What to eat when I'm back home from a vacation in Hawaii? Thai, Japanese and Korean are all out, since I've been eating them nonstop. But there are many foods they don't do well in Hawaii: pizza, Middle Eastern, Indian, and most of all, Mexican.
So, I head for one of my favorite comfort foods, Mexican breakfast. Rodeo Grill on Sunset in Echo Park may not be the best Mexican Breakfast in town, but it's darned good and convenient to my mid-city location. I love the breakfast burritos, bulging with egg and chorizo (Tacos Delta, just down the street does a comparably good version), but today, I go for chilaquiles. Yes, they are tortilla chips in sauce, red or green (both very good). They aren't quite as tangy and refined as the version you can get at Loteria Grill, but they are tasty nonetheless. And you even get them with a side of chips. That's right, chips in sauce with a side of chips.
Scoop up a bite of Rodeo's excellent refried beans, and I'm definitively back home.
Rodeo Grill
1721 W Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 483-8311
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Hawaii Journal: Wrap Up
Thanks for following along with Sku's Vacation Eats. I hope you enjoyed reading about it half as much as I enjoyed eating it. Here are a few last thoughts to anyone who is inspired to visit (or revisit) Hawaii with an eye toward food.
First, if you missed anything, here is a handy index to my Hawaii Journal:
Day 1: Eggs 'n Things*, Gina's B-B-Q, Poke at Tamura's
Day 2: Leonard's Malassadas, Keneke's, Waiola Shave Ice, Mekong
Day 3: Diamond Head Market & Grill, Honolulu Coffee Co., Kua 'Aina Sandwich Shop, Island Fruit
Day 4: Ono Hawaiian Food, Chinatown Report
Day 5: Sekiya's Okazuya, Northshore Report (Giovanni's Shrimp Truck & Matsumoto's), Coco Puffs at Liliha Bakery
Day 6: Ode on a Spam Musubi, Gyotaku, Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin
Day 7: Sanoya Ramen, Side Street Inn
Day 8: Brunch at the Prince Court, Tokkuri Tei
Day 9: Dim Sum at Mei Sum, Gulick Deli, Shave Ice at Keneke's, Diamondhead Market and Grill
Day 10: Roadside fruit, Romy's Shrimp Hut, Chantilly Cake at Liliha Bakery and Sam Choy's
Day 11: Fukuya for the Plane
*Shortly after my trip, Eggs 'n Things announced on its website that it would be closing at the end of August and reopening with new ownership and at a new location this fall. I just hope the new owners don't fool with the mac nut pancake recipe.
Hawaii Food Resources
If you are interested in more Hawaiian food tips, there are a few excellent resources out there.
1. Books
Over the years, there have been many, many Hawaii restaurant guides, but two of the best that are currently in print are, in no particular order:
The Food Lover's Guide to Honolulu by Joan Namkoong is one of the best Hawaii food books I've ever seen. More than a restaurant guide, it discusses the various foods of Hawaii and tells you where to shop for and eat them. It is full to the brim with all you need to know to understand and seek out the best that Honolulu has to offer. Namkoong is clearly our type of people as reflected by the excellent recommendations in her book.
The Puka Guide: 100 Hawaiian-Style Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurants by Donovan M. Dela Cruz and Jodi Endo Chai is a massive list of diners, okazuyas and other little joints with excellent local food. The 2007 edition is an expanded update of their first Puka guide and their companion guide to Okazuya. The descriptions are pretty bare bones, but they give you all the information you need to find good cheap eats in Hawaii. Unlike Namkoong's book, this guide covers the entire state, though the emphasis is certainly on Oahu.
2. Blogs
There are a number of Hawaii food blogs, and I can't claim to have fluency with the whole world of them. After all, I'm already reading LA food blogs and whiskey blogs...I do have a day job, you know. But there are a couple of Hawaii blogs that are definitely worth following:
Ono Kine Grindz is the granddaddy of Hawaiian food blogs, one of the first and best on the scene. Unfortunately, a few months ago, the blogger announced that he no longer had time to post there and would discontinue the blog. Since then, the postings have picked up a bit, though they are much more sporadic than they used to be. The fantastic blog archive is still up though and is a great resource. Google nearly any restaurant in Hawaii and you're likely to come up with an Ono Kine Grindz posting.
