King Restaurant & Bar – Ala Moana, HI

I was so disappointed when I heard Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum closed down. Chan and I liked going to eat there and grabbing take-out from there. No worries, they still have their take-out location at the Lanai in Ala Moana but that’s just not the same to me. King Restaurant & Bar started serving dim sum recently so we decided to give them a try! They make great lunch/dinner food so let’s see how the dim sum is!

Sesame Mochi w Red Bean Paste Ball (Jin Dui) | $6.50

I’m not usually in the mood for like deep fried dessert items but I had that craving this day! I enjoyed it a lot. And it wasn’t super greasy like I’ve had in other places.

King’s Pork Hash (Siu Mai) | $5.95

So puny looking. I enjoyed it! Tasted good, just like the other Chinese restaurants. If I look at this closely, it looks like they put an ikura on top? Usually places put a carrot lol.

King’s Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) | $5.95

I’m impressed by the look and size of these har gow. Nice and soft skin with jumbo tender morsels of shrimp inside, would recommend!

Pan Fried Chives & Shrimp Dumpling | $5.95

Chives and shrimp make such a great combo together, especially in a pan fried dumpling. I don’t make the rules okay? They have a steamed option but I think the pan fried option is the only way to go.

Stick Rice in Lotus Leaf | $8.50

Chan loves sticky rice so we got this. He enjoyed it! I need to make him my version of sticky rice, nice home cooking that will have a lot more innards and flavors than restaurants (sorry, not sorry!)

Twist Cruller | $3.50

Another favorite of Chan’s. I’d like to get this next time with their jook. I love eating this with jook.

Chicken Feet w/Special Sauce | $5.95

Okay, no need gag. Yes, I eat chicken feet. Just me. I only like chicken feet dim sum style. They did a good job!

Beef Chow Fun (Dried) | $16.95

Can’t have dim sum without one noodle dish. I usually like to order seafood chow mein but they make a good beef chow fun here and it has nice wok hei taste. What is wok hei? Look em up brah! Shootz.

Ginger & Garlic – Chinatown, HI

Ginger & Garlic used to be my favorite dim sum restaurant. Hard for me to say used to be…it’s still one I will go to but the quality has really gone downhill in recent times. I went about a month ago? Found the dimsum to be much smaller than before and the restaurant just seems not to be aging well. It definitely did not make me want to return soon. Here’s some dim sum items we got!

Baked Egg Custard Tart | $5.50

Good stuff! I love this.

Deep Fried Taro | $5.50

Basic – nothing special.

Siu Mai | $5.50

Good, not great. I feel like they used to make it really well. Maybe the original chef left…

Seafood Bundle in Bean Curd | $6.50

One of my must have dim sum items. There’s another dim sum restaurant that I don’t want to name that is opening locations left and right and I don’t think they have this on their dim sum menu. What a shame! I love it.

Seafood Chow Mein | $15.95

Another must have item for me at dim sum, seafood chow mein. The aforementioned restaurant chain also doesn’t have this? This is a staple for me! Unless that restaurant chain ups their game, I’m good. I wasn’t impressed with their dim sum anyhow.

Mixed Plate Friday

Yummy’s Korean B-B-Q Bibimkooksoo | $16.95

Oh the pricey. So pricey. But so good. I get this one from the Ala Moana food course and I order it spicy because I am trying to prove to Chan that I am the Spice Queen (I’m not). I think they give a lot of veggies and meat and a good amount of noodles so it’s worth it for me. I’m always up for a nice good cold noodle dish.

Chinese Roast Pig!!!

Look at that thing! It’s funny to look at, I guess I’ve never seen the pig chopped up and put back in like this? It’s good they were willing to chop it up though! When we get our pig for bai san – we gotta chop our own. Not sure where this is from, was good but not super great. I thought the skin was too hard and not a light crispy, you know?

First Round

The roast pig was part of our UH Football Viewing Party. Chan and I brought Chun Wah Kam Ginger Chicken Fried Rice and Orange Chicken. Was delicious. Then I thought there was a pot of chili so I made my own chili nachos but learned it was baked beans. LOL, was good anyway. Have a good weekend everyone!

Lucky Box – Honolulu, HI

Mini Chicken Katsu | $9.50

Upon the urging from foodie friend, I had to return to Lucky Box to get the chicken katsu! Foodie friend is correct, the chicken katsu was super good and the sauce was good too. They give a lot and it tastes good! The mac salad is good too, thank god. Delicious!

