16Sep / 2019

Yellow Cab Pizza Co. – Kalihi, HI

Funny story time! Sort of. Don’t get your hopes too high. Okay so Yellow Cab Pizza Co. is located in the Costco Iwilei parking lot and we know how nuts Costco is…all the time. So Labor Day comes along and Costco is closed, yes! I decided this was the perfect chance to drive to Yellow Cab and see if they are open…gonna have choke parking.

I was right. Well first of all, everyone stopped knowing how to use their phones because so many cars are zooming in and out because they don’t know Costco is closed. So anyway, I parked my car near Yellow Cab and noticed staffers and the lights on inside. Then I see from my car that their open/closed sign says closed! Oh no! We go to the door and they have a paper sign that shares their Labor Day hours, they were open! Mind you, they were “open” from 10:30 am and I was there at about 2:30 pm (yes, late lunch). So I open the door and walk to the front counter and ask the young worker, are you folks open? He says yes and I told him, your sign says closed. He is completely surprised and runs out immediately to turn the sign around.

Let’s think about this a little bit. It took them 4 hours to realize their sign said closed, and yes I was the only customer in there. I just think about how many customers they lost that day because get plenty people driving through the lot seeing the closed sign along with a closed Costco and just driving away! *facepalm* Anyway, after I order and am waiting for my food, a huge group of tourists come in to order. I don’t want to say I’m a hero, but I’m just gonna say not all heroes wear capes. Okay haha, let’s check out the food!

10″ Manhattan Meatlovers Pizza | $11.95
*italian sausage, ham, pepperoni, bacon, ground beef, and salami*

Wasn’t my meal but man if you like meat, what meat is missing from this pizza? You would love it!! It was gobbled up.

Charlie Chan Chicken Pasta | $8.95
*tender chicken strips, shiitake mushrooms and roasted peanuts sauteed in a spicy oriental sauce garnished with spring onions…uniquely our own!*

First off, offended by the name of the pasta. Weren’t the films portrayed by a Caucasian actor? Okay, let’s not go down a rabbit hole. This pasta is very good, I enjoyed it. I should have asked for no peanuts. There were too many nuts. You see a bunch here but there was a whole bunch throughout the pasta too!

Shrimp Alfredo | $10.95
shrimp, black olives, and pasta tossed in a made-to-order creamy alfredo sauce

Not my dish, it was once again enjoyed by the diner. I don’t think it’s worth it for $11, they have a chicken version for $8.95, probably more worth the money.

Oooh, these chicken wings are good! You know, looking at chicken wings on other menus…they are pricey yeah?? I thought this was a pretty good price compared to the other wings places. And it’s delicious! Could really taste the garlic and parmesan seasoning.

Now we turn to the “this stuff can only happen to me” news segment, remember how I told you that the parking lot is EMPTY because Costco is closed? And remember how I told you a big group of tourists came in after us? Check out this picture.

You can’t make this stuff up. My car is the blue one. THEY PARKED THEIR BIG VAN RIGHT NEXT TO MY CAR. IN AN EMPTY LOT. YES, I KNOW THERE IS A CAR A FEW SPOTS DOWN BUT THAT CAR WASN’T THERE EARLIER EITHER. SO WHY OH WHY OF ALL STALLS, DID THIS BIG VAN HAVE TO PARK RIGHT NEXT TO ME.

Okay, sorry for the yelling. I laugh now about it but boy was I peeved when I first saw it! They could have at least left one spot in between us! Plenty people had to jump out of this van!!! Okay guys, have a good Monday, lol.

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21Jun / 2019

Mixed Plate

Just a random post with various eats that won’t make a whole post on it’s own. First off, Whole Foods Market, when Jalna shared about the 2/$5 deal! Thanks so much! Now I check my amazon app all the to check the deals. The pizza was pretty good, the garlic and spinach one was mine. Plenty garlic so I liked it a lot!

Chi Chop is located in the Ala Moana Food Court, not great. The fried chicken is seasoned with quite a bit of five spice powder if that’s your thing. I also think it was quite pricey for $13!

Two Combo Plate (Spicy BBQ Chicken & Fish Jun) | $16.50

Korean Hibiscus BBQ! Oh boy, what a deal. A cute and sweet couple run this shop and the portions are generous! The taste was great and do you see? Two pieces of fried mandoo too! I do have to say, MSG galore, I was thirsty all night!

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30May / 2017

Angelo Pietro – Kaimuki, HI

Angelo Pietro moved to Kaimuki and while they are in a smaller space, the food remains the same! They sell their salad dressings in stores but my friend noticed they no longer sell the ume salad dressing in stores but they still serve it with their salads in the restaurants…so if you’re into ume, give them a visit!

