Makiki Eats: Honolulu Burger Co.

The Counter? Teddy’s? Kua Aina? Burgers on the Edge? Pineapple Room? Wolfgang’s? W&M? JABSCOM Cafeteria?

Those seeking out “Hawaii’s Best Burger” have yet another joint to take into consideration, with the relatively new Honolulu Burger Company. Which is somewhat ironically named so, as owner Ken Takahashi hails from the Big Island of Hawaii, and the top-grade free-range beef featured at his new burger joint is also from Big Island’s Kulana meat processing company. Therefore wouldn’t it be more aptly named ‘Big Island Burger Company’?

Well, aside of its neighbor island roots, Honolulu Burger Company is indeed located just about smack in the center of Honolulu in the Makiki area, across of Times Supermarket, on the makai side of South Beretania Street, between Keeaumoku and Piikoi. They’re nextdoor neighbors to (one of several) Beretania Florist, with parking in a shared lot, along with metered street parking.

The relatively small hole-in-the-wall space they occupy  formerly was Mekong Thai Restaurant, where now it has a nicely-renovated cotemporary island deco’ theme going on, with ample seating, considering its size…

Like Burgers on the Edge on Kapahulu avenue, Honolulu Burger Co. also uses flat panel HD TVs to display their regular menu, while the daily specials are printed and displayed on the counter…

That Pastele Lumpia Burger daily special sounds really interesting, as does the Fresh Island Ahi Burger with watercress and sesame vinnaigrette and lemon caper sauce. Still, we MUST try their signature Big Island range fed 1/3 pound all-BEEF burgers since this is our first time here.

Here’s a look at their regular menu…

Yet another import from the Big Island is the Atebara taro chips and potato chips they offer…

Getting to our order, Diner AC decided to try the Paniolo BBQ Burger…

Honolulu Burger Co. – Paniolo Burger: Housemade BBQ sauce with fresh slices of Jalapenos. sauteed sweet onions and tomato on a whole wheat bread bun. $7.79 + Pepperjack Cheese for $1 extra

Diner E created his own burger, opting for Teriyaki sauce as the “dressing” and Pepperjack Cheese…

Honolulu Burger Co. – “Create Your Own” Teriyaki & Pepperjack Cheese Burger with sauteed sweet onions, lettuce, tomato and onions on Whole Wheat Bread Bun. $7.79

Last but not least, yours truly ordered what I normally get as my “gauge burger”: the one, the only Swiss ‘n Shroom!…

Honolulu Burger Co. – Mushroom Mushroom Burger: sauteed mushrooms piled high, covered with Swiss Cheese and topped with sweet onions (not sauteed per personal option), lettuce and tomato on regular bun. $8.95

As noted in the caption, I requested that my onions not be sauteed, as I’ve found in the past that sauteed onions overpower the flavor of the mushrooms. Fortunately they got my order right and indeed didn’t saute them, where often restaurants screw-up orders when it comes to special requests such as this. So bonus Musubi point already on that!

Before getting into the details of the burgers, the meal wouldn’t be complete without fries, so we ordered a large basket of their Sweet Potato Fries…

Honolulu Burger Co. – Sweet Potato Fries (large basket). $4.99

Notice they use Kosher salt, along with a sprinkling of finely chopped American Parsley. Nice! Try more like ONO! This is indeed some of the BEST Sweet Potato Fries I’ve ever had, and definitely beating The Counter’s take on it. The way it’s cut makes the difference here, while texture-wise, it’s super supple and tender inside, with a ever-so-delicate crunch on the outside. The Yams used to make them are full of flavor, with the kosher salt sprinkled on in perfect amount, not being over or under seasoned, and the parsley gives it that “finishing touch” of zestiness. The best part is it wasn’t greasy at all. We all LOVED this, unanimously giving HBC’s Sweet Potato Fries a very solid 4 SPAM Musubi. I’d personally go 5, even. Trust us, ORDER THIS!

