McDonald's New Peach Mango Pie

McDonald’s of Hawaii’s new Peach Mango Pie, $1.09 each (or two for $1.49)

Hot on the heels of the Haupia Pie, and preceeding that, the Taro Pie, McDonald’s of Hawaii is at it again – this time offering our market for a limited time an exclusive Peach Mango Pie.

This iteration of their all-time classic Apple Pie has been available since March of this year, yet I only tried it a few days ago (late May) due to someone buying one for me to try it.

Let’s take a closer look…

Close enough? lol

So what’s this “mystery” yellow-colored filling like? Texture-wise, it’s a somewhat loose, gelatinous glob, with very few random chunks of (I think) real peach fruit in it. You can sort of see one of those chunks to the left side of that cross-cut in the photo above. I couldn’t detect any real mango chunks, but here’s the clincher!…

At first bite, my first impression was, “Hey! This taste like a REAL, fresh mango!”, to the likes of the Pirie variety. Then after about the third bite, on down to finishing the entire pie, the palate acclimated the flavors and it then became a taste experience of eating something “peachy-mango-fruity” “something”, all wrapped up in a great tasting, crunch’ety, crisp’ety, deep-fried crust.

I must admit, a spare tire could be filled in that crust and I’d still enjoy it. lol

It’s sweet, but not too sweet, thanks in part to the acidic element the peach offers; the latter mostly playing back-up singer, with the mango taking lead vocals.

I’m guessing the mango fruit used to make it is the imported South American variety, and not some harvest from your aunty’s backyard. lol That bright yellow color surely must be augmented by the addition of food coloring.

Like the Taro Pie and the Haupia Pie, I give much props to “Mickee-Deez” for the effort. But it still hasn’t dethroned the classic Apple Pie – that’s still the best, IMO.

With that, I’ll give this Peach Mango Pie a solid…

The Tasty Island Rating:

(2) Good. I’m glad I tried it. (Ono)

It’s currently available at most McDonald’s of Hawaii locations. I went back and purchased a few more (for someone else to try) at the Aina Haina location, where they were priced at $1.49 for 2, or $1.09 each…

McDonald’s Aina Haina Shopping Center location – the first “Mickee-Deez” in Hawaii!

At that price, there’s not much to lose, and Just like the Haupia and Taro Pies, I’d certainly recommend at least trying this Peach Mango Pie. If not for anything else, for spare change, you get that fabulous deep-fried crust that can even make a spare tire taste fantastic. lol Seriously though, I thought it was pretty good, in a “Pirie Mango/Peach/some-kind-of-fruity” kinda’ way.

As a visual refresher, here again is (was) the McDonald’s of Hawaii Haupia Pie…

and the Taro Pie…

Lastly, some common mangoes, the first of this 2008 summer season, from a coworker’s tree…

Common Mangoes from Ewa Beach

Related Links:
• McDonald’s Haupia and Taro Pies

The ID Quiz – Local Grinds 2: Find Clues Here!

The ID Quiz: – Local Grinds (screen shot)

Recently some of you may have been forwarded an eMail (or two) by friends, family or coworkers which includes this Local Grinds photo ID Quiz. Usually I’m so NOT a fan of forwarded chain mail, whether it’s a quiz, videos, jokes, etc., but in this case just couldn’t resist checking out this quiz on local grinds!

The first quiz (shown above) was fun to play and try to figure out. But it’s the second quiz that hits home (for me, at least), as it includes many photos that came right here from The Tasty Island!

Check it out…

The ID Quiz – Local Grinds 2 (screen shot)

Looking at the screen shot of quiz 2 above, can you tell which food photos originated from this blog? I’ll give you a hint! One involves rice paper. Another comes from a bakery that was recently purchased by the owner of Yummy’s Korean BBQ restaurants, and the other two were taken at a popular Japanese Buffet in Manoa valley.

In case you haven’t seen or tried this “Local Grinds” quiz yet, here’s the files! They’re created in Microsoft Excel, so you’ll need that application in order to play it.

Downloads:

The ID Quiz – Local Grinds (2.2 MB Excel file)
The ID Quiz – Local Grinds 2 (2.3 MB Excel file)

The game play is simple: click on the empty field below each picture and enter the name of the food pictured above it. The gray box below it will tell you if you’re correct or not, while the program keeps score on the top right.

Those screen shots above are showing just 15 of the 50 total food items (and points) in the quiz. So there’s much more to answer than what you see here!

After you play, leave a comment and let us know how you did! I’m especially curious if you can tell me which photos in quiz 2 came The Tasty Island. If you can’t figure any of them out, I’ll be happy to assist.

You can also contact the creator/publisher of the game, Tracy Nishibun, and leave a comment to him. The information for that is included on the game masthead.

There’s one “fishy” food item in particular that’s from here in game 2, which I mentioned to Tracy, would be a real stumper based on appearance alone. So I’ll give you a hint: It’s from a fairly new franchise plate lunch restaurant near a Costco that originated in Liliha.

Have fun!

Answers links:
**But don’t look until you’ve absolutely drained your ability!**

• The ID Quiz – Local Grinds: answers
• The ID Quiz – Local Grinds 2: Answers

From North Vietnam to South King Street at Bac Nam

Pho (small bowl) with Chicken

Ah, yes, Pho. Just as one might expect as top-of-mind when mentioning a Vietnamese restaurant. But one look at the menu at Bac Nam Vietnamese Restaurant, and you’ll immediately see that there’s much more beyond that iconic bowl of beef noodle soup available here. Actually, there’s so much to choose, that even after placing your order, you might still feel indecisive and unsure that’s REALLY what you want.