Plantation Iced Tea

Meh, not sweet enough but they do allow you one free refill. Guess which Chinese person took advantage of that?

Pietro Rainbow Salad

This is a great salad, comes with greens, bell peppers, carrots, raw daikon, and raw potato strings. It comes with all four Angelo Pietro dressings!

Spaghetti Sukiyaki Style

Not my dish but I got a taste and it was nice! Definitely tasted like sukiyaki but with a slight buttery finish. Very good!

Pork and Eryngii Spicy Cream Sauce

This is my dish and I love it! I love the deep fried garlic on top..it adds a nice taste and crunch to the dish. My absolute favorite.

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10Aug / 2014

Win-Spuntino – Waialae, HI

Win-Spuntino is a brand spanking new restaurant that opened up in the Market City Shopping Center. They are located right by Foodland, above the Thai restaurant. I know what you’re thinking, there’s a two story place there? Yes, there is. Anyhow, this restaurant got an interesting start. The owner of the cell phone shop that was located by Anytime Cafe had to move locations and found they had too much room in the new space so they decided to open the cell phone place along with an Italian restaurant. Interesting starts aside, they serve up some pretty good food! I’ve been waiting for a good priced, good tasting, take-out Italian eatery for a while now. I have a lot of pictures to share in this post because it was an office order. My biggest piece of advice, forgo the sandwiches and garlic bread and go straight for the pasta. That’s the good stuff. Let’s get started shall we? Oh! By the way, I found out that the old Fun Factory space will become a Walgreens. As if that parking lot couldn’t get more congested and junk right? Okay, now on with the pictures and review!

Small Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich and Salad Combo – $7.75
We had a decent sized order, this is a great deal. Six inch sub along with a small salad – they were nice enough to pack the salad separately to avoid the dressing running into the bread. How was this sandwich? My coworkers didn’t enjoy it. They found that the eggplant wasn’t cooked long enough so the eggplant was a bit too firm/crunchy for their taste. They enjoy their eggplant a bit more cooked/mushy, FYI.

Small Meatball Sandwich and Salad Combo – $7.75
It was all right, nothing special.

Small Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich and Salad Combo – $7.75
It’s okay, would taste better fresh (it was eaten a bit later). Also, they put raw romaine in all their sandwiches. That’s a bit weird and not necessary.

Small Italian Sausage Sandwich and Salad Combo – $7.75
Oh blah. I was really looking forward to this sandwich because…look at the sausage! How awesome does that look? Big chunks of whole sliced sausage. Well I saved this one for dinner since I had pasta for lunch. The bread is terrible. Does not hold up well. The sausage? There was a weird taste to it. Not like spoiled or anything, I just didn’t like this sausage and I like all kinds of sausage. Okay let’s move on with the commentary…

The following salad pictures are the salads that come with the small sandwich combos. Big salads I say!

Pea Salad – it wasn’t mine but it doesn’t look too appetizing to me…peas look a bit mushy as well

Pasta Salad – yes, it’s served on a bed of romaine lettuce. All their salads are…lol

Tomato and Mozzarella – this was my salad. I was all excited for it thinking it would be a lot like a caprese. Hmm…didn’t work that way. The tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese are marinated in a very light balsamic vinegar dressing. The cheese was a bit firmer than I expected and very flavorless – I didn’t enjoy this salad.

Curry Chicken Salad – this is probably the winner of all the salads. If you like a mild curry, you will like this. You must also like raisins. Wish I got this!

Garlic Bread – $3.00
Blah. Not worth it for 3 bucks. You might as well go to Foodland and grab your own loaf to bake up…I have a big issue with their bread in general

Chicken Alfredo and Mushrooms – $9.50

Shrimp Scampi – $11.25
Oh my gosh. I knew what I was getting into when I ordered this. All kinds of good and dangerousness for my body. Shrimp scampi soaking in butter and garlic. They are so generous with shrimp and the sauce was delicious. It was SO good. I would definitely order this again.

Chicken Marsala – $9.50

Chicken Sorrentino – $10.25
Chicken, Eggplant, Cheese, Mushrooms, Butter and Marsala Sauce

Chicken, Bacon and Shrimp Casino – $12.00 (Daily Special)

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce – $7.75
How can you lose with this much pasta and meat for 8 bucks?? This usually comes with Linguini. Their pasta dishes come with linguine by default but spaghetti is also available!

Linguine Meatball – $8.75 (with spaghetti instead)
My coworker kept this dish for dinner (putting it in the fridge of course) and didn’t think the spaghetti held up real well. I wouldn’t mind trying it with linguine.

