25Aug / 2021

Imanas Tei – Honolulu, HI

Imanas Tei has unofficially become the restaurant to celebrate birthdays for my friend and I. Not quite sure why, it’s not like we frequent this restaurant otherwise but when our birthdays come along…we keep choosing this place. That’s gotta be a good sign right? Anyway, can always count on Imanas Tei for good food and good service, fast too! Their parking is absolutely horrendous haha…but I went early enough to score a stall in their lot. It was a good sign!

Tamago Sushi (2 pcs) | $4.00
Unakyu Roll | $13.50
grilled eel, cucumber, avocado

One of our must-haves funnily enough is their tamago sushi. If you remember, I prefer the more savory tamago and they do that here. Love how they cut the tamago and wrap it around the rice. It’s $4.00 for two pieces but technically to me it’s one piece cut into two…anyway it’s okay because it tastes good. The picture above shows two orders of tamago sushi.

This was my first time getting the unagi roll, I don’t know why I expected it to be a hand roll but then again $13.50 for a hand roll would be a rip off ah? It was good, nothing great that I need to order again.

Grilled Beef Tongue | $13.50

It takes talent to take a picture this blurry with absolutely nothing in focus. At your service as a photographer here. I love their grilled beef tongue, perfectly sliced and charred and seasoned. Highly recommend!

Torikara | $8.50
japanese fried chicken

Didn’t realize they call their fried chicken torikara…I think I even ordered it as chicken karaage. Was really good! I enjoyed it.

Salmon Sashimi | $12.50
Toro Sashimi | MP
Hamachi Sashimi | $15.50

Sashimi is always a winning choice. Okay but was this toro really otoro? I can’t quite say…didn’t taste like otoro quality. Hmm…maybe just gotta give up the otoro quest. I am good with other sashimis anyway! Gotta save otoro for Torae Torae.

Hiyashi Udon (Cold Udon Noodles) | $6.50

Wanted a cooling dish to end the meal, this was nice. Would have been nice to have like natto or like a raw egg yolk on top but that’s just me. The broth was pretty strong, concentrated. They give plenty bonito flakes.

Kakiage | $9.75
fried burdock & seafood

I lied. We ended the meal with this. My friend got beer so figured this was a nice beer accompaniment since it’s fried. We never got this before but I swear every single table orders this dish. Not too bad. Did get a surprise chunk of seafood here and there. I think would have been better to order in beginning of the meal to pick at it throughout.

So this was the first meal out since Ige set up limitations in restaurants again due to the rising numbers and the delta variant. Well, not to scare anyone but this restaurant was definitely not operating at any type of limited capacity lol. They had the shields up and I was never seated SO close to anyone that I felt uncomfortable but the seats were all definitely taken. Hope everyone is doing well and taking care…numbers are still scary.

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31May / 2021

Dell’s Kitchen and Bakery – Honolulu , HI

Dell’s Kitchen and Bakery is an interesting name for a Japanese eatery, I wonder where the inspiration came from? They share the space with Mio Pastalogy which I am assuming is the same owner because I saw the worker run over to this side to help answer phones and they share a kitchen. They also have a great bakery in the shop with fresh baked Japanese pastries. Sorry I didn’t get pictures of my baked goods, I tried their spicy curry pan and regular an pan. So good. The curry pan was interesting because it’s almost like a hamburger curry inside. I’m used to curry with mainly veggies cooked to almost like a mush…so it was interesting. Both were very good and they are very generous with the fillings. Win!

Yakisoba | $10.00
sautéed pork and mixed veggies with Mio Pastalogy Spaghetti Pasta

I decided to get yakisoba for this meal. I don’t know why. Oh wait, I do. I also got two onigiris so I was trying to eat “light.” Who am I kidding? Anyway, this dish was really good. The homemade pasta is awesome, perfectly al dente. The pork, veggies and seasonings are on point. Only complaint? A bit greasy. As I ate through my noodles, I noticed a lot of oil at the bottom of the plate. So yeah, not exactly healthy. The cabbage salad is…not good. I’m sorry. I’m not a fan of the dressing they use (which I will assume is housemade) – it’s probably an olive oil vinegar based dressing. Something is missing in the dressing, a zing or citrus element. I didn’t finish it. Potato salad is a nice Japanese style and they add pickled veggies on top. The potato salad is good.

