27Mar / 2023

Toshi’s Delicatessen & Restaurant – Kalihi, HI

When is the last time you got your plate lunch wrapped like this? Super nostalgic yeah? I was heading to work early one morning and had the craving to go to Toshi’s. Toshi’s has been around forevers and is one of the few great okazuyas left on the island. I am in constant fear of them closing down because I think the master cooks in the kitchen are older women. A lot of okazuyas close down or have closed down and it’s just so sad.

Double Chow Fun, Corned Beef Hash, Hot Dog (lol), Egg Omelette | $16.93

Ahhhh, I wish I could eat there everyday but I don’t think my wallet could handle it. Was it expensive? Yes but I am happy to support this establishment and the food is good! Very tasty homecooked vibes here, I enjoyed it! The guy in front of me had a plate for like $17 and left $2 tip! Good on him. I’m glad I went and would definitely return again!

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24Mar / 2023

Mixed Plate Friday (Japan)

My favorite Arare and Peanut Mix

I got this pack from Family Mart and regret not getting more. I got a pack from their 7eleven and boy it was not the same. So I only recommend the family mart one!

Random Natural Lawson dinner one night. We were both baus tired from Disney so we just got dinner in. Luckily our hotel was located next to some restaurants! I still went the combini route and enjoyed it. I got my friend McDonalds, lol.

This is the airline I took from Tokyo to Osaka. It was a bit cheaper than the shinkansen and we didn’t want to worry about how to store our luggage in the train. Would I do it again? Ehhhh, I don’t know. I feel like your entire day is wasted traveling. The check in for this airline was wild, not once was my identification checked. It was hilarious. Also, since the tickets are cheap, they nickel and dime on everything else. While the check-in and luggage check was easy going from Tokyo to Osaka. Coming back from Osaka to Tokyo was crazy. They were seriously measuring and weighing all bags (including carry-ons), checking ID, etc.

Anyway, some miracle this trip was. I fell asleep through every plane ride. Yes, even this short domestic ride. The travel gods were with me on this trip!

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22Mar / 2023

Japanese Breakfast

My friend and I were wandering around Ginza one morning and I just wanted to eat at one of these breakfast joints. Shoot, I don’t even know the name so I apologize but it’s really one of those in and out places that you order from the machine up front and take a seat with your tickets. They bring you your food, you grind and then you’re out. All so simple and tasty and a great value too!

Look at the picture above, everything is so clean and anything you could think of is within your finger tips. Loved it!

My set! This was like a cold udon seat with mentaiko over rice. I added on a side of natto because I wanted to okay?

Oyako Don Set

I can’t leave without leaving a gratuitous egg yolk picture. Felt kind of waste to crack the egg and separate it yourself. I feel like they could have just done it for me and saved the egg white for something? I don’t know. Threw the bonito flakes on too and mixed it with their sauce. Yummy!

My natto mixed lol

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20Mar / 2023

Daiki Suisan Kaiten Zushi – Osaka, Japan

This is the second time I’ve been to Daiki Suisan Kaiten Zushi, it’s not a fancy restaurant by any means but they serve up good sushi at good prices and the service is super efficient. It’s like a dream genki sushi if you will, only tastes better and is cheaper. What do I miss in Japan though? Spicy Tuna!

Can you tell I was PMSing and craving weird foods?

LOL yup, I eat like a child. I just had a hankering for hamburg steak and Japanese does it best! Or does Hamburg do it best? Hmmm…

Sorry, I don’t have a lot of details on the pricing! I can’t access their menu and it was all done through either ordering on their ipads or grabbing right off the revolving belt which was great, that belt was fully stocked at all times. If I am ever back in Osaka, I would most definitely return. Oh yeah, it’s definitely a tourist trap but I just need to brew my own green tea, mind my business and chomp down!

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17Mar / 2023

Mixed Plate Friday (Japan)

We were so pleased that our hotel in Tokyo and Osaka had laundry rooms! The machines were cool because you can wash and dry in the same machine. A few things that were off. You have to know how much your clothes weigh before you wash them. Secondly, it DEFINITELY DOES NOT DRY IN ONE CYCLE. And well, you have to pay for every cycle you use right. We were washing some thick clothes cause it was winter so I wouldn’t recommend using these machines unless you have choke time to wait for your clothes to dry.

