12Oct / 2022

Lo Mein Showdown!

Yes, it’s another noodle post. Sorry not sorry. I was looking through my pictures and it looks like I had like a pretty long stretch of eating lo mein noodles in the summer. What is lo mein you ask? It’s basically a mixed noodle dish, usually egg noodles with whatever toppings you want. Chinese restaurants usually have it with beef brisket and either choy sum or bok choy. Let’s get into it.

Beef Brisket Won Ton Lo Mein | Around $15.00
Bo’s Kitchen (online order available)

I was super excited when Bo’s found their new location after Ohana Marketplace closed down. We did an office order with them and it went pretty smoothly. The reason why I don’t have this price is because it’s generally a soup dish but they are willing to do it lo mein style. The toppings are great, love their won ton. The noodles were a disaster. I don’t know if it was because they had just opened in this location but the egg noodles were so overly cooked that they were just one big gummy mess. Do. Not. Recommend.

Tossed Noodles with Choi Sum Beef Tenderloin | $10.95
Lee Ho Fook Restaurant (online ordering available)

I consider Lee Ho Fook to be one of the originals for this dish and they always make it great. Seriously. And the price? Can’t be beat! Some places don’t allow you to choose between the tenderloin and tendon and not everyone likes tendon, but Lee Ho Fook lets you choose! Not pictured is the side of soup they also give you with the dish. It’s like the broth they use with their noodle soups. Delicious!

Beef Brisket Lo Mein | $14.00
Kukui Cafe (online ordering available)

This one is my favorite. I can’t explain why, the meat is tender and perfectly seasoned. The noodles are cooked well (ahem) and I like the greens they serve it with. Kukui does not give a side of soup with these noodles but I don’t really need it. They also give you a pretty hefty portion. Winner winner chicken dinner!

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10Oct / 2022

Shingen – Moilili, HI

If you know me, you know I love my carbs. It’s a curse. No blessings here. Well, the blessing is when I get to eat said carbs. Anyway, Shingen is a cute little restaurant in the same lot as Tori Ton and the old Sweet Home Cafe in Moilili. Now that we’re talking about soba which Shingen is known for, I’m getting a hankering for Inaba. Hmmm…stay tuned.

Ginger Tempura | $4.80

I would never think to order this on my own. It was interesting, I never had gari deep fried tempura style before. Is it something I am yearning for again? Probably not, but it was a nice nibble before dinner!

Seafood Salad with Japanese Style Dressing | $13.80

Isn’t this salad so pretty? Pretty to look at and delicious to eat. We really enjoyed sharing this dish. Would recommend!

Special Dinner Combo | $17.80
Hot Soba + Mini Ahi-Poke Don

Special Dinner Combo | $17.80 + $1.00
Cold Soba (upgrade to Moringa Soba for $1.00) + Mini Tem-Don

The first combo wasn’t mine so I can’t comment too much on it, but it was enjoyed. This was my dish. Very good. I wanted to be fancy and get the moringa soba, the menu says that moringa has over 90 nutrients. I got suckered in. Don’t they sell these in grocery stores? Well, I’ve seen green noodles? All in all, I think this was a good dining experience. I actually came here I think in March so the prices were a bit expensive to me since it was pre-inflation. I think I’m going to have to go to Inaba to do a compare and contrast!

Original Warabi Mochi | $5.80
jelly like confection, made from bracken starch and dipped in kinako (sweet toasted soy bean flour)

Almost forgot to post the dessert! I love warabi mochi lol so no complaints here!

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07Oct / 2022

Mixed Plate Friday

Sushi Set #12 | $12.95
garlic salmon and spicy tuna bomb

I love getting sushi at Jay’s Sushi, the sushi tastes great and the prices are reasonable. I would definitely recommend them. They are also located next door to the best bubble tea place haha!

Kimchi Mandoo | $6.99 (sale price)

I went to Hmart in Pearl City last weekend and I was blown away. Oh my god, such a better store than the one in town. Just in terms of space and their offerings, makes it almost worth it to drive out there. They also had sample booths! Sample booths are so smart. This lady was making both the regular mandoo and kimchi mandoo and let me tell you, she was giving out huge pieces. But it works. I bought two bags because this mandoo was so good! I would definitely recommend it if you see it. I like to pan fry and steam…yum!

Roast Turkey Dinner | $18.00
slow roasted turkey, buttered corn, portuguese sausage stuffing, smashed potato, dinner roll, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce

Your eyes do not deceive you, we had ourselves a nice little thanksgiving feast in September. We got this plate from Hamada General Store, it was one of their daily specials. A bit of a funny story, we were actually eyeing out a sandwich place (what is with me and sandwiches lately?) who was offering a seasonal thanksgiving sandwich which was basically the contents of this plate. The sandwich is $18.50 (yikes) and when I went to their online ordering site, they charge $3.00 if you want gravy. What??? That’s $21!!!!! Then we saw this special for Hamada and decided to pay $18 for the whole she-bang. Best decision ever. This was DELICIOUS. The turkey was moist and the sides were all great. Would definitely get this again. Wish they would make it to sell on Thanksgiving.

