10Jun / 2024

Sparrow + Wolf – Las Vegas, Nevada

I’m back and ready to post! Chan and I had a wonderful trip to Vegas, hung out with his friend Bryson and boy oh boy, cruising with two foodies made such a difference in our meals. We went all out during dinners and it’s some of the best food I ever had! I apologize that I do not partake in alcohol – I don’t have much to share on that end, but I will say they enjoyed their alcohol pairings. Sparrow + Wolf is a restaurant Chan tried before and that Bryson is a regular at so we had EXCELLENT service. The food, service and drinks were *chef’s kiss*. I would call their menu…neo-American and Asian fusion style? Didn’t have a single bad dish!

Sage Me From Myself (proofless) | $10.00
cold pressed blueberry, raspberry, pineapple, and fennel bulb

You will however get to check out all the non-alcoholic drinks I tried! I was told that they have like an $11,000 juicer in the kitchen which is why this drink is so so so good. He was right. I drank two of them. Yum!

Grass fed Beef Tartare | $22.00
grass fed beef tartare, confit egg yolk, grilled sourdough

All our orders were at the recommendation of our awesome server, we did no ordering on our own. They matched the foods perfectly to Chan and Bryson’s drinks. The foods all matched my tummy’s needs. 🙂 This dish looks interesting and not like your typical tartare, I was like, why they bringing out imitation crab salad? Haha! No worries, you mix it up and eat it with the bread and it is just really good beef tartare!

Kanpachi | $23.00
kanpachi tiradito blood orange aji amarillo, olive oil

Nice bite! Was it the most memorable dish of the night? Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good! Blood orange with kanpachi, who would’ve thunk it?

Spring Onion Cappalletti | $28.00
ramps, calamansi, garlic flower, miso

OKAY YUM. It’s a really interesting dish, calamansi is a strong flavor of it but it also had a nice buttery miso taste to it. I can’t explain it! It was so good! Frothy pasta shell, sounds weird but tasted great!!

Bánh Cuốn | $20.00
ground duck, wood ear mushroom, habanero, coconut

Bánh Cuốn is vietnamese rice rolls. I would call this dish like Bánh Cuốn deconstructed, there were strips of rice paper around the dish with the “innards”, very soupy as you can see but delicious! And isn’t it pretty?

Black Pepper Honey Pork Secreto | $38.00
sweet potato banana puree, peanut nuoc cham

Another winners dish. Super tender slices of pork and wonderfully seasoned. I love vietnamese flavors in dishes so it was a winner!!!

Charred Brocollini | $16.00
green goddess, black garlic, fines herbes crumb

I don’t know if this is vegan or not but I assume it is and I would be dang happy to eat this as an entree if I was! I love brocollini so much and they charred it perfectly, great dish!

Kalbi Eye of Rib | $59.00
chili lobster gratin, thai basil, lime, garlic breadcrumb

HELLO. This was a great ender for the meal! Lobster and rib eye? No can go wrong brada! So good and cooked perfectly. By the way, all dishes are served family style.

Chocolate Ganache Torte | $12.00
pistachio gelato, toasted coconut

Nice little dessert to share at the end of the meal. Very rich chocolate ganache torte, maybe a bit much for me since we had choke food. I still helped myself to a few bites hehe. It was good especially if you love chocolate.

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07Jun / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Jollibee Amazing Aloha Burger | $10.99
A double patty Yumburger topped with melty cheese, a grilled pineapple ring, crispy bacon, Aloha Dressing, and fresh lettuce on a fresh bun.

I didn’t look at the description of the burger and would you believe it, there is pineapple in it and I actually liked it. I usually hate mixing fruit with savory food but my oh my, this burger works so well together. It was so good!!!! I would recommend.

