Izakaya Gazen – Honolulu, HI

Izakaya Gazen is a lovely little Japanese eatery located in Moilili behind Market City Shopping Center. There might be a bit of confusion with their name, I’ve only known them as Izakaya Gazen but I also see Gazen Bar and Grill floating around. I’m not a fan of the other name, so we’ll just call this place Gazen. They’re known for their homemade tofu which I have tried and loved. Unfortunately, I will not be sharing those pictures at this time since I didn’t get them this time. We had a nice little Christmas dinner here. Thank you for Open Table so I could make reservations early on. All restaurants should be on Open Table!

140105-01Beef Tataki ($8.50) – Delicious dish with a good sauce. Also comes on top of a bed of thinly sliced onions. Perfect combination! Continue reading

Agu Ramen – Honolulu, HI

Agu Ramen opened up in the old Da Kitchen location on Isenberg a few weeks ago.  Lately, there’s been a trend of opening up ramen shops and I couldn’t be happier!  I love noodles.  So the latest shops include Agu, Hokkaido Ramen Santouku and the revamped Kiwami.  I’ll have posts on all three!  Anyhow, I was excited to try Agu because they specialize in tonkotsu ramen.  Stop the yapping and start the viewing…

131210-01Look hot yeah?  Yeah the noodles are hot too.  Haha!

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Ahi & Vegetable

Sometimes I have to go to downtown for meetings and I always look forward to it!  I used to work in downtown over 10 years ago (scary!) and all you downtowners know, the food is awesome there!  Well aside from Kalihi right?  Fort Street Mall is one of the biggest winners.  One of the mainstays of Fort Street Mall is Rada’s Piroscki.  I don’t know if anyone remembers them but they were a super hole in the wall place run by some really efficient older Filipino ladies that sold the best pirosckis and fried squid.  Well they moved locations since then but I was so happy to see they still exist.  It looks like they combined kitchens with a Filipino restaurant.  I cannot express how disappointed I was when I tried it this time.  The filling was still good but the pastry covering it was terrible.  It tasted like rancid oil, really rancid oil.  I even bought one for my coworker and told her she had to try it!  My credibility was slashed!  If anyone of you do frequent Rada’s, please tell me it was a bad day!

Anyhow, for lunch this day – I decided to go to Ahi & Vegetable.  This place wasn’t there when I used to work in downtown but they run a super great shop!  Great raw fish sets for a good price and the staff is so fast!  I just wanted to share the lunch I got.  Jalna will laugh again, here goes:

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Spicy Ahi and Natto combo!  Hahaha it was so good.  This place is run by a Korean owner so they included Korean seasoned choy sum.  Yum!  And yes, this was very good!  I didn’t mix the two together though, that would be pretty weird.  Our coworker was laughing at me too wondering how I could get into natto so late when people usually grow up eating it.  I should just become a walking ad for natto.  Now I have two co-workers who are constantly eating natto…lol

Kunio Restaurant – Waikele, HI

Kunio Restaurant is a great Japanese restaurant located in Waikele Shopping Center.  If you go during the weekends, you will see a long line at both ends – Genki and Kunio.  Kunio is a great restaurant in Waikele and honestly, the dining options are slim pickings at Waikele…sorry!  Kunio is a comfortable Japanese restaurant that serves up some great teishoku deals.  Also, we’ve had great customer service both times!  That’s winners for me already…check out the food pics!

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Miso Butterfish and Shrimp Tempura/Squid Tempura Combo!  The butterfish is in the bottom left square, looks koge huh?

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Mixed Don – Kuru Kuru Sushi

While I frequent Kuru Kuru Sushi – I have never ordered one of their dons until my last visit.  I used to watch as other tables got these mountains of spicy ahi/poke and just sit in envy.  I don’t know why I never ordered it, perhaps because if I were to ever eat that I would not be able to eat anything else?  Well, this time I had a partner in crime so I ordered it.  The taste was great, the photo opp even better.  Isn’t it glorious?

