mmm-yoso!!!

Honolulu: Whole Foods Kahala, Ono Seafood, Tamura's Kaimuki, Take's Fish Market, Mini-Garden, and dinner

I won't go into great detail about planning or trip; you can read a bit more in my previous post. 

During my last trip, I noticed a lot of construction was taking place on a huge lot on Keaunui Drive. My in-laws live about a ten minute walk away. On this trip we saw that one of the "mega-Safeways" had opened on the property. I thought this was great, with more choices, and maybe with a better fish department than the nearby Foodland. Unfortunately, like Foodland, this place serves up carbon monoxide treated ahi....bummer. I guess we'll stick with Tanioka's. We were pretty much pooped and didn't do much the first evening.

But we headed out early the next morning. In all honesty, I'm not the biggest fan of Whole Foods. I did however, relish the opportunity to check out the Kahala location. I wanted the Missus to have a chance to grab some local produce. I was pleasantly surprised to see a really impressive looking food bar area......

This used to be the location of Star Market in Kahala Mall, which sadly closed in 2007.

It didn't seem like we'd have any time to visit a farmer's market on Oahu, so this seemed a decent option. Of course, driving from Ewa Beach on a week day morning wasn't exactly the most wonderful thing in the world....

This was of course, Whole Foods, and the pricing reflected that. I'm not a big fan of the prepared and hot foods, many of which I find on the bland side. But the choice of all the local vegetables was very nice. The Missus and I had sort of a breakfast with stuff like Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms Tomatoes.

The Missus just loved the watercress and we bought some stuff for dinner.

Whole Foods Market
Kahala Mall Shopping Center
4211 Waialae Ave, Ste 2000
Honolulu, HI 96816

Our next stop was set to be Tamura's Kaimuki, but their poke department doesn't open until 1030, so we decided to get something to eat. Well, we already did breakfast, so I guess we need to call this brunch?

We headed down to Ono Seafood and decided to share a poke bowl. We went with a "combo" poke bowl; for 50 cents more ($7.50), you get two different poke. The one item that I enjoy eating brown rice with is poke....the Missus loves the "brown rice revolution".

The fish here has been sparkling fresh on all our visits. The poke is not over-sauced and the texture of the fish is not compromised. The Missus really enjoyed the wasabi version of the ahi poke, while I liked the less heavily flavored "Hawaiian" style, with inamona adding a bit of nuttiness, and limu for some crunch. All the juice from the poke flavored the rice nicely, though the Missus has a bit of an issue with putting cold raw fish on top of hot rice...... I on the other hand have no such qualms......

Ono Seafood
747 Kapahulu Ave.Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816

We then headed back up the hill to Tamura's.

For some smoked tako, smoked fish, and some other stuff for dinner.

Tamura's Fine Wines & Liquors
3496 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

We decided to make one more eating stop..... We've done breakfast and brunch, so I guess this one is officially lunch? Anyway we headed to Mapunapuna and the former location of 99 Ranch Market. I'd always thought this was a weird location for a market and 99 Ranch Market didn't last that long. It's now a sort of food court with some shops....great for the working folks in the area. Though it still looks kind of seedy.....

I'd heard about a little place that makes a nice take-out chirashi with decent quality fish, called Take's Fish Market.

The place is run by a very nice older Japanese couple. They seem very mild mannered, even shy. I ordered the Kaisen Chirashi and was told it was going to be about 10 minutes. So while the Missus walked around I waited a while and actually saw them cut my fish fresh.

I then went for a walk and got the Missus to order something for me from another stand (see below). When I got back, my bowl was ready.

The shari (sushi rice) was prepared decently, not too sour or wet. The fish was very fresh, the hamachi impeccable. By no means is this an earth-shattering chirashi......but looking at the quality and price ($9.95), this is pretty darn good. I really can't, by any means, call this fast food. If I worked around here, I'd be having this just about every week.

Take's Fish Market
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819

While waiting for my chirashi, the Missus and I took a walk. It was just after 11 and this place was packed.

The place was doing major business! Looking at the food the other folks were eating, I could tell....this ain't Panda Express. So I got the missus to order me something while I went back to see if my chirashi was ready.

What the missus ordered for me was the Roast Duck Pan Fried Noodles ($7.95). The Missus handed the styrofoam container over to me and I was surprised at its heft. Opening up I noticed that man, this place really packed it in.

