it is that time again! Eat The Street is a monthly event that takes place the last Friday of every month. there is a different theme for each "Eat The Street". this months theme was GARLIC! if you're not familiar with this event - it is called "Eat The Street" because it features food trucks from all over the island. it is where all the portable restaurants converge in one place to form a kind of mobile food court. you don't have to go trekking all over the island to find them, b/c they're all in one place! this month's crowd was HUGE. about 3 times as large as May's event. i don't know why this is? was there something else going on in May resulting in a smaller crowd? was it the garlic theme that attracted peoples attention? i have no idea. the first place we hit up was a small Popsicle cart - ALOHA POPS. they are like Ono Pop's but with different flavors. we wanted to try the garlic chocolate pop, but unfortunately, by the time we got there, they were sold out. they were actually sold out of a lot of flavors......is it me, or should they have crossed out what they were sold out of? hm.... i got the li-hing mui pineapple and my 2 friends got the espresso flavor. they liked theirs. and i like mine as well, however, b/c they use real chunks of pineapple, i found myself with stringy pieces of fruit stuck in my teeth. the flavor was good, but i could have gone without the fruit floss. here is some Inari sushi (sushi rice wrapped with aburaage) from WHY'S. we grabbed this to hold us over while waiting in line for more food! ELENA'S serves home-style filipino food. i think they have a restaurant as well as a truck....... here is a section of their menu. i was interested in trying their pork adobo fried rice omlette b/c i've had the one at Juliez, and that one was very good. i heard good things about Elena's, so i had to try it! my friends did not want to wait for me to take the picture. i'm sure they're sick of me taking pictures of my food. there were big chunks of pork adobo in this dish, and the fried rice was ok. honestly, comparing Elena's VS Juliez Pork Adobo Fried Rice..... i liked Juliez flavor better. Elena's one is good - but Juliez takes this one. this is Elena's Lechon Special. i'm not sure what is special about it? i've had filipino lechon before (called Lechon Kawalli), and it had the same ingredients - crispy pork and pork skin, onion and tomato. while it was not "special" in my eyes, it was definitely good in my mouth. lechon kawalli is one of my favorite dishes, and Elena's does this right. under all that coleslaw, you'll find a pulled pork sandwich from SOUL PATROL. they also have a restaurant near UH called Soul Cafe. i've never been to the actual cafe, but i have had the food from Soul before - and it is good..... this sandwich lives up to the other dishes i've had. the coleslaw mixed with the sweet sauce on the tender pork is a winner. it is an incredibly messy sandwich, but it is soooooo gooood. you might want to bring this home and eat it, b/c like i said, it is really messy, but WORTH IT! this is NOT from Eat The Street...... this deliciousness is from CITY CAFE. we decided to get some dessert after the Eat the Street event, and made our way here. they serve Taiwanese shave ice, sandwiches, bubble drinks and snacks. Taiwanese shave ice is not like your regular, local shave ice. it is like the F.O. B. cousin of local shave ice. it speaks "good english" and is fun to be around, even though it is clearly different. it is indeed "shaved - ice", but instead of fruity syrup, they put brown sugar syrup on top, THEN, you can choose other toppings to put on. here i got the small size with 3 toppings = boba (tapioca balls), coffee jelly, and taro. sorry... its so brown, i know. but, delicious! my friend also go the small size, but for her toppings, she got custard, mochi balls, and condensed milk. both were really good! next time, i'm getting the large size - it comes with 6 toppings :) City Cafe has lots of different toppings other than the ones you've seen here, so go visit them and try it!
