As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond since 2005.
After spending a nice couple of nights in town, we were back in Ewa Beach. The Missus wanted to do Her morning swim, so we decided to head on out to Ko Olina. We hadn't been in years. It was a Sunday morning so we went pretty early. We easily found parking near Lagoon 4. The Missus did Her swim while I went and strolled the four lagoons.
You know, I don't think I've been here since the Aulani opened? Geez, all the huge resorts.
For some reason, I got major Mission Bay vibes Kohola Lagoon, except the water looked beautiful and didn't smell like kukae!
Heading back to the car we noticed that the parking lot had filled up! Good things we got here early!
Man, the place sure has expanded the eating area since we last visited. And now, get so many signs and instructions.....
The young folks working were so nice and friendly. And we were seated behind the lanes.
We ordered our "usual" here, the Oxtail Soup (of course) and the Tasty Chicken.
The Tasty Chicken arrived quite quickly.
We really like the way they do brown rice here; nice texture, nutty flavor. As for the chicken, well, it was different from what we'd had here on previous visits. The batter was hard and crunchy, not light and crisp like we'd had before. The glaze was much sweeter; much like the overly sweet K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken), which I can get anywhere in San Diego. While not bad, it was not what we'd enjoyed before.
We were happy to see the "tower" arrive soon after.
As we deconstructed the "tower" we knew something was amiss as the usual beefy-anise fragrance was missing. In fact, looking at the broth, we noticed that it looked quite "thin".
My goodness, this was pretty bad; the soup lacked richness, it tasted like salty "shoyu-water". The thin broth was terrible.
The Oxtail had a nice texture, very tender, but it also seemed to have all the flavor cooked out of it, like it had been boiled in water for ages. This was so bland! What the heck is going on here?
This was quite a disappointing meal, which was too bad. After all, this had been our favorite Oxtail Soup spot on Oahu. It was sad, since we'd had decent grindz at old favorites like 8 Fat Fat 8 and Kim Chee II during this trip.
The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl 99-115 Aiea Heights Dr, Ste 310 Aiea, HI 96701
Because we'd be headed to Milan in the morning and that we'd done a decent amount of walking during the day, I had made reservations for dinner at a place that was just a pleasant 15 minute walk from our hotel. Being in London, we just had to get some Indian cuisine, right? And having a chance to get dinner at a Indian Restaurant with a Michelin Star? A place that laid claim to be the first Indian Restaurant to earn a Michelin star? Well, of course I made reservations to dine at Tamarind.
We arrived at the polished white restaurant a few minutes before our reservations. We were greeted warmly and escorted to our table. The staff here were wonderful and very professional, though the timing of the dishes were a bit inconsistent.
I think the timing was because the staff had food delivered by dumbwaiter and there always seemed to be a bit of congestion as the night went on and the place became busy.
Still, we really enjoyed the service
As for the food; well, we got the tasting menu and a single wine pairing which the Missus enjoyed and I should have kept better track of. Oh well.....
Things started with a very good Churi Chaat.
The crisp lightness of the papadum; the complex flavors of the yogurt and chutneys, not to mention the tart-puckery pomengranite seeds and the seasoning which had some mild sweetness and spice. I remember this being served with a wonderful Viognier
The "Gourmet Menu" had four courses with two available items. So, of course the Missus and I chose opposite so we could have a taste of the entire menu.
The first courses were a Chicken Tikka and a Coconut & Chilli Seabass.
We strangely found the chicken to be on the chewier side and without that sauce a bit bland except for a dose of tartness.
The Seabass was very moist and tender; though it had a hint of muddiness. The ikura went quite well with the fish as it added a briney component and a nice texture to the dish.
The coconut wasn't overly sweet and the spice not overwhelming. The black olives were perhaps a bit too much for the fish though.
The next two courses were the Chilli Lobster and Char-grilled Lamb Chop.
As you might know if you've read our blog long enough; the Missus hasn't been a big fan of lobster; though our trips to various locations around the world has kind of changed things. The lobster here was plump and tender. Again we were warned about the spice, but it seemed quite mild to us. The sweetness of the sauce really balanced out whatever spice the dish had and did not mar the flavor of the lobster.
The Lamb Chops were fabulous. Toothsome and gamey, the nutty pistachio added a nice crunchy to the dish. The Lamb was cooked to perfection.
The Missus really enjoy the Pinot Noir that went with this.
They then brought out a basket of crisp, yet pillowy, lightly buttery Naan.
And some fragrant and tender Basmati Rice.
