Mixed Plate Friday

Sweet and Spicy Trail Mix | $7.00

I never heard of this Sweet Sentiments but they had a pop-up at Nordstrom last weekend so I decided to support local! It’s pretty good! It does have a bit of a kick to it and she uses stuff I like to eat, love the little goldfish too lol

Shoyu Chicken Mozzy | $5.50
homemade aromatic shoyu chicken laced with kewpie mayo, topped with thin sliced sweet onions, crowned with melty mozzarella

I’ve been wanting to try Coco’s Cravings 808’s baked goods for a while now! Always salivate when she posts her sales. She had a pop-up at Nordstrom last weekend so I got to try it! How was it? Well to be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed. It was $5.50 for this bun, it wasn’t bad but definitely not great you know? I still would love to try her pepperoni one and the cinnamon bun was pretty good!

Sorry, I got this image off the internet and not sure who the owner is. If it’s you, please let me know and I can credit you. Remember this building? It brings a smile to my face when I see this picture, it’s bittersweet. I’m so sad to see Keeaumoku turn into high-rise central, we lost so many of our favorite businesses. On the left, you see Jae-il Video, I used to love going there as a high schooler. You see, I was super into K-pop in high school so I used to take the bus to this shop to rent VHS (yeah I’m old, so wat) of the music shows. The Korean ahjumma thought it was cute that this chinese girl who couldn’t speak Korean would come in to rent tapes. She would always greet me so warmly and they would even give me free Korean magazines and posters (I WAS IN HEAVEN – THAT WAS LIKE GOLD TO ME). I hope that family is doing well nowadays.

Mixed Plate Friday

Have you folks tried those furikake wonton chips at Foodland? They now sell it alongside their housemade tortilla chips. Those wonton chips are TOO DAMN GOOD. It’s not hard crispy, it’s a nice and light crispy. And everytime I go into Foodland and look at their dips because I bet they would be good with those chips. I broke down and got this dip to try. It was okay, I think it’s a gimmicky name. It’s really just creamy salmon dip with furikake haha. But I enjoyed it! Glad I tried, not sure I would buy again (cause it’s pricey!).

Oh yum. I forget the price of this but it was a good sandwich, this was also from Foodland. And a bit blasphemous but I ate it cold. I bet it would be super good warmed up in a toaster oven.

Don’t you love a good ‘ole Hawaii style potluck party? Look at all this glorious food on one plate. I was in heaven, can’t go wrong. Loved it!! Spinach rolls are one of my favorites of all time!!

Mixed Plate Friday

On a walk around the UH Manoa campus, I spotted this note on the ground. It was the Monday after graduation and I was just so intrigued by the letter. Simple note. Do you think it’s authentic? Do grandparents sign letters with “Grandmother”? I guess I would assume Grandma or something less formal? Not sure. I felt sad that it was littered on the ground. So what do you folks think? Real letter or like a plant to catch attention? Either way, sweet but sad message.

Spicy Tofu Poke Bowl | $11.75

Walked down to Down to Earth (ha!) but didn’t get my usual tofu pockets, decided to try this spicy tofu poke bowl instead. How was it? Well it tastes like a health food store made it, does that help you? Get a big helping of hijiki salad which I love. Rice was kind of hard. The tofu was just alright. I wouldn’t get it again.

Miso Butterfish Bento | $14.00

It is dangerous that Mai Musubi is so close to work, since I walked down to Le Flowers to get a lei, swung by here to grab breakfast and lunch. This bento was supposed to be my lunch but I ate it for breakfast (lol). It was good! Two good sizes pieces of fish, I enjoyed it. I don’t enjoy their fried chicken but I enjoy this.

Mixed Plate Friday

Lego Typewriter

I don’t usually buy Lego sets but when I saw this one released, I knew I had to get it! It’s pricey but thanks to a friend, I was able to get it at a discounted price. And well it took forever to build! So many little pieces but it was worth it. The keys do work and the carriage moves, I should take a video of it working. It’s pretty neat!! Wish I had a clear display case for it because it will now collect dust (like real life typewrites yeah?)

Poke Bowl (2 Choice) | $12.95

I haven’t been to Alicia’s Market since they had that fire and reopened. Got these bowls for the boys, it’s nice that one choice or two choice is the same price. Kind of pricey for the portion but was good. I believe we chose Shoyu Onion and Spicy Ahi.

