“Hau’oli Makahiki Hou” means “Happy New Year” in Hawaiian. Also just to let you know if you’re not from Hawaii, “Mele Kalikimaka” means “Merry Christmas” in Hawaiian.
When it comes to food, a popular tradition in Hawaii originally introduced by the Japanese is the eating of Sashimi on New Year’s Eve, which is believed to bring prosperity in the new year.
Personally I eat sashimi as often as I can. Love the stuff. The highest quality Ahi tuna can sometimes sell for nearly $30 per pound during this high demand season in Hawaii, but thankfully supply was plentiful this year, so the local market prices were a little more reasonable.
Well, sort of. The sashimi on that plate is from top-grade Bigeye Tuna (according to the butcher who sold it to me), which I fortunately scored today (last minute) on New Year’s Eve at the Kapahulu Safeway (of all places). It came at a still-hefty $24.99 per pound, so that .54 lb. portion rang up at $13.49. I tried to get my sashimi from Ono Seafood on Kapahulu, but when I got in there, found out they were only serving phone orders on the eve, and not walk-ins. Bummers. That’s OK though, the quality of the fresh Ahi I got from Safeway was comparably top-notch, and as long as I got some, I’m happy to hopefully be prosperous in 2010!
Let’s dip a slice in the wasabi shoyu and sample some cuz’…
OMG, once it hits the mouth, it just melts like buttah! So silky-tender and fresh-as-can-be, raw ahi delicious! Yum, yum, yum.
When I eat Sashimi, I always prefer it be served on a bed of finely sliced cabbage, which adds a fantastic crunchy texture contrast to the raw tuna…
Mmmm… so ono! More…
I tell ya’, if I could eat this every day, I would. My mouth surely is feeling the prosperity here. 5 SPAM Musubi, easily. Nothing beats top-grade ahi sashimi. It’s probably one of the simplest, yet best foods in the world.
As for the sauce, I CHOKE da’ wasabi in my (Yamasa brand) shoyu. My late Japanese calabash aunty scolded me once for doing that, saying I’m drowning out the delicateness of the ahi, but ah, nevah mind. No hold ’em, choke ’em! lol
Oh, the sashimi paired perfectly with the Primo Beer. I love their new lager brew. Very smooth. That’s also probably one of the best beer label logo designs ever. Classic.
Well, I just want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year filled with love, happiness, good health and prosperity. Looking forward to sharing a lot more good eats in 2010 here on The Tasty Island.
This past Tuesday Diner A and yours truly stopped by for lunch at Nico’s Pier 38. Which for as long as they’ve been here, was a first-time visit for the both of us. As the name implies, they’re located in the new Fishing Village on the dockside of Pier 38 in Honolulu Harbor.
Nico’s is on the ground floor of a building that shares space with POP (Pacific Ocean Producers) Fishing and Marine. Nearby on the mauka side is another featured eatery in this otherwise isolated area called ‘Uncle’s’…
Being located just steps away from United Fishing Agency, Hawaii’s premier fish auction block, you can bet your cans of tuna and sardines the seafood offered at these eateries will be as fresh as you can get. If that isn’t enough reinforcement, the commercial longline fishing boats docked out front should help to further endorse that thought as you dive into that ahi, mahimahi or whatever else you’re having…
I don’t know about this boat. What a wreck!..
Here we are at the front of Nico’s…
All of Nico’s seating are under this large outdoor patio area.
or you can opt to sit at Umbrella tables right by the pier near the edge of the water (see second photo above), which is where we sat. Nice.
Here’s the entrance to the service area…
If you watch the Food Network (like I do religiously), you know who Guy Fieri is. Well, looks like we’ll be seeing Nico’s featured on a future episode of Diners, Drive Inns and Dives, as he’s clearly left his mark “Guy Ate Here” on the wall next to the Gyotaku sign in front…
Once inside the service area (which is strictly take-out), you’ll find a refrigerator case full of beer, wine and various desserts…
and logowear t-shirts and caps…
and most important of all, the menu boards…
By the time we got to the counter, which was about 12 noon, the Pork Cutlet with Mushroom Onion Gravy menu item was crossed off the board. That sounded good. I must note, the place was PACKED (always a good sign) with what looked mostly like white-collar workers and military personnel. Interesting demographic for such a remote industrial location.
While seafood may be top-of-mind at a place like this, as you’ve seen on the menu, there are dishes for “landlubbers” as well. To which Diner “landlubber” A chose the Hoisin Barbecue Chicken…
I was really craving something deep-fried on this day, and to much delight, when I seen Beer-battered Fish ‘N Chips on the menu, it didn’t take any more deciding on what I’d get…
That shot’s more just to show you exactly where we sat right by the pier. Here’s a better angle of the Fish ‘N Chips itself…
Fish? Check. What kind of fish? Marlin (Kajiki). Chips? Check. Medium-cut fries. Tartar sauce? Check. More like an aioli, actually. Malt Vinegar? Check. Lemon? Check. Although for squeezing, I would have preferred it cut into a wedge than a parallel slice.
So how is it? Let’s start with Diner A’s Hoisin Barbecue Chicken…
Notice there’s a bed of Chow Mein noodles underneath the entree. Upon tasting it, he said flavor-wise, it wasn’t anything special, but a nice touch never-the-less. That slice of chicken underneath looks DRY. And unfortunately it was. Very dry due to being overcooked. On the positive side, the Hoisin Barbecue sauce was delicious. It had more of smoky, American style barbecue sauce flavor to it, with a sweet and sour thing going on. It kinda’ tasted like Tony Roma’s sauce. Couldn’t taste the hoisin at all (thank goodness, as I don’t care for Hoisin). The BBQ sauce alone was really good.
The portions was also generous on his plate, including 4 big pieces of boneless chicken. Enough that he shared one with me…
Fortunately, while the other 3 pieces were leather-dry, the piece he shared with me was very tender and moist…
I also appreciated the distinguishable seared edges, or as we say in Hawaiian, “papa’a”, or in Japanese, “Koge”. On this piece alone, I give a solid 3 SPAM Musubi. On this piece alone. The other 3 pieces of Hoisin barbecue chicken “leather” left Diner A somewhat disappointed.
Let’s sample the Macaroni Salad…
Diner A thought the mac’ tasted kinda’ weird being that it had a hint of tang to it. I tried some and thought it wasn’t too bad. Pretty good. Cool and creamy, with if there was a note of acidity in it, perhaps being that Nico is French, he puts a dash of Grey Poupon in it? Just throwing the idea out, you know. lol I give their Mac’ 2 SPAM Musubi. Diner A gives it 1.
Finally, throwing salt into Diner A’s wound of a leathery chicken plate, the rice was undercooked and stiff. How can you mess up RICE on a plate lunch? GONG.
With that, Diner A gives Nico’s Hoisin Barbecue Chicken plate 1 SPAM Musubi by a stretch.
Now let’s try the Fish ‘N Chips…
First of all, why is the cut so thick? It’s like they took a marlin STEAK and battered it, whereas most Fish ‘N Chips are made from bite-size strips of a filet.
I must say, thankfully it was fairly moist and tender….
Being that the cut was too thick, the ratio of batter to fish meat was out of balance, without enough golden-crispy crunch to contrast the tender marlin meat inside. It was all meat and minimal batter. Also, the “beer batter” was more like a simple seasoned dry flour. It didn’t come across as liquid-based (as in beer) batter. That said, I’d more aptly name this “Chicken-Fried Marlin Steak” than “Fish ‘N Chips”.
As for the chips (fries), they were tender inside, but soggy outside. The problem was, I think they screwed-up the order, as another customer came back to the counter while I was waiting (for about 10 minutes) and told the cashier he got the wrong order, which he had fish ‘n chips, which I think was my order. So he gave that plate back to her in exchange for something else. Then finally about 5 minutes later after I had to check, the cashier hands me my order.
