01Apr / 2024

Frog House – Honolulu, HI

I’m just girl, blogging in front of the world, asking you to love Frog House. Nah, don’t love Frog House cause then I don’t want them to get so busy I cannot eat there. The parking is already a mess – but once you get past that, you’re good! Great food, great prices and just super super super love their banchan.

Look, Frog House is serious business about their banchan. And I have never had a bad banchan. And you know what? I’ve had banchan at other establishments and feel like they make it as an afterthought and that a lot of them turn bad quickly. I have never had that issue with the banchan at this restaurant, it is all made with love. They also randomly serve up different ones to different tables. I don’t know how they choose but I don’t mind either way. I was surprised she served up the little anchovies (?) to our table since we were like the only non-Koreans there but we ate em up!!!

Bossam

I forgot the price – sorry! They usually serve this up with oysters too but oysters haven’t been good lately so they don’t serve it up with oysters anymore. They try to make it up by serving more pork. This dish will do but I do wish they would boil the pork up with seasoning. I think it makes a difference!!

Bibimbap | Lunch Special

Another one of my favorite meals from this restaurant. So good. So generous with all the veggies, they give you the sauce on the side so you can make it as spicy or mild as you want. I usually get so stuffed by bossam and banchan that I just take this home. Yummy…

This restaurant hits another cardinal rule, it had like all Korean customers. You know that means it’s GOOD.

Post Views: 816

Permalink 8 Comments

22Mar / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Chan bought this and was going to put away before saying to me, this is something you can’t eat. Is that a challenge? I asked why and he said, it’s actually spicy. GIVE ME A CHANCE! Yeah, I can’t handle spicy that well anymore. Do you see the corner? It says Korean Spicy. They trying to tell you, they not playing around folks.

Uhhh yeah it was spicy. My brother was like…it was just like shin ramen. LIES. It’s way spicier! I did eat a few bites and my face didn’t drip so let’s call it a win okay?

Strawberry Tanghulu | $4.99 (per skewer)

Yoa jung was pretty smart to capitalize on this trend. I’m surprised they are the only place that sells this? At least that I know of. Do you know any other places that sell it? It’s a pain to make, I’ve made it before. But man, I saw it on social media again and just wanted to eat it. They have a long line but the line moves super fast. The tanghulu is already made in the fridge, when they run out, they run out. These are not made to order. I wanted the mandarin orange one but they were out.

How was it? Well, it tastes like strawberries coated with sugar, lol. It’s exactly what you would expect. Well since our strawberries are more sour than sweet, it’s a nice balance. The sugar isn’t too thick or hard so I don’t think you will break any teeth. Was nice to try, a bit pricey but it was a nice little treat!

Post Views: 586

Permalink 6 Comments

02Feb / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Taki’s Intense Nacho

I’m not into Taki’s but I saw this online somewhere and super super curious. For some odd reason, it’s so hard to find this in Hawaii. Where did I find it? Oh, I think I found it at Don Quijote! Kind of pricey but was worth a try. Super cheesy, not at all spicy. Worth the try!

Giovanni Rana Beef and Sausage Lasagna (40 oz.) | $14.98

Saw this at Sam’s Club the other week and decided to bring it home to try. I didn’t get to try it but my brother did and he liked it! It’s nice that it’s not the full family size lasagna. It’s also great that it comes in a pan that you can either bake it in or microwave in.

Spicy Pork Plate | $10.00

Yup, back at Kalihi Palama Market snack bar again. No can lose with a $10 plate forreal! So good. You know dang well that it would cost so much more money if I decided to make this myself. I’ll keep “researching” their dishes for you folks okay? 🙂

Post Views: 940

Permalink 12 Comments

12Jan / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Happy Aloha Friday! Since I have a few random pics I can share, let me share them! I also want to share these while they are recent!

Tantan Ramen | $13.50

Tonkatsu Sangi is located in Pioneer Plaza in Downtown. They have ties to the old school Gomaichi so you know their ramen is gonna be good. Sorry I took a picture only after I mixed it all up. They are also very popular for their tonkatsu and nanban chicken! It’s a take-out place, no dine in. Didn’t get to try the tonkatsu but did try the nanban – the nanban is drenched in like a ponzu-ish soy sauce. I think a lot of folks expect the other way, plain fried chicken smothered in tartar sauce so I’m just giving the heads up there. The ramen was good! The broth is rich in flavor but didn’t feel too heavy or greasy. They get pretty busy so I would go earlier in the day to get your food because they also do run out!

