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).