Review: Da Spot

Da Spot
908 Pumehana Street


I’d read good things about Da Spot online several places (here and here ) so I figured I’d go check out Da Spot for lunch today since I didn’t have to work. It’s on Pumehana St by Helen’s Party Store, near Waiola St. Tiny little place, but super cute inside with paintings of palm trees and waves on the wall. All of the surfers were coming in for lunch after surfing when I was there.

Da Spot offers plate lunch (Egyptian, Mediterranean, or Italian), sandwiches, and smoothies. I ordered the spicy garlic chicken plate, which came with 9 (!) grape leaves (or you can choose white rice), a huge serving of spicy garlic chicken, yogurt sauce, salad, and a piece of baklava. The grape leaves were delicious…tightly rolled, the rice was so soft it was almost creamy, flecks of tomato (or red pepper?) and a nice tangy-sour lemon juice flavor. The food sat in my car (well, John’s car) for a few hours before I had a chance to eat it, and the garlicky goodness smell was almost overwhelming. I couldn’t wait to try it! The spicy garlic chicken was both spicy and garlicky. It was stewed with mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions, and the owner told me they cook everything without oil.


Apparently the menu changes everyday, but some other items on today’s menu that I can’t wait to try are the Egyptian baked chicken, red curry, and chicken vegetable curry. They also had some pastas, chicken parm, and a long list of sandwiches that I didn’t even read, because I was so overwhelmed by the list of entrees! Can’t wait to go back for a sandwich and smoothie.

Review: Ken Fong Restaurant (Chinatown)

Ken Fong Restaurant
1030 Smith Street

Walked over to Ken Fong Restaurant on Smith Street today for lunch. It’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall Cantonese restaurant, with a 3 page menu full of the regulars: all sorts of stir-fried dishes with rice, stir-fried noodles, tofu dishes, and soup noodles.



We ordered beef and green peppers in black bean sauce, tofu and mushrooms in oyster sauce, and a beef & choy sum chow fun. The beef was nice, with a salty black bean sauce, however the other two dishes were rather bland. I expected the chowfun to be stir-fried, but it was just boiled chow fun noodles topped with the choy sum and beef in a thick gravy.

Shopping: Palama Market

Palama Market

Right around the corner from Kaheka Daiei is Palama market. It was a fun cultural experience to go wander around this Korean grocery store (I actually went because I was looking for a Korean manicurist, but didn’t find one). In the front they have a Korean bbq and a bubble tea/fresh juice stand.

The grocery store has a wide selection of fresh food, meats, kim chi, frozen foods, and dry goods to choose from. The highlight was probably the kim chi bar (just like a salad bar, but with every type of kim chi you could imagine!) they also had this really interesting make-your-own bibimbap package: it came with the fresh veggies, cooked meat, and bibimbap sauce. All you had to do is cook some rice and stir it all together!

Review: Tokkuri-tei

Tokkuri Tei
Kapahulu Avenue

Tokkuri Tei was one of Honolulu's first izakaya-style restaurants (which, which according to the NY Times is taking over sushi restaurants). I'd never eaten izakaya-style before...it's sort of like Japanese tapas...you order lots of little dishes to share. NY Times calls it 'pub-style' eating.

Chef Hideyaki "Santa" Miyoshi's poke has won multiple Sam Choy's poke contest awards. We tried one, it came wrapped like sushi, with salmon, ahi, and fish eggs. I missed the sesame oil flavor of traditional poke, but it was very tasty all the same.

We also had the ahi burger (seared ahi covered with cheddar cheese, no bun, served with a rich butter miso sauce), roasted eggplant, sauteed gobo, unagi/avocado sushi roll, and creamy teriyaki tofu (fried tofu squares served with a teriyaki-heavy cream sauce...very creative).

The restaurant has a sense of humor and the menu is very witty. A few items weren't fully described on the menu, so we had absolutely no idea what they were. However the waitresses were very helpful about suggesting dishes.

Tokkuri-tei is in a tiny mall on Kapahulu Avenue. It's super casual, no need to get dressed up. Call for reservations though...it's crowded!

