tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26022739387086297792024-03-13T07:44:45.283-10:00da weekend foodie"my food experiences...rants, raves & other stuff"da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-16698670322311686282008-06-10T22:08:00.009-10:002008-06-11T09:59:01.654-10:00Jimbo's & the 50th State FairLast night, we were searching for a place to eat. We took our daughter to lessons in Kapahulu so we were looking for something pretty much on that side of town. On the weekend, we had tried to get into that new Japanese restaurant on South King Street that had been featured in the <a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080606/ENT04/806060314">newspaper</a> (Hinone Mizunone - it's a Japanese franchise)...it sounded interesting but no luck. Passing by it looked like standing room only, really full...guess everyone read the same article too. My wife wanted to go to <a href="http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/30/features/eater.html">Kochi's</a> but after we parked and peered into the window (surprisingly the parking lot had a lot of empty spaces), we were not sure if they were open or not. Several times before, we had passed by at the same hour and the lot was full and there were tons of people inside. This time, there was no one inside...what gives? Anyway, we ended up going next door to Jimbo's. We go to Jimbo's often enough where we are quite familiar with the food...so no surprises there. At peak hours, there is usually a line and it takes awhile to get a table (small room). If you want good udon, this is the place to go.<br /><br />Jimbo's make their own noodles(the menu says homemade daily fresh udon noodles) and you used to be able to buy the noodles uncooked to bring home (not sure about now). They have hot versions, cold versions, donburi, and other kinds of stuff. My daughter likes all kinds of noodles (I do, too!) so she was happy about going. She ordered the Tanuki Udon (the one that comes with the tempura chips). I used to order the combos but these days I'm trying to cut back so I order smaller single orders. My wife and I both ordered the Hiyashi Kakiage Udon. It's summer and pretty hot so we wanted something on the colder side. It's cold udon noodles topped with kakiage tempura with the sauce on the side for dipping...yum! When it arrives at your table, it looks <strong>soooo awesome</strong>. The kakiage is like a huge tempura where there are sliced green beans, carrots and chopped shrimp all combined in a tempura batter and then fried up. First you pick up the grated daikon and chopped green onions on the top of the dish and place into the sauce and mix...and don't forget to mix in the dab of wasabi on the edge of the dish. Break off a piece of the tempura (cause it's sooo big) and dip it into the sauce and then bite...it's so crunchy and crispy, with a melding of those savory flavors from the tempura and the dashi in the sauce...every bite is a delight! And then you alternate with bites of the udon noodles (dipped in the sauce too), then back to the tempura...double yum! Little wonder that you will find many Japanese tourists occupying the tables next to you. Oh yeah, no msg (my wife loves that). Go early if you don't want to wait.<br /><br /><br /><a title="jimbo1 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569311763/"><img alt="jimbo1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3142/2569311763_8824f4f712.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a title="jimbo3 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569311489/"><img alt="jimbo3" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/2569311489_a70930851b.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Menu pages<br /><a title="jimbo11 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2570136600/"><img alt="jimbo11" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3032/2570136600_1d99b610f5_m.jpg" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />Here's the specials of the day:<br /><a title="jimbo8 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2570136956/"><img alt="jimbo8" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2385/2570136956_500269b1f1.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Combos:<br /><a title="jimbo10 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2570136722/"><img alt="jimbo10" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2570136722_035b438503_m.jpg" height="240" width="180" /></a><br /><a title="jimbo9 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569310855/"><img alt="jimbo9" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2569310855_84cc2f49b9_m.jpg" height="240" width="180" /></a><br /><a title="jimbo7 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2570137066/"><img alt="jimbo7" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3157/2570137066_9d60e8614c_m.jpg" height="240" width="180" /></a><br /><a title="jimbo6 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2570137214/"><img alt="jimbo6" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/2570137214_bb5a0f9a91_m.jpg" height="240" width="180" /></a><br /><a title="jimbo4 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2570137450/"><img alt="jimbo4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2570137450_71a3247bca_m.jpg" height="240" width="180" /></a><br />Tanuki Udon<br /><a title="jimbo5 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569311247/"><img alt="jimbo5" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2569311247_10ae8fc4cf.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Hiyashi Kakiage Udon<br /><a title="jimbo2 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569311659/"><img alt="jimbo2" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/2569311659_3ca621f565.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />On Sunday, we took my daughter and a whole bunch of her friends to the 50th State Fair. During the summer, we have two fairs...the 50th State Fair and the Farm Fair. These events were a really big thing when I was growing up. Throughout the years, it seems like they've kind of gotten smaller and the quality seems to have diminished...but hey, that's me...the kids still love it. Of course, our fairs here don't compare to the ones on the mainland where you can get anything on a stick or the food variety is outrageous. This year there seemed to be a lot less of the local food vendors and more of those stereotype "carnival food sold out of a trailer" type vendors. Sorry I didn't get a lot of pics...plus I didn't really eat as I didn't want anything there. They had vendors selling hawaiian food, korean food, Okuhara fried saimin, hamburger/hotdog/fries, and some other stuff...I thought the assortment of toppings for the roasted corn was pretty awesome(I think it included li hing too), a lot of people was buying this. I took a pic of the plates my wife & friend bought (one is a kalbi plate and the other is korean bbq chicken).<br /><br /><br />Sandwiches anyone?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569307901/" title="DSC01216 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2569307901_5951edfbf6.jpg" alt="DSC01216" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />"Hawaiian" roasted corn<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569308755/" title="DSC01225 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/2569308755_d6b952b3e4.jpg" alt="DSC01225" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Toppings galore for your corn...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2570136194/" title="DSC01240 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/2570136194_7d7f774bb4.jpg" alt="DSC01240" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />Hawaiian food & stuff...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569308865/" title="DSC01226 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/2569308865_570c40b871.jpg" alt="DSC01226" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569309153/" title="DSC01233 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/2569309153_d37d1a4c61.jpg" alt="DSC01233" height="500" width="375" /></a><br />Korean food...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569308553/" title="DSC01224 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/2569308553_a281f3843c.jpg" alt="DSC01224" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569309419/" title="DSC01235 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/2569309419_365e59d63b.jpg" alt="DSC01235" height="500" width="375" /></a><br />cooking & making the plates...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569309717/" title="DSC01236 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2569309717_3c4f82b56f.jpg" alt="DSC01236" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569310029/" title="DSC01238 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2569310029_0c26407250.jpg" alt="DSC01238" height="375" width="500" /></a><br />kalbi plate, bbq chicken plate<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569310461/" title="DSC01242 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2569310461_f1141f6831.jpg" alt="DSC01242" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27542267@N05/2569310267/" title="DSC01241 by daweekendfoodie, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/2569310267_0dddb43cf4.jpg" alt="DSC01241" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Of course the kids got ride wristbands and spent a couple of hours riding. Before we left, I just had to demonstrate to my wife my expertise so I easily won two 2 liter bottles of Pepsi on that game where you throw the ring around a post on top of the soda bottle...the only bad thing was that I had to lug those bottles around following the kids until we left. Boy, was I tired...and hot at the end...guess you really feel your age after awhile...<br /><br />Jimbo's Restaurant<br />1936 South King Street<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ekfernandez.com/fair_carnival01.html">50th State Fair </a>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-19925097358574722792008-06-09T22:18:00.002-10:002008-06-09T22:25:20.881-10:00OK, I'm back!Hi everyone! Sorry for the extremely looong delay in posting. As I mentioned previously, the new school year was taking up a lot of time...what I didn't realise was that it was going to be more than what I had expected...and isn't it always like that? Anyway, with extra stuff at work kicking in and then volunteering for stuff at my daughter's school, well...you know how it goes. and now, it's about one year later...my how time flies. But, I haven't been idle during that time...I mean, you gotta eat... I have a lot of pics...hope I can remember the info that goes with them too. I haven't always remembered to bring my camera with me everywhere but I'll share what I got...I just need to organize it and upload. Thanks to all of you that emailed during the past months...I didn't realise that a lot of people read this blog... Anyway, glad to be back and will be posting some good stuff. Stay tuned.... :)da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-31126443961754769252007-08-26T21:40:00.000-10:002007-08-26T23:12:04.037-10:00Catching Up...Joyful GardenOK, so I've been bad in not keeping up with my posts. At least now I have material stored up...just hope I can remember all of the details...