03Nov / 2013

Taiyo Ramen – Honolulu, HI

Taiyo Ramen has been a late night staple in Hawai’i for so long. Do you folks remember when it used to be on Kapiolani where Nordstrom is now? I must sound like one real old fogie saying that. I’ve been saying a lot of things that make me old already. Naming prices of what things used to be…talking about how music and movies are not good anymore. Oh boy. Where was I? That’s right, Taiyo Ramen! My favorite dish from there is definitely the kimchee fried rice. I hate to brag but I think I make the best kimchee fried rice (lol) but if I had to buy it outside, it’s definitely from Taiyo. Kimchee fried is one of those dishes that doesn’t seem to have a consistent recipe – every time I try it outside, it’s always different…either too sweet or not enough spice. Anyhow, I came here a few weeks ago and was happy to see that things are still pretty much the same. It’s a funny set up for a “Japanese” restaurant, it’s a ramen shop that sells kimchee fried rice. The wait staff are all Korean so the TV plays KBFD (which I like), the kitchen staff are all Chinese! Talk about getting a mixed plate, no complaints here though. Let’s get to the pictures!

Red Mountain! Taiyo Ramen’s famous Kimchee Fried

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02Nov / 2013

Shirokiya – Ramen

I went to Shirokiya a few weeks ago for lunch with my coworker and we tried out their ramen! I like the whole food court thing they got going on upstairs – great concept. My coworker tried the seasonal ramen place – sorry I can’t remember the name and I can’t find it online either! They claimed they won first place for ramen in Ishikawa. It’s a miso based soup with thin sliced pork belly. Check it out!

To me it looks like sliced bacon that has been braised. She let me try some of the pork and it was very flavorful! The noodles were good because they were firm and very curly. I also like al dente noodles, I got a taste of the broth and thought it was very good!

Here’s my ramen! It’s from Menya Ifu Do Do which is also located in the Shirokiya food court. When I first tried this place long ago, I thought they were going to be there for a limited time. I guess they are a main stay! Doesn’t this bowl look awesome? I love spicy foods so this looked great to me. This place is definitely pricey though. I was glad my egg wasn’t overcooked (i.e. the gray circle of death) – our ramen places tend to do that but I think it’s due to salmonella scares. Makes me really miss the eggs I ate in Japan, I ate at least one egg everyday in Japan. No regrets! I ordered a side gyoza here and it wasn’t even worth the picture. It tasted like they walked over to the frozen food section and bought some gyoza. Disappointing and expensive. I enjoyed the ramen though!

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01Nov / 2013

Happy November!!

I can’t believe it’s November already! I’m sure by this posting, there will already be crazy Christmas stuff up! Everyone starts up Christmas stuff like right after Halloween! I do love autumn and winter a lot. I wish I lived in the mainland so I could witness the change of the seasons. I know the Pumpkin Spice Latte has been around for ages but I only got to taste it this season and I am hooked! I’m not even a fan of Starbucks coffee but the pumpkin spice latte somehow masks how bitter their espresso is. Hehe…have you tried it? I really recommend that you do…

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31Oct / 2013

The Little Oven – Part Deux

Did I tell you folks? The Little Oven is back in business! Yay! They recently opened up again and hold hours on Friday and Saturday nights. I was so happy! You know what’s even better? They have been consistently open the entire time! And I don’t mean that as a cutting remark, really I don’t. I am one of their biggest fans so I am genuinely happy they are open! The waiter knows us already – not by name yet. I think I should learn to introduce myself more to people. So they’re back to making some great desserts! About two weeks ago, they served a special called the Autumn Trio. I am SO happy I decided to try it! Please join me as we enter dessert heaven.

A feast for your eyes and your mouth!

