Kalihi Eats: Alicia's Market

By the location and look of its exterior appearance, the casual observer might assume Alicia’s Market is just another cramped and stuffy, over-the-hill mom ‘n pop shop, offering little more than dusty old grocery goods, candy, booze and cigarettes. Yet once you walk through the front door, you’ll find the place full of energy and amazed by the variety of hot meals, fresh seafood and specialties Alicia’s has to offer!

As you might expect within this busy industrial corridor of Kalihi, parking can be a challenge; especially during the peak work week lunch hour window. There’s a limited amount of stalls right in front of the place, with a few reserved for handicap. If they’re all taken, pull up on that side of the street in front, then wait briefly; hopefully someone will leave soon. There’s no dine-in option at Alicia’s, so most folks are coming and going quickly anyway. Otherwise, hunt for an open parallel space along the street.

Immediately as you enter Alicia’s Market, to the left is a fresh produce section stocked with all the basics, as well as a few ethnic must-haves (like Tofu!)…

From there you head towards the back to the “Pupu Bar”, which is truly the centerpiece of this market. Here you’ll find an impressive selection of Chinese-style roasted meats…

See da’ poi “on top” da case? How you gonna’ ack? Charsiu and Poi action!

ready-mixed Poi and a wide variety of Pickled Vegetables, Fresh Salads and Poke, Poke, Poke…

Tako and Sashimi Pupu plates, and Big Island Opihi!..

Alicia’s Homemade Pasteles…

and Smoked Tako, Dried Aku, and Smoked Ono…

This “Pupu Bar” is also where you can order complete plate lunches including your choice of entree, rice and salad on the menu. A link is provided at the end of this write-up for a PDF copy of that.

If you’re in a hurry and the lines at the “Pupu Bar” in back are too long (which it often is during lunch hour), after going through the turnstile, head straight to the counter by the front register. Here’s where you’ll find an assortment of freshly-made, wrapped and ready-to-go pupus and mini-meals…

This includes plates of Deep-fried Ahi with Lemon Wedge, Steamed Okinawan Sweet Potato, Pork Hash and Fried Rice with Charsiu Pork…

There’s also Roast Pork, Turkey Tail and Musubi mini combo plates, and from Maki Sushi, Cone Sushi and Andagi from Akyth.

Right next to the front register counter are Chow Mein plates and Salted Duck Eggs…

While right below that on a cart is one of my favorite specialties from Alicia’s, their Boiled Peanuts!…

Whoah, show up at the tailgate party with this tray, and you’d be everyone’s new best friend!

There’s a few more things not shown that were at the front register, such as SPAM Musubi and other Musubi, boiled eggs and Shave Ice.

The rest of the store is occupied by gondola shelves and refrigerator cases stocked with all the grocery basics and daily necessities you’d expect at a mini-market or convenience store, plus a few other interesting novelties. Thankfully the aisles are spaced out rather generously considering the overall size of the establishment, so you have enough room to get through if there’s a crowd.

As mentioned a little earlier, one of my favorites from Alicia’s is their Boiled Peanuts…

1 lb. bag of Alicia’s Boiled Peanuts

These are the larger Virginia peanuts, where most of which have 2 big nuts in them instead of the 3 and 4 smaller nuts in the smaller variety…

They’re flavored and seasoned perfectly, with just the right balance of salt and moisture, while being el dente with a snap to them, and not soggy at all. Contender for “Best Boiled Peanuts on Oahu” for sure!

Diner E’s favorite is the Roast Turkey Tails and Charsiu Pork..

I also picked up a Sashimi plate…

Alicia’s Sashimi Plate on a bed of sliced Cabbage with Coleman’s Mustard and Shoyu dipping sauce, $6.95

Diner E also bought Suman, which is a Filipino Rice Cake…

Suman

My first time trying this, and gotta’ say, this stuff is AWESOME!

Suman is made by cooking mochi rice with coconut milk, and steaming it in banana leaf. This one was slightly sweet, with just a hint of salt sprinkled outside to bring out the flavor. It’s glutenous like Mochi, but with a slightly different texture due to the way it’s prepared. I’d say a bit firmer in a good way. The banana leaf imparts this most interesting flavor that’s difficult to describe, which all I can say is it’s absolutely MASARAP!

Finally, Diner E got another of his favorite treats from Alicia’s: the Chinese Soft Peanut Candy…

Chinese Soft Peanut Candy, $2.65 per tray

The brown caramel-looking binder looks like butter brickle, but it’s rather neutral in flavor, not being excessively sweet, salty nor buttery. It’s also semi-soft and chewy; not brittle. The sesame seeds offer more texture than flavor. Overall pretty good.