<br /><br />Anyway, I saw that Nadine Kam had reviewed Joyful Garden, a chinese restaurant in Kaneohe, in Sunday's Star Bulletin. You can read her review <a href="http://starbulletin.com/2007/08/26/features/eater.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Here's an outside shot...<br /><br /><img style="WIDTH: 504px; HEIGHT: 323px" height="363" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful1.gif" width="526" /><br /><br />I didn't totally agree with her review so thought I would post my own (no offense to Nadine Kam, of course...who I believe is a fellow Waipahu High graduate...<em>yay Marauders!</em>). And, everyone is well aware that no visit is the same when you go to a restaurant... Anyway, Nadine...the restaurant is located in Windward City Shopping Center, not at Windward Mall! The bad thing is that it's located in the back of the shopping center(which traditionally is slow) but the good thing is that the back has slowly been building up traffic, due to eateries like KJ's, Genki Sushi, Pizza Hut and now, Taco Del Mar.<br /><br />I've been going on and off to Joyful Garden since they first opened in February (my wife reminded me that it was Super Bowl weekend). On that first weekend, there was a substantial amount of traffic...guess it was all of the people like us checking out the new chinese restaurant in town...plus they were advertising free soda as a promotion...can't beat that, right? I was impressed with the space...very spacious plus there was an adjoining room for private parties, I guess...and they had a plasma tv mounted. Formally dressed waiters...haven't had that in Kaneohe since Eastern Garden left... The wait time was kind of slow and the food was OK...nothing special..but it was their first weekend... Gotta give those new restaurants time to settle in, right?<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful3.gif" /><br /><br />A few months down the road and a few more tries... Less people dropping by(the room was mostly empty) but the quality of food has improved some. Seems like less wait help (maybe because less traffic?). Looks like they're starting to advertise "local style" plates and that they're going to have dim sum service in the summer...hope that drums up more business for them.<br /><br />OK, now it's the middle of summer and they finally have dim sum! Kaneohe has been missing dim sum since Eastern Garden closed down. Only thing is, I went to Panda Cuisine last month so this has to be pretty good to top that.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful2.gif" /><br /><br />So we went inside and notice that there were quite a bit of people there. Of course as soon as we sat down, the carts gravitated towards our table and the usual showing of dim sum took place..."would you like some _____?"..."or, how about some _____?" ...and they pretty much go through what they have on the cart. There were two carts...one for fried stuff and one for steamed stuff. Not a lot of wait help...noticed only about three people running around. Anyway, seems that the carts didn't have a lot of stuff that we wanted and we were told that the items we wanted were "coming out soon". So we got these...<br /><br />I like good blackbean spareribs so I usually have to try it at least once at a new restaurant...this one had lots of tiny bits which made it difficult to eat...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful4.gif" /><br /><br />Pork hash, I think it had shrimp inside too...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful5.gif" /><br /><br />Taro puffs...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful6.gif" /><br /><br />There was a long period where no dim sum was offered to us...decided to order from the menu...beef choi sum chow fun...tasted Ok but lots of cornstarch...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful8.gif" /><br /><br />We were waiting for new stuff to come out but the carts kept on going farther and farther, never coming back. I know at dim sum restaurants, they like to hit on the new customers but usually they eventually rotate around the room. It was kind of disappointing that this didn't happen. Fortunately, a couple sat down near us so we pounced on the cart after the couple was done. Unfortunately, by that time, all of the new stuff was almost gone...and my daughter was looking forward to har gau...we got the two baskets that was left though.<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/joyful9.gif" /><br /><br />Taste overall was pretty good but the service was pretty lousy, especially when we had asked for specific items but never got them and had had to ask repeatedly. Kind of disappointing for us. Could be they had an off day. Seems that they are pretty inconsistent, hopefully it gets better. Pricing was pretty standard, I think it started at $2 something for the lower end dim sum. Ended up spending just a little under $20, which is low for going to a dim sum restaurant for us...top it off to the unavailability of stuff we wanted. Guess I'll check back later to see if it changes...<br /><br /><strong>Joyful Garden</strong><br />Windward City Shopping Centerda weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-58932166285738802422007-08-13T12:42:00.000-10:002007-08-13T12:47:35.629-10:00Sorry! Falling behind....Hi everyone! Sorry I'm falling behind on posts but the new school year started and I'm trying to get back to the regular routine. That means PTA & other parent type meetings on week nights, trying not to go out with the family on week nights, making sure the kids do their homework, etc., etc. I have stuff accumulated and will try to post... :)da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-71607362983811262782007-08-06T19:46:00.000-10:002007-08-06T20:34:14.876-10:00Pea Salad w/Smoked AlmondsOne food site that I love to check out daily is <a href="http://www.elise.com/recipes/">Simply Recipes </a>by Elise. She features great recipes that are easy to follow and are personally tested. Recently I saw that she had posted an interesting <a href="http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/005261pea_salad_with_smoked_almonds.php">Pea Salad w/Smoked Almonds</a>. My wife and I love to eat pea salad but the kids refuse to even touch it... I read the reviews and everyone posted that they loved the salad...OK, I was hooked...this sounded good...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Pea Salad w/Smoked Almonds Recipe from Simply Recipes</strong> (<a href="http://www.elise.com/recipes/">http://www.elise.com/recipes/</a>)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1/2 cup chopped green onions</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">6 ounces smokehouse almonds, rinsed to take off the excess salt, chopped (preferably by hand)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">8 ounces chopped water chestnuts</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">2/3 cup mayonnaise</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">2 tsp yellow curry powder</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Combine the frozen peas, green onions, smokehouse almonds, and water chestnuts. In a separate small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and curry powder. Gently stir the mayonnaise mixture into peas. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.<br />Serves 6.</span><br /><br />The ingredients and preparation were simple enough...I thought, "How could anyone mess up a salad?" So I went to the store... Couldn't find petite peas(and I normally see this at the store) so I got "sweet garden peas". My wife doesn't like green onions so I picked up a red onion(on the spot substitution time). And I took the chance that I had water chestnuts and curry powder at home. When I got home, I found out I had water chestnuts but no curry powder(seems that we've been using those Japanese curry mixes so no curry powder). I chopped the water chestnuts, the red onion and found out the hard way that chopping 6 oz. of almonds is a major pain...should have used the food processor. I ended up doing a semi coarse chop. It says to not thaw the peas so it went straight from the freezer to the bowl. Added the mayo and figured I needed something to spice it up and since I didn't have the curry powder I threw in some of that Nalo Farms Creamy Herb dressing that I had bought from the farmers' market. Some salt and some fresh ground pepper. OK, it was tasting time....and doh! ... I found out that frozen peas stay hard for awhile...OK, waited a little longer for the peas to defrost at least a little bit more for the second tasting... This time, it's great! I just love the texture...everything's crunchy...the peas, the almonds and the onion...and the taste is good too... And the best thing is that it's coooold! On a warm evening, it's a great taste treat for your mouth. If you like pea salad, try this...I'm sure you'll like it...and don't forget, use the food processor to chop the almonds :)<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/psalad.gif" />da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-22750392509616865922007-08-03T18:19:00.000-10:002007-08-03T21:57:02.442-10:00A Quick Bite @ Shiro'sWe were running late one day and decided to catch a quickie lunch. As we were around the Waimalu area, we decided to go to Shiro's. There's a lot of places that sell saimin but Shiro's is one of the few that I actually like. For me, I'll eat saimin any place as I love noodles but sometimes there's places where you just savor the experience... Here, they have curly noodles that are chewy...the way local-style saimin should be. And the broth is tasty, not overly salty like some places. I remember when Shiro's first opened and people were saying that they had all of these different varieties of saimin. When I later visited in person, I found out that a lot of the "varieties" included some kind of food item on the side (saimin with _____). These days, I've found that the economy has affected the size of the bowls at Shiro's as the amount you are served is much smaller than I remember.<br /><br />Here's a "table-view' from the front...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shiro1.gif" /><br /><br />There's all these sayings that Shiro Matsuo (the owner) created and printed out and posted on the walls all over...great for reading while you wait for your food...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shiro2.gif" /><br /><br /><br /><br />A snapshot of the first page of the menu...<br /><img style="WIDTH: 558px; HEIGHT: 569px" height="1416" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shiro3.gif" width="1846" /><br /><br /><br /><br />And what did I eat? Guess you could call this a carbo-special...a medium saimin, no vegetables (veggies cost extra) and an order of crinkle cut fries...yum!<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shiro4.