Murphy’s Bar and Grill – Honolulu, HI

Oct11

I know I’ve written about Murphy’s before, oh here is the previous post. Just your friendly neighborhood Irish pub, a much needed escape when you need it. Well I don’t really drink so I just like to go and eat and boy do they deliver the comfort food.

Started up with a glass of Blue Moon, I think I need to stop drinking period. The past two times I felt junk after drinking and I didn’t even drink hard stuff. If I had to pick a beer to drink, this is it. Places usually serve it up with an orange wedge and I suddenly act like I have scurvy or like it’s so hard to find oranges or something. I really appreciate that little wedge of citrus, lol.

Fried Spicy Chicken Wings (full order) | $15.00
served with ranch dressing

How can you go wrong with deep fried chicken wings and beer? No can right. They do it right here. Probably a bit salty but that’s what bar food is for right?

Beef Stew (Thursdays and Fridays) | $10.00

My friend only got the bowl so no rice. You can get it with steamed rice for $3.00 extra, is that right? $3.00! I hope that is with veggies too or something?? Anyway, I was able to try…very tasty. How you eat beef stew without rice? Boggles my mind!

Fish N’ Chips | $15.75
cod fish and fries served with malt vinegar

Okay, I was totally craving fried food this day. I just really wanted some fish and chips. Boy was it good. I don’t eat it with the vinegar, sorry I never learned how to eat it that way. Also, karma caught up with me after this meal cause I got a big zonking zit overnight!

Pumpkin Pie (Weekly Special)

Sorry, I forget the price of this, I believe it’s $7.00 a slice. Doesn’t this picture just scream autumn? Loving the vibes…wasn’t my dessert but it was enjoyed!

Apple Crisp A La Mode | $8.00

Okay, I’ve gotten this before and I’ve tried their pies before but this one is the most winner-est dessert they have. I absolutely love it and abhor it but abhor it just because I know I must be inhaling calories enough for the day with this dish alone. Warmed up apple crisp (who doesn’t love crumbles!) and the vanilla ice cream topper? Gosh, I am salivating just thinking about this.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Oct8

How’z it! I was excited to see that 711 was going to sell Chinese restaurant kine dim sum in their stores! They partnered with Yung Yee Kee. Not sure if this is limited time or for a long time, also…it’s not like it’s identified as the collaboration packs. You gotta just look at the packaging and make the assumption like I did.

Half Moon & Har Gow (Shrimp Dumpling) Pack | $5.59

Kind of pricey yeah? Well dim sum can be kind of pricey and I gotta say, this was pretty good. I found it in the cold case so I had to heat it up in the microwave when I got home. Heated up nicely and the skin was nice and soft, I enjoyed both very much!

Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf | $3.99

Okay the last picture looks bad but that’s not a bug, I promise. It’s just a chunk of the filling on top of the rice. I don’t know if you can tell but the portion of the rice is kind of small. I liked it though, tasted great and I liked that it didn’t stick to the leaf at all.

Furikake Chicken | $11.52 (tax included)

I was out in Kaneohe and finally got to try KJ’s Local Grindz furikake chicken! They are known for it, was a bit disappointed they don’t make it as a musubi anymore. Remember when 711 used to sell the chicken musubis, now it’s hard to find chicken musubi. I loved them. Anyway, this was delicious! I can see why they are known for the furikake chicken. The spaghetti mac salad is cool too, though for me…a bit bland. If you’re ever out there, give them a try!

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Kukui Cafe – Chinatown, HI

Oct6

Have you ever been to Kukui Cafe? They’ve been around since I was a small kid (that’s a long time) though I was never a customer until now. I used to go to Chinese school at Sun Yat Sen school and this restaurant is located right at the edge. I was mainly a customer at a small shop that sold ice cake and sometimes Kent’s Drive In for their fries. There also used to be a little Chinese shop nearby where we would go to buy snacks (remember crushing up the instant ramen packets to eat like chips?), I think the store used to be called Cheung Chau, though they are no longer there. Oh the memories! So how would I characterize Kukui Cafe? I would say they focus on Cantonese or Hong Kong style food. It’s good stuff! Also…probably get MSG so be aware of that. Here’s a few things I got recently.