The Missus loved the gooey sauce on the vegetables....mostly napa cabbage. There was a good amount of crisp noodles, one of my favorite thing. I found the sauce more like a fairly bland gravy which needed some flavor. The duck was super meaty and wasn't too salty, though it was on the mild side with regards to anything resembling five-spice or bean paste flavor.

Still, this is a load of food........we had half of it left for dinner.

Mini Garden Express
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819 

Speaking of dinner........it seemed like the Missus could not get enough watercress. We bought some Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms tomatoes and made a salad....and drizzled on a bit of soy and sesame oil for flavor.

Along with the stuff from Tamura's.

The smoked tako seemed a bit too sweet for our tastes.

The smoked marlin, which the Missus loved so much that I had to bring some home with me during my last trip, has somehow fallen out of favor with Her.

Turns out that the Missus prefers the stuff I now make at home. Of course it's made with Her taste preferences in mind.

The pipikaula was decent....not too tough, not overly salty.

I could eat a whole container of pickled garlic.....really.

While the Missus could do the same with tako wasabi......

While writing this I realized that we really packed it in.......though if you look through, we shared our food and never ate too much. We really enjoyed this type of "grazing"........

We crashed fairly early, we'd bee headed to the Big Island the next day.

Thanks for reading!

We're Back

In case you've been wondering.....the Missus and I took what seemed like a really short trip, it seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. We were getting a bit stale, so it was time for us to do something. I know I already went home once this year, but we decided to take that trip.

We ended up spending only a couple of days on Oahu and the rest on the Big Island. I've been there at least a dozen times and the Missus about 5 or 6. We had friends who lived in Hilo for a while. But hadn't been back in over ten years and were wondering if things had changed much.

Since we'd been there so many times, we've done all the sight seeing stuff, so we just kind of just wanted to drive around and enjoy....to the tune of 600 miles in four days! So even though we've been here many times before, you can be sure that we'll be at least showing a couple of great sunsets.....

Maybe throw in a waterfall.....

And being on the Big Island, you know we've got to visit here.....

Of course there will be lots of poke....which the Missus just can't get enough of.....

Or even this....a bargain at $9.95:

The Missus really appreciated the local produce on this trip and took full advantage.

Though that doesn't mean I cut this out of my diet.......

We also had a chance to visit a couple of real "old time" favorites on the Big Island, places that are etched into the locals minds. These places have been serving up the same fare for decades and have a place in the history of the Big Island.

From the very "Local-Japanese"......

To a pork chop that was probably cooked in a cast iron pan several decades older than I am.......

It was all good.

Even the Hamakua Mushroom Burger........really!

We didn't have much time on Oahu, literally two nights total, but managed to enjoy ourselves......

So let me regroup and recover and we'll be back with a post!

Hopefully, before pigs fly........

Thanks for reading!

Honolulu: Sugoi

On my last day, I decided to pick up something to have while waiting for my flight to the airport. so on the way to pick-up smoked fish at Tamura's and smoked Tako at Ono Seafood, I stopped off in Kalihi. Sugoi's comes highly recommended, so I decided to hit them up. They were very easy to find, I saw them when I dropped by Young's Fish Market.

Since it was pretty early the place was empty when I arrived. There was however, a huge assembly line behind the counter with stuff being piled into trays. I'd gotten specific instructions to get the Combination Bento with Garlic and Spicy Chicken ($11.75)...so being the good little soldier that's exactly what I got. Man, it felt pretty heavy, but I thought by the time I hit the airport I'd be pretty hungry.

Well good intentions and all, but by the time I filled up gas at what used to be Mel's Sunrise Chevron near Waialae...I knew by the smell permeating the car that this wasn't going to work out....man, talk about "Kusai".....holy smokes.....for sure I'd be stopped by TSA for carrying something TSTP - to smelly to pass. Plus, all the mainlanders would be giving me "stink eye" for having something so strong smelling at the gate, while the locals would be giving me the "stink eye" of envy. So I parked right across the street from a place very familiar to me.....

And removed it from the package....holy smokes this was huge....the photo does not in any way reflect how much stuff this was.....

(The following sentence is dedicated to TFD, who sent me a text asking "what does Broke the Mouth mean"...actually it's "broke da' mouth") And after I wen' hemo da' covah......whoa...major haunas.....but in a good way.