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30Oct / 2013

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

A little late to post but better late than never right?? I found these cute breast cancer awareness ribbon nail stickers at Party City a while back and finally got to put it on! Well me being as graceful as I am…the stickers lasted all of a day or two. Do you ever look at girls who have all those trinkets on their nails? I always think to myself – man, they must do no housework whatsoever. And the girls with the long nails and trinkets? I wonder how they wipe their butt. LOL. Okay sorry for that image. Anyway. This picture also comes at a funny time, this is like almost exactly where I was flipped off today. It’s funny because the person who flipped me off was first of all, wrong because she was at a stop sign and was trying to cut me off (I had the right of way) and then when I waved for her to go (cause she was pretty much blocking my lane), she gives me the finger and doesn’t move. What was that about? I drove home pretty irritated…and she was behind me most of the way of course. I felt a little scared because well, you never know these days. She could have been a lunatic and who knows what she would have done. Okay okay, I will stop talking and show my nails. Hope you are all doing well!

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29Oct / 2013

711 Pasta Salad

I noticed this new pasta salad at 711 the other day and decided to try it for dinner. I don’t have a full picture of this but at the bottom of this dish is cooked spaghetti noodles. I don’t know why they put a white sauce on the noodles – it’s a cold pasta salad. I’m guessing it’s mayonnaise but I’m not sure. On the top of the spaghetti is a small container of dressing (I assume it’s oriental dressing), some salad greens and a few pieces of what tasted like Korean chicken. Here’s a picture.

Looks pretty good huh? It was all right. I think the mayonnaise keeps the pasta moist so it won’t stick together. The chicken was…not great. It was cold and hard…so a bit rough. All in all the salad was good but not something I would return for.

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28Oct / 2013

Brug Bakery

Have you tried the new Brug Bakery in Shirokiya yet? When they first opened, it was pandemonium! The line was neverending and people were limited to like two pieces per person. I came by on a weekday for lunch recently and decided to check out their goods. I bought a half loaf of their regular white bread. It definitely is pricey, the half loaf cost about 6 dollars but each slice is big and thick!

Toasted Brug bread with tuna salad and cranberries

How’s the bread? DELICIOUS. I can see why it costs what it costs. You can taste a lot of good quality ingredients and they must have bread baking down to a perfect science. I toasted the bread a bit so it was crispy yet still soft inside. Perfection. And then since I was still on the tuna kick, I added tuna and cranberries on top. I bought like this huge bag of cranberries at Costco because it was on sale. Costco is dangerous.

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27Oct / 2013

Chongga Kimchi

The other week, I had to wait two hours at Costco to get my tire fixed so I had a lot of time to browse. I happened upon their cold cases and saw a bottle of kimchee I wanted! No, not Halm’s kimchee. But you know what? I haven’t had Halm’s in the longest time! The kimchee I saw was Chongga Kimchi and it was imported from Korea! I just HAD to try it.

Apparently it’s the #1 kimchi brand in the world. I don’t know how they got a title like that but I’ll go with it. So how is it? The first few bites, I thought it was just all right. Tasted a bit sour and I didn’t think it was great. Well as I started eating more…the flavor was definitely better. I like it a lot. It’s only about 7 dollars for this jar of kimchee so I think it’s a great deal. I hope Costco continues to carry it but you know that they continually switch up their goods. If you like kimchee, I highly suggest you give this a try! It’s only been about a week and I’m almost done with it. I’m a kimchee freak!

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26Oct / 2013

Homemade Sushi Rolls

This is the first time I made legit sushi rolls. This is something Gulick has that I’ve always liked. It’s just a simple tuna roll with furikake and daikon. So instead of paying Gulick money for part of a roll, why not make my own and eat as much as I want (though I shouldn’t)? Well here are the results of me rolling my own!

First roll! Yummy…

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24Oct / 2013

Coming Home

I’ve done my fair share of traveling but when I fly home, I usually land at night. While the night view out of the airplane is beautiful with all the city lights – my camera isn’t exactly equipped to take those photos. I was looking through some old pictures and found some landing pictures from a neighbor island trip. I never sit by the window because I usually need to use the restroom a lot but a short neighbor island flight is no problem.

Don’t you feel so happy to see the islands when you fly home? Especially since almost every flight home takes at least 5 hours or so. I still think our airport has a lot to improve on but nothing beats Hawaii.

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