Singapore Rice Noodles | $12.00

Love these noodles. This one for sure has MSG because I have reacted to it. It’s thin rice noodles seasoned with curry, get shrimp and thin slices of ham in it too. It’s really good.

Beef Brisket Lo Mein | $12.00

Love me some lo mein, sometimes it’s too hot to eat hot soup you know? This is the best of both worlds, I get the beef brisket with the same egg noodles and just enough of the beef brisket sauce to have a great mixed noodle. I really enjoyed this dish too.

Lemon Coke | $4.00

Alright, this was a silly purchase. I mean it’s literally a can of coke with some freshly crushed lemon slices in it. Lemon and Coke is such a great combination though, so refreshing. So anyway, don’t order it, just make it yourself. This was four freaking dollars.

Another thing I love about this place? They make the food real fast. I would say the noodle dish takes 7-10 minutes to make from when you order it. They do phone orders…I park illegally by the river and just dart in to pick it up. I’m sure you can park in the lot with validation but just feels like a lot of hassle to me…haha.

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et al. – Kahala, HI

Oct4

Hey folks. Sorry for the unexpected absence! It got super busy at work so I’ve been just passing out at night…lol. I also wasn’t eating out too much so I didn’t have a lot to share. I have been keeping busy in the kitchen! If you can believe it, I made my own kimchee from scratch and also fresh strawberry mochi! I think I did a pretty good job at it if I may say so myself. Anyhow, today’s post is about et al, a newish restaurant located in the new shopping center across from Kahala Mall. They are located in the new Foodland Farms! Let’s get to the food shall we?

Pineapple Regina | $9.00

This drink is not on their menu but if you go to their Yelp page, it’s all over the place. Of course I would order it. Why wouldn’t I order it? It is so pretty! Looks do make a difference to me, sorry. When we ordered the drink, the waitress said oh I think we can make that drink for you! Well, this must be a ploy because unless they have cleaned pineapple leaves ready to go at all times, this must be a way to get people interested. Well it worked for us! We both ordered it. Was it good? Ehhh…it was okay but not great. I don’t think I am dying to reorder it.

Hawaiian Clam Chowder | $9.00
ulu, smoked meat, clams, grilled sourdough

Not my appetizer but it was thoroughly enjoyed!

Maui Beets | $11.00
sweet land farm chevre, orange, preserved plum, pistachio, lemon basil pesto

My appetizer! I am a sucker for beets…and these were good. So delicious. Interesting combination of flavors but they all came together and tasted delicious.

Short Rib Arancini | $15.00
sumida farm watercress puree, sweet land farm gouda

Ah, I would call this the star of the night. Sorry I didn’t get a shot of the inside, it’s basically like a risotto ball mixed with short rib meat…breaded and fried. Delicious!

Hamakua Mushroom Risotto | $18.00
hon shimeji, truffle, nori

Funny story. One of their specials was a seafood risotto, come time to order, my friend asked for the risotto and our waitress did not clarify which risotto dish. So here we are. We got the mushroom risotto that’s on their main menu. It’s a good dish, only my friend doesn’t like mushrooms so that didn’t work out too well. If you like mushrooms, you would like this dish.

Casarecce | $27.00
braised pork, clams, garlic, truffle, sherry, parmesan

My dish! Okay, so like the menu isn’t super clear on their dishes. I had no idea what a casarecce was. I had to google many things on the menu before I knew what they were. Then I learned that casarecce is just the type of pasta for this dish. I am sorry to report, was pretty disappointed in this dish. Very strong sour taste…strong citrus? I was a bit confused since there isn’t lemon listed as part of the ingredients? The pork was also salty…pork was served up like a kalua pig. Not a great dish, I wouldn’t order it again. Well unless sour and salty is your thing.

E.V.O.O. Sponge Cake | $10.00
mirin strawberries, basil leaf crumble, olive oil gelato

This cake was…okay. Olive oil as the fat in a cake, what do you think of? What do you expect? I think the cake was alright, a bit dry and crumbly. Wasn’t my cup of tea, probably wouldn’t order it again.