Shoyu Butter (Soy Garlic + Butter Sauce) | $12.00 + Extra Pasta | $1.50
Spaghetti, Bacon, Mushroom, Spinach, Nori Katsuobushi flakes

We did a quick lunch order from Mio Pastalogy and Dell’s Kitchen & Bakery (same space/owner/kitchen). I was in a pasta mood and felt like their regular portion was kind of small so I added extra this time. Not too bad for $1.50, it was delicious! I love Japanese fusion Italian food. Mio makes their own pasta daily so you’re eating fresh stuff, never the dry stuff. You can even buy your own pasta to take home and make your own dishes with! My favorite part? You can order and pay online and go pick up when it’s ready!

Bibimbap | $10.00 (tax included)

When do you ever see me commend prices? Holy crap here is one. I went to Palama Supermarket last week to grab some groceries and did a quick glance at their snack bar menu. I wasn’t planning on buying dinner but I can’t pass up a bibimbap and for 10 bucks?? Why not. I ordered it and it was 10 bucks even, no tax – sounds silly but I was even excited about that. Here it is. They even give you a side of kimchi. Great portion and price, man I should come to the snack bar more often. The rest of the menu looked really good value too!!

Post Views: 681

Permalink 6 Comments

10Jan / 2024

Hong Kong Hanten 0410 – Shinjuku, Japan

Have you heard of Baek Jong Won before? I’m sure you must have if you follow Korean stuff. If not, he’s a very famous Korean chef and I was so excited to finally try his food! He has a few locations in Japan – not sure why he calls it Hong Kong Hanten 0410 – they serve the Northern Chinese cuisine we see here in Hawaii but Hong Kong is not Northern Chinese (though he loves visiting Hong Kong). Anyway, sorry for the confusing words – let’s get to the food!!!!

Complimentary pickles and raw onions – gotta have em!

Tangsuyuk (Large) | ¥2,600

Looks as good as it tastes! So light and crispy – love when the batter is light. Delicious! We over ordered hehe.

Gogi Jjamppong | ¥1,250

Chan’s dish, he enjoyed it! It was actually spicy so that’s good because he’s Korean and he can handle spice.

Jaengban Jajang | ¥1,950 (serves 2)

I saw this on the menu and had to get it. I don’t know why they only serve this as a 2 servings dish, I wish they offered this just as a single serving? Well it doesn’t matter, I ate it. I was hoping to share it with Chan but let’s be real – I just bodied it myself after he tried it. It was the best jajangmyun I have ever had in my life. I liked this one because it’s all stirfried together and it has all these vegetables and seafood in it. Man, I’m still salivating thinking about this dish. I want to eat it again.

Post Views: 880

Permalink 6 Comments

20Oct / 2023

Mixed Plate Friday

Yeah, I tried the plant-based katsu musubi so you don’t have to. Well it’s up to you. It tastes fine, but they deep fry it katsu style so how can it be junk? And yeah, you can totally tell it’s plant based so if you’re looking for a good spam replacement, this wouldn’t be it. Also it’s $3!!!!

Speaking of musubi, I made this assortment for one of the UH football game gatherings the other week! Ger regular spam, red hot dog spam and plain musubi with some furikake. I enjoy the spam musubis I make lol.

I made this the other week because I had a hankering for Korean style oxtail soup. Trying to replenish my iron levels with meat and can you tell I love green onions? Haha, it was good! I had some glass noodles at the bottom too. Was good but got pretty tired of it after a while…hard to make a dish that you then gotta eat up yourself for DAYS.

Post Views: 895

Permalink 4 Comments

30Aug / 2023

Kan Sushi – Waikiki, HI

Am I finally posting a new place pre-social media frenzy? Maybe, maybe not. I am scheduling this out but when I checked out Kan Sushi – it was before it was crazy busy. We came on a weekday for lunch. Kan Sushi is an all you can eat sushi/pupu/korean bbq/noodles restaurant. I mean, they seriously have everything. Here is the link to their current menu. Currently, the lunch price is $29.95 or $35.95 for dinner. The only difference is that select items are only available for the dinner price. But when you dine there during lunch and want to pay the dinner price, you can…and you can order dinner items! To me, the dinner items wasn’t enough for me to want to pay extra so we went for the lunch deal!