Teruya’s Andagi Shrimp Roll Bento | $8.95

Got this for lunch the other day, wasn’t hankering for anything in particular so I got this. Pretty good price but the bento wasn’t a winner. The shrimp roll was good, the tofu patty was good but the pieces of chicken were not good. Dry, tasteless and hard. It was a bit of a letdown.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND LOL (not my car)

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10May / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

My brother Jensen got me this super cute Lego Cherry Blossom kit just cause. Aren’t those gifts the best? Just thoughtful and a surprise? I built it up the other day and am proudly displaying it in my office! I love it!!

Have you tried ELEVEN at Foodland Farms Ala Moana? It is more of a small plates and drinks bar but they specialize in a brunch buffet on the weekends! It is $35 for the buffet and includes Prime Rib. I think it’s worth the while to try the different foods and hey you can grind down on unlimited prime rib. One missing element? No poke! I think that would really make the buffet and hello, they make so much poke already in the store!

We checked this place out from watching it on a YouTube video, you can check it out here. There is no free mimosa though – sorry!

First plate! I forget what get already. Broccolini, ulu hash browns, pulehu chicken, portuguese sausage, eggs, salad with fresh beets (!).

Second plate is for all the good stuff. More ulu hash brown, eggs, yummy chicken, fried jasmine rice, prime rib and the pork belly. Oh the pork belly!!! Nice smoky flavor, so good and also bad for you lol.

Smoked Meat and Clam Chowder

We were all excited for the clam chowder. Who can resist a good clam chowder? It was good! We were one of the first diners of the morning and the soup was a bit cold. I’m thinking maybe it didn’t have enough time on the heater yet? Maybe they count on the heater to heat it up? If it was hotter, would be mo’ betta! This would be a good place to host any friends who are visiting Hawaii! Here is the menu.

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08May / 2024

The 220 Grille Restaurant Pt. 4 – Diamond Head, HI

I did it again. I’m sorry Honolulu Aunty. I made an order and realized right after that it was their last week of service for this session lol. I must have a knack for doing this. It’s okay, I’m going to document the meals here and patiently wait for a new session. Do they open during the summer? Gosh I sure hope so.

2 Lady Farmers Country Fried Pork | $13.00
w/ Creamy Pepper Gravy, Mashed Potato, Green Beans & Corn

This was my lunch (I ordered more food for other meals lol). How was it? Blah. The pork and gravy was a bit salty but the beans and potatoes were super bland. I had to add plenty hot sauce to eat the two side dishes but I do appreciate the use of fresh string beans! I thought it was country fried steak at first and then realized it was pork after. The pieces of pork were nice though!

Beer Braised Beef Cheek Bowl | $12.00
Local Grass Fed Beef Cheek with Onion Jam Sauce, Egg Katsu, Simmered Daikon and Sesame Edamame

Great price for the dish and portion! And look at the perfectly gummy egg. Good dish! I enjoyed it! The cheek meat was nice and tender.

Teri Provolone Cheeseburger | $11.00
made with Locally Sourced Grass Fed Beef with Sautéed Onions and Mayo, served w/ Fries, garnished w/ Island Lettuce, Sugarland Tomato & House Made Pickles

Okay we always order one of these because it’s always winners and today was no different. Definitely a steal of a deal and delicious!

Local Beef & 2 Lady Farmers Pork Bolognaise with Spaghetti & KCC’s Mushroom Cave Oyster Mushrooms | $12.00

Not my dish but boy did I have dish envy when I saw it! The two people who ordered it and both liked it! I would definitely get this next time to try myself!

Cup of Banana Cream Pie | $5.00
with Caramel & Shortbread Cookie Crumble

I love bananas so I wanted to give this a shot! Not a fan of whipped cream and nilla wafers so I might not be the best audience for this dish. But if you like what I named, you would like it!!

Matcha Green Tea Bread Pudding | $4.00
with Cranberry Compote and Vanilla Anglaise

Not my dish but I was told it was a big thumbs down. It looks like they forgot to give her the cranberry compote and vanilla anglaise which it could have used. The bread pudding itself was hard as a brick and bitter so I can see why she was missing the sweet components! Shucks!