Even with yesterday’s visit to the restaurant – a first time for our party of five, except one person – the items we ordered was just scratching the surface of Bac Nam’s extensive menu selections.

Northern & Southern Authentic Vietnamese cuisine at Bac Nam on S. King street

The title of this entry is a play off the English translation of the restaurant’s name, Bac Nam, which in Vietnamese means “North South”, as in the regions of Vietnam the cuisine here covers. As the Honolulu Advertiser’s review of Bac Nam stated, “Imagine an American restaurant serving fantastic New England clam chowder and an awesome Louisiana gumbo, too, and you get the idea” .

Speaking of reviews, Bac Nam has received many praises over the 4 (or more?) years of operation from various print and online publications; and that’s very reassuring to know as first-timers like we were on this visit. And I’ll be the first to say, I’m a rookie all-the-way when it comes to Vietnamese cuisine. And I ashamedly confess that up until today, have NEVER tried Pho in my life, which even that “mission” has yet to be fully accomplished.

The dining room is very small, with a seating capacity of, I’m guessing (forgot to ask, sorry) no more than 40 adults maximum.

Luckily for us, on this 11:30am early-in-the-week Tuesday visit, the place was slow, so our service was better than I imagine it might have been had the place been packed. There were also several parking stalls still available behind the restaurant, along with the one we grabbed.

Our server/busser/host/cashier was the owner, Mr. Dam Huyn, the other half of the chef/prep cook/everything else, his wife Kimmy, who was the only other staffer in the house, busy preparing all the orders back in the kitchen. Regardless of this being a “skeleton crew” 2-person operation at the time of our visit, our orders still arrived in a timely manner, and water glasses kept full.

The decor may look almost “plate lunch stand’ish” in the photo, but the overall ambience actually feels quite cozy, quiet and very clean. Someone on our table even commented that their bathroom was well-kept, which gives that much more of a good impression.

Let’s get back to the food. Thankfully, along the culinary path from South to North Vietnam, back on down and way over to Hawaii on South King Street, Bac Nam sticks by its Vietnamese heritage, without trying to appease to “local” tastes. If I seen anything resembling mac salad or two scoops rice here, I’d have been very disappointed. The closest you’ll find that isn’t native to their eastern roots is soda.

So what’s to start with? Let’s check it out!…

Click to enlarge

We went with Diner E’s recommendation and ordered the Crispy Fried Stuffed Chicken Wings, and the Spring Rolls…

Crispy Fried Stuffed Chicken Wings – Ground pork, mixed with long rice, onion, mushrooms, manioc and carrot stuffed into prepared chicken wings, then deep fried. Served with Fish Sauce. $7.95

Spring Rolls – A combination of shrimp, crab meat, pork hash and vegetables, wrapped in Vietnamese rice paper then deep fried until golden brown. Served with Fish Sauce. $6.95.

Diner E was right. These two items ROCKED! Those chicken wings really throw a left curve to your palate once you bite into them, as you’re expecting chicken, but instead are greeted with this complex combination of that pork, mushrooms and carrots flavor and texture. That along with the golden panko-like crust is just dynamite. Especially when you dip them into the fish sauce that came with the Spring Rolls. If you order those wings by themselves, ask for the Fish Sauce to go with it. Even for an extra charge, it would be worth it.

Bac Nam’s house Fish Sauce

It tastes similar to Filipino Patis, while not being really “fishy”. It’s slightly salty, sweet, acidic and spicy (chili pepper) all at the same time, covering that whole spectrum. There’s shredded carrots, and I think Daikon, along with chili pepper. Not only does it compliment the savory meats, but also makes a great salad dressing for the greens provided. The oughta’ sell that stuff in bottles.

With the spring rolls, you make lettuce wraps with them and either dip or pour the fish sauce on them…

The complexity of ingredients in the spring roll, along with the crispy-fried rice paper wrapper, contrasted by the cool and refreshing mint leaves and lettuce, and that multi-faceted Fish Sauce is so delicious. I could just order the following two appetizers as a meal and be happy with that! But we all shared that just to get a little taste of what’s to follow.

So what shall we order for the main course? Hmmm… let’s see?… decisions, decisions, decision…

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Click to enlarge

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To several of our guests’ disappointment, the sandwiches shown on the menu are no longer available, as Mr. Huyn broke the news and explained that they’re too time consuming to make. Shucks. That, and a bowl of Pho would have been a great lunchtime meal.

So instead of that, which is what Diner C orginally wanted, she a summer roll to go along with her order of Pho…

Summer Roll – Shrimp, vermicelli (noodles), mint and lettuce, wrapped in a Vietnamese Rice Paper, served with a peanut sauce. $2.00

That’s actually just one half of the summer roll; the other half was already eaten.