We also shared a large basket of HBC’s Housemade Fries…

Honolulu Burger Co., – Housemade Fries (large basket). $2.99

Like the Sweet Potato Fries, the Housemade Fries are also seasoned with Kosher salt and finely chopped American Parsley. In this case the Idaho Potatoes are hand-cut with the SKIN ON, which I LOVE. Doneness-wise, the outside had some crunch and inside was tender, but overall they seemed a bit limp and soggy, while also being rather greasy. Thankfully the flavorful skin part made up in flavor what it fell back on in texture and grease factor. Overall we give HBC’s Housemade fries 2 SPAM Musubi.

The large basket of both fries were certainly generous in portion, with enough of each by itself to easily feed three hungry adults when accompanied with their also giant burgers.

Along with the fries, we also ordered fountain drinks to wash it all down, where totalling it up, my order came out to just under $14 for the Mushroom Mushroom Burger, large basket of Homemade Fries and large drink, with the fries being shared on the table. Which is right about what to expect paying at most “gourmet” burger joints around town for a similar offering, if not a little on the higher side here. Yet, keep in mind this is locally-raised, range-fed beef, along with most of the other ingredients being locally produced, hence the higher prices.

Now for the main attraction, let’s sample the burgers, starting with Diner AC’s Paniolo BBQ Burger…

Wow, lookin’ juicy! Perfect right-under-medium doneness. Biting into it, Diner AC immediately exclaimed how tasty the range-fed Big Island beef was, with — like the fries — the patty being well seasoned with Kosher salt. As juicy as it looks, is as juicy as it tasted. She also really liked the way tasty BBQ sauce and spicy fresh Jalapeno complimented the burger, while her only dislike was their “house sauce” (sort of like Thousand Islands dressing) that they also put on it. She also thought the cheese lacked some flavor, yet then again, she’s a “cheesehead” like me, where there’s never enough cheese. More cheese please!

Next to the quality of the beef, just as importantly, the burgers here are FLAME-GRILLED on cast iron grates, giving those critical and tasty sear markings on the surface of the patty…

Summing up HBC’s Paniolo BBQ Burger, Diner AC gives it a very tasty and satisfying 4 SPAM Musubi.

Next up we have Diner E’s Pepperjack Cheese Teriyaki Burger…

Looks just as juicy as Diner AC’s Paniolo BBQ Burger! Also like Diner AC, Diner E noted the range-fed beef was flavor-packed and had a noticeable higher quality flare about it, while like myself, he especially appreciated the slightly smokey flavor from the charred edges of the patty imparted by the open flame grill. The Teriyaki sauce coating the patty was spot-on (not under or over sweet), had good viscosity (thickness) and was adequate in quantity. He also noted the nicely toasted bun, which makes a huge difference in the total package, and the veggies were crispy and fresh-tasting. Rounding it all out was the slightly melted Pepperjack cheese and sauteed sweet onions, where the latter of which brought lots more life to this party of burger love.

Summing it up, Diner E gives HBC’s Pepperjack Cheese Teriyaki Burger a solid 4 SPAM Musubi, noting he’d definitely return to try other burgers, and also interested in trying their Pastrami Sandwich.

Finally, let’s try HBC’s Mushroom Mushroom Burger, first assembling it…

That’s quite a “stacker”. Let’s check the crosscut view…

My burger actually looks done more medium than the other two, which I’m guessing the reason being is it had cooked through more as it sat around on the table for a few minutes while I took pictures of the other food items shown above.

Biting into it, I’ll third what Diner AC and E said about the great flavor and quality of the range-ref Big Island 1/3 pound all-beef patty. It’s not “just a label”, it’s true, you really can taste the difference! Then you have the papa’a (charred) edges of the flame-grilled patty that slam the ball out of the park. I also really appreciated that they toast their buns — a step that’s unfortunately often skipped at many restaurants — yet not here. HBC really knows how it’s done RIGHT!

If there’s any disapppointment, it’s that they use common white mushrooms for this burger, when with all the “Big Island this and Big Island that” going on here, they don’t use HAMAKUA MUSHROOMS! Especially for the premium almost $9 price they’re charging for this burger, I really was expecting that.