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27Mar / 2024

Recipe: Jacket Potatoes

This isn’t a super detailed recipe, in fact, there are no details. I saw videos of this dish on my TikTok, super popular dish in England. Jacket Potatoes are basically their version of baked potato but I think jacket potato sounds so much cuter. Never made jacket potatoes before, heck, I’ve never even made baked potatoes before but I was super curious. The ones I see on TikTok, the potatoes come out of the oven so freaking crispy on the outside and soft on the inside…I just had to do it!!!! Their toppings are a bit unique…one had tuna mayo and baked beans with melted cheese on top. Curiousity got the best of me.

The worst part about this recipe? Having to poke holes into the potatoes. I use a metal fork and I meticulously stab it, I don’t play around. It’s a nightmare.

LOL, did you know they sold pork and beans this size! I saw it at Don Quijote and just had to get it. We barely made a dent, still tickled me!

After I prick the potatoes and dry them off I generously oiled them (olive oil) and salted each side. Place it on a wire rack and into the oven at 425° for 2 hours. After one hour, you turn the potatoes over. Now this is for the big russet potatoes and baking time makes it perfect. So crispy on the outside and nicely fluffy on the inside. This picture is after I sliced it open and added slabs of butter in. What they do is, they add the butter with a butter knife and cut it into the potato flesh. You’re like making mashed potatoes basically within the skin. Then you add salt and pepper to taste. Is this how you make American baked potatoes too? IDK!

I added the tuna mayo, heated baked beans and shredded cheese on top and covered the plate with foil to achieve…

THIS! A few minutes of foil-age, you get the ooey gooey jacket potato! How was it? NO THANK YOU. LOLOLOL. It was super bland. Sorry, I know this is an English dish so I should have known better. Honestly, I am already not a huge fan of potatoes so I did not enjoy this dish. Luckily I had chili on the side, so the others had chili cheese potatoes. I had a few potatoes left over and made it american style after that which was enjoyed. That’s my adventure into jacket potatoes. If anyone really wants the recipe, let me know but there isn’t much to it!

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25Mar / 2024

Hula Grill – Waikiki, HI

Chan and I were invited to a wonderful Sunday brunch with friends at Hula Grill! I have never been there before but was looking forward to it, even if it is in Waikiki (lol). Parking is pretty non-existant, we decided to park in Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. If you purchase $10 worth of goods from a Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center tenant, you get parking validation! It’s $2.00 for 3 hours with validation but hold the phone – there is a Kamaʻāina special too! Spend the $10 and you can go to their Helumoa Hale Guest Services desk and get validation for FREE parking for 3 hours! What a deal, music to my Chinese ears.

Hula Grill has an open air dining concept, it was a nice breezy and sunny day so we had a beautiful view of the beach during our meal. It was wonderful! So how was the food?

Strawberry Mochi Waffle | $19.00
maui grown strawberries, whipped mascarpone, manoa honey

One of their signature dishes! It was delicious. Nothing beats a fresh waffle out of the grill you know? It was so nice and crispy – it’s mochi but not at all chewy. We asked for a side of maple syrup and yum!

Wasabi Bloody Mary | $12.00
spicy twist with wasabi, soy sauce & our homemade bloody mary mix & vodka

Chan’s drink. He said it barely had any wasabi taste and actually…more of a horseradish taste.

Lemonade Slushie | $9.00
fresh juice from the big island of hawaii

My drink! This is a virgin drink so no worries, I liked being all fancy with my black straw. Smallish looking cup but was good and lasted me the entire meal! You know what would be good? A lihing rim…mmm…

Seafood Omelet | $23.00
lobster, shrimp & crab, spinach, fresh herbs, lemon hollandaise, jack cheese, tarragon aioli, mixed green salad

This was the most popular dish at the table. In fact, all three of them ordered this dish while I got the loco moco. I tried a bit of Chan’s, was pretty good! Okay, I know this will sound silly considering what I ordered but I thought this would be too rich for me. Rich meaning…cream/dairy heavy. I don’t do well with that!

