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As I’ve lamented time and time again, Guy Fieri sometimes gets it right despite all the misses. Now, we can’t blame him for most of the crap featured on Triple-D’s because it is not completely up to him where the show takes him. If you watch the show enough, you can certainly tell when he actually likes a dish and when he is merely indifferent. One of those “money” dishes you can completely believe his enthusiasm is the Oxtail Soup found at The Alley Restaurant on Oahu.
We stopped by the place in hopes of playing a few games of bowling prior to eating another filling meal. Well, the lanes were full and so was the restaurant. We resorted to waiting for a table for our next feed. For the kids, we decided to get them the Saimin with the usual Spam, cha sui, fish cake and veggies. This was actually quite good with an aromatic broth that featured sesame oil. The noodles were texturally on point with an appealing chewiness. The only weakness was the lack of ingredients as there was only a few slivers of Spam, 2 slices of cha sui and 3 rice cakes.
For myself, I did another Mixed Plate with Tasty Chicken and Garlic Shrimp accompanied by 2 scoops of brown rice and of course mac salad. Aptly named, the tasty chicken was exactly that with moist and juicy meat coated with a crispy batter. It was tossed in a sweet chili type sauce that had just the right amount of sweetness to compliment the salt and spice. Meaty and large, the garlic shrimp were indeed garlicky, which went well with the rice. Similar to Rainbow Drive-In, the mac salad was too soft, but the creamy mayo dressing did taste really good with a bit of pepper.
Okay, for the moment of truth, Viv’s order of Oxtail Soup did live up to the hype and then some. The broth was super aromatic with a light licorice finish from the star anise while there were hints of booze from the JD. However, the most dominant flavors were from the meaty oxtail and shiitake mushrooms. As much as oxtail is sometimes referred as a “can’t screw up” cut of meat, this one was prepared masterfully being tender and nicely glutinous from the tendon and fatty portions. And yes it pains me to agree with Guy again, but the dipping sauce was the cherry on top as it added a sweet spicy ginger hit. This dish hit all the flavours including salty, sweet, spicy, tart, bitter and the umami from the mushrooms.
We finished off the meal with the Chocolate Insanity Cake which was addictively good. We weren’t sure why it wasn’t featured on Triple D’s because it really did take the cake. It was served warm and super moist with thin layers of icing. The cake was purposefully sweet with a tonne of dark chocolate. Better than the motherlode cake at Claim Jumper in our opinion. So there you have it, our last meal in Hawaii before returning on an evening flight back to YVR. It was one of the better ones and it didn't disappoint despite the hype.
The Good:
- That oxtail soup...
- That chocolate cake...
- Just plain good
The Bad:
- Not cheap
- Super busy, including the parking lot
Originally, I had scheduled a visit to the popular Rainbow Drive-In just East of Waikiki on our last day on Oahu. But for some reason, I wasn’t feeling it for the mixed plate and such. We ended up meeting some friends for a quick visit to the beach and they had just gone to Rainbow the day before. They were pretty happy with the portion size and quality of the food. Call it gentle persuasion, but that was enough for me to head there for lunch.
Like any other popular tourist eating spot, parking sucked and the lineup for food was present. But both issues weren’t as bad as Helena’s. As for our eats, I decided on the Mixed Plate which included chicken, beef and mahi-mahi with 2 scoops of rice and mac salad. This was a substantial amount of food fit for 2 meals. I thought the chicken was the best of the meats as it was succulent and well-seasoned. The skin was not rendered enough though. I found the beef to be purposefully salty but a little dry while the mahi-mahi was moist. My son had the Loco Moco with fries smothered in a thick gravy and topped with 2 fried eggs. We thought this was a bit disappointing as the 2 beef patties were thin, dry and chewy. The thick gravy was mildly salty where the starchy fries soaked it up.
Viv went for the ½ Fried Chicken with rice and mac salad, which commanded a 15-minute wait. It was well worth it as the chicken was fried golden brown with crispy rendered skin. Both the dark and white meat were moist and juicy due to the flavorful brine. We were indifferent with the mac salad as the pasta was too soft. The dressing did taste good with a nice creaminess accented by enough salt. My daughter was happy as a clam with her Chili and Crackers. The slightly thin chili was meaty, flavourful and slightly spicy. The sweetness of the onions really came through. Overall, the food was pretty good, plentiful and well-priced. Not sure if it was as awesome as people have said though.