See, because they’re so busy, Nico’s normally gives out electronic pagers, but apparently they ran out of them, and instead just handed us a receipt with a number on it. But apparently they don’t call numbers, only pagers. So we were basically on our own. What kind of system is that? Being in business for this long, and knowing how busy they get, they need to have enough pagers for EVERY CUSTOMER. Or have a back-up system in check, As it was on our visit, it was rather chaotic behind the counter.
So my Fish ‘N Chips, along with the aforementioned problems about the dish itself, had also steamed itself into sogginess because it had been sitting too long.
Summing it up, the single piece of marlin was cut too thick and steak-like. The batter was too fried chicken-like. And overall the entire dish was soggy from sitting too long before service due to a breakdown in the system behind the counter. Its only saving grace was that the marlin was moist, tender and flavorful, while the Tartar sauce, which was more like an aioli, made it all taste decent. With that I give Nico’s Fish ‘N Chips another 1 SPAM Musubi… by a stretch.
Now THAT’S how beer-battered fish ‘n chips should look like.
Then there’s Alexander’s EXCELLENT tempura-based Fish ‘N Chips from Maui….
Notice how they’re cut into bite-sized strips, not one big STEAK. Nico, please change your cut and make it like this. THIS is how you do Fish ‘N Chips.
Reading over the reviews of Nico’s on Yelp, many users rave about their Furikake Ahi, so if/when I return here, that’s what I’ll get. That Pork Cutlet with Mushroom Onion Gravy sure sounded ono, as did the other special of the day, the Panko-breaded Hebi with Cilantro Aioli.
As for our order, the fish ‘n chips recipe needs tweaking, the grill master needs some lessons in proper doneness, and they need to get enough pagers for EVERY customer and/or a back-up analog system functioning properly.
Nico’s Pier 38
1133 N. Nimitz hwy. (Across the Nimitz Business Center, 1st floor of POP Fishing & Marine)
Honolulu, HI 96817
Just when you thought every conceivable food pairing had already been done with Hormel SPAM®, Hawaii’s number one selling canned good, Hamakua Plantations brings us SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nuts. Seriously? Now that sounds absolutely… ehem… NUTS!
When the stock clerk at Don Quijote was stacking them up on a pallet display in the store the other day, I actually did a double-take after glancing at the box labels, initially not believing what I was seeing. But sure enough that’s exactly what it was and it’s here!
I asked the clerk if he tried it, and to my surprise, he said it tasted truly as advertised, “Like SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nuts.” No way. No way!
So I just had to buy some and taste for myself if what he said is true, which is what we’re doing today.
Hamakua Plantations Hawaii Macadamia Nuts with SPAM® Classic Flavor are currently available in single 4.5 oz. canisters and also in a 2-canister gift box at select Hawaii retailers…
Hamakua Plantations Hawaii Macadamia Nuts with SPAM® Classic Flavor.
$4.39 per 4.5 oz. canister, $9.49 per 2-canister gift box.
Let’s take a closer look at the packaging of each one, starting with the individual canister…
Hamakua Plantations Hawaii Macadamia Nuts with SPAM® Classic Flavor, $4.39
Doesn’t this just throw you off? It throws me off. Still scratching my head at the whole idea of it.
Darned it, anything with the name ‘SPAM’ on it just gotta’ have lots of fat. Even if it’s “just nuts”…
In this case, “Natural Flavoring” sounds a little scary lol…
In case you can’t read that (or see the image), the ingredients are: Dry Roasted Macadamia Nuts, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Salt, Natural Flavoring, Yeast Extract, Cornstarch, Sunflower Oil, Silicon Dioxide, FD&C Red #40 Lake, Onion Powder. Contains Sulfate.
Hamakua Plantations Hawaii Macadamia Nuts with SPAM® Classic Flavor Gift Box, $9.49
Hamakua Plantations’ to-the-point description of what this is supposed to taste like…
Let’s pop open the lid and see what we’ve got…
Just like it’s depicted on the label, the Macadamia Nuts are dusted somewhat generously with a mysterious finely-ground blend of salt and seasonings made to taste like dehydrated SPAM. Notice it has that “porky” pinkish-tan color to look like SPAM as well…
Kinda’ scary, right? I’m scared. lol
So how does it taste? Well son of a gun, it tastes like SPAM! The Don Quijote stock clerk was right! I kid you not.
It pretty much tastes just like a fried slice of SPAM wrapped around a Macadamia Nut. Albeit rather subtle, since the Macadamia nut makes up the majority of its mass, so that naturally is the dominant flavor as you crunch through it. Yet whatever hint of “SPAMMY-ness” the flavored, finely-powdered coating offers, is just enough to notify your palate it’s there. Very well balanced.
In and of itself, the powdery coating tastes slightly porky, just like SPAM. Somewhat “mystery-meatish”, just like SPAM. Along with that well-balanced salty (but not too salty) element to punch out those aforementioned attributes just like SPAM. It even smells kinda’ “SPAMMY”. All in a good way.
That is if you’re OK with the flavor of real Hormel SPAM. If not, your opinion will surely differ from mine on this product.
All I gotta’ say is I really dig it! IMO, this is probably the most innovative and best-tasting flavored Macadamia Nut product to hit store shelves yet. Well, I am also fond of the sweet honey-glazed variety, but this savory version nails it.
Of course, if you lick or suck off all the SPAM-flavored powdered coating (which is actually tempting considering how yummy it is), it tastes like a plain ‘ole Macadamia Nut. Yet as long as you don’t do that and bite through it in one fell swoop, you get the best of both worlds.
It’s surprising how well the creamy and robust Macadamia Nut matches with the savory-salty SPAM-flavored coating.
As it is out of the canister, I’ll give it a “well I’ll be darned, it’s really GOOD!” 3 SPAM Musubi.
Now being these nuts tastes like SPAM, do you think we should stop at that? Of course not! How about this…
Ah yes my friends, SPAM Macadamia Nut Musubi! Now THAT’s what you call NUTS! lol
Notice on this model how the SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nut replaces the usual Ume (a red-dyed Japanese tart pickled plum) in the center.
On the other one, I took the SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nuts and roughly chopped them up, then scattered it on the Omusubi with Furikake…
And guess what? Both of them were pretty darned good! I kid you not! Especially the chopped SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nuts with the Furikake. The marriage of textures and flavors between the nori, sesame seeds, bonito and chopped SPAM-flavored Mac’ nuts, along with the soft and neutral white rice was fantastic! I think if you evenly combined the rice with the furikake and the chopped SPAM-flavored Mac’ Nuts before forming the musubi (versus scattered on top), it would be even better. Yet this is a good start! Definitely an idea someone like Manabu-san could turn into something great.
Speaking of that perfect marriage of SPAM and Nori, check this out…
Yes, this is a whole SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nut wrapped with a (very thin and tiny) strip of Nori to resemble a SPAM Musubi. Keep in mind this macro shot probably make it appear much larger on your computer screen than it actually is, where each SPAM-flavored whole Mac’ nut in the can measures on average about just a half-inch in diameter.
While like the Musubi above, this might sound absurd or insane, the flavor and texture combination of the savory and robust SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nut along with the earthy, slightly chewy Nori was oishii! I can definitely see a future in marketing a product like this. Try wrapping a Macadamia Nut with Nori… buggah’ is winnahz! Even better with the SPAM flavoring! If they sold “Maki Nori SPAM Macadamia Nuts”, I’d buy that!
Wrapping it up, I’m very impressed with Hamakua Plantations Hawaii Macadamia Nuts with SPAM® Classic Flavor. What I thought was going to be a disappointing gimmick that probably wouldn’t last long on the market, turned out having promise. My guess is this will be a keeper, yet only time and sales will tell.