Cold Ginger Chicken | $9.89

I guess my craving is still there because I ordered it again. All rice of course. I wanted to see what chicken pieces they would give me this time and it was thigh pieces again! Winner winner chicken dinner, literally. This time I ordered an extra sauce…

Side Ginger Sauce | $1.25

N, can you believe it!! They charge $1.25 for one more sauce! Sheesh! Did I use them both up? Yes. It went super well with the rice and chicken but dang…$1.25! Would still get it again lol.

Lucky Box Restaurant – Kalihi, HI

Lucky Box Restaurant opened a few months ago in the Waiakamilo Shopping Center. It’s like a local BBQ joint run by Chinese (aren’t they all?). I had a serious hankering for cold ginger chicken this day and Liliha Drive Inn didn’t have it (FOILED) so I went to Lucky Box! Short post ahead.

Pork Chop with Gravy (mini) | $9.99

Ho brah, super salty. If you need one salt lick, get this dish. And the pork chop itself was kind of dry. I wouldn’t get this again.

Cold Ginger Chicken (mini) | $9.89

I didn’t get a picture of the ginger sauce for this. It comes in one of those small dressing containers, looks small but works fine for the dish. If they had given me more, I would have just slathered everything in it. I really enjoyed this dish, it hit the spot and I super appreciated all the dark meat pieces! Yum!

Mixed Plate Friday

Knife Cut Noodles

I’ve talked about this a lot already. Knife cut noodles, and this is how I like to eat it. The easy, delicious and lazy way. I cook up the noodles and drain it. I heat up a little bit of oil and add chopped green onions to “pop” it. A real quick fry and then add the noodles back into the pan and add oyster sauce and sriracha, I sometimes add a bit of sweet soy sauce too and that’s it. Toss and serve. It’s like a quick and easy version of indomie (well the flavors of it).

Underwood Ranch Sriracha

Speaking of sriracha, Longs had Underwood Ranch sriracha on sale so I had to try it. You know all the drama with Underwood Ranch right? They used to supply peppers to Huy Fong Foods sriracha but they had a dispute so they no longer supply the peppers for Huy Fong and started making their own to sell. I tried it so you don’t have to. It’s not as good as the original, it’s very vinegary. Too vinegary. No thanks.

Chun Wah Kam Plate | $14.00
one or two choice starch & two choice entrees

Chun Wah Kam still offers up a whopper of a deal for a huge portion. My starches are the ginger chicken fried rice and the Hong Kong Chow Mein (vegetarian). I got the chicken mushroom zucchini stirfry and orange chicken. I would have gotten their veggie stirfry but they didn’t have it today. I am a fan of chicken mushroom zucchini but not of this one. It was a bit salty and the chicken was dry and hard, they either use chicken breast or cooked the heck out of the thigh meat. Sorry to say, Panda’s does that dish better. Their orange chicken is good though and I love their starches!

K&M Drive Inn – Kalihi, HI

I am writing this post with a heavy heart because I know K&M Drive Inn is a new locally owned family business but it wouldn’t be my blog if I wasn’t honest with my own experience. They are located in the same building as Alicia’s Market and I thought their food looked good in pictures and the menu prices? Spectacular! In fact, I was actually considering an office lunch order from them for a training. Something told me that we needed to do a dry run before committing, and good thing we did.

First of all, we wanted to call in our order before heading over so it would be ready when we arrived. It went from the phone ringing non-stop, to the phone ringing shortening (I’m assuming the denial of our call) and then finally, just straight to voicemail. That experience alone did not help me want to trust them with a bigger office order.

When we got there, there were a bunch of people at the window. Good sign right? Sure. I guess an office had put in an order earlier that morning and they all walked down to pay for each plate individually. Oh my. That took…quite a while. Also, the food wasn’t not ready when they requested for it to be ready when they called it in early in the morning! The other office folks were very nice but after I waited out all the payments and finally could order at the window, there was no apologies for the wait or anything. In fact, she seemed like she didn’t even want to help us. Did not feel good.

In the end, I’ll judge the food as is. By taste. None of us were pleased with our dishes…I’ll just share the pics below.

Fry Pork Ribs | $10.95

Not my dish, but was not enjoyed by the diner. Dry and flavorless, the sauce they serve with it was also weird. It’s supposed to be a hot chili sauce but it was just spicy and somehow flavorless too. How do you acheive that??