Thankfully, as advertised, the sauteed mushrooms are indeed piled high, where I enjoyed a good ratio of mushrooms-to-beef in every bite. Because, you know, the “mushroom-to-beef ratio” is very important to Swiss ‘n Shroom Burger enthusiasts such as myself. lol

Speaking of Swiss, like Diner AC thought of the Pepperjack, I also thought the Swiss Cheese in this burger kinda’ lacked flavor. I dunno, maybe the mushrooms didn’t have enough salt in it to bring out the flavor of the cheese.

As for their (Thousand Islands Dressing-like) house sauce, it was fairly subtle on my palate. Usually I prefer just good ‘ole plain mayo’ in my Swiss ‘n Shroom, yet thankfully this sauce didn’t get in the way of anything and just did its job of adding more fatty goodness to the bun. lol

Overall, it was a well-executed, mighty fine, mighty tasty burger that’s worthy of a solid 4 SPAM Musubi. Switch the sauteed white mushrooms for some more exotic Hamakua variety and use a better quality (or tasting) swiss cheese, and I’m confident HBC’s take on the classic Swiss ‘n Shroom Burger can easily attain 5 SPAM Musubi status.

As for service, it was FANTASTIC. The three young ladies working the front were very friendly, greeted us with a smile, and were very informative and knowledgeable about the menu and daily specials. Amazingly, our order arrived at our table within 5 minutes of placing it, which had us a wondering a bit whether the burgers were cooked to order, or if they were pre-cooked and flash-grilled for service. Yet our server assured us every burger is cooked to order (from raw). OK, if you say so.

On a future visit, I’d like to try the Hawaiian Beachboy Burger, as well as their Philly Dip Sandwich, as I LOVE me a good French Au Jus Dip Sandwich.

When the lady in the Wendy’s commercial asked the famous question “Where’s the beef?”, the answer to that would definitely be found right here at the new Honolulu Burger Company. Where it’s not just big beef, but GREAT TASTING, HIGH QUALITY, MADE IN HAWAII BEEF. And make sure whichever burger or sandwich you try, to accompany it with their most EXCELLENT Sweet Potato Fries!

Honolulu Burger Co.
1295 S. Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii  96814

Tel. (808) 626-5202
www.HonoluluBurgerCo.com

Honolulu Burger Co. takeout menu (76k PDF document; current as of 9.10)

The Tasty Island rating:

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

Related links:
• New No. 1: Honolulu Burger Co. – Eatizen Jane
• Honolulu Burger Co. – Yelp user reviews

P.S. While on the subject of American (burgers), here’s a video I shot at this past weekend’s  Kaneohe Bayfest of an F-22 Raptor doing a flight demonstration. Turn up your speakers for maximum effect!…

Things To Do
Honolulu

And the Winners of the Musubi Bag Giveaway Contest are…

Earlier this month The Tasty Island held a giveaway contest where two lucky winners would each win by drawing a limited edition Foodland Musubi Eco Shopping Bag and Hot Cold bag. A bonus prize limited edition Jack in the Box University of Hawaii Football ‘Throwback Jack’ Rainbows Ball and ‘Warrior Jack’ Antenna Balls would also be awarded to contestants who submitted an original Haiku poem on the subject of ‘SPAM Musubi’.

In total, 80 of you entered the contest either by comment or via private eMail, all making the required statement, “I want those SPAM Musubi Bags!” A good majority of you also submitted a Haiku — many of which were quite entertaining, and some HILARIOUS! Kudos and mahalo to everyone for the creativity and effort. A+++!

As I said I’d do, I videotaped the prize drawing for complete transparency. The winners were strictly chosen by LUCK OF THE DRAW, as I did not peek nor do anything to “juice” or personally hand pick the winners.

Without further ado, here’s The Tasty Island Musubi Bag Giveaway Contest video!…

There you have it. The lucky winners are:

Annamal (from?) and Patty (of Maryland)!

