Category — Eating out in Hawaii

Happy Easter everyone! Today we went out to lunch with my parents for an Easter lunch. We were all going to be in Waipahu in the morning so we went to Roy’s in Koolina for lunch.

We had an outdoor table which was a little breezy but had a nice view.

Three of us had the set menu and my mom ordered off the regular menu. For the set menu we had the Demi East & West Mixed Green Salad, Blackened Island Ahi, with Aloha Citrus Vinaigrette and Buttery Soy Mustard.

My mom’s entree was the Macadamia Nut Crusted Shutome (Broadbill Swordfish) with a Beurre Blanc sauce. This was really good, very moist and the sauce was really tasty.

Our set meal entree was Naked Cow Dairy Butter Poached Shrimp Scampi, Creamy Parmesan Risotto, Naked Cow Feta Pesto, with Kona Maine Lobster Nectar. This was also good for folks who like shrimp and cheesy risotto.

Finally, my favorite way to end a meal at any Roy’s restaurant…the Chocolate Souffle with Lappert’s Vanilla Ice Cream and Raspberry Sauce.

It was a really nice lunch with tasty food. I always enjoy trying all of the delicious sauces that come with the dishes at Roy’s restaurants!

Roy’s – Ko’ Olina
92-1220 Aliinui Drive
Kapolei, HI 96707

Last night was so fun…and delicious! I was able to attend the Hawaii Food Bank – Great Chefs Fight Hunger Fundraiser. Knowing that I would love this type of event, my dad invited me along to join him at the VIP table for Chinen & Arinaga Financial Group.

Thank you Mr. Arinaga and thanks dad! With these VIP tickets we were able to go in an hour before general admission started. Here is some of the great food I was able to enjoy…

Sauteed Escargot and Prawn with Hamakua Mushroom and Chili Ginger Sauce with Zucchini Linguini. This was by chef Chai Chawasaree of Chef Chai at Pacifica Honolulu.

Kimchee Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps – Fried pork belly, papaya and cabbage kimchee, butter lettuce, apple mustard relish, and fried gobo by chef Andy Reagan of Morimoto Waikiki.

Kona Lobster Brandade and Bisque by chef Vikram Garg of Halekulani.

Harris Ranch Steak #11 Stroganoff Egg Noodle with Brandy Cream Sauce by chef Rodney Uyehara of HASR Bistro. This was one of my favorites!

Roy’s Misoyaki Butterfish – Chirashi Rice, Pipikaula Style Shinsato Pork Belly, and Lomi Ho Farms Tomato by chef Darryl Shinogi of Roy’s Ko’olina.

Furikake Seared Ahi Tacos with Edamame Hummus, Pineapple Asian Slaw, and Spicy Chili Pepper Water Aioli by chef Jeffrey Vigilla of Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Around this time I was getting pretty thirsty so I had some lilikoi soda from Waialua Soda Works. Very refreshing!

Red Wine and Peppercorn Short Ribs by Alan Takasaki of Le Bistro in Niu Valley.

Mari’s Garden Fried Green Tomatoes with Shrimp Remoulade and Truffled Frisee by chef Elmer Guzman of Poke Stop. Simple, but very tasty – another one of my favorites.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs with Mashed Potatoes by chef Greg Soriano of Henry Loui’s Restaurant.

Osso Buco Ravioli by chef Don Asam of Ruth’s Chris Steak House. This was one of my dad’s favorites.

Chinese Style Braised Short Ribs with Potato Fondue, Roasted Hamakua Mushrooms and Lotus Root by chef Joseph “JJ” Reinhart of Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar.

Sous Vide Pork Belly with Kim Chee Sauce by chef Jason Miyasaki of D.K. Steak House.

Chicken Tikka Masala and Dal Makhani by chef Suman Basnet of Himalayan Kitchen.

Finally…desserts! First I had this Smoked Local Madre Chocolate Flan with Ka’u Orange Caramel by Kevin Hanney of 12th Avenue Grill.