BBQ Chicken | $10.95

My dish. So I ordered this dish expecting BBQ chicken like you get from other Drive Inns, you know? Just boneless chicken thighs that is grilled. This one was sliced chicken thighs in an American BBQ sauce. It was odd. It didn’t taste bad but when you were expecting something else, it’s a little jarring you know?

HBS (Hamburger Steak) Plate | $10.95

Okay, this person enjoyed the hamburger steak but do you see the garnish? They garnish all their dishes with green onions and cilantro. I find it kind of funny and think people who hate cilantro (which is probably a lot) would not like or expect this addition. So if you don’t like cilantro, make sure you tell them you don’t want it.

Lao Sausage | $13.95

The way their menu is laid out, it looked like lao sausage was a protein option for their chow fun stirfry so that’s what I was trying to order. I was told it was only a plate. Okay, I got the plate. The sausage itself is good and spicy! The sauce, it’s the same sauce as the pork ribs. Spicy yet flavorless. It was so odd. And I am a saucy person (wink) and I just threw it out. What a waste, and I hate wasting but it was that inedible to me.

In the end, a disappointment. Maybe I’ll give them a try again later when they’ve adjusted to running this restaurant. It doesn’t look like they are hurting for business, their prices are great and the food is okay. I just don’t think it’s worth the drive out there for me.

Trader Joe’s Haul – Las Vegas, Nevada

A trip to the mainland and mean one thing and one thing only. Okay, one of two things. A must is always Trader Joe’s. Just gotta. Gotta get your own snacks and of course omiyage to bring home. On our second shopping trip, the cashier knew we were from Hawaii without even asking. Haha! Their mini cooler bags also came out while we were in Vegas but there was no way we were going to get one. The cashier told me they were sold out within minutes of opening – that’s crazy. I don’t need a mini cooler bag.

Anyway, since our hotel had a kitchenette, we bought some frozen foods to try! Yay, I finally get to try their ready made foods!

Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice | $4.49

Love me a good butter chicken and love basmati rice! Chan’s friend told us this one was good so we tried it! I am happy to report that it was good!

Steamed Pork & Ginger Soup Dumplings | $3.49

Ehhh, wouldn’t get this again. This was exactly like the ones they sell here in Costco. Is it the bibigo brand? Exactly the same only this one doesn’t even come with the sauce on the side. Boo. Tastes fine but nothing special.

Kimbap | $3.99

Biggest bummer of the haul. I mean I knew it wouldn’t be good as fresh, how could it be right? Well, I followed instructions on how to heat it up and it was just awful. The rice was super hard and the taste wasn’t even good. What a bummer. No buy this. Just go to the Korean market and get the fresh ones! The one I got from Longs here was better.

Longs had this Japchae frozen kimbap on sale the other week for like $5.99 I think, it was pretty good to me! And heated up nicely so the roll was nice and soft. Still, I would just go to the Korean market to get fresh rolls. Glad to have tried, wouldn’t get it again.

Mott 32 – Las Vegas, Nevada

Mott 32 was one of the most highly anticipated meals for Vegas. Chan knows my love for Roast Duck so we made a reservation here. It’s quite pricey and if you order the duck, you have to put in the order in advance. The restaurant is very fancy – almost felt weird eating Chinese food in such a fancy place (lol).

Fancy accompaniments for the Roast Duck. They swirl the sauce at the table, it’s pretty cool! I believe that’s sesame paste and hoisin sauce, hoisin sauce and then brown sugar at the bottom.

Stonecutters (Mocktail) | $12.00
passion fruit / miso honey / lemon verbena / plum

Ehh, this drink was just alright. Sounds better than it tasted.

Traditional Iberico Pork Shanghainese Soup Dumplings | $14.00

A nice starter! Can’t go wrong with XLB…

Signature Crispy Sugar-Coated Charcoal Pork Buns | $16.00

Look at how fancy these are. And the name of the dish – wowowow. But can I say something? It was worth the hype, these were so good. The sugar crust on top balanced the pork filling so well. I really enjoyed this dish!

Look at the red filling, reminds me of home!

Barbecue Iberico Pork, Yellow Mountain Honey | $68.00
Each cut of pork comes from top-grade Iberian pigs that are raised on a diet of acorns, grass and herbs, giving the meat a soft and succulent quality that is further emphasised by the traditional roasting methods employed by our barbecue chefs. A light glaze of Yellow Mountain Honey is brushed over the pork to finish, adding a final sweet and rich touch.