The Tasty Island is another excellent Hawaii food blog. Along with restaurant reviews, they do fun things like taste tests of the different lunch meat musubis. And you've got to love a blog that, instead of rating with stars, uses little spam musubis.
Island Travel Tips for Good Eats
This is just my two cents based on many years of travelling to Hawaii as a tourist who wants to eat like a local:
- Locate yourself for maximum eating. There are good eats to be found all over the islands, but there is a greater concentration where the people are concentrated, in the greater Honolulu area. If you are staying in the North Shore or Ko'olina, you will have to do more seeking and more travelling to get a wide variety.
- Get a car and get out of Waikiki. Waikiki is a beautiful beach and, while there are a few good eateries on the strip, it is dominated by chain restaurants and tourist traps. Hawaii has not only great eats but amazingly beautiful mountains and remote beaches that you can access by car. Ninety-five percent of tourists never leave Waikiki except for quick jaunts to Haunama Bay, the Dole Plantation and Pearl Harbor. Don't be one of those people. Many of the great eats in my journal were just a ten to fifteen minute car ride from Waikiki. Your exploration will be rewarded.
- Do you keep kosher or halal or are you a vegetarian? If so, you may want to consider another vacation spot.
- Consider a condo or a hotel room with a refrigerator and microwave. Taste more variety by taking home leftovers
- Don't pay to go to a luau. Don't! You will see a cheesy show with mediocre food. Instead, get yourself to Ono Hawaiian. For a fraction of the price of some hotel luau, you will get far better food. If you are interested in Hawaiian culture, check out the Bishop Museum which includes displays on Hawaiian history and culture and sponsors hula and other cultural activities for all ages.
- Mahi Mahi is not dolphin. It is dolphin fish, totally different creature, so don't sweat it; you're not eating Flipper.
- Lastly, love the pig and do not fear the spam!
Shout-Outs
To just a few of the places I missed this trip but that are worth a visit:
Young's Fish Market
1286 Kalani Street
Hololulu, HI
Hawaiian food joint, kalua pig, lau lau, Okinawan sweet potato, etc.
Spices
2671 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI
Creative pan-Southeast Asian fusion and great ice creams. Mid-level price wise.
Alan Wong's
1857 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI
(808) 949-2526
If you have room to splurge for a meal, you must go to Alan Wong. More than any individual chef, he brought Hawaiian cuisine to a new level by blending classic techniques with local ingredients and traditional dishes. And if you are used to the occasional splurge on a high end restaurant in LA, you will be pleased with the price.
Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop
46 Ho'olai St.
Kailua, HI
(808) 262-5367
The best malassadas on the island come from this Kailua bakery. Being doughnut shaped, rather than spherical, allows for more surface area to be fried crispy and delicious. I am probably sadder to have missed this place than anyplace else this trip.
What a great vacation! I hope you enjoyed my virtual meals. Thanks to all the Hawaii residents who have made the islands such a food-lovers paradise.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Hawaii Journal Day 11: Something Special in the Air
Day 11: Wednesday
Well, this is it, the end of vacation in which we say a fond farewell to the beautiful beaches, mountains and plate lunches of Hawaii, but not without a parting taste.
Given that airlines no longer provide any free food, making you shell out money for a collection of sub-par chips and cheese-food products, it pays to bring meals on long flights. And what better meal to bring on a flight than okazu?
Airplane Lunch: Fukuya Delicatessen and Catering
In years past, my favorite okazuya was Ebisu on King Street, but I was sad to learn that it was no more. As a result, as you may have noticed, I spent much of this trip searching for new okazuya, places with reliable musubi, fried foods and other delectables. One of the best I found was Fukuya. In front of our jealous fellow passengers we devoured mochiko and regular fried chicken, buttery shoyu fish, musubis and various fried bits. A fitting end to a lovely trip.
Fukuya Delicatessen and Catering
2710 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 946-2073
Tomorrow: A Hawaii Wrap-Up
Well, this is it, the end of vacation in which we say a fond farewell to the beautiful beaches, mountains and plate lunches of Hawaii, but not without a parting taste.
Given that airlines no longer provide any free food, making you shell out money for a collection of sub-par chips and cheese-food products, it pays to bring meals on long flights. And what better meal to bring on a flight than okazu?