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Slurping Turtle – Chicago, IL

Being the Asian that I am, I made it a point to scope out as many Asian restaurants as I could.  As if I don’t get enough Asian food in Hawaii right?  The Slurping Turtle was located very close to our hotel so we decided to give them a try one night for dinner.  The restaurant was very busy but we were able to score a seat almost immediately!  As we were greeted by the waitress, we were informed that a future Top Chef contestant was the chef of this restaurant!  How exciting!  He even had a special tasting menu but since I was dining with others, I decided to order just noodles.  I guess this gives me an excuse to go back to the restaurant next time I return!  Let’s take a look at the food shall we?

130908-01Cute ah?  Sorry for the shiny spot on the menu…

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I-naba – Honolulu, Hawaii

I-naba is a small little gem tucked away on South King Street.  I’ve long been a fan of soba so it was only destiny that led me to this restaurant.  We came here a bit close to their closing time but was able to get seated anyway.  Even though we thought we were a little late, there was still a small stream of customers that came in after us!

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I enjoy nice menus…come on in…

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Goma Tei Ramen – Ward Center

I love me some Tan Tan Ramen.  Do you have a place that serves your favorite Tan Tan?  I’ve gotta give it up to Goma Tei Ramen because this is the first place I have ever tried Tan Tan Ramen.  Tan Tan Ramen’s broth looks thick with sesame murkiness but the broth doesn’t taste as thick as it looks.  I’ve been coming here ever since they opened but haven’t been back in over a year.  I was starting to get disappointed in my previous visits because I felt like they were making changes that affected the quality.  So how did this visit fare?   Let’s explore.

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Let my Wakame Tan Tan Ramen lure you in…

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Tenkaippin Ramen

Tenkaippin Ramen is a big chain ramen restaurant in Japan and I heard that they are very particular about their recipes.  I also heard the owner of this restaurant was able to convince them to franchise this location in Hawaii, I don’t know how he pulled this off but I’m grateful he did.  I’ve been to this restaurant a few times over the years and I agree with reviewers, the restaurant has changed in quality over the years.  Have you noticed the Ultimate Japan shows they play in the restaurant?  Well if you didn’t know, the hosts of the show are also the owners of this restaurant!  In the beginning of my visits here, I would see the owners around helping out but lately, they are almost never around…which I think changes the dynamic of the place.

I tried Tenkaippin a few months ago just to try the food again.  I got my favorite Kotteri Ramen and it was as good as it always was.  I feel the food is still good and consistent in taste.  When I went to Japan, I found a Tenkaippin in Shinjuku and tried it.  Oh boy did I prefer the one in Hawaii…is that weird to say?  The broth in Shinjuku was incredibly salty and I just couldn’t enjoy it as much as I do in Hawaii.

Kotteri Ramen - look at that thick broth!

Kotteri Ramen – look at that thick broth!

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Your Kitchen

When Your Kitchen first opened, I remember cracking a few jokes with coworkers.  I’d offer up to pick up lunch and when they asked where, I’d say Your Kitchen and watch them get confused.  I’m just a ball of fun at work, 😛  Anyhow!  I’ve always enjoyed this restaurant, it’s run by a super cute Japanese couple.  It’s a very small space and it’s all street parking but I still like to come here from time to time to pick up some food or just grab their awesome shave ice.  I go for the premium flavors, the homemade syrup.  It’s heavenly – and I go for a matching scoop of ice cream as well.  Anyhow, I wanted to share a quick update of a lunch I had recently.  It is their pork bowl with a tonkatsu egg…I just love how the egg yolk is still runny inside – can’t be beat!

Presentation is key

Presentation is key

I'm a sucker for a well cooked egg

I’m a sucker for a well cooked egg

Your Kitchen is also the first place I discovered Udon Salad and what I used as inspiration to create my udon salad!  You can find my recipe here.