New vs old-school Korean: Duck Butt & Ja Gal Chi

Ja Gal Chi made Yelp's list of Korean restaurants you need to try on Oahu. It's a small little place off of Keaumoku St that is known for its soon doo bu (tofu stew). Front of the menu: Inside of menu: sometimes it's tough to understand what exactly the dishes are!

The house rice is sticky purple rice...exciting!

Here is the famous soon doo bu - this was by far the best dish we had. On the right is the kim chee pancake - I wouldn't order this again. Way too doughy and heavy.

Meat jun: this was ok but not amazing

Whoops, here are the ban chan that came with our meal. Nice but not stellar

To get a different perspective on Korean food in the Ala Moana / Kaka'ako area, we also went to Cafe Duck Butt, a karaoke bar in Kaka'ako. They have happy hour every day until 7 or 8 pm!

Inside view of the bar; lots of booths + a few private karaoke rooms

No ban chan (the bar setting) so we started right in with the kim chee pancake.

Shrimp tempura

Poke (rec by the waitress)

Spicy mochi with hard boiled egg

Cafe Duck Butt

901 Kawaiahao St Honolulu, HI 96814

(808) 593-1880

Yelp

Liliha Bakery pancakes & pancake batter

Everyone knows Liliha Bakery for their cocoa puffs. But I'm trying to spread the word that they should also be known for the_best_pancakes_on_earth. And not just pancakes at their in-house restaurant (because it takes forever to get a seat) but for their take home pancake batter! They sell it in the refridgerated case across from the main bakery case. You get a take-out container that looks like this: Only $5.25 and it makes more pancakes than my family of 4 can eat. The pancakes puff up miraculously. I'm actually horrible at making pancakes on my own (they always look terrible and burn) but these come out perfectly every time. Perfect for having all of your friends over for a Sunday Brunch!

515 North Kuakini Street Honolulu, HI 96817

(808) 531-1651

lilihabakeryhawaii.com

Yelp

Favorite sweet treats on Oahu

When I'm craving sweets (as I have been recently) there are a couple of places I always turn to:

+ Cake couture
Mmmmm, I can't get enough of their cupcakes ($2.50 each). Perfectly moist cake, just the right amount of frosting (in a ridiculously decadent way) to make all of your worries go away.

+ Ted's

Ted's Bakery is out on the North Shore, which is super far away, but oh so worth it just for this carrot cake. They are definitely more famous for their chocolate haupia pie (available at most grocery stores on Oahu too) but I am a fan of their carrot cake. The cake is super smooth and textureless (my hypothesis is that they use carrot puree, instead of shredded carrots) with a delicious cream cheese frosting. (I borrowed this pic from Flickr...the cake is actually round; $4/slice or $18 for an entire cake).

+ Kamehameha Bakery

Kam bakery is in Kalihi and is famous for their taro doughnuts. Check out the purple color below!

Top left: taro doughnut

Top right: regular glazed doughnut

Bottom: butter roll

Also famous for their banana bread:

+ Otto

My family is loyal to my aunty's homemade lilikoi cheesecake, which has to be one of my favorite foods. I thought it was the pinnacle of cheesecake until I tried Otto. Otto is a tiny hole in the wall in Chinatown that opened maybe a year ago? I don't know how he does it, but this is the smoothest, creamiest cheesecake I've ever had. The crust is the perfect balance of sweet and buttery. He sells by the slice ($5) or by the entire cake. He has more flavors that I could ever have imagined for cheesecake; below is the lemon.

+ Thang's

When I'm walking around Chinatown and want something sweet (and that I can pretend to myself is somewhat healthy), I stop a Thang's for a durian or soursop smoothie with pearls. Heaven on earth.

Food truck festival tonight!

Hey everybody~~looking for somewhere to eat tonight? StreetGrindz is putting on a food truck festival on Kapiolani...bring together all of your favorite food trucks to one central parking lot :)

Can't believe they didn't think of this earlier...

6-9 pm
1637 Kapiolani Blvd

Old vs. New: Side Street Inn vs. Kaimuki Grill

I was fascinated by Melissa Chang's post on Nonstop Honolulu about top places to take visitors (I would link to it here, but their website is really difficult to search, and I haven't been able to find it). She lists Kaimuki Grill as one place she always takes people, for when she "knows that Side Street Inn will be impossible to get a table."

In opportune timing, Kaimuki Grill was also featured on Groupon, so I snapped up a coupon. I've actually been twice now; the first time with a friend who was visiting from the mainland. I wanted to take her somewhere local, but she'd already been to Side Street on a previous trip. So I thought, "Perfect! I'll take her to Kaimuki Grill." The second time I went with some old friends who'd never been there but wanted to try it. Both times we loved it (although let me warn you...there's nothing light on the menu. Go hungry and ready to eat something that will kill your diet).

And since I am a die-hard Side Street Inn fan, I wanted to compare them side by side.

