Tag Archives: Japanese Food

08Apr / 2024

Ringer Hut – Ala Moana, HI

Ringer Hut has reopened at Ala Moana! They are on street level on the post office side. We were excited for them to open and got in before they got super busy! It’s a very nice new space, clean and bright. It was a great meal ruined by the group who came in after us. They were acting very snobbish and just being so rude and sassy. At one point, they asked for hot tea and was informed that they did not serve hot tea – the male diner asked, what kind of restaurant is this? Then when the wait staff asked if they could take the menu back since they already ordered, he said, I guess you can take it if you have to. Get a life. Take a hike! Blah! It’s free to be nice, everyone.

Nagasaki Champon (Regular Size) with Deep Fried Gyoza (6p) | $22.00

Chan got the noodles and we shared the gyoza. The noodles have a nice broth! The gyoza is good but I’m not usually a fan of deep fried gyoza, I prefer them steamed/pan fried.

Nagasaki Saraudon (Regular Size) with Yakimeshi | $23.50

Oh yum! My dish! Saraudon – didn’t know this existed! You can’t tell from the pic but it’s like fried egg noodles underneath all this nice gravy and toppings. I love noodles made like this – it was delicious! And yes, I had to order the side fried rice. I always want to try different types of chahan – was too full to eat it but it tasted great as leftovers! Nice umami flavor. I would definitely get this again!

Karaage (5) | $8.00

We got a side order of karaage to share. Was good! Hard to complain about fried chicken.

The wait staff were very nice, it was within the first few days of opening so I think they are still getting into the groove of things. It didn’t matter for us, the service was great and the food came out quick! I would definitely come back!

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05Apr / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Remember this from last week? Well I didn’t want to shell out almost $20 for the same hot pot set and watercress (Don Quijote had it for $6.99 a bunch versus the $3.99 I paid at Marukai – what???) so I went to Sam’s Club and bought a pack of baby spinach and their baby bella mushrooms. I prefer the baby bella mushrooms over the white mushrooms – I feel like there is a nuttier taste. I made it the same way and I think it tastes great too! So I guess I have other options now!

Pepsi Zero Lemon

Saw this at Nijiya and couldn’t resist. I love Pepsi Zero and also love when lemon is added to cola! It’s a win win – this is obviously an import from Japan. How was it? It was good. I barely got a taste of lemon though, so you’re better off just drinking Pepsi Zero.

Beef Chow Fun | $11.95

Fun Station has daily specials and Beef Chow Fun was on special for $11.95 (on Fridays) – very appealing compared to their usual $15.75 price. Just felt like a mixed noodle for lunch that day so I am glad I got it! Was very good! I drench it in sriracha but that’s besides the point. 🙂

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03Apr / 2024

The Social Honolulu – Honolulu, HI

I haven’t been to The Social Honolulu in many years but always enjoyed their food. Honestly, I have had pretty junk service experiences in the past which made me a bit weary to come in this time. I do think sometimes if you do not plan to drink alcohol, there is a prejudice! Well this time, I was coming in with two teenage boys which even more so signaled no drinking would happen. We came in during a weeknight and it was SUPER slow. Like only one other table slow and this was during dinner time. Hopefully they pick up later in the night for the drinkers. I was pleasantly surprised because I got very good and attentive service this time!

Garlic Fries | $16.00
Add Fried Pepperoni | $3.00
crispy fries tossed in our social seasoning and topped with garlic sauteed in butter

Uh yeah, you see that right. This dish cost $19.00. Insanity. What can I do? Teenagers freaking love fries. Was it good? Well yeah, they made the fries well done and crispy. But the cost? Do I think it’s worth it? No, too pricey but it is good if that helps!

The Social Moco | $23.00
beef patty, crispy corn beef, sauteed onions and mushrooms, 2 sunny side eggs, brown gravy, rice

A pretty nice heaping! Enough that my bro couldn’t finish it. And brada can EAT. He enjoyed it! Don’t think he realized corn beef would be part of it but luckily he doesn’t mind corn beef. Also, isn’t it cornED beef?

Truffle Bacon Penne Pasta | $24.00
bacon, black truffle pate, beurre blanc, penne, shredded parmesan

Shared this dish with my brother. Pretty good! Good truffle taste – a nice dish!!