Mandatory visit to Ikea in Japan and mandatory swedish meatballs meal. It was good! It’s the same everywhere lol. Japan has a slightly different menu but it was good! I also liked that their store isn’t a maze and that they have cuter stuff made for Japanese audiences I think.

I feel like I mentioned these tarts already but I’ll mention it again since I found the name of it in my pictures. So good fresh out the oven. Eating this in the cold weather was perfection. We found this place in Osaka.

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15Mar / 2023

Universal Japan – Day 2

Most popular and biggest attraction by far. I didn’t know that you had to reserve a ticket to even walk in so we got stopped as we tried. No one speaks good English so I had to play around with their mobile app until I figured out how to reserve tickets. It’s free to walk through, they just have timed visit slots. I think I tried to reserve it at like 10 AM and couldn’t get a window until 3 PM. Highly suggest you check in right when you arrive to reserve your time slot! You cannot do it ahead of time, they make sure you are on property to reserve.

It’s pretty surreal when you walk in, you really feel like you are in the video game! I didn’t even know they had a ride, not that I ride rides. I just enjoyed walking through!

Red Shell Calzone with Cheese & Ketchup Spaghetti Filling | ¥850

This tasted like it sounds. Not good. I don’t think they even serve it anymore lol. I was so full from eating earlier in the day, how do people eat so much at theme parks???

Mixed Berry Christmas Highball | ¥650
Non-Alcoholic Christmas Fruit Cocktail | ¥550

Special drinks for the holidays! I had the non-alcoholic drink. It was gooood!

I forget what this drink was called but I thought it looked cool, it was also not mine lol. I think it was enjoyed!!!

Pretty Christmas tree/show to end the night!

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13Mar / 2023

Universal Japan – Part 1

Not my first time here and not gonna be my last! I actually enjoy Universal Japan more than Tokyo Disney. Not that I’m trying to start any wars here, but the vibe just felt better at Universal and the workers seemed friendlier.

Pretty much the scene everywhere, people with their cell phones up ready to shoot lol.

Fish and Chips | ¥2,200
fresh cod battered and fried served with chips and tartar sauce, with a side of green peas and mushy peas

My dish. Eh, it was alright. Kind of greasy but did the job.

Beef Sunday Roast | ¥3,100
roast beef with vegetables, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding and gravy

I think this was the dish? I hope this was the dish. Either way, it doesn’t look worth like 30 bucks!

Treacle Tart with Raspberries and Clotted Cream | ¥600

I wanted to try this because I always wanted to try treacle and clotted cream. Blah. It was much too sweet, hence the name treacle. I’d like to try British desserts in Britain.

Hogwarts bids you a warm farewell for now!

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10Mar / 2023

Mixed Plate Friday

You folks ever make a soup that called for pasta? I’m sure you have. I don’t like my pasta to get too gummy so I actually cook up the pasta al dente separately…then when I finish the soup, I put it into my container to cool it down. I then dump my pasta on top (in this case, a chickpea pasta) and store it like this. As I scoop out servings to eat, I mix it with the pasta to heat up. It works perfectly and the pasta maintains it’s texture!

Just a quick pic of a lazy Sunday breakfast. Toasted everything bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers and homemade jalapenos and red onions. Delicious!

Tots Flight | $16.95
From top, left to right: spicy cheese & bacon tots, bbq chicken tots, and parmesan truffle tots.

Spicy Cheese & Bacon Tots: crispy tots, Paul’s signature Wahl Sauce, pickled red onion, bacon, spicy cheese sauce, Parmesan cheese
BBQ Chicken Tots: crispy tots drizzled with BBQ sauce, topped with BBQ chicken & roasted corn, jalapeno & red onion salsa
Parmesan Truffle Tots: crispy tots tossed with Parmesan cheese, truffle oil and chopped parsley, served with Chef Paul’s truffle aioli

Have you folks Wahlburgers at Ala Moana yet? We’ve gotten take out twice from here and I hate to admit it but they make some pretty dang good burgers and fries. Here is a small preview of their tots flight. I love tater tots. LOL, I think the spicy cheese and truffle ones were good, I would pass on the BBQ chicken ones!