(Again) Here’s her order of Pho with Chicken…

Pho (small bowl) with Chicken, $5.75

At that incredible price, even this small bowl comes with a full serving of fresh vegetable toppings!…

Pho vegetable toppings – Fresh Thai Basil, Mint and Bean Sprouts

Absolutely incredible value. Even more incredible is their Pho beef-based soup broth, which ALL their Pho selections are based on. Diner C gave me a spoonful to try, which was almost an “awakening” moment for me. I was finally initiated into the wonderful world of Pho! And I didn’t order this! Ack! But my-oh-my is this some good stuff! It has this really hearty, beefy savory foundation, along with that hint of star anise and lemon grass, and a minor hint of whatever else goes into making the broth. Mr. Huyn said it takes over 8 hours to prepare it. I believe. Common, you’re talking to a Ramen enthusiast here! I really have nothing to compare Bac Nam’s Pho with to other popular eateries who specialize in it, but from what very little I tasted, I’m going back to Bac Nam for sure for this dish!

Go back to the NOODLE SOUP section on the menu, and you can see they have the PHO’s Special Combination of Meat for only $6.75. What a bargain! That’s cheaper than many plate lunches now-a-days, and you’re getting all that, including the TLC that’s involved in making it? As Jack Black said in the film, Shallow Hal, “KOO KOO! KOO KOO!” lol

Then there’s our lovely birthday girl of the day, who ordered the Chicken Curry, along with a side order of Jasmine Rice…

House Special Chicken Curry – Carrots, potatoes, onion, lemon grass, red pepper, coconut milk and chicken. $7.95

Side order Jasmine Rice, $2.00

She also shared with me a sample spoonful, and this also was delicious. It tasted pretty much like Thai style curry, using pretty much similar ingredients. It was mildly spicy and the coconut milk flavor was on the lighter side, not heavy. Very good. I’d get this if I was in the mood for stew that day.

Diner A ordered the Rice Plate with Barbecued Chicken…

Rice Plate with Barbecued Chicken – Served the FINEST GRAIN RICE, House special fish sauce, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. $7.50

Diner E went for Rice Plate with Barbecued Shrimp and Beef Short Ribs…

Rice Plate with Barbecued Shrimp and Beef Short Ribs – Served the FINEST GRAIN RICE, House special fish sauce, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. $8.95

Look at the size of these two plates, the quality of the ingredients, execution of the cooking and the prices. I can’t believe it. Most importantly, look at the those fire-grilled seared edges! No flat-top griddles here. When they say “barbecue”, they really mean BARBECUE! I didn’t try the beef or the shrimp, but the chicken tasted like it was coated with lemon grass and chili pepper based marinade, which complimented it quite nicely, and a refreshing alternative to the ever-familiar Japanese Teriyaki and korean BBQ styles. Very moist and tender as well. So good, to our amazement, Diner A, as skinny as he is, finished the whole plate! No doggy bags here!

Finally we have my order, which I chose the Cold Vermicelli Noodles, or “Bun”…

Bun with Sauteed Beef – Cold Vermicelli noodles, or “Bun”. composed of chopped mint leaves, bean sprouts, shredded lettuce, cucumber, pickles, and house fish sauce.

What would be neat is if they served this “Bun” dish is CLEAR glass bowl so that you can see the layers of fresh vegetables buried beneath the noodles on top. Here I mixed it around to dig some of that good up from underneath…

I suppose you can say it’s the Vietnamese version of a cold somen salad, which I love. This was also delicious, except for one thing: I already had the spring roll as an appetizer, which used the same fish sauce, and really, this “Bun” dish IS a spring roll, sans the rice paper wrapper. So for me, it was almost a redundant follow-up of the appetizer.

The Bun orders come with an even bigger bowl of that fish sauce, which you can either pour over like a dressing, or use a dip…

I was hoping the “sauteed beef” would have had more seared and burnt edges on it for added flavor and and texture, but they instead tasted almost like they were boiled. It was tender, but still, the barbecue style, like how they were on the rice plates would have been better to accompany this dish, I think.

After all that on this early weekday lunch, we were stuffed and had no room for dessert. But here it is, in case you’re interested…

Click to enlarge

While not as adventurous as some others have been, at least each of us tried a pretty good variety of what’s to offer here. There’s also

I’m not sure if they’re in the process of ordering new menus to print, but in the mean time they should at least cover up the sandwich section with a piece of paper taped over it. And while they might be working on that, they just might consider raising the prices just a little to make their hard work pay off. Not that I’m advocating higher prices to us as customers, but still. I’d hate to see a fine place like this shut down because it wasn’t profitable or worth the hard work involved.

From our impression of everything we ordered, you can really tell Kimmy puts great effort and a personal touch with pride into each and every dish that comes out of that kitchen, which really makes this place special.

Bac Nam left us all highly impressed by the wonderful food, trueness to its cultural heritage, and very friendly owners/staff. So much that we’re left wanting to try more. Much more.

Items I’d like to try on future visits include the Pho combination special (of course!), the Jellyfish salad, the Fried, Spicy Lemongrass Fish, and perhaps one of those House Special Hot Pots.

Bac Nam is highly recommended. I wish them many years to come of success at what they do best: Authentic North South Vietnamese Cuisine.

The menu cover

Bac Nam
Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine
1117 S. King St.
808-597-8201

Limited parking behind restaurant,
and metered parking on the street in front

The Tasty Island Rating:

(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)

Related links:
• Bac Nam serves up home-style Vietnamese dishes – Honolulu Advertiser review
• Bac Nam – Vietnamese Food Beyond Pho – Hawaii Diner
• Bac Nam – Ono Kine Grindz
• Bac Nam – Yelp user reviews

Things To Do
Honolulu

Fishcakes & Beyond at Nu'uanu Okazuya

Mention Nu’uanu Okazuya to those “in the know” and chances are, they’ll mention fishcakes. They’re certainly one of the more well-known of the genre on Oahu, thanks in part to being included in the Okazuya guidebook, Okazuya: “Oh ‘Cause You Hungry” published back in 2000.