There were three types of cupcakes from Hokulani Bake Shop.

Strawberry short cake

Red Velvet – I had this one, very nice and moist.

I believe this Port Wine cupcake and the first short cake cupcake were flavors that won their victory on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars.

Y. Hata also had a great variety of beautiful desserts.

I finished the night with this Lilikoi Panna Cotta with Champagne Jelly. Nice and light, not too sweet just how I like my desserts.

Mahalo again to Mr. Arinaga and my dad for a really great and delicious night!

Finally unloading some photos off my camera! The next several posts will be from a previous trip to Kauai. We weren’t there for too long, but had a fun time eating our way around the island. First stop after landing was lunch at Hamura’s.

Started off with the special saimin and a tasty bbq beef stick…

Then we finished it off sharing a slice of lilikoi chiffon pie, mmmm.

Hamura Saimin Stand
2956 Kress Street
Lihue, HI 96766

I’ve been enjoying the new renovated look of Highway Inn as well as some of their new dishes. Right after their renovation, I noticed a lot of new items offered as specials. The Ahi Sliders with chili aioli above started as one of those specials and has now made it on to the regular menu!

This next one is Mahi mahi with teriyaki sauce. It isn’t a new item, but one that we tried for the first time recently. I’m not really a mahi person, but this one was so good. It was super moist and juicy and the teriyaki sauce was great.

But my favorite will always be the Beef Stew combo…mmmm.

Highway Inn
94-226 Leoku Street
Waipahu, HI 96797

Last week after work we stopped by Off the Wall in Pearl Kai for lunch/dinner. I tried the San Diego Spicy Ahi Poke Don. This is ahi poke on furikake rice with spicy aioli and avocado slices. I loved this!!

He went for one of the daily specials. I think it was called ahi belly katsu. Very light and healthy with the toss salad. We also ordered a pupu sized Eggplant Miso, that besides eggplant also includes tofu and veggies. This is one of my vegetarian dishes. The other is the champuru with bittermelon and tofu.

If you are around the area at lunch time and want to try one of their donburis, here is a link to a coupon for $1.50 off. It’s good until 10/31/2010 http://www.offthewallhawaii.com/specials

A couple weeks ago we were able to go to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner, Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas! I love this place, the sauces are so good, I’ve always enjoyed every appetizer, entree, and dessert that I’ve had here.

First up were two things to start off with. In the top photo is one of his specialties, Sizzlin’ Moi Carpaccio. Very delicious moi (Pacific Threadfin) with ginger, Hauula tomato, tofu, and truffled ponzu sauce.

We also had Hiroshi’s Tofu Salad. This included Mrs. Cheng’s tofu, Hauula tomatoes, kaiware sprouts, salmon skin, garlic and ginger chips, sakura shrimp and sesame soy dressing.

For one of our entrees we had the Steamed Onaga, which is a snapper. This had fresh grated Big island ginger, tomato concasse, choi sum & roasted garlic soy brown butter as a sauce. Delicious!!

We also had the Panko Crusted Mekajiki which is a broadbill swordfish. This came with roasted shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, fresh thyme, Thai basil & roasted garlic soy butter sauce. I also loved this, especially the shiitake mushrooms in the roasted garlic soy butter sauce, so good!

And since we were celebrating a birthday, we got the complimentary dessert above. An all around absolutely delicious meal!

For lots more photos from our previous dinner at Hiroshi’s, click here!

Website: www.hiroshihawaii.com
Address: 500 Ala Moana Blvd, Restaurant Row
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

For the past couple of months we’ve been going to the Kailua Farmer’s Market on Thursday afternoons. I love the KCC Farmer’s Market…it’s just that it’s really hard for me to wake up early on Saturdays!

So this Kailua one is perfect. Lots of ono food, and at the very comfortable hour of 5:00 pm.

Take a look around…

Here’s just a small selection of some of the foods we’ve been eating…

Best taro sweet bread I’ve ever had!