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shiro5.gif" /><br /><p><strong>Shiro's Saimin Haven</strong></p><p><strong>98-020 Kamehameha Hwy</strong><br /></p>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-57078482178021115452007-07-29T21:30:00.000-10:002007-07-29T21:48:56.417-10:00What I'm Eating - Truffle OilHere's my latest indulgence... truffle oil. I was reading an article and it just sounded so good so I went out and bought some... Went to R. Fields in Kailua and picked this up.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/tr_oil.gif" /><br /><br />Of course, I researched it first... I found an entry on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle_oil">Wikipedia</a> and read other articles & recipes on the internet. Seems there's this controversy where a lot of truffle oils are actually artificially created using molecules that make up that great flavor of truffles. Here's a good article from the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/dining/16truf.html?ex=1336968000&en=2d30c8d616ae624b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">NY Times</a>. Makes you kind of wary. Anyway, this is supposed to be a good brand. I've been using it all week as we had grilled a huge amount of steak and vegetables earlier and ate leftovers for a couple of days...it was great on those. The taste is very earthy and the aroma is very very strong(my wife & daughter said that it was stinky, lol)...to me, it's kind of like mushrooms on steroids...but don't get me wrong...in the right amount, it really enhances the dish. You can't overdo, just a little drizzle is enough. Next, I'm looking for truffle salt...it's supposed to be awesome on popcorn (drool) :)da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-51554858325717610962007-07-29T19:54:00.000-10:002007-07-29T21:45:36.076-10:00Lunch @ Bravo RestaurantLast week was the last time I had to take my home to rehab...after this she's supposed to continue her exercises at home. When lunchtime came, we decided that we had had enough of Big City Diner and went through our choices. We finally decided on Bravo Restaurant, right below Anna Millers at Pearl Ridge. It's always hard to find a place that is "acceptable" to my mom... You know she'll say, "any place you want to go" but inside she's secretly saying, "not that place"... Luckily, italian is one cuisine that my mom will eat. Bravo Restaurant has long been a local favorite for casual italian dining and often appears on local "best" or "favorite" lists. Parking is always at a premium there when it approaches the peak dining hours so we headed right over. Luckily it was early enough where there was ample parking available. We headed down the stairs as it is located below Anna Millers...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo1.gif" /><br /><br />There was a menu posted outside...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo2.gif" /><br /><br />The restaurant had only been open for about 20 minutes so it wasn't crowded.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo3.gif" /><br /><br />Of course, everyone comes for the garlic rolls...They're freshly made and brought to your table right away, so they're hot! They're so good that the best strategy is to have everyone at your table eat them right away and have the server bring another basket so you can eat that with your meal...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo4.gif" /><br /><br />On this visit, oddly the garlic on the rolls seemed to be somewhat on the raw side...they had a lot of bite, if you know what I mean...The mints they gave at the end really came in handy...<br /><br />We weren't that hungry so we decided to order the specials off the lunch menu...a lot of the specials are half portions of pasta with salad (choice of garden or caesar). Normally, I like to order the regular portion of angel hair pasta with fresh tomato pomodoro sauce. For some reason, I really like this sauce as it's very simple with fresh crushed tomatoes in it...yummy...and, sometime in the past, I got hooked on it. However, I really wanted a salad too. But I didn't want the fusili with meat sauce that came with the pasta with salad special. Luckily, the waitress informed me that I could substitute the angel hair pasta w/the pomodoro sauce for the fusili (for .75 more)...Yay!<br /><br />My mom ordered the pizza of the day w/salad..it was barbecue chicken pizza (we told her that she could have gone to CPK). I thought that the slices were on the small side...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo5.gif" /><br /><br />My daughter didn't know what to order so I suggested the spinach & ricotta cheese ravioli in alfredo sauce...she liked it but I thought it looked kind of soupy...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo7.gif" /><br /><br />My wife ordered linguine with clams...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo8.gif" /><br /><br />And here's mine...the angel hair pasta with the fresh tomato pomodoro sauce... I was a little disappointed as the pasta was definitely a little overcooked, not al dente...wish they gave more fresh basil... Nice salad, fresh romaine with carrots, radish slice, an olive, tomato slice, garbanzos & lots of parmesan over it...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bravo6.gif" /><br /><br />It was an OK lunch. I really liked Bravo in the past but when I've gone in recent times, I've felt that the quality has declined a bit and the portions are smaller (blame it on the economy). But, the taste is good and the service and atmosphere is great! It's a good place to have a casual meal with friends or family...<br /><br /><strong>Bravo Restaurant @ Pearlridge </strong><br /><strong>98-115 Kaonohi Street</strong><br /><a href="http://www.bravorestaurant.com/">http://www.bravorestaurant.com/</a>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-28743415595349546342007-07-27T21:59:00.000-10:002007-07-27T22:43:28.148-10:00KCC Farmers MarketLast weekend, before going to Ala Moana, we got up early and went to the KCC Farmers Market. We usually end up going a couple of times during the year. We like to browse through the various produce vendors and checking out the prepared foods. <br /><br />As usual, it was pretty busy...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc1.gif" /><br /><br />Lots of traffic in front of the booths...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc2.gif" /><br /><br />This was pretty popular...a tomato mozarella pizza (<strong><em>North Shore Fa</em>rms</strong>)...with, not sure, might be pesto? under the tomato/mozarella...they were cooking it on a grill...saw a lot of people walking around eating this...will definitely try this next time...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc3.gif" /><br /><br />Lots of tomatoes from <strong><em>North Shore Farms</em></strong>...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc4.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc5.gif" /><br /><br /><strong><em>Taro Delights</em></strong>...features a variety of taro based products including spreads and wraps, salmon and taro lau lau...tried a couple of the dips...very different but pretty yummy...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc6.gif" /><br /><br /><strong><em>Xotic Eats</em></strong>...features tofushi (sushi made from tofu) and bentos...the owner was pretty nice...she jokingly told me she charged for pictures...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc7.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc8.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc9.gif" /><br /><br />The <strong><em>Ba-Le Bakery</em></strong> tent was pretty busy...they had great samples...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc10.gif" /><br /><br />The <strong><em>North Shore Cattle Company</em></strong> feature hormone free beef...cuts of beef and cooked hamburgers, sausage, etc.<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc11.gif" /><br /><br />My wife had the andouille sausage...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc12.gif" /><br /><br />Don't remember who this is...some farm from Kahuku...they were featuring samples of different colored grape tomatoes in front...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc13.gif" /><br /><br />Besides buying some produce, we ended up purchasing -<br />...some taro poke...chunks of taro w/poke style seasoning...kind of like making poke but without the fish and substituting taro. Green onion, sesame oil, red pepper, salt, limu/ogo (seaweed)... Tastes pretty good and it's supposed to be healthy because of the taro. We couldn't figure if it should be eaten by itself like poke or was it to be eaten with chips/crackers? as the booth had given chips to scoop samples on...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc14.gif" /><br /><br />Also, got some dressing from <strong><em>Nalo Farms</em></strong>. This is the Creamy Honey Herb...I was shocked to find out that it had very low sodium (50 mg/serving) and very low cholesterol. I've been trying to eat salads on a daily basis so this goes great with the spring greens I got from the wholesale club...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc15.gif" /><br /><br />Last of all, my wife thought that I should have a healthy snack so she bought me a package of Nori Brown Rice Crackers from <strong><em>Ba-Le</em></strong>.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kcc16.gif" /><br /><br />I plan on going back and trying the other things that I couldn't get to...stay tuned... :)da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-56031090234035075242007-07-25T20:49:00.000-10:002007-07-25T22:15:20.371-10:00Mmmm...Mochi Cream!Went to Ala Moana over the weekend and did some back to school shopping. Also remembered my camera so I able to take pictures. When we got there, it was so early that most of the stores weren't open yet. I took a few pics of the display while walking past La Palme D'or...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm18.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm19.gif" /><br /><br />Eventually (after everything opened) we worked our way over to Shirokiya. Here's some pics of the usual offerings...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm20.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm21.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm22.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm23.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm24.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm25.gif" /><br /><br />This weekend, Shirokiya was featuring Mochi Cream. Now we all know what Mochi Ice Cream is, but what the heck is Mochi Cream? I knew that they had featured it before but I hadn't been able to go and see. I guess we were early, no lines... The price is pretty steep...6 pieces for $8.99. You get to pick what you want...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm1.gif" /><br /><br />There's a lot of different flavors...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm2.gif" /><br /><br />Nicely arranged in the display cases...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm4.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm5.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm6.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm7.gif" /><br /><br />Some flavors were sold out...