Kan Sushi is located in Waikiki in the old Todai/Makino Chaya location. Parking is a bit of a pain in the butt, but it is free for kamaaina! Entrance to parking is on Ena Road, there are signs in the parking with a QR code that you need to scan before heading into the restaurant. Once you’re in the restaurant, you fill out the online form and your waiter/waitress gives you a coupon code to input that gives you I believe 2 hours of free parking. Yes!!! 9/2/23 Parking Update: I am seeing that parking now costs money. It was free when I went to dine.

Nicely renovated!!

Tunapeno (4pcs)
spicy tuna, tuna tataki, jalapeno, spicy mayo, sriracha, soy mustard

Good, not great. I really don’t like their spicy tuna and if you know me, I love spicy tuna. They season it weird and the ahi is basically a paste, no bueno.

Truffle Salmon (2pcs)

Yum. I love truffle! This was good! Each nigiri order comes with 2pcs, I shared this with my friend. Yum!

Snowflake Salmon (2pcs)

Not quite sure why this is called snowflake salmon – I think there is supposed to be a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Do you see any sprinkling of cheese? It was good, but nothing spectacular.

Beef Belly Truffle Fries

No. No. No. No. The fries were soggy and not fried well. Beef belly? It’s basically bulgogi on top. And truffle? Where’s the truffle taste? There was absolutely none.

Bacon Pork Belly (Garlic)

I was happy to see KBBQ on the menu and was relieved when we ordered this that it wasn’t a huge serving. This is a managable size and was good!

Cajun Shrimp Udon Pasta

Okay, don’t hate me but this was probably my favorite dish of the meal. I really enjoyed it! Noodles were cooked well, love cajun seasoning and they were pretty generous with the shrimp. Definitely would get this again!

Tom & Jerry Roll (8pcs)
spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, avocado, salmon, pico de gallo, garlic flake, ponzu

This one was a risky order. 4 of the rolls are topped with pico de gallo, the other 4 are topped with crunchy garlic. The rolls are spicy tuna and shrimp tempura (you already know how I feel about their spicy tuna). You know what? The pico de gallo worked really nicely, added a nice fresh crunch to the dish. The cilantro and onions were wonderful. The pieces with crunchy garlic, not great. This is a risky order because it can really fill you up. I don’t know if I would order this again.

Avocado Ball
krab meat (imitation crab), spicy tuna, poke, crunch, hot sauce, avocado, spicy mayo, eel sauce, tobiko, cheese powder (did not see cheese powder on this either)

Okay, this wasn’t really my dish. It’s so pretty to look at but it is HUGE. Good news? No rice, it’s filled with imitation crab (they called it krab and krab is all over the menu) and chunks of random fish. I was already too full so I couldn’t partake in this but hey, if you like avocado, go for it!

Roly Poly Roll
krab meat, salmon, masago, green onion, eel sauce, soy mustard sauce

Not my dish again, it’s salmon wrapped with you guess it, krab salad. It was alright. OH AND BY THE WAY, THEIR SHOYU AND WASABI is some of the weakest tasting I have ever had. Imagine using watered down low sodium Aloha Shoyu or something. Sneak in your own kikkoman or yamasa packets, the junk shoyu really ruined my eating experience.

All in all though, I would return because the price point is great. This is a good place to go with picky eaters too since it’s not just sushi, you can order all kine food!

Post Views: 7,525

Permalink 8 Comments

05Jul / 2023

So Gong Dong – Ala Moana, HI

Oh man, I haven’t been to So Gong Dong in probably over a decade. Maybe more? Forreal. We were craving Korean food so we came to check them out! They are now in the same building as Yogurstory (former Likelike Drive Inn). Parking is a bit tight since they share the lot with Yogurstory and that place is crazy busy as heck but I was able to get a stall right away. Also, get plenty road work behind the building so no more street parking there for now. So Gong Dong was good and they were pretty fast bringing out the food. Still doesn’t beat my favorite Korean restaurant though (Frog House).

Kimchi Pancake | $17.55

Yummy pancake, nice and crispy. Small kine thick but it’s okay, tasted good. Was it $18 good? Well, I know how easy it is to make so no it’s not worth the price but also I am lazy so we are all good, no judgements made here.