Airplane Lunch: Fukuya Delicatessen and Catering
In years past, my favorite okazuya was Ebisu on King Street, but I was sad to learn that it was no more. As a result, as you may have noticed, I spent much of this trip searching for new okazuya, places with reliable musubi, fried foods and other delectables. One of the best I found was Fukuya. In front of our jealous fellow passengers we devoured mochiko and regular fried chicken, buttery shoyu fish, musubis and various fried bits. A fitting end to a lovely trip.
Fukuya Delicatessen and Catering
2710 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 946-2073
Tomorrow: A Hawaii Wrap-Up
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Whiskey Wednesday: Born in the USA Part 4 -- Parker's Heritage
Heaven Hill is the only distillery I know that is comparable in quality to the great Buffalo Trace. The Hill is known for great whiskies like Evan Williams, Elijah Craig and Rittenhouse Rye. One of their newer offerings is one of their first cask strength Bourbons, Parker's Heritage. Parker's is named for the distillery's master distiller, Parker Beam of the legendary Beam family.Heaven Hill is known for producing huge flavors in their whiskies but, unfortunately, is also known for inconsistency from bottle to bottle. The Parker's I tried was issued in 2007.
Tasting
Parker's Heritage Collection, Cask Strength, 61.3% alcohol (Heaven Hill), approx. $75.
Aroma: Pow, right in the kisser. Giant oak, anise, mint, quite an herbaceous quality to it; this thing is packed with aroma. The taste does not disappoint, with the same strong notes. A touch of water really brings out the sweetness, which is less apparent in the undiluted state. It's as complex a whiskey as I've had and each time I have a glass, a new flavor reveals itself to my palate.
This is a WOW whiskey. I'd put it up there with Stagg in terms of the great Bourbons. Nice work Heaven Hill!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Hawaii Journal Day 10: Of Shrimp Trucks and Celebrity Chefs
Day 10: Tuesday (The last full day of our vacation)
We enjoyed the North Shore so much that we headed back up to hang out at the beach, hike up to some Hawaiian ruins and eat shrimp.
Breakfast: Roadside Fruit
Before there were farmers' markets in Hawaii, there were unofficial farmers markets. Across the windward (east) side of the island, there were little stands where people would sell the mangoes, guavas, coconuts and bananas from their backyard trees. This network of stands still exists, and they are a great place to get fresh Hawaiian fruit. At the stand pictured, between Kahuku and Haleiwa on the North Shore, we got fresh, young coconut and beautiful, pink fleshed guavas. My favorite part is, after you drink your coconut juice, watching the proprietor bust open the nut with a giant machete, making moves that would surely cost me a limb or too, to get the precious young, gelatinous flesh.
Beware though, that roadside stands that offer pineapple probably picked them up at the supermarket or the Dole plantation. Unlike the rest of these fruit, which grow on backyard trees, it is takes a fair amount of cultivation to grow pineapple (at the stand I stopped at, they were still in the Dole boxes).
Lunch: Romy's Kahuku Prawns and Shrimp Hut
If I had enough time or if I ever move to Hawaii, my first chowish adventure will be to try all of the shrimp trucks on the North Shore. But since I only go for a few weeks and often make only one or two North Shore trips, I always end up at the irresistible Giovanni's (see Day 5).
This time, I swore it would be different, so I stopped at Romy's in Kahuku. Though technically a hut and not a truck, Romy's serves the shrimp scampi and spicy shrimp dishes that are shrimp truck staples. I ordered the scampi so as to better do a direct comparison with the beloved Giovanni's.
The shrimp at Romy's, which is located in a field of shrimp farming ponds, is excellent. They are bigger, more succulent and seem fresher than Giovanni's, and Romy's gets points for leaving the heads attached. I also enjoyed the spicy shoyu sauce accompaniment. In terms of the totality of the dish, however, there is no comparison. Giovanni's takes it away. There is something about the Giovanni's preparation that makes the oil and garlic cling to the shrimp, while Romy's less garlicky sauce spills off onto the rice. At Giovanni's, you want to suck every last morsel of sauce off of the shrimp before peeling it. At Romy's, the flavor just isn't there. It's a nicely cooked shrimp in a nice setting, but it's no Giovanni's.
Romy's Kahuku Prawns and Shrimp Hut
56-781 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI
Dessert: Liliha Chantilly Cake
For dessert we headed back to the Liliha Bakery on our way back from the North Shore. As I discussed on Day 5, I love the Liliha Coco Puff, and I am intrigued by the mind blowing chantilly topping. Traditionally, chantilly is a vanilla whipped cream, but Liliha's chantilly is so much more than that. It is more gloppy and grainy than a whipped cream. It is at once sweet and salty. I stop, mid-bite, to savor and ponder its flavor.