Review: Gyu-kaku

Gyu-kaku
1221 Kapiolani Blvd # 105



We went to Gyu-kaku in a big group for a friend’s birthday. Eating at Gyu-kaku felt like I was in some trendy Japanese restaurant in LA or NYC. It was filled with well-dressed, young Asians and had a dark-wood, intimate décor. The meat grilling at each table smelled divine.

Another sign that they cater to young people: the first six pages or so of the menu is the drink list. All sorts of sakes, beers, wines, and specialty cocktails.

Gyu-taku is a yakiniku restaurant, meaning that each table at Gyu-kaku has a table-top chargoal grill and you grill your own dinner. The menu lists plates of raw meats and vegetables that you can grill at your table. We tried the ahi, a beef marinated in miso, and a pesto chicken (around $5 for a small plate). They were all delicious. For veggies, we had a mixed mushrooms and some spinach. They come wrapped in foil, and you just pop them on top of the grill.

There are also a number of soup, rice and noodle dishes (Korean and Japanese style, $6-7 each). We tried the bibimbap and a spicy tofu jiggae soup (Korean tofu and kim chi soup).

Finally, even dessert is grilled! You can choose from Japanese pancakes with ice cream, smores, or mochi with ice cream ($3-4 each). The mochi comes in tiny flat rectangles that puff up as you put them on top of the grill. The ice cream (we had vanilla) was great, super creamy and smooth. I wonder where they get it from.

Our meal came out to about $25 per person, including drinks. Definitely a spot to check out!

Review: Vietnam Cafe Pho Saigon

Vietnam Café Pho Saigon
52 N Hotel St
Corner of Smith and Hotel (Chinatown)

We were walking around Chinatown after First Friday last week looking for a Vietnamese place to go eat at. Pho Saigon looked crowded, so I thought it would be a good place to go check out. What a disappointment, I can’t say this one makes it onto my list of top Vietnamese restaurants in Honolulu.

The menu is very standard: pho, rice noodle dishes, spring & summer rolls, green papaya salad, Vietnamese drinks & desserts. Everything is also very reasonably priced.

Left: pho; Right: green papaya salad


We ordered shrimp summer rolls, a pho soup (beef brisket & regular beef) for $5.50 and a green papaya salad with pork & shrimp (also $5.50) to share. The summer rolls came with a thick peanut sauce. The filling was overwhelmingly dry rice noodles…skimpy on the basil, mint and lettuce. The green papaya salad was also very dry, with a bland dressing on the side. The shrimp were obviously frozen. The pho was OK, the broth was really tasty, but nothing special. I wouldn’t make a trip back to this place, since there are so many other Vietnamese options in Chinatown.

Wong Kwok Noodle House

Wong Kwok Noodle Shop
Corner of North King & Nu'uanu



I met Len for lunch today and we walked to this noodle place on the edge of Chinatown. We had a long discussion about Chinese food in Hawaii, and how it's all too Americanized. This is one of the 2 restaurants in Chinatown that he'll eat at. (He says there's much more authentic Chinese food in Vancouver)

This place specialized in thick round homemade rice noodles, similar to Japanese udon noodles. I don't think I've ever had noodles like this in China, but maybe in Guangdong you can find them. Len had soup noodles with beef brisket, and I had the house soup noodles with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, and snowpeas. The highlight of the soup was the broth...very rich, tasted like it had been boiling all day.

Wahoo's Fish Tacos

Wahoo's
940 Auahi St in the Ward Gateway Center



Wahoo's is a chain of fish taco restaurants from California. The menu is cute although very standardized...choose your filling (blackened fish/chicken, spicy fish/chicken, beef, veggie), choose your entree type (burrito, taco, rice bowl etc), and any additional 'extras' (like chips, rice, beans) you want to add.

The restaurant is tiny inside but there is spacious outdoor seating. You place an order and pay at the counter upon entering, and then your meal is delivered to your table. The waitstaff are all very friendly and helpful.

Spicy chicken burrito:

I ordered a spicy chicken outer reef burrito ($6.99). It was a huge burrito, very moist. I'd definitely order it again. The only thing I wish Wahoo's had was a build-your-own salsa bar, like some tex-mex places on the mainland have. The plate was a little empty (no chips, salsa, etc), just the burrito and a tiny slice of lime.