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm3.gif" /><br /><br />...and they had truffle flavors too...most unfortunately, sold out...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm8.gif" /><br /><br />this was the display box of the truffle flavors...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm9.gif" /><br /><br />Ok, we selected our 6...they were: green tea, cafe au lait, mont blanc, passion orange, cream apple & peach cream. Here's our box...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm10.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm11.gif" /><br /><br />Here's a closeup on one...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm12.gif" /><br /><br />Here's our 6 laid out on a plate...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm13.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm14.gif" /><br /><br />And now, the moment of truth...what exactly are inside these???<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm15.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm16.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/cm17.gif" /><br /><br />I have this bad habit of trying to analyze food and dishes and trying to figure out how they are made. The mochi creams have three layers. The core is some kind of cream, not sure what kind, but it tastes good. The next layer is definitely made out of lima bean paste which has been flavored. It's been pureed really fine and you can really taste the flavor that was blended in. I noticed one flavor had specks of azuki beans inside. The final layer is mochi that has been flavored...guess you get a double dose of the selected flavor that way. The green tea one was also dusted with matcha powder on the outside. And the taste? It was great! Different from a regular mochi with azuki inside...very sweet...and the selected flavor comes through from the two outer layers. The cream in the center also adds to the taste experience. These are also very soft and kind of on the gushy side. I think they picked those type of flavors because they are very strong flavors. I really liked the cafe au lait but they all probably tasted good. Didn't get to taste all 6 as we kind of shared it around. Wish I could have gotten some of those sold out flavors. The only con is the price. Wonder if I could make these? Hmmm...da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-34484811043686643152007-07-23T15:16:00.001-10:002007-07-23T15:50:15.119-10:00Green Tea Sweets...Success or Failure?With all of the hype that was building up for the release of the last Harry Potter book, I was seeing all of these signs in front of Borders saying, "Snapes...Friend or Foe?" Hmmm...sometimes situations can be very confusing where you don't know what the outcome is. Which brings me to my latest baking attempt... I saw this recipe for <a href="http://www.lovescool.com/archives/2007/05/15/best-bakery-recipe-finalist/">Green Tea Sweets </a>off of the <a href="http://www.lovescool.com/">lovescool</a> site. It sounded pretty good, looked good too and it had won an award! OK...so how hard could it be?...after all, it's just sugar cookies... So I whipped it together and baked them. Didn't have a decorative leaf cookie cutter so I used a different shape. There were some problems as we use a small convection oven for baking stuff like this and sometimes, the temperature adjustment is tricky. In the end, it looked different. I think I didn't put enough matcha inside. I had matcha that comes packaged in individual servings and had to open a lot of envelopes and I "guesstimated" the amount <em>(I do that often...is that a guy thing?...all of the chefs do it)</em> ...the color is much lighter than it should be. How did it taste? OK, I guess. Not much of the matcha taste...wish it were much stronger. And, I'm not much for sugar cookies. Sometimes when you buy them they're so soft inside you don't know if it was baked OK. These were kind of in-between...not really soft but not really hard. The outsides were much harder and kind of crusty, especially with the sugar on it. So...was it a success or failure? To tell you the truth...I don't really know... I'm planning on redeeming myself...probably will try whipping up something soon! :)<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/gtcookies.gif" />da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-68867320999188823012007-07-22T18:43:00.000-10:002007-07-23T07:43:28.950-10:00Nothing could be finer...than Big City Diner...Recently my mom has asked me to take her to her weekday appointments at the Rehab Center at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Pearlridge</span></span>. As it's still summer, we'll take the family and figure it's a good time to get out to that side of the island (and we can run errands after). Since her sessions end very close to the lunch hour, we usually eat lunch right after. Lately, we've been eating at Big City Diner. It's a nice place that's family-friendly with diner style food with some local favorites. They have five locations and this is their newest location at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Pearlridge</span></span>. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Pearlridge</span></span> location is not big but it's close by and it's located right on the corner across the parking lot from Toys R Us.<br /><br />Here's the inside...really clean...really looks like a diner...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bcd1.gif" /><br /><br />I've been going to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BCD</span></span> ever since they opened their first location in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Kaimuki</span></span>. It was great back then... Their burgers were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">soooo</span></span> awesome and you could order it done any way you wanted. Then one day, we were informed that you could only get your burgers well done because it was some kind of health regulation with the state <em>(side note: for a brief time, they offered you a waiver to sign if you didn't want to have it well done).</em> Now, it's posted in the menu that you can only get it done that way :( It's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Ok</span></span>, I guess...<br /><br />The food is good w/ample portions...we've tried a lot of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">pupus</span></span>...<strong>Wings Over <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Kaimuki</span></span></strong> (spicy guava <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">bbq</span></span> wings), <strong>Calamari Tempura Strips w/Garlic <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">wasabi</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">aioli</span></span></strong>, <strong>Ray Chan's Island Style <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Poki</span></span></strong> (has a secret sauce), <strong>Soybeans w/Hawaiian Spice Sauce</strong> are a few items we like...and don't forget garlic fries, which are heavy on the garlic. Haven't tried the big salads but the side house salad is a good mix of spring greens...none of that iceberg stuff, even has shredded beets on it, which sweetens it...and you gotta try the house vinaigrette...we even dip our fries in it... Burgers are good (but remember they come well done), order them with garlic fries instead of regular(for a small extra charge)...but don't forget the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">breathmints</span></span>! Popular entrees are the <strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Mamasan's</span></span> Monster Meatloaf</strong> and <strong>Uncle Danny's Fried Rice</strong>...want it spicy?...then order <strong>Grandma's Incredible <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Kimchee</span></span> Fried Rice</strong>...either way, you get a mountain of fried rice, enough for two... We usually don't order dessert but the selections are supposed to be good. Breakfast is also a popular meal here (7am-10:30am M-F, till 11 am on Sat/Sun/holidays), featuring some great fare...(I usually order fried rice, the all occasion food, I guess)<br /><br />This time, we ordered the Calamari Tempura Strips (my daughter loves these), the Uncle Danny's Fried Rice (my wife and youngest sharing), my mom ordered a Super Combo (served 11-3 weekdays) 1/2 smoked turkey & cranberry sandwich & a house salad for $7.99 and I felt a need to be healthy so I got a specialty sandwich, the Upcountry Veggie Sandwich. This sandwich is good...the first time I got it I was pleasantly surprised that it was so tasty...it's got California Avocado, Japanese Cucumbers, Organic Baby Greens, Carrots, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Jack and Cheddar Cheeses, Topped with Roasted Corn & Fresh Salsa on Whole Wheat Toast. <em>Whew! Can you say that fast?</em> Service that day was quick...we got our food in no time at all...<br /><br />...the house salad w/house vinaigrette on the side..<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bcd2.gif" /><br /><br />...super combo...1/2 turkey sandwich w/house salad...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bcd3.gif" /><br /><br />...calamari tempura strips w/garlic <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">wasabi</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">aioli</span></span>...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bcd4.gif" /><br /><br />...uncle <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">danny's</span></span> fried rice...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bcd5.gif" /><br /><br />...upcountry veggie sandwich...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bcd6.gif" /><br /><br />...closeup on the sandwich contents...<br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bcd7.gif" /><br /><br />This place is popular with the late <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">nite</span></span> crowd and even more crowded on the weekends as everyone comes here for breakfast. Be aware that there is a brunch menu on the weekend, not a lunch menu and there is another menu for late <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">nite</span></span>. The menus can be viewed <a href="http://bigcitydinerhawaii.com/menus.asp">here</a>.<br /><br />OK, so I ate healthy...gives me an opportunity to snack later :)<br /><br /><strong>Big City Diner</strong><br /><strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Pearlridge</span></span> Shopping Center East (Phase III)<br />Next to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ToysRUs</span></span> and Bank of Hawaii<br />98-211 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Pali</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Momi</span></span> Street</strong><br />(<em>other locations in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Kaimuki</span></span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Kailua</span></span>, Ward & <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Waipio</span></span>)</em>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-14760930725282511962007-07-18T21:44:00.000-10:002007-07-19T16:21:29.806-10:00Grad party @ Shogun RestaurantLast weekend I spent Saturday night at a graduation party at the Shogun restaurant at the Pacific Beach Hotel. OK, that meant a buffet (yay!) but on the other hand, parking and Waikiki traffic are major concerns (remember, it's Saturday night!). I haven't been to the Shogun buffet for quite awhile. It used to be where we would go annually for New Year's and some other occasions. And, to tell you the truth, the buffet wasn't that great when we attended in the past. Yeah, I know locals would attest to how good it was but back then, quality wasn't the greatest and some of the food seemed to be mass produced...I guess they had a hard time keeping up with the demand... We hadn't been there for a couple of years, so...I was pleasantly surprised when I checked out the spread this time around and saw a lot of changes.