On the top is the garlic chicken, below that is the spicy garlic chicken.

The entire bottom of the tray was covered with rice....

And the hot dog and egg just seemed like overkill.

I preferred the regular garlic chicken to the spicy version....which I thought wasn't very spicy and much too sweet for my taste. Also the glaze made it more soggy, while the regular garlic chicken was still a bit crunchy. Nice flavor.....decent garlic.....had to keep putting Listerine Strips in my mouth to try and ward off that vampire killing fragrance. Good stuff, though I'll get something more manageable next time....like maybe the keiki size??? LOL!

 So how does this ocmpare to Mitsu-ken? Man, it's been sooo long. I'll put that comparison off until next time...but that'll be a lot of fun for me.

Sugoi
1286 Kalani St
Honolulu, HI 96817
Neighborhood: Kalihi

Hours:
Mon-Thu 8am - 3pm
Fri-Sat 8am - 5pm
Sun  8am - 3pm

Interesting thing about City Square Shopping Center, I remember when this was the location of GEM Kapalama.....man am I getting old.

Anyway, that's it for the Hawaii posts for now......you guys know where this is, right?

Thanks for reading!

Oahu Plate Lunches: Grace's Inn and Diamond Head Market and Grill

You can't go to Hawaii without getting a plate lunch, or two..... Here's a round-up of some plate lunches over the course of my last two visits.

Grace's Inn:

Man, Grace's goes back a looong way for me. We used to eat at the lunch wagon near University....my good friend's first job in High School was working at the original location in Moiliili. He used to have to make the katsu sauce! Eventually, Grace's spread everywhere and like many chains of this type...sustainability just wasn't there I guess. The last time I ate at a Grace's was perhaps about 16 years ago....it was a chicken katsu, sweet sour pork mix at the now defunct (I didn't know that until the day I left for my flight home) Kapahulu location across Kaimuki High School. I'd wondered how my tastes and perhaps Grace's had changed over the years.....I knew that perhaps this would be messing with some good memories, but I just had to find out.

Man, times have changed....so the mixed plate in now three items, you're asked for two "salads"..... and since no sweet-sour pork and the pressure was on, I got some roast pork and mochiko chicken to go with my katsu.

Man, that "Asian" coleslaw tasted like it was dressed with pure rice vinegar and I was never a fan of the almost mainland like sour mac salad anyway. In retrospect, I should have just gotten the chicken katsu...memories would have remained untarnished. The mochiko chicken was way bland and greasy, even by plate lunch standards. The roast pork was dry, lukewarm, the gravy gluey, and also flavorless...where was that bottle of tabasco again? The katsu still delivered though.....

Crisp and moist, it was as I remembered, as was the tsukemono like "kimchi". The katsu sauce tasted different to me..... I recall it having a stronger ketchup base. Nice to see the chow fun still resides below the proteins.

So lets see, if we tally things up, this was batting about .400, nice if you're playing baseball, not so great if you're trying to rekindle some memories. Of course the thoguht came to me, I'd never eaten at this location. Could that have been a factor?

Grace's Inn
98-820 Moanalua Rd
Aiea, HI 96701

Diamond Head Market and Grill:

I'm not sure where I first heard about this place....I think it's either Kat or Kathy, so why not mentioned them both, right? I hadn't been round this part of Monsarrat in ages.....when this place was still Burgerland!

Man, this area is crazy now, with the trolley stopping right in front of the place, tons of Japanese tourists in the market.......still, arriving about 11 am, I managed to snag a space.

I was feeling pretty hungry, so I got the special for the day, a Kalbi - Korean Chicken mixed plate. And yes, this place does offer brown rice. My plate looked lovely, not over-carbed, and with greens....the new wave of plate lunches.

The grade of LA Kalbi, the cross cut short ribs was excellent by plate lunch standards, very tender and moist. There was a mild fruity component, but this was very mild in flavor, even when talking in terms of "local-style" kalbi which tends toward the sweet side. The chicken on the other hand was delicious, mild heat, light sweetness, not too salty....a nice savory aspect from what I believe is kochujung...really good.

I loved what I saw on the breakfast menu....so I think I'll bring the Missus next time for breakfast.

Diamond Head Market & Grill
3158 Monsarrat Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815

Honolulu: Fresh Catch, Tamura's Kaimuki, and Ono Seafood

During the last trip, I made a couple of stops at various places. I wanted the D's to have a taste of local food. In addition, the Missus wanted me to bring home some smoked fish and tako....so I had to do some sampling, right?