Then again, this is one of those cases where you’ll either love or hate it, without much room in the middle.
Now all we need is SPAM® Classic Flavor Powder sold in retail-sized packets, where just like Li Hing Powder, we can sprinkle it on fruits, chips, ice cream, shave ice and other snacks. lol
What? Hamakua Plantations Hawaii Macadamia Nuts with SPAM® Classic Flavor Who makes it? Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company
Where did you buy it and how much did it cost? Kaheka Don Quijote. $4.39 per 4.5 oz. canister. $9.49 per 2-canister gift box.
Big shaka to: For what it’s worth, the powdered coating tastes as genuine to fried SPAM® as you can get! The SPAM flavor marries quite well with the “creamy” and mildly-robust Macadamia Nuts. Works suprisingly well in a Musubi with Nori. SUPRISINGLY well. Even better when you chop the SPAM-flavored Mac’ nuts and mix it in with the Furikake and rice. Simply wrapping the SPAM-flavored Macadamia Nut with Nori tastes great too. SPAM Logo and blue background packaging label is catchy, as is the concept.
No shaka to: As much as I like how it tastes, the sound of it — “Macadamia Nuts with SPAM” — still bothers me. lol
The Tasty Island rating: 3 SPAM Musubi
As sure as it is that turkey will be the star of the show every Thanksgiving, a beef ribeye roast always takes center stage on Christmas day for our family.
Like most folks, we identify it as “Prime Rib”, even though it’s technically ‘choice’ grade beef, and not the considerably more expensive, best-you-can-buy ‘prime’ grade which would otherwise earn its true title.
The supermarkets all know beef rib roasts are popular for Christmas, therefore most feature it as a big sale item on the cover of their print ads during and prior to that week. Sometimes at what seems like “loss leader” prices.
Case in point, this year Safeway had the best deal in town at $5.47/lb. for butcher- fresh (not vacuum-packed) ‘Rancher’s Reserve’ bone-in beef ribeye roast…
Hawaii Kai Costco was selling the same thing for $7.99 per pound. I think the quality of beef at Safeway is just as good as Costco, so the $2.50/lb. difference in savings was a real bargain!
To note, Costco also brought in prime grade ribeye roasts for the holiday season, which were going for $15.99 per pound. Calculating to feed a pound per person at our dinner party, it would have cost $239 for genuine prime rib. As it is, we paid about $80 for the two choice rib roasts. Ah, much easier on our already-dented holiday season wallet, and STILL absolutely succulent and delicious.
The news reported that President Obama and ohana, who as you know are here on Oahu in Kailua for the holidays, also had a rib roast Christmas dinner, where surely they not only were served prime grade rib eye, but perhaps Kobe! Oh man, I’ve never tried Kobe Prime Rib before, but just imagine how amazing that must be! Or perhaps theirs was locally sourced (usually more expensive, top quality and fresh as you can get) from the North Shore Cattle Company or Maui Cattle Company.
At this point, if it sounds like I have conscience of not having genuine prime rib, not really.
Anyhow, here we have a hunk-a-hunk-a soon-to-be-burnin’ beefy love ready to go…
This is the bone-in model…
For seasoning, I keep it fairly simple, coating it with EVOO, then pushing slivers of fresh garlic cloves in rows along the top under the fat cap. Then I cover it generously with Hawaiian salt and fresh cracked black pepper. This year I had some natural Hawaiian Red Alae Salt that came direct from the salt pond in Hanapepe on Kauai…
So I used that instead of store-bought Hawaiian salt. The Alae Salt tastes very briny if you will, which I could tell would really punch out the flavor of the beef as it melts throughout and into the fat cap. This is gonna’ be good!
Hawaii Kai Costco was also selling choice ribeye roasts pre-seasoned with guess what? Yup, Montreal Steak Seasoning. Ha! I’ve used that on a rib roast a few years back and it turned out great.
So here we have the two 7.5 pound choice beef ribeye roasts all seasoned and ready to go on a roasting rack and pan…
All I gotta’ do next is insert the meat thermometer and pop these bad boys in the oven.
You can try the timing-by-pound method, but unless you really know your oven and you’ve had practice with roasts before, I highly recommend using an oven-safe meat thermometer. They’re cheap and take all the guesswork out of what could end up being a costly and disappointing mistake if you overcook your roast.
Note, make sure when you insert the meat thermometer probe, the tip is in the center of the meat and not touching the bone, or you’ll get a false reading. It’s the temperature at the center that you need to know.
This time I followed Food Network’s Alton Brown method of starting low and slow, then blasting it on high just at the very end to get a nicely-browned crust. According to “AB”, the initial low heat method yields a much more moist and juicy roast, as the marbled fat throughout the center has a better chance to evenly melt and flavor the surrounding meat fibers. Sounds convincing to me.
To do this, put the seasoned roast in a preheated oven set at a balmy 220ºF on ‘roast’ (top and bottom burner function) and let her go all the way until the meat thermometer reads 118º at the center of the meat. Then you pull it out, cover it with foil and let it rest, which it will continue to cook through residual heat. I actually pulled it at 110º, to where it climbed to 115º during the resting period.
While it rests at this almost-finished stage, increase the oven temperature to 500º. Once the thermometer in the meat stops climbing and peaks, put it back in the oven and “blast” it at that 500ºF temperature for about 10 -15 minutes, or until the outside sears and crusts to the point where you want it. Don’t burn it though.
Here it is done after the final high heat “blast”, where the internal temperature right out of the oven reads 120ºF…
I let it rest for about a half-hour covered with foil to let the juices redistribute, where it climbed to a peak internal temperature of 125ºF just before carving. Should be perfectly medium-rare in the middle.
As I always do when carving turkeys and roasts, I use an electric knife for this task, where I first cut the entire bone rack section out from underneath (I missed a photo of that, shoots), then it’s ready to carve even slices for serving. Here we have the end part, which is for those who prefer their beef more medium than rare…
Then we get more towards the center where it’s medium-rare…
Looks absolutely fantastic and done to medium-rare perfection. Just one problem: as you can see, there’s way too much juice loss. I think a half hour wasn’t enough resting time. I should have let it rest for a whole hour. I say this, because when I carved the other rib roast about 2 hours later (the first roast fed everyone!), it barely dripped at all, and was still perfectly medium-rare inside. All those juices had a chance to REALLY redistribute. The second one was even more juicy and succulent because of that. Not that the one shown here wasn’t good. It was great! But that longer resting time would have made it that much better.
Whatever juices had been lost, of course we had lots of Au Jus made from the pan drippings to serve with it, along with the requisite Horseradish.
But wow, that Alae Salt made all the difference I think. It’s briny flavor really permeated evenly throughout the entire cut of beef; not just the outside. So ono.
Everyone really raved about it. Gotta’ admit, as Guy Fieri would say, this year’s Ribeye Roast turned out “money”!
Of course we had all the sides, including Alaskan King Crab Legs…
This was served with drawn butter and lemon. Yeah, I know, basil leaves are a strange garnish for crab legs, but hey, it was right there, so I used it.
Then there was these Brussels Sprouts with Sweet Red and Yellow Peppers…
This Brussels Sprouts recipe is easy. First make a cross slit in the stem area of each sprout. This helps the flavors get into it. Then boil the Brussels Sprouts in water until tender, which takes about 15 minutes, and drain it. Then in a large pan add EVOO and saute chopped garlic and sliced red and yellow peppers until cooked al dente. Then add the cooked Brussel Sprouts and toss together with peppers until evenly incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. So simple, yet very delicious!
For starch, there was mash potatoes…
This is the packaged stuff from Costco, which is decent, but I think next year I’ll make it from scratch, as I prefer to have some chunks of potato flesh in my mash for the added texture. That green stuff is julienned basil thrown on just for color. There was white rice too for those who prefer that.