Annamal submitted a SPAM Musubi Haiku that goes like this:

Yum spam musubi
Bumbucha or manini
You make me happy!

Fantastic! I love it! For that, you win the two bonus UH Warrior Football Antenna Ball prizes.

Patty didn’t submit a Haiku, so sticking with contest rules, she only gets the Musubi Bags, yet I think she’ll be more than happy with that.

Mahalo once again to everyone for entering and submitting such creative and entertaining Haiku poems. I wish everyone could win, but that’s the way it is.

Congratulations once again to Annamal and Patty! I’ll be contacting you soon to get your mailing address. You two will now have those SPAM Musubi bags!

Kalihi Kai Eats: Inferno's Wood Fire Pizza

Last Wednesday on my way to pick up lunch at Kahai Street Kitchen, I couldn’t help but notice the crowds gathered in front of the new Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizza tent right up the street. When I told the gang at work about it, everyone got excited, so the very next day we decided to give them a try and make a small pizza party out of it.

Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizza, is located on the corner of Kalihi Street and Nimitz Highway, across from Lex Brodies in the parking lot of the Hawaii Hale Design Center…

I suppose you can call them a “Pizza Wagon” or “Pizza Truck” due to their portable set-up on wheels, although they currently stick with this one location throughout the work week from 10am to 2pm.

According to co-owner Kyle Okumoto, they’ve been in business for just over 5 weeks now. Yet based on the crowds and raving online reviews, the word about them is indeed out and spreading, well, like wild fire!

There’s ample parking in the lot, yet it can get full fast when they’re busy, which most of the cars seemed to be arriving there for the pizza, not the design center.

On this Thursday pre-lunch hour visit, there was already a steady flow of customers…

As for “dining in”, there’s just one folding table and some chairs to sit at under a canopy set-up next to the oven trailer…

Condiments on the table include Red Pepper Flakes, Parmesan Cheese and Hot Sauce. While dining here, you can take hold of the lovely scenic view of this very industrial part of Kalihi. lol

Inferno’s used to accept phone orders, but lately aren’t due to the high volume of walk-in customers. That said, when we arrived, we were immediately told before making our order that it would be a 30 minute wait. Ouch. Regardless, determined to try the place and feeling da’ “onos” for some good pizza, we accepted the wait.

This the most current menu and telephone information…

One of my favorite toppings that’s missing here is Bell Peppers. Kalua Pig also wouldn’t be a bad idea to add onto the menu, along with more cheese options.

As for the ordering and pick-up system, they weren’t issuing numbers or taking down names, but going just by customer recognition.

The reason for the long wait is that they currently only have one oven which can only cook up to four pizzas at a time, and each pie takes approximately 5 minutes to bake. Doing the math, that means they can crank out approximately 48 pizzas per hour, which is probably a lot less than their ever-increasing demand.

Thankfully Jonathan Wong, co-owner of Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizza, told me that they’re in the works of building a bigger oven to add to the operation to keep up with demand. That’s good to hear, as at this point, they NEED IT!

Here’s what their roving wood-fired pizza oven looks like…

The fellah on the right in white with his back turned is Kyle Okumoto, one of the owners of Inferno’s. On this day he was the ‘Pizza Chef’ making all the pie orders.

When shaping the pie from pre-portioned balls, Kyle didn’t twirl and spin the dough in the air, but kept it down on the heavily-floured prep counter and flattened it, pulling into an approximately 11″ circle.

Then the usual next step goes in adding the Marinara sauce, slices of fresh Mozzarella Cheese and the various toppings for each order. What I also noticed for the last step is he would give a quick drizzle of (EV?) Olive Oil on each pizza before sending it off on the peel to the oven.

The flaming-hot wood fire is stoked on the left side of the 800⁰F oven, and the pizzas occupy the oven’s cooking surface towards the center and right side.