This was to accompany the Mangalore Prawn Curry and the Cholar Dal.
The Prawn Curry was the better of the two dishes.
The curry was so rich, buttery, complex, perhaps again a bit shy in spice, but the prawns were so tender. The curry just went so well with the Naan.
We didn't care for the raisins in the Daal, which was kinda of well....dull. At least compared to the curry.
We were surprised at the pairing of a Australian Grenache with these dishes, but it just went so well with them.
I was stuffed by this point, so the Missus requested just a single dessert.
Which She thoroughly enjoyed.
We really enjoyed this meal, perhaps the most refined Indian cuisine we've ever had. The staff were pleasant and professional. And at 89£ person and the single pairing cost 79£ we thought this meal was totally worth it!
Tamarind Restaurant 20 Queen St. London W1J 5PR, UK
This was a wonderful dinner before leaving for Italy the next day.
Just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and delici-yoso Thanksgiving!
We are so thankful for your visits and wonderful comments!
And of course since this is a food blog....
I'm sure you know by now; our 19th Thanksgiving doing the blog, that we aren't big turkey kinda folks. So, what are we having this year?
Well, it's kinda interesting, we were getting our weekly Yomie's fix and decided to pop by Juwei and get some duck intestines, yuba, and quail eggs, when we saw this on the counter.
The Missus asked the woman working what it was. Turns out it's "smoked chicken". She informed us that this is something new and this batch had just come out of the kitchen. It smelled really good. So we bought 2 at $18.99 each.
Turns out that we have a new favorite item. The chicken was moist, good savory-smoky-saltiness. I do like to crisp up the skin a bit in the Air Fryer. It had been nicely marinated and seasoned.
While we still enjoy the chewy duck intestines; we have a new favorite from Juewei.
I hope they keep making that chicken!
Juewei Food 4690 Convoy St. #103 San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Sun - Thurs 11am - 11pm Fri - Sat 11am - Midnight
Wishing you all a warm and wonderful holiday, filled with delicious food!
In the comments section of a recent post, "FOY" DerekR asked me what I've been cooking recently. I know that during Covid, I used to do many more cooking type posts. And to be honest, much of what I make these days are tried and true recipes that I've posted over the years. And to be perfectly honest, lot of what I cook just use techniques that I've picked up over the years.
For instance, these days you'll be hard pressed getting the Missus to order chicken katsu when dining out. It's got to be highly recommended for Her to try it. And the reason is totally my fault. You see, a few years ago, I mentioned having worked in a Drive In back home. We made chicken katsu a certain way....which wasn't super good. But, we also knew how to make it for us. And when we did, we never needed to use salt; the breading never peeled off, and the chicken breast was very tender.
And it was simply done by doing a quick brine and rinse on the chicken before breading. We also tenderized the chicken breast. I also added seasonings to the egg wash (shoyu) and ground black pepper to the panko.
It used come out very evenly fried. Though my version may not be as pretty since I pan fry it, sorta like schnitzel, not wanting to waste oil...I use Avocado Oil so it ain't cheap.
The combination of the brine, I also add a bit of granulated garlic, the shoyu in the egg wash, and the ground black pepper in the panko just adds layers of flavors.
You can see the shoyu in the egg wash above and the freshly ground black pepper in the panko below.
Now because of how I make this; I only usually make two breasts at a time; it ain't cheap since I have to make the brine everytime I make katsu, but the Missus said it's worth it.
The Brine:
4 cups cold water 1/4 cup Kosher Salt 1/4 tsp Granulated Garlic (optional)
Combine ingredients, whisk until salt is dissolved Brine tenderized breasts for 8-15 minutes (I usually brine while getting flour-panko-egg wash ready) Rinse chicken and dry well with paper towels; remember food safety is paramount - avoid cross contamination, I use disposable gloves, make sure to clean up well.
Make sure chicken is dry before doing the flour-egg wash-panko
For the egg wash; I usually use 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon Kikkoman Shoyu.
It's funny how some simple steps I learned so long ago have reappeared!
So, there you go......
If you do try brining your chicken before making katsu; let me know how it turns out.
It's quite surprising what one might observe during a short drive. I did my typical Nijiya - 99 Ranch Market run and here's what I noticed.
Origami Handroll x Kushiyaki Bar:
From what I understand, it's an expansion of the restaurant in Brea.
The location is in the strip mall on the corner of Convoy and Balboa. This parking lot is kinda small, not sure how that's going to work out. Looks somewhat hipster - fusiony.