Side Street's menu is a beast. It takes forever just to read through it. Being a huge fan of Side Street fried rice (my "must-order" whenever I go there), here's the Side Street fried rice.

We also had the side street kal bi - a little tough and hard to get off the bone (not the best date food! haha)

The Kaimuki Grill menu, on the other hand, is much more manageable. Both sides of a simple table tent. Beers are listed separately on the back of the napkin holder. It's tiny in comparison to side street (maybe 8 tables?) but very homey and comfortable.

I thought these lotus furikake chips were unique to Kaimuki Grill, but I also saw them at Shokudo (or was it at Side Street? I'm completely getting them all mixed up). The furikake flavor didn't come across as strongly as I'd hoped.

Garlic - soy salmon...I was expecting this to be grilled, but in true "bar menu" style it was fried.

Kaimuki Grill fried rice - I had to compare to Side Street. This was great, but I'd have to say that Side Street is still my favorite - the rice is a little stickier is the only way I can think of to make the comparison...

Mac n cheese wedges - Kraft mac & cheese formed into cute little triangles and deep fried. If it wasn't Kraft, these might be the most amazing food.

In sum, I'm still a die-hard Side Street fanatic, but Kaimuki Grill is a great option if you're in Kaimuki or looking for smaller (and cheaper) portions than what Side Street offers.

Kaimuki Grill

1108 12th Ave (in the parking lot near Harding)

732-2292 (they take reservations)

Side Street Inn

1225 Hopaka St (by Ala Moana)

591-0253 (don't also take reservations)

Side Street in the Strip

614 Kapahulu Ave

739.3939

What I'm wishing for in Hawaii's dining scene in 2011

+ Authentic thai or Laotian, a la Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon

+ South Indian street food (I'll take a restaurant or a food truck)
Dosa, pav bhaji, samosa sandwiches

+ An awesome wine bar that's not in a shopping mall

+ Homestyle Shanghainese or Taiwanese food

Anyone have other things they'd like to see / can tell me where these already exist in Hawaii??

What about you? What are we missing here in Hawaii?

Venturing down to Waikiki: Sansei

When I think of sushi in Hawaii, I think of Sansei. However I realized that I am dating myself...because I also think of Sansei in Restaurant Row turning into a dance club at 10 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings....yikes!

I was meeting a friend from the mainland who is staying in Waikiki for dinner. I'd originally planned to take her to Side Street on the Strip on Kapahulu, but neglected to realize that it was Tostito Bowl BCS championship day, and the bar was COMPLETELY packed. Boo :(

So we walked back towards Waikiki (since we'd already paid for parking in the lot next to Side Street) and went to Sansei, since I was curious how they are doing these days.

It's on the 3rd floor of the Waikiki Beach Marriott (on the Diamond Head end of Waikiki), right next to DK Steakhouse (which are both owned by DK restaurants). The interior looks surprisingly just like Restaurant Row.

The Sansei Special Roll: spicy crab, cilantro and veggies dusted with furikake. Meh.
Kapalua "Butterfry" roll with Ponzu dipping sauce - meh. Where's the rice? Why is it deep fried?

Miso butterfish...delicious, but it's also pretty hard to mess this one up.

Tempura sweet onion rings - nice touch with the tempura batter

Poke - really liked the addition of salad greens here

Overall, I'm glad I went; it definitely satisfied a craving for Sansei-style sushi. But I think next time I'm craving Japanese, I will splurge on Sasabune or Gaku, or hit up a more reasonably priced sushi joint...does anyone have recs for one with fun rolls like Sansei?

Top meals of 2010

Top meals in Hawaii (I was only here for a few months, so there weren't that many opportunities)


+ Ono to go
This is a new lunch truck, located on Kapiolani Boulevard, run by 3 guys who love the bbq. I loved the combo poke / kalua pig & cabbage bowl with brown rice, but the bbq is ono as well.


+ Ed Kenney (of Town) catering at Punahou...opa with pan-fried pa'i'ai. Despite the fact that he was catering for probably about ~150 people, this was one of the highlights of my year!


**Top meals outside of Hawaii**

+ Azul / Shanghai

Tapas bar in Shanghai, greatest sangria in the city

+ Haiku / Shanghai

I always have my birthday here, and it was one of my last meals in Shanghai. Run by Chinese American, Alan Wong, who imported "california style" fancy sushi rolls to China.

+ Boulcott Street Bistro / Wellington (New Zealand)

I still remember the tenderness of the lamb shank

+ Tamarind Restaurant / Luang Prabang (Laos)

It's a fancy version of local Laotian dishes, but still cheap (I recall less than $10 a meal). The 4 roast veggie dips with the toasty seaweed was amazing.

+ Hunter valley (wine country outside of Sydney)

We ate at the Tuscany bed & breakfast. The Hunter is a wine region outside of Sydney famed for their Semillons (white wine). If you go, definitely visit Tyrell's, Ashley Wilkinson, and de Bortoli wineries.

Eats: oysters (amazing!), cheeses, and mediterranean-inspired dips