My sister also made her ever-popular baked potato salad…
This is basically a fully-loaded baked potato in “salad” form. It’s made-up of tender chunks of diced cooked potatoes, tossed with a mixture of mayonnaise and sour cream, along with bacon bits, chives and grated cheddar cheese. As a twist, she added olives in this batch, which personally I think didn’t match the baked potato theme, but otherwise, STELLAR. Love it. I can eat a bowl of this and call it a day.
For dessert, my sister also made her incredible-as-always Blueberry Cheesecake…
And Pumpkin Crunch…
A slice or two of each…
The toppings are kinda’ messed up here, as this plate had been covered with plastic wrap, but at least you can see the filling and crust. Both of them really, really ono.
Well, cheers to a wonderful and mighty delicious Christmas dinner.
This past Wednesday Diner “Santa” (a.k.a. “Saimin Kaukau”) E treated us to a fantastic Christmas lunch at the New Violet’s Grill.
Their signs out front suggest they specialize in steaks and chops…
and saimin and seafood…
Yet upon looking over the menu, while for the most part they offer these dishes, if they could update it, the sign should now say simply “Okinawan, Japanese and Local Cuisine” (is it OK to say “Local Cuisine”? lol)
According to Cindy, sister of current owner Kevin Seuhisa, Violet’s Grill started in the 1950’s, and has passed local Okinawan ownership several times, with the second owners being the Tamashiro family, then Kevin and Cindy’s aunt owned it, to which Kevin now owns and operates it. Hence the succeeded name ‘New Violet’s Grill’.
The dining room is totally retro-70’s looking, just like Boulevard Saimin right up the street, with the same style of faux wood Formica-paneled booths throughout…
The dining room capacity is actually quite large, belying its rather inconspicuous appearance and lack of windows in front. If you look to the far side in the photo above, there’s a doorway there that leads to another lounge area, suggesting this place must fill up later at night with the drinking crowd, as the sign out front states that they serve cocktails.
At least during the lunch hour we were there, the room was very quiet, with everyone speaking at intimate levels, making our dining experience that much more relaxing and enjoyable.
Well, let’s see what’s on the menu…
This is too funny…
The lunch and dinner menu, partitioned into local, seafood, Japanese and Okinawan categories…
Sandwiches and saimin…
Side orders and beverages…
Booze…
Bulletin…
Diner A went local, getting a mixed plate of Chicken Katsu and Teriyaki Beef…
Diner “Santa” E also went local, getting a mixed plate of Ahi Katsu and Teriyaki Beef…
And yours truly went Okinawan, getting the — drum roll please — Pig’s Feet Soup…
The Pig’s Feet Soup is served (by default) with a bowl of white rice (or you can opt for mashed potato or fries) and a dish of shredded ginger, which you add shoyu to use as a dipping sauce for the pig’s feet.
All the lunch and dinner menu items also include either Miso Soup…
Or tossed green salad…
Their “house” dressing is essentially Thousand Islands.
We didn’t realize until we were almost done with our meal that our server forgot to bring us our Tsukemono (pickled vegetables), which the menu says it’s supposed to include. We were enjoying everything so much as is, we apparently didn’t really miss it. Come to find out from Cindy (the owner’s sister), they had run out of Tsukemono, so that explains that.
The meals include drinks (with free refills), to which we all went with an old school favorite, ‘Green River’….
Green River? Man, I haven’t had that since I was a kid! This sure brings back “hanabaddah dayz” memories. I asked our server how this is made and she said it’s simply Malolo brand lemon-lime syrup and water.
So how was the food? Diner A noted the Teriyaki beef was tender and marinaded well with a well-balanced teriyaki sauce. The chicken katsu was golden-brown-delicious, but he said was just a little on the dry side. Thankfully they serve Ikari brand Tonkatsu sauce – a top 5 finisher in the ‘Great Tonkatsu Sauce Shootout – for their katsu dishes, so huge bonus point for that!
Diner E enjoyed his Ahi Katsu, noting how moist and flavorful it was…
Instead of Tonkatsu sauce, he opted for using their house-made tartar sauce…
Wow, that’s a pretty chunky lookin’ tartar sauce. Looks more like potato salad. He said it was good though.
Last but absolutely certainly not least — more like DA’ BEST! — we have my (Okinawan) Pig’s Feet Soup, where here we’ll have a closer look and taste by first taking inventory of what’s in it…
Kombu, check.
Daikon, check. Mustard cabbage, check.
Pig’s feet, CHECK! Wow, BIG CHECK! Perhaps you can tell by the scale of it in comparison to my finger and chopsticks just how huge this thing is. As you could see in the first photo, it spanned the entire diameter of the bowl.
Pig’s feet number two, CHECK! Not as big as the other one, yet still a considerably hefty cut. Plus you can see several loose chunks of pig’s feet on the sides that must have fallen off the bones into the broth as the cook dished it up.
All that was missing was Togan, which is an Okinawan winter squash. No biggie. As long as got the Daikon and Kombu, I’m happy.
Now when I said those pig’s feet were “falling off the bone”, I literally mean FALLING OFF THE BONE…
It didn’t take any chopsticks effort at all to pull this tibia bone right out from the middle of the buttery-tender meat and skin surrounding it…
Here you see they browned the pig’s feet skin before simmering it…
Under that skin is this lusciously tender, succulent and juicy pig’s feet meat…
And more meat…
Take some pig’s feet and dip it in the grated ginger-shoyu sauce…
BAM! OMG, this ROCKS! It so rocks. While I’m not a veteran Pig’s Feet Soup eater (can that be a person’s title? lol), as far as I remember in my collective memory, this is by far the BEST Pig’s Feet Soup I’ve ever had. Possibly the best of bowl of soup in general I’ve ever had. It certainly give’s my previous recent favorite, the Oxtail Soup from Pho Bistro 2 a run for the money.
The broth seems simple yet complex at the same time, taking on the myriad of flavors from the pig’s feet bones and marrow, with what tasted like a subtle hint of the kombu and daikon. I think it’s the daikon and/or ginger that gave the broth a little bit of “bite” if you will. It had this little “snap” to it.
You might recall a while ago I did a write-up on my first attempt at making Okinawan Pig’s Feet Soup, and you know what? This broth from Violet’s actually reminded me a little of the one I made, except without that strong dashi flavor mines had. Otherwise, pretty close. I think I can make it properly, now that I’ve reacquainted my palate in how Pig’s Feet Soup SHOULD taste. There were some great recipes you readers out there shared with me in comments under that post, so I’ll go through them again and pick one to use.
All I gotta’ say is if you’re in search of a truly amazing bowl of (Okinawan) Pig’s Feet Soup, head straight for Violet’s Grill. Ichi ban desu! This gets a very, very, very oishii 5 SPAM Musubi. Awesome.
Violet’s lunch and dinner menu also includes dessert, to which Diner E chose Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream…
While Diner A and Diner P (me) got the Green Tea Ice Cream…
The green tea ice cream was ono! Very creamy, with a very subtle robust element from the green tea and just the right amount of sweetness to balance it out. I asked our server where they get it from, and she said Meadow Gold by special order only. Well, Meadow Gold should be selling this Green Tea Ice Cream in the stores, as I give it a very solid 4 SPAM Musubi.
The speed of service was OK, but could have faster considering how slow it was at the time of our visit. Other than that, our server was very friendly and went out of her way to get information I asked about the food from the cook, so points made up on that.
Overall, we really enjoyed our meal here, and once again I can’t say enough about their STELLAR Pig’s Feet Soup.
Big Mahalo to Diner “Santa” (a.k.a. “Saimin Kaukau) E for the EXCELLENT Christmas lunch at the New Violet’s Grill!