Given my fascination with this topping, I decided I must try Liliha's chantilly cake. The cake is a chocolate chiffon layer cake, layered with what is probably vanilla pudding and frosted with my beloved chantilly. I was grateful to have all of that chantilly in one place, but I have to say that the combination did not work as well as the coco puff. I missed the sweet, richness of the chocolate pudding that contrasted so well with the saltiness of the chantilly. On top of that, I'm not a huge fan of chiffon cake; I find it light and flavorless. When a cake is brown, I expect it to taste like chocolate, and chiffon cake has only the slightest hint of flavor. But I still scraped off every last bit of chantilly.
Liliha Bakery
515 North Kuakini Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 531-1651
Dinner: Sam Choy's Brekfast, Lunch and Crab
Sam Choy is sort of the clown prince of Hawaiian cuisine. He was one of the new wave of chefs, with Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi, who pioneered the mixture of Hawaiian traditional foods with classical techniques. I was a big fan of his Diamondhead restaurant back in its heyday, with its brie won tons, fried poke and macadamia nut crusted opakapaka. In the process, Choy became sort of the Emeril of Hawaii. He appeared on TV (including on Emeril Live), and he even has a motto: "Never trust a skinny chef."
But it appears that Choy has fallen on hard times. Earlier this year, his more formal Diamondhead restaurant (formal for Hawaii, that is) closed and his original Big Island eatery is also gone. That leaves Choy's brewpub, Breakfast, Lunch and Crab, as his only Hawaii outlet (he has one other restaurant on Guam). In the fall, he will rename Breakfast, Lunch and Crab "Sam Choy's" and renovate it. For now, some of the aforementioned classics have been added to the BLC menu.
We stopped by Breakfast, Lunch and Crab for their regular keiki (kid's) night. The concept is simple and delightful to parents - we get to eat good food, the kids get to play, get balloon animals, etc. Of course, if you don't have kids you should stay away unless you simply love the thought of huge numbers of children running around and yelling. (Though it must be said that Chris da Clown makes the best balloon animals anywhere).
I've been to Choy's many times and it's always enjoyable, but it has lost much of its excitement. The classic dishes have been around a long time and there has not been much effort to expand the menu with new and exciting fare. Fifteen years ago, Choy's food felt fresh, exciting and, perhaps most of all, playful. Now it seems old and worn out. He is in need of inspiration.
Still, the food was good, if not innovative. Choy is a master with island fish and the kalbi cooked butterfish was a nice piece of butterfish, seasoned to taste exactly like Korean kalbi. Fried oysters were thick and meaty and crab stuffed fish with a shitake cream sauce was nicely done.
I'm hoping that the renovation will reinspire Choy to create some new and exciting menu options. I know he has it in him, and I look forward to the new Sam Choy's.
Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch and Crab
580 N. Nimitz Highway
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 545-7979
Tomorrow: Something Special in the Air
We enjoyed the North Shore so much that we headed back up to hang out at the beach, hike up to some Hawaiian ruins and eat shrimp.
Breakfast: Roadside Fruit
Before there were farmers' markets in Hawaii, there were unofficial farmers markets. Across the windward (east) side of the island, there were little stands where people would sell the mangoes, guavas, coconuts and bananas from their backyard trees. This network of stands still exists, and they are a great place to get fresh Hawaiian fruit. At the stand pictured, between Kahuku and Haleiwa on the North Shore, we got fresh, young coconut and beautiful, pink fleshed guavas. My favorite part is, after you drink your coconut juice, watching the proprietor bust open the nut with a giant machete, making moves that would surely cost me a limb or too, to get the precious young, gelatinous flesh.
Beware though, that roadside stands that offer pineapple probably picked them up at the supermarket or the Dole plantation. Unlike the rest of these fruit, which grow on backyard trees, it is takes a fair amount of cultivation to grow pineapple (at the stand I stopped at, they were still in the Dole boxes).
Lunch: Romy's Kahuku Prawns and Shrimp Hut
If I had enough time or if I ever move to Hawaii, my first chowish adventure will be to try all of the shrimp trucks on the North Shore. But since I only go for a few weeks and often make only one or two North Shore trips, I always end up at the irresistible Giovanni's (see Day 5). This time, I swore it would be different, so I stopped at Romy's in Kahuku. Though technically a hut and not a truck, Romy's serves the shrimp scampi and spicy shrimp dishes that are shrimp truck staples. I ordered the scampi so as to better do a direct comparison with the beloved Giovanni's.