Nori/Shiso Chicken | $11.50
marinated chicken thigh, mochiko flour, nori and shiso

Here is what I should have got! And if I were to return here, I would get this. It’s a bit confusing, their online system only lists nori chicken…but then there are copies of their menu elsewhere that lists it as nori shiso chicken. We asked for nori shiso chicken and they said yes of course. Umm, I am still unclear if we got a nori shiso. I guess I couldn’t taste any shiso in the chicken. Not to say the chicken wasn’t good. It is oh so soft and flavorful and stuffed with something green (perhaps it’s nori, perhaps it’s shiso leaf? I don’t know). If it was shiso leaf, this was like least shiso flavored dish I have ever had. This like a delicious hybrid of karaage and mochiko chicken. Would recommend!

Kimchee Pork | $2.00
Mentaiko/Takana | $2.25

I am a sucker for onigiri. You know this. We got there right before 11 and that was perfect timing because that was when they put out their onigiri! Thank god. Why is it that dishes that are generally pretty easy to make…the best things to buy. Spam musubis…onigiri, etc. I enjoyed both! Kind of pricey so I don’t know if I would get it again (let’s be real, I probably will).

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21May / 2021

Mixed Plate Friday

You folks ever been to Superb Sushi? Little take-out sushi joint on North King Street. Love their poke bowls and sushi offerings, they’ve adjusted to the pandemic and basically offer a take-out window where their door used to be so you don’t have to go inside…which is good because inside is basically their kitchen (lol). Here’s what we got on a recent trip.

Poke Shell (6 pcs) | $10.00

I think if you saw this on the menu, you would wonder what the heck is that? Thank god for Yelp – it’s spicy tuna cone sushi. Love the tempura crispies and fresh green onions on top. It’s a great dish, go for em!

Futomaki Unagi (8 pcs) | $7.00

Sorry, I ate a piece before I took the picture cause I was just HANGRY. I love their futomaki, it’s a dollar less if you get the oshinko (verus unagi). I felt like being high class so I went for the unagi, get so much things in the roll that it’s not like the unagi is super notice-able. No regrets and tasted great.

What do we have next? A visit to Gulick Delicatessen again. Nothing like going up to the front counter ready to order a single plate for lunch…and going a little too crazy that the lady has to bust out another box to fit all the food. Great job Jenny. Don’t order while hungry. No worries, I didn’t eat this all for one meal (but did all in one day, sue me).

I know, I know. That’s a lot of food. I’m so dumb.

From top left: Garlic Chicken ($3.60), Konbu Maki ($3.05), Egg ($2.65), Chow Mein ($2.95)

The garlic chicken is better than I expected, I never ordered before! Good! Konbu maki is good but expensive. The egg is good! I liked that it was savory and not sweet and people might not like this but I liked that the egg was small kine runny still so it was not at all dry, chow mein also better than I expected!

Tuna Musubi ($2.75) and Spam Musubi ($1.99)

I get these two all the time so it’s good. Why don’t I just make my own yeah? Ehh…I guess we can say that about a lot of things.

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28Apr / 2021

Recipe: Yakiniku Fried Rice

Yes guys, it’s another TikTok recipe post. Kind of a short lived trend and I think this recipe was just alright, nothing special but not bad either. You know how can tell it’s not that great, when the kids no like gobble it down. To me it was good! I just can’t eat all that rice…it’s too much!

Looks good ah? Not practical at all. This is merely for looks. This is not a good way to cook the meat, lol.