Nu’uanu fits the classic Okazuya business profile under several common denominators: 1) They’re located in an inconspicuous, hole-in-the-wall location; here being on a lesser beaten path back street, just a few blocks mauka of bustling downtown Honolulu. 2) The trays of food are placed in a shop-front window so passersby can see what’s available. 3) They’re owned and operated by a local Okinawan family. Therefore, many of the dishes offered are heavily influenced by Okinawan and Japanese cuisine. And 4) They open very early in the morning, and close within 1 or 2 hours after the lunch hour rush, or whenever food runs out – whichever comes first. Therefore, it’s a good idea to arrive as early as possible for best selection, especially if you want your claim of their most popular specialty items.

And I really agree with this statement in that Star bulletin article linked above: “In some ways I think it was the predecessor of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine,” Dela Cruz says of okazuya food. This really is fusion cuisine at its core, blending ingredients and cooking techniques from both east and western cultures.

Enough rambling. Let’s take a peek through the window to see what get!…

We arrived at 10:45am today (Friday), ahead of this 3-day Memorial Day weekend, therefore many folks (we assume) took off from work to extend the holiday, so most of the good stuff here was still available. Yay!

Still, inventory was already thinning, considering this to be a “slow” day. Look, all the shrimp tempura was wiped out, and only had this much vegetable tempura remaining…

Had Butterfish and Saba…

Hash patties, hamburger patties, Spam slices and Egg Omelets…

Nori Fishcakes, Gobo Fishcakes, Plain Fishcakes, Chive Fishcakes and Crab Fishcakes…

But shoots, they sold out of the Hot Dog Fishcake. Whaaahhhhh! Whaaaaahhh! That’s my favorite! Oh well, next time!

Musubi, check…

Cone Sushi…

Kabocha slices…

Whew, just in time. Only had three left! Had plenty of the diced Kabocha with shrimp, though…

OK, I’m drooling already, time to head in the door to order before people beat me to whatevah get left!…

As I said earlier, this was a Friday preceeding a 3-day weekend, so as you see, the dining room, which is usually at maximum capacity around this time, on this day was empty…

Earlier I showed you the the room-temperature items in the window. Then inside, there’s the hot station…

As you see on the bottom right, the tray of Nishime was all wiped out. But not to fret! As we were there, the cook just loaded up a fresh batch!

To the left of that is Squash (Togan) with Chicken and Tofu. Our nice server lady is shown putting together Diner E’s plate, grabbing a serving of Chicken Long Rice, Okinawan style. There’s also simmered Tofu, Chow Funn, and a few other items not clearly visible in the photo.

Well, we have our plates, so it’s back to the office where it’s time to grind!

Diner C ordered this…

Gobo (Kimpira), Simmered Tofu, Saba and Chow Funn. Total was about $6.

Here’s Diner E’s order….

Clockwise from top: Kobu Maki, Vegetable Tempura, Furikake Musubi, Cone Sushi, Garlic Chicken, Kabocha Pumpkin slice and Chicken Long Rice. Total for his was about $9.

Finally, here’s my order…

Clockwise from top: Vegetable Tempura, Teriyaki burger, Chow Funn, Nori Fishcake, Gobo Fishcake, Kabocha slice, Nori Musubi and Kobu Maki. Total was $9.55.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Kinda’ pricey. Yeah, we all agree on that. But.. but, most of what’s on these plates are worth it. Especially when you consider that many of these are specialty items that take long hours to prepare, or the ingredients involved simply cost more.

Let’s take a close look at that absolutely FANTASTIC! Kobu Maki…

Kobu Maki

This is made by wrapping strips of pork and gobo (Burdock root) in Kobu (a.k.a. Kombu, or sea kelp) and tying it up with Kanpyo (dried gord), then simmered in a shoyu/sugar/sake/katsuoboshi liquid until it’s flavorfully infused and tender. The Kobu Maki at Nu’uanu Okazuya should be a top priority on your must-have list when going here. Sugoi oishii desu yo!

Again I’ll say, I was really bummed they ran out of the Hot Dog Fishcake. But they still had a nice selection of other types. Here’s a closer look at the Gobo Fishcake…

Gobo Fishcake

And the Nori Fishcake..

Nori Fishcake

Good stuff!

Let’s also inspect that Chow Funn closer…

Diner C really enjoyed Nu’uanu’s take on this classic Okazuya dish, preferring its relative “complexity” in comparison to St. Louis Delicatessen’s back-to-basics approach. I didn’t care for it though. It had pieces of chicken in it, which to me didn’t match, IMHO. And the seasonings also was a bit off. Texture-wise, they were also a bit mushy and overcooked.

My favorites, at least on this particular day’s order, was the Gobo (Kimpira), which Diner C shared with us, the Kabocha (pumpkin), and the Kobu Maki. Order just those 3 items, and guaranz’ you got yourself a mighty tasty, and also quite healthy lunch.

Diner C gave her plate a solid 5 Spam Musubi rating based on taste alone, but scales back to 4, only because of the high price for “take-out food” such as this. $6 is a bit steep for that “mini plate” she had. Still, loved the Saba, saying how moist, tender and flavorful it was. That, along with that fantastic Gobo Kimpira gotta’ be a winner right there.