<br /><br />Saturday night is listed as "Shogun Night". What does that mean? Well, I don't know...the other nights are: Mon/Tues is King Crab Night, Wed is Takoyaki Night, Friday is Robatayaki Night and Sunday is Okinawa Night....maybe they couldn't think of another name for that night... In their ads, they say that all buffets include prime rib of beef, crab legs, shrimp & vegetable tempura, butterfish misoyaki, sushi, sashimi, appetizers, salads & desserts. Hmmm...nothing featured on Saturday... (sad face here)<br /><br />OK, when you approach a buffet, strategy is important. And, for some people, preparation is important too. You would be surprised at how people prep for their evening at a buffet..."Ummm, yeah...I didn't eat all day, just for this"....or "I made sure to exercise a couple extra minutes this morning" or "I did exercises to expand my stomach" (I actually heard this one on a show that featured marathon eating). I can always categorize the different people and their strategies by watching them select their items. First, there's the "gotta get the crab" people...they head directly to the crab and load up their plates with it, feeling that it's the premium item and they need to get their money's worth...then they go back again and again, filling up their plates with crab. If you're after these people, forget about getting a claw... Then, there's the guys who feel that salad is food for rabbits and go straight for the prime rib/meats/main dishes. Or you have the people who have no idea what they want or how much of it they want and take forever to move from dish to dish. Then there's the people who for some reason think that you've got to take everything...check out their plate...just overflowing...in the end, they only eat part of what they take. Then there's the people on their second or third run (or more)...they go straight to what they want (also gives you an indication of what's good). Me? I'm kind of in-between. I think of the first run as kind of like a "tasting course" where I pick up a little here & there of anything I might be interested in. If it turns out to be good, I might go back a second time and get a little more. I've learned not to indulge myself too much at buffets...takes a lot of self control but you thank yourself for it later(believe me, you do!). And, I usually try not to get everything but be selective and just eat what I really want to eat.<br /><br />Anyway, here's the lowdown (sorry, I didn't get pics of everything...the little kids were already saying that I was strange...taking pics of food)...here's the entrance and here's a sign about the different nights...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun1.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun2.gif" /><br /><br />...the line starts off with your basic salads, poke and sashimi, cold appetizers...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun3.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun4.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun5.gif" /><br /><br /><br />...soba, toppings & cold tofu...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun6.gif" /><br /><br /><br />some hot dishes...yakisoba, karaage, gyoza....<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun7.gif" /><br /><br /><br />...crab legs! (snow crab)...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun9.gif" /><br /><br />...sushi & tempura station...both made on the spot...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun10.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun11.gif" /><br /><br />...desserts - zenzai, soft serve (toppings in the 2nd pic), pies & cakes, fresh fruits...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun12.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun13.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun14.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun15.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun16.gif" /><br /><br />What I really like is that the selections were a little different from before...and they had sushi and tempura stations. Would you believe that way back, those items came from the kitchen and were very limited or dried out and not very good. Of course, if someone is making it fresh, I had to have sushi & tempura...(you can see the wok behind the tempura station where they are cooking it). Another thing I really liked is that the chef carving the prime rib (sorry, no pic) was very accomodating... How accomodating you ask? Well, a cousin (who's into weightlifting and can really eat...usually goes to the buffet line several times and always fills his plate), decided he would just show the chef how thick he wanted his slice by holding up his thumb and finger...and he got what he wanted...it's about <strong>3"</strong> thick...see below...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun17.gif" /><br /><br />...and this is his first salad plate...one of many plates to follow...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun18.gif" /><br /><br />In comparison, here's my own puny first plate and salad...I asked for a small piece of prime rib and he cut it into fourths...got some rice there, shrimp & kabocha tempura, salmon, maguro & spicy tuna sushi, butterfish, karaage, oyster sauce choysum & a gyoza...on the salad plate I have mostly tossed greens(watercress on top) with a creamy sesame dressing, sashimi, tofu & this peppery cabbage salad w/cucumber & imitation crab...<br /><br /><img style="WIDTH: 415px; HEIGHT: 320px" height="320" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/shogun19.gif" width="380" /><br /><br />I did go for a later run but no dessert (gotta watch those calories). Lots of people seemed to like the chocolate softserve the best and then indulging with the toppings. Interesting tidbit...party favors were flavored fortune cookies from Ohta Wafer company. These came two to a bag and were either strawberry, chocolate or green tea. Inside was a custom "fortune" that thanked the guests. Not pictured is a giant fortune cookie (orange flavored) that was given to special relatives (we got one as we helped with stuff)...unfortunately, I didn't get a pic before it was eaten.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/gradfavor.gif" /><br /><br />So I guess I won't mind as much the next time someone tells me that we're heading to the Shogun...just got to remember...how thick do you want your prime rib? :)<br /><br /><strong>Shogun Restaurant & Sushi Bar</strong><br /><strong>Pacific Beach Hotel/Third Floor</strong><br /><em>Ilima Award Winner: "Favorite Japanese Restaurant"</em>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-66450436931897630912007-07-17T22:52:00.000-10:002007-07-17T23:16:13.936-10:00What I'm Eating - Haagen Daz Reserve, Hawaiian Lehua Honey & Sweet CreamOK, so regular Haagen Daz was on sale at Foodland at 2 for $5 but I guess they forgot to tell the cashier that the Reserve was a different price...lol... Watched the cashier scan the pint and then manually change the price to the same price as the regular Haagen Daz...Ok, whatevers... I ended up buying three pints(2 reserve & 1 regular), all at the same price. I'll try to eventually cover all three flavors...<br /><br />Here's a flavor with a Hawaiian connection...it's called, "Hawaiian Lehua Honey & Sweet Cream". The name says it all...it's sweet cream ice cream with honey. Flavor Notes on the container state, "the Lehua Blossom imparts a unique floral notes to this rare honey which is balanced by a rich sweet cream". Appearance is of a creamy white ice cream with swirls of light caramel...guess that's the honey. How does it taste? Sweet.... you get a little of the cream initially but the honey dominates once it comes into play... And, to me, it's a rich dark honey taste...it's interesting. By the way, lehua honey comes from the lehua blossom which is the flower of the Ohi'a tree...usually found on the Big Island of Hawaii in the volcano area. If you like really sweet stuff, this might be the ice cream for you...<br /><br /><img height="490" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/honey1.gif" width="401" /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/honey2.gif" />da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-78430170815498170912007-07-17T22:08:00.000-10:002007-07-17T23:18:33.241-10:00Missed OpportunitySorry everyone...I forgot my camera so I didn't get to take pictures when eating at Mini Garden...the Beretania Street location. We were looking for someplace easy and fast for lunch. Went to Sekiya's first but as it was only a little after noon, of course there was no parking. Our second choice was Mini Garden. I like the food there...tastes great and we usually go for the noodles...Hong Kong style. I usually order some kind of stewed noodle...it's simple and tastes great. I like the brisket, my wife orders tendon and my daughter likes to eat it simply with just choy sum. It comes with an accompanying bowl of broth so you can dip and slurp at your heart's content. Other times I might order shrimp wonton or crispy gau gee min or whatever...but I always eat noodles. I know they have other great stuff like a really good vegetarian menu (that I've heard a lot about) that uses bean curd but hey, I like noodles...<br /><br />One thing to watch out for is the service. I've gone many times during the weekend (usually Sunday) and it's pretty busy but I think they have more help during that time. Recently I've gone during the week and there's not as many people working so service can be good or very bad. The last time I was there, I was in a rush, hadn't eaten all day(and had been fasting for a blood test) and just my luck...my order came when everyone was finishing up their food. The waiter said they forgot my order as they were focusing on a large party of people there. The manager tried to placate us by giving us dessert. And that's another thing...if they know you or if they think that you aren't happy with the food, they might give you dessert...and it's not the regular help that does that...I think it has to be one of the people that run the restaurant. So great food but the service can vary a lot...recommend when you order, you request for <strong>no msg</strong>...and watch out for parking too...at peak times that small lot fills up fast (they share parking with Fujipan Bakery) and then everyone parks right in front of the restaurant.<br /><br /><strong>Mini Garden, 2065 S. Beretania St.