4488 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111
Fish with You:
Now this one the Missus is really interested in. From what I read in Eater, this looks like something the Missus would like. And after reading the Chinese name, She is looking forward to the Suan Cai with fish.
This one has taken over the spot that housed Shen Tan BBQ.
3904 Convoy St Suite 101 San Diego, CA 92111
KFC on Convoy has closed:
For some reason, I just noticed this while stopped at the traffic light.
So, I guess KFC lost the "KFC" battle to all the other "KFC" places in the area? It'll be interesting to see what takes this location. Remember when Golden City was on this block?
4140 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111
And because one can never have enough Starbucks.....
So, while driving on Clairemont Mesa, I noticed construction at the former location of Original Tommy's. As one of the trucks moved forward, I noticed the sign.
Sigh. Yet another Starbucks. So let's see, there's one on the corner of Genesee and Balboa, one on Convoy next to Yakyudori, and another that recently opened!
I guess they want make sure that all the folks from the new developments in the area get their Starbucks fix.
Here are a couple of revisits to some sandwich shops I hadn't been to in a while.
Rose Canyon Deli:
Man, hard to believe I haven't been back to Rose Canyon Deli in over four years! I was kinda hungry after a recent Costco run and after dealing with the mass of humanity there, I wasn't feeling like dealing with more pushy folks in line for a hot dog or pizza. So, I decided to head on over to Rose Canyon Deli to grab an early lunch.
The gentleman was very nice and friendly. I got my "usual" the "Rocky" (now $9.99, was $7.69 on my last visit). This time they asked me if I wanted it "toasted", so I said yes. I guess they go ahead and put the bread in something like a panini press before making the sandwich?
As before, a simple, straightforward sandwich, roast beef, milky swiss, creamy avocado....I could have used more of that. The tomatoes were decently ripened this time around adding some good fruity-acidity. The bacon added that smoky-salty-savory component and was crisp, but there wasn't enough in the sandwich.
A nice, family owned sandwich shop, selling reasonably priced sandwiches....yes ten bucks for a sandwich is considered reasonably priced these days...heck Banh Mi's are approaching or are even over the ten dollar mark these days. I also noticed that the place is now open on Saturdays as well.
Rose Canyon Deli 4901 Morena Blvd. Suite 301 San Diego, CA 92117 Current Hours: Mon - Fri 7am - 6pm Saturdays 8am - 230pm Closed on Sundays
Lit’l Pepper Gourmet:
Another place I haven't been to in a while.....like in over 7 years! Man, time sure does fly. It used to be a fairly convenient location when my office was fairly close by.
Now while Rose Canyon Deli is a typical simple Neighborhood/Business Park sandwich shop; Lit'l Pepper Gourmet serves up more inventive-creative sandwiches, along with classics. The place has always seemed quite popular and there's this "seal of approval" on this day in the parking lot.
I've ordered the fancier, more creative sandwiches during my previous visits with mixed results. "FOY" Sandy did recommend that I try to get a classic-standard type sandwich, which is what she does. I've been having nostalgic moments thinking of the club sandwiches of my youth. We never had much money, so getting a club sandwich, from say, Aotani Fountain or Alakea Grill was a special treat. So, I went with the Club Sandwich ($14.25).
Man, this was a pretty hefty sandwich.
Man, this was loaded with turkey, which did make it a bit on the dry side. A good amount of crisp, smoky bacon. Having mayo, mustard, avocado (which is a plus!), and Italian dressing is a bit of overkill and the sandwich was on the "wetter" side; thus the bread did not hold up for the entire meal. I enjoyed the mildly-milky cheddar cheese.
This was quite the two fisted sandwich, I could barely finish it. Good for when you're quite hungry.
I enjoyed the sandwich; though will probably be back to trying some of he more creative options next time!
Lit’l Pepper Gourmet 8911 Complex Dr San Diego, CA 92123 Current Hours: Mon - Fri 6am - 2pm
**** Not much food in this one. So unless you'd like to see photos of His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, you can turn back now and return tomorrow!
Looking back, it did seem like we were making up for lost time in London. Trying to get in all the places we should have visited long ago. One of those places is the Tower of London, originally started in 1066 by William the Conquerer as a symbol of power, to instill fear and awe in the Londoners he had conquered. Talk about a "royal flex". Being the center of power and having many roles; prison being one of the foremost of them.
We really didn't want to do the very popular Ceremony of the Keys....by 9pm we'd want to be settling in. We would be flying to Milan the next morning and while it wasn't a very early flight, I just wanted to be well rested. Instead, after doing a bit of research, I found an Early Access to Tower of London Tour and decided on that.
