A step back in time: La Mariana

I'd read a little bit about the tiki bar experience at La Mariana on Sand Island, but I was not fully prepared for the full on 1950's Hawaiiana experience when we went there for dinner. It was awesome in a Wisteria (the now-closed restaurant that was on King St.?) kind of way.

La Mariana is part of Sand Island boat harbor, so it orignally served as the spot for after sailing drinks and meals for the Yacht Club members. It is said to be on its last legs today, open until the owner decides to finally retire...I guess they haven't been able to find another buyer, or maybe the property is set for another development...

The menu is suitably old school: surf & turf, pasta, hamburgers, pork chops. Nothing too fancy here. Surprisngly they did not have a tropical drinks menu, but it looked like they had a full bar.

The menu is less Hawaiian than I expected, and more 'surf n' turf'. We ordered a hamburger and the cajun ahi, which was pleasantly spicy.

Anyone else been here recently? Or planning to make one last trip before La Mariana closes?

Maui Trip

I went to Maui for a wedding in December, and the first thing I did when I got to the Kahului airport was go get some snacks!

My first stop was http://www.homemaidbakery.com for some Maui manju, home of the 'famous crispy manju.' I got a couple boxes of manju and mochi to take home as omiyage. Their manju comes in azuki, peach, apple, and sweet potato flavors.

Then I went back in towards the airport to Maui Mall to get some guri-guri at Tasaka's. Guri-guri is a cross between sherbet and gelato, except super soft and sweet. It's made with sweetened condensed milk (kind of like kulfi, but softer). They have two flavors: pineapple and strawberry, and it's only $1 for 2 scoops!

Downtown by Town

Check out this Honolulu Advertiser article about Ed Kenney's (owner of Town in Kaimuki) new restaurant downtown.

Hoku's

Hoku’s
Kahala Hotel














My parents took us to Hoku’s for an annual family dinner before I headed back to school and my brother started teaching his spring semester. This was our first trip back since the hotel had changed management. It was nice to still see all of the familiar faces of the wait staff and the same gorgeous view of Kahala beach and the palm trees at sunset.

The biggest change for us was that the menu had shrunk to a scant two pages: appetizers and entrees. (it seems they also went up in price: appetizers were $10-26, entrees $35-46) Old specialties (the seafood tower on ice and the vegetable platter) are still available, although not on the menu.

Pumpkin rolls & lavosh
















The meal still starts with the same amazing poke aioli, although now its served with two new breads: pumpkin (similar to poi rolls or sweet bread consistency) and lavosh (the server told us we could still purchase the old naan bread if we wanted to).

Amuse bouche: mango gelee with black pepper















We ordered a ton of appetizers and entrees and passed them all around to try everything.

We started with the ahi sampler, which was served as an individual course. It had poke, tartare, sushi, sashimi, and seared ahi.















Our next appetizers were a tomato soup with fresh basil foam and the pork belly. The tomato soup tasted just like Italian restaurant tomato sauce (weird that we all thought that), and the basil foam flavor was barely noticeable.


























Sushi & sashimi platter
















Fish

Sour cream cranberry coffee cake

I used this recipe for a sour cream bundt cake, except for the streusel I used dried cranberries, walnuts, flax seeds, cinnamon and sugar. I also substituted whole wheat flour for half of the flour. It came out great, a little sweeter than most stuff I bake, but a perfect breakfast or dessert.

Kula strawberries

Divine color.

From KCC farmer's market on Christmas Eve

Lunch at Gina's

teri beef plate

C & G Luncheons

C & G Luncheons
218 Merchant Street by Alakea

I was having trouble deciding where to eat breakfast this morning; first I went to Great Harvest, but they don't sell Cinnamon bread on Fridays and I didn't feel like a scone again (delicious but a little heavy with all of that cream cheese). Then I went next door to NYC Bagels (also on Merchant) but wasn't impressed with anything they had. It was cheap ($2 for a bagel with egg or cream cheese) but the bagels came out of a plastic bag and were toasted in a mini home toaster oven.

I was going to just go to work and skip breakfast, but then I saw a long line across the street at C&G. For breakfast, they offer breakfast plates (eggs, fried rice, and your choice of breakfast meats), toast, or french toast. I tried the fried rice and a piece of cornbread. The fried rice was pretty boring (a single piece of green onion and a few bits of bacon), I wouldn't go back for that. The cornbread was awesome though, the bisquick variety, like my aunty Mag used to bring to family dinners when I was little. Total: $3.59

*Update: I found out they only bake cornbread on Thursdays & Fridays. And not every Thursday/Friday, last week when I went the sweet worker told me they hadn’t made any that day.