Archives

Sweet Revenge – Honolulu, HI

Mar21

Have you heard the story behind Sweet Revenge? If not, I really think you should go to her website to check out her story! I think it makes her super cool and I am more than happy to help her. Well not help just based on her story, but also because her pies are AMAZING. Have you ever tried them? I tried it first at a farmer’s market and fell in love. Then she must have heard my heart and now comes to Manoa every week. Thank you! My go to is the classic Chicken Pot Pie. Everything tastes so fresh and homemade that you just can’t beat it. I can just taste the buttery goodness in every morsel of the pie. It’s definitely not diet food but it is chicken pie for the soul (get it?).

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Do you see what I see?

140321-02A closer look…it’s a heart! It’s the little touches that count!

140321-03Just a peek into the best chicken pot pie ever made. Yes, I’ll stand by that statement. 🙂

140321-04I didn’t actually eat this one but it’s her Quiche Lorraine! My coworker got this and he loved it too! You really can’t go wrong with pie.

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Nishi Mon Cho Ramen – Manoa, HI

Mar20

The weather was nice one day and my co-worker and myself decided to walk to Manoa Marketplace. I’ve walked there a few times and it’s a nice walk, definitely not as far as you would think. She decided to get her lunch from Andy’s (always a good choice!) but I didn’t feel like sandwiches so I tried the ramen shop in the marketplace. Nishi Mon Cho Ramen is one of those ramen joints that is run by Chinese, there’s nothing wrong with that (I’m Chinese!) but I just don’t go in expecting authentic you know? Also, Chinese run ramen shops usually incorporate other dishes. I got the Seafood Chow Mein which is obviously not Japanese…lol. I thought they did a pretty good job! It definitely was not one of the best I have ever had but it wasn’t bad either. Just wanted to share how it looks when you go for take out.

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Crispy Noodles waiting to be drenched…

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Lots of veggies. At first I thought they would be stingy with the seafood but it wasn’t as bad as I thought! Not bad, not great. I enjoy when the crispy noodles get soggy but still maintain a bit of crunch. I also appreciated them packing the gravy separate from the noodles! No leaky package again!

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IL Gelato Hawaii – Honolulu, HI

Mar19

Hi folks. It’s been a long week already but I am definitely going to try to keep up with the posts! Lots of stuff is going on but I’m hoping things settle down soon. Hope you folks are all doing well! I’ve been enjoying the chilly weather these past few days, I wish it could stay! Speaking of chilly, I’m here to share with you a dessert I had recently! I’ve tried IL Gelato before at a farmer’s market and really enjoyed it so I was definitely happy to see them pop open at Kahala Mall!

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One Scoop of Old Fashioned Chocolate Gelato – $3.75

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Delicious! I love their chocolate gelato. It’s such a rich and creamy chocolate taste. It was really reminscent of ice cream I had as a kid. It’s hard to explain but just trust me, bugga taste good. 🙂

140319-03Kona Royale – $7.50

140319-04Kristian felt like a Kona Coffee dessert. They didn’t have the actual kona coffee gelato so he tried the Kona Royale. It was very big and jam packed with stuff. I really think this is more of a two person dessert – Kristian could not finish it! How was the taste though? I’ll let him comment since it was his dessert.

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Local Cravings – Honolulu, HI

Mar18

Another ahi poke place in Kalihi! Thank god! Costco stopped serving their ahi poke bowls, not that I liked going to Costco anyway. That place is always nuts no matter what time of day it is. I heard Local Cravings used to run tents in farmers markets but now has opened it’s own shop in the City Square shopping center in Dillingham. I’ve been there twice so far. The first visit was a bit of a fluke to be honest. They had been open for only a few days so things weren’t running smoothly yet. I ordered the spicy tuna and they asked what rice I wanted, they suggested the sushi vinegar rice. I didn’t care for it mixed with spicy tuna. Then as I was eating, I found four scales. So, I decided to let them find their footing before going back about two weeks ago. So how did it go?

140318-01Spicy Ahi Crab Poke Bowl!

140318-02The generous bowl comes with rice of your choice (white, brown or sushi rice), furikake, poke of your choice, cucumber kimchee, and taegu. Delicious!

