niihao

Thursday we tried Niihao's plate lunch.

3 choices for 648 yen (tax included).

I chose mabo tofu (spicy), happosai & yakisoba.

Satoshi chose mabo tofu, egg stir fry and shrimp fried rice.

They also have a 4 choice plate that I want to try next time because they have items like sweet sour pork.

We'll be back.

Niihao

Gran Duo 1F

JR Kamata station

Ota, Tokyo

Open when Gran Duo is.

update

Friday, some "me" time...I went to see this movie...(photo from wikipedia)

It was my first time in an IMAX theatre where the chairs reclined (glad I was the first one in the theatre so I could take some photos).

Late lunch...Tanioka's ahi patty musubi.

Dinner was a solo pupu party (boiled peanuts & mochiko chicken from Tanioka's, salad, ume arare & Waikiki Brewing's black strapp molasses porter)

When you first open the can, you can really smell the molasses.

Saturday, lunch with BFF and friend S at Assagio's...meatball sandwich (Thanks for lunch W)

It was nice spending some time with S and W.

Dinner was at the PC Bon Dance with Val...this was at the church that my mom used to be a member of.

Their congregation is getting older and smaller, so it was sad to see how little baked goods they had to sell and how small the crowd for the Bon Dance was.

Dinner was chili rice and some andagi.

Sunday, dinner at Aunty M's was an assortment of pupus and salad.

It was nice to see Aunty's friends, MJ and BJ.

Monday, the photographer and the realtor came to take photos of the house.

While the photographer took photos of the exterior of the house, the realtor and I opened the windows, shades, turned on the lights, prepping for the interior shots.

10 minutes or so and they were done.

Lunch was from The Elephant Shack, this time around I tried the Yum Pla...fried fish tossed in fresh chili-lime jus with cilantro, red onions, scallion, grape tomatoes served w/jasmine rice.

This was so good! The fish had a thin batter and was fried nicely.

I had this for 2 meals.

Wednesday, I have been sleeping in the living room because it has been humid and the living room has the ceiling fan.

Sleeping on the sofa next to a window is not good, especially when your "furry niece" decides to use you as a springboard to look out said window to check out the cats or mongoose?! roaming about outside at 4 a.m.!

And while I thought I was through purging, my brother and I whittled down some of the stuff that was still in the cupboards.

When my mom renovated the house, she definitely built her dream kitchen, filling it with her gadgets and containers.

She also made storage to fit EVERYTHING, so her cupboards went DEEP! and WIDE...she had a LOT of cupboards.

2 counter tops filled with things packed in the backseat and trunk of the car...

The guy working at Salvation Army was snarky, probably having a bad day...yelling at one person donating things to put their items onto the loading dock.

Yelling at me that I should've put everything into boxes because they will get injured because of all the glass items...geez.

Lunch was from Nanding's.

Chicken empanada and macapuno (coconut strings) ensamada.

How have I not known about macapuno?!

Though it is different from desiccated coconut...more gelatinous...a bit too sweet from the syrup the coconut strings are packed in.

Still, I'm glad I got to try it.

The realtor sent the photos of the house, it came out nice, if I do say so.

Since I cannot use the photographer's photos, check out my photos here.

Thursday, the house went on the market.

Open house this Sunday.

After that, the realtor gives us 1 day notice when he has an appointment to show and we need to be cleaned and ready...stress!

A trip to the library to bring in a few more items to donate.

Lunch with Aunty M and Aunty V at Hamada General Store.

When my cousin P saw my post, she commented, "Again? How many times have you been there?"

Yes, if you've been keeping track this is my third time there in the three weeks that this place has been open...

This time around I tried the Fried Ahi Katsu...this had heat, sweet and savory, they should make this into a sandwich!

V, also said she's been here a couple more times after we went last Thursday.

Hope this place will continue to succeed.

Basically this was my week...the humidity as well as the heat are still lingering, though we did get some rain Thursday night.

It's a holiday today, Admissions Day.