Fresh Catch:

 Right across from W&M Burgers, this place used to be a Pizza Hut, back in the day....I'm wracking my brain trying to remember what it was before. Anyway, now there's a friendly looking tako on the front.

 So of course, I got some smoked tako......the version here was interesting, it was slathered in mayo. I also got some seaweed salad. I noticed that folks from China really love the seaweed salad. It's not a big deal, for me, but heck, if they like it.....

 There was something about the smoked tako MrD really liked....I tried to explain to him it was the mayonnaise, but my FIL said there's no Chinese word for it! So did the Missus....so I guess it need to go down in history as the really great tasting stuff that shall remain nameless? Not my favorite version, but it was interesting to try.

Fresh Catch
3109 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

Tamura's Kaimuki:

The more I visit this place, the more I like it. I actually used to service Tamura's in Waianae a lifetime ago.

We actually stopped by back in 2010, but I guess I never did a post on that one. Anyway, I thought the smoked marlin here was pretty good, so this was pretty much my first choice for a tasting.

Geeez Louise....is that price for Pulehu Tako for real?? It's more expensive than prime beef!

Anyways, I got a trio for tasting. The D's were kind of wary of this stuff....until I told them the pipikaula was "Niu Rou". They ended up enjoying that the best.

My FIL loves smoked food. Both of us thought the marlin was much better than the swordfish.....more flavor, more moist, better texture.

The only thing the swordfish had going for it was that it held together better.

 So this was one of my stops on the way to the airport. I bought the Missus a pound of marlin. During that stop I noticed the display on my right....which will probably make my San Diego craft beer buddies smile.

Tamura's Fine Wines & Liquors
3496 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

Ono Seafood:

One of my other stops on the way to the airport was at Ono Seafood, which I've posted on before.

I grabbed a couple of bags of smoked tako for the Missus. Unfortunately, the poke bowl will just have to wait for a future trip. Plus, it'll be more fun eaqting this stuff with the Missus.

Ono Seafood
747 Kapahulu Ave.Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816

Breakfast of Champions - Oahu edition Redux: Kapiolani Coffee Shop, Harry's Cafe, and Diner's Waimalu

Even though my first "Breakfast of Champions" post is probably the most spammed (somehow appropriate) post on our blog, I couldn't help but do a follow-up. Here's the breakfasts I had during my last trip home.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop:

I really got a kick from the very old-school atmosphere at Kapiolani Coffee Shop during my oxtail soup stop, that I went back just to see what breakfast was like.

There were no customers when I arrived, and was directed to exactly the same table I had sat at before....funny, yeah?

I got a cup of coffee while I looked over the menu.....yep, this place is old school all right, the cup o'joe tasted like it had been sitting around since I was in high school! Man, it was like mud....the real friendly guy kept wanting to refill it, but I just kept telling him, "no need" and making up some excuse like, "my docta' said I got to cut down on da' caffiene, no good fo' my heart" and stuff like that. Yeeeesh......

I hoped that my loco moco fared better and it did.

The kitchen bouquet gravy could have used a bit more salt and the eggs were a bit past how I want my easy-over eggs to be, but this wasn't bad at all. The hamburger patty had been pressed on the griddle developing a nice char, but the gravy balanced out the possibility of a dry burger.  Not bad at all.

But what I enjoyed the most was the mac salad.

it had just the right amount of salt and mayo and was nicely chilled. I actually wanted to order more mac salad.....but how would I explain, since I supposedly had "one bad ticka'".....no coffee because of a cardiac problem and I'm there eating like three scoops of macaroni salad??? Would have been a bit odd....so I decided just to enjoy what I had.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea, HI 96701

Harry's Cafe:

Harry's Cafe, on Waimanu street, just a block and a half from Kapiolani has a bit of a cult following. The place is a total hole-in-the-wall and very divey....the type of places that "butt crack guys"...you know, the fellows who work the trades, stop and devour a ton of calories before heading to work.

They are also famous for a 99 cent breakfast........

I was a bit late for the special, but decided to drop by for breakfast anyway. The place was pretty busy when I arrived. Four movers were eating a massive amount of food on one table....at the bar, a pretty seedy looking couple talked toeach other real loud....the woman kept half running out of the place to get "some fresh air"....yeah, right. They ended up sharing two pancakes and one cup of coffee! Every time they spoke real loud, the movers would all turn and give them the "stink eye".