After you cook the meat a bit, add two pats of butter, can of corn and green onions. Mix it all together and then add store-bought yakiniku sauce. I got mine from Don Quijote. If you are curious which one, let me know and I will add a picture of it.

Okay, I guess I lied because I’m not really typing out a full recipe. You can see the ingredients all in the pictures and it’s really just throwing them all together and then eating. It’s the yakiniku sauce that makes all the difference. Pretty easy thing to throw together and tastes pretty good.

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16Apr / 2021

Mixed Plate Friday

Today’s post forreal going to be one mixed plate. From three different restaurants! Let’s gooooo!

Lamb Biryani (Spicy) | $16.95
traditional aromatic rice tossed with variety of herbs and spices, garnished with nuts

One day, for some odd reason, I got a hankering for Biryani. It’s weird because I have never even had biryani but I must have seen a picture of it online and really wanted to try it. I love me rice dishes and basmati rice is the best. I looked up Indian restaurants on Yelp and found Kamana Kitchen, they are located in Downtown so it’s not the easiest restaurant to dine in…no parking that I can think of. I was able to grab a pick-up buddy and wait curbside. Fair warning, there are a number of homeless around the area too. I’ve had a few occurrences when picking up (yes, I’ve had this dish more than once!).

I love this dish, they ask what spice level you want and I always say spicy. Well, it is SPICY. Do not go for spicy if you no can handle. Nice chunks of lamb in this dish though you can’t tell in the pictures. They give you raw onions, fresh lemon and side of some type of yogurt sauce (helpful for the mouth fire). I’ve also had their samosas and they were good too! Give them a try if you want some Indian food!

Iyasume Pac | $6.48
fried chicken, arabiki pork sausage, teriyaki sapam, egg tamago-yaki

Okay, when did Musubi Cafe Iyasume open up like 10 locations? Granted they are all located within 5 miles of each other, haha…but still good! I headed to the Keeaumoku location after a shopping errand. I hope that price is still correct, I thought it was a pretty good deal! Nice portion, not too much but not too little.

Ho brah, now that I type up the prices…am I made of money? I took a trip out to Gulick Delicatessen cause I was hankering for some okazuya. Do you folks remember when they used to be on South King Street? It was so convenient to pick food up before work, I was so sad when they closed down. Their Kalihi location isn’t the easiest place to go, get a few stalls for parking but they are hard to secure. I went super early before work one morning and decided to die of carbo loading. I couldn’t help it. When you’re ordering at the counter, there’s no prices so you just go for it. I found the receipt in my wallet and decided to type it out for you folks. HO THE PRICES. That one konbu maki is 3 bucks! But hey, konbu maki is a pain to make I bet so I think you’re paying for the labor. $1.80 for one hot dog? Come on guys!

Nah nah, it’s okay, to me it was worth it. Their chow fun is really good and I enjoy the spam musubi. It’s not like 7-11 kine spam musubi but I like the plain white rice and unseasoned spam…the side nishime was for another meal. The side order nishime comes one of those poke clear containers (I think a 1 lb container). I like their nishime!

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14Apr / 2021

Ethel’s Grill – Honolulu, HI

Ethel’s Grill is one of the old school restaurants that you hope will never close down. We’ve had too many mom and pop shops close down so let’s try our best to keep Ethel’s going okay? They’ve adapted to the pandemic well, they only do take-out now but take phone orders and are very efficient! I’ve been able to go twice in the last few months and it’s always good and they never mess up our orders.

Another place with very very very little parking but there is street parking…somewhere. You’re in like the industrial area of Kalihi/Nimitz Highway, good luck to you.

Sweet & Sour Spare Rib | $12.95

Chili Crisp Fried Chicken “Ra-yu Chicken” | $13.95

I was super excited to get this dish. You know my obsession with fried garlic right? Well how can you go wrong with fried garlic and chili oil on top of chicken? I’m scared to even share this, I wasn’t a big fan of this dish. There was something lacking, I can quite put my finger on it. Upon review of the photo, perhaps I should have squeezed that lemon on top of the chicken…it may have lacked that citrus layer…something to cut through the chili oil and fried chicken. Shucks. But what is in their salad dressing? That dressing is like crack.