Oh, and if you were wondering, that missing troll was spotted in Aunty V's garden (hope this made you smile).

Have a nice weekend.

plate lunch nanary

There is a plate lunch place nearby that I've been wanting to try.

Most times though, if a shop is not open while I am doing my grocery shopping, I end up buying my lunch elsewhere.

Sunday, Satoshi went to watch his university baseball team play, so I got to try Plate Lunch Nanary.

This shop is tiny and takeout only.

I tried their kalbi bento.

It was a good sized bento.

The meat was flavored well, though it could've been a little more tender.

And the rice was a little too soft for my liking.

Still, I hope to try other items on their menu...I'll be back.

Plate Lunch Nanary
4-32-2 Ikegami
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6410.3985
Hours: 11:00-19:00

kahai street kitchen

It has been about 7 years since I've been back to Kahai Street Kitchen.

In that time, they moved from Kalihi (where Kahai Street actually is) to Moiliili.

After running an errand I stopped to pick up lunch yesterday.

Their Guava BBQ Brisket Sandwich.

You can choose tossed salad, mac salad or fries to go along with your sandwich and I chose tossed because I planned on eating my sandwich at home.

The bun was soggy by the time I reached home, but over all I enjoyed this sandwich.

The brisket was tender and juicy.

The sandwich also had 2 pieces of crispy bacon, jalapeno slaw, tomato and lettuce.

Their food does take awhile to come out, but I think it is worth the wait.

I'll be back.

Kahai Street Kitchen
946 Coolidge Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.845.0320
Closed Sundays & Mondays
Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays 10:30-19:30, Saturdays 10:30-14:00

100% hawaiian, llc

After Diego's closed, there was a plate lunch place that went up in their space.

That plate lunch place closed and now 100% Hawaiian, LLC is there.

Their menu is quite large and everything seems to be homemade.

I like that they serve breakfast "all-day".

I was craving a teri burger when I checked them out, so that is what I ordered...$3.50 tax included.

It doesn't look like much, but the patty was well seasoned with the teriyaki flavor. No goopy sauce on the burger.

They don't serve it with lettuce. And if there was mayo on the bun, it was just a little.

Everything seemed reasonably priced.

I wouldn't mind trying their $5 breakfast and plate lunches....I'll be back.

100% Hawaiian, LLC (UPDATE: 8/2015 : now runs food truck)
719 Kamehameha Highway
Pearl City, Hawaii
Phone: 808.454.5454
Hours: Mondays-Fridays 5:00-14:00, Saturdays 6:00-14:00

meal club

Foodland has a meal club...buy 5 "meals" (sandwiches, salads, bento, etc.) and when the card is filled up, you get a free meal.

So, for my free meal, I tried their garlic chicken plate.

Meh...too salty. It wouldn't have been bad with just the shoyu garlic sauce, but they went and salted the fried chicken before dipping it into the sauce.

I'm not sure I would get their plate lunch again, but I really do like their other "meals".

p.s. you know that typhoon that hit Japan recently, Man-yi, it hit Kyoto, so I called MIL twice with no answer. I then emailed BIL and he said they were okay..whew!

ige's 19th puka

Recently, we checked out Ige's 19th Puka for lunch.

In Hawaii, "puka" means "hole".

Aunty M went with their Fresh Seared Ahi(yellow fin tuna)...$12 + tax. This was grilled with lemon butter and served with a cilantro aioli.

This was good except we thought that the aioli could've used more cilantro.

I tried their Furikake Ahi...$12 + tax. This came with a spicy oyster sauce. The sauce was thick, spicy perfect for the ahi.

Mom and Grandma shared the Fish Tofu Patties...$10 + tax.

This came with a sweet chili aioli which had no spiciness to it at all. Also the patties which were HUGE had more fish than tofu.

They said these were delicious, but if no one had told them there was tofu in it they would've thought it was just a fish patty.

Lots of seating and everything comes out pretty quickly.

We'll be back.