********************************************* Eat The Street 555 South St Honolulu, HI 96813 website: http://www.streetgrindz.com/ ********************************************* City Cafe 1518-F Makaloa St Honolulu, HI 96814 Phone: (808) 398-7598
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you know what i like? Adventure Days...... what is an adventure day? well - its pretty much any day that you take to explore somewhere you've never been, or, haven't been to in a long time. you can do things you've never done, eat places you've never eaten at, all kinds of things! the choices are endless! on this particular adventure day, i went to the "far" side of the island = Hawaii Kai. notorious for being inhabited by the more affluent Oahu residents, Hawaii Kai is a pretty town with many picturesque landscapes. you'll see lots of ocean, boats, foliage, nice cars, etc. there are also a few restaurants in this area that get some attention by locals and tourists alike. take for example the place i had lunch - Kona Brewing Company. Found in the Koko Marina Center, you'd think a restaurant like this would be its own free standing restaurant, and not a part of a "town center" - but i guess they wanted to take advantage of the fact that it is a prime location..... if you're looking for the restaurant - look for this thing. its hard to miss. i don't think there is beer in it, b/c i can't imagine them keeping this out in the hot sun with beer still inside. that would just be really gross beer to drink in the end :P this is part of the interior of the restaurant. towards the back area, you will find a bar, b/c after all - this is "Kona Brewing Company". it just makes sense. now check out this view of the harbor. my friend and i were originally seated in that extremely sunny area..... we asked to be moved b/c it was so blazing hot, and i had sunlight directly in my eyes, i couldn't continue sitting there. some people like it, i couldn't handle. the shady area inside was much more tolerable. keep in mind - this is semi-outdoor dining. the restaurant is open, thus subject to birds. this means dirty mongrel birds will be circling your feet while you dine, and they probably have walked on the tables and chairs as well - so beware! our table was a little dirty when we got there, so make sure you bring some handi-wipes...... some of their specialty drinks include what they call a "Ginger-ade". not to be confused with ginger-ale. ginger-ADE is their ginger-ale mixed with organic lemon juice.... as you can see in that very cloudy mug - there is lots of ginger in there. so much, that i couldn't drink it, and could barely taste the lemon that was supposedly in there. my friend had to drink it. she liked it, b/c she likes ginger - a lot. if you like ginger, you'll like this drink. this appetizer, otherwise known as the "Pawai Pepperoni Rolls" were like savory cinnamon buns, only without the cinnamon and sugar..... basically a pizza roll. THESE WERE DELICIOUS! and I imagine, easy to make. i actually want to try doing this at home. if you venture out to this restaurant, you should try these. i know they're simple, but they are soooo good. each pizza roll had some pepperoni's cooked into the base. clever! it keeps all the cheesy goodness in one spot, and i imagine makes these rolls easier to remove from a baking sheet. good idea! finally - we come to lunch. i'm not going to sugar coat this = lunch straight up sucked. the appetizer was GREAT, but my lunch itself? suck-ville.
i ordered the "Brewhouse BLT" - which is described as : "bacon, lettuce, tomato, and Gorgonzola cheese on a spent grain bun, served with a side of zesty ranch dressing" sounds good right? WRONG. the sandwich came and looked ok, but i've seen better sandwiches at Subway. biting into it, i got no bacon..... the whole point of a BLT is the bacon. i open it up, and what do i find? 3 skinny, sad looking rashers of bacon. ONLY 3, and they were thin as hell.... what kind of anorexic pigs did this bacon come from? did i mention this sandwich took 15 minutes to come out? yeah, just to slap together some bacon, tomato, and lettuce. i have to admit, the Gorgonzola cheese was a nice addition, however, it was not enough to make up for the rest of the sad sandwich. and the ranch dressing? not so "zesty". also - look at that picture - how much do you think that cost?......... that lunch cost $12. TWELVE BUCKS! what-a-rip-off. perhaps, i ordered the wrong thing. i always think that restaurants deserve at least 2 tries before you write them off, b/c maybe you just ordered the crappy things on the menu. judging by the fact that the appetizer was great, but the main dish sucked - this might have been the case. i might come back for one more try, but not soon b/c Hawaii Kai is kinda far, and i could probably make those pizza rolls at home........ ****************************************** Koko Marina Center 7192 Kalanianaole Hwy Honolulu, HI 96825 website: http://konabrewingco.com/ to celebrate my 9 year Kidney surgery anniversary, i decided to grab some friends and venture out to a new-to-me restaurant. checking on YELP, i came across Tokkuri-Tei. it looked promising, and had lots of good reviews. with 5 friends in tow, we all trekked it on down to this Japanese restaurant...... upon entering - you're greeted with this. i'm not sure if i should be creeped out or not. this thing was staring at us the entire duration of dinner. its hard to ignore. i apologize in advance for any nightmares you may suffer as a result of that picture. on the opposite, non-creepy wall, you'll find this. lanterns (which are actually everywhere in the restaurant), pictures, notes of praise, drawings, etc. they have quite an extensive following! here is one of the first things we ordered. KUROBUTA SAUSAGE is one of my favorites. i've had then before at Yanagi sushi, and they are just as good here. slightly crispy, juicy and delicious. i should mention - from this point forward, i did not take any of the pictures BELOW. why you ask? well, the lighting that i was under in the restaurant was pretty crappy, and my camera is not the best camera either, so i found that taking more pictures would have wasted valuable eating time. i have provided the sources of the below pictures, if you happen to be interested - click on those pix if you like, and it will take you to the source. up there, you will see delicious skewered BEEF TONGUE. some people think this is gross, but i'm here to tell you, if you have GOOD beef tongue, cooked right, it is the most tender, beefy, lean meat you will ever eat. i repeat however - this is only the case if it is cooked correctly. at Tokkuri-Tei, they do beef tongue right! this was really good. that there is AGEDASHI TOFU. it is soft tofu, fried, in sauce with bonito flakes. this is pretty standard fare at Japanese restaurants. the tofu here is good, but nothing you cannot find elsewhere. this here is the IKA YAKI or SQUID PANCAKE. this was raved about on Yelp.... but when we ordered ours, we were pretty disappointed. what we got was basically fried batter with panko and bonito flakes. we couldn't even taste the squid. i found a few pieces, but overall, it was a let down. :( up there is the TONKATSU or pork fried cutlet. my friend had this, and was not impressed. apparently, it was no bad, but not great either. tack it up to "meh" status i guess. and the last picture is of the OYSTER SHOOTERS. i did not have these either, but apparently they were very good.... my friend ordered 3 of them b/c they were so good.