Diner E, our resident Uchinanchu, was also mostly favorable of his plate, except was disappointed with the long rice, which he said paled in comparison to that from Toshi’s and Masa & Joyce ; two of his favorite for that particular item. He also felt a little shortchanged on the Garlic Chicken, which as you can see, is a quite a scrawny small piece. Especially since the Okinawan lady knew he was Okinawan too. Wassup wit dat? lol

Like I was disappointed the Hot Dog fishcake ran out, he was also disappointed that they didn’t have Okara available on this visit. That’s his number one ichiban favorite item from Nu’uanu. Okara is a soy pulp byproduct which comes from the Tofu-making process.

With that, Diner E gave his plate on this day an overall 3 Spam Musubi rating. Not bad, all things considered.

Yours truly gives my plate a 4. But let me go beyond a simplified average and grade each item individually!

Kobu Maki:

Kabocha (Pumpkin slice):

Nori and Gobo Fishcakes:

Vegetable Tempura:

Nori Musubi:

It would have scored one more Spam if it had Ume inside, but nevah get

Teriyaki Burger:

Chow Funn:

Price/Value:

Service:

Convenience/parking:

So to average that breakdown,
the total score for my plate is:

and a half

I need to make a half-eaten SPAM Musubi icon to represent half points!

While techincally my plate is 3.5, I’m giving mines a solid

due to how delicous the Kimpira, Kabocha and Kobu Maki was. Winnahz.

And of course everyone has their favorites, no matter which Okazuya you go. Others might swear Nu’uanu’s Nishime is da’ best. Others might favor their shoyu pork. As always, to each their own.

Nuuanu Okazuya is located in a low-rise business building, with neighbors that include Hosoi Florist, another Okazuya (can’t remember the name), a saimin shop and I think a barber shop. Something like that. It’s on the Daimond Head side of Nuuanu Avenue, across Hosoi Mortuary, just behind Pali Long’s and Safeway. There’s usually a few metered parking stalls available on the street in front. Usually. Depending when you go and your timing. Funny enough, as soon as I drove up towards there, two cars moved in stalls I was gonna’ take! Ack! Luckily I scored one just a bit further down.

Nuuanu Okazuya. Whether you go for the fishcake specialties, their most excellent Kobu Maki, Kimpira, the Kabocha pumpkin, or the many other classics offered there, DO check them out. Buggah is oishii!

Here’s their info…

Click on the image above to view/download/print their take-out menu (PDF)

Nu’uanu Okazuya
1351 Nu’uanu Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96817
808-533-6169

Open Monday – Saturday
6am to 2pm

The Tasty Island rating:

Related Links:
• Okazuya: Cause You So Hungry! – Star Bulletin

Strawberry Guavas by the Baskets

Just a few weeks ago, the Strawberry Guava tree in mom’s backyard was at its peak, with more fruit then we could even consume within the time frame of them being in ripe stage. So of course, many were given away to family and friends.

This is just the front-side of the tree…

Here’s how they looked about a month prior…

Strawberry Guavas taste just like a common guava, except they’re much smaller, and have a much thinner skin. The darker red ones are the sweetest, yet all of them do have a slight element of acidic tart to them. Here’s a ripe, fully mature one shown next to a penny so you can compare its size in scale…

And here’s that same guava, cut in half…

The white outer flesh just below the red skin is more tart and crisp in texture, while the inner pulp where the seeds are is sweet and gelatinous. Some folks don’t like the texture of the seeds and the stem crown and eat around that, but that don’t bother me. I pop the whole thing.

My sister took a bunch home which she’s using to make batches of Strawberry Guava Jelly…

That jar shown above is actually Hawaiian Chili Pepper Jelly, but that’s pretty much how the Strawberry Guava will appear in color as the finished product, sans the seeds.

I’m certainly looking forward to a Peanut Butter & Strawberry Guava Jelly sandwich!

KJ's Local Grindz' Fried Chicken

KJ’s (fried) Furikake Chicken

Upon reading a local discussion board on the “Best Fried Chicken”, several folks highly recommended KJ’s Local Grindz in Kaneohe.

First let me come clear and say, I’m not a huge chicken fan. But like the next guy, I’m always game for a great piece of golden, tasty breasts and thighs when the mood arises.

Well, yesterday I just so happened to run a business errand in Kaneohe, so while there, I made it a point to check KJ’s out.

Reinforcing what everyone was raving about, the young man working the front counter also recommended the “standard” fried chicken and the Furikake Chicken as their most popular items.

Done. order up 2 plates of that, to go

Now let’s see what we’ve got.

Diner “E” ordered a plate of straight Furikake Chicken, which ran $6.99, and here’s what he got…

KJ’s Local Grindz – (Fried) Furikake Chicken plate, $6.99

And I ordered a mix of their signature Fried Chicken and Furikake Chicken combo plate…

KJ’s Local Grindz – Fried and Furikake Chicken combo plate, $6.99 (no extra charge)

Diner “A” also ordered several pieces of the same two types of fried chicken, Ala Carte.

So. The first thing to expect upon first bite is an outstanding batter, right? Neh. No big deal.