140318-03So the spicy ahi crab poke was a new addition this time around. The lady helping me mentioned that it is one of their best sellers so I definitely had to try it. What did I think? I thought it was just all right. The imitation crab kind of takes away from the full poke experience and there was a strong oyster sauce flavor.  I think for me, when I go back (yes, when not if!) – I will go for the regular spicy tuna over regular rice. Winners. The people (I assume owners) are nice people so I definitely want to return to support local. Also, any excuse to get a bubble tea at Thang II is always welcome.

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Yakiniku Don-Day – Honolulu, HI

Mar16

Yakiniku Don-Day is a cute Korean BBQ joint located behind the Keeaumoku Supermarket. It’s a unique one because it boasts both indoor and outdoor seating. Folks generally opt for outdoor eating – there’s a huge tree in the middle of the eating area and you are surrounded by wonderful stringed lights. I really recommend you give this place a try! They have good food and good service too. They actually cooked for us the whole way through! Usually my service starts off with them throwing stuff on the grill and then like leaving us to fend for ourselves at other places. Let’s get to the pictures!

140316-02Ban chan is EVERYTHING.

140316-03I give Koreans props for their food – mainly for the side dishes! So much effort is put in, I appreciate that.

140316-04Another ban chan and the dipping sauces!  Check out the edges of these dishes, they have been burned once too many. Hell hath no fury like a dish scorned – what am I saying?

140316-05Ooooohhh – we went with the bulgogi pack. It was delicious! It comes with chicken, pork and beef prepared bulgogi style. The pork was definitely the highlight.

140316-06Can’t eat yakiniku without some tofu stew and rice, yum!

140316-01Hello pretty girls on our water bottle! We also ordered yogurt soju – it was so good!

140316-07We had to drink it all, I don’t know how many shots I had…lost count!

The bathroom situation is…interesting. It’s inside of the restaurant. There are two doors, one for women and one that is unisex that also says Employees Only. Yeah weird. I tried to open the door for the woman’s bathroom but it was locked so I was waiting. The staff then told me to go right into the unisex bathroom so I did. Typical bathroom – toilet and a urinal and their entire stock of alcohol. Yes. And umm…one brand of beer had many cases and they were already past their best used by date…that’s all.

I thought sitting outdoors would allow me to not smell like BBQ after dinner. Unfortunately, I still smelled strongly of BBQ. There wasn’t much wind around and when there was, it blew the smoke into our faces…lol.

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Yajima-Ya – Honolulu, HI

Mar14

I ran an errand in Ala Moana recently and finally got to try Yajima-Ya food truck! I was very curious about where this place was and if it was on the same lot as the Yajima service station. I also wonder if it’s affiliated with the actual service station or if it’s just taking advantage of the name recognition? Well I found the truck and it’s located in the back behind Hinone Mizunone in it’s own little lot. It shares a lot with another food truck, there are about three parking stalls fronting the trucks as well. I had the pleasure of struggling to back out of the lot into the busy two lane road and realize I was gassing it with my brake on. Good job Jenny. Anyhoo! I came here to try their food and had to try their signature, Mushroom Chicken! Check it out!

140314-01Yajima-Ya Menu as of February 2014

140314-02Here is the mushroom chicken on a bed of rice, spinach salad and a potato salad

140314-03Close-up of the chicken – nice and tender pieces of chicken

140314-04The glorious mushroom gravy slathered on. Look at the huge chunks of mushrooms. Thank you for using fresh mushrooms! The details as I say, always count. Super nice Japanese man runs the line – they pack up the gravy in its own container separate from the plate. No leaky plate! So what did I think? I thought it was good! A little salty since the chicken tasted seasoned and the gravy is of course salty so maybe you could use some of the gravy first and adjust according to taste. Give them a try!

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Papa Ole’s – Hauula, HI

Mar9

The first time I heard about Papa Ole’s was from Lance, a reader of this blog! Thanks for sharing Lance! After his suggestion, I saw it pop up on my yelp feed and the pictures had me salivating. I. had. to. go. And go I did. I went a few weeks ago for the first time with some family. It was a great ride out there and the staff were very friendly. We ordered a pulehu ribs plate and a shrimp plate to share. It was not even 11 am on a Sunday morning and we already snatched up the last pulehu ribs plate, I couldn’t believe it! Here’s my sad part of the story, the ribs were SALTY. Like crazy salty. I could pick off grains salt to create a mountain if I wanted to…but the meat. Oh the meat, it was so good. Thick cut ribs…cooked medium rare – oh so tender and good. It was hard to get past the salt. I figured since we got the last plate, we had the saltiest bunch.