The Good:
- Large portions
- Decent eats
The Bad:
- Decent but not outstanding
- Can be somewhat of a wait
With a late evening flight looming, my parents did not want to venture far for dinner before I drove them to the airport. Well, low and behold, the ever-popular Murakame Udon lay only 2 blocks away from our hotel. Of course there was a lineup to greet us despite the fact we arrived at 5:00pm. Not to fear as there were many tables available where the lineup was moving along with their orders. Unfortunately, a bunch of people ignored the sign about saving tables which meant we had to squeeze 6 people into one made for 4.
For the kiddies, we got them the basic Kake Udon with freshly made noodles in their traditional broth. As advertised, it was light with hints of seaweed and bonito found in a classic dashi. The noodles were slippery and toothsome without the aftertaste of packaged udon. For myself, I went for the Curry Udon with shredded beef and onions. The slightly thick broth was quite mild with only minor hits of curry and spice. It wasn't overly sweet, which was to my liking. The thin slices of fatty beef practically melted-in-my-mouth while the onions did add some sweetness (as the curry wasn't too sweet on its own).
My mom decided to try the hot Ontama Bukkake Udon featuring a sweet and savory sauce with a soft-boiled egg on top. Once again, the slippery and chewy noodles were a nice match for the subtle sauce and the barely cooked egg whites and runny yolk. My dad went for the Niku Udon with the traditional broth topped by sweet beef and caramelized onions. This was the same as the kake udon except for the addition of the buttery soft beef and sweet onions. Hence it ate more hearty and naturally with more sweetness due to the onions.
Due to the inadequate A/C, Viv was smart to go for the Garlic Chicken Udon Salad. The chewy udon noodles took on the sweet and garlicky dressing well while the veggies made this a refreshing item for a hot day. The tempura chicken was battered aggressively where it was crunchy while juicy inside. In addition, we got a selection of side items including Ebi Tempura, yam tempura, chicken karaage and musubi. Nothing was particularly amiss other than the slightly thick batter found on everything. As you can probably understand, the food at Marukame is not complex. In fact, it is as simple as it can get. It further reinforces the ol' adage - do one thing and do it well (and for a good price too).
The Good:
- Cheap
- Fresh and solid eats
The Bad:
- Not a place to sit and linger, it's eat and go
- Fried items a bit over-battered
*Restaurant is permanently closed*
Oh the misery... Needing to wake up early and disembarking our cruise ship at 8:45am. Why? Why?? Why??? Who cares about the incoming passengers for the next cruise? #firstworldproblems right? Well, we did get off that early and after picking up our rental car, it was far too early to check into our hotel room in Waikiki. So we had time to kill and where better than the Ala Moana Shopping Centre. Since we were already there, we felt no need to travel far distances for lunch. Therefore, we headed over to Macy's and visited our second Alan Wong restaurant in the Pineapple Room.
Fortunately, we were able to snag a table despite not making a reservation (the place is popular). For myself, I decided to try the Kim Chee Reuben with pastrami, home made kim chee, Swiss cheese and thousand islands spread on rye bread. This was a substantial and messy concoction with plenty of fatty pastrami accented by crunchy, yet disappointingly mild kim chee. Hence it was more like a regular reuben with lots of tangy sauce with crunchy enough bread to keep things together. I did love the side of Asian Slaw as it was acidic and aromatic from the sesame oil. Viv ended up with the Kalua Pig BLT constructed with moist and flavorful shredded pork, crispy bacon, greasy grilled Kabayaki onions and Boursin Cheese on an onion bun. Viv liked the sandwich, but she thought it was too wet from the oily onions and the other ingredients.
My mom decided on the Shrimp & Pork Hash Katsu Burger dressed with shredded cabbage and hoisin mustard vinaigrette on a potato bun. As much as the panko breading was crispy and easy on the grease, the actual filling was a bit strange for us. First of all, we couldn't get much shrimp in terms of texture and taste (even though it was supposed to be processed). Furthermore, the pork was a little dry and the filler ingredients of water chestnuts and green onion seemed to work against the pork in terms of texture and flavor. On the positive, the bun was soft and surprisingly light while the dressing was well-balanced in sweetness, tartness and saltiness. My son had the kid's Cheeseburger prepared medium. Although the grass-fed beef was rather lean, it was still sufficiently moist and loaded with natural beef taste. The aggressively spotted onion bun was soft and sweet.