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08Mar / 2023

Tangö Contemporary Café – Honolulu, HI

Another post about Tangö Contemporary Café, what can I say? I’m a fan! We don’t come here nearly as much as we used to but I think we come at least twice a year? Food and service is consistently good and it gives me a good excuse to check out Nordstrom Rack and TJ Maxx while I’m here. Small changes were made here and there, unfortunately, not for the better. I will explain more.

Torani Italian Soda (Passion Fruit) | $5.00

I don’t really drink much alcohol (let Suntory be an example of why I don’t drink much) so I gave this a try. I’m not usually a fan of cream based drinks so I asked for the cream on the side which they happily complied with. I added the cream in and actually enjoyed it quite a bit! Creamy but also refreshing because of the passion fruit. Yum!

Salmon Board | $21.00
gravlax, smoked salmon, smoked salmon rilette, labneh, rye bread

OMG, I hate to do a comparison but I had this in 2019 and it costs $13.00 back then. Crazy! The board is still good as before although I could not tell you the difference between all the different salmons on the board. We just ate em.

Complimentary Bread

We got served the salmon board and I was wondering if they would bring out the bread. I love their bread so much. Or do I just love pesto so much? Does it matter? It’s soooo good. If they didn’t bring the bread out automatically, I would have asked for sure. And yes, I have asked for seconds before. Living that best life.

Washugyu Steak | $40.00
grilled washugyu flap steak, caramelized onion umami butter, herb roasted potatoes

Wow I need to stop looking at my old blog posts. They used to have a grilled new york steak with kauai shrimp which was my friend’s go to dish. We were disappointed when we noticed it was gone from the menu and this was the closest dish. It was just a meh dish, nothing special. Oh and the steak and shrimp plate before was $29!!! Inflation times are wild…

Beef Stroganoff | $30.00
mustard sour cream demi-glace, house-made fettuccine

I felt like a homey cozy dish and this is what i got. Definitely hit the spot for that but I couldn’t help but think that I could make this for way less. Sorry sorry…this post is getting clouded by prices! It was good. But there are other dishes on the menu that offer more “bang” for your buck.

Kona Coffee Ice Cream Cake | $8.00
kona coffee, vanilla and italian chocolate ice cream, chiffon cake

Okay okay, I hate to compare one last time. But their portion for this dish got WAY smaller and now costs $1.00 more. Here’s a picture of the old version. Kind of a bummer yeah?

Chocolate Brownie | $8.00
served with vanilla bean ice cream

This was my dessert. I felt like something warmed up so this hit the spot. Was good! One of the few times I will eat vanilla ice cream (when it’s served with chocolate on the side).

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06Mar / 2023

Monarch Seafoods – Kalihi, HI

After Jalna did her mega post on Monarch Seafoods, you know I had to go right? ABSOLUTELY HAD TO. And even with the clusterbutt of a mess Dillingham is in now…? I still went. I initially forgot where they were so I had to circle the block like 2 times through the crazy road work. Finally spotted them and double parked in their side garage. We were running in and out anyway!

Garlic Roast Pork with Gravy | $13.95

Out of all the dishes she shared, the roast pork with gravy was the one that made my mouth water the most. Oh my. So ono. Had a few dry slices in there but it’s okay, get the gravy to make em wet (LOL) but mostly tender slices. Their salad dressing is amazing. So good. I just relooked at their menu and see that they sell a 24 oz. bottle for $12.50 – I may have to partake in that next time I go!

Garlic Butter Sauteed Tiger Shrimp with Zucchini + Mushrooms over Linguine | $14.95

Was this good? Sure. Would I get it again? Probably not. It’s a pretty simple dish that you can make on your own I think. It’s served with a cream sauce, give it a try if you are into this kine pasta!

Nori Wrapped Crabmeat Stuffed Ahi | $14.50

Here is the dish they are known for! Is it good? Ehhh…I think it’s okay. I don’t think it’s anything to write home (or blog about) – it’s a bit dry to me. Not a lot of flavor so to me, it was just alright. My brother kept dipping it into the salad dressing haha. I don’t know why I was expecting a bigger taste explosion so I was a bit let down. But I would still return to

Menu as of February 2023 (Click to Enlarge)

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