Spanish Rice and Pastele

Lumpia

Sea Asparagus Vegetarian Bento

Baklava

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Depending on the week different vendors are there, but we can always find something good to eat or snack on!

Location: Kailua Town, behind Long’s
Hours: Thursdays, 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm (get there early for the best selection!)

After going to watch a concert on the Windward side a while back, we went with my mom for a drive around Kailua looking for a restaurant that was still open for a late lunch. Craving Japanese food we decided on Noboru near Down to Earth in Kailua.

Since it was after the time that most folks eat lunch, we started off having the restaurant all to ourselves.

The two of us both got the Special Lunch Bento and my mom had the Grilled Salmon Teishoku.

Today’s Special Lunch Bento was sashimi, tempura (we asked for all vegetable tempura), and grilled salmon.

The portion size was a little small for the price, but everything was very tasty!

My mom ordered the Grilled Salmon Teishoku which I thought was odd since for $1.00 more you could get our Special Lunch Bento that had the grilled salmon PLUS sashimi and tempura. But it turns out she made a great choice!

After tasting her salmon, it was clearly a better cut and quality. Much more fatty and moist! Still to this day she says this is the best grilled salmon she has ever had!

Noboru Japanese Restaurant
Address: 201 Hamakua Dr # 102, Kailua, HI 96734-3984
Phone: (808) 261-3033

Hi guys! I’m still alive, just super busy starting a new job this year. I have photos from back in May just waiting on my camera…but until I have time to get those together, here’s a little something to tide you over.

This weekend we went out to celebrate my mom’s birthday at one of our favorite fine dining restaurants – Hiroshi’s. On Oahu, I think Hiroshi’s and Le Bistro are my two favorite restaurants.

There were six of us here this night. My hubby still being the good vegetarian went with their vegetarian 4 course menu. Above was a miso eggplant he had – very good!

The picture up at the very top of the post was an appetizer we shared – Seared Foie Gras & Crispy Hamakua Mushroom with white truffle oil and fresh raspberry reduction. My younger brother loved this!

My older brother had the Sizzlin’ Kona Kampachi Carpaccio above as his appetizer.

I had the Marinated Moi “In Bag” for my appetizer. It came with shiitake mushrooms, Hauula tomato concasse, and a delicious sauce of truffle butter and chili pepper water-konbu broth.

For dinner my dad had the August Locally Grown Four Course Menu. It included Pepper Seared Ahi Sushi, Bacon Wrapped Kauai Shrimp & Nalo Green Salad, Maui Cattle Beef Eggplant “Sandwich”, and an Island Banana “Puff” for dessert.

My mom and I shared entrees switching plates half way. We got the duck special of the night that you see below.

As well as the Pan Roasted Chilean Sea Bass. I really enjoyed this fish – it came with Hauula tomato concasse, baby bok choy, ume musubi & ogo-miso ginger brown butter sauce.

My younger brother had the Almond Crusted Mahimahi with seasonal vegetables, angel hair potato & Hiroshi’s original miso cream sauce. This is was also very good, Hiroshi is just amazing with his sauces!

For her birthday my mom was presented with this Hawaiian Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta dessert. We all shared it and it was excellent like everything else this evening.

I didn’t photograph everything we had that night (I was just too busy eating!) but you can check out their website for more photos and menu information.

Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas

Website: www.hiroshihawaii.com
Address: 500 Ala Moana Blvd, Restaurant Row
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Finding vegetarian places to eat out here in Hawaii isn’t always easy. But we’ve found Down to Earth to be a great place to pick up lunch while grocery shopping!

On this day we had a couple burgers and a bowl of chili. Everything was delicious! And the really good part is now that Circuit City is gone in Aiea, there is a ton of parking at the Pearlridge location.

Here’s a look at their menu…

If you’re in the area, check out the vegetarian groceries as well as eats at Down to Earth!

Website: www.downtoearth.org