Garlic Bacon Fried Rice | $19.00
sauteed garlic, caramelized onions, bacon, corn, special sauce, harizuke, 2 sunny side eggs

If you know me, you know that bacon is not my thing. But for some dishes, it just works. This is one of them. I love this fried rice. I don’t know why. It’s nothing stellar but it just all works together. Just a good classic comfort dish. Yum!

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29Mar / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Ichiran Ramen (Home Kit)

How much does the kit sell for at Don Quijote nowadays? $30? Not worth it. Don’t do it. I bought this kit home with me from Japan – they sell it for about $20 there for 5 servings. This bowl shows off 2 servings. I bought the fancy sliced up char siu from Marukai and added some roasted nori (the one made for onigiri). Looks good ah? Yeah it looks good, tastes just alright. Try Ichiran when you go Japan but the home kit is not worth it.

Spicy Curry Pan | Dell’s Kitchen

Dell’s Kitchen and Pasta Miology is close to my work so I like to try it from time to time. I usually like curry pan – the one that’s like a stuffed deep fried donut. I saw this and wanted to try it and well, if you like bread you’ll like this. It’s very bready. The curry is pretty good but not enough balance of filling and bread.

You ever have a super lazy day and just want to eat some vegetables but don’t want to deal with all the prep? This was my time. I went to Marukai and got a bunch of watercress (was only $3.99 which is cheap nowadays) and then I saw a Hot Pot set in the produce section. It’s just a variety of veggies (won bok, choy sum, mushrooms and a small bunch of dried konnyaku noodles). Something possessed me to get it, even though it wasn’t a big amount of veggies and cost $10. Well I didn’t care, and I didn’t want to buy all these different veggies separately to clean and prep (yeah they are ready to use in the kit too!). Honestly it would have been pricier to buy all the different vegetables separate and I would have probably made TOO much vegetables that I cannot finish quickly. I heated up some butter and cooked the mushrooms first…then added the rest of the kit veggies. Then, I added the washed and cut up watercress and a big heaping spoonful of Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base. The watercress lets out a lot of water as it cooks which becomes the sauce. I threw the konnyaku noodles at the end of cooking for 1-2 minutes and it nicely thickens the sauce too. I really loved this dish, I would definitely do it again!

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18Mar / 2024

Wagaya – Moilili, HI

Another trip to Wagaya Ramen, another post. I’ve been coming to Wagaya basically since they opened and it was a nice little ramen shop run by a couple. The wife would work front of the house and it was just a nice friendly restaurant. I can’t quite put my finger on it now, the food is still good but it’s lost a bit of it’s charm? They are quite popular so they have a lot of hired help and the waitress I had during this visit, felt like she couldn’t be bothered that we were dining there. No smile, no enthusiasm, rushing us to order. Never checking on us. It was a bit sad to see, they’ve lost the comfort feeling I used to love. I will say their ramen is still one of my favorites but the service has much left to be desired.

Chili Cucumbers | $4.75
chili spiced japanese cucumbers

I always love chili cucumbers! Nicely seasoned, not too spicy.

Gyoza | $6.50
japanese style pork, cabbage and chive gyoza. prepared pan-fried.

Can’t go wrong with gyoza.

Calamari | $8.75
tender japanese squid in aonori tempura served with shoyu aioli

One of my favorite appetizers, nicely breaded, seasoned and fried. I like the aioli too!

Potato Mochi | $6.25
potato with mochiko, tossed in a sweet shoyu butter glaze and wrapped in nori

My brothers love this so this was all them. Gobbled up!

Tan Tan Men | $15.95
rich sesame broth is perfectly balanced with mild spice and miso ground pork. topped with ground pork miso, 2pc char siu, half a soft-boiled egg, choi sum, sesame, nori and shredded chili.

Garlic Wagaya Ramen (Kuro) | $14.95
our classic tonkotsu ramen is kicked up a notch with garlic. our most popular ramen! topped with 2pc char siu, a soft-boiled egg, choi sum, kikurage mushroom, sesame seeds, nori, green onion, and fried garlic bits.

This is the ramen I always get. I think I neeed to stop getting the black garlic oil on ramen, too rich for me. Very tasty though. I order it level 3 spicy, I can’t handle that much spice and also they start charging past level 3 (lol).