Okay, I realized that this is a less than stellar review. Though, I really enjoyed the ambience and decor of this restaurant. Even though the dishes we got weren’t to our liking, I actually wouldn’t mind heading back to give them a second shot!

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Recipe: Ramen Fried Rice

Sep9

It’s me, and I’m here to share another trending TikTok recipe. Originating from Korea, I’ve seen it made with either raw ramen noodles (uncooked but toasted) or cooked ramen noodles. I chose to use cooked ramen noodles. Was nice to try but would I eat it again…ehhh…I think I am okay. If you ever find yourself wanting to eat double carbs, go for it. It’s pretty easy and of course it’s tasty…!

Ramen Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 package Shin Ramen, crushed
2 eggs, mixed
2 C cooked rice

Sesame Oil
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Instructions:

Place crushed ramen noodles, dry vegetable packet and seasoning mix into a heat safe bowl. Boil water and add to the bowl (less than you usually would if making it to eat regularly – maybe 1 to 1.5 C of boiling water?).

As the ramen “cooks” in the bowl. Add eggs to pan/wok to make soft scrambled eggs, add cooked rice (preferably cold leftover rice) and cook together, incorporating mixture. Add ramen mixture into pan and mix together well. The ramen mixture would have absorbed the water by now so it is no longer soupy. Fry together until fragrant and a bit toasted. Serve fried rice with a nice drizzle of sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.

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Recipe: Yogurt Marinated Chicken

Sep7

Okay, that title does not sound too appetizing. I apologize but I was scrolling through the “app-that-shall-not-be-named” and came across this recipe. I’ve been looking for a good tasting and fairly low fat protein recipe and this one seems to fit the bill, a good mix of spices with the yogurt makes for a nice chicken dish and no worries to people who cannot handle spicy, this recipe is not at all spicy! I found that I can enjoy this dish warm or cold – throw it on your salad!

I probably add too much tomato paste but once I open that can of paste, what am I supposed to do with the rest? I used the whole can – too bad.

Yogurt Marinated Chicken

Ingredients:

7 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 5.3 oz. plain nonfat greek yogurt (I used Chobani, one of those individual servings)

2 T olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced or grated

Juice of 1-2 lemons (can be one if your lemon is nice and juicy)

2 t paprika

2 t cumin

1 t salt

1 t white pepper

1 6 oz. can of tomato paste

1 medium-large onion, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped (I used yellow and orange)

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients and marinate for 3-4 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place chicken mixture onto two baking dishes, try to keep mixture as flat as possible to cook through evenly in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until fully cooked (I used the full 30 minutes). 

You can also grill on high for 10-20 minutes until fully cooked.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep3

This post is forreal mixed plate, not even all food.

Fruit Chichi Dango | $3.99
strawberry, mochi flour, sugar, milk, red bean, custard

Been seeing this all over social media and just had to get it. This is from Kansai Yamato located in Moanalua 99 (former Ranch 99). I figured I should go to the source to get it.

Struggled to get a side view for you. First of all, you should keep this refrigerated. I didn’t realize it was custard on top at first so I kept it out for a bit and boy oh boy did it get melty and messy. Good news is that I did throw the second one in the fridge…ate it the next day and the mochi was still melt the mouth soft. This was a delicious treat! I would definitely get it again!

Clockwise from top left: Baked Char Siu Manapua, Taro Cake, Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow), Siu Mai, Half Moon

Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery has been around forevers and they always have a long line in Chinatown. Now that we’re heading towards Moon Festival time (September), might be either best to avoid this place or place a phone order in because they are going to be super busy with moon cake orders. If you can believe it, I haven’t tried their dim sum before. I don’t know what it is, I guess if I’m going to be in Chinatown, I’m just going to eat at a Chinese restaurant you know?

So how does it compare? If you’re local to Hawaii and I say local style pork hash, I bet you know what I’m talking about right? The kind you can get from the manapua man….very different from the kind you get from a dim sum restaurant. Now while Sing Cheong’s siu mai looks more “local” style, I actually want to give it more credit and say it’s a balance between the manapua man siu mai and dim sum siu mai.