My dad went for the Chinese-Style Steamed Opakapaka Short Tail Red Snapper on tofu and topped with choi sum, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms and peanut oil. Their interpretation of Chinese steamed fish was a decent one as the fish was moist and flaky. The entire dish was very mild and that worked well as nothing overpowered anything else. In fact, there was some nice aromatics going on with the salty sausage, Earthy mushrooms and peanut oil. Last but not least, my daughter had the simple kid's Butter & Cheese Noodles that arrived as a substantial portion. The noodles were a bit too soft while there was a lack of seasoning in our opinion. Overall, we were indifferent with the food we had for lunch. Granted, dinner service has more refined options, but we didn't get a chance to try that out.
The Good:
- Excellent service
- Well-portioned eats
The Bad:
- Food was "okay"
- A little pricey
On our second day in Maui, we had planned to head over to Lahaina for some sightseeing and eating. After a short search when I was scheduling our eats a few months back, there was only one place that stood out for lunch. Star Noodle, opened by Sheldon Simeon (runner-up on Top Chef season), was both the most intriguing and most appropriate destination. Appropriate because it was an Asian food break from all the other stuff we were eating aboard the Pride of America.
It was both good fortune and planning that we made a reservation and arrived early because the place was packed. We decided to start off with the Assorted Banchan which consisted of shiitake mushrooms, oshinko, pickled onions, kimchi and cuttlefish. This was a pretty generous portion for $6.00. I most enjoyed the chewy and sweet cuttlefish as well as the crunchy oshinko. Next up, we shared the Pork Belly Bao with hoisin, cucumber, shiitake and scallions. These featured a soft, while not crumbly bun with a buttery slice of pork belly. There was already hoisin inside, but we were provided with small squeeze bottles of hoisin and wasabi mayo.
Impressively large, the Tempura Shrimp consisted of 2 oversized prawns that were coated with a crunchy, non-greasy batter. Exhibiting qualities of lobster, the shrimp were naturally sweet and aromatic. Served with a sweet mayo and sauce, this was a satisfying dish. Continuing with the appies, we tried the Kimchi Wings that were fried aggressively where the exterior was super crunchy while the meat was a touch dry. The kimchi glaze was more sweet than spicy though. This was only an "okay dish" as the flavours and textures were not quite there.
Onto our soup noodles, we had the Hapa Ramen with bamboo shoots, choy sum, pork, scallions and black sesame oil. I found the broth to have depth without being reliant on salt. It wasn’t too thick nor heavy, but it did have a nice aroma from the black sesame. As much as the pork was flavourful on its own, the meat could’ve been more fatty and tender. For the kiddies, they shared the Local Saimin with Spam, egg and fish cake. The sweet kelp broth was clean and light. I found the noodles to be toothsome and appealing. This was a much more refined version compared to the others I've had.
For our fried noodles, we were influenced by the many dishes of Pad Thai at every other table. Turns out it was a good decision as it was spiked with plenty of fermented shrimp flavour as well as a nice tang. Although the dish was a touch wet, the noodles were still chewy and appealing. One thing I would’ve liked was more spice. Prepared with mung bean noodles rather than rice vermicelli, the Singapore Noodles were impactful with balanced curry flavors. By virtue of the mung bean noodles, the texture was an appealing rubbery chewiness.
For dessert, we got the Mango Pudding which featured actual pieces of fresh mango which meant there was a natural sweetness as well as the classic mango pungency. Texturally, it wasn't as smooth and light as we would've expected, but it didn't make or break the dish. In the end, for all the items we tried, Star Noodle was pretty solid throughout. Obviously, there were some creative liberties taken, but if we ignored the "authenticity" argument (and they do not claim to be either), Star Noodle offers up decent eats at reasonable prices. Pretty good for a tourist town.
The Good:
- Decent eats
- Reasonable prices
- Well-portioned
The Bad:
- Some creative liberties taken
With the kids nixing the plan for heading up to Haleakala, we never made it out to T. Komodo Bakery and Store. It was supposed to be a stop along the way, so we could pick up some items for breaky. Viv and I had been up to the crater before, so it wasn’t a priority that we endure 3 hour round-trip. However, the thought of missing out on guava malasadas kept me up all night aboard the Pride of America. So much so, I just went ahead by myself early in the morning to pick up some items.