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15Mar / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Gumbo Bowl | $16.00
chicken & sausage gumbo with rice

Unfortunately, this post does not start with a winner. I’ve always wanted to try Soul Fusion and now that they’re on the UH campus, I had my chance! How was it? I mean it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. Is gumbo supposed to be more soupy liquid than thick? Maybe I was expecting more of a stew, this had very little guts (if you know what I mean). Tasted fine but then my coworker and I both had to run to the bathroom very quickly after eating our dishes. Heh, sorry for the TMI, just letting you folks know. Not that the food went bad or anything – just might be a bit rich for those who are sensitive to that.

Shrimp Dumplings Soup (Hong Kong Wonton) | $11.95

Okay, this post might be full of complaints (in fact I think it is. I got this from Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum and while I am usually a big fan of their food, this is not it. It tasted fine! It’s just that this is what $12 gets you. It was like I think maybe 5 wontons? I didn’t pour my soup in yet. I think I can go Chinatown and at least get noodles with it for this price. That was a bummer. Tasted fine but was not worth it.

Dry Mein | $5.99

I saw this at 7eleven and wanted to try it. I love dry mein but it was a small portion. The taste was fine, I just don’t think it’s filling enough to be an entire meal. Also, you can see my awesome skills of overheating things in the microwave. Yum, melted plastic with my food.

Thanks for the patience everyone. We finally got the house tented. It was a horrendous week. We were originally supposed to tent on a Saturday but they called us the day before telling us it had to be rescheduled due to weather. I mean, we had a hotel booked and it is very hard to transport my father (who is very much immobile) around. It was an absolute nightmare.

The day before our rescheduled day was also windy and I was scared they would cancel again but it wasn’t, yay. They gave me a window of 10AM – 1PM for the tenters to come so I figured maybe I just take half day off work. 1:30 rolled around and no one came, I called them asking for status. She tells me they are finishing a job in Kailua and will be here in 30 minutes. Kailua to Kalihi in 30 mins? I don’t think so. I estimated moreso 3PM. Guess WHAT. 3PM – still no one. I call at 3:30PM and they had to call and try to track the guys down and told me it would be another 20 minutes. I’m sure you know where this is going. They arrived at like 4:30PM. We decided to stick around to watch the tent go up, that takes another 2 hours. It’s hard work! These guys were all wearing like slippers and slip-ons…didn’t look too safe to me but I guess they get super grip or something.

This was just an awful week because it was the peak busy week for me at work and then having to deal with tenting, cleaning and packing stuff out – it was hell week. Just glad it’s all done. There’s gotta be an easier way to fumigate, this was insane. Anyway, hope you folks have a great weekend!

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13Mar / 2024

Mr. Ojisan Neo Bar & Sushi – Honolulu, HI

Mr. Ojisan Neo Bar & Sushi moved from Kapahulu to I guess the Moilili area a few years ago, this is my first time at this location. They are located in the same building as the old Sanoya Ramen – private parking lot in the back! Chan and I had a great time with our dining companions, great food and company! They were playing sports on 3 TV screens and Kpop videos on another one. I kept my eye out for my baby Jimin (BTS). 🙂

Shishito Peppers w/Yuzu Miso | $8.00

Yum! I don’t know how strong of a yuzu taste I got from these peppers but the miso was a nice touch. I loved the sweetness!

French Fries | $8.00

Can’t go wrong with fries ‘bah. Perfect food for drinking (not that I would know).

Misoyaki Butterfish | $20.00

Can’t go wrong with a perfectly cooking miso butterfish. Perfectly seasoned and cooked, so moist and tender. Yum! Pricey but worth it to me. You can make it a teishoku meal for $4.00 and get tonjiro soup, tsukemono and rice too.

Wafu Steak | $27.00

Anything coming out on a sizzling plate is good ah? It’s smothered in onions, ponzu sauce, daikon and garlic chips. How can you go wrong? Was delicious and perfectly cooked!

Sashimi Platter | $39.00

Gotta give the Ojisans behind the sushi counter something for do! Very nice sashimi platter! Was full from all the ono food! I also tried their lava cake for dessert, forgot to take a pic! But the lava cake was really good too!

Nice restaurant, super laid back with folks from all walks of life dining here. I would definitely return!

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28Feb / 2024

Valentine’s Chichi Dango

Isn’t this cute!!!

I made some chichi dango mochi for Valentine’s Day complete with pink chichi dango hearts on top!