I really got a kick out of the labeling for the sugar dispenser......makes me wonder if someone once mistook this for salt ot visa-versa???

I believe that "Harry" retired a while back and sold the place to the very nice Korean woman, whose name is Christy if I recall.

I was pretty hungry and went with the Corned Beef Hash Loco Moco.

Honestly, not the best breakfast I've ever had....the yolks of the eggs had broken, the gravy was somewhat gluey, and the corned beef hash was too soft and mushy, with no caramelization. It also tasted kinda funky......after reading this post on Kat's Blog, I'm pretty sure it wasn't my canned corn beef of choice either.

But heck, it was reasonable and gave me more than enough calories for the shopping I needed to do for the Missus.

Harry's Cafe
1101 Waimanu St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Hours:
Mon-Fri 6am - 3pm
Sat  7am - 2pm
Sun  7am - 12pm

Diner's Drive In Waimalu:

On the day I was to leave for home, I left the in-laws pretty early. I still had some shopping to do and I wanted to hit up at least one place for lunch. Anyway, I wanted to check email and stuff and needed a wi-fi connection so I stopped in Waimalu at Starbuck's. As I walked to Starbuck's, I could hear Diner's calling me. It was early, I was a bit hungry so why not?

When I entered, I noticed two of the "bruddah's" each eating on a different table had two styrofoam containers open and were eating from both. It didn't register until I opened up my $6.95 breakfast.

Do they sell "small" eggs? Check out the size of the eggs compared to the three, fairly thin slices of Portuguese Sausage. No wonder those guys were eating two plates!

The woman working the counter was very nice though......not much else to say.....

Diner's Drive-In
98-1277 Kaahumanu St
Aiea, HI 96701

So there you go.......a trio of breakfasts and a ton of calories....and I still lost weight! Go figure!

Honolulu: Pau Hana Time at 8 Fat Fat 8

After lunch at Mitch's I was off on a mission for the Missus at Ala Moana Center. Man, when I was first back here after being gone for almost a decade I was totally....well, overwhelmed might be the word. Ala Moana had grown into a multi-level, multi-building, multi (terrible)-parking, monster. Now two visits later, I've kinda relaxed and grown easy with the place.

It being a beautiful, if a bit muggy day, made things a lot easier. Still, I couldn't believe how hard it was to find parking at 130 in the afternoon.

After picking up gifts and omiyagi, I still had a great deal of time on my hands, so I decided to take one of my favorite drives..... I'm a "townie" at heart and I've always had a fondness for Mount Tantalus and Round Top Drive. Of course, it's been maybe almost fifteen years since I've been here. I wondered what had changed....well some things have changed, like, I don't remember the viewing platform at Puu Ualakaa State Wayside. You still can't beat the views from here.

I could see some rain moving in from Manoa Valley to my left.......

If you look down to the grassy area in front of the platform.....you can still imagine scenes from a certain well known movie filmed in Hawaii.

I used come up here once in a while when I lived here......though many times during the later part of the evenings....ummmm.....to...well...look at the city lights...yeah, to look at the city lights.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around, just checking things out......until I went to meet my friends for Pau Hana time, at a place where I've spent many of my evenings for over a decade.

 I've kinda gone through this before, but from the day 8 Fat Fat 8 opened, we....I was a regular customer until I left Honolulu. In fact, even after I left, the Missus and I would return as the owner, Sy (RIP) adored the Missus. He knew the Missus as that quiet young lady who never understood what my friends and I were talking about (it's pidgin after all) but loved his black-bean ginger crab. In fact, I'd return there to meet friends and Sy would ask me, "when your wife come....tell me....I go buy crab!" So I'd tell him....the Missus and I would get there and have a seat at the table reserved by my friends. Sy would bring out this bucket and place a couple of live crab on the table! They'd be scuttling around....he'd tell the Missus, "which one you want....you pick!" Man, those were good times......much happened behind those seedy looking doors in the joint next to Midas on Beretania.

It was quite interesting....I hadn't been here since Sy passed away. There's a pool table now, fewer dart boards....still karaoke though. And to my joy, the place is still hopping, at least on a Friday night. Much has changed, different folks, different kinds of drinks, everybody texts, or tweets, or whatever....but pau hana time endures.