So, we took the Tube from Piccadilly to Tower Hill. Arriving early, we grabbed our caffeine fix, before finding the meeting spot. The group consisted of about 15 people on this morning.
The view of the Tower Bridge from here is quite outstanding.
We entered and the first stop was watching the Opening of the Tower Gates. The Tower is still considered a palace, so of course there's a process and ceremony. Handled by the Beefeaters, the official guards of the Tower.
The Yeoman in charge this morning was really funny as he explained the process that has been in place since the 15th Century. He cracked a lot of jokes at the expense of the officer walking over the keys.
They keys were exchanged....various funny comments made and the guards moved about to open up the Tower.
One of the benefits to having this tour is that we are the first folks to see the Crown Jewels.
No photos allowed; but let me say, it's quite impressive. It was great getting early entry as we could take our time; our guide waited outside until everyone was finished. As we moved on to our next stop there was a huge line, like of over a hundred people it seemed!
The tour was fun, along with going over the history of "The Bloody Tower", there was a lot of other info provided. Like about the The Royal Menagerie. For over 600 years the Tower housed a collection of animals "gifted" to the Royal Family. Thus, you'll find sculptures that commemorate those animals that were created in 2010.
Those Baboons looked quite lifelike from a distance. If interested, you can read more about that here.
The views from the walls are also quite nice.
This is the Tower Green. A site that supposedly marked where scaffolds were located. The location is much disputed.
Which was an interesting place to visit as you're introduced to life at different statuses medieval London and then the bloody history of the Tower is exposed.
The Royal Armory has displays of arms over the centuries......
And then you'll find something that seems out of place; like this chair.
It turns out that this chair was used in the last execution at the Tower of London. Of an German spy named Josef Jakobs on August 15th, 1941.
All in all, having access to the Tower before opening and the Crown Jewels before the Masses made this a worthwhile tour.
The tour had taken about 3 hours. We decided to walk back to our hotel in Piccadilly. As for lunch; well, remember I mentioned the lower level food hall at Fortnum & Mason? We decided to stop by and just got some freshly made pasta.
As well as some broccolini.
The pasta was a nice al dente, but the Carbonara like sauce was bland and too thick. The broccolini was overcooked and under seasoned. Still, not terrible.
We took a break and had a nice nap. Upon awakening the Missus, who loves Her tea wanted to visit the flagship Twinings shop in the Strand, so we decided to walk on over. The Strand looked like a major theatre district with some interesting structures.
The location of Twinings in the strand dates back to 1706! It's a nicely lit small shop. The Missus enjoyed shopping here and just had to get the special King's Coronation Blend.
The Missus did enjoy the Darjeeling Blend and the young lady working was very nice.
At this point we headed back to the hotel. We had put in a decent amount of steps on this day and a nice nap sounded perfect!
Yes, I know, it was the first time we were really spending time in London. So why not "do" all those touristy things? Like a Jack the Ripper Tour? After doing a bit of research, it seemed like this one would be a good match. And since we were pretty full after having Afternoon Tea, we could just try to find a nice, maybe historical pub afterwards for a late bite and drink.
After all, what would be more fun than to walk the streets of London's East End? And of course everyone has heard of Jack the Ripper, a name that will forever be associated with the East end, who murdered at least (it depends whom you ask) 5 women for a period of about 5 months (again, depends on whom you ask) in 1888. There are innumerable books, websites, and various articles to read. I'm not going to go into too much detail here; I'm sure you can find all you want on the web, library, etc.
We caught the Tube and met at the Aldgate East Tube Station. The group was relatively small, less than 12 people. Our guide Angie was a hoot; totally in character, amazing stories, had historic photos of the area; once strewn with small streets.
We stopped at various sights; like one of the places we had on our lists to have dinner and a drink following our tour; the Ten Bells.
Where at least two of the Ripper's victims were known to visit. In fact, it is said, that Mary Jane Kelly, the supposed last victim of the Ripper was last seen at the Ten Bells. The pub is also supposedly haunted.
We made over a dozen stops; including the corner of this square.
This is the southern corner of Mitre Square; where at 145am in the morning of September 30th, 1888, the body of Catherine Eddowes, the fourth vitim of the Ripper was found. The interesting thing about this is that this is the western most location of the Whitechapel Murders and actually in the City of London!