Anyhow, the pasta dishes were great! They give incredible portions for crazy great prices. I don’t know how they are going to stay in business with these portions and prices. Even though I say this, I will still be disappointed if any of this changes! They are doing great for now, I hope they keep it up!

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10May / 2014

Mediterraneo Ristorante Italiano – Honolulu, HI

I’ve been to Mediterraneo Ristorante Italiano a few times in the past few years and they never disappoint! Well the food never disappoints. This past visit was a very weird one. I’m not sure if the waitress was new but she was very off-putting. The other waitress was super nice and I think I might recognize her from previous visits. The difference in attitude and service from one to the other was insane. Of course I got the new waitress, she was cold and rude from the start. There were a few funny moments that proved to me that she was consistent with her attitude which helps me to be less mad. She had put up a paper sign on the door that read “opend 5:30.” The main chef and I assume owner came out and asked her what that white piece of paper was on the door, she said she put the sign up so customers know they are open (I guess dining guests inside won’t give you enough hints) and he said I don’t want that piece of paper up there and she totally resisted. It was so uncomfortable to be sitting right there when it happened but he finally told her, just take it down. I don’t blame him – and it made me wonder if she was new. She spent the whole night answering the phone and as the restaurant started filling up, I still heard her tell customers to come in with no reservations and that it would only be a 10-15 minute wait. Oh boy, I kind of wanted to see how that would play out. Anyhow, she also forgot our drink. We eventually kept calling over the other waitress to assist us further…it served as a saving grace for the night I think.

Anyhow, bad service aside – the food was GREAT. Let me share the pictures with you.

Fresh bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I’m not the biggest fan of it but it was just fine.

My dish. I believe I ended up getting the Mare – it was DELICIOUS. The seafood, the sauce, the noodles…all perfection. I pretty much ate this whole thing. No shame…lol.

Ravioli Aragosta – Kristian’s dish. He liked it as well, although he would have appreciated more lobster. Please feel free to add your own feedback. 🙂

Creme Brulee Cheesecake – TO DIE FOR. It was delicious!! We ordered a tiramisu too but they were also out of it (they were out of three things that night and we were there when they opened). But it doesn’t matter, this slice of cheesecake can solve anything.

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12Mar / 2014

Recipe: Angel Hair with Tomatoes, Peas and Basil

I played around with a recipe this past week and came up with this dish! I’m very happy I did because it tastes delicious! And other than the dab of mayonnaise you throw in to make it creamy, it is very good for you! Let me share the pictures first:

Doesn’t that look good? I tried to make it look good for a picture, I need to wipe the sides off better next time, lol.

I used three roma tomatoes and two pints of grape tomatoes

Me and my crazy garlic again, I used a whole bulb

My basil was a bit wilted in the fridge but they tasted fine! I sliced up 20 basil leaves for this recipe

Angel Hair Pasta – cooked just below al dente since you heat it up in the sauce too

Frozen green peas, it can be left frozen even up until cooking

Heat up some good olive oil and saute the garlic

Add the tomatoes

Once the tomatoes release some liquid, add the basil

As the mixture cooks down, more liquid comes out. I added about 1/4 cup of mayonnaise to this to make it creamier

Add the peas in just as the sauce is done. You don’t want to overcook the peas so add it at the end to just warm them up

Here it is! Finished! And so delicious. I added salt and pepper to taste and then added a mozzarella and parmesan shredded cheese right before consumption.

Angel Hair with Tomatoes, Peas and Basil

Ingredients:

1 lb. Angel Hair Pasta (I used Barilla brand)
1 bulb of Garlic, minced
3 T Olive Oil
3 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
2 pints Grape Tomatoes, sliced
20 Basil Leaves, julienned
1 package of Frozen Peas

1 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Pepper
1/4 C of Mayonnaise
Mozzarella/Parmesan Cheese according to your taste

Heat up the olive oil in a big skillet, add the garlic to saute. Once the garlic has browned for about a minute, add all the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes has cooked down a bit and released liquid, add in the basil and mix it together. Lower to medium heat and continue simmering. Once the mixture has released enough liquid to become a sauce (about 5 minutes), add the mayonnaise to thicken the sauce. Add the frozen peas and simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning according to your taste.

Turn off the heat. Add the noodles in and mix it up. Sprinkle cheese on top as you serve the dish. Enjoy!

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16Jan / 2014

Recipe: Baked Spaghetti

I got a request from a reader (thanks yuko!) for my Baked Spaghetti recipe so here I am to share it! Always a pleasure to share recipes. 🙂 My recipe is super specific, down to the brand name but this is what I do to make some gooood baked spaghetti. I’ll share some pictures and the recipe after the cut.