New Violet’s Grill Kapalama Shopping Center (across the street from City Square)
1210 Dillingham Blvd.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
P.S. I did some last-minute gift shopping yesterday on Christmas Eve at Ala Moana Center, where I came upon their ‘Candy Cane Train’ for the kiddies. Since had some cool food props on it, I thought it would be aptly interesting to share here. Check it out…
It looked like they had just finished their last “hop” when I got there, which was around 2pm.
This sure is one big mango and papaya!…
Matsumoto’s should get a massive shave ice prop like this and put it on their roof or out front by the roadside…
Hope Santa got you everything you wanted for Christmas this year.
‘Tis the season for giving and sharing, and when it comes to local ‘kine grinds, Manapua is always a popular choice. Case in point the other day when Diner A graced our holiday tummies with some Dim Sum yum-yums from Aiea Manapua and Snacks.
This was the first time he’s been here at this Aiea eatery, and a first for me as well trying the place, as being “townies”, most of the Manapua that comes our way is usually sourced from either Libby’s, Char Hung Sut or Chun Wah Kam, with a few other “Chinatownies” thrown into the mix.
Being a “newb” at the place, Diner A put his faith on the server, asking her which selections were the most popular with the regulars, to which he walked out the door with this box of Baked (not steamed) Charsiu and Pizza-filled Manapua…
Looks like a regular ‘ole “Pig-in-a-Blanket” to me. Upon tasting it though, they weren’t kidding when they said “Spicy”. This buggah’ is a SCORCHER! So much that you can readily see flecks of Chili Peppers riddled within the meat of the sausage…
A little too hot in all our opinions, yet then again, you may like it more than we did if you’re into “kickers” like that. Other than the notably-lofty Scoville factor, it tasted essentially, as stated earlier, like a pig-in-a-blanket, and a quite standard one at that, earning this an overall 1 SPAM Musubi (average).
Moving on to the next most unusual item, we have this here Pizza Baked Manapua, which was easy to identify by the red ‘P’ stamp…
Aiea Manapua & Snacks – Baked Pizza Manapua, $1.29 each
Let’s have a look inside…
Aiea Manapua & Snacks – Baked Pizza Manapua
Aaahhhh….oooohhhh…ahhhhhh. Gotta’ say, it looks like a Chinese version of a ‘Pizza Pocket’. And you know what? That’s pretty much what it tasted like. Like a ‘Pizza Pocket’. The filling is essentially diced Pepperoni mixed with Marinara and a little cheese. I think it could have used more stuff though. Like oh, say, MORE CHEESE, Olives, Mushrooms and Bell Peppers. Well anyway, those are my favorite topping add-ons. While this is probably popular with the younger crowd, for me, while glad I tried it, I’ll stick with the more traditional Charsiu filling. With that, I’ll give the Pizza Baked Manapua 1 SPAM Musubi.
Speaking of which, here we have their Charsiu Baked Manapua…
Aiea Manapua & Snacks – Baked Charsiu Manapua, $1.29 each
One thing noticeable about their baked Manapua is that you can tell they were all interconnected at four corners while being baked, which gives them a dinner roll-like appearance with the exposed white ends.
Let’s look inside this one…
Aiea Manapua & Snacks – Baked Charsiu Manapua
Hey… hEY… HEY!!!! What the heck? What is this, Libby’s? Wassup with the rather lacking Charsiu-to-Bun ratio here? You might recall a post I did titled ‘Manapua Buns‘, when on that occasion, Libby’s “C-to-B Ratio” was just like this. Brah, talk about “Pake” (a local slang word for “stingy”). lol
Aside of that, Aiea’s Baked Charsiu Manapua is really ono, with solid chunks (not shreds) of moist and tender (fatty) pork saturated completely with a delicious sweet-meets-savory Charsiu marinade. Most importantly, the baked bun is soft and supple inside, while being slightly glutenous, but not too much, while the baked crust offers an ever-so-slight hint of salty-sweet to the whole party for complete balance. Put in a little more Charsiu filling and I’d give it 4 SPAM Musubi. As is, 3.
Now let’s sample da’ Pork Hash…
Aiea Manapua & Snacks – Pork Hash
Not bad. There’s a distinguishable helping of diced waterchestnut and sliced green onion in it. I think it could use a little more sweetening or seasoning though, as eaten aline, I found it slightly bland. Of course the mustard and shoyu sauce solved that minor issue, yet still, gotta’ note that. Libby’s and Char Hung Sut’s Pork Hash is better, but these work, where I’ll give it does-the-job 2 SPAM Musubi.
The Crispy Gau Gee were one of the most generously-filled ones with pork I’ve had yet, and were quite tasty thanks to them being deep-fried. For those, they get a very solid 4 SPAM Musubi.
Now let’s sample the Stuffed Mushroom with Pork Hash Tempura…
Yummy. Very, very good. Mushrooms and meat are always a great combination, and this one did not disappoint. The “tempura” batter almost had an Andagi-like quality to it, being kinda’ glutenous and airy, yet golden crispy. While the pork hash with filling was a bit more mushy (in a good way) than the regular pork hash. There was just one whole button mushroom in it, which is why I suppose they say it’s “stuffed”. I didn’t try the eggplant version, but I can imagine it would have tasted quite similar, albeit probably not as savory as the mushroom version. Rounding it up, I give this a very solid 3 SPAM Musubi, possibly 4 if I had it piping hot and fresh immediately after they deep-fried it.
The Chow Mein was your typical dry type of take-out Chinese noodles, and nothing work writing about, which they’ll get 1. Now the Chow Funn was something, with big-honkin’ wide noodles that was more Lasagna than Chow Funn. It was cooked perfectly al dente and flavored quite nicely, along with a generous amount of cabbage mixed in with it, which I love. For that I give their Chow Funn another very solid 3 SPAM Musubi.
Here’s some iPhone pics Diner A took of the menu boards, where you gotta’ dig the artwork on the header…
Notice the classic roving “Manapua Man” with the straw hat and bamboo pole supporting two tins full of steaming-hot dim sum. That’s how it was done “old school” my friends! After that, the “Manapua Man” evolved to often run-down white vans, where they sold everything else besides Chinese Dim Sum, from ice cream, to candy to toys. Now the most successful ones have brick and mortar restaurants, as is the case here.
Decisions, decisions, decisions…
Just wanna’ say “big mahalo” to Diner A for the ono Holiday Season Manapua grindz!
Aiea Manapua & Snacks
Aiea Village Square
99-149 Moanalua Road
Aiea, Hawaii 96701
Tel. 488-7443
Business Hours:
Monday – Friday 5am to 3pm
Saturday 6am to 2pm
Sunday 8am to 2pm
Menu (<—download current 12.09 version PDF document at that link)
The Tasty Island rating:
(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)
…get BOMBARDED with sweets, treats, and all the other good things to eat that go hand-in-hand with the holidays. Wherever you work or socialize, surely you know what I’m talking about here. That’s why we all know the term and concept of “diet” is virtually non-existent between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Eve.
Take for instance this massive bear claw-like pastry from Ani’s Bakery called a ‘Raspberry Wreath’ that was gifted to us a few days ago. It’s almost as big in diameter as a large Pizza Hut Pizza. Looks very festive with the cherries and bow. Here you see there’s Raspberry filling on the inside of this doughnut-meets-cake type of pastry…
Pretty good. Tastes best if you heat it up in the toaster oven. While I don’t drink coffee anymore, this would probably be great with that.
On another recent day, our security guy brought us this beautiful Pumpkin Roll that his wife made….
Pumpkin Roll
It has the texture of a super-moist banana or mango bread, except of course it tastes like pumpkin pie. The filling is a sweetened cream cheese, so you know that’s bringing plenty of cheer to the party. Really, really good.
Then on ANOTHER recent day, as he does every year, one of our vendors brought us Sunny Side Bakery pies…
Sunny Side Bakery – Apple Pie
Sunny Side Bakery – Chocolate Cream Pie
Sunny Side Bakery – Blueberry Cream Pie
Can’t go wrong with Sunny Side pies. Always a winner.