Ume Shiso Chicken (Ver. 2.0) | $13.95

Okay, this was a special they had one day and I have to say it is probably one of my favorite plate lunches of all time. Not pictured is a shiso sauce served on the side of this dish…it was SO good with this chicken. This whole plate was winners and I wish it wasn’t just a special because I would order it every time. They should make this a main menu item!

I didn’t get a picture of this but they are also known for their ahi tataki and that dish is winners too. We shared it as an appetizer and their sauce for the ahi tataki just MAKES the dish. Ethel’s should just bottle up all their sauces and sell them, especially the salad dressing, I’d get in line to buy that stuff!!!

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12Apr / 2021

Gyotaku Hawaii – Honolulu, HI

I’m going to tell you a little bit about my history and through this story you will know how old fut I am and if you remember this, you gonna be one old fut too (sorry that’s just how it works). Gyotaku Hawaii used to be Kyotaru Restaurant, do you folks remember? They had their Pearl City location and the South King Street location but for those in the know, they also had two bento shops in downtown Honolulu. I was one young kid looking for work and found a job at the bento shops as the “breaker,” I’d come in during the busy lunch hours to help give full-timers at both locations their lunch break. One bento shop was located in Bishop Square and the other bento shop was located in Pioneer Plaza.

Oh man, those were the days, I had a great time working there. Probably wasn’t supposed to but I definitely kept some leftover bentos at the end of the day to take home. I remember some menu items vividly, including their “Special Bento” which I compare to 7-11 “Big Bento,” it was a great deal…a big bento with a soda for $3.95!! At lunch rush, me and the other cashier memorized all the totals for the bentos and would just ring with our drawers open and give change from memory. I also fondly remember the HECO ladies who would come and get a large cup of ice for 25 cents (26 cents with tax). Anyway, when Kyotaru decided to close down their operations, our managers decided to buy the restaurants and named them Gyotaku and ultimately decided to close down the bento shops. I was young still yet so for me it wasn’t a huge deal, it allowed me to move onto another job since I was just doing part-time work then. I got to visit Gyotaku the other week for lunch and their restaurant is nicely renovated (South King Street anyway)! Thanks for reading through story time, let’s get to the food!

Shrimp Tenpura & Sashimi | $26.95
shrimp & vegetable tenpura served with ahi sashimi, rice, miso soup & salad

Assorted Poke Don & Tenpura | $24.95
assorted fresh poke served over rice served with tenpura

This is my absolute go to dish at Gyotaku. And you gotta get the assorted poke don, not the all ahi poke don. This is one of my favorite all time pokes ever, forreal. The assorted seafood bring different layers of flavors in the scrumptious sauce over good ole white rice. A fair warning, the sauce is very strong in sesame oil flavor so if you don’t like sesame oil, you won’t like this don. Their tenpura is always coated and fried light and crispy. So good. Kind of pricey for lunch but it’s worth it. Comes with the salad and miso soup too!

Side Salad (with their famous Wafu Dressing)

Miso Soup

Okinawan Sweet Potato Pie | $5.50

STOP. If you come here, you HAVE to get this dessert. I’m not even like big on desserts all the time. I usually go without ordering dessert but you would be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t order this. I would go as far as to say this is my favorite pie of all time. Is this made in-house? I don’t know, but if anyone has the hook-ups to the recipe, please let me know. I’d like to make it myself so I don’t have to pay $5.50 a slice but boy is it worth it.

Top layer is a light whipped cream, second layer is haupia, third layer is okinawan sweet potato and then the crust. Oh the crust, it’s gotta be like a sugared ginger graham cracker crust. I don’t usually like whipped cream but the whipped topping on this is so good, I don’t mind it at all. The haupia is the perfect texture and the okinawan sweet potato filling? Not at all dense…it’s just a perfect pie. Please try it and tell me I’m wrong.