Loco Moco | $23.00
two eggs, pork fried rice, braised short rib, kalua pork, portuguese
sausage, shiitake mushroom gravy

What constitutes the dish loco moco to you? How would you feel if it was missing the burger patty? I guess I didn’t read the menu clearly and assume a hamburger patty was included. It isn’t. Is it a good dish? Sure-ish. The fried rice was good even though it had peas. The braised short rib was good, kalua pork was average, the portuguese sausage was junk (IDK what brand they use but no good) and gravy was good. Wait, this is more of a jeer than a cheer. It wasn’t bad but I think I would get another dish next time.

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15Mar / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Gumbo Bowl | $16.00
chicken & sausage gumbo with rice

Unfortunately, this post does not start with a winner. I’ve always wanted to try Soul Fusion and now that they’re on the UH campus, I had my chance! How was it? I mean it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. Is gumbo supposed to be more soupy liquid than thick? Maybe I was expecting more of a stew, this had very little guts (if you know what I mean). Tasted fine but then my coworker and I both had to run to the bathroom very quickly after eating our dishes. Heh, sorry for the TMI, just letting you folks know. Not that the food went bad or anything – just might be a bit rich for those who are sensitive to that.

Shrimp Dumplings Soup (Hong Kong Wonton) | $11.95

Okay, this post might be full of complaints (in fact I think it is. I got this from Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum and while I am usually a big fan of their food, this is not it. It tasted fine! It’s just that this is what $12 gets you. It was like I think maybe 5 wontons? I didn’t pour my soup in yet. I think I can go Chinatown and at least get noodles with it for this price. That was a bummer. Tasted fine but was not worth it.

Dry Mein | $5.99

I saw this at 7eleven and wanted to try it. I love dry mein but it was a small portion. The taste was fine, I just don’t think it’s filling enough to be an entire meal. Also, you can see my awesome skills of overheating things in the microwave. Yum, melted plastic with my food.

Thanks for the patience everyone. We finally got the house tented. It was a horrendous week. We were originally supposed to tent on a Saturday but they called us the day before telling us it had to be rescheduled due to weather. I mean, we had a hotel booked and it is very hard to transport my father (who is very much immobile) around. It was an absolute nightmare.

The day before our rescheduled day was also windy and I was scared they would cancel again but it wasn’t, yay. They gave me a window of 10AM – 1PM for the tenters to come so I figured maybe I just take half day off work. 1:30 rolled around and no one came, I called them asking for status. She tells me they are finishing a job in Kailua and will be here in 30 minutes. Kailua to Kalihi in 30 mins? I don’t think so. I estimated moreso 3PM. Guess WHAT. 3PM – still no one. I call at 3:30PM and they had to call and try to track the guys down and told me it would be another 20 minutes. I’m sure you know where this is going. They arrived at like 4:30PM. We decided to stick around to watch the tent go up, that takes another 2 hours. It’s hard work! These guys were all wearing like slippers and slip-ons…didn’t look too safe to me but I guess they get super grip or something.

This was just an awful week because it was the peak busy week for me at work and then having to deal with tenting, cleaning and packing stuff out – it was hell week. Just glad it’s all done. There’s gotta be an easier way to fumigate, this was insane. Anyway, hope you folks have a great weekend!

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21Feb / 2024

The 220 Grille Restaurant Pt. 3 – Diamond Head, HI

I have this horrible knack of posting this restaurant WAY too late, but it’s also because of their short service runs! If you get a chance, today and tomorrow is your last chance to order for this serving session! They are only open for service on Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM. They no longer take phone orders so you have to be ready to order online once the site opens at 11AM (there are no pre-orders)…so, if you can get through all that, try the food (lol)! Here is their current menu, they also have daily specials!