Finally, while nobody knew the exact name of this dessert, it’s essentially a pie made with an Ambrosia-like filling and sweet Cherry topping…
OMG… Good Lord was this GOOD! It kinda’ tastes like cheesecake, except having a make-up more like Ambrosia (which uses Marshmallows), it’s lighter and more fluffy. All I know is it’s supah’ ono! Solid 4 SPAM Musubi. If the crust was more crunchy and had nuts in it, it woulda’ been a 5.
That’s just a few of the many delights threatening my waistline once again this holiday season, yet for the most part worth every bite. There’s also been boxes upon baskets of various pastries, cookies and candies, which at some point, the “resist temptation” light turns on in my head and I attempt to try telling myself to look the other way. Just look away. Look away.
A few months ago, a friend of mine had told me about Oahu’s first truly authentic Thai restaurant, Blue Ocean. I was confused, since I had been eating Thai food in Oahu for a long time, but since she was born and raised in Thailand, I had to believe her. According to her, all the other Thai restaurants on Oahu actually use Laotian recipes and cooks. So of course I was anxious to see what the difference would be between other Thai food and Blue Ocean’s “authentic” version.
When we entered Blue Ocean, we were surprised first of all to see how nice it is inside. The classy tables and place settings were of much higher quality than in other Thai restaurants. High in style, but not too high in price, thank goodness!
The place was empty, I guess because it was a Monday night, and also because it’s a pretty new restaurant. I would think in that area the daytime business is better anyway.
It’s just off Ala Moana Blvd. before it turns into Nimitz, across from the old Comp USA. Lots of business down there, but not much foot traffic since Comp USA closed.
Since we had five people in our party, we chose the largest appetizer, the Blue Ocean Treasure, with traditional Thai chicken satay, steamed tulip, crispy rolls, shrimp in the blanket, Thai dumpling, and Somtum salad. This was a great sampling for us to start with. The chicken was tender inside, crispy on the outside, and the perfect amount of juiciness. Delicious!
The shrimp was great too. Nice and plump and not chewy, which means it’s fresh!
Warning – the salad is the spiciest thing I have eaten in years. It has chopped Thai chilis in it, and it will burn your mouth like there is no tomorrow. Wow!
My father-in-law had lived in Thailand for a while, so he was very excited to try everything to see how authentic it was. He was pretty impressed with this Tom Yum Soup with shrimp, a traditional Thai lemon grass soup with coconut milk, galangal, mushrooms, and basil. We all really enjoyed this soup, which was creamy but not heavy, with just enough coconut to make it milky. For only $10.95, the large bowl was enough for all five of us to have soup with leftovers. Excellent soup with a lot of shrimp, my father-in-law was pleased!
Next came the Shrimp Pad Thai for $12.95. Now what I’m about to say could get me in a lot of trouble. I’m putting my credibility on the line, but here goes – This is the BEST Pad Thai I have EVER had in my life!
It’s the perfect soft melt in your mouth goodness you hope for from Pad Thai, without the heaviness, and without too much saltiness. Sweeter than other Pad Thai, and a lot more tender. The noodles are cooked to perfection, as soft as I’ve ever had. I actually ordered an extra plate of it to bring home to my neighbors, because I wanted them to try it. If you like Pad Thai, you must go try it at Blue Ocean. Amazing!
This is the Pineapple fried rice with chicken for $10.95. It’s made with jasmine rice, pineapples, eggs, onion, snow peas, carrots, and broccoli. It has a lighter flavor than Japanese or Hawaiian style fried rice, which probably means way less shoyu. The flavor is still marvelous, which is why this was my father in law’s favorite dish. Try it with some of their traditional Thai spices (next pic) and you can make some great combinations.
Everything at Blue Ocean seems to be prepared with a little less oil and butter than the Thai food I’m used to, which may be part of what makes it so great. You can hide mediocre cooking with lots of butter, but to make something taste great without a ton of heavy sauces and over salting takes a lot of skill. The cooks here have some serious skills.
You can’t eat Thai food without eating curry, so we ordered the Red Curry with chicken for $10.95. Again a pretty large portion that could feed a few people, and a spicy full flavor that was rich and tangy at the same time. Prepared with green beans, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, and jasmine rice, it’s a wonderful curry that is a perfect Thai staple.
Our server recommended our final dish, the Thai Basil and Chili with beef for $10.95. With fried onions, green beans, and basil chili sauce, it was my least favorite dish, but still a solid effort. Not as interesting or as creative as their other dishes, but good none-the-less.
The service was friendly, and the atmosphere was higher class than we expected, so combined with the fantastic food, we were all very pleased with Blue Ocean Thai. In my humble opinion, it may be the best Thai food on Oahu.
5 Spam Musubi Rating!
Blue Ocean Thai Restaurant
327 Keawe St. (next to the former Comp USA)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Workers put finishing touches on Zippy’s Nimitz exterior as the newly-renovated restaurant reopens
The Zippy’s Restaurant location on the corner of Nimitz highway and Pacific Street (near Hilo Hattie and City Mill) has finally reopened after being closed for about two-and-a-half months for renovations.
If you’re familiar with this location, you’ll notice nothing at all has changed on the outside, with the same faded beige painted siding and slightly-weathered, yet still decent condition teal awnings.
Neighboring Iwilei eateries such as Eat Cafe, Sam Choy’s BLC, and the various eateries in Dole Cannery surely must have seen a spike in business while they were closed. I know the roving “Bento Man” benefited by their closure, making more frequent, daily stops at our office (for one) to fill the void.
While we normally take Zippy’s for granted, actually to the point of suffering “Zippy’s burnout”, many of us admittedly missed the variety of food and convenience of this location, so it’s good to have them back.
Now that they’re open, Zippy’s is being proactive in attracting back their clientele, putting up big banners out front and handing out these 15% off coupons to customers during the grand reopening…
While the outside remained unchanged, at first glance, we were surprised by how little was changed in the take-out area as you enter on the inside…
The dining tables and chairs here are the same, as are the ceramic floor tile. Diner A noted that they moved the restroom door to be accessible from inside the take-out restaurant, versus before where you had to walk outside to access it.
They did a little cosmetic “spiffing-up” on the service counter face and put black ceramic tiles on the walls for a more modern look, while the back-lit menu board looks to be the same…
I missed a photo of it, but replacing the fluorescent pen dry-erase board which posted their daily specials is a ceiling-mounted flat panel HDTV that takes over that duty, while it also flashes other miscellaneous Zippy’s promotions. Very cool. Perhaps on Superbowl day they can switch the channel so customers and employees can watch the game. lol
Along with the dine-in section, the Napoleon’s Bakery station is where most of the major changes took place, with a fresh look, improved lighting and more display case space that takes up the length of the walkway that leads to the dine-in restaurant…
Another major alteration is that they connected the dine-in restaurant entrance with the take-out restaurant, so you now enter through the same door on the take-out side and head to the right….
The removal of what used to be a wall and door at the dine-in restaurant’s former entrance certainly makes the entire room now look and feel much more spacious and bright, versus before where it felt more like you were sitting in a bar or lounge. The track lighting is the same, while there’s new ceramic floor tile, booths and Corian tables and chairs…
Since dine-in customers now must pass by the Napoleon’s Bakery station, this surely should help boost sales for the bakery. I don’t think I can look at them scumptious Apple Napples and not buy some. lol
According to staff, the kitchen behind the scenes is still the same, with the only other major unseen renovation being a new central air conditioner unit on the roof.
While I didn’t ask the manager (yet), my “guesstimate” just from a quick look around puts the price tag of this renovation somewhere between $300-700K. I doubt it was more than a $million for labor and materials. If I get the grand total, I’ll get back to you in a comment. Whatever it costs, surely the profits from the “gajillions” of gallons of Chili, Zip Pacs and other Zippy’s favorites will quickly pay for it.