I ordered my usual drink.....which will make those craft beer lovers in San Diego cringe. But when I'm back home; it's "Bud light, bucket ice".....you don't buck tradition.

It was nice to know that Sy's daughter, I believe her name is Mary....I only remember Sy telling me when she was going to school in Beijing, is now running the place. It's been modernized a bit, business seems more formal, but it's still totally local.

And in my opinion, some of the best "stick to your ribs" local kind grindz are found at places like these. The best example would be Side Street Inn......

So here's what we had as pupus......I hadn't had Crispy Gau Gee, since before the millennium....

Crispy, salty, shrimpy, porky, dipped in a mildly spicy-shoyu sauce.....it took me back to my childhood when "Chinese Food" (notice the quotes) was something we had on special occasions.

"L" wanted the calamari, which, to me was over battered and gummy....though it was decent drinking food.

We ended by getting "Fat Fat Chicken", which was my favorite menu item here. It was the signature item that set 8 Fat Fat 8 apart when they first opened.

Basically salt and pepper chicken, flavored with five-spice, deep fried. This is still pretty good...crisp skin, nice flavor, great with beer, not as dry as I recalled.

Beyond the food; it was nice seeing my "old friends"....and we are getting older. I'm hoping we'll be meeting up again soon...... 2 Filipino's from Kalihi, 1 dude from Cleveland, and me....how we ever got to be life-long friends, I'll never know.....and that really doesn't matter, does it?

 8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille
1327 S Beretania St
Honolulu, HI 96814

 Thanks for reading!

Oahu: Mitch's Fish Market

My MIL actually gave me a "day off" during my stay....just joking, I was meeting friends for "dinner" and since libations were going to be involved driving back to Ewa Beach was out of the question. Though we weren't meeting until about 7, I started my day very early with a nice breakfast (a later post), then did some shopping for the Missus. The Missus had encouraged me to have a "really good" lunch and since the temps were hitting the high 80's, I thought sushi would be great.....not mayo-filled, mega rice bomb fast-foodish stuff, but a light meal of decent quality fish. My list of three was pretty easy....Sushi Sasabune...but they didn't open until 12, Sushi Izakaya Gaku is a strictly dinner only place, and Mitch's Fish Market. Mitch's opens at 1130 and is located in a warehouse in the industrial zoned area near the airport. It does indeed look a bit like a machine shop or similar business....

 I managed to squeeze my rental into a tiny little slot down the street from the tiny (5 seat sushi bar and two four tops) shop. The place was half full, a group of three to my left on the bar was hitting the Otokoyama pretty early in the day. don't blame them though....Mitch's is purely BYOB, so why not...hopefully you're not driving after all that sake, though. I looked over the menu in chalk on the wall, with various specials and the head Itamae, maybe because he didn't know me handed me over to his right hand man, Masa Murakami...perhaps he didn't deem me worthy? No complaints, though as I had an excellent light meal...which started and ended with o-toro.

At twenty bucks a pop, this ain't cheap, but I gotta tell you; it was very nice....melt in your mouth nice......touch it and it seems to start melting nice. The other piece had a slight brown streak on it, but also just melted in my mouth....such richness is worth the price once in a while. Cheap and sushi/sashimi are not inclusive of each other..... The rice was well prepared, you could count every grain, and it was not too tightly packed.

The only item I thought was not up to par was the Kohada(gizzard shad).

Which lacked the slightly cured milkiness that I enjoy.

The Kanpachi(Amberjack) on the other hand was quite good.

It looked dry and almost firm like shiromi, but man, when I put it into my mouth with just a drop of shoyu it almost melted away, rich and clean, with a slight sweetness.

I decided to try some other specials. First up, Isaki, known as Chicken Grunt(how's that for a paradoxial name) or Striped Pigfish, was something that I'd never had before.

Topped with a light drizzle of ponzu, green onions, and momji oroshi, this had a fairly delicate texture when compared to, say snapper or halibut.

I also got some Shima Aji (jack) which I know best by it's local name papio.

This had a nice mild sweetness to it, it was also a lot more tender and light than versions I've had before. I definitely want this again. I finished my meal with another duo of o-toro and left feeling refreshed......