So next time you’re on the Nimitz side of Kalihi hunting for a place to grab a bite, check out Alicia’s Market… and don’t forget da’ Boiled Peanuts!

Alicia’s Market
267 Mokauea St.
Honolulu, HI 96819
Tel. 841-1921

Business Hours:
Monday – Friday 8am to 7pm
Saturday 8am – 6:30pm
Sunday Closed

Download Alicia’s Market take-out menu here!…
Alicia’s Market Menu (55k PDF document)

The Tasty Island Rating:

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

Related Links:
• Blue Collar Workers Keep Locale Lively – Honolulu Star Bulletin

Kalihi Eats: Side Street Take-Out & Grill

When Diner A drove past Side Street Take-Out & Grill off Kalihi and Republican street one day recently, his initial assumption was that this place had ties with the now-famous Side Street Inn near Ala Moana. After he mentioned wanting to try the place, before we visited, we had to confirm first what they were all about, which a quick phone call immediately answered this burning question.

Turns out they have no ties with Colin Nishida’s Side Street Inn. Side Street Grill is operated by a group of guys who are “moonlighting” this business, with their other job over at Ihilani Resort on the west side of Oahu.

And that’s where I’m going to really start this review off . On our first visit, the guys working there were super-friendly with a great attitude and very accommodating. Da’ kine, when you’re there, you feel like you knew them from school or “small keed” time, laddat.

So what get fo’ eat? Greeting you at the service counter are steam trays with some ready-made stuffs…

In the back row is Kalua Pig and Cabbage, Mahimahi with Lemon Butter Caper Sauce, and in the front row is fried chicken and local style beef stew.

To the left of this was a tray of Pork Adobo…

Also behind that was Spaghetti sauce.

The everyday menu board included these items:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BREAKFAST
Breakfast served with your choice of Fried Rice, Home Fried Potatoes or Steamed Rice.

Big Aloha Breakfast Plate – $5
Steak & Egg – $6.75
Loco Moco – $5.00
Pork Adobo Omelet – $5
Corned Beef Hash & Egg – $4.50
Pancakes – $3.50
Ham  & Cheese Omelet – $5.50
Vegetable Omelet – $4.50

Side Street Saimin – $3.50
The Works Omelet – $5.00

Plate lunches
Regular Plate – $6
Mixed Plate – $6.75
Mini Plate – $4

Catch of the Day – Pasta of the Day – Bento of the Day
Chicken Katsu – Hamburger Steak – BBQ Beef Short Ribs – Teriyaki Beef Plate

Garlic Shrimp with 21 oz. Soda – $7.99
Side Street Bento Box – $6.25
New York Steak – $6.75

Sandwich, Soup & Salad
Soup & Sandwich Combo – $5.50
Caesar Salad (Shrimp) – $6 (Chicken) – $5.50
Rueben Pastrami Sandwich
Grilled Cheese Sandwich – $4
Chili Fries – $3.75
Onion Rings – $3.75

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The menu board also mentions “Special Requests Always Welcome”.

There’s also daily specials printed on paper posted on the wall…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daily Specials (Wednesday)
Catch of the Day $6
Sauteed Fresh Ahi Fillet with Garlic Butter Sauce
Pasta of the Day – $6
Penne Pasta with Chunky Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread
Bento of the Day – $6
Garlic Chicken and Pork Adobo

*Fried Fresh Ahi Poke Plate $6
*Garlic Herb Marinated Pork Chop with Sauteed Mushroom, Onion and Brown Gravy – $6
*Fried Chicken Plate – $6

10 oz. New York Steak Plate – $6.75
Italian Sausage with Mushroom and Onions – $6
Mahimahi with Lemon Caper Butter Sauce – $6
Pork Adobo Plate – $6

Mixed Plate Special – $6.50
BBQ Baby Back Ribs and Ahi Fillet with Sesame Butter Sauce

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The selection and prices look great!

Diner E went with his regular “gauge” plate (the plate he uses to judge a place) and got the Hamburger Steak, making it a mix by adding Pork Adobo along with it…

Hamburger Steak & Pork Adobo mixed plate, $6.75

Diner A also went with his “gauge” plate and got the Teriyaki Beef plate…

Teriyaki Beef plate, $6

I don’t have a “gauge plate” and, as usual, was undecided what to order for quite some time, torn between Sauteed Ahi with Garlic Butter Sauce and the Garlic Herb Marinated Pork Chops, but the mushrooms on the chops won me over, so I went with that…

Garlic Herb Marinated Pork Chop with Sauteed Mushroom, Onion and Brown Gravy – $6

First let’s talk portions. As you see they’re not shy on that, with enough food piled on to take each plate beyond “regular” to “supersized”.