Baked Char Siu Manapua – Very good, I think Royal Kitchen is a near competitor but I will give this one to Sing Cheong.
Taro Cake – Hmm, no thank you. I’m used to homestyle taro cake which is very thin. I don’t know why taro cakes are so huge in these shops…to me it’s like eating a big lump of dough.
Har Gow – These are winners. They really do stuff it full of shrimp, nice skin too.
Siu Mai – Better than local style, still not as good as dim sum siu mai.
Half Moon – Good but not memorable. Nothing special.

A silly project I had a month ago. Shucks, wish I remembered to take a side picture of this. It’s actually Pikachu on the side. Such a cute vending machine, the bottom draw opens but the machine doesn’t actually do anything. It’s just super cute and it was super annoying to build…hahaha. This was over 2000 pieces and they were like super small pieces. I was obsessed to finish and am super happy with it. I have it proudly displayed at work. Apparently there is like a whole bunch of Asian building block sets that oh so gently copies Lego sets…for less money of course. Have a great weekend folks!

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Mariposa – Honolulu, HI

Sep1

I was going to start this post with a guess where I am post and then quickly realized that I tell you where I am in the post title. It’s okay, just enjoy this beautiful view with me. What a beautiful day it was. My friend decided to treat me to a wonderful birthday dinner at Mariposa. For those who don’t know, Mariposa is located in Neiman Marcus and I think that should already give you a warning of the prices to come. While I enjoyed my meal immensely, it wouldn’t be a blog of mine without complete honesty. So to my friend who generously and graciously treated me to this meal, please know that I enjoyed it (really!!!).

Complimentary Popovers with Strawberry Butter

I can see why they are known for this. Fresh piping hot popovers served with strawberry infused butter (hello, you can’t go wrong with butter of any sort). You bet your bottom dollar I went for a second serving, it’s free and this ain’t no buffet I have to save room in my tummy for (lol). My only complaint from the various popovers I’ve had over the years (not from Mariposa) is that it always seems to be a bit doughy in the middle which leads me to believe it is still raw. Same thing happened here but I didn’t get a stomachache so I guess we were in the clear.

Sesame Seared Ahi Salad | MP ($31.00)
mari’s greens, shaved maui onions, ho farms tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, radish sprouts, onion-soy dressing

I got you for this post, I had no shame in asking for the actual price of both our MP items. You know it’s gonna be pricey when it reads MP. Delicious starter salad, the ahi was good quality and perfectly seared. I love their onion soy dressing, wish they gave a bit more of the dressing but I think if you asked for more, they would have abided. A little pricey but I enjoyed this salad quite a bit.

Smoked Brisket Sandwich | $20.00 (Thursday Special)
house smoked beef brisket, toasted brioche, slaw, house pickled cucumbers, onions, mustard sauce, french fries

Was excited to try their special, was also told they were running low on the special so we put the order in. Well, I hope you like salt. This sandwich was SALTY. The fries are good, glad they give you their hurricane seasoned fries with their sandwiches but ah this sandwich was not good. Is it because it was the last one so it had all the sauce soaked in? I don’t know, I would not get this again unless I had a sodium deficiency.

Lobster Club Sandwich | MP ($39.00)
bacon, roasted peppers, avocado, mari’s butter lettuce, mayonnaise, french fries

Was this sandwich good? Yes. It’s lobster and bacon for god’s sake! Was it worth $40?? Well, I can’t say it was. I think for $40, I almost want them to just serve the sandwich open face with like the entire lobster in full view for me to see. To me it’s not worth $40 even though it was delicious. It was a wonderful treat to eat (indulge in) with a beautiful view.

I think due to covid, Neiman Marcus has been operating on special hours. If you want to eat dinner here, you basically have to book a table for 4:30 PM so you can be out by 6:00 PM (their closing time). I know I’ve been adapting to a lot more senior citizen stuff but this was early for me. It’s okay, I planned early so I ate an early lunch to be ready for my early dinner. I made my reservation on Open Table and asked for outdoor seating in the notes because of the rising Covid cases. I tried to call them to confirm my seating but they never answered their phone…seems like they only want you to book through Open Table. Outdoor seating was pretty empty when we went so it was no problem .

