hawaii gathers

One of my mom's cousins had come over from the Big Island, so my Aunty M put together a gathering for all that could come for dinner.

Since no one wants to be slaving over a stove in these times, my Aunty M1 ordered some bento from Natsunoya Tea House.

I've never been to the tea house, but hear it is a great place for parties/gatherings up in Alewa Heights and is one of the last remaining Japanese tea houses in Hawaii.

The bento was filled with teriyaki beef, shrimp tempura, purple sweet potato tempura, fried chicken, curry croquette, namasu, nishime, tamagoyaki, rice and pickled ginger.

Way too much food, but most everything (except the nishime (too salty) and chicken (too bland) was delicious. (UPDATE: reheated the chicken for dinner next night and it was hard but tasted a little better)

We also had some 2009 A to Z Pinot Noir, light bodied and spicy.

For dessert my mom made an orange-pineapple cake, a very moist and refreshing cake topped with vanilla pudding, crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges.

And one of Mom's cousins brought a Ted's Bakery Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cream Pie, not as good as their Chocolate Haupia Pie but still delicious.

It was a great gathering, great conversation, lots of laughs and lots of food.