Tag Archive | Sushi

Mixed Plate Friday

Jun4

How’s these loaded tots I made? I think I made this back during the super bowl weekend even though none of us watch the super bowl and this was really just an excuse to make junk food. I think I just baked the tater tots as instructed on the package and then add the toppings and threw it back in the oven for maybe 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Top tray is thinly sliced beef cooked in Halm’s Hawaiian Bar-B-Que Sauce topped with some some shredded cheese. Second tray is topped with pulled pork I got from Sam’s Club, nacho cheese sauce and sliced fresh jalapenos. The first tray was the heavy favorite, can we be any more Asian? I guess kids aren’t huge fans of pulled pork, was eaten but slowly. Sigh…

Got these noodles at H-Mart a while back. Yes, I saw a video about it on TikTok and got super curious. I love a sauced noodle and these were wonderful. A bit pricey (think I paid $14) but so good. Love the texture of the noodles and the sauce. It is spicy (hello sichuan pepper) but I like the spice. I think since it is popular, H-Mart hiked the price up to almost $17. No thanks, I can wait for the price to go down again. This brand has other flavors too which taste good too so give it a try!

Just a funny follow-up post to my Gulick visits. Upon V’s recommendation, I just made these damn rolls myself. No need pay like almost $3 for HALF A ROLL. ANNND I gave myself two takuan sticks instead of one. Oh and added furikake. It was a very enjoyable week of lunches. I think this is one of the few dishes I can eat a lot of and never tire of. Weird right?

Post Views: 3,055

Mixed Plate Friday

May21

You folks ever been to Superb Sushi? Little take-out sushi joint on North King Street. Love their poke bowls and sushi offerings, they’ve adjusted to the pandemic and basically offer a take-out window where their door used to be so you don’t have to go inside…which is good because inside is basically their kitchen (lol). Here’s what we got on a recent trip.

Poke Shell (6 pcs) | $10.00

I think if you saw this on the menu, you would wonder what the heck is that? Thank god for Yelp – it’s spicy tuna cone sushi. Love the tempura crispies and fresh green onions on top. It’s a great dish, go for em!

Futomaki Unagi (8 pcs) | $7.00

Sorry, I ate a piece before I took the picture cause I was just HANGRY. I love their futomaki, it’s a dollar less if you get the oshinko (verus unagi). I felt like being high class so I went for the unagi, get so much things in the roll that it’s not like the unagi is super notice-able. No regrets and tasted great.

What do we have next? A visit to Gulick Delicatessen again. Nothing like going up to the front counter ready to order a single plate for lunch…and going a little too crazy that the lady has to bust out another box to fit all the food. Great job Jenny. Don’t order while hungry. No worries, I didn’t eat this all for one meal (but did all in one day, sue me).

I know, I know. That’s a lot of food. I’m so dumb.

From top left: Garlic Chicken ($3.60), Konbu Maki ($3.05), Egg ($2.65), Chow Mein ($2.95)

The garlic chicken is better than I expected, I never ordered before! Good! Konbu maki is good but expensive. The egg is good! I liked that it was savory and not sweet and people might not like this but I liked that the egg was small kine runny still so it was not at all dry, chow mein also better than I expected!

Tuna Musubi ($2.75) and Spam Musubi ($1.99)

I get these two all the time so it’s good. Why don’t I just make my own yeah? Ehh…I guess we can say that about a lot of things.

Post Views: 3,792

Genki Sushi – Shibuya, Japan

Feb17

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.

Tamago. Gosh, I can’t even remember this. I am sure I only ordered it because it was dashi tamagoyaki, I don’t do the sweet omelette stuff.

Mmm, reminds me of the salmon here with the rayu and onions. This was good and look, yellow plate!

Post Views: 2,536

Fresh Ahi Off the Boat – Keeaumoku, HI

Aug6

Fresh Ahi Off the Boat is a brand new restaurant on the Keeaumoku strip. If you remember it, they replaced a shave ice shop called Cooland. I parked in the Keeaumoku main parking lot for all the shops. It’s a Japanese restaurant but it’s owned by a Korean family which is totally cool. I overheard the owner talking to customers and discussing how important the quality of fish he serves is. That was comforting to hear. This is more of a take-out joint but they do have some seating for you to eat there if you want to. I like that they have so many different rices to choose from! White, Brown, Sushi Rice and Black Rice. I love black rice so I definitely got that. Black rice is really just white/sticky rice mixed with mixed grain rice which turns all the rice purple. I love it.