Now let’s talk taste. This is where we all had a few gripes.

Diner E said his hamburger steak tasted more like meatloaf, and was rather bland. It also lacked that much-desired char-grilled outer crust.

You can tell that just by looking at it…

Hamburger Steak or Meatloaf?

The saving grace on his plate was the Pork Adobo, which was AWESOME, and actually the best thing that came out of there on our visit. Here’s a piece…

Pork Adobo

Notice the thick layer of fat. So bad, yet soooo gooood! This excellent execution on Pork Adobo had a perfect balance of Shoyu and Vinegar and was moist and tender. You could taste the peppercorn and bayleaf, yet it wasn’t overpowering. As Aunty Marialani would say, “Just right!” Or as our Filipino friends would say, “Masarap!”

Diner A was also disappointed his Teriyaki Beef wasn’t grilled, but tasted griddled on a flat top. Which leads us to question, as to why it’s called Side Street Grill if the food’s not GRILLED?! Turn that propane burner on and flame grill it, please! The marinade was good and beef quality was decent, but lacking the seared edges really can detract from it.

As for my Pork Chops, it was pretty good, but not as “gourmet” as I had hoped, based on the way it’s described on the menu. I couldn’t really distinguish any garlic or herbs as it says it’s marinaded with. Mostly just the brown gravy, which was actually also lacking depth of flavor and viscosity, being too thin. Thankfully the pork chop was cooked properly, being relatively moist and tender. It was also a quite large. I couldn’t finish the whole thing, truthfully.

Garlic Herb Marinaded Pork Chop

The dish’s saving grace was of course the sauteed mushrooms and onions. IMO, that’ll save any plate!

As for the mac sal’, it was too warm (room temp’), and bland as well. Not bad, not great; just nothing to write home or here about; still it must be noted anyhow.

This shot came out blurry, but check out this slab ‘o baby back ribs that came outta’ the kitchen…

Ooooooh, that looks fall-off-the-bones gooood! I can’t tell if that’s grilled because of all the sauce, but it looks like is. I hope it is!

There’s lots of other things on the menu that look like it’s worth a try, so if we’re in that area again, we’ll stop by again for sure.

The place itself is similar to many other plate lunch stands in the area, occupying the ground floor of an apartment building in a mostly industrial area…

Across the corner of Rebublican and Kalihi Street where they’re located is Dyke’s Market…

I love that name. lol

Side Street Grill has a small dining area inside if you care to eat-in…

Whoah look “on top” da’ rubbish bin… gitting “pancy” ‘derr wit dee decorachions”. lol

I don’t know. Perhaps we visited on one of their “off” days. Maybe was busy back at da’ hotel and they was burnt out, so they were just rushing the food out at this job.

As noted earlier, the guys running the joint are great, with a positive attitude, and I’m confident they know how to make really great food, as is evident by what they put on the menu, and testament by that fantastic Pork Adobo. Supporting that, the experience from their “day job” over at Ihilani Resort.

We must be honest to say that most of our dishes needed some help. Of course flame GRILLING would be a good place to start!

Still, don’t let our lackluster thought on our particular plates put you off from going there. Check ’em out. The customer service (always important!), menu selection, prices and portions are fantastic. Hopefully the food will be too on your next order.

Side Street Take-Out & Grill
1637 Republican street (off Kalihi street)
Honolulu, HI  96819
Tel. 842-7814
Fax. 848-0938

The Tasty Island rating:

(1) Average. (She Go)

Waikiki Sunset on the Beach

Combine a free concert, drive-in movie (sans the car) and beach picnic and what do you come out with? Sunset on the Beach!

Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki got its start back in 2001, and to today remains a popular weekend attraction for tourists and locals alike.

Many high profile events are staged at this venue, such as red carpet premiere screenings of the hit TV show ‘LOST’, Don Ho’s Celebration of Life tribute, to most recently, the ‘Parade of Champions’, which took place yesterday on Labor Day evening. A little more on that later, no pun intended.

Usually the presentations and live performances take place beginning at 4, 5 or 6pm while the sun’s still up, followed by an exclusive video program and/or movie on the big screen when the night falls.

As you see, it literally is right ON Queen’s Surf beach in Waikiki, just across the street from Honolulu Zoo, and steps away from the shoreline.