140116-01 This is the stuff! Ooey, gooey and delicious. Join me won’t you?

140116-02 Ground beef ready to go!

Ground beef and minced onions

This is how the dish looks like after the initial baking. This includes the noodles, pasta sauce and cheddar cheese.

After the first bake, you sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Baked Spaghetti

32 oz. Meatless spaghetti sauce, any flavor – I use Hunt’s Brand – Garlic and Herb (in the 26 oz. aluminum can) – update: 5/4/14, they sneakily now make the cans in 24 oz. sizes. When the Hunt’s brand canned spaghetti sauce is on sale, it is much cheaper than the glass jars so I just buy two but still measure out 32 oz. for this recipe.
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with green pepper, celery, and onion – do not drain (I use Hunt’s brand once again)
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
1 box (lb.) spaghetti or angel hair pasta, whichever you prefer – I use Barilla brand spaghetti
1 8 oz. bag shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella cheese (you can add more if you like a lot of cheese for both cheeses, for these pictures, I used only one each…when I’ve made the recipe in other times…I’ve added more mozzarella)

Either one 13 x 9 baking pan or two 8 inch baking pans.
Olive Oil Spray – to grease the pan(s)

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Break the pasta into 3 inch lengths. I usually yield about 3 “sticks” from each stick of spaghetti and then cook according to package directions. I usually remove it about 2-3 minutes before the pasta is cooked. The pasta will continue to cook later in the sauce and eventually in the oven so you don’t want to overcook the pasta. Rinse and drain the pasta, place aside.

Brown onions and ground beef together until the beef is cooked through. Drain excess grease if necessary. Stir in spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes with the beef mixture and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Stir in the pasta. Once incorporated, stir in all the cheddar cheese. Stir the mixture until cheese is completely melted.

Grease your baking pan(s) and place your pasta mixture in.

Bake the spaghetti for 15 minutes, take the pan(s) out and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top and bake for 15 minutes more or until the cheese has melted to your liking. Enjoy!

Note: Another great thing about this recipe is that it freezes very nicely!

140116-06 You won’t regret making this. Adult and kids enjoy it! Let me know how it goes if you make it!

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23Nov / 2013

Cafe Sistina – Honolulu, HI

Sometimes, I think Cafe Sistina gets a bad rap. I wouldn’t recognize the restaurant as the best Italian restaurant out there but it certainly isn’t bad! Some people are a bit ruthless in their critique. I had dinner here last week and I had a great meal. Let me share with you the pictures of the food.

Fresh bread served with pesto flavored butter – yummy

Continue reading →

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19Oct / 2013

Favorite Pasta Dish

For the longest time, I’ve been telling my friend about my favorite dish from Assaggio’s. It’s not technically on the menu but I learned of this dish a few years back. They have an appetizer called Hot Antipasto. This hot antipasto is comprised of huge luscious pieces of seafood in a wonderful sauce. It must have been the waitress who served us who said this is the best antipasto and that you can get it on pasta! I took her word for it on my next visit and haven’t turned back since. So the next time you go to Assaggio’s or Paesano (same menu!), order the Hot Antipasto on linguine. Or whatever noodles you want but I like it on linguine. Well after many suggestions, she finally ordered a few weeks ago and LOVED it! She even sent me a picture so I’ll post it here. All credit goes to her. 🙂

Tell me that doesn’t look amazing…

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21Sep / 2013

Orecchiette with Kale

I’ve been looking at my blog the past few days and could have swore I had scheduled out updates all week! So then I realized I had got all my pictures ready for posting but hadn’t actually done any write-ups. Sorry! It’s been crazy busy at work and next week will be even worst so I need to really schedule some things up for posting this weekend. I wanted to share something I made about two weeks back. I’ve been trying to cook lunch for work to save money and in hopes of eating healthier! Here is a dish I made out of orecchiette, anchovies, kale, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and pork meatballs. I’m really getting into kale just cooked down in a dish. Kale chips, I’ll pass on those.

Anyhow, the dish came out great! I don’t put too much seasonings so some may think it’s a bit bland but I really enjoyed it. I also felt like this dish kept me full a lot longer. It was great. I will definitely try to make it again!

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maybeitsjenny

Tag Archives: Italian Food

Yellow Cab Pizza Co. – Kalihi, HI

Mixed Plate

Angelo Pietro – Kaimuki, HI

Win-Spuntino – Waialae, HI

Mediterraneo Ristorante Italiano – Honolulu, HI

Recipe: Angel Hair with Tomatoes, Peas and Basil

Recipe: Baked Spaghetti

Cafe Sistina – Honolulu, HI

Favorite Pasta Dish

Orecchiette with Kale