 I really enjoyed my meal at Mitch's. And while it's not the best I've ever had, it was without a doubt very good and to me well worth the 80 bucks or so I paid. No fancy arrangements, no pretense, just straight ahead good fish.

Mitch's Fish Market
524 Ohohia St
Honolulu, HI 96819

Open Daily - 1130am - 830pm

Oahu: Leonard's and Oxtail Soup from Kapiolani Coffee Shop

During my visits home, mornings are "my" time. I'll take a drive, fill gas, pick up stuff for lunch/dinner, find a wi-fi connection, and basically just drive around........at 5-6am. I really wanted the D's to enjoy some of the "local" food I grew up eating. Of course, being raised in the Kaimuki/Kapahulu area, Leonard's is on that list. I'm still quite flabbergasted when I see tour buses and even a limo pull up to the very non-descript bakery that is Leonard's and the lines we experienced on our last trip home were just not fun. I'm sure you can go later in the evening.....but for me, malasadas were made to be eaten early in the day. The Missus and I tried the malasadas from the Leonard's wagon in Waikele and really didn't care for what they sold....cold, greasy, somewhat gummy. So it had to be a trip to Kapahulu. I didn't expect to encounter too many lines at 530 in the morning.......

There was a line, but only four folks in front of me. It seems that Leonard's is popular with the military as two groups of men in fatigues dropped in while I waited in line. There's something about the heavenly smells when I walk  into Leonard's that just takes me back to "small kid time".

Over the years, Leonard's has expanded their line of malasadas to include filled versions. Being the old fuddy-duddy that I am, I still go for the original plain sugared version. Though I also bought a half dozen haupia filled as well.

Man, these always take me back...... MrD enjoyed having his with soy milk for breakfast, telling me it was like a sweet youtiao! You know, I never thought of that.....

Leonard's is one of those iconic places that you should check out at least once if you're ever in or around Honolulu. Here's a neat little trivia thingy, Leonard's is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. Did you know that the original location that Leonard Rego opened his bakery is actually in the building where Ono Hawaiian Food (another iconic eating establishment) is located?

Leonard's Bakery
933 Kapahulu Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

The trip for the day was Dole Plantation. Maggie seemed to really enjoy the maze......

This is the Ohia tree and the blossoms are called Lehua. I stopped Maggie from picking these, by telling her the legend of Pele and Ohia.

The story goes that Pele (the Godess of fire) fell in love with a handsome man named Ohia whom she wanted to marry. Ohia, however told Pele that he was in love with a maiden named Lehua and turned her down. Well, as you imagine, this didn't sit well with Madam Pele....she turned Ohia into the twisted looking Ohia tree. Lehua became heartbroken and the gods took pity on her by turning her into the Lehua blossom, so that she and Ohia would be inseparable. To this day, it is said that picking the Lehua blossom will cause rain.....tears falling because Ohia and Lehua cannot bear to be separated.

The late afternoon meant another shopping trip and my in-laws took the D's to a luau. I dropped them off and went to pick-up dinner. I had been wanting to check out Kapiolani Coffee Shop for their oxtail soup a long time favorite since reading about it on Reid's blog back in 2004. Never let it be said that I'm not a patient person.....since that time, Kam bowl has closed down and the shop is now located in Waimalu Shopping Center.

 Based on the menu, I'm pretty sure that this is one of the originals when it comes to oxtail soup.....

Funny thing is, I remember having my first bowl of oxtail soup at a restaurant on Kapiolani, next to where Aloha Motors was......could it be? I couldn't find any information on that.

The restaurant is quite small and very, very, old school.

The oxtail soup ain't cheap, almost $14 for a bowl, which comes with two scoops of rice....oh, as old school at KCS is, they did ask me if I wanted brown rice! Man, my soup arrived at my table in like two minutes.....

The standard condiment is some grated ginger and shoyu(soy sauce). I thought the broth was a bit too salty, even for me, very mild anise tones, and frankly, I prefer a bit more "fat" in my broth. This one was very clear. Lots of cilantro and green onions.....

The oxtails were excellent....not falling to pieces, but just tender enough. Personally, I prefer some nice fatty bits and gelatinous goodness, these had been prepped to remove a good amount of that stuff.

I still prefer the oxtail soup I had at The Alley to this and the portion to price ratio seemed a bit on the small side. Still it was good to be able to finally get that oxtail soup off my "list". Plus, I enjoyed the old school feel of the place.

