Tag Archive | American Food

Mixed Plate Friday

Oct21

Popeyes 3 pc Tenders Dinner (Blackened) | $9.39

Did you know Popeyes started carrying blackened tenders? Been wanted to try it, it’s basically grilled chicken tenders. I really enjoy the seasoning and the chicken is not dry at all (though it might look it). I tried it with the Mardi Gras Mustard sauce and it went well together! I would definitely get this again.

Homemade Zenzai

I wanted to be ambitious and make the fresh strawberry mochi again. I didn’t. I got lazy and was too tired. So I had prepped a can of adzuki bean paste (just cooking it on the stove to remove moisture) and it was sitting in my fridge. I also had leftover mochiko that was sitting in my fridge. It wasn’t the full box so I didn’t know what to do with it (no, I am not making mochiko chicken – no frying for me). Sooo…I decided to mess around make my own zenzai and you know what? It came out really well. Super easy to make. I just mixed water with the mochiko I had, didn’t add else and rolled them into balls and boiled them in water and drained. I cooked down the adzuki I had with some water and added a pinch of salt…and reduced it until it looked like this. My coworkers enjoyed! And you know what? It also reheats well! The balls weren’t solid rocks after reheating.

I used this recipe as guidance.

Herb Chicken Breast Chimichurri Salad | $14.95
Chicken Breast seasoned with spices & herbs then charbroiled topped with our house Chimichurri sauce over crispy Romaine, sliced black olives, grape tomatoes, thin sliced red onions, corn kernels, bacon bits, and Parmesan cheese.

This was from a lunch order over the summer from Kahai Street Kitchen. I wish they had online ordering, I had to call early in the morning before they opened to order every single dish. The guy was kind of monotone on the phone and then I got to this dish. He then asked me, how do you want the chicken done. I was dumbfounded. I just sputtered out, how can it be done? And he says, rare or medium rare. I sat in silence and he starts laughing and I bust out laughing too. That guy was too much, he was so deadpan in his delivery of it too. Anyway, this was a good salad, lol.

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Moke’s Bread and Breakfast – Kaimuki, HI

Oct17

Another post on brunch food. This is probably the last one for a while. And there we go, just like that I’ll probably post one again soon. It’s okay, I like spreading the wealth of information. We tried Moke’s Bread and Breakfast in Kaimuki 2 weekends ago? Not a huge extensive menu but I liked that, they can focus their energies on making what they have…great! It was a nice dining experience and the food was good. I’m not going to go away from this post without sharing some pretty funny upcharges they sneak on you…

Lilikoi Pancakes (2) | $12.95
our light and fluffy pancakes topped with amazing passion fruit sauce

One of the dishes they are known for and rightly so. The pancakes are so light and fluffy and the sauce on top makes it. It’s small kine tart, just enough tart and tastes so good with the pancakes. I would recommend!

Sunrise Breakfast #2 | $13.95
honey butter biscuit, two eggs, and portuguese sausage

Sunrise Breakfast #2 | $13.95
honey butter biscuit, two eggs, and ham

Don’t both these plates look great? Showing you the difference between ham and sausage, honestly I would have chosen sausage. And the biscuit. You see the biscuit? The waiter asked if they wanted their biscuits grilled and that it would be really good. Sounds simple enough right? They charged each person 50 cents for grilling the biscuit. It’s not a big amount of money but like I never would have expected a fee for grilling up the biscuit, it was never mentioned that it would cost extra.

Side of Chorizo Gravy | $3.00

Here is the side of chorizo gravy if you wanted to try it with your biscuits. It tasted good.

Home-made Corned Beef Hash | $16.50 + $1.50 (fried rice upgrade)
made fresh from whole brisket with potato and green onion
served with two eggs, rice or hash browns PLUS
home-made toast (wheat, white, dark rye): I went with dark rye

Here’s my plate. It tasted okay. I didn’t think the corned beef hash was anything special. The fried rice was definitely not worth the upgraded price. The bread though? Delicious! They bake their own bread and I would get this again!

FYI – coffee is $3.95 per cup but they absolutely come around plenty to fill ‘er up. All in all, it was a nice dining experience and I enjoyed it. Just laughed at the upcharge on grilling a biscuit and the $3 for the teeny serving of gravy.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Oct14

Birria Banh Mi | $13.00 (maybe?)
vietnamese inspired sandwich with birria meat, mayo, cucumber, pickled carrots, and daikon (radish), and a sprig of cilantro. served on a toasted baguette and a side of consomme

I wanted to try Cocina De Roja when they opened during the pandemic. A birria banh mi? Sign me up. How was it? Okay, nothing great. I rather just get a regular bahn mi. Also when I go look at their online order site now, it’s not even an option to order so maybe this was pointless?

Beef Stroganoff on House-made Fettuccine | $29.00
mustard sour cream demi-glace

Just sharing a picture of this beef stroganoff from Tango Contemporary Cafe in case any of you were curious how it looked. It wasn’t my dish but it was enjoyed!

Seafood Chow Mein | $12.95

Assorted Dim Sum

I don’t usually crave chicken feet but this time, I did and ordered it. This is the only way I will eat chicken feet, it has to be prepared in this manner. I will not digest any other way. I don’t know why, please don’t ask. I can never pass up dim sum and yes, I like to order seafood chow mein as an accompaniment. It reminds me of childhood so I enjoy it. By the way, this is from Ginger & Garlic. I guess the final question is, do you chicken feet?

Have a great weekend folks.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Oct7

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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Over Easy – Kailua, HI

Oct3

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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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep30

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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Earl Kaimuki – Kaimuki, HI

Sep28

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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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep23

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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Recipe: Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Sep21

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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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep2

Maple Dijon Crunch Chopped Salad Kit | $2.98

You can find this salad mix at Sam’s Club. I don’t know if I shared this but I’ve been a Sam’s Club fiend for the last two years or so. It’s just an easier place for me to get in and out of for groceries and they have cool seasonal stuff and a lot more brands. Another plus? Super cheap salad mixes! I saw this last week and had to get it to try!

Well, it’s not bad but not great. Diced Apples? More like apple wedges. I mixed the entire salad together and tried it – to me it was a bit too sweet. So I removed the apples as I ate because I didn’t need it to be doubly sweet. I just noticed the salad mix has chicken in it and I could barely taste/feel chicken pieces. Hmm…buy at your own risk.

Mini Chicken Katsu Curry | $8.95

I finally got it Jalna! This time, Liliha Drive Inn gave me the right order! Pretty big portion for a mini. It tasted great and my craving was satisfied. Do I want it again…?? I’ll be good for now and hold off.

Wife Cake | Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery

Sorry I don’t have the price. They don’t have an online website and when I am in there ordering – I feel like pressured out to get my order in quick and get out. They always have a line but I lucked out on my visit when I got there I didn’t have to stand in line but boy did a line grow when I was ordering. Have you folks had wife cake before? I remember this from my childhood when my aunts got married, I guess it’s traditional to have these for weddings? How would I explain this? It’s like a Chinese style manju. I remember when I was a kid, I liked the wife cake and always wondered if I would like it now.

I don’t. Well not this one anyway. I wasn’t a fan of this filling, they called it the traditional wife cake. I saw other varieties but I decided to go for the traditional one since I figured that’s what I had before. I shared with my coworkers and one of them said it was a bit like fruit cake. I remember the one I had as a kid almost had a savory sweet filling. Maybe it was a different bakery? Different filling? I really can’t say.

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