What I really respect and admire about Zippy’s is not only the consistency of their food, but also the cleanliness of their restaurants, and work like this truly is a testament to their corporate philosophy on maintaining that image. Maikai (good job).
Speaking of consistency, the menu is still the same at Nimitz as it is at all other locations, and so are our favorites. For Diner A, one of his “regulars” is the ever-popular Chili Chicken plate….
Comfort food doesn’t get any better than that. Tip! You can buy the same seasoned flour that Zippy’s uses for their excellent fried chicken at Y. Hata on Sand Island Access Road. Good stuff. Cheap too, as it comes in bulk.
After recently reading my “Great Tonkatsu Sauce Shootout”, Diner A asked the clerk for a side of Katsu sauce so we could compare it with the brands I featured. Here it is…
GONG. No go. Not good. Apparently Zippy’s now makes their own “Katsu Sauce”, as before they used to serve Kikkoman’s (USA) Tonkatsu Sauce, which is actually pretty decent. This “Katsu Sauce” had a distinguishable Oyster Sauce flavor, with I’m guessing Ketchup and Shoyu. Something like that. Zippy’s, if you read this, please bring back the Kikkoman brand Tonkatsu (or as it says on the packet, “steak”) sauce. Better yet, serve Bull Dog brand! Hey, one can wish and aspire to dreams, right? lol
Moving along, I love taking their Mahi Mahi plate and turning into a Fish ‘N Chips plate by substituting the white rice for french fries…
While I normally prefer Fish ‘N Chips made with a batter, Zippy’s Panko-coated Mahi Mahi is STELLAR for what it’s worth. Super moist and generously coated with that golden brown and delicious panko crust. I mean really moist!…
Which of course is the nature of deep-fried fish in batter, which is why I love Fish ‘N Chips so much. While I’d prefer a thicker cut of fries, also for what it’s worth, Zippy’s fries are really, really good! Tender inside with a delicate, lightly golden crunchy outside and salted just right. What Zippy’s also does right is their Macaroni Salad…
Al dente, simple, cool, creamy and seasoned perfectly, with what tastes like just a small hint of mustard in it. Just a tad. I give Zippy’s Mac Salad a “nailed it” 5 SPAM Musubi. Perfect. It also goes surprisingly well with my “Fish ‘N Chips” creation here. Coleslaw would be great, but it works with Mac’!
Overall, I give Zippy’s Mahi Mahi what I call “Fish ‘N Chips” plate a solid 4 SPAM Musubi.
On a follow-up visit and taking advantage of their 15% grand reopening coupons (they gave us a big stack!), Diner A picked-up a Zip Pac…
The Zip Pac’s price is be creeping up closer and closer to the $10 mark, currently running $8.10. Ouch. Thank goodness for them coupons.
Again on another visit, Diner A went for one of my favorites, the Fried Noodles…
Also ridiculously priced are these Fried Noodles, costing $6.35 on the takeout menu for what probably costs about a dollar in ingredients. Not only that, but the portion is mini-plate sized. The profit from this menu item alone should help fund more renovation projects. Aside of that, as simple as it is, Zippy’s Fried Noodles are so good and satisfying. Something about the noodles, its texture, and how they flavor it using either just a small amount of shoyu and/or oyster sauce, it’s really, really ono.
Oh yes, the always-tantalizing noodle-grab shot. Just looking at that, after I finish writing this post, I think I’ll head to the kitchen and fire-up the saimin pot. Sounds good!
Zippy’s Restaurant
Nimitz location
660 N. Nimitz hwy
Tel. 532-4205
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Back in March of this year we celebrated my birthday at the Prince Court restaurant, where we thoroughly enjoyed their fantastic Sunday Brunch Buffet. This time around our office gang decided to have our annual Christmas lunch here at the Prince.
While at about $10 less, the lunch buffet menu doesn’t include Prime Rib, Crab Legs and various fresh seafood poke and/or sashimi that the Sunday brunch menu offers, unless you’re so determined in having that, you’d hardly notice it wasn’t there with everything else there is to choose.
Getting right to it, this is the lunch menu posted for the date of our visit, which was this past Tuesday, December 15, 2009:
Prince Court Lunch Buffet
December 14-18, 2009
Salad Bar
Mixed Greens with Assorted Dressing
Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Crispy Tofu Salad with Spicy Shoyu Sauce
Watercress and Bean Sprout Namu
Variety of House Salads
Lomi Lomi Salmon
Vegetable Crudites with Ranch Dressing
Assorted Cheeses with Crackers
Specialty Station
Thai Beef Panang Curry with Jasmin Rice
Saimin Station
with Condiments
Japanese Station
Sushi Station
Shrimp Tempura
Vegetable Tempura
Shabu Shabu with Condiments
Miso Soup
Pasta
Penne Pasta with Smoked Salmon, Capers and Cream Sauce
Fish
Cajun Spiced Mahi Mahi with Sweet Chili Aioli and Papaya Salsa
Vegetable
Vegetables of the Day
Special of the Day
Monday – Open
>> Tuesday – Hoisin Glazed Pork Loin
Wednesday – Medallions of Veal with Port Wine Sauce
Thursday – Teriyaki Chicken with Stir Fried Vegetables
Friday – Roasted Duck on Cake Noodles
$25 per person
Considering the selection and quality of food, presentation, service, the elegant ambiance, and most importantly the marina-side (ocean view) location in Waikiki, $25 per person is a really good value.
With Christmas right around the corner, it appeared many other guests in the restaurant were also having office get-togethers in celebration of the holiday just like we were.
While I didn’t get pictures of every single dish on the buffet line, here’s a few highlights, starting with the ever-popular shrimp and vegetable tempura…
Hoisin Glazed Pork Loin…
Cauliflower Au-Gratin…
Vegetable Crudites (with Ranch Dressing)…
The Shabu-Shabu station…
The sauce on the left is ponzu, and the lighter one on the right is Goma-Dare.
The boiling dashi broth pot and thinly-cut slices of raw beef…
The way this works is you place a little each of the raw beef and veggies in a basket and submerse it in the boiling dashi and kombu-broth where it quickly cooks in about 30 seconds to a minute (depending how done you want your beef and soft you want your Shiitake), then empty your now-cooked shabu-shabu into a bowl. Serve with Ponzu and/or Goma-Dare sauce, which you dip the shabu-shabu in as you eat it. I simply poured the sauce over my cooked shabu-shabu bowl at the station, as I didnt’ have enough hands to carry an extra bowl back to the table. Damned Gaijin. lol
That’s all I got of the entree and salad line, which of course there was MANY more dishes to offer than “just” that. Now here’s some of the desserts, starting with this Chocolate Macadamia Nut Flan…
Creme Caramel…
Coconut Cake…
Decadence Chocolate Cake…
Banana Creme Pie…
Assorted French Pastries…
Almond Float…
Goodness gracious, just the dessert station alone is practically worth the price of admission here. Not to forget the abundance of fresh-cut island fruits over by the salad station.
Following are a variety of plates that landed on our table, reflecting the mood each of us were in as far as selections from the buffet line…
That there looks like Kim Chee Tofu Poke, Lomi Lomi Salmon, Tossed Salad and Macaroni Salad.
Pepperjack, Cheddar and Brie cheese ‘n crackers…
Whoever made this plate gets a D- for presentation lol…
This is my plate, which has (starting top to bottom) Vegetable Tempura, 2 shrimp Tempura (with tempura sauce dish next to it), Cajun Spiced Mahi Mahi with Sweet Chili Aioli and Papaya Salsa and Penne Pasta with Smoked Salmon, Capers and Cream Sauce…
The tempura was delicious, except for one complaint: it was room temperature (A/C) COLD. Note to chef: please put a WARMER LAMP at your tempura station! The Cajun Spiced Mahi Mahi sure was spicy, with good kick of heat to it, which I believe was Cayenne pepper. Otherwise, very tasty and super, super moist and tender! Winner. The Penne Pasta with Smoked Salmon was also delicous.