It was an entertaining evening. Before we headed off, we asked Angie about getting a bite to eat and a drink nearby. She told us the Ten Bells was noisy and full of tourists and recommended another historic pub named the Hoop and Grapes.
This place seemed a bit more local; the folks working quite friendly.
I got a Nicholson Pale Ale.
Hilarity ensued when I ordered the Missus's Gin and Tonic. The bartender asked me what kind of tonic.....something I don't think I'd been asked before. When I appeared stumped he told me "we have over 30 different tonics!" Ok, lesson learned! I just got a Hendricks with the basic Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic.
Since we were in London; the Missus decided on some Fish and Chips, which was made with Haddock.
We had to send this back once because the fish was still frozen. They apologized and actually got a brand new plate; the shape of the fish was totally different. The batter was crisp and light, but the fish was on the dry side. The chips were dry and we actually needed to request malt vinegar; which was provided in packets.
I decided on the "award winning" Steak & Nicholson's Pale Ale Pie.....well since I was having a Nicholson's Pale Ale anyway.
The crust of the pie was decent; crisp and flaky, the "steak" was quite chewy, though the sauce and gravy helped even things out. Overall, a bit on the bland side. I actually had to request some salt; something I almost never do in a restaurant. The peas, green beans and cabbage were pretty much tasteless. Though the mashed potatoes were very creamy it was also on the bland side as well.
Well, we weren't expecting haute cuisine, so this was perfectly fine for us. Some drinks in a relaxed pub with very friendly folks suited us just fine on this evening.
The Hoop and Grapes 47 Aldgate High St. London EC3N 1AL, UK
As promised in my post from this past Saturday, I went and revisited Mama's the next day! I'm glad they open at 10am because parking has always been a bit of a challenge. I easily found parking right across the street.
This was going to be interesting since my last visit was over 8 years ago. I wasn't quite satisfied with that garlic chicken wrap....which has been my go-to since we started eating at Mama's way back in in the early 2000's. So, of course that's what I was going to order.
That moving banner was in full view as I walked into the small ordering area.
While I waited for my wrap; I'd ordered it to-go, the gentleman who took my ordered walked out from behind the counter and we had a nice chat. You know, I've never really had time to talk to the folks here; it's always seemed "all business", but maybe times have changed. Anyway, he told me that they were prepared to move for a while, but Covid and paperwork have delayed things. They are currently set to move....fingers crossed, by the end of January, early February to that newish building on the corner of ECB and Mississippi Street, next to the Lafayette Hotel.
Soon enough, my order was ready, it felt a lot more hefty than what I'd had on my last visit and I headed home.
This was indeed larger than what I'd had on my last visit. I went and cut it in half and there was a good amount of chicken this time and I could actually capture whisps of "parfum d'ail" (the fragrance of garlic). The wrap was still warm, there was indeed a good amount of garlic sauce, along with the very important pickles which help to counteract the dry chicken and balance out the pungency of the garlic sauce. The lettuce was used in a more restrained manner this time.
This was quite a filling lunch and much better than what I'd had the last time! Which made me quite happy since Mama's has been one of those places we had been going to since we moved to San Diego. In terms of price, this seemed quite reasonable at $10.49 in the year 2024!
Mama's Bakery & Deli 4237 Alabama St. San Diego, CA 92104 Current Hours: Mon - Fri 10am - 8pm Sat - Sun 10am - 4pm
Moving to 2141 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92104 (supposedly soon).
I took a lap down ECB and took a photo of the building Mama's is moving into in case you're interested.
After our wonderful dinner at Izakaya Uosan and our walk along Ala Moana Park, we took a stroll thru Ala Moana Center up to Kapiolani and proceeded to head back to the hotel. I had a moment of nostalgia when we passed the corner of Kapiolani and Ke’eaumoku. And no, it wasn't because there used to be a KFC on this corner forever. Close to the corner was a favorite stop of mine; Tower Records. And even before that was a place near that corner that in my mind changed the music scene in Hawaii. A club named Toppe Ada Shoppe.
Of course, locals from my generation will either quickly say C&K or Kalapana, whom we saw there. But, on one of the times my friend's brother sneaked us in, I saw a certain band. I still remember the lyrics - "I wish upon a Summer moonbeam....."
Oh-kay.......that got to me. I had to play the song. I still have the CD in one of my boxes too!
Just in case you like listen:
Anyway, the Missus noticed that it was almost 615...so She said we needed to head to the Lanai in Ala Moana Center. You see, around 630-645 Musubi Cafe Iyasume in the Lanai which I've posted on before will sometimes have discounts on their musubi, which I'll have for breakfast. And on this evening....