150806-01Ahi Tsunami Bowl – $9.75

150806-02

150806-03Hurricane Bowl – $10.25

This was my bowl, it was DELICIOUS. The bowls come with a miso soup which was nice. The soup had a nice mild flavor. The hurricane bowl comes with both salmon and ahi and a whole bunch of veggies on top of the rice of your choice. The veggies really add a refreshing crunch to the bowl. It’s like a raw fish bibimbap and as you can see there is a red pepper sauce (kochujjang) drizzled on top. I like their kochujjang sauce, it’s not too concentrated or spicy and has a bit of sweetness to it. I would definitely get this again.

150806-04

B1 Bento (Spicy Ahi, 2pc., Spicy Salmon, 2pc., Ahi Nigiri, 2pc., Salmon Nigiri, 2pc.)  – $11.50

Our eyes were bigger than our stomach so we had to try the sushi too. Their spicy sauce is okay, not great. I’m used to a bit more sesame oil so I felt like the spicy sauce here was a bit bland. It lacks something for sure. The nigiri was great, don’t the pieces of fish look great? They’re a bit pricey but I think you’re paying for the quality and their rent…lol. Give them a try!

Post Views: 5,568

Superb Sushi – Kalihi, HI

Mar30

I know I posted about Superb Sushi before but I can’t stop raving about their food. And I love that the front line person remembers me! It’s very sweet to me, as antisocial that I am. Their sushi is great and their ahi poke is some of the best I’ve tasted. It’s seasoned wonderfully. I also like that they serve up the ahi poke bowl with the spicy sauce on the side – that really works out for people who cannot handle spice. I got their combo this past visit and it was great as always, they serve it up with miso soup. I hope you folks get to give them a try, I highly recommend it!

150330-01

150330-02

150330-03

Post Views: 3,609

Izakaya Torae Torae – Moilili, HI

Jan25

Yes, another visit to Izakaya Torae Torae! Sorry, not sorry. Okay I am sorry for using that phrase though. Another visit, another great meal with great company! I had a great time with my friend here! I actually didn’t take pictures of all the foods! But the ones I didn’t take pictures of were of foods I’ve shared before. Let’s get to the food!

150125-01

150125-02

Hamachi Carpaccio – delicious as always. Served on a bed of thinly sliced onions. The onions are prepared so that there isn’t a raw bite.

150125-03

150125-04Pork Belly Kakuni – Sunterra Farm Blackline pork belly simmered in soy based sauce. Delicious! Perfectly poached egg on top of pork belly on top of perfectly cooked rice. Good dish but not a favorite of mine.

150125-05

150125-06Dashimaki Tamago – I enjoyed this much more on the second try. It is still filled with cheese and unagi but I think I like it more and more. It is garnished with kewpie mayonnaise, daikon, and green onions. Delicious! Once again, not on the standard menu. You have to request it with the wait staff and they will check to see if it can be made.

150125-07

150125-08Lollipop Roll – first time trying it and it was delicious! And look at how beautiful this dish is. You really do feast with your eyes first before all else. I would definitely recommend this dish!

Post Views: 3,184

Superb Sushi – Kalihi, HI

Sep9

I live in the heart of K-town and noticed that Superb Sushi put up a banner a while back advertising their fresh poke bowls for $6.00. I’m down! But they were never in the forefront of my mind because I always thought they were a catering company so it didn’t automatically click until about a week ago. It’s a great little shop, you basically walk into their open air kitchen that has a small counter area. I was stoked to try their food! They make the food pretty quick and there is a very interesting painting in the waiting area – try take a look when you visit. If there are any kids around, I wouldn’t let them look too closely at it…you’ll see what I mean when you see it.

140905-01

Poke Bowl/California Roll Special – $10

140905-02Awesome poke. I don’t know if you can see it too clearly here, but there are salt crystals that you crunch into. I wasn’t super into that at first but grew to like it quite a bit.

140905-03California Roll, classic. This set also comes with a miso soup. That was probably the one downer of the whole set – it was SUPER salty. And this is coming from someone who likes salt. I don’t know if they made my soup wrong or not, but I had to dump it because of the salt.

140905-04

140905-05Futomaki with Unagi – $6.50
Yes, I sprung the extra dollar for unagi and it was DELICIOUS. This roll was so good. What is that pink thing inside this roll? I know it was a type of seafood and it seemed to be like sugar crusted. It was good! I really enjoyed this roll as well. I definitely plan on returning to this place.

Post Views: 2,887

Izakaya Torae Torae Part 2!

Jun24

Yes I went back! And it was so good. I called in late for a seat during a weekend and got seating at the counter. That’s great! I’m fine with that. For the post of my first visit, go here. Let’s get to the post!

140623-01

140623-02

Spicy Tuna Don – pretty good. I think it’s not worth it to get something like this here. Spicy tuna is a way to cover up not so good quality ahi – you should just order the good stuff!

