).

French Toast | $10.95
homemade sweet bread

The untouched french toast. He did end up eating it later so he is still alive, no worries. I don’t know how he liked it but since he ate it all, I assume it was fine.

Famous Butter Roll

Mm…buttered butter roll nicely toasted and served up with their neon jelly. It wasn’t doing it for me that morning, I guess the bread was a bit…drier than I liked. Would have liked more jelly too, look at that small amount.

Two Eggs with Corned Beef Hash | $12.95
choice of ham, bacon, pork sausage, portuguese sausage, hamburger patty, spam, vienna sausage or corned beef hash

I haven’t dined here in a while so I was a bit surprised by the tossed green salad on my breakfast plate. LOL, it was good, they serve it up with a good ranch dressing. Great corned beef hash, love the homemade patty. Great breakfast!

Mixed Plate Friday

Fort Street Cafe Pad Thai with Garlic Chicken | $12.45

We did a lunch order in Downtown recently, this wasn’t my dish but man oh man I got to eat a piece of the garlic chicken. They still do it so well. I think the pad thai is a bit sweeter than most, maybe I would just go for the garlic chicken.

Wowsers. I was at Windward Mall and decided to try a beef corndog. This was pricey, I think it came out to about 12 bucks for the hot dog and drink combined but boy oh boy was it good. A freshly fried corndog, I haven’t had that in eons. It was so good. Worth it!

Fukuya Nori Chicken and Cone Sushi

No prices on this because I got to eat it for free! I haven’t had Fukuya in a long time, nori chicken is good as always and the cone sushi is bumboocha! Nori chicken is so good, always worth it to buy outside because prepping and frying this on your own is a major pain.