Ige's 19th Puka
98-761 Oihana Place
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.486.3500
Happy Hour: 15:00-19:00
Lounge: 15:00-Closing
Dinner: Tuesday-Saturday 17:00-Closing
Parties/Events: Sundays & Mondays

as of 10/2013, they no longer have lunch service and will close permanently 2/2014

bento vs bento

While in Hawaii, an anonymous reader asked whether "no veggies" was typical of bento in Hawaii.

"Yes", is what I replied.

According to Wikipedia, bento in Hawaii started with the plantation days.

Since most sugar cane workers were mainly from Asia, rather than sandwiches for lunch, most would bring leftovers to share with each other and eat with some rice out in the fields.

Veggies were usually in the form of some type of pickle to withstand the heat of the day.

After the plantations closed up, bento could also be seen in the form of plate lunch and were served from lunch wagons (aka food trucks) to mainly laborers and construction workers.

A typical plate lunch in Hawaii would consist of a protein, macaroni salad and 2 scoops of rice.

Nowadays, almost any casual food establishment serves plate lunch and or bento.

Also these days, tossed salad is an option, as well as brown rice and mini-portions.

Though some places "penalize" you for choosing the "healthy choices"--tossed salad & brown rice by adding on an extra charge.

Bento in Japan is no different, there are many bento that do not serve veggies, just a lot of fried items, some pickles and white rice.

Those that do include veggies have simmered/cooked types like nishime.

Other items are either cooked or fried to prevent the foods from spoiling.

These days, more creativity and more colorful foods are being used.

Black rice or purple rice can be seen more readily in Japan these days too.

I think the word "bento" is always evolving. It is definitely becoming a household word all over the world.

Each country & household making their "bento" their own...definitely a good thing.

It's Friday here, hope you have a nice weekend!

mary's and watanabe bakery

I had wanted to try falafel after seeing it on many blogs.

I got my chance at Mary's Mediterranean Kitchen. The falafel plate came with 5 falafel, some hummus, a salad and some flat bread...US$8.25 (tax included)

The falafel was quite dry and crumbly while the hummus was creamy.

But after eating 2 falafel with some hummus and flat bread, it felt as if I ate a whole bottle of salt!

My tongue was kinda out of whack at this point, but I think the only thing that wasn't salty was the flat bread and the salad. (I could be wrong)

I don't really like to waste food but threw out the remaining 3 falafel.

Dunno what I'd try if I go back, so if you know what is good there, please tell me.

Also had an an (sweet bean paste) doughnut from Watanabe Bakery (across the Food Court from Mary's).

This was WAY better than that malasada the other day...ahem.

Okay, now my posts from Hawaii are pau (pronounced "pow" means over/finished in Hawaiian) we can all go on a diet...

Mary's Mediterranean Kitchen
1151 Mapunapuna (Moanalua 99)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.839.7777

Watanabe Bakery
1151 Mapunapuna (across from Mary's)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.839.1000

tatsuo's

We checked out Tatsuo's during one of our errand running.

Located at the beginning of Sand Island Access Road, turn right as soon as you see America Carpet One...or you'll have to U-turn and start all over...trust me, that's what happened to us.

A tiny hole-in-the-wall, Tatsuo's has a pretty extensive menu.

Mom chose the Tats Teri Plate...US$9.99 + tax, this came with a generous slice of teri beef (it is actually folded into thirds), 3 kalbi ribs, 1 chicken thigh & 1 pork steak.

All except the chicken were flavored well. A little on the sweeter side, but everything was moist and tender.

Mom says their mac salad was...meh!

Definitely a couple of meals from this plate lunch.

I chose their Kim Chee Burger...US$3.50 + tax.

A nicely charred burger with lots of kim chee (which I think was homemade) and a leaf of lettuce...delicious.

Despite being hard to find, we'll be back!

Tatsuo's
2224 Alahao Place
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.523.0142

hawaii revisits

Went back yet again to Palama Market, this time I tried their bulgogi bento, only US$5.50 + tax.

The meat was kinda gristly, but the serving was plentiful.

Not too sweet either.