You can also see their banchan here, good typical banchan fare. Nothing to complain about.

Kalbi | $23.95
marinated short rib

I mean, it was good but when is this dish ever bad right? Hard to screw this dish up.

Combination Soondubu (Soft Tofu Soup) | $12.95
beef, shrimp, clam

They are know for their soondubu and I think it’s probably the best value dish on their menu. I like that you can get all kine different soondubu, I wanted bang for my buck so I got the combination. They also give you a raw egg.

Kind of fun to crack it into the soup at the table. No worries, the soup is so piping hot that it cooks the egg. Just stir around if you don’t trust it, I just buried it into the soup carefully because I no like break the yolk. This soup was delicious! I would get it again!

Post Views: 884

Permalink 6 Comments

30Jun / 2023

Mixed Plate Friday

Have you folks tried those furikake wonton chips at Foodland? They now sell it alongside their housemade tortilla chips. Those wonton chips are TOO DAMN GOOD. It’s not hard crispy, it’s a nice and light crispy. And everytime I go into Foodland and look at their dips because I bet they would be good with those chips. I broke down and got this dip to try. It was okay, I think it’s a gimmicky name. It’s really just creamy salmon dip with furikake haha. But I enjoyed it! Glad I tried, not sure I would buy again (cause it’s pricey!).

Oh yum. I forget the price of this but it was a good sandwich, this was also from Foodland. And a bit blasphemous but I ate it cold. I bet it would be super good warmed up in a toaster oven.

Don’t you love a good ‘ole Hawaii style potluck party? Look at all this glorious food on one plate. I was in heaven, can’t go wrong. Loved it!! Spinach rolls are one of my favorites of all time!!

Post Views: 821

Permalink 6 Comments

26Jun / 2023

Daan Korean Cuisine – Richmond, BC

I am always down for Korean food and I knew I had to get my fill of Asian food before heading up to Whistler. Well, Daan Korean Cuisine was close by and had bossam so duh, we had to go! It was pretty busy for a weeknight, we had to add our name to a waitlist but we got called in quick! It’s nice that they call you on your phone when the table is ready. Dining audience was a mix of Korean and other ethnicities! A big variety. I was actually surprised to be seated next to a Chinese family. I guess when I go Korean restaurant, I don’t usually see Chinese families? Do you folks? Anyway, let’s get to the food!

Beef Short Rib Stew | $19.99 (CAD)

Would I call this a stew? Emmm no. It’s very soupy as you can see. A nice little kick of spice and they were pretty generous with the rib meat. Had a small amount of the glass noodles but they were all the way at the bottom of the bowl! I was feeling like something brothy, hit the spot!

Seafood Tofu Soup | $15.99 (CAD)

Not my dish, but it was enjoyed (by a Korean no less!). Looks nice a flavorful. I had a sip of the soup, was nice!

Complimentary Banchan

Always gotta show you folks the banchan. Didn’t love the kimchee but it was alright. The bean sprouts and potatoes were okay too. Nothing to write home about (even though I’m writing about it on a blog).

Small Seafood Pancake | $19.99 (CAD)

Okay. If you like super crispy pancake, this is the place to go. It was super crispy. What threw me off? The use of imitation crab. Nothing against imitation crab but I’m just not used to it being used in this dish. Was good though! I was stuffed so was hard to get all this food in…

Small Bossam | $23.99 (CAD)

The highly anticipated dish of the night! How was it? Good! Very strong doenjang (Korean soybean paste) taste on the pork. What did I miss? The raw oysters in the kimchee veggies but maybe better for my tummy that I don’t eat that. Would I order this again? Yes!

Funny story about this restaurant too. The two servers were a young girl and young man, both looked like they could be Kpop trainees. I’m used to being served by older Korean ladies so it was an amusing turn, and both of them were very nice (also not used to that lol).

Post Views: 1,147

Permalink 8 Comments

← Older posts Newer posts →

maybeitsjenny

Tag Archives: Korean Food

Frog House – Honolulu, HI

Mixed Plate Friday

Mixed Plate Friday

Mixed Plate Friday

Hong Kong Hanten 0410 – Shinjuku, Japan

Mixed Plate Friday

Kan Sushi – Waikiki, HI

So Gong Dong – Ala Moana, HI

Mixed Plate Friday

Daan Korean Cuisine – Richmond, BC