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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08Mar / 2021

Gomatei – Ward Village, HI

Gomatei been around long time yeah? I remember when I used to go all the time when they first opened. I believe Ward was their first location and it was SO popular when they first opened and I remember how good it was. I don’t know what happened, maybe my tastes changed but I stopped going there but we decided to give it a try again. I think I haven’t been to Gomatei in like over 5 years. Poor things, they have adjusted to the pandemic by offering takeout ordering but each time they answered the phone, they had to clarify each time that they are the Ward location and not the Ala Moana one. I can see why there is confusion, their street address also has Ala Moana in it! So many phone calls ended with no orders…

Won Ton Shoyu Ramen | $11.75

Served with Japanese style Won Ton (with chopped shrimps and minced pork, marinated for 24 hours in our special soy sauce and essence of dried scallop. Then chopped baby bamboo shoots and shredded wood ears are added for an unique flavor) and vegetable garnishes.

Garlic Tan Tan Ramen | $13.25

Served with Japanese style Char Siu (tender pork belly) and vegetable garnishes. And added garlic bits, blanched in oil for a slightly crispy finish.

This my bowl. I love garlic. Have I told you this? LOVE GARLIC. Now that I’m looking at the price difference between a simple garlic ramen and a won ton ramen…do I think it was worth the extra money? Not really.

There is something lacking in their broth now. I remember how flavorful and deep the flavors of the tan tan ramen used to be. And look, this is coming from a person who no like salty food anymore (bland city for me usually) and it just felt underwhelming. One of the fun things about eating there in the past was finishing up the noodles and slurping up some of that good soup…and finding bits of chung choi that helps flavor the soup. No such luck this time. And the garlic? Barely added any taste! How’s that!

Curry Loco Moco | $12.99

Served with Hokkaido rice, Japanese style hamburger, and an egg.

Funny story, we had a hard time figuring out where to eat. I love a curry loco moco and told my friend that if we didn’t share this dish, our friendship would end. Friendship survived. First funny thing, where’s the hamburger?? Well it’s underneath that egg, lol. It was a good hamburger patty but yeah it was kind of small. Delicious dish! I would order this again for sure.

You know, me staking our friendship on a curry loco moco dish could have saved us some stress. I won’t name the restaurant, but we almost went to another place. Well, we made a reservation for the previous restaurant for this week and I got a call cancelling the reservation due to a possible covid case. ALWAYS THREATEN FRIENDSHIPS OVER FOOD. You’re welcome for the lesson.

Lilikoi | $4.00
Wild Jamacian and Yellow Passion Fruit

Lydgate Farms | $4.00
Locally grown vanilla bean glaze, cacao nibs, cherry drizzle

Hot Single | $4.00
Tolentino Farms neighborhood honey + flakey sea salt

L&L | $4.00
Lemon and lime baby. Meyer lemon sugar, Tahitian lime curd, citrus caviar

Strawberry Fields | $4.00
Kula farms Maui strawberries and green tea

Hot Single | $4.00
Tolentino Farms neighborhood honey + flakey sea salt

If you’re at Ward, you gotta go to Holey Grail Donuts for dessert. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be dessert, just go there and try their donuts. Look, it’s expensive. $4.00 a piece but you’re supporting a small local business…it’s delicious and it’s donuts. Come on. Well I think I have overdone it so I won’t be going for a while now but it doesn’t make these donuts any less good!

My absolute favorite is their Hot Single…the other flavors always sound so intriguing but in the end, I think the Hot Single is the winners. And thankfully, the hot single is a main stay on their menu. I am usually a huge fan of lilikoi but found it a bit lackluster on this donut. The L&L looks pretty and sounds amazing but eh…tastes just alright. I actually preferred the Strawberry Fields donut more though you can hardly taste the green tea (which is fine with me). Hot Single all the way!

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26Feb / 2021

Sushi Izakaya Gaku – Honolulu, HI

Sushi Izakaya Gaku has been around for a long time but somehow it has never become a mainstay restaurant for us. I don’t know why, we always eat Japanese food and this is a good restaurant. One reason could be because of the parking…not a huge fan of the limited parking in the area. Second reason, the prices. I think some items on the menu are pricier than other restaurants. And so sorry! I forgot to take note of the prices for this meal. 🙁 I guess you just have to enjoy the pictures and my somewhat limited memory of the food…

Dashimaki Tamago

We are always on a quest to find the best tamago. Sounds silly right? But here’s what I prefer, dashiyaki tamago that is more savory than sweet. A lot of the tamago served in Hawaii is on the sweeter side, I prefer more on the dashi side. Gaku serves one of the best! The best still goes to Imanas Tei.

Otoro and Salmon Sashimi

The otoro sashimi costs about $40.00 here, that’s the amount you get. It’s a bit costly but it is good quality. My favorite otoro still is hands down Izakaya Torae Torae.

Spicy Negihamachi Tartar

I can never help myself, no matter where I go, I like try the restaurant’s version of spicy tuna/hamachi/salmon. This one is good, and yay for no rice. Delicious!