Yet again, sour kim chee (boo!) but this one also had some cucumber kim chee which was delicious.

Also in the bento were 2 mandoo and some sauteed cabbage.

They also have a snack area now, at the back of the store, here you can order plates (even bowls of noodles), which were a little higher priced than the bento.

They also have some chairs and tables to eat your food at or sit and wait for your order.

I'll be back.

hawaii revisits

Since my cousin P and her family were visiting, we picked up plate lunches from Queen Street Cafe & Grill for lunch the other day.

This time around, I tried their guava smoked pork & onions. Think pipikaula (smoked meat) sauteed with a slightly sweet-salty sauce (kinda like char siu sauce minus the food coloring) and onions.

This was good, the meat was tender with lots of flavor though their brown rice was a bit too soft for my liking.

By the time this posts, cousin P's vacation will be over, but I hope my cousin and her family enjoyed lunch as much as we enjoyed spending time with them!

See you next year P & family!

mini garden express

Running late after an errand, we popped into Moanalua 99 to check out what things they had for lunch.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the place busy, see, the last time I had been to the area was in 2006 and it was dark, a lot of places weren't operating, quite scary, in fact.

After checking out most of the vendors, we chose Mini Garden Express' crispy gau gee noodle...$7.50 + tax.

I think this type of noodle is what they call "Hong Kong" style, it is on the thin side. I like it and the fact that they fry it up crisp for this dish too!

Another plus is that they pack the gau gee separately. But, their filling is kinda skimpy.

We want to check out some of the other places here, we'll be back!

Mini Garden Express
inside of Moanalua 99
1151 Mapunapuna
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.833.3828

hawaii returns

We went back to Queen Street Cafe & Grill the other night to pick up dinner.

Mom chose their U.H. Sports Special...$8.75 + tax. This came with a Kiawe Steak, their famous Furikake Garlic Chicken, a slice of luncheon meat and Ahi Katsu (tuna cutlet)

Wow! The price is just a little higher than the Zip Pac, but this combination beats out Zippy's Zip Pac for sure. Look at that ahi katsu, the real deal!

Their furikake garlic chicken seemed more like mochiko chicken, but it was still delicious.

She couldn't finish this (and is gonna eat the leftovers another day) but she's was happy she tried this.

I tried their Fried Pork Chop with Mushrooms and Onions...$7.50 + tax.

I also tried their garlic mashed potatoes.

The mashed potatoes were smooth, creamy with LOTS of minced garlic in it.

The fried pork chop was cut up into smaller pieces after it was fried and you even received the bone, but what you can't see is all that butter that the mushrooms, onions and maybe even the pork chop was fried in....mmm!

I ate the whole thing...sigh!

Definitely a great place and you get your money's worth.

dean's drive-inn

Recently Dean's Drive-Inn was featured in the paper, and since Satoshi was here, Mom thought it was the perfect chance to check them out.

Satoshi ordered their Island Fresh Ahi (yellow fin tuna) Belly Plate $11.95, this came with choice of soup, tossed salad or mac salad, Satoshi chose their bacon potato chowder.

You could also choose how you wanted your Ahi Belly prepared (furikake, butter & capers or shoyu ginger), he chose furikake.

He said this was good! and ate everything not leaving any to share.

Mom and I chose the ahi cake sandwich $9.95 each, this came with choice of fries, tossed salad or mac salad.

I took fries while Mom chose mac salad.

She wasn't too impressed with their mac salad, but feared that if she ordered fries they would be soggy.

They were, but were delicious with that sweet chili aioli they serve with the sandwich.

The ahi cake (patty) was a nice size too and filled with lots of the fish, delicious!

For dessert, the 3 of us shared this butter mochi with haupia (coconut pudding).

Butter mochi is a local favorite, the mochi is buttery & coconutty and with the addition of haupia, it takes this over the top! $2.

A bit pricey, but for fresh seafood, totally worth it! We'll be back!

