some new foodie places

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been trying some new places and have re-connected with a couple too.

Last night, I went to dinner with my friend, Mineko. We went to a place called the 12th Ave. Grill. (I found out about this place from the blog, Ono kine grindz and was eager to try it)

We ordered and the first course came, as I took out my camera to snap a picture of the food, my camera said "no memory stick". I had taken it out earlier to download a couple of photos and had forgotten it in the computer!! I could have kicked myself--AARGH....so, let me just tell you what we had...

We split the ahi salad nicoise (their famous smoked ahi spread surrounded by nicoise vegetables (nee-SWAHZ vegetables consists of tomato, black olive, french green beans and a hard boiled egg). The smoky ahi spread was really delicious especially with the fresh veggies and garlic toast. I chose my entree from the small plates area and had the crab and corn cakes this was atop warabi (fiddleheads), red onion and tomato. This dish was really creamy and delicious. Mineko had the kim chee steak. This is a skirt steak marinated in homemade kimchee and served on rice. This was a very spicy and tangy dish although I thought the steak was a bit on the tough side. And lastly, dessert...Mineko had the lemon pound cake with whipped cream and spring berries (this was a bundt style cake and a very generous portion. It was very lemony and went well with the strawberries and I think marionberries). I had the vanilla bean cheesecake (this was also a very generous slice) with a caramel sauce and almond brittle crumbs (chunks) on top....hope you could visualize all of this, everything was delicious...the place was packed, so make sure you make reservations before you go!

12th Ave. Grill (UPDATE: moved to 1120 12th Avenue, phone number the same :2021 closed)
1145C 12th Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
Phone: 808-732-9469
Open only for Dinner: Monday thru Thursday 5:30-10:00
Friday & Saturday 5:30-11:00
Sunday 5:00-10:00

The next foodie place is Wahoo's Fish Tacos. I also learned about this place from Ono kine grindz. This place is actually a franchise that started on the West Coast. The food is kind of pricey here. But, we enjoyed the Wahoo salad with cajun spiced fish and a balsamic dressing. And nachos.

Wahoo's Fish Tacos
970 Auahi Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
Phone: 808-591-1646

If you're craving a local style diner atmosphere, you should definitely try Rocky's in Waipahu.
This restaurant has been around for awhile, my mom knew about this place and we decided to check it out recently. They are known for their pancakes. On the menu there is the short stack and hotcake. The hotcake is just one pancake using the batter of three, the short stack are three small pancakes. I had the short stack with crispy bacon. Satoshi had their loco moco. Everything is very reasonable and the food is great. And for you working people, they open at 4:30am, 7 days a week! Go early because their regulars line-up for a seat!

Rocky's Coffee Shop
94-314 Waipahu Depot Road
Waipahu, Hawaii 96797
Phone: 808-677-3842

Plate lunches and other foodie things can be found at the next two places: Tanioka's Fish Market and Jurison's. Jurison's has a lot of different and interesting plate lunches and sandwiches. One thing that I tried here before was their furikake salmon (Salmon is coated with "furikake"(dried seaweed and other seasonings usually put onto rice) and then grilled). This was really good. Here's what we tried the other day, kimchee with teriyaki beef on a bun. It was called Jurison's Original Teri beef kimchee burger. It comes with your choice of tossed salad, macaroni salad or french fries for only $5.95. I really liked the combination of the spicy kimchee and the sweetness of the teri beef.

Tanioka's is the place to pick up different kinds of poke,local style plate lunches and bentos. Poke is diced or sliced up raw fish or seafood seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt and sometimes chili pepper, limu (a type of seaweed), shoyu (soy sauce) and sesame oil. These LARGE poi andagi can also be found here. They are made from poi (mashed taro), a staple in Hawaiian food, andagi is an Okinawan style donut.

Jurison's Inn (UPDATE: this closed in 12/2013)
94-799 Lumiaina #2H
Waipahu, Hawaii 96797
Phone: 808-676-1171

Tanioka's Fish Market
94-903 Farrington Highway
Waipahu, Hawaii 96797
Phone: 808-671-3779

Hawaii is definitely the place to eat foods from different cultures!

Enjoy your week!