First let’s have a close inspection of their “standard” fried chicken…

This thigh has the bone-in. The meat was tender and cooked through, but the outer part was just borderline dry; not dry, but one more reheat and it will be. Most importantly, the batter just wasn’t anything special. As far as I could tell, this could have been “Shake ‘N Bake” if given a blind taste test. There was perhaps a slight hint of Paprika, but otherwise just salt and pepper in there. The crunch factor was slightly flaky, slightly glutenous. I really think it’s just flour with a few simple seasonings.

Now let’s move on and take a close inspection of the (fried) Furikake Chicken…

Notice this is basically chicken katsu. It’s bonless pieces, cut into strips and coated with panko. Then from here it gets a bit interesting. After they fry it, it’s dipped into a slightly thick, slightly sweet teriyaki sauce that has a strong garlic accent and also sesame oil and sesame seeds.

The “Furikake” is the part that disappoints me. I really was expecting some interesting batter that had the Furikake mixed in it. But in reality, all they do is sprinkle Furikake over the fried chicken after it’s done. What the? I can do that! Shoots, next time I go order a chicken katsu plate at anytown L&L, I can do that! And that doesn’t really do much to validate the name “Furikake Chicken”. This really is more a type of Karaage Chicken that just so happens to have Furikake sprinkled on top.

Aside of that, we all unanimously preferred the “Furikake” over their “standard” fried chicken. Still, even that wasn’t “all that”.

Now I did confess that 15 minute detour, which may have eaten some time out of the “fresh crispness” of these plates. But this isn’t any excuse. I can eat KFC chicken (when it has meat on it) a day or two later and it still rocks.

When you order a plate at KJ’s, they offer either “Mac” salad (that’s what the guy said), or you can opt for steamed corn (kernels; not on-the-cob) or grean beans. I ordered “Mac”…

Mac? No way! That’s Spaghetti noodles! And there’s Tuna in it. Bleck! To top that off, they didn’t put enough salt in it, and it was bland as heck. I don’t even think they use Best Foods Mayo’, but probalby some generic warehouse brand. Not to fear, I drizzled a little olive oil and hawaiian salt on it and it was A-OK! Ah, nothing like doctoring what’s broken.

And of course the plate lunch standard of 2 scoops rice. Which to me is kind of a shortcoming as well. Personally, when I eat fried chicken, I prefer it with mashed potatoes and gravy, southern style. Plain steamed white rice just doesn’t work.

But rice can be a good thing with the Furikake Chicken. If you scroll back up and look at the first picture, you’ll notice the presence of sauce on the plate that dripped from from the Furikake Chicken. I would highly recommend if you go to KJ’s to ask them to put some of that sauce on your rice. That was essentially was the best part about it.

So that’s that. Diner “A” gave the Furikake Chicken a 3-SPAM rating , while giving their standard fried chicken a 1. Diner “E” gave the Furikake Chicken a 2. I’ll go on the average of those scores with a 2.

Part of their name IS “local grindz”, and with that, check out the rest of their menu…

Establishment-wise, they’re your typical hole-in-the-wall plate lunch stand, dominated by a utilitarian service counter, surrounded by about 8 dining tables and multiple chairs…

The front…

KJ’s is located on the backside (east) of Windward City Shopping Center in Kaneohe, in the same area where Long’s Drug’s is…

Adjacent to Genki Sushi, Taco Del Mar and Pizza Hut.

I’m not saying KJ’s fried chicken was bad, but it wasn’t outstanding either as others claimed it to be. If they’re open to suggestions, I’d highly recommend adding mashed potatoes and brown gravy (or white gravy!) as an option for their standard fried chicken. That would totally enhance the eating experience of that chicken. Doesn’t have to be “from scratch”. Even the packaged (just add water) stuff would work. But offer it. Local plate lunch places sometimes need think outside the “2 scoops rice and mac’ salad” box sometimes. Especially here.

If I lived in the area, I’d go back and try some of the other “local grindz” on the menu, such as that “Stuf’ Cabbage”. Now that sounds good right about now!

KJ’s Local Grindz
Windward City Shopping Center
808-235-5799

The Tasty Island Rating:

(2) I’m glad I tried it.

The Friendly Neighborhood "Bento Man"

Bento lunches from the “Bento Man”, c/o Nippon Restaurant on Waiakamilo Rd.

We all know the neighborhood ice cream man. And of course we can’t forget the Manapua Man.

But hark! Out there pulling up in the front… It’s a van! With some coolers! Get fish! Get Chicken! Get Beef! it’s.. it’s.. it’s BENTO MAN!!!

Well, OK, he’s not spinning webs, leaping tall buildings, or sporting spiffy spandex tights. Yet he’s saving the day never-the-less, fighting off hours of labor-induced hunger by offering a wide variety of fresh-made bentos, flown..err.. driven right up to our doorstep!

Actually Bento Man’s real name is Johnny from Nippon Restaurant, who makes his rounds to various businesses in our area, including our office every Tuesday and Thursday around 11am. He used to show up every Friday, but I suppose he now must reserve that day to save those damsels in lunch-time distress. lol

As you see, there’s quite a selection, kept warm in coolers, which are brought out of his van and spread out in front so everyone can get a good look and grab what they want…

If you click on the enlarged images, you might notice a few folks standing tightly around those coolers. See, when “Bento Man” shows up, it’s a first-come, first-serve deal, and it can get pretty rough and crowded sometimes, where you must jockey for a spot in front to get into one of these blue and white plastic caverns of bento gold. lol

And everyone has their particular favorite item that they hope to dig up.