The shrimp at Romy's, which is located in a field of shrimp farming ponds, is excellent. They are bigger, more succulent and seem fresher than Giovanni's, and Romy's gets points for leaving the heads attached. I also enjoyed the spicy shoyu sauce accompaniment. In terms of the totality of the dish, however, there is no comparison. Giovanni's takes it away. There is something about the Giovanni's preparation that makes the oil and garlic cling to the shrimp, while Romy's less garlicky sauce spills off onto the rice. At Giovanni's, you want to suck every last morsel of sauce off of the shrimp before peeling it. At Romy's, the flavor just isn't there. It's a nicely cooked shrimp in a nice setting, but it's no Giovanni's.
Romy's Kahuku Prawns and Shrimp Hut
56-781 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI
Dessert: Liliha Chantilly Cake
For dessert we headed back to the Liliha Bakery on our way back from the North Shore. As I discussed on Day 5, I love the Liliha Coco Puff, and I am intrigued by the mind blowing chantilly topping. Traditionally, chantilly is a vanilla whipped cream, but Liliha's chantilly is so much more than that. It is more gloppy and grainy than a whipped cream. It is at once sweet and salty. I stop, mid-bite, to savor and ponder its flavor.
Given my fascination with this topping, I decided I must try Liliha's chantilly cake. The cake is a chocolate chiffon layer cake, layered with what is probably vanilla pudding and frosted with my beloved chantilly. I was grateful to have all of that chantilly in one place, but I have to say that the combination did not work as well as the coco puff. I missed the sweet, richness of the chocolate pudding that contrasted so well with the saltiness of the chantilly. On top of that, I'm not a huge fan of chiffon cake; I find it light and flavorless. When a cake is brown, I expect it to taste like chocolate, and chiffon cake has only the slightest hint of flavor. But I still scraped off every last bit of chantilly.
Liliha Bakery
515 North Kuakini Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 531-1651
Dinner: Sam Choy's Brekfast, Lunch and Crab
Sam Choy is sort of the clown prince of Hawaiian cuisine. He was one of the new wave of chefs, with Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi, who pioneered the mixture of Hawaiian traditional foods with classical techniques. I was a big fan of his Diamondhead restaurant back in its heyday, with its brie won tons, fried poke and macadamia nut crusted opakapaka. In the process, Choy became sort of the Emeril of Hawaii. He appeared on TV (including on Emeril Live), and he even has a motto: "Never trust a skinny chef."
But it appears that Choy has fallen on hard times. Earlier this year, his more formal Diamondhead restaurant (formal for Hawaii, that is) closed and his original Big Island eatery is also gone. That leaves Choy's brewpub, Breakfast, Lunch and Crab, as his only Hawaii outlet (he has one other restaurant on Guam). In the fall, he will rename Breakfast, Lunch and Crab "Sam Choy's" and renovate it. For now, some of the aforementioned classics have been added to the BLC menu.
We stopped by Breakfast, Lunch and Crab for their regular keiki (kid's) night. The concept is simple and delightful to parents - we get to eat good food, the kids get to play, get balloon animals, etc. Of course, if you don't have kids you should stay away unless you simply love the thought of huge numbers of children running around and yelling. (Though it must be said that Chris da Clown makes the best balloon animals anywhere).
I've been to Choy's many times and it's always enjoyable, but it has lost much of its excitement. The classic dishes have been around a long time and there has not been much effort to expand the menu with new and exciting fare. Fifteen years ago, Choy's food felt fresh, exciting and, perhaps most of all, playful. Now it seems old and worn out. He is in need of inspiration.
Still, the food was good, if not innovative. Choy is a master with island fish and the kalbi cooked butterfish was a nice piece of butterfish, seasoned to taste exactly like Korean kalbi. Fried oysters were thick and meaty and crab stuffed fish with a shitake cream sauce was nicely done.
I'm hoping that the renovation will reinspire Choy to create some new and exciting menu options. I know he has it in him, and I look forward to the new Sam Choy's.
Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch and Crab
580 N. Nimitz Highway
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 545-7979
Tomorrow: Something Special in the Air
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Hawaii Journal Day 9: Dim Sum and More
Day 9: Monday
So, the trip is winding down. Today is the second to last full day. It's time to start winnowing the choices and going back to any places we simply can't resist.
Breakfast: Mei Sum Dim Sum Looks Fun
If you are a regular reader, you know that both my oldest daughter and I are big dim sum fans, so we headed back to Chinatown for a morning of dim sum. Mei Sum is a small restaurant, a far cry from the usual palaces, with a fairly typical dim sum menu; while they do have carts, at least during off hours, you order off the menu. We had all the standards, served in bamboo steamers, which was refreshing as most everywhere you go these days has metal steamers. The dim sum was good, though nothing too different from what we're used to in the San Gabriel Valley. The one thing Mei Sum excelled at was look fun, the wide rice noodles that encase various meats. The look fun at Mei Sum were delightfully greasy and porky with a great, chewy texture. We had two look fun dishes: shrimp and char siu. The char siu was stuffed with julienned pork strips...great stuff. My guess is that these were hand made look fun, either made in-house, or more likely, made by the nearby Ying Leong Look Funn Factory, one of the last factories making handmade fun.
Mei Sum
65 N. Pauahi St.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
(808) 531-3268
Lunch: Gulick Deli
With our time here growing short, we really had to start getting to places if we wanted to visit. One of the things we definitely wanted to do was spend a day on the beautiful beaches of Kailua on the windward (east) side of the island. Unfortunately, we chose to do this on a Monday, and my two favorite Kailua eateries, Kuulei Delicatessen and Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop (for malassadas), are closed on Monday.
Instead, we brought food from yet another Honolulu okazuya. There is really no better beach food than okazu. You pick it up early, it's good luke warm, and you can wipe the grease off your fingers in the ocean.
Gulick Deli is an esteemed okazuya in the Kalihi neighborhood which now has a branch on King Street. We stocked up for the beach trip with all manner of okazu from chow fun to fried shrimp. Unfortunately, most of it was just average. There were a few stand outs, though. The spicy chicken, a fried, sweet glazed chicken was very good, as was the butter fish. Butter fish is an extremely oily fish, related to Chilean sea bass and black cod. The appropriately named fish melts in your mouth like...margarine. My experience has been that it's good almost everywhere; Gulick served its butter fish as broiled steaks.
Gulick Deli
1936 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
Dessert: Shave Ice at Keneke's
On our way back from Kailua, we had a hankering for shave ice, so we stopped by Keneke's in Waimanaolo (see Day 2 for a review of their excellent plate lunch). I know I've had Keneke's shave ice before, but I had no discernible memory of it, which means it was at least 20 years ago.
Well, it turns out, they do a fantastic shave ice. The flavors were crisp and rich, the ice texture was soft and the quantity of ice cream and beans was good. Instead of whole azukis, Keneke's uses a mashed beans paste, which has the unfortunate quality of looking much like canned, refried beans, but the taste is pure azuki. This shave ice certainly rivals the best on the island. It will become a regular part of my Keneke's visits.
Keneke's
41-857 Kalanianaole Highway
Waimanalo, HI 96795
(808) 259-9804
Dinner & Dessert: Diamondhead Market and Grill
Ever since my first visit to Diamondhead Market and Grill on Day 3, I've been obsessing over it. It's definitely the most exciting new place I've been this trip, and I know that the next time I eat a scone in LA, I will sigh dreamily thinking of the wonder that is the Diamondhead blueberry scone.
Given all of this, I wanted to try their dinner plates. We ordered a teriyaki chicken burger, a teri hamburger and a kalbi plate. All of these were good, but none was excellent. Breakfast is definitely the thing to get at the Grill.
For dessert, we bought a few treats at the adjacent market. These were great. The blueberry cheesecake is lusciously creamy with just a dollop of pureed blueberries. The haupia sweet potato pie is a shortbread crust topped with a layer of Okinawan sweet potato and some very good haupia (coconut pudding) - a dessert with real Polynesian roots. The Diamondhead tort is essentially a banana cream pie with peanut butter; even though I'm not a big banana fan, and it was very strongly banana flavored, the salt of the peanut butter served such a good counterpoint to the bananas that I munched it down.
So got to Diamondhead Market and Grill for breakfast and dessert, but skip the dinner plates.