I just had to try their one and only soup of the day (besides the usual Miso soup they always serve), which was Beef and Vegetable…
If you ask me, it tasted (and looked) like Progresso canned soup. For real! Nothing wrong with that, as I love their soups.
More of the same from previous plates, while this one also has the Hoisin Glazed Pork Loin and Cauliflower Au-Gratin…
While I didn’t try it, those on our table who did said the Hoisin Glazed Pork Loin was really ono…
Here’s my second run, this time hitting the Shabu-Shabu and Temaki sushi station…
The dipping sauce on the side is shoyu and wasabi. That’s sushi shoga (sweetened pickled ginger) on the right of the temaki. The Shabu Shabu was a winner, although I really should have served the Goma-Dare Sauce separately. That’s OK, the Shoyu Wasabi sauce for the temaki rolls worked dual-purpose quite well with the Shabu-Shabu.
A peek inside my temaki rolls, where on the left is Spicy Ahi and on the right Cali’…
The temaki rolls were really fresh and tasty, with perfectly-prepared sushi rice. Only thing, the Spicy Ahi lacked any detectable actual small chunks of ahi in it, but was more like a VERY spicy “mystery paste”…
Diner ordered one of the scallop and tobiko temaki, which he said was really good…
A bowl of the Thai Beef Panang Curry with Jasmine Rice, which was excellent!…
Now let’s check out some of the desserts that made their way to our table…
Based on a few recommendations from my fellow diners, here’s what I chose…
That there is the bread pudding with vanilla sauce, creme caramel and chocolate macadamia nut flan, which all were YUMMMMMM-OH. Add a scoop of ice cream and I would’ve been a really happy camper.
We really enjoyed the buffet lunch at Prince Court. The selection and quality of the food was great, while service was friendly and attentive, with the plates that we finished eating promptly removed from the table, while all our drinks were maintained at topped-off level.
Summing it up, we all unanimously give the Prince Court Lunch Buffet a very tasty and satisfying 3 SPAM Musubi.
Prince Court
Weekday Lunch Buffet
Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki
100 Holomoana St Honolulu, Hawaii 96815
Tel. 944-4494
The Tasty Island rating:
(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)
P.S. A few more holiday decorations in the Waikiki Prince Hotel lobby…
Sometimes it’s easy to forget about a restaurant simply because there are so many on Oahu. For Greek food there are a few options around, but I had been told by many that Olive Tree Café was the best. My second time to Olive Tree café in Kahala reminded me why I agreed and had wanted come back.
It’s small, with only about 20 small tables, and a simple order-at-the-Deli bar then pick-up style. There isn’t much service, as the guys behind the counter rarely come out. They can’t really, because the line was constantly moving people through like a deli counter. We went on a Wednesday night and it was packed, which is a great sign for a local shop. I love seeing a local business owner thrive in Oahu!
The menu is small, with only 5 main dishes. Yes that’s right, five. And actually 3 of those are the same dish with fish, lamb or chicken options.
In comparison, they have 7 appetizers (don’t call them pupus — this place is Greek), and 12 different beverage options. They don’t serve alcohol, though the cozy little Greek Deli next door by the same owners offers you everything you could want.
One of the friends who accompanied us had lived in Greece for a time, so he was a great help in choosing and understanding the food.
We started with Tabouleh salad, which has bulgar wheat, greens, parsley, herbs, with lemon herb dressing. Tabouleh is one of the most popular Middle Eastern salads, and has a great light taste. This would be a great summer food, while some Greek food is a little heavy for that. Very crispy and fresh vegetables made this a great starter. The dressing is lemony light, not heavy like the olive oil you might normally expect in a Greek dressing.
While in the kitchen I noticed the pitas being heated on the grill, which makes them a little crispier than usual and of course they are so much better served hot. Sometimes pitas feel a little gummy, and warming them on a hot grill is the way to solve that problem.
Since there were only 5 main dishes plus the special available, we decided to get 3 appetizers after the salad. The Hummus (garbonzo bean spread) and pita dish was great. Good hummus is great, mediocre hummus is terrible. If it’s not just the right creamy texture, hummus feels like eating salty glue. In this case it was fantastic, with a little olive oil in the center, and of course the warm semi crispy pitas. Soft like pancakes but crispy on the outside. By the way I had requested double pitas, which cost an extra 72 cents. Their normal order is a lot of hummus and you’ll almost always have a bunch left with no pitas to eat with it.
This is the Avgo Lemono soup. Egg and lemon don’t sound like a good soup, but it’s great. Though it looks like some kind of chowder, it’s not at all. The lemony taste tells you that right away. For only $3.83 (how do they come up with that number?) it’s a great start and not too filling. While you might never put lemon on your eggs, this combination works surprisingly well.
Dolmadakia is a small wrap of grape leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, and a side of Tzatziki sauce. At $5.74, a little pricey in comparison to the soup. Especially since each wrap is about 2 bites. My friend enjoyed his, but I thought it was a little bland. All I could taste was the sauce, while the grape leaves have very little flavor. The rice and herbs inside were not very interesting either. This was the one dish I didn’t really enjoy. It’s not bad, it’s just not good.
We ordered the Lamb Souvlaki and the Lamb Shank Plaki plate special. I guess the Greek is Arni Stlehos Plaki. I took a lot of Greek in college, but not food Greek, so I’m no help at a restaurant. For $16.24, it was quite a bit more expensive than everything else.
Here it is, beautiful. Served with rice-like pasta called manestra, and salad and pita. The lamb as tender as you can ever get, falling off the bone with a mere brush of the fork. They must have cooked for a loooong time. The flavor was wonderfully tomatoness, though the portion was small.
The manestra is a lot like rice, but goes down much more smoothly, like it’s coated with oil or something. It also has a lot more flavor and is a great alternative to plain white rice.
Now the Souvlaki is really their specialty. With only 2 other main dishes, that seems obvious. We ordered the traditional lamb version for $12.42 (more funny prices) and were really pleased with it. The lamb was juicy and tender like a meatball, but these were nice thick cuts, not ground meat. Delicious, saucy smooth and mouth watering. Eating these big tender chunks of lamb feels like you’re eating something unhealthy, but that’s not the case. It’s just that good and tasty.
We had gone to the Greek deli next door before our food came and picked up this Mavrodaphne, a “sweet red wine” that was similar to chilled Port. But with a 20% alcohol content, this fortified wine was no joke. I had a couple small glasses and felt it quickly, being a light weight. What a great sweet flavor, perfect for after dinner. The other wine we had was brought from home, nothing very interesting. But this almost dessert wine was a great way to finish along with…
Baklava! For only $2.87, we got two of these fresh out of the oven, crispy, sweet honey spiced treat. Combine this sweet compliment to the sweet wine, and you get one sweet ending to a great Greek meal!
Sometimes Baklava is too dry, which makes it almost hard to eat, but this was warm, flaky, and with enough moisture in the pastry to make it a delight to eat.
Four of us added up to about $68. We were surprised to see 48 cents for each glass of water. Is tap water getting more expensive these days?
They don’t accept credit cards, and we had to scrape around our wallets and purses for the last few dollars, so beware and take plenty of cash. It’s hard to believe how many places in Hawaii still take cash only. What is this, 1960?
If you want Greek food, I think Olive Tree Café is the best in Oahu. A quaint local restaurant that has a great local following.
4 Spam Musubi rating!
Olive Tree Café 4614 Kilauea Avenue
Suite 107 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
Tel. 737-0303
The Tasty Island rating:
(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)
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