Here they remove a pizza that’s just finished baking with a long-handle metal peel…

Here’s a few uncooked pies ready to get blasted in the 800⁰F oven…

Inferno’s Pepperoni Pizza – uncooked (and I think not done garnishing yet)

Inferno’s Margherita Pizza – uncooked

Inferno’s BBQ Chicken Pizza – uncooked

And here’s a few pipin’ hot pies that just got done baking, where they’re placed on a service table on metal pans and sliced into eight pieces each…

Inferno’s Italian Sausage & Pepperoni Wood Fire Pizza (build your own). $10

Inferno’s Pepperoni, Italian Sausage & Mushrooms Wood Fire Pizza. $10

Inferno’s All Meat Wood Fire Pizza – Pepperoni, Sopressata (Italian dry-cured Salami) & Italian Sausage. $10

Inferno’s Margherita Wood Fire Pizza – Basil, Tomato and Mozzarella. $10

Inferno’s Veggie Fire Wood Pizza – Mushrooms, Red Onion, Olives & Tomatoes. $10

Inferno’s BBQ Chicken Wood Fire Pizza  – Spicy BBQ Sauce, Roasted Chicken, Red Onion, Green Onion. $10

After getting sliced, it’s straight to the box and to the waiting the customer…

Inferno’s Pepperoni Wood Fire Pizza. $8

Inferno’s Pepperoni, Italian Sausage & Mushrooms Wood FIre Pizza. $10

Each pizza purchase includes a soft drink, which is always appreciated….

Yes Diner A, a complimentary soft drink certainly deserves a big “shaka”. lol Note that, further adding to the value is that tax is included in the price. So if you buy 1 pizza it’s $10 even, as it would be $40 for 4 pizzas, no spare change necessary. It’s also CASH ONLY.

Upon request, they also gives you the usual Red Pepper Flakes and Grated Parmesan Cheese condiment packets…

So after the estimated 30 minute wait, which is pretty much how long it took, we quickly headed back to the office with our fresh-baked pies and set them up for our little 5-person Pizza Party…

As you see at the beginning of the spread, there’s a tray of Chicken Wings, which the girls picked up from Costco while we were out getting the pizza.

Pizza ‘n wings sounds like a plan. I must note before getting to the pizzas, these Costco wings were pretty darned ono! Really moist and tender and the sauce tasted great! All that was missing was Bleu Cheese and/or Ranch Dressing and some Celery Sticks. Was just $6 for that big tray.

Now let’s go down the line and check out the pizzas we ordered for our little party here…

Inferno’s Pepperoni, Italian Sausage & Mushrooms Wood Fire Pizza. $10

Inferno’s Spinach, Garlic & Tomatoes Wood Fire Pizza. $10

Inferno’s Margherita Wood Fire Pizza. $10

Inferno’s Veggie Wood Fire Pizza – Mushrooms, Red Onion, Olives & Tomatoes. $10

Included with those 4 pizzas were 4 drinks…

We also grabbed some Red Chili Flakes and Grated Parmesan Cheese condiment packets…

Well, everything looks and smells good. Time to eat some pie!

That was Diner E and Diner A’s plates, where they had the freedom to just “pig out” (because you know, that’s what eating pizza is all about lol). Since I’m the food blogger in the group, I had to carefully dissect and taste each pizza at a time so I could make a mental note of every nuance.

So let’s start with Diner A’s choice, a slice of Inferno’s Pepperoni, Italian Sausage & Mushrooms Wood Fire Pizza…

Let’s flip it over and check out the crust…

Looks toasty and fairly thin for all you thin crust lovers (I’m more a pan and deep-dish kinda’ guy).

Let’s have a bite (or two or three or four)…

How is it? First of all the crust has great flavor, being nicely salted, and of course those slightly burnt edges bring lots of toasty love to the party. I also like the sort of gritty texture underneath the crust that seems to be the flour the pizza dough was prepared on getting singed onto the bottom surface. On the down side, most of us felt the crust was a bit too much on the chewy side. Enough where both Diner AC and myself felt like our jaw muscles had just gone through a rigorous workout after we were done eating.