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05Apr / 2021

Restaurant Suntory – Honolulu, HI

I’ve always walked past Restaurant Suntory to walk to Cheesecake Factory (lol) but never tried the restaurant. I always saw the tenppanyaki side but don’t care much for that style of dining…didn’t realize they actually have a washoku side for dining too! Yay, let’s see how it went…

Okay, I honestly forgot what both drinks were. Hahaha, but the fruity one is mine and I ordered it virgin. Was good, I felt like one tourist kid. Good times.

Ebi Shinjo | $12.00
deep fried shrimp cake

Was good, nothing spectacular. I liked the fried shishito pepper on the side. I still prefer the shrimp cake from Katsumidori Sushi.

Sweet Potato Tempura | $7.00

I liked this dish. Well, I like sweet potato and tempura so what could go wrong. I would order this again!

Salmon Sashimi | $16.00

Surprisingly good! They have good quality salmon, would order again!

Wafu Steak Gozen | $34.00
5 oz. sirloin with sesame miso sauce (includes green salad, rice, and miso soup)

Sorry, I didn’t get the picture of the whole set. This wasn’t my dish but I was told this dish was WINNAHS. Great seasoning on the steak.

Unagi Kabayaki | $14.00
broiled eel basted with kabayaki sauce

What was I thinking this night? I decided to order small. I don’t know if you can tell by the picture but this unagi bowl was like small. Like keiki size small. Don’t get me wrong, it was good but…small.

Cold Ume Somen | $7.50
thin somen noodles in cold ume dashi soup

Here is the other half of my entree, I decided to try their cold ume somen. I don’t even like ume so what prompted me to try this? Well, I think I am warming up to ume so…I really wanted to try this. It was good! It was a huge ume to eat but…I guess I gotta transition over to ume lover somehow. Nice and refreshing.

Tempura Ice Cream | $5.00
deep fried vanilla ice cream topped with strawberry liquor sauce

I don’t know why but I expected tempura ice cream balls, you know? Like balls of ice cream individually battered and fried. The waitress kept asking if we wanted the strawberry liquor sauce on the side…I thought it was stemming from me asking for a virgin drink in the beginning. Well we said it was fine to just put it on top and now I kind of wish we didn’t. The sauce sits on the tempura and makes it all soggy…I think the sauce would be better to maybe dip into right before eating. The sauce was good! Wish the tempura ice cream didn’t get soggy.

So how was it? Pretty good all in all! They have a pretty big variety of menu items to choose from. I don’t know the whole restaurant layout but the washoku side of dining was pretty small. If you go here, I would highly recommend making a reservation. Give them a try!

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29Mar / 2021

Matsuri – Honolulu, HI

Always on the hunt for a killer Japanese restaurant. We can’t help it, we enjoy what we enjoy. I’m surprised we haven’t tried Matsuri yet, small Japanese restaurant located in a very non-descript building on Young Street. I like that you can make your reservation on OpenTable! It’s a cute modern restaurant and the customer service is attentive and friendly. How was the food? Let’s take a look!

Oboro Tofu (Home-made) | $6.00
Add Ikura | $3.00

Oh yum, if I ever see homemade tofu on a menu…gotta try! The sauce on the size is not like a ponzu…it’s actually a thickened (almost jelly like) sauce…my only caution, no pour the whole thing onto the tofu. Was kind of salty and we added the ikura so that’s another layer of salt. I enjoyed the dish but I think the over saucing ruined it for me. Sigh…

Hamachi Sashimi | $24.00
Salmon Sashimi | $20.00

I’m not trying to brag but you folks know now that we usually try Otoro in restaurants to see how it is. Well, we found a restaurant that is too rich for our blood. It costs $13 for ONE PIECE OF OTORO. No can brah. So we stuck with hamachi and salmon. Can I just say…this hamachi was amazing. I honestly felt like I was eating otoro already, who needs to pay otoro prices when you get quality fish like this. Highly recommended!

