le’s banh mi & ry’s poke

Before meeting up with Jenny and Chan, Jenny asked me what was on my “to try” list

So we tried Le’s Saigon Special and Ry’s Poke

The Saigon Special is delicious. (Pickled daikon and carrot, pate, mayo, steamed pork roll, charsiu, headcheese, cucumber, jalapeno and cilantro) 

this also had super crispy pork rinds inside but were a little too hard for my teeth! ha!

Ry’s poke.

Their main shop is on the North Shore and they have some shops in California.

If I'm not mistaken, they just opened this one in Honolulu.

We tried all their Honolulu exclusive pokes & their Tsunami Nachos

(tsunami style poke, crab salad, cucumber namasu, furikake, tobiko, drizzled with unagi sauce, chili mayo, with housemade wonton chips fried in beef tallow)

The chips are super crispy!

The pokes are unique delicious combinations of flavors

(top) tropic thunda (yuzu kosho, mayo, citrusc, onion, green onion, pear, chili crisp, fried shallots), (top right)shiso chimichurri (shiso, garlic, gochugaru, ogo, green onion, onion), (bottom right) shoyu (ry’s signature blend shoyu, onion, green onion, toasted sesame oil), (bottom left) foodxjitsu (ginger, green onion, cilantro, onion, garlic, shoyu blend, chili flake, ikura)

Everything was so ono!

They also bought all sorts of pastries from Paris Baguette, but I was too full

Thanks Chan for letting us eat at your condo’s terrace area.

so much omiyage AND Jenny was so nice to drive me back to Pearl City!

Thanks for today Jenny & Chan! always nice catching up with you two.

Le's Banh Mi

808 Sheridan Street

Honolulu, Hawaii

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 7:00-16:00

Ry's Poke Shack

1232 Waimanu Street

Honolulu, Hawaii

Closed: Mondays & Tuesdays

Hours: 11:30-17:00

13 years

so many things have happened in those 13 years

good things, bad things

missing you especially today, Mom

Love you.

da burger wing hub

Went to Da Burger Wing Hub with V in Wahiawa

They are in the same strip mall as Shige’s so parking can be challenging 

We were lucky to get a stall

Their onion rings seem popular because everyone was ordering them

The coating is super crispy

V had their Juicy Lucy : 8 ounce wagyu, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, homemade jalapeno cheese sauce, avocado, chili aioli

And I tried their BBQ burger : 8 ounce wagyu, BBQ pork (pulled pork), peppered bacon, cheddar cheese, fried onions (huge onion ring!) BBQ sauce, pepper jack cheese

Huge burgers! cooked to order

I’m glad we got to try them. V said she wants to try other sandwiches too!

Thanks for today V! was nice spending some time with you 

And thank you for sharing your sister’s avocado, so ono

Da Burger Wing Hub

93 N Kam Highway

Wahiawa, Honolulu

Hours: 10:00-20:00 Mondays-Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays 10:00-21:00, Saturdays 9:00-21:00, Sundays 9:00-19:00

mille fete

Wanted to try Mille Fete, so I went after an errand in Downtown.

Loved the interior 

Chose their kim chee reuben hand pie, this had homemade corned beef, kim chee and cheese.

It was nice that they heated it up for me. The pastry was flaky.

I also tried their citrus olive oil cake, but this was a little too sweet for my liking

Their cold brew was strong and delicious

I'm glad I tried them and want to try their chocolate cake the next time I am nearby

Mille Fete

1113 Smith Street

Honolulu, Hawaii

Hours: 10:00-18:00

alan wong’s

Blog reader Ryan and his wife S were very generous, taking me, BFF, Jalna and Mich to Alan Wong’s Sunday Brunch Buffet

So much good food and lots of good conversations

Round 1: inarizushi, spicy tako poke, limu poke, sashimi, ta’ape (yellow snapper), miso butterfish, chinese chicken salad, tofu salad, green beans, mochi waffle 

Yaki onigiri filled with poke

lobster tail : grilled and chilled

round 2: lobster tail, yaki poke musubi, baked potato, seafood fried rice, hibachi chicken

round 3: bread pudding, tapioca, sweet potato cake, fondue with fruits

thank you Ryan & S for lunch at Alan Wong’s & all these goodies (filthy farm girl soap, lilikoi butter & manoa honey). it was nice spending time with you & S

thank you Jalna for all these goodies (handmade kitchen towel by Jalna’s mom, handmade cards, handmade bag, pretzel snack & cheesecake bars these are always so ono!), it was nice spending time with you

thank you Mich for all these goodies (trader joe’s bag, homemade party mix, cookies and candies), it was nice spending time with you

So thankful for being able to spend time with everyone, and thankful that Ryan and S invited BFF to come along and that everyone made BFF feel like part of the group with omiyage for her too

Alan Wong's Brunch Buffet

Kahala Hotel

Honolulu, Hawaii

9:30-13:00 Sundays, reservations

the penny

Not too sure when they got rid of the penny but it was my first time experiencing it since the amount in circulation has supposedly dwindled 

Some shops round up or down depending on what they have on hand and most usually tell you if they won’t be giving you back the right change

My worst experience was at Brug, my bill was $15.71, so I gave the cashier $20.01

She only saw the $20 and punched that into the register, BUT also put my penny into the register!

And when I questioned her about it, all she told me was “where?!”grr

I think shops should adjust their prices so that with tax there would not be a need for the penny or maybe notice when I give you one…

this and that

was trying to remember the name of the company that my mom had bought these from...Arts Hawaii

I had more of these glasses but gave some away 

I think this one is the passion fruit flower 

And this one is bird of paradise

Anna Miller's kinda came back to Japan, they have a shop/cafe?! in Aoyama now

They recently collaborated with Imuraya ice cream and have this blueberry cheese cake ice cream and an apple pie ice cream

I wish it had had more cookie crust on the bottom, still am glad I tried this

Tokyo people: so highwater!

so teeny!

Bummed that the Kaldi closed in our station's building, but excited to see that a Komeda Coffee will replace the space

Saw this taco rice at Family Mart and had to try

Just zap in the microwave then eat

It was a little spicy but overall a little too soft for my liking

I'm glad I tried this and would get it again only when I have a taco rice craving but don't feel like making it from scratch

FYI: Kat is on vacation, so it will be quiet here

Hope you enjoy your summer vacation too!