I did end up with 3 of the aforementioned Guava Malasadas and oh yeah, they lived up to the hype. Small and compact, these two bite gems (one bite for some) were soft, and only purposefully sweet. With an aromatic guava filling that was easy on the sugar, the whole thing was balanced. I really liked these and wished I had bought more! I also enjoyed their Cream Puffs filled with custard (and the second one was chocolate). The choux pastry was light, moist while still airy and slightly crispy. Inside, the custard was not very sweet which made it pleasant to eat.
For my son, I got him the Donut Stick with 4 mini-donuts squashed onto a skewer. These were remarkably light and airy while only sweet from the even amount of glaze. What set this apart was the portion between each donut, as it was not glazed and pillowy soft. With the same yeast dough, the Strawberry Jelly Donut was equally good. Again, the filling wasn't too sweet, so that the glaze could do its thing. So as you can appreciate, the stuff at T. Komoda wasn't exactly complex. However, everything that I got was on point and enjoyable. It was worth the 20-minute drive both ways to get it.
The Good:
- Stuff was delicate, not heavy
- Not overly sweet
- Guava malasada, enough said
The Bad:
- Go early, things can run out
- Selection is surprisingly limited, but okay given the quality
Unlike the rental car shuttle debacle at the Hilo cruise ship dock, we woke up extra early to find that everything was much more organized at Kahului. Once on our way, we chose to visit a dive named Tasty Crust on Mill Road in Wakuluku. Well, the reason for this was partly due to their claim of world famous pancakes and also because my friend who is from Maui suggested it. Hey, you gotta trust the locals right? As we pulled into the parking lot, there were more than a few rental cars. I guess the tourists come there too...
Now, the kids were in the mood for breakfast, but for Viv and I, we were more interested with the lunch items. Fortunately, they serve the whole menu all the time. As a result, I ended up with the Saimin with Vegetables, which wasn’t really that strange for breakfast since that is what many do in Asia (and I do at home). As much as the pork broth was flavorful in a non-salty manner, the ample noodles were a touch too soft for my liking. The frozen veggies did what they were supposed to do while the chashu was meaty and a bit salty. Viv went all out and had the Short Ribs with rice and mac salad for her first meal of the day. The large pieces of meat were relatively tender while aggressively marinated in sweet soy. They were nicely charred and smoky.
For the kiddies, they went the conventional route and had the Breakfast with 2 eggs, sausage, bacon, Spam and toast. This was pretty standard stuff with scrambled eggs that were a bit too done for my liking. The sausage and Spam were on point, but the fatty bacon could’ve been crispier. But really, all these items were only a distraction from the main reason we were here – the Pancakes. Okay, I gotta admit that these were pretty darn good. Large, thick and completely fluffy, the pancakes were really easy to eat. In fact, they tasted good on their own, with a bit of butter. So was it worth the drive out to Tasty Crust? For the pancakes, yes. The other stuff was pretty standard, nothing to write home about.
The Good:
- Fluffy pancakes
- Cheap
- Friendly people
The Bad:
- Other food was average
- A/C kinda weak
After the disappointment of not being able to hit up any local eats in Hilo (because they were closed), we made it a point to visit Uweke’s in Kona. After a short walk from the pier, it only brought us closer to the lineup out the door. It came as no surprise as the place serves up large portions of quality eats for a low price. Case-in-point, they were butchering 2 large tuna for poke as we were waiting. All the waiting in line was not all for naught as it gave us time to choose our sides from the display case at the counter.
But before we could think about our mains, we got an order of the Da Kanaka Ahi Tuna Poke as well as their Strawberry Lemonade in a jar. Prepared in large irregular chunks, the tuna was texturally a delight. It was soft and buttery while still meaty and supremely fresh. It was dressed in just enough soy for effect while letting the tuna stand on its own. As for the lemonade, it was also very good where it tasted like its namesake while being only purposefully sweet. Since it was kept ice cold, it was extra enjoyable as the weather in Hawaii was unusually hot and humid.
For the main event, we got the Luani Shrimp Bowl with kim chee cucumber and brown rice. These large whole in-the-shell-shrimp were meaty and super flavourful with the essence and sweetness of shrimp. It was topped with an inordinate amount of mayo and sauce, but that went well with the firm brown rice. Although crunchy and fresh, the cucumbers were a bit under seasoned. We also got the Teriyaki Chicken with white rice and wakame salad. Succulent and well-charred, the chicken was rather sweet from the marinade. It went well with the chewy and fluffy rice though. Even though we only got 3 items (one of them small), it was enough for all 4 of us. Yes, there were generous portions of tasty and fresh food. Can't better than that.