Okay, no look at the price. Yes, it’s basically char siu. Was it good? How can it not be? It was delicious! This is a limited daily dish so you have to pre-order it. Super good but was it worth $68? Hmm…

Apple Wood Roasted Peking Duck “Mott 32 Cut” | $128.00
Mott 32 has carefully sourced and selected the best ducks to create the most flavorful and perfectly crispy duck. Our Signature 42 day Apple Wood Roasted Peking Duck is carved using a unique technique developed by our Culinary Team that locks in all the juices making it a true feast fit for royalty as it was intended. It is served tableside with freshly steamed pancakes, thinly sliced cucumber, scallions, raw cane sugar, and house-made special hoisin sauce; the juicy cucumber will allow a refreshing lift as you bite into the crispy, moist, and smoky duck skin.

I had to paste their own description of the duck so you folks can look past the price tag lol. It’s a beautiful duck. They carve it for you table side and you get all the nice crackly skin and the tender meat morsels.

Freshly Steamed Pancakes

Duck Skin sprinked with Brown Sugar

No worries, it was much more than this plate. They just sliced off the best of the skin for us to make our peking buns with.

Minced Duck Fried Rice | $28.00

You also have the option for them to create a second course with the rest of the duck meat. Either a peking style spicy crispy duck rack or fried rice. We went with the fried rice. I’m not sure what the first style would be. The carcass deep fried? I don’t know. But this was good because it served as the carb for our meal.

Wok-fried Snow Pea Tips | $32.00
with minced garlic

Whew everything is expensive here. But snow pea tips are hard to find which also explains the price tag. Needed some greens to balance our all the meat! Was good!

Mott 32 was a good experience. Our waitress was a bit pushy, the guys still had their alcohol glasses half full and she kept trying to push for another drink. That soured the experience for us a little bit. Mott 32 is an international brand so I’m excited to try this place in Asia! I find that restaurant in Asia tend to be better. Yummy! For now, I am content with getting my roast duck and char siu fix from Chinatown.

Shang Artisan Noodle – Las Vegas, Nevada

Wanna hear a funny story? Well it’s kind of funny. I came to Vegas back in 2022 and went to a little Thai restaurant in this strip mall. It was right next to Shang Artisan Noodle but we ate at the Thai restaurant instead. Shang has since expanded into the Thai restaurant’s lot. It was funny because as we pulled into this lot, I kept saying how familiar this place looked. Crazy stuff huh? Chan said they have the best beef noodle soup so of course we had to come. And of course, I end up ordering something else. My noodles were good too but when I tasted Chan’s bowl, I knew I would have to get the beef noodle soup from here on out. They make their own noodles and the broth is so deep with flavor. No worries, we ended up going to Shang’s new location at the new Durango Casino and Resort at the end of our trip so I got my beef noodle soup!!!

Spicy Wonton | $8.97
pork wontons with spicy soy sauce, green onion

These spicy wontons were good! Look at them, they’re swimming in chili oil. It’s spicy! Take their word for it!!

Spicy Beef Dumpling | $9.25
minced beef, white onion, green onion, spicy soy sauce

Look at the fancy lace around the dumplings. Actually the lace for me is not needed. I do like my dumplings pan fried though. Sorry to folks who enjoy deep fried mandoo, it’s not my thing. These were good!

Shang Beef Noodle (Spicy) | $14.97
beef & chicken broth (brown), braised beef brisket, veggies, green onion

That is comfort in a bowl. And they make their noodles in house, I believe Chan gets this dish with their hand pulled noodles. Yum! As an FYI, the original location has three noodle options: hand pulled noodles, knife-shaved noodles and plain noodles. The Durango location only has two options – no plain noodles.

Dan Dan Noodle | $13.97
minced pork, preserved veggie, spicy soy sauce, green onion

Look at how I take care of you folks. I even did a noodle pull! I guess in the 100-something degree weather, I wasn’t really feeling like a big bowl of hot soup and noodles you know? So I opted for the cold noodle option – I got my dish with knife-cut noodles. Been on a knife-cut noodles kick. It was good! But once again, I would order the beef noodle soup the next time around. Actually what am I doing? Here’s what we got on our final visit lol…

My beef noodle bowl! Yum yum! Tasted great and the same at both locations!

Wonton Soup | $12.97
Add noodles | $3.00

pork & chicken broth (white), house-made wonton, egg, seaweed, green onion

Chan’s wonton noodle soup! He likes to eat a bit lighter on days of travel so this is his dish. He enjoyed it! I’m sure if we weren’t flying out that day, he would have gotten the beef noodle soup again!