Yep, 50% off....so I had breakfast for the next morning!
Ah yes, breakfast with a view.....
Musubi Cafe Iyasume (In the Lanai - Ala Moana Center) 1450 Ala Moana Blvd. Honolulu, HI 96814
We'd be heading back to Ewa Beach on this day, but the Missus told me She wanted to go to Hanauma Bay first in the morning. Sigh. I don't know what it is, but on the last couple trips, the Missus has been wanting to do some tourist kind of stuffs. And like many of those "activities", I hadn't been to Hanauma Bay in like 30 years? Back in those days we used to take frozen peas to feed the parrotfish! Of course things have changed a lot since then; nowadays if you don't have a local or military ID, you need to make reservations, there's an admission fee of $25 per person and $3 parking for the small lot. The reservations are actually for the 9 minute orientation video which you need to view before heading down to the beach.
We found some good parking and got into the line at our appointed time for the video before heading down to the beach.
It still looks quite pretty on the walk down.
We had brought our own snorkeling gear. Once in the water....well, it was kinda sad, while there were fish in abundance, the coral looked bleached. The coral must really be under stress. I immediately wanted to leave to not contribute to this.
Seeing this made me glad that there are limited hours and visitors for Hanauma Bay..... I remember it being so beautiful.
On the way back, we decided to stop for lunch. It seems that the Missus is starting to take to more local kine places these days. So, I asked if She wanted to try Meat Jun? She asked "Meat Jun, what's that?" Well, I explained that it is basically a take on Jeon (seen it spelled jyun as well) in which marinated beef is dredged in an egg and flour batter before frying. Much like Soegogi-Jeon which I've had before. You can find a nice recipe on Maangchi's blog. I'm not sure of the exact history origins of Meat Jun in the islands and was shocked when I first moved away and couldn't find the dish at Korean restaurants in SoCal. I did see it at different plate lunch places, I think Homestyle Hawaiian might still serve it. I tried it twice after moving to the mainland and it was terrible, so I just gave up. But now, driving back to town on Kalanianaʻole Highway opportunity struck as the Missus said "ok, let's try it!" This meant an instant detour to Waialae Avenue and a place that I had gone to when growing up in Kaimuki. I know ex-pat Kama'aina's and longtime "FOYs" Kyle, James, and Alan are smiling and nodding their heads now. Of course it's Kim Chee II, which has been around since...like the sign says 1977! Ho' am I old or what?
We parked in the back lot. There's a back entrance to the restaurant, but I just wanted to thru the front of the place. It was just after 11 and the place was already pretty busy with a lot of hungry "bruddah's" waiting to eat!
Of course I went with the "lunch special"; heck at $14.90 it's cheaper than a sandwich I had here last week!
I told the Missus that I think the portion might be pretty big so She decided just to get some tofu. I also told Her that "KC2" is really a local kine Korean place, so set your sights low with regards to any panchan. Which ended up being regular cabbage slightly pickled, not fermented. It actually goes ok with the BBQ.
The Tofu with "veggies" was fine; though the shoyu sauce tasted kinda watered down.
But of course, I was just waiting for what I had ordered. Which was enough for the Missus and I to share for lunch
Ok, the beef in the meat jun was nicely marinated, if a bit on the chewier side; sweet-salty-hint of garlic, very bulgogi-ish, the batter was a bit thicker and gritty than I prefer and it had been over-fried a bit. But, the Missus enjoyed the mild eggy-ness and the combination of flavors. She liked the meat jun dipping sauce which also had a hint of vinegar, some spice, balanced sweetness.
She also enjoyed the chicken, nice soy-sweet and hint of pungency. She told me "this is like the chicken you make...way better than the terrible 'Hawaiian BBQ' stuff in San Diego!"
The rice was fine. The mandu wrapper was a bit thicker and chewier than I recalled; though the filling was nicely flavored.
And so, based on this meal we have a Meat Jun convert! Of course, the Missus now wants me to make this at home!!!
Kim Chee II Restaurant 3569 Waialae Ave. Honolulu, HI 96816
This was a nice blast from the past for me! I also recalled a Korean restaurant that used to be near Monsarrat that I used to go to. Perhaps my "FOYs" will remember that place?
Speaking of "FOYs", I'd like to thank Kyle, James, and Alan for keeping Kim Chee II on my mind all these years!
And thanks so much to all of you for dropping by and allowing me to share a place from my hanabuddah days with you!
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