Dean's Drive-Inn
45-773 Kamehameha Highway (Adon Plaza) (moved to: 45-270 William Henry Rd, Kaneohe)
Kaneohe, Hawaii
Phone: 808.247.1300
Closed Saturdays
*call before going, they are sometimes closed for catering events

hawaii plays tourist

Satoshi was here for about 5 days and we got to play tourist a bit.

On Tuesday, we headed to Haleiwa, he really likes this area.

We checked out Ted's Bakery, which is known for their chocolate haupia pie.

I had heard that they also served plate lunches, so I figured we could pick something up then eat it at the beach.

Well, I didn't know that they only serve breakfast in the mornings (your website should note that somewhere!)

So, we ordered a Loco Moco for Satoshi...$9-something.

He said he enjoyed it.

Portuguese Sausage & Eggs for me...$8-something.

I liked this but thought these weren't really hash browns...

And their chocolate macadamia cream pie...$3-something.

I didn't quite read the label when I took it from their refrigerator, so that is why we missed the one with haupia.

Um, the food is decent here, BUT it took over 30 minutes for us to get our food!

If anything, I would go back for the pie, but probably for nothing else.

It was nice eating under the trees at Sunset Beach though...

After brunch, we headed back to Haleiwa town and spent some time at Coffee Gallery.

An iced French Roast (cold brewed) for me and a Haleiwa Blend for Satoshi...$3-something for both.

Free Wi-Fi was a plus...overcharging me for this coconut macaroon (which I didn't realize until afterwards...not cool!) was a double minus.

I purchased the macaroon for my mom because she loves coconut and she enjoyed this, I'd probably go back for the Wi-Fi and coffee though...

Then as we drove through Waialua, a sign caught my eye... "coconut peanut butter".

We checked it out and I found that North Shore Goodies also makes a chocolate coconut peanut butter.

Chocolate, peanuts and coconut, that's it. How can you go wrong with that?! No sugar added too...$7-something

We got to sample both and they were delicious, can't wait to slather this on a bagel or melt some to drizzle on vanilla ice cream!

Despite the minuses, the weather was wonderful, we contributed a little to the economy and Satoshi got to see some of his favorites sights in Hawaii, in essence it was a good day.

Ted's Bakery
59-024 Kamehameha Highway
Sunset Beach, Hawaii
Phone: 808.638.8207

Coffee Gallery
66-250 Kamehameha Highway
Haleiwa, Hawaii
Phone: 808.637.5571

North Shore Goodies
67-292 Goodale Avenue
Waialua, Hawaii
Phone: 808.637.5415

bar-b-q inn

Mini Bento from Bar-B-Q Inn in Pearl City...$5.50 + tax.

Grilled chicken, spam, teri beef, fried mandoo, katsu, weiner and fried fish.

It was just a little of this and a little of that, but made for a great lunch...we'll be back!

Bar-B-Q Inn
850 Kamehameha Highway
Pearl City, Hawaii
Phone: 808.455.5411

queen street cafe & grill

We tried Queen Street Cafe & Grill recently.

Apparently they are the original owners of the Queen Street Cafe, but moved out of town and brought their food to Aiea.

Heads-up: the Queen Street Cafe in town is apparently still in business, but it is run by different people.

I tried their Spicy Ahi Bowl...$6.95, this had a little too much mayo, but just the right amount of spicy.

Mom tried their Garlic Teriyaki Mahi Mahi...$8.25

6 nice sized pieces of mahi mahi, lots of garlic too. Mom thought their teriyaki sauce could have been a little stronger in flavor.

Instead of rice, she just wanted one scoop of mac salad and some tossed greens, which she's asked for at another place (ahem!).

Props to them for granting her requests!

They were even gonna give her two scoops of salad and two servings of tossed salad to make up for the two scoops of rice that she didn't want...totally generous, but she said she just wanted one of each.

Bummer with their mac salad though, they also put some yellow mustard in it which made it really tart.

There are other items we're looking forward to trying so we'll be back!

Queen Street Cafe & Grill
99-080 Kauhale Street
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.484.2708
Open Monday-Saturdays 10:00-18:00