Sitting on that, the combination of Pepperoni, Italian Sausage & Mushrooms packed on lots of delicious, meaty flavor, while the on down side, the mozzarella cheese and especially the San Marzano brand marinara sauce underneath tasted fairly bland.

Now let’s try Diner E’s choice, the Spinach, Garlic and Tomatoes (ala Boston’s)…

Crust check…

Notice the olive oil coating the edges.

Sample some, cuz…

Normally I’m not one for garlic on pizza, but on this one I liked it, mainly because the minced garlic is just what the bland marinara sauce needed in order to get kicked up a notch. Bam! The tomatoes and spinach didn’t really do much, with the tomatoes lacking any sweetness or depth. The crust here still suffered the same chewyness, yet its good flavor shined through, making up some points for what fell behind in the toppings department.

Now let’s try Inferno’s take on my favorite pizza style, the Margherita…

I didn’t ask where they get their basil from, but the leaves they were using on this day were huge.

Crust check…

Margherita is one of the ultimate minimalist pizzas, where it’s crucial that every ingredient be their best, but in this case the marinara sauce and tomatoes just weren’t up to snuff. There also wasn’t enough melted mozzarella, where I felt like it was “cheeseless” in some spots. The toasted basil helped a little, and overall it wasn’t bad, but this example of Margherita Pizza certainly has room for improvement.

Finally, let’s try the Veggie…

One final crust check…

Knowing by now that the Marinara and (lack of) Mozzarella were its weakness, I was hoping the salty olives would liven things up, but it wasn’t the case. Again, not a bad pizza, but not great.

What must be noted is that I tried all four variety of pizzas here first WITHOUT adding any Red Pepper Flakes and/or Parmesan Cheese condiments so that I could taste the “essence” of their pizzas the way they intend them to taste. Now let’s try the same Veggie Pizza with the addition of those condiments on it…

Ah, now that’s MUCH better! The salt and fat in the Parmesan Cheese and heat from the red pepper flakes really brought the life out of the marinara and mozzarella (whatever there was of it), along with everything else on each pizza.

Still, like any other dish, a pizza should taste great in as is right out the kitchen and not need doctoring at the table to make it taste right.

Summing up Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizzas on this first time experience, I’d say stick with the meat varieties for the most flavor, as was the case here with the Pepperoni, Italian Sausage and Mushrooms choice we made. That was by far my favorite of the four in this spread, and it’s not because I’m a meat lover, because I’m not. I prefer balance in my meals and I LOVE all-veggie pizzas when they’ve got their groove on.

We all, with the exception Diner A (who gives them 3 SPAM Musubi!), pretty much unanimously thought the San Marzano Marinara Sauce was bland, there wasn’t enough cheese and the crust was too chewy. To illustrate that point, here’s Diner AC’s crust leftovers on her plate…

Diner AC pointed out that normally she eats all the pizza crust with no leftovers, but just couldn’t here because of the chewyness.

That besides, would we come back again for more? Sure. We all thought so, especially Diner A. On my next visit I’d probably do a “Build Your Own”, going for the Sopressata Italian Dry-cured Salami, along with Mushrooms and Olives. If they offer ” the works” for a couple bucks more, I’d also add Prociutto Di Parma, tomatoes and basil.

And while the overall opinion of the five of us didn’t turn out to be screaming “thumbs-up all the way”, the majority of Inferno’s reviews on Yelp are highly favorable 4 and 5 stars, so we’re certainly in the minority here. I gave them 3 Yelp stars, which is “A-ok” or “average”. Here with the Tasty Island’s SPAM Musubi rating system, since there’s a broader spectrum between “average” and “superb”, on this first time visit, Inferno’s Wood Fire gets a still-respectable 2 SPAM Musubi (good).

Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizza
306 Kalihi Street (on the corner of Nimitz highway, in the parking lot of the Hawaii Hale Design Center, across the street from Lex Brodies)
Honolulu, HI 96819

Tel. (808) 375-1200

Business hours:
Monday through Friday 10am to 2pm

The Tasty Island rating:

(2) Good. I’m glad I tried it.