Tamago Nigiri | $5.00

Always trying the tamago in restaurants. This one is more sweet than savory FYI.

Kotobuki Dynamite Roll | $18.00
crunchy roll inside, seared ahi, ika with dynamite sauce on top

This is one of the most highlighted rolls on their Yelp reviews so I had to give it a try. I’m not usually big on rolls but I have to admit, this was really good! I would order this again!

Ribeye Steak (10 oz.) | $28.00

Oh my gosh, hands down one of the best steaks on a sizzling plate I got from a Japanese restaurant ever. Seasoning was on point, the meat was beautifully tender and the chunks were sliced HUGE. It was sooo good. So good that we need one more picture…

Look. At. That. That’s just one slice of the steak…I’m salivating just thinking about this. Wish I had one nice bowl of white rice to eat with this. Great first experience, would love to go back to check more items out!

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10Mar / 2021

KYM Bento Sushi & Catering (Formerly Akyth) – Kalihi, HI

Remember the old school bentos from Akyth? They hold a special memory for me because I remember them from all the high school fundraisers we used to do. Either fundraisers or these bentos would be what was used to feed us for various events. Some people can be haters but I always enjoyed these bentos. They charged cheap prices for these bentos and it always tasted great. And yes, I am one of the few people out there that does like luncheon meat (I don’t prefer it over spam, I am not an animal).

They are no longer called Akyth, they are called KYM Bento Sushi & Catering. Anyway, I must have seen someone’s post about their bentos recently and had a real hankering to get it. SO I DID. I think in the past, you really had to plan early to get their bentos because everyone orders through them. Well this time, I called early on a Saturday morning and asked to put in a take-out order and they were fine with it! I ordered 4 bentos, maki sushi and a few musubis. Let’s check it out!

Chicken Bento with Luncheon Meat | $6.45
rice, mochiko chicken, luncheon meat, kamaboko, takuan & andagi

I loved the nostalgic taste of their mochiko chicken, I haven’t had it like this in any other restaurant. I love it. It’s a unique taste that is just so comforting for me. Now that I realize how easy it is to pick up bentos from them, I will definitely be returning soon. And $6.45? How can you beat that price??

How the bento looks after slicing and removing the huge piece of chicken thigh! I inadvertently sliced the luncheon meat too, two birds with one stone! Oh and the mini andagi is gone, lol.

Deluxe Maki Sushi (8 pieces) | $7.25
red and green ebi, egg, tuna, kampyo, mushroom, choy sum

Absolutely love maki sushi, especially when they include the ebi. This is sooo good, so full of innards. Maki sushi takes so much prep work, I would definitely prefer to pay professionals for it. They also have a mustard cabbage roll but I didn’t try it, saw from reviews that it’s very good. There’s always next time!

Spam Musubi | $2.65

Yes, it’s just a spam musubi. Nothing special. In fact, the spam isn’t even seasoned with teriyaki sauce (which I actually like) but I liked it! And I like that they give you a piece of takuan with it! I like spam musubi of all kinds so this was great for me.

Hot Dog Musubi | $2.65

Can you go wrong with Hawaiian hot dogs? It’s the best. This is what you get when you order the hot dog musubi. Winners (wieners?)!!!

I updated their Yelp page with the current menu if you want to check out the options and prices…support local folks!

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maybeitsjenny

Tag Archives: Japanese Food

Imanas Tei – Honolulu, HI

Dell’s Kitchen and Bakery – Honolulu , HI

Mixed Plate Friday

Recipe: Yakiniku Fried Rice

Mixed Plate Friday

Ethel’s Grill – Honolulu, HI

Gyotaku Hawaii – Honolulu, HI

Restaurant Suntory – Honolulu, HI

Matsuri – Honolulu, HI

KYM Bento Sushi & Catering (Formerly Akyth) – Kalihi, HI