</strong><br /><br />After eating, we visited Fujipan Bakery next door. Typical Japanese bakery...pastries, cheesecake, loaves of bread, etc. One thing we picked up was Melon Pan. If you're not familiar with that, it literally means "melon bread". I like melon pan (and my daughter too) and we purchased a few for her. What is melon pan? Here's a pic of the ones we bought...<br /><br /><img height="336" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/melonpan.gif" width="418" /><br /><br />Here's a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melonpan">link</a> to a wikipedia article on melon pan. It's basically a bun that has a sugary sweet crust and most times it has some melon flavoring (well, at least the better ones do). The top is usually cut into a crosshatch pattern. Of course, there are variations...I've seen different kinds with different stuff inside or where the shape is very different. The ones we got are the type you normally see. And, just by looking at them, you know they're gonna be good! (I know some bakeries do smaller ones but they're usually not as good). If you're interested in making your own melon pan, here's a <a href="http://www.lerman.biz/asagao/melonpan.html">recipe</a>. The recipe tells you to use melon essence...don't know where you find that. Anyway...these are great... The other thing we noticed at the bakery was that they do some small breads(or pastries?) in animal shapes...pretty funny...rabbit, elephant... They were even selling a set as a "zoo"...I think it also had a turtle and something else. We're thinking of coming back and buying that as a gift...just need the right occasion...(and right person).<br /><p><strong>Fujipan Bakery, 2065 S. Beretania St.</strong></p>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-22301051563510629102007-07-13T22:33:00.000-10:002007-07-14T23:17:17.108-10:00What I'm eating - Haagen Daz Feature Flavor, Sticky Toffee PuddingEver watch that Food Network special about the 2006 Scoop flavor search? The winning flavor would become the next, new Haagen Daz flavor. Finalists included cannoli, toasted coconut sesame brittle and sticky toffee pudding. Sticky toffee pudding won. It became a feature flavor. Hmmm...sounded interesting...and I can't resist something new... Just had to wait until the right opportunity. This week there was a sale at a local market on Haagen Daz pints and I went to see if sticky toffee pudding was there. It sure was...<br /><br />So, what is sticky toffee pudding anyway? According to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_toffee_pudding">wikipedia</a>, "Sticky toffee pudding is a British dessert (or pudding) consisting of a moist sponge cake made with fine chopped dates and covered in a toffee sauce. It was originally called icky sticky toffee sponge." Sounds like my kind of dessert. A search on Google turns up a lot of companies that produce it so it must be popular...even outside of the UK. Interested in more details about the ingredients and how you make it? Just out of curiousity, I took a look at one <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/jamesstickytoffeepud_67654.shtml">recipe</a> and <a href="http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/recipes/stickytoffeepudding.htm">another</a>. The description on the ice cream container says, "rich vanilla ice cream swirled with sticky toffee sauce and morsels of moist brown sugar cake". Mmmm...sounds really good...but is it?<br /><br />OK, we know what's in it and how they make the cake part...so, how does it taste? Let's take out the container and open that top wrapper. Wait, wait... Like a fine wine, good ice cream needs to be enjoyed, not just devoured. Appearance...basically creamy white with swirls of brown and you can see those chunky bits of cake. Aroma...I can detect a light hint of toffee. Ok, let's dig in that spoon... Mmmm...I can taste the vanilla ice cream at first, sweet and creamy. Followed by the sweet caramel of the toffee and then I bite into a chunk of cake and it hits me. Wow, what a combination! And I can really taste the dates in that cake. I know some people don't like dates but I do. I've read comments on this flavor and either you like it or you don't. The combination here can be a bit on the sweet side for some people but it works for me. This is going to be a pint that I savor a spoonful at a time. I recommend that you try it if you haven't...after all, you'll never know if you like it unless you try it... *Recommendation-try to get it on sale.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/toffee1.gif" /><br /><img style="WIDTH: 360px; HEIGHT: 335px" height="359" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/toffee3.gif" width="444" /><br /><img style="WIDTH: 360px; HEIGHT: 338px" height="418" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/toffee2.gif" width="484" /><br /><br />By the way, Haagen Daz has selected the top 3 flavor finalists for this year's Scoop. The finalists are Blueberry Belgian Waffle, Coco Y Cacao and Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan. You can view and vote on your favorite <a href="http://scoop.haagen-dazs.com/">here</a>.da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-90758593375266483802007-07-12T20:11:00.000-10:002007-07-13T22:33:50.211-10:00I've been tagged!OK, I'm the new kid on the block and already I've been tagged...(shouts of "no fair") Guess the newbies don't get it easy, huh?...nah, just kidding :) Anyway, I've been tagged by Kathy of <a href="http://apassionforfood.blogspot.com/">"A Passion for Food"</a>. Seems that the rules are: (1) Each participant posts eight random facts about themselves. (2) Tagees should write a blogpost of eight random facts about themselves. (3) At the end of the post, eight more bloggers are tagged. Go to their blog and leave a comment telling them they're tagged.<br /><br />8 random facts about me:<br /><br />1) I don't like eggs. (Gasps of horror from the crowd!) Yeah, I'm weird. When I was a little kid I just couldn't stand the taste of eggs and now, I'll probably gag if I tried to eat one. Guess it became a psychological thing...but anyway, less cholesterol, right? The weird thing is that I won't eat one fried, scrambled, boiled, in an omelette etc., but it's OK in baked goods, etc. My wife laughs when I pick the pieces out of fried rice. I would never last as a judge on Iron Chef.<br /><br />2) I'm a candy addict. Yup, it's true. I'm trying to be healthy but hey, candy is a food group, right? And, there's no fat and mostly low sodium content in most candies (the non-chocolate kind). And I keep dark chocolate on hand too...72% cacao...supposedly full of antioxidants, good for you... And I love to experience all those new kinds of candies. Hey, gotta get my daily fix...<br /><br />3) I'm a gamer. Have always loved to play video games and even if I'm older now, I'm still into it. Haven't bought the new consoles yet...no PS3 or XBox360(waiting to see how much the price drops) but we do have a Wii(lots of exercise)...and I used to own almost everything else...and what I didn't get rid of, I still pull out once in a while to play...original Nintendo or Super Nintendo anyone?...and I have Japanese versions too...plus I play on the computer (I don't only read food blogs every night)...have a collection of computer games...and I'm into Guild Wars (a MMORPG) and am a proud member of the Imperium of Lazy Nation, an alliance of 10 guilds, the largest in the Guild Wars world. (I know, I know...typical guy thing)<br /><br />4) I love watching cartoons. I used to watch them all growing up and now I watch periodically with my kids. We're also into Japanese anime. (my kids think it's great...a dad who plays games with them and watches cartoons too).<br /><br />5) Animal lover. I always grew up with pets but since I've been married, we've been through cats and dogs, mice, turtles, fish. No birds, rats, guinea pigs, or rabbits, yet. At one time, we had about 10-15 cats (two had litters and we waited for the kittens to grow a bit before giving them away). Now, we just have 3 dogs and 1 cat. They all live in the house and are great companions.<br /><br />6) Grew up in Waipahu. It's a small town on the leeward side of Oahu that centered around the sugar mill that was built there. People always used to mistake me for a "townie" and was surprised that I grew up there.<br /><br />7) I don't like cilantro (gasps of horror again!). Yep, don't like it...sorry, all you cilantro lovers. I can tolerate a little bit, like in salsa but in anything else at higher levels, it makes me gag...serious... I think it stems back from when I was little, I ate chow mein that had some cilantro hidden in it and bit into a huge piece. The flavor was so strong, it marked me for life. I ran to the bathroom to throw up. To this day, cilantro just makes me gag...and that's for real. Some people tell me that it's an acquired taste and I believe that. Makes it hard when I eat some asian foods (excuse me, can I get that with no cilantro?...you know, chinese parsley? - server looks at you strangely) . Hmmm...one more reason I can't be an Iron Chef judge :(<br /><br />8) OK, last one... I'm definitely a night person. I go to sleep late (most times after midnight) and I sleep for very few hours as I'm up at least by 5 or so in the morning (that's when I take out the dogs). I don't sleep a lot and can get by easily with 4 hours sleep nightly. I've been doing this from when I was young and am just used to it. So, where ever I go, I'm the last to sleep and first to get up...so you definitely don't want to travel with me...<br /><br />OK, hope you all don't mind...this being my first tag or meme...I don't have much blogs that I read on a regular basis and I think they're all tagged already so I'll bend the rules a little and not tag anyone. Maybe in the future, I'll know more blogs so I can pass on the tag...so everyone, beware in the future :)da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-59192937585137380902007-07-11T21:29:00.000-10:002007-07-11T23:05:22.960-10:00What I'm eating/drinking - Blue Vanilla Slurpee, Diet Pepsi Max<strong></strong><br /><strong>-Woo Hoo Blue Vanilla Slurpee</strong><br /><a href="http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/">The Simpsons Movie </a>is coming out soon and 7-11 stores are <a href="http://www.slurpee.com/">promoting it</a>...they're doing all kinds of stuff. I'm not really a fan of the show (I actually like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama">Futurama</a> much better), but I have seen enough episodes to be familiar with it. To promote the movie, the slurpee flavor of the month is "Woo Hoo Blue Vanilla". I've had a couple already and have found it to be pretty good. Good flavor but there's some kind of aftertaste...to me, that aftertaste kind of hints at coconut but other people claim it tastes like something else. But I like it anyway and it's supposedly only for the month. My wife likes to buy a large one and it goes right to the freezer. The she eats it later by scraping it with a spoon...guess it's kind of like eating one of those sorbets you make from scratch and scrape it or like eating frozen lemonade?...and if you freeze it before it liquifies it's really easy to scrape it out and eat later.