Painstakingly punching out each individual heart lol. I’m still playing around with the recipe since I really just made it up on my own. I think I need a little more batter for the hearts, was a bit thin. Always testing things out!

You like scrap?! Nah, I gave the scraps to my brother who happily ate it!

Hearts ready to adorn chichi dango!

Cute yeah?!?! I gave to Chan and his workers and of course to some of my coworkers! I actually messed up on this a bit. I meant to make it the traditional layered mochi but when added the second layer to the first layer (following instructions!) – the first layer wasn’t set enough so it became like a swirl! Ah, it worked out anyway! Was still cute!

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, I just wanted to do a small brag…

Look at the beautiful flowers and balloons Chan got for me. Thank you so much! I always feel so special and loved. ^_^

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26Feb / 2024

Omakase by Aung – Kapahulu, HI

Chan’s birthday was last week so we went out for sushi at Omakase by Aung, new restaurant to both of us! Let me tell you something, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been blown away by a restaurant but I can safely say this was one of them. Great service and great food. It is a bit pricey since it’s an omakase but I think it was well worth the cost (and you know that means a lot because all I do is complain about price and I am Chinese). I wouldn’t even try to park in the lot behind their restaurant, it’s like 5 stalls and shared by everyone in the building. I just parked in the public lot for Side Street Inn and crossed the street over. It was only $2.00 for 2 hours, not bad! This restaurant is very small, there is only the bar and it can probably seat 8 people maximum. Reservations are highly recommended through Open Table.

Sea Bream topped with Uni

Smoked Skipjack Tuna with Garlic Sauce

Grilled Spanish Mackerel topped with Caviar

Chutoro

Buri (mature yellowtail) topped with Orange Zest

Shima Aji (Striped Jack from Ehime) – topped with yuzu

Kanpachi (shabu shabu style) served with Ponzu Sauce

New Zealand King Salmon

Uni Rice with Ikura (house marinated)

Akami (leanest part of the Blue Fin Tuna)

Scallop (wrapped with bougie fancy nori from Japan)

Aori Ika (topped with lime zest)

Otoro

Japanese Tiger Prawn

Cherrywood Smoked Golden Eye Snapper topped with Caviar
(smoked right before our eyes!)

Macadamia Nut Ice Cream (House-made)

You’re going to think I’m a dork but my god if this wasn’t the best scoop of ice cream I have ever had?? The taste of the fresh nutty macadamia nuts – was heavenly. I don’t know how to explain but when I have mac nuts nowadays, they always seem to be kind of stale already you know? But this ice cream had a fresh nutty taste and it was magical.

Birthday Treat for Birthday Boy Chan

There were two people celebrating their birthdays so he whipped up a quick poke for the two of them. Super cute, he turned down all the lights and play a birthday song while presenting the dishes. How wonderful! 🙂 Everyone wish Chan a happy belated birthday!! Hehe…I didn’t add much comments to each dish because honestly, it was all good. I didn’t have a single dish I disliked. We will definitely be returning.

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23Feb / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

One of the many gifts Kat gave us! I finally cracked open the Japanese Sriracha, I didn’t even know they had one! And you know we had that shortage for a while so it as hard to even get a hold of a bottle. And then people were saying it doesn’t taste the same anymore? I think they started using different chili peppers, boy oh boy. I was able to get a new bottle and I guess I agree that it tastes a little different but not awful. Sorry, got off-track. So how was the Japanese one? I liked it! Good balance of garlic and heat with a nice sweetness to it. I enjoy it a lot!! Thank you again Kat!

This was a gift from Chan’s friend and I had no idea what it was. I honestly thought it was like a biscuit or senbei. That was until we asked a coworker and was told it was miso soup!! I had to try it immediately and oh my goodness, it was delicious and look!

It is stuffed with all these great veggies and cute fishcake…what a great miso soup! I definitely have to look for this next time I am in Japan!!

Tanto Tonkotsu Black Ramen | $18.00 (includes 5 pieces of Tanto Gyoza)

Don’t have enough for a full post but Tanto Gyoza and Ramen Bar is located in Puck’s Alley in Manoa. They specialize in gyoza (yes, the gyoza is good) and the ramen is good too! But I think I need to try another broth, this one might be too rich for me so I get tummy ache. I think I get tummy ache from plenty foods…hmm…anyway, worth a try!

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