Diamondhead Market and Grill
3158 Monsarrat Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 732-0077
Tomorrow: North Shore Part II and a Rotund Chef
So, the trip is winding down. Today is the second to last full day. It's time to start winnowing the choices and going back to any places we simply can't resist.
Breakfast: Mei Sum Dim Sum Looks Fun
If you are a regular reader, you know that both my oldest daughter and I are big dim sum fans, so we headed back to Chinatown for a morning of dim sum. Mei Sum is a small restaurant, a far cry from the usual palaces, with a fairly typical dim sum menu; while they do have carts, at least during off hours, you order off the menu. We had all the standards, served in bamboo steamers, which was refreshing as most everywhere you go these days has metal steamers. The dim sum was good, though nothing too different from what we're used to in the San Gabriel Valley. The one thing Mei Sum excelled at was look fun, the wide rice noodles that encase various meats. The look fun at Mei Sum were delightfully greasy and porky with a great, chewy texture. We had two look fun dishes: shrimp and char siu. The char siu was stuffed with julienned pork strips...great stuff. My guess is that these were hand made look fun, either made in-house, or more likely, made by the nearby Ying Leong Look Funn Factory, one of the last factories making handmade fun.
Mei Sum
65 N. Pauahi St.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
(808) 531-3268
Lunch: Gulick Deli
With our time here growing short, we really had to start getting to places if we wanted to visit. One of the things we definitely wanted to do was spend a day on the beautiful beaches of Kailua on the windward (east) side of the island. Unfortunately, we chose to do this on a Monday, and my two favorite Kailua eateries, Kuulei Delicatessen and Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop (for malassadas), are closed on Monday.
Instead, we brought food from yet another Honolulu okazuya. There is really no better beach food than okazu. You pick it up early, it's good luke warm, and you can wipe the grease off your fingers in the ocean.
Gulick Deli is an esteemed okazuya in the Kalihi neighborhood which now has a branch on King Street. We stocked up for the beach trip with all manner of okazu from chow fun to fried shrimp. Unfortunately, most of it was just average. There were a few stand outs, though. The spicy chicken, a fried, sweet glazed chicken was very good, as was the butter fish. Butter fish is an extremely oily fish, related to Chilean sea bass and black cod. The appropriately named fish melts in your mouth like...margarine. My experience has been that it's good almost everywhere; Gulick served its butter fish as broiled steaks.
Gulick Deli
1936 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
Dessert: Shave Ice at Keneke's
On our way back from Kailua, we had a hankering for shave ice, so we stopped by Keneke's in Waimanaolo (see Day 2 for a review of their excellent plate lunch). I know I've had Keneke's shave ice before, but I had no discernible memory of it, which means it was at least 20 years ago.
Well, it turns out, they do a fantastic shave ice. The flavors were crisp and rich, the ice texture was soft and the quantity of ice cream and beans was good. Instead of whole azukis, Keneke's uses a mashed beans paste, which has the unfortunate quality of looking much like canned, refried beans, but the taste is pure azuki. This shave ice certainly rivals the best on the island. It will become a regular part of my Keneke's visits.
Keneke's
41-857 Kalanianaole Highway
Waimanalo, HI 96795
(808) 259-9804
Dinner & Dessert: Diamondhead Market and Grill
Ever since my first visit to Diamondhead Market and Grill on Day 3, I've been obsessing over it. It's definitely the most exciting new place I've been this trip, and I know that the next time I eat a scone in LA, I will sigh dreamily thinking of the wonder that is the Diamondhead blueberry scone.
Given all of this, I wanted to try their dinner plates. We ordered a teriyaki chicken burger, a teri hamburger and a kalbi plate. All of these were good, but none was excellent. Breakfast is definitely the thing to get at the Grill.
For dessert, we bought a few treats at the adjacent market. These were great. The blueberry cheesecake is lusciously creamy with just a dollop of pureed blueberries. The haupia sweet potato pie is a shortbread crust topped with a layer of Okinawan sweet potato and some very good haupia (coconut pudding) - a dessert with real Polynesian roots. The Diamondhead tort is essentially a banana cream pie with peanut butter; even though I'm not a big banana fan, and it was very strongly banana flavored, the salt of the peanut butter served such a good counterpoint to the bananas that I munched it down.
So got to Diamondhead Market and Grill for breakfast and dessert, but skip the dinner plates.