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05Oct / 2022

Noods Ramen Bar – Kaimuki, HI

Okay, I tried Noods Ramen Bar back in March so please forgive my memory. Their play on words in their title is funny, a little crass but I don’t mind it. They have shirts that read send noods (haha). We gave this place a try for an early dinner one day, they weren’t that busy but it was definitely a rough start for service. When we were finally serviced, the food came out pretty quick and they were around enough for us not to be mad.

Truffle Shoyu Ramen | $16.00
shoyu based broth, green onion, chashu pork, aji tamago, menma, nori, truffle oil and truffle powder

Not my dish but I remember being told it wasn’t truffle-y enough.

Black Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen | $14.00
pork bone based broth, green onion, chashu pork, aji tamago, menma, nori, sesame seeds, garlic chips, and black garlic oil

I ordered this as level 3 spicy, I wanted extra choy sum or should I say just choy sum in general so I coughed up an extra $1.00. I think the ramen was good, nothing great again. I guess I am just biased with Wagaya huh?

Garlic Fried Rice | $4.00
house made garlic fried rice (vegan)

This was the dish I wanted to try the most. Crazy yeah? But any dish with choke garlic and rice is for me. This did not disappoint. I could just eat this and be satisfied. CAN’T GO WRONG WITH GARLIC AND RICE.

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03Oct / 2022

Over Easy – Kailua, HI

This past week was the anniversary of my mom’s death. This was a big one. 20 years. This anniversary also marks the unfortunate milestone that my mother has been out of my life more than she has been in it. I am doing okay, I decided to make a day out of it and had a nice little brunch out in Kailua, hitting up the Target in Kailua and then do my leisurely visit to my mom’s grave. I bought flowers the night before at Costco and they looked wonderful. As we were leaving, we looked at some of the Japanese graves. I don’t know a lot about them but just see these huge granite structures everytime I visit my mom. I was told that the names behind the stone signal who is buried there. I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, and I hope it wasn’t being so. It was just interesting to sort of piece together family histories through the listings. In fact, I found the grave for the Hata family. Yes, it’s probably the Hata family you are thinking about.

Anyhow, I’ve been wanting to try Over Easy for a few years now. I’m not much of a brunch person but since they get such high ratings on Yelp, I just had to give it a try!

Kailua Eggs | $16.00
sunny side eggs, bacon cabbage broth, portuguese sausage, rice (microgreens and dehydrated cabbage too)

Yeah, it’s as weird as it looks. I guess it’s like an ochazuke? The broth definitely did not have strong hints of any flavor, especially not bacon. They have dehydrated cabbage in it that is rehydrated with the soup. Just fancy term for pickling the cabbage perhaps? I think the dish was okay. Not great, not bad. I wouldn’t get it again. It was an awkward dish to share.

Kalua Pig Hash | $18.00
kalua pork, okinawan & fingerling potatoes, lomi tomato, OK Poultry Farm eggs, green goddess, cilantro

Best dish of the meal. Well, we only had two dishes so there was no real competition. The kalua pig and potatoes tasted great. Can’t go wrong with OK Poultry eggs and I love the cilantro sprinkled all around. I would definitely order this again.

All in all, glad to have tried it. Don’t have an urge to return again, I can find brunch food in town. They do not have any parking so you do have to find street parking. I went on a weekday after peak brunch time so I was able to find a parking stall pretty fast. Definitely was surrounded by tourists.

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30Sep / 2022

Mixed Plate Friday

Ahi, Avocado, Tomato, Cheese | $8.85
smoked ahi gourmet spread, carrots, lettuce and sprouts

I was poking pretty hard on Earl’s prices two days ago but can you blame me? I got this sandwich from Andy’s last week and look at the price and size of the sandwich! Can always count on Andy’s to make a great sandwich. Great deal.

Chantilly Parfait | $5.49

I’ve told you folks about the Berry Chantilly Cake from Whole Foods. I loved the cake before but the most recent iterations have left me wanting more…almond! Well, I can’t just buy whole cakes anytime I have a craving so I was so excited to see that they sell a parfait version! It’s located in the cold cases by the cashier. Oh man, did this one deliver. The almond flavor was strong and greatly missed. I enjoyed every bite.

Char Siu & Roast Duck on Rice | $16.00

I’ve been wanting to try Sandy’s Cafe since they opened in the Chinese Cultural Plaza for years now. We did a take-out order in Chinatown so I decided to bite the bullet and order this. I read that their char siu and roast duck is good and sells out fast so I got them both! This whole plate is still cheaper than that Earl sandwich. Hahaha, sorry I keep dogging on the price of that sandwich but I just can’t help myself. The char siu was delicious, tender morsels of meat. Their marinade was a bit sweeter than I’m used to but I didn’t mind it! The roast duck was good too, not the best I’ve ever had but good.

Have a great weekend folks!