<br /><a href="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bvanilla.gif"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 218px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 344px" height="394" alt="" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/bvanilla.gif" border="0" /></a>So, what is a slurpee anyway? I looked it up on the wikipedia and you can read that page <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slurpee">here</a>, with all of the details. We all know that it's a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_carbonated_beverage">frozen carbonated beverage </a>with the cup that states, "Warning, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_freeze">Brain Freeze</a> may occur". The wikipedia says that it is "heavily infused with air" and that "there is less food energy in a Slurpee than in the same volume of a soda of the same name". Well, guess you don't get much nutrition out of it but we all like it anyway :) ...and it's a great treat on a hot, sunny day. There's even a fansite on <a href="http://www.myslurpeecup.com/">slurpees</a> and I guess it can tell you everything you wanted to know (and stuff you didn't want to know) about slurpees. Heck, just go out and check out your local 7-11 before the end of the month and try one!<br /><br /><strong>-Diet Pepsi Max</strong><br />I'm not a heavy soda drinker...well, not any more. When you get to my age, you start to worry about taking care of your teeth so you can at least have them when you reach the golden years. These days, I'm an occasional soda drinker but it's hard to kick the habit. I still like to try out new drinks when they come out. So, when I saw the Pepsi Max commercials, I knew I had to try it at least once. Just to let you know, I used to be a soda junkie...I would drink almost any kind of soda, no matter if it's diet or regular. But I do have discriminating tastebuds where soda is concerned...the Pepsi vs Coke blindfold test?...no problem...can't tell you the year, date or production site but I could tell the difference between soda brands easily. These days, as I don't drink soda as often, I could probably identify the major brands blindfolded but perhaps not the indies and minor companies...and there's a lot of them now. But I digress... Diet Pepsi Max...the bottle claims that it's "invigorating cola". What the heck? Checking on the ingredients(see the <a href="http://www.pepsi.com/pepsi_brands/product_info/dietpepsimax/index.php">Pepsi page</a>)...hmmm...Caffeine Content: Diet Pepsi Max has 46 mg in an 8 oz. serving and regular Diet Pepsi has 24 mg in an 8 oz. serving. There's also ginseng in it. Guess that will keep you "invigorated"...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/pepsimax.gif"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/pepsimax.gif" border="0" /></a>I checked on the Wikipedia and found some interesting info on this drink. Apparently, it was released way back in 1993 in Europe and not as "Diet Pepsi Max" but just as "Pepsi Max". The drink was not available to the US because it included one ingredient that had not been approved by the FDA yet...this ingredient is <a title="Acesulfame potassium" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium">acesulfame potassium</a>. Seems that when it is combined with aspartame (the diet sweetener), it supposely results in a better taste. Anyway, the ingredient got approved but we still didn't get Pepsi Max...apparently everyone else did...and those Europeans got some exotic flavors too...like Citron Citron Vert(sold in France), Twist (Lemon Lime flavored sold in the United Kingdom), Punch (Sold in the UK during Christmas 2005, similar to Pepsi Holiday Spice), Cappuccino (Coffee flavored sold in Europe), Cool Lemon (Lemon flavored sold in Europe), Chill (Apple flavored sold in Sweden and Finland-limited edition, summer 2007)...boy, Europe always gets the good stuff... It was finally released in the US on June 1, 2007 as "Diet Pepsi Max".<br /><br />Anyway, how does it taste? To me, it's a little more milder taste than the regular diet Pepsi...pretty smooth. Usually on the diet drinks, you get that heavy aftertaste from the artificial sweetener...I don't get it here. Did I get any benefit from the extra caffeine & ginseng? Haven't noticed anything...guess I would have to tank a whole bottle or so to see if the caffeine kicked in and did anything for me. After all, if you want more caffeine, an energy drink usually gives you 50 mg or more of caffeine and a cup of coffee can give you between 115 - 175 mg. It's an OK soda but nothing I would crave.da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-82097068553002464052007-07-10T19:51:00.000-10:002007-07-11T16:38:05.265-10:00Kulia Grill for a burgerOn Monday, I had to take my youngest to town for music lessons. It's been a weekly thing this summer and we also do errands and eat lunch out. Unfortunately, I've been forgetting to bring the camera...missed opportunities include: Mini Garden, Andy's (in Manoa), CPK, and a whole bunch of other places :(<br /><br />This time, I remembered the camera (Yay!). We went to Fisher's to pick up school supplies and started to think about lunch. It was still early, about 11:30-ish, so we could still beat the lunch crowd. The Ward area had quite a bit of possibilities but we ended up going to Kulia Grill, which is a favorite of ours. If you're not familiar with it, it's located in the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kakaako, part of the University of Hawaii. Parking is always a concern there. When we first started going there, we would go to the UH lot and inform the guard that we would be going to Kulia Grill and most times, the reply would be, "OK, normally we charge but it's OK", and we would get to park free. I guess visitors are supposed to be charged a parking fee. Guess it depends on the guard on duty...and how he feels... Or...we would park at the lot by the Children's Discovery Center, next to the Kakaako Waterfront Park but we've heard people have gotten ticketed when it looks like they're heading to the school. These days, we make a point to go early and we usually find metered parking right in front of the school.<br /><br />Kulia Grill is great. It's clean, attractive and the food is good. And best of all, it's affordable. They usually have an assortment of plates available that day and you can get a mini deal for $5 that includes a drink. The first couple of times, I used to order the plates and was never disappointed...and the plates are a step above regular plate lunch stuff. They also have cold items like sandwiches, salads, desserts, etc. Across on the other side, they were offering pizza. These days, I focus in on the offerings located right in front...the burgers and stuff... I've heard so much about their burgers...I've read that the hamburgers are from North Shore Cattle Company grass-fed beef. In <a href="http://www.hawaiidiner.com/reviews/review.php?review=75">Hawaii Diner's Burger Wars 2005</a>, their cheeseburger took first place. Here's an <a href="http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jun/16/en/FP606160307.html">article</a> from Wanda Adams of the Honolulu Star Bulletin with a "good" rating for Kulia Grill. The only concern is that they only make a few burgers at a time so if it's not fresh, it could have been sitting for awhile. The last time I went, the burger was awesome (fresh). This time, it was OK but it was obvious that it had been sitting awhile as it was on the cold side and a little dried out. I got a regular hamburger (no cheese, gotta watch the cholesterol, right?) for $4. And the best part that I love, they have fixings on the side to help yourself to (YAY!). You can pump out ketchup, mustard and mayo to your heart's delight. A container of relish is provided. And...they have bowls of beautiful greenleaf lettuce, none of that wilty stuff. Big slices of tomato, I think they were 3-4 inches wide at least. And, red onion slices! Of course, I went double on everything (veggies are healthy!). This created a hefty sandwich! And can't forget the fries. These were pretty good...they were the coated type, tasty and crispy but not overdone. My wife opted for the home-made potato chips...thick, crunchy, kind of like the kettle type, lightly seasoned (salt & parsley?). Both fries and chips are priced at $1.50.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kulia1.gif" /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/kulia2.gif" /><br /><br />Around 12, the staff and students start to trickle in. If you're early, you'll see a lot of senior citizens that come by for the food. Some of the business workers nearby also frequent this cafeteria. The slowdown usually occurs at the cashier, so there might be a line there. Go early for good parking!<br /><br /><strong>Kulia Grill, @the John A. Burns School of Medicine, 651 Ilalo St., Kaka'ako</strong>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-22436736760327116522007-07-10T09:26:00.000-10:002007-07-10T11:12:18.864-10:00Smoke Break...no no, not that kind...Since the start of this summer, I've been telling myself, "OK, gotta smoke something on the smoker". I've had my smoker for about 2 years and have smoked turkeys, ribs, etc., but have always wanted to do a brisket. But, when you go to the wholesale clubs (Sam's & Costco), they always have these huge ones and those take a really <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">loooong</span> time to smoke. When I watch those Food Network <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bbq</span> specials, you hear the experts talking about smoking the brisket for long hours, even overnight but hey, that's a little too long for me. So...I started looking for an alternative to brisket to satisfy this urge to smoke something. I told my wife, "you know, I always see those <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">cheapie</span> pork steaks at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Foodland</span>"..."might be good to experiment with". She told me that the wholesale club was probably cheaper. I made a mental note to go and check it out on the weekend. Meanwhile, during the week, I researched the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">internet</span> and surprisingly found that smoking pork steaks are like smoking pork chops and they also have those country style pork ribs, which are pretty popular.<br /><div></div>One web site defined country style ribs as:<br /><div align="left"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">"Country-style ribs are cut from the sirloin or rib end of the pork loin. The meatiest variety of ribs, country-style ribs are sold either as “slabs” or in individual servings. These pork ribs are perfect for those who want to use a knife and fork."</span></em> </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Another site said:</div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>(country style ribs are:) "Ribs taken from the blade end of the loin closest to the shoulder. Country-style ribs are meatier than other ribs but they are not as easy to eat, due to their bone structure and fat running through the meat. They include a minimum of 3 ribs and can be as many as 6 with bones or boneless."