Hey.....is that waitress calling me an Ox?

Kapiolani Coffee Shop
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea, HI 96701

Oahu: Teddy's Bigger Burger (Kailua) and doing the East Oahu - Windward drive

The main reason I was home was because the D's were visiting and in all honesty, I really enjoyed my time with them, they are a heck of a lot of fun and their daughter "Maggie" sure has gotten a lot taller since I last saw her over two years ago. On my first day "on the job", my MIL decided that we should do the "East side - Windward tour".....which ended up being much more fun than I recalled. We hit places that I hadn't been to in maybe 20+ years. I mean, really, when you live here, you're often too busy to really appreciate and enjoy "paradise".

Anyway, I hit H-1, then got off using the King street exit, thru Kapahulu, and past the zoo......when we hit Queen's, I noticed that everyone perked up. So I stopped....... I'm pretty sure there's nothing like this in Beijing.

I really got a kick watching MrsD kick off her shoes and head straight to the water.......nothing much like this in Beijing! She was so fast that she got splashed by a wave....which she joyfully laughed off. Her enthusiasm renewed my appreciation of the sun shining on my face and the feeling of sand between your toes. Of course it was a typical "island day".

As MrsD and Maggie headed off down the beach, it was MrD's job to record the visit in detail as he was busy with his camera.

We basically did the around Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Makapuu, Waimanalo, Kailua thing......

Funny thing, I don't speak hardly any Mandarin.....though I made the D's crack up with what I did know....."kuài diǎn, kuài diǎn....." and "bi zui" (闭嘴). Funny thing, humor goes beyond pure vocabulary and MrD is quite funny. The Missus has told me numerous times, "If you only understood Mandarin, you'd know how witty he really is...."

MrD Senior surprised me with his pronunciations.....looking at the sign he said "Ha-na-uma" perfectly! Whoa........we would pass various signs and he'd pronounce them perfectly...maybe better than me!

We stopped at one of the look-out before blow-hole and I climbed over the wall to take a photo. This is when I found out how gutsy MrsD was....she just scampered down the rocks.....whoa.

That's her and Maggie to the right. I reached them and told them to be careful and not turn their back on the ocean, pointing out how waves come in sets.........to step back a bit and watch the water....

By the time we got past Waimanalo, stomachs were growling. My MIL had told me "there's so much good food in Beijing, what they want to have is American food." So I decided to stop at Teddy's Bigger Burgers in Kailua. Man, this place is doing massive business.....I do mean some major business. The lines are long; they have to give you one of those vibrating coaster looking things......

At least I could tell the D's to go exploring while I waited for our "han bao bao" (hamburgers).....I later found Maggie wearing a cute pink Kailua t-shirt, so I guess they contributed to the local economy.....

Grabbing lunch we headed to Kailua Beach.....after all, this is a pretty nice setting for lunch, right?

I know I'd usually just order a plain burger to see what the beef was all about. But in this case I ordered a "Bigger Combo" with American Cheese and grilled onions all around. Hey, what's more "American" than a cheeseburger....with American cheese, right?

Taken in context this was quite good...the burger, though on the "lean" side the burger was done just north of well. I mean, really, compared to màidàngláo in China....is there even a comparison?

I actually enjoyed the fries, which are "natural" (skin on) and very crisp.

I found that the D's really like ketchup.......and really couldn't find a Chinese word for "Mayonnaise" ....

After lunch, well it's fade time, you need something to grab your attention.......we headed off down the Pali and the one place I was really looking forward to checking out....

Man, I haven't been here in like decades, before you had to pay for parking, when we had five pounds of raw pork butt and got TWO flat tires going over the Pali on one foggy night....ummm, well, nevah mind.....

I knew this was going to be fun, you park your car and nothing seems amiss, until you walk to the look-out.

On really windy days, it'll buffet you....just try to fall over! The D's were amazed at not only the power of the wind, but the wonderful view of the windward side as well. I could point out where we'd been.

More significantly, in the history of Hawaii, this is where it is noted that Kamehameha I sealed his conquest of Oahu, defeating the forces of Kalanikūpule, driving off the cliffs of the Pali.

Beyond all of that, the view, if you can hold your camera still is wonderful.

My apologies for not having more food "stuffs" for you, but I hope you enjoyed this post....for me, it really renewed an appreciation for the place I was born and raised.