Seared Wagyu Beef Sushi

Homemade Steamed Pork Dumpling

Tokusen Ochazuke
gaku’s special yokubari chazuke (salmon, mentaiko & ume)

Yummy, just felt like a warm soothing dish. Loved it!

Hiyashi Shiratama Zenzai
cold sweet azuki beans with mochi balls

Warabi Mochi Maccha Ice Cream
fern mochi with green tea ice cream

Another dish I always order if I see it on a menu, warabi mochi! Love the warm soft mochi…this was a perfect pairing!

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17Apr / 2020

Sansei Restaurant and Sushi Bar – Waikiki, HI

Do I have to give details about Sansei? Have you all not heard about this restaurant? Great restaurant and they give a pretty generous parking validation for self parking (though their parking lot is junk)…free is free! I know you just wanna see the pictures so here goes…

Panko-crusted Fresh Ahi Sashimi | $14.25
*Island fresh ahi tuna wrapped with arugula and spinach, panko crusted and flash fried, served with a soy wasabi butter sauce*

This dish is an award winner for a reason. It is absolutely delicious. And that sauce? That buttery rich soy wasabi sauce? It’s to die for. I wanted a whole bowl of rice to lather in the sauce but ended up eating a bunch of gari ginger with it…I was desperate to scoop up that sauce. Funnily, it went pretty well with the gari ginger. A must get dish.

You only live once and we always get otoro at the good restaurants. Was it good? Sure. Honestly, it’s much better than the Otoro at Katsumidori. I’m sad about how bad the quality has gotten at Katsumidori, they used to be great quality and a great deal. The best otoro I have had? I would say it would be from Izakaya Torae Torae. I’m just waiting for the quarantine to be done…patiently. Maybe. Anyway, you can pass on this dish.

“Ora King” New Zealand King Salmon (sashimi) | $18.00

This was good. Not mind blowing, but good. Once again, I think Torae Torae has the best King Salmon. Am I just hungry? But am I always hungry? Moreso hungry in this quarantine….I would get this again if I was craving sashimi. If not, you can get it better elsewhere.

DK’s Crab Ramen with Asian Truffle Broth | $19.25
*with crab, cilantro, Thai basil and mild jalapenos*

Another must have dish. I love noodles. I love crab. I love truffle. How could I not get this dish? I shared it, I’m so nice and they were pretty generous with the crab! I would definitely recommend trying this dish.

Tempura Fried Macadamia Nut Ice Cream | $9.50
*vanilla ice cream, buttery pound cake, roasted macadamia nuts, chocolate-caramel sauce*

This wasn’t my dish but the diner was expecting little breaded ice cream balls…nuggets if you will. This was just a big serving of ice cream in a big pastry and you have to rush to eat through it or end up with vanilla soup.

Sansei’s “Granny Smith” Apple Tart | $9.50
*buttery puff pastry, granny smith apple slices, sansei’s homemade warm caramel, vanilla ice cream*

Why is Granny Smith in quotation marks? Are they making a pun? Okay, nice try. This was my dessert. I’ve been on a caramel apple pastry with vanilla ice cream kick lately. Anyone who knows me can tell you, I do not like plain vanilla ice cream but coupled with a flakey apple pastry and caramel sauce (DO YOU SEE THE AMOUNT OF CARAMEL?)…you can’t go wrong. I would definitely recommend this dish!

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19Feb / 2020

IPPUDO – Tokyo Disney, Japan

IPPUDO is another famous ramen restaurant in Japan. Well is it? I only say that because I know they have a branch in New York and if that isn’t fancy, I don’t know what is. This brings back wonderful memories because I first had IPPUDO in New York and it was a fantastic meal. We decided to check this place out before our first day in Disney. Have you been to this Ikspiari mall? Their lunch menu is pretty much set so I couldn’t try too many different dishes. A lot of people seemed to have the same idea as us, they ate here before heading out to Disney.

Mentaiko Rice and Gyoza Add-on Set | ¥200 (plus tax)

This picture is a bit misleading, we both got add-on sets and they served both our gyozas on the same serving dish. The ramen, gyoza and rice was good. I still prefer Ichiran, sorry. It would be nice if Ichiran would serve gyoza too but I’ll just eat the ramen if I need to.

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17Feb / 2020

Genki Sushi – Shibuya, Japan

Genki Sushi in Japan. Of course I had to try it and of course they are better than Hawaii. Well, the ordering system and variety is! It was missing spicy tuna which is totally my jam but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This Genki Sushi is super busy but very fast. I didn’t take a picture of every single dish but you can bet I ordered weird stuff.

Yup, that’s hamburger with mayo on rice. I ordered this because I am five years old. It wasn’t even that good, meh!

LOL, I don’t have an excuse for this order whatsoever. I just wanted cheesy fries. Well, it looks good but it did not taste good. How do you screw up fries? Just gotta fry it up and add salt. Well, it was cold and no more salt. Even the cheese sauce was bland. Thumbs down.