It’s a nice restaurant with pretty attentive service, I think it’s worth another visit when the sun sets earlier to get a nice sunset view. A lovely dinner, thank you!

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Mary’s Mediterranean Kitchen – Honolulu, HI

Aug30

I had a hankering for Greek food the other week and I just went for it. Well, I always go for it. Mary’s Mediterranean Kitchen is located in the former Ranch 99 Market space, I think it’s called Moanalua 99 now but I refuse to call it that because Ranch 99 must not be a memory…it must remain fresh. But has Ranch 99 been closed for like decades by now? Oh boy that ages me real fast. Anyway, first good sign…the owner/chef/cashier man had a very strong Greek accent. I had high hopes for my food lol.

#12 Combo Plate (Choice of 2 meat skewers) | $13.00
served with hummus, rice, salad, and pita bread

I chose lamb and lula (ground beef). Brah this dish was so good. Loved everything that came with it, first time trying lula – it was pretty good! I think I want to try the gyros plate next time though! Loved the warm pita to eat with the delicious hummus.

Seasoned Fries | $4.00

Kind of pricey for an order of fries but I liked it, tasted good. Let’s be real, it’s really just fries with garlic salt right? Anyway, I enjoyed.

Baklava | $1.75

I just had to try the baklava and I thought it was alright. I bet it would have been really good warmed up (I was too lazy) – I also bet this had my calorie/sugar intake for the day. But who’s counting?

Ah this is not from Mary’s. Remember my meal from Istanbul Hawaii? I fell in love with their watermelon feta salad. Well, here’s what I remade at home. It’s not really a salad nor did I follow any recipes. I just sprinkled feta cheese and balsamic glaze onto watermelon slices. I really enjoyed it, the nice contrast between the salty brininess of the feta cheese and the sweet morsels of watermelon. The glaze adds a nice sweet slightly vinegary touch too. Not too big a fan of the feta cheese brand I picked up, felt like the feta was much too hard and kind of bland. Would have been really good with a good feta cheese.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Aug27

Hey folks! A shorter post this Friday…just wanted to share small kine stuff.

Izumi Oden Konbuiri (Don Quijote Kaheka) | $6.49

For the folks who want to see the nutritional facts!

Here is the oden placed in a bowl and heat…get one egg too!

I don’t know if it was on my blog before but I once bought one of those Korean Ginseng Chickens from Don Q’s frozen section. It was not a good decision and I got a bad stomachache afterwards. Well you would think I would have learned my lesson but I didn’t, I really wanted to try this. This is not sold frozen, it’s sold in the refrigerated section (yikes?). I can trust the fish cake and such but I thought the egg would be iffy. Well the egg was just fine! No stomachache and the whole dish tasted great. And look closely, no more even gray ring around the yolk. How do they do it?? No complaints here.

One of my favorite cakes is the Berry Chantilly Cake from Whole Foods. The first time I tried it, I was in love. Fresh berries are on top of the cake and also throughout the inner layers of the cake. The frosting? Oh let me tell you about the frosting, it’s a wonderful almond mascarpone frosting. So light and delicious with a wonderful hint of almond (think almond float kine almond taste). I loved it…and since I don’t like plain whipped cream – the almond frosting really made it for me. Well, hate to be the messenger of bad news…things have changed! I got this cake about a week ago and the almond taste is like FAINT now. My friend shared that she got late last year and could hardly taste the almond too so I don’t think my experience was a fluke. So disappointing. 🙁 But I guess the silver lining is that I won’t be buying an entire cake to eat anymore…hahaha ugh! And yes, we wrote on the cake ourselves…and no, our handwriting is not that much better non-frosting style.

Jalna and Dd, I can’t express enough how much we love this Chipotle Tri Tip Roast recipe. This is now the most highly requested recipe I make. It’s so easy, so flavorful and just so satisfying. I’ve adjusted the recipe to feed an army…it’s just winners. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe!!!

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