The 30 ft. screen’s trussed frame support and raised stage at the base is a permanent structure, while the screen itself is brought out and erected by a cable-and-beam system on the afternoon of each Sunset on the Beach event. Weather-permitting of course.

When there isn’t Sunset on the Beach, this same area serves as the designated area for Beach Volleyball games.

Here you can see where it is even at a distance, with that giant screen up and numerous vendor tents (in white) and bistro umbrella tables out (blue) surrounding the venue…

When you see the tents up and chairs out, you know that weekend is going to have Sunset on the Beach, as the City and County usually sets it up on the Friday before it.

Sturdy metal chairs are provided for the surrounding area…

…while right in front of the screen is an open sand area where most folks like to grab a spot so they can sit on their own mats, beach chairs and coolers full of grinds.

Speaking of grinds, also available are a variety of food vendors to choose from. These were the vendors there at last Sunday’s event…

Le Crepe Cafe – Sweet & Savory French Crepes

M&N’s Treats

Royal Hawaiian Hot Dog & Shave Ice

Royal Hawaiian Hot Dog & Shave Ice

Time 2 Grind

Ba-Le Sandwich & Vietnamese Food

Ba-Le Sandwich & Vietnamese Food

Ba-Le Sandwich & Vietnamese Food

Ba-Le Sandwich & Vietnamese Food

K’s Restaurant

K’s Restaurant

Papa John’s Pizza

There’s a sign board where they post the movies showing for the weekend of a SOTB event…

Click photo to zoom in

The featured movies that weekend were Pirates of the Carribean: World’s End on Saturday, August 23rd, with Guardians of the Sea & Surf’s Up on Sunday, August 24th.

Further up Waikiki beach, folks frolic on the shoreline…

This Orchid Lei’d surfer and seal statue sits at the entrance to the wall, a.k.a. “walls”, extending out on the mauka end of Queen’s Surf Beach…

As the sun sets, folks begin to find their spot in the sand…

Surf’s Up!…

The projection system they use has very impressive resolution, looking bright, crisp and sharp with vivid, adequately-accurate colors…

My noisy photo doesn’t even do it justice, but you get the picture. You have to see it for yourself. While it’s not going to leave you wanting that over your 52″ HD Aquos set anytime soon, it’s still a very satisfying visual experience. The 30 ft. cinema screen is also quite taut and resistant to flapping around in the wind, thanks to it’s heavy-duty truss frame and beam support.

The sound system is also impressive, having wide dynamic range, with decent lows and crisp highs, low noise (not considering the traffic passing by) and discrete separation of the audio channels with a well-placed surround speaker set-up. The only nuisance is echo reflecting off the concrete hotel buildings nearby.  Still, them old, over-driven, mono audio, tin can speaker boxes you used to hang on your car window at the drive-in theater ain’t got NOTHIN’ on this set-up, that’s for sure!

Yesterday’s Sunset on the Beach was the final stop for the Parade of Champions, the second time such an event has taken place in Waikiki. This year’s POC was to honor several athletic competitors: The Waipio Little League Baseball Team, who just recently won the World Series title, smashing Mexico 12-3. Beijing Olympics Gold Medalist soccer forward Natasha Kai and Gold Medalist Decathlon athlete Bryan Clay were also recognized at the event.

When I arrived, the presentation part was already finished and the Waipio little league baseball players were in a tent signing autographs for a long line of fans, while highlights from the games were shown on the big screen…

Official 2008 world series champs t-shirts were also available for sale…

Waipio – 2008 World Series Champs T-Shirts, $14 youth M & L; $15 adult S, M & L; $16 XXL

Wow, Hawaii is home to some accomplished talent in the world lately! A candidate for US President, Little League Baseball Champs, Olympic Gold Medalists, A Heisman Trophy finalist, professional golfers… REPRESENT! Congratulations to all.

According to their website, there are currently no Sunset on the Beach events scheduled for September in Waikiki. When not there, the same “Sunset” format often takes place at other parts of the island, including  Waianae, Kapolei, Kalihi and Kailua.

Big mahalo to the City & County of Honolulu, all the sponsors, and the Waikiki Improvement Association for supporting Waikiki Sunset on the Beach.  We’ve been attending this event regularly for years since its inception, and hope it continues for years to come!

The Tasty Island rating:

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

Related links:
• Sunset on the Beach Waikiki Events – Official site
• Sunset on the Beach – Information about ‘LOST’ premiere screenings at SOTB by Lostpedia.com
• Celebrating Champions – Honolulu Star Bulletin
• Waikiki Crowd Cheers Little Leaguers, Hawaii Olympians – Honolulu Advertiser