The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Large portions
- Fresh and tasty
The Bad:
- You gotta wait in the lineup and for the food to be prepared
- The things we tried were pretty sweet
Pulling into port at Nawillilli, Kauai, we were greeted with torrential rain that led to the cancellation of many of the tours. We weren’t part of any, but had rented a car for the purposes of exploring the island. Part of the itinerary was to visit Hamura’s Saimin as we enjoyed it the last time we were in Kauai. Well, all that went down the toilet as we cancelled our rental car. Hence, we visited a nearby food truck instead called Kikuchi’s that specializes in bao and sushi wraps.
We decided to get 3 items to share including the Smoked Pulled Pork Bao with a spicy sweet chili sauce. The large bun was actually a folded fluffy bao with a mound of slightly dry pork. It was somewhat smoky and mildy spiced. The side of fries were pretty standard stuff, but were crispy and dressed in seasoning salt. My son had the Ginger Chicken Karaage Bao with honey mustard dressing. The pieces of chicken tenders were crunchy with a firm batter. I thought the chicken could’ve been more juicy, but they were not dry. They were nicely seasoned with a definite ginger hit while accented by the sweet dressing.
Viv wanted something lighter and opted for the Ahi Tuna Wrap with wasabi mayo and soy. This was essentially a large sushi roll featuring chewy seasoned rice. Although the rice was on the wetter side, it wasn't mushy which bode well for the buttery tuna. Hidden inside the roll was wasabi mayo that made itself heard with each bite. In the end, we were pretty satisfied with the eats from Kikuchi's despite missing out on some saimin. Ironically, the weather did a full 180 being sunny and hot for the rest of the day (as Hawaiian weather can often be like).
The Good:
- Won't leave hungry
- Nice people
The Bad:
- My wish is that their proteins were more moist
Posts
As I’ve lamented time and time again, Guy Fieri sometimes gets it right despite all the misses. Now, we can’t blame him for most of the crap featured on Triple-D’s because it is not completely up to him where the show takes him. If you watch the show enough, you can certainly tell when he actually likes a dish and when he is merely indifferent. One of those “money” dishes you can completely believe his enthusiasm is the Oxtail Soup found at The Alley Restaurant on Oahu.
We stopped by the place in hopes of playing a few games of bowling prior to eating another filling meal. Well, the lanes were full and so was the restaurant. We resorted to waiting for a table for our next feed. For the kids, we decided to get them the Saimin with the usual Spam, cha sui, fish cake and veggies. This was actually quite good with an aromatic broth that featured sesame oil. The noodles were texturally on point with an appealing chewiness. The only weakness was the lack of ingredients as there was only a few slivers of Spam, 2 slices of cha sui and 3 rice cakes.
For myself, I did another Mixed Plate with Tasty Chicken and Garlic Shrimp accompanied by 2 scoops of brown rice and of course mac salad. Aptly named, the tasty chicken was exactly that with moist and juicy meat coated with a crispy batter. It was tossed in a sweet chili type sauce that had just the right amount of sweetness to compliment the salt and spice. Meaty and large, the garlic shrimp were indeed garlicky, which went well with the rice. Similar to Rainbow Drive-In, the mac salad was too soft, but the creamy mayo dressing did taste really good with a bit of pepper.
Okay, for the moment of truth, Viv’s order of Oxtail Soup did live up to the hype and then some. The broth was super aromatic with a light licorice finish from the star anise while there were hints of booze from the JD. However, the most dominant flavors were from the meaty oxtail and shiitake mushrooms. As much as oxtail is sometimes referred as a “can’t screw up” cut of meat, this one was prepared masterfully being tender and nicely glutinous from the tendon and fatty portions. And yes it pains me to agree with Guy again, but the dipping sauce was the cherry on top as it added a sweet spicy ginger hit. This dish hit all the flavours including salty, sweet, spicy, tart, bitter and the umami from the mushrooms.
We finished off the meal with the Chocolate Insanity Cake which was addictively good. We weren’t sure why it wasn’t featured on Triple D’s because it really did take the cake. It was served warm and super moist with thin layers of icing. The cake was purposefully sweet with a tonne of dark chocolate. Better than the motherlode cake at Claim Jumper in our opinion. So there you have it, our last meal in Hawaii before returning on an evening flight back to YVR. It was one of the better ones and it didn't disappoint despite the hype.