Spicy Mixed Noodles (Bibimkooksoo) | $13.95

Next door to Alicia’s is Joon’s Korean BBQ, I didn’t feel like poke bowl so I gave them a chance! When I first got the order, I thought the portion was kind of small. They usually give it in a big lunch plate box but you know what? It was a pretty hefty portion and I asked for spicy and I got what I asked for, it was spicy. My face is leaking kine spicy. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back here but would try it again if I was there.

Mixed Plate Friday

Get this. I was in a mood but still always follow the rules. So I’m driving up Piikoi to go onto the freeway right? And you folks know, the right and left lane people always be trying to cut us rule followers. I don’t let them cut because why should I have to wait forever to get on the freeway while you folks just cut last minute? It is so maddening! Anyway, earlier this morning it happened. This stupid jeep was on the left trying to cut me, we were bumper to bumper at the red light. I was not going to let him in. But he kept moving forward and steering his car like he was just gonna cut anyway.

Well guess what. No. I didn’t let that happen. And as the light turned green and I went gas em, his passenger, some white lady busts out her phone and points it at me out of the window. Yeah! Like she’s trying for record me for not letting them in??? Girl are you crazy. I hope you enjoyed the view of me pissed off in my big black sunglasses I got from my eye surgery. It was obviously a rental car (dumb tourist). I was hopping mad but I ain’t going to engage with them. I just drove off. How rude right??? I almost like her post the video and me find it to tell everyone exactly what happened.

Spicy & Shoyu Ahi Poke Bowl | $12.99

Before the pandemic, Aja used to fill up the cold case with sushi and bibimkooksoo. Still no bibimkooksoo but I did try this poke bowl the other week! Pretty good! Pretty good portion for $12.99 even if it’s a lot of rice.

Homemade Bahn Mi Toast

Haha I’m calling it toast because I didn’t have any french bread. But I just toasted up one slice of bread, shredded Sam’s Club chicken with mayo, made my own carrot/daikon pickle, fresh cilantro and some homemade pickled jalapenos too! It was delicious! The boys loved it too, all three of them! Hard to find dishes that all three enjoy.

Homemade Tuna Pasta Salad

Did I post this before? I just made my own pasta salad one day and used cottage cheese as a base for the dressing to make it healthier. I just needed the wetness of the cottage cheese to make a dressing and for me it works. I added fresh dill too to make it even more flavorful. I forget the recipe already, if you want it, let me know and I can try to type one up and post. I enjoy this dish!

Mixed Plate Friday

Cream Cheese Guava Danish

My wonderful coworker got me this nice morning breakfast treat this week! She got it from Wallflour Bake Shop. Oh my gosh, and I got to try it while it was fresh and it was soooo good. So buttery and flakey and just delicious. I’ve never been to this bakery but if this pastry was an indication, go for it!

Somen Salad

How cute is this? How cute is the spam heart? This was part of the offerings of a cute 15th birthday party. Oh man, the mother put so many details into the party. The decorations and the food, I could absolutely tell she put so much work into the party. It’s really all the little details that count you know? I noticed them all and I hope her daughter appreciated them too!

Spicy Black Bean Jalapeno Dip

I got onto this wagon too late. I know they had this a few months already and finally only got it like a week ago. Well dang it, it is GOOD. Not too spicy but guess what. It’s all gone already. And I see it says limited time so I guess I won’t get to eat it again. Sigh. Now I’m scouring the internet for bean dip recipes, who would have ever thunk it. If you ever see this in stock again, let me know!!!!

Mixed Plate Friday

Breakfast Bento | $4.77

Sushi Robot is located outside of the Kaheka Don Quijote – they been there forevers and sell all kinds of good grab and go foods. I got this bento one morning after an early shop. Can’t lose with a $5 meal! And it’s definitely filling. I would get it again!

Okinawan Soba | $13.00 (or $14.00)

Raysam Hawaii is a cute little Okinawan food truck that comes onto the UH Campus! I like to support him when I can, it seems like a one man operation. I enjoyed their handmade omusubi and decided to try their okinawan soba this time. It was delicious! And I love that he serves it separate from the broth, no bloated noodles!