Mine has always been their California Sushi rolls. For some reason, of all the take-out sushi places I’ve tried (Kozo, Aloha Sushi, Sushi Man, etc., Marukai, Shirokiya), “Bento Man’s” is still the best. Just something about it. “Bento Man’s” grilled Saba is also excellent.

On this particular day, I didn’t buy anything since I already packed lunched, but Diner “E” chose these items…

“Bento Man” – Cone Sushi (Aburage) & Maki Sushi, $1.50

“Bento Man” – Vegetable Tempura (Broccoli, Green Beans & Potato), $1.50

In particular, Diner “E” wanted to show off the simple beauty of this Broccoli Tempura in a cross-section bite…

Looks oishii to me!

Diner “C” chose this…

“Bento Man” – Fried Saimin Noodles & 2 SPAM Musubi

And Diner “A” chose this…

“Bento Man” – Corned Beef Hash and SPAM ‘N’ Eggs Bento, $5

It’s actually very impressive how great-tasting the bento are from “Bento Man”, considering the nature of them being toted around and kept warm in coolers. A testament and toast to the good folks working the kitchen over at Nippon Restaurant. They really know what they’re doing.

On today’s offering shown here, Diner “E” rated his stuff a solid 3 SPAM Musubi, Diner “C” rated her stuff a solid 4, and Diner “A” rated his stuff… well, he didn’t eat it yet. He bought for tomorrow’s lunch

“Bento Man” c/o
Nippon Restaurant
420 Waiakamilo Rd.
Honolulu, HI 96817
808-842-3456
more info’

Ah the convenience, economy and most importantly, great tasting grinds from the neighborhood food peddler. Do you have a favorite neighborhood “Bento Man”? Or Manapua Man or Ice Cream Man? Leave a comment and tell us about it!

When I come across the right one, I’ll be sure to cover a future post about the classic neighborhood…

Big Island's Best: Holy's Buttered Apple Pie

In Hawaii, every island has that special place to buy omiyage, or “gift” – usually food – to bring back as a treat for family and friends as a taste of your travels. From the Big island of Hawaii, one of those places to go is Holy’s Bakery in the Kapa’au area of Kohala for their awesome pies.

Fortunately for us folks living on (or visiting) Oahu, our local Star Market continues to ship in and sell Holy’s pies, including peach, coconut, and the most popular: Buttered Apple. Each hand-made, then frozen with plenty of TLC and ready to bake.

Diner “E”, in his generous spirit, brought this Holy’s Buttered Apple Pie to the office for us to try, which he bought from the Star Market in Ewa Beach, Oahu. He said there were only 3 in stock, along with 5 coconut and 5 peach pies. All at $14.99 each.

What you say? $14.99 for an apple pie? That is relatively steep, but this isn’t any ordinary apple pie. This is THE apple pie!

Behold the Holy’s Pie box, which this is exactly how it will look in your local Star Market’s freezer section…

Notice there’s no fancy plastic vacuum sealed wrapper or other high tech packaging method. This is old school. I wonder if there could be a loco moco with 2 scoops rice and mac salad under the hood here? lol

Pop the hood, and you’re greeted with a raw, solid-frozen, unbaked pie…

And no it’s NOT microwaveable!

Notice the steam vent slit, which actually you can’t see a visible puka, just the shape of where it’s located.

So what did it say on the label?…

Ah. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour. So Diner “E” fired up the oven on preheat at that temp’, then placed it in there on top of a baking pan to catch any drippings…

Exactly 1 hour later, it’s done!…

Whew. Thankfully that vent in the top crust functioned properly, or this could have been a mess! Not that the interior of our office lunchroom oven was exactly in showroom condition itself, either. lol

It was left to cool down for about 10 minutes then cut to serve…

Now. You do see it says BUTTERED Apple Pie, right? As in 1 whole stick! See that white goo in the center. That’s butter fat my friends, drippin’ ‘n oozin’ out. Paula Deen, if you’re lookin’ at this, you know what I’m talkin’ ’bout!

Here’s a slice…

What you CAN see is that flaky crust, that is entirely unique to Holy’s pie. What you CAN’T see is the BUTTERYNESS, which permeates throughout the crust and filling via shear heat melting that ingredient (dabs of butter) through and through. Diner “E” made a great observation by pointing out this crust was similar to that of the Manju from Maui. I agree, it’s quite similar.

What’s most incredible is how fresh it tastes after coming piping hot out of the oven, regardless of when the the actual date of production was, or the lack of sealed packaging involved. While I can’t say how one of these tastes fresh off Holy’s assembly line and out of the oven, I’m certainly not complaining with this shipped-frozen-then-baked version.

Now, you don’t think we’d eat this pie “plain” do you?…

Yes. that’s American Cheese added in and melted on, my friends. It may sound or even look gross, but this is THE way to eat an apple pie! You must try it like this. Especially with that extra butter in Holy’s pie. It’s like sensory overload in the way the creamy characteristic flavor of the American cheese enhances the cinnamon, apples, brown sugar, and buttery, delicately-textured crust. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Everyone who had a slice couldn’t get over how simple, yet delicous this pie was. We all unanimously agreed, whether it was just $5 or $15, Holy’s Buttered Apple Pie is one of the best we’ve ever tasted.

Holy’s Bakery, Inc.
PO Box 132 Kapaau, HI 96755
808-889-6865

*Also available at select Star Market locations on Oahu in the freezer section ($14.99 each for Buttered Apple, Peach or Coconut pies, each).