Diamondhead Market and Grill
3158 Monsarrat Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 732-0077
Tomorrow: North Shore Part II and a Rotund Chef
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Hawaii Journal Day 8: Sunday Brunch
Day 8: Sunday
Brunch: Prince Court at the Hawaii Prince Hotel
One of the things I like to do on vacation is go to a Sunday brunch buffet. I'm usually not a buffet-fan, but I like the selection of sweet and savory. On Oahu, the universally acclaimed best brunch is the Orchid Restaurant at the Halekulani Hotel, but Orchid is expensive ($50 per person) and it is hard to get reservations.
My alternative choice for brunch is the Prince Court at the Hawaii Prince Hotel. It serves a diverse selection highlighting both traditional brunch foods and Hawaii's native and Asian influenced cuisine. Surprisingly, for a hotel brunch spot, the crowd is heavily local (mostly there for special occasions), and it has a nice view of the harbor below. In addition, the Prince Court is easier on the wallet ($35 per person) and while you still need reservations, you can usually get them by calling a week in advance.
This year's Prince Court Buffet featured hot and cold buffets as well as stations for sushi, omelettes, prime rib, saimin and dessert. Highlights were two excellent pokes (ahi and tako), a very good Korean barbecued kalbi and sushi rolls made to order. Among the desserts, there was excellent bread pudding and a good coconut haupia cake. My favorite dessert, though, was the macadamia nut cream pie. It had a shortbread crust with a caramel and mac nut center and was topped with chocolate and then whipped cream. Usually, a hotel buffet contains competent versions of a standard repertoire of desserts, but the mac nut cream pie stood on its own.
Prince Court
Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki
100 Holomoana St.
Honolulu, HI
Make Reservations: (808) 944-4494
Dinner: Tokkuri Tei
After a huge lunch, we opted for sushi for dinner from Tokkuri Tei, a Kapahulu joint with a menu featuring not just sushi but a variety of hot dishes as well. They also offered a dish intriguingly called the Baked Alaska Roll. Still being fairly stuffed, we opted for a pretty standard sushi dinner. The stand out was definitely the toro. It was a fattier cut of fatty tuna than I'd ever had before, literally melting in your mouth. Unfortunately, the uni was off, and that left a literal bad taste in my mouth.
Tokkuri Tei
611 Kapahulu Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 739-2800
Tomorrow: Dim Sum and More
Brunch: Prince Court at the Hawaii Prince Hotel
One of the things I like to do on vacation is go to a Sunday brunch buffet. I'm usually not a buffet-fan, but I like the selection of sweet and savory. On Oahu, the universally acclaimed best brunch is the Orchid Restaurant at the Halekulani Hotel, but Orchid is expensive ($50 per person) and it is hard to get reservations.
My alternative choice for brunch is the Prince Court at the Hawaii Prince Hotel. It serves a diverse selection highlighting both traditional brunch foods and Hawaii's native and Asian influenced cuisine. Surprisingly, for a hotel brunch spot, the crowd is heavily local (mostly there for special occasions), and it has a nice view of the harbor below. In addition, the Prince Court is easier on the wallet ($35 per person) and while you still need reservations, you can usually get them by calling a week in advance.
This year's Prince Court Buffet featured hot and cold buffets as well as stations for sushi, omelettes, prime rib, saimin and dessert. Highlights were two excellent pokes (ahi and tako), a very good Korean barbecued kalbi and sushi rolls made to order. Among the desserts, there was excellent bread pudding and a good coconut haupia cake. My favorite dessert, though, was the macadamia nut cream pie. It had a shortbread crust with a caramel and mac nut center and was topped with chocolate and then whipped cream. Usually, a hotel buffet contains competent versions of a standard repertoire of desserts, but the mac nut cream pie stood on its own.
Prince Court
Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki
100 Holomoana St.
Honolulu, HI
Make Reservations: (808) 944-4494
Dinner: Tokkuri Tei
After a huge lunch, we opted for sushi for dinner from Tokkuri Tei, a Kapahulu joint with a menu featuring not just sushi but a variety of hot dishes as well. They also offered a dish intriguingly called the Baked Alaska Roll. Still being fairly stuffed, we opted for a pretty standard sushi dinner. The stand out was definitely the toro. It was a fattier cut of fatty tuna than I'd ever had before, literally melting in your mouth. Unfortunately, the uni was off, and that left a literal bad taste in my mouth.
Tokkuri Tei
611 Kapahulu Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 739-2800
Tomorrow: Dim Sum and More
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