140623-03

140623-04

Hamachi Carpaccio – delicious! I love the touch of truffle oil. Highly recommended!

140623-05

140623-06
Pork Belly Kakuni Bowl – heaven. Last time I came here, we got the small appetizer. This is the full size on rice. SO good. Look at that egg yolk, it’s so orange! Reminds me of Japan.

140623-07

140621309
Kauai Sweet Shrimp – this was the special that night. Deliciuos!

140623-10

As with any good izakaya, here are the heads fried up for your pleasure. Sorry, I already ate one.

140623-08

STAR OF THE NIGHT AGAIN. SALMON NIGIRI. King Salmon to be precise. Can’t be beat.

140623-11

Here’s an awesome reason to sit at the bar. They give you freebies sometimes! I came back from the restroom as he was handing these over. I didn’t hear him initially so I was like, we didn’t order this. He was trying to tell us it was a free sample. So shame. I thanked him gratefully and we tried it! It was a good kimchee roll. I think it had chicken in it too, it was good! Thanks!

140623-12

Yah, I had to end it with another piece of King Salmon. I just couldn’t help myself!

Post Views: 3,460

Sushi ii – Keeaumoku, HI

May30

I’ve been hearing some great things about Sushi ii for a while now but haven’t been able to try them out until recently. This restaurant is located in the very busy Samsung Plaza. Samsung Plaza houses Sikdorak, Raging Crab just to name a few…with a very small parking lot to accommodate it all. My terrible secret and dishonor? I parked in Walmart’s parking lot and walked over. Tried to be a bit ninja about it by parking near the back and walking out discretely as advised by my friend/dining companion. Sushi ii is a cozy little sushi bar with stylish decor and incredibly nice people. We sat at the bar and the sushi chefs were very nice to us, it was such a nice experience! Let’s get to the pictures…

140530-01

Ready for some great sushi and awesome company…:)

140530-02

140530-03

Gyu-tan – grilled beef tongue! Delicious with a squeeze of lemon juice…

140530-04

My friend taught me such a great way to eat sushi! Order the sashimi platter and then a side of rice! It’s like a make your own sushi meal – and you don’t have to eat all the rice it usually comes with! Genius!

140530-05Salmon – you can’t go wrong. It was delicious.

140530-06Abalone. Wow, I did not think I could ever dislike a piece of seafood. I met my match with this one. The raw abalone was slimy yet crunchy. The slimy taste reminded me…oh I hate to say it…some kind of unpleasant smelly discharge. Hahaha…I had to spit it out. I felt horrible but I just couldn’t stand it.

140530-07I really hope I got this right, this was fire squid. The chef told us it was special. It looked great but I was afraid it would be hard and rubbery. Guess what though…it was the softest squid I have ever had. It was delicious! I would definitely order this again if I could.

140530-08Hamachi. If hamachi is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. Aces.

140530-09I tried to get a shot of some of the other items. Amaebi which is always great. I believe under the lemon are slices of ika. Everything on this platter was so fresh and delicious (minus the abalone…sorry!)

140530-10Tako Karaage. This was good, nothing memorable but definitely not bad. Sorry, with all that sashimi – I had to focus on the priorities!

140530-11

140530-12OTORO. Yes, I did it again. Yes, we did it. We ordered it. What a splurge. And look at how nice they were, they gave us a FREE piece of OTORO. I mean that’s crazy nice. It was delicious. I couldn’t help but compare it to my first otoro experience at Izakaya Torae Torae and I liked it better there. I wonder if it was just the glow from experiencing it first at Torae Torae?

Post Views: 4,653

Gyotaku Restaurant – Pearl City, HI

May16

Another visit to Gyotaku! I got bad service again this time so this isn’t going to be a pleasant post. We were stuffed into the corner so we were forgotten quite a bit – I felt like we were a hassle to the waiter or something. And guess what?? Their kids meals have raised so much in price! I swear it used to be about $6.99 for a kid’s meal which was a great deal. They raised it to over $8 and still serve exactly the same thing. I was not pleased but I was already there. Anyhow, I’ll just share a few pictures of my food and dessert.

140516-01I enjoy their Soba and Tempura set. Delicious.

140516-02Maki Sushi and Cone Sushi

140516-03Tempura – looks a bit shriveled and not appetizing huh? Nothing special.

140516-04I love myself some grated daikon and green onions. I need to learn how to make a good soba tsuru.

140516-05Zenzai – pretty good. It’s not thick, more soupy. A bit too sweet this time.

140516-06Nice warm dessert for a cold dining room!

Post Views: 4,535