The Tasty Island rating:

(5) Superb. Worthy of repeat visits or purchases. (Broke Da’ Mout’!)

Related links:
• Frozen Apple Pie is a Big Island Favorite – Honolulu Star Bulletin

Waikiki Spam Jam '08

The official t-shirt design

The 6th Annual Waikiki Spam Jam was held this past Saturday from 4pm to 10pm on Kalakaua avenue, with streets closed off to traffic, block party style.

With Hawaii still holding the crown as the largest consumer of Hormel SPAM in the nation, it’s no wonder this infamous mystery meat is celebrated at such an epic scale as we see here.

Here I present a pictorial walkthrough of this year’s event!…

The Gordon Biersch booth

Gordon Biersch’s various SPAM-themed food items

Towards the end of the night, they were selling everything for just $2 each, so I bought a BBQ SPAM Slider to try…

Gordon Biersch BBQ Spam Slider: Guava Mango Chutney BBQ sauce, red onions, and SPAM in a sweet taro roll, $6 ($2 clearance price!). Was pretty good! They should have fried the SPAM more though (if at all; I think it was straight out of the can), as the BBQ sauce kinda’ overpowered the SPAM flavor as it was. But heck, for $2, it’s all good!

This has got to be one of the coolest ways to make use of SPAM can…

A SPAM tip can! Now when you finish reading my blog entries, you can kindly leave me a tip. Mahalo! lol

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, its… its..

It’s the Turkey SPAM MAN!

A SPAM JAM just wouldn’t be jammin’ without this…

I give that a “10 SPAM Musubi” Tasty Island rating! Witness the grill markings. Brilliant!

When you’re working on a SPAM Musubi assembly line, keeping the energy going with a couple cans of Red Bull can certainly help to keep things going!…

The Shack was in full force at this year’s event…

The Shack will soon be opening a location in the Waikiki Trade Center, next door to Zanzabar nightclub. Brendan, the owner, is that whacky guy in the back with the white visor.

The Shack was serving this very interesting SPAM burger…

The Shack’s SPAM Burger with Pom Frites (at least that’s what Brendan said it was) and 2 pickle wedges

You know what? That SPAM burger rocked! Good job, Shack!

Coconut Willy’s is a restaurant and bar with nightly live music, located in the Waikiki International Marketplace

Doraku Sushi booth

Giovanni Pastrami (from Lewers street) was offering two types of SPAM Pizza…

SPAM Pizza

Hawaiian” SPAM Pizza

The Giovanni Pastrami booth

As was the case last year, some of the food vendors didn’t include SPAM in their offerings, but mainly participated for the charitable cause and benefit of exposure. Here’s a “traditional” Greek Salad from the Leo’s Tavern booth…

Leo’s Tavern Greek Salad

and this beautiful tray of Baklava

Leo’s Tavern Baklava

The Simply Ono booth served up mostly traditional Hawaiian food and plate lunch fare…

I didn’t read the sign, but perhaps this Laulau has SPAM instead of pork in it?…

Simply Ono Laulau and Lomi Lomi Salmon plate

There were a a few non-food vendors, such as this Sarong and Pareo booth…

Hey, that pareo matches that girl’s blue hair!

Kapena was on stage providing the entertainment…

Kapena jams the SPAM Jam

There’s teddy bears, then there’s “SPAMMY” bears

SPAM logo golf tees, golf balls and a baseball

SPAM cookbook, pot holder and piggy, err, make that “SPAMMY” banks

That’s it. See you at next year’s SPAM JAM!

Related Links:
• Waikiki 2007 Spam Jam – The Tasty Island
• SpamJamHawaii.com

Grindz of the Day: Matzo Ball Soup & "Nathan's Caesar Dog"

A few weeks ago, a practicing Jewish coworker made us a most-delicious pot of Matzo Ball Soup in recongition of Passover. It’s a simple recipe, with a basic chicken broth, along with chunky pieces of kosher chicken meat that came from the broth-making process, and the Matzo ball itself being made out of Matzo meal, egg and oil, combined, balled up, proofed, then cooked in the broth as seen here.

The Matzo ball, which looks like a meat ball, but isn’t, has a sort of glutenous texture to it, and takes on the “meatyness” of the broth quite well, making it think you’re eating a meat ball. It’s very filling, and would certainly hit the spot on a cold, rainy day, let alone a sunny day that we partook in it.

Matzo meal is made out of Maztos, which is that “cracker” you see dipped in the bowl. This is the brand Diner “Ang” generously brought along to serve with this awesome pot of Matzo Ball Soup…

Diner “Ang”‘s Matzo Ball Soup
The Tasty Island rating:

(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)

Next >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Nathan’s Hot Dog + Little Caesars Pizza = Nathan’s Caesars?

Nathan’s Hot Dog

+

Little Caesars Pizza

=

Nathan’s Caesar Dog

While I can’t vouch for this being Kosher, this is indeed some mighty tasty stuff. Nathan’s hot dog is very salty and porky-fatty, which makes it such a fantastic combo with the chewy, toasted pizza crust it’s baked in. This is probably one of the best hot dogs I’ve ever had, and best of all, this pig-in-the-blanket variation is availalble for just $1.50 from anytown USA at a Little Caasars Pizza stand in a K-Mart near you!

The Tasty Island rating:

(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)