Well, I had to drive out to Laie this week for a meeting and I suggested to my coworkers to eat at Papa Ole’s and we did. Everyone got the pulehu ribs and sorry but it was so salty again! Don’t get me wrong, I know when you get anything pulehu or pipikaula style, it’s going to be salty but this is beyond what I can handle. One of my coworkers actually got a combo kalbi and pulehu plate and let us try a piece of the kalbi. The kalbi was very good. The seasoning was on point and they served it thick cut like the pulehu…unfortunately they also also cooked them to like a crisp. Even though it was cooked way over, the meat was fortunately still tender. I think if I do return, I would ask for the kalbi ribs done medium rare. Sorry for all the text, let’s get to the pics!

140309-06Let the rooster greet you. He just walks around like he owns the place. Pretty smart if you ask me, that’s some good crumbs he’s getting!

140309-01Portuguese Eggs and Rice Plate – $9.00
For the kids and it comes with toast too! I think this is overpriced so I wouldn’t get it again.

140309-02Sauteed Shrimp Plate – $12.00
This is like shrimp scampi style, a little bit creamy – pretty good!

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140309-04Pulehu Ribs Plate – $12.00
Look at that meat, how can one resist? The ratings are crazy high on Yelp so maybe you need to try these yourself to see if you like it!

140309-07Pulehu and Kalbi Ribs Combination Plate – $12.00
My coworker couldn’t decide between the two so they said they can put both on the plate and charged the same price! Glad they did, I got to try the Kalbi!

140309-08Pulehu Ribs View

140309-09Kalbi Ribs View – it wasn’t too charred on this side but when we turned it over…it was completely black!

140309-10This is the size of their mini Pulehu Ribs plate. Great deal for $7.50, comes with 3 ribs!

Another thing – the first time I came here they asked if I wanted mac or green salad. We decided to get one of each. This past time, they didn’t ask us which we wanted so we got mac. I totally forgot about that and wish they had. The green salad and dressing is delicious and honestly, you should eat the greens to offset the ribs a bit. So just wanted to let you folks know about the green salad option! In case you don’t know, Papa Ole’s is located in the same shopping center as Longs Drugs and Tamura’s.

140309-05A picture from my first drive over…have a good one guys!

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Pho Thinh – Moilili, HI

Mar8

I’ve mentioned on my blog before that I enjoy Pho Bistro 2 and also mentioned that I enjoy Pho Thinh. I am now here to some pictures at a recent meal! They serve this dish called Bun Rieu which is a Crab Noodle Soup. It is so delicious! I took my three brothers one Saturday afternoon and it was a great meal. Kids love pho, did you know? Anyhow, the staff is great there and everything is so CLEAN. You gotta check it out, everything is obsessively clean and everything tastes great. Here are my pictures.

140308-01Doesn’t that look great? Shrimp and Crab…awesome!

140308-02Here are the veggies that come with it. It comes with raw bean sprouts and the greens are sliced ong choi stems. It also comes with lemon and sliced peppers. I throw the ong choi right into the soup right away so it can cook a bit – it’s great because it maintains its crunch!

140308-03Everything goes so well together. Tomatoes, fried tofu, noodles, green onions, shrimp and crab. It looks spicy but it really isn’t!

140308-04Ah what a perfect post for a rainy day…

 

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Agu Ramen Part 3

Mar7

Yes, another visit to Agu Ramen! This is going to be my last visit for a while. Oh wait, I may have to take that back. I heard they started serving a extended appetizer menu! I don’t know if it’s worth another visit for a while still…

140307-01Kotteri Tonkotsu – you see all that black liquid? That’s all oil. Yeah…it’s covered in oil. It was too much. The flavor was all right and I still like the noodles they serve but I wasn’t a fan of this bowl. I think if I do return, I’ll have to try their Jidori version since it’s supposed to be healthier for you.

Part 1
Part 2

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