</em></span></div><div align="left"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><br /><div></div><div align="left">I saw all of these web sites stating how good the results were when smoking country style ribs and how popular they were in some regions...seems that it's a regional thing as you can't get this cut in some places. The ones we get here are boneless and are these long meaty pieces...almost like cutting up a rib slab into individual pieces but the pieces are much more meatier.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><br /><div></div><div align="left">OK, I was sold. At Sam's Club (when I went on the weekend), the price was great...I think it was about $1.96 per lb., which is pretty cheap. I think the tray I purchased was about 5 lbs or so. Didn't want to go too big as I didn't know how it would turn out. Researched on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">internet</span> for a dry rub. It's always the same kind of ingredients being used but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">everyone's</span> proportions are different and everyone says that their version is the best (yeah, right). The heck with it...I decided to just make my own (by the way, I always go through this). Lots of paprika (had a new can from Williams-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sonoma</span> that was received as a gift), coarse sea salt, some garlic powder, brown sugar, onion powder, cumin, a little cayenne (I go light on this as my youngest doesn't like it spicy :( ) , and couldn't find regular ground black pepper so I used the grinder for fresh ground black pepper. Mixed it all up and rubbed it on and placed the ribs in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ziploc</span> overnight. Next day, I hunted down wood chips (couldn't find my regular ones so used this mix...supposedly for poultry...has a blend of mesquite, chardonnay & apple wood...couldn't see anything wrong with using it for pork) and got them soaking in water. Hooked up and prepped the smoker at about 12:30-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">ish</span>. It's a vertical water smoker that uses gas (that means heat on the bottom and a water pan in-between that adds moisture for the smoking process). I put the ribs on at about 1:00. </div><div align="left"><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/pork1.gif" /></div><div align="left">Every hour, I added a mixture of water and a little bit of wine (found a bottle of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">merlot</span> that my wife uses for spaghetti sauce in the fridge) to the water pan and chucked in wood chips every 20-30 minutes.</div><div align="left">I wasn't sure how long to cook it but the sites were saying between 3-6 hours and pork should get about 160 degrees internally. So I went about 3 hours or so, just to be sure. Tested the pork with a thermometer and it was 180 degrees...too long??? Took it out and then I figured it would be great to finish off on the regular grill. My wife had grilled pork chops a couple of weeks ago and had done a pretty good tasting balsamic glaze/marinade (funny note: my youngest loved it...she thought it was chicken..ha ha) so I thought that might be good. I asked her to whip up a batch. </div><div align="left">Here's a pic of it grilling:</div><div align="left"><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/pork2.gif" /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">And here's the finished product off the grill:</div><div align="left"><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/pork3.gif" /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">We didn't know whether to shred it like pulled pork or slice it. In the end we just sliced it.</div><div align="left"><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/pork4.gif" /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">I thought it kind of looked like char <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">siu</span>. Nice smoke ring. It tasted like pulled pork or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">kalua</span> pig but with a sweet, slightly crispy outside. I think I went a little too long on the cooking time as it was a little dry, just a little. I know with pulled pork, sometimes they mix it up with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">bbq</span> sauce...now that's an idea...serve it with sauce... Probably could have smoked it for only two hours. Overall not a bad try, I'm probably going to try again. After all, it's cheap enough and you get food for a couple of nights.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-85497261049511221852007-07-09T19:47:00.000-10:002007-07-10T09:03:57.492-10:00Ted's Bakery P***, I mean Cakes<a href="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/chantilly1.gif"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/chantilly1.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br />OK, most of the local people here are familar with the famous pies that come from Ted's Bakery over on the north shore. These days, most of the local markets carry a selection of their pies in their bakery section...you can even find them at some Long's Drugs. Ted's pies are usually two layer...blueberry/cream, chocolate/cream, haupia/cream, chocolate/haupia, strawberry/cream, etc....anyway, you get the picture. They're really good but lots of calories. Local people usually pick them up for gift giving, potlucks or when visiting. Anyway, my story begins a couple of months ago when I attended a party a work. I eyed a huge sheet cake and found out that the boss had ordered it. It was a monster cake with two huge chocolate layers and great looking white frosting on it. I got served an immense piece...it filled one of those small paper dessert sized plates...for some reason the people at work think I starve and always try to fatten me up but that's another story... I bit into the cake and expected a simple buttercream frosting. To my surprise and delight...it was a marshmallow frosting and I love this type of frosting!...makes me think of my childhood when most cakes were made like that. These days, it's so rare to find marshmallow frosting being used, it's always buttercream...sigh. Back in my single days, I used to frequent a bakery named "Cakeland" in Kaimuki and their cakes were awesome and always with a marshmallow frosting. A friend of mine used to work there as a decorator and he even gave me some cakes free. A great memory. Anyway, eventually after asking around, I found out that the cake for the party had come from Ted's and it had been a special order. A month or so later, we had another party and this time it was a dream cake. Once again, monster sized but oh so good! Very moist chocolate cake layers and great frosting with chocolate curls. I was impressed by the quality of the cake...I mean, you always hear about the pies...so what gives? I knew that the next time I went out to that side of the island, I had to stop by.<br /><div>Finally I had my opportunity. I've also heard that the food is good too but I was on a mission. I walked in (with the wife and kids following me), took a look at the single slices in the cooler and headed straight to the case with the whole cakes. Not a lot of variety...I noticed dream cake, carrot cake, chantilly, coconut haupia. Went to the register, paid $13 or so for a "small" chantilly cake. I know some of the other cakes were listed for $15. (Sorry, forgot to measure it but it was big...the label says-3 lb. 5 oz.) The cashier casually handed me a bag and told me to help myself to a pie from the case. I thought...wow, self service...haha!</div><br /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/chantilly2.gif" /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/chantilly3.gif" /><br /><img src="http://www.ishobai.net/weekendfoodie/chantilly5.gif" /><br /><br />Did some research and found out that local style chantilly cake is pretty much a Hawaii thing. Here it's a chocolate cake with a maple colored buttercream frosting and mac nuts and sometimes coconut. Here's a <a href="http://starbulletin.com/2001/06/06/features/request.html">link</a> to a nice older article from the Star Bulletin with a recipe for local style chantilly cake.<br />The cake lasted for close to a week...with all those calories, we ate these tiny slivers daily. My youngest hates nuts so she would take off the frosting (which I think is the best part!). The thing that stands out is the moistness of the cake...seems that it's pretty consistent with all of the cakes there. Guess I gotta try the regular food too...there's always a lot of people eating whenever I go. Next time, I think I'll try the Coconut Haupia.<br /><br />If you're going there, you just gotta look for the sign (and the people eating outside) when you're in the Sunset Beach area...can't miss it. And try the cakes!!<br /><br /><strong>Ted's Bakery, 59-024 Kamehameha Highway, Sunset Beach.</strong>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2602273938708629779.post-44256679510633658572007-07-09T19:22:00.001-10:002007-07-09T21:48:54.304-10:00Hello World!"Hello world". Hmmm... Sounds like one of those sample programs you create when you first start to learn programming. Anyway, this is my first post and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm kind of a noob at this. I've lurked at food blogs for a long time, even left comments but never had the time or courage to start my own. These days, it seems that everyone likes to share their food experiences so I guess I might as well join the crowd.</span><br /><br />Who am I? In my past days, when I was single (a long time ago), I used to be very active with my friends chasing down hole in the wall restaurants, experiencing all kinds of food events and what not...I mean, we used to look forward to eating and experiencing food and all things related to food. My friends and I even thought of writing it all down as it would have made a good book :) But then, I got married and eventually had kids. And middle age set in. My eating days changed drastically. I hardly see my friends these days. Now, my eating partner is my wife and the kids but time/scheduling, pricing and what the kids feel like eating becomes a priority when choosing a location to eat. But surprisingly, sometimes you compromise and eating becomes an adventure. Of course, nutrition becomes important too...most <span style="font-size:85%;">times</span>...</span> <span style="font-size:+0;">In my family, eating out usually occurs on the weekends but there are frequent exceptions and of course, there's always stuff to share... </span><br /><span style="font-size:+0;"><br /></span>Now, I'm trying to remember to bring my camera when I go out and when I do, I'm trying to get over the embarrassment of whipping out my camera and taking a pic of the food while trying to ignore the inquisitive looks (Mommy, why is that man taking a picture of his food?). Hopefully, my pics will get more frequent...and better quality too.</span><br /><br />Anyway, hope this works out and hope you enjoy visiting! Come back often!</span>da weekend foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04139819733202710387noreply@blogger.com2