I saw this bag of turtle chips at 711 and couldn’t resist because I love truffle. Bugga was expensive, $6.09 and how is it? Junk brah, no get it. It’s still too sweet and the truffle taste is minimum yet artificial and just tastes like MSG or something. No waste your money.

Mixed Plate Friday

For those who know, know! Gateway Cafe is located in the Gateway Student Housing for UH students but their cafeteria is open to the public! For $12.25 at lunch – you can get a pretty good buffet! They put up daily menus every week so you can take a look and see if you are interested. Here’s a sampling of a recent lunch I had. The pasta is hit or miss but on this day, it was a hit! The pink vodka sauce is chef’s kiss. I can’t forget to eat my hot dog. They also advertise their in-house baked bread but I am pretty irked that the last few times I’ve gone…no bread!!! I would pay just to eat that bread. Give me the bread!

Jajangmyeon | $12.95

Is it time for me to compare the different black bean noodle restaurants in Hawaii? This dish is from Dowon Chinese Restaurant, it was alright. To me the sauce was a bit watered down and kind of sweet. A bit odd. I guess I gotta try On Dong again to compare. Also, I don’t know if they give it for dine in but when you order take out, they don’t give you the raw onions and black bean paste as a side. Boo.

Pan Fried Dumplings | $5.00

This is a funny story. I am usually the runner for food pick-ups in Chinatown. This time, my coworker helped do the run and boy did she get a sweat. I ordered pan fried dumplings from Heaven Chinese Noodle and BBQ Cafe. This place is a super hole in the wall Chinese place at the Chinese Cultural Plaza. And when you find it, it’s hit or miss if you are able to communicate with the staff. I gave an easy enough order, pan fried dumplings for $5.00. They go and ask my coworker how many dumplings. Like what??? How many pieces. So she’s texting me asking and I’m like…whatever comes in that order? I was so confused. I think they eventually said it’s 5 pieces, okay that works great. She got super flustered because they weren’t that friendly too lol.

Anyway, the dumplings were really good and they ended up giving I think 7 dumplings so thank you. I really enjoy their food, very home cooking kine and their prices are good! If you’re curious where they are, they are right next to Royal Kitchen.

Mixed Plate Friday

Bobo Chicken with Red Chili and Mixed Vegetable Skewers | $24.99

Just wanted to share a new dish I tried at Chengdu Taste, not new for their menu just new for me. It was pretty good. It’s a pure spectacle to see each piece of meat or vegetable on a skewer. It comes with plenty of that “soup” but unless you like burn a hole in your tummy, I wouldn’t eat it over rice. I tried, I couldn’t hack it. Good dish though! Got a good mixture of vegetables, chicken and quail eggs.

Poke Nachos | $17.95

Aloha Cones started offering up Poke Nachos so I treated my brothers to lunch there. Gotta support local but also look at the price. LOL, I’m a broken record about price. What I will say is…they give a good portion and I am pretty sure they fry the chips fresh when you order it. They really enjoyed the dish and I guess this is the running price for poke now so I guess I would recommend!

Guava & Cream Pie ($2.19 for 1 | $3.19 for 2)

Hawaii McDonald’s has a limited time Guava & Cream Pie and it was all over social media so of course I had to try. The day I wanted to try it, all the locations close to me were sold out. I think they make a batch for the day and when they’re out, they’re out. So I went to a location and sent my brother in to buy it. I’ve had bad luck with online ordering sometimes and I didn’t want to order it online and then get there and get told no more. Well instructions were misunderstood and he picked up 4 pies instead of the 2 I wanted. Ha! Anyway, so how was it? Pretty good. Like a guava cheesecake! And I may be in the minority on this but I actually like baked pies, more so than fried pies.

Mixed Plate Friday

Just a super cute gift I got from my coworker for Girl’s Day! Isn’t this so cute and thoughtful??

Bi Bim Kook Soo | $14.49

I got this from Yummy Korean BBQ – the Moanalua Shopping Center location. To me it was pretty good! Everything was seasoned perfect so I enjoyed this a lot! One of the better take-out bibimkooksoo dishes I’ve had in a while!

Air-fried Roast Pork

Did you know you could make chinese style roast pork in an air fryer? I didn’t. Okay, well I’ve never made chinese roast pork ever in my life but take a look at this! Look at the skin and how crispy it is! I don’t have a recipe lol but it was delicious!