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28Sep / 2022

Earl Kaimuki – Kaimuki, HI

I didn’t even know Earl moved from their original location to Market City! I haven’t tried their sandwiches in years but finally had a chance to during an office order about a month ago. Check it out!

Cubano | $12.50
sliced ham, braised pork belly, roasted garlic dijonaise, swiss cheese, homemade pickle and fresh lime

Drew | $15.00
pastrami, swiss, tomato jam, whole grain mustard, horseradish mayo, pickle, tomato

Fun Goat | $11.00
goat cheese, fennel onion marmalade, pesto, cucumber, tomato, mushrooms, spinach, EVOO and balsamic

Italian | $17.50
ham, capocollo, salami, provolone cheese, peperoncinis, EVOO, vinegar, lettuce, tomato, oregano & roasted garlic mayo

I got the Italian because why wouldn’t you get that Italian after reading that description? $18 for a sandwich was a hard sell. The sandwich was really good but I just couldn’t shake the price tag. I guess my thing would be, I don’t think it was worth the cost even as good as it was. Then again, I could eat a sandwich anywhere and still feel the same. I’m not a sandwich snob.

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26Sep / 2022

Kikuya Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar – Kalihi, HI

Correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t there a Kikuya in Kaneohe? Yes, I see there is, with a slightly different spelling. Are they sister restaurants? Anyway, I went to the Kalihi Kikuya for dinner on a Friday night and it was pretty okay. I wouldn’t call this high end Japanese but more of a family style restaurant, super fast service. The restaurant was full of Korean waitresses, nothing wrong with that! The hostess was super friendly and the other wait staff were just super hustlers, not the chatty type. The location may not be ideal for most. The parking lot is kind of horrendous and shares the same lot with I don’t know, 10 restaurants? I thought I found a stall in front of the Chinese restaurant and parked when a worker came out asking if I was picking up from them. No, I wasn’t. She said the stall I used was for their pick-up orders only. Okay, I moved my car. There was a cone not in the stall but fronting the stall with no sign. They couldn’t just write a quick piece of paper saying take-out only? The cone was not blocking the stall, I promise.

Anyway, I parked next to the adult store. I didn’t even know we had one in Kalihi, lol.

Combo Dinner Set Sides
edamame, pickled cabbage (pink stuff), tossed salad (with an asian vinegary dressing, good!), miso soup

Combo Dinner 1st Choice | Shrimp Tempura w/Veg.
Two big shrimps, kabocha, green beans

Combo Dinner Set 2nd Choice | Sushi
4 pcs. nigiri, ahi, salmon, tai, tamago

Combo Dinner price is $17.95 for 2 choices and $20.95 for 3 choices. A pretty good deal to me nowadays! The food came out FAST. Just homey Japanese dishes. The sushi was pretty good and the cuts were good!

My brother chose the sushi and the chicken karaage (WHY!). To me, if you gonna pay the same price for the sets – go for the pricier stuff! Not chicken karaage! I tried a piece. It was bland, not enough salt and they don’t serve it with lemon. Wouldn’t get the karaage again.

All in all, it was good! Not too busy, we got seated right away but the restaurant definitely had groups dining in already at 5PM. I bet it gets super busy after my senior citizen dining time. I would definitely dine there again, great to know that such a restaurant exists so close to home. Get plenty restaurants I need to check out in this strip mall.

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23Sep / 2022

Mixed Plate Friday

Just wanted for be fancy…

Yummy soft tofu slathered in goma dressing and chili oil. Delicious!

Vegetable Board | $15.00

Grilled Marinated Vegetables, Quinoa, Avocado, House Pickled Vegetables, Roasted Beets, Grilled Asparagus

I had this over the summer for dinner at Tango Contemporary Cafe. I enjoyed it a lot! But gosh, was I eating healthy or what?

Lunch Bento | $10.00
marinated boneless short ribs, wing dings, kielbasa sausage, shumai, taegu, takuan, fishcake & kimchee

We ordered bentos from Taka’s Box Lunch for an office retreat and I thought the price was pretty good! I was trying to call them all day on a Friday and sent them a message on Instagram with no response. It was a bit frustrating but I finally got a hold of someone on Monday morning and was able to put my order in. I heard they are pretty busy on Fridays so I understand. The orders all worked out and I thought it was pretty good. I like laugh at wing dings and ribs – the “s” makes it sound like you get more than one. You don’t. It’s okay, still worth it.

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21Sep / 2022

Recipe: Chickpea Salad Sandwich

This recipe was trending a bit on social media – using chickpeas to make a mock tuna salad. I think it tastes great, does it taste like tuna salad? No. But it tastes good enough for me! Here is the recipe I followed: link here.

Let me do a quick rant about bread I bought at Sam’s Club. I bought it on I think Thursday night and this was Sunday morning.

At first, I thought it was like maybe a burnt mark or something? I don’t know, I was grasping at straws.

Definitely mold. I was so mad. But it was also not worth it to me to go back for $3 something. Ugh! I just gonna put bread straight into the fridge when I get it now. I went Longs on Monday morning and saw the same brand with the same marks on it on the shelf. Blah! Be careful!

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