Kansas City Style BBQ Baby Back Ribs | $14.00
with Mashed Potato, Corn and Honey Butter Corn Bread

Teri Provolone Cheeseburger made with Locally Sourced Grass Fed Beef w/ Sautéed Onions & Mayo | $10.00
served w/ Fries, garnished w/ Island Lettuce, Sugarland Tomato & House Made Pickles

This was my lunch. The burger is bumboocha and house made patty! They do cook it like a medium rare so I do recommend heating it up a bit if you don’t like it that pink. I did get a bit of a tummy ache after eating this burger so I did heat up the patty when I ate the other half the next day. How can you beat the portion of this dish, the tastiness and PRICE. It’s $10 bucks even, tax already included. Would recommend!

Roast Porchetta | $15.00
with Mushroom Risotto, Carrot Puree, Braised Beets, and Jus Lie

Jus lie, haha I just find that funny. Chan ate this for dinner and he enjoyed it! He super enjoyed the sides, said the pork was a bit dry on some parts but overall – good! Pretty high end for $15!

Pan Fried Pa’i’ai | $4.00
w/ Kinako, Haupia Anglaise and Island Fruits

Not my dish but it was shared with us and I’m sorry but I just gotta give a big thumbs down. It wasn’t good. Sorry! Very very bland. Even eating it with the fruit or the sauce, just…you’re eating plain taro essentially cause all this extra stuff did not do anything! No flava!!!

NOTE: Reopening for service on April 2, 2024!

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02Feb / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Taki’s Intense Nacho

I’m not into Taki’s but I saw this online somewhere and super super curious. For some odd reason, it’s so hard to find this in Hawaii. Where did I find it? Oh, I think I found it at Don Quijote! Kind of pricey but was worth a try. Super cheesy, not at all spicy. Worth the try!

Giovanni Rana Beef and Sausage Lasagna (40 oz.) | $14.98

Saw this at Sam’s Club the other week and decided to bring it home to try. I didn’t get to try it but my brother did and he liked it! It’s nice that it’s not the full family size lasagna. It’s also great that it comes in a pan that you can either bake it in or microwave in.

Spicy Pork Plate | $10.00

Yup, back at Kalihi Palama Market snack bar again. No can lose with a $10 plate forreal! So good. You know dang well that it would cost so much more money if I decided to make this myself. I’ll keep “researching” their dishes for you folks okay? 🙂

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29Jan / 2024

Bikkuri Donkey – Osaka, Japan

When my friend and I visited in 2022 and stayed in Osaka, we really enjoyed Bikkuri Donkey. It’s a silly name and really more of a family restaurant vibe (imagine Japan Denny’s but specializing in Hamburger Steak). This is a perfect place for tourists because it’s just all kine burgers and fried foods. Anyway, we ate there twice in about as many days but always in the Dotonbori location. Chan had quite a laugh at the name of the restaurant and we would toss around jokes leading up to the trip but you know…that I had to make a return visit. So we did! Visited the Umeda location this time, same good food. They do have an English menu, just gotta ask!

Zangi & Potato | ¥620

Appetizer! I don’t know why it’s called zangi, just wanted some fries and chicken karaage, was good!

Black Demiburg Dish (300g) | ¥1,610

I’m trying to find the exact item names and prices for you folks – I think Chan must have added an egg to this dish so I’m sure it cost a bit extra. He enjoyed the dish!

Egg Curry Burger Dish (300g) | ¥1,610

My dish. I’ve been getting this since the beginning of my visits and I love it. Something about it works and I’ll continue to get this dish, thank you!

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maybeitsjenny

Tag Archives: American Food

Sparrow + Wolf – Las Vegas, Nevada

Mixed Plate Friday

Mixed Plate Friday

The 220 Grille Restaurant Pt. 4 – Diamond Head, HI

Recipe: Jacket Potatoes

Hula Grill – Waikiki, HI

Mixed Plate Friday

The 220 Grille Restaurant Pt. 3 – Diamond Head, HI

Mixed Plate Friday

Bikkuri Donkey – Osaka, Japan