NOT PICTURED are the YAKI UDON, SABI CHICKEN, and STEAK SKEWERS. the Yaki Udon was VERY GOOD..... by far, one of my favorite dishes of the night. the noodles wer fried right, nicely chewy, and seasoned perfect. the "Sabi Chicken" or wasabi chicken skewers were meeeeh. again, another popular dish on Yelp, but i'm not sure why? they were barely wasabi flavored, and nothing special. much like the steak skewers that came with my friend's teishoku meal. i tried a piece and was un-impressed. over all, looking back, i think i'll give them just one more try, b/c the menu is HUGE, so maybe we missed some really great dishes? but, i don't think that visit will be in the near future. *************************************** Tokkuri-Tei 449 Kapahulu Ave Honolulu, HI 96815 (Upstairs in the same building as Hee Hing) Phone: 808-732-6480 i have several friends with family owned restaurants. i don't know how it happened. it just kind of did. its not like i choose my friends based on the businesses their families may, or may not own. seriously - if you don't own a restaurant, we can still be friends. its totally cool. but then, i won't be able to feature your restaurant here on my food blog. sad, but true. its ok, we'll still have food adventures together. MOVING ON..... Christie's Restaurant belongs to the mother of a friend of mine. she formerly owned and ran a Korean restaurant in Waimalu, but no longer runs that one..... now she owns and operates this one. she decided to open a fusion, upscale type restaurant, with fresh local ingredients and a fine dining feel. but i'm sure you're tired of reading, so lets just skip to pictures. more reading now. i know. i'm sorry. but aren't you the least bit curious to know what it is you're looking at? above, is the Carribean spiced blackend ahi. that sauce is like art! do you eat it? do you admire it? well - both it turns out. here we have the Bourbon and Chinese soy braised pork belly. similar to Okinawan shoyu pork, this comes with a thick piece of pork fat on top of very tender, very flavorful pork. you can eat the fat if you like - i don't, but if it were crispy, i would. of course.... you can't do crispy with a dish like this. this was probably some of the best pork i've ever had.
if you've been here before, you might notice their menu has changed. some of their very popular items were taken off, but, not to worry - there are still lots of great things on the menu to choose from. if you're in the Pearl City / Aiea area, and you feel like eating something delicious, drop into Christie's Restaurant. Korean mama will be happy you did. ***************************** Christie's Restaurant Waimalu Shopping Center 98-020 Kamehameha Highway Aiea, HI 96701 Phone: 808-484-4511 Website: http://christiesrestauranthawaii.com/index.html i am a half-breed. 1/2 Japanese and 1/2 Korean. during my younger years, i was made aware of my Japanese heritage more than my Korean one. at the time, the only thing i knew about Koreans is they were angry people, and they had delicious food - and the only other Koreans i knew, were the ones in my family. as i grew older, i began to embrace my Korean heritage more and more because there is something special about being Korean. not simply expressed through food, but through the complex culture that makes up Koreans and Korea. here in Hawai'i we have the Korean Festival every year. i've been going to the festival for many years now, and i've seen it grow and evolve. most people go for the food, but i go for more reasons than that. yes, the food is a good reason to go, but you're also supporting the community, local businesses, and the people in general - which in turn - supports you! this is just SOME of the crazy crowd that you crash into while at the festival. and this is just near the food tents. a $1 apple soda - this was SO GOOD..... it tasted like a fizzy crisp apple. another $1 soda - this one had a nice fizzy grape flavor. so good. THIS GAME was a first..... i've never seen it at the festival before. basically, its kind of like lawn darts, where you throw a stick in the air, attempting to get it into a bucket.... no word yet on how "traditional" this game is. the lady in the picture was really good at it..... i'm glad i wasn't behind that bucket. these cotton candy sticks have nothing to do with Korea, and everything to do with crappy free treats being passed out by Bank of Hawaii..... everyone who got one threw theirs away. it was gross :P here's my loot! inside you will find various fish and seafood flavored chips, popped grain crackers, and seaweed sheets for my co-worker.
i would have had more pix of the food, but i was too busy eating it :( i had some pretty awesome bi bim cook soo.... not that you care or anything. check out the festival next year! Shuttles start at KCC, and all the proceeds go to the Korean Chamber of Commerce. Viva Korea :D |