Related links:
• North Shore Farms Neapolitan Grilled Pizza (still has my vote for Oahu’s BEST Pizza!) – The Tasty Island
• Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizza (Honolulu) – Yelp User Reviews

Things To Do
Honolulu

Waiola Shave Ice at Ala Moana Beach Park?

Sorta’. Kinda’. Um yeah, sure. Actually what you’re looking at here is a very temporary (as in ONE DAY), fictitious ‘Waiola Shave Ice’ film set for the upcoming CBS reboot of the classic hit TV series Hawaii Five-O.

This took place yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, September 15, 2010), where while not knowing in advance what was happening, as I took my usual after-work drive home detour through Ala Moana Beach Park, a police officer momentarily stopped a bunch of cars —  including yours truly — from further entering the park at the Ewa entrance. Could there be a crime scene in progress?  You could look at it that way in a make-pretend way, I suppose. After several minutes, he finally flagged us through with the all-clear, where come to find out, Hawaii Five-O was filming here this afternoon at what is normally on any other day Concessions Surf ‘N Snacks on the Ewa side of the park.

Here, in one mere day through the magic of big budget network television production and lots of talent on scene, they quickly converted this “old school” concession stand concrete building into a fictional ‘n hip ‘Waiola Shave Ice on the beach’ location for the show. That is so cool!

To contrast just how much a simple face lift of a few big ‘n hip signs and lots of fun, beautiful people patronizing the joint can do a place, here’s a look at how ‘Concessions’ looked BEFORE…

and another shot this morning after it’s been returned back to normal…

Now here it is “Hawaii Five-O’ized” as it was for filming yesterday…

Neat! How fun! The thatched “grass skirt” table umbrellas is a nice touch. They should have put that stuff on the awning as well to make it look even more kitschy-tropical.

Looking at the menu board (which I shot the next morning after filming), notice they painted over what used to be a Coca Cola logo in the center of each board with blue paint…

Ironically, notice what’s missing on the menu? Shave Ice! No SHAVE-freakin’-ICE! What the?!!!! This sure was make-believe alright. lol

At the time I arrived, they were shooting “extras” scenes, which looked mostly like “filler” scenes. You know, beautiful young ladies in bikinis and guys in surf shorts walking past the camera just going about their business talking with each other, while a few folks had shave ice in their hand – all “Rainbow” flavor of course for maximum color effect and distinction of what it is on camera. This being TV production, I’m willing to bet those were faux Shave Ice made out of plastic.

I didn’t see any of the show’s celebrity stars mixed in the crowd, unless I just didn’t notice them, nor did I see any boom mikes out recording dialogue of any kind. Just lots of extras standing around waiting for the director to cue them into the scene.

The coolest part about this transformation is the custom Waiola Shave Ice logo they went out of the way to come up with…

This man looks familiar, yet I can’t quite pinpoint who it is…

Now compare Hawaii Five-O‘s idea of what Waiola Shave Ice looks like to the REAL Waiola Shave Ice on Mokihana Street and Kapahulu Avenue…

And the original location on Waiola Street in McCully…

Photo courtesy of OnoKineGrindz.com

I suppose the “old school” look of the REAL Waiola Shave Ice locations have charm in their own unique way, yet I must admit, the hip and modernized Hawaii Five-O rendition is super-duper cool, most notably for the fact that’s it’s located right on one of the most popular and busy beaches on the island.

Seriously, Waiola Shave Ice should look into taking over this concession if the opportunity ever presents itself. Especially now that it will be immortalized on TV. Imagine folks on the mainland watching the new Hawaii Five-O, thinking there’s an actual Waiola Shave Ice on Ala Moana Beach, only to come here on vacation and discover it was all just make-pretend. That’d be kinda’ disappointing. That is, unless it’s going to be edited where show viewers won’t be able to tell this was shot on location at A.M.B.P..

Of course the use of fictional businesses are presented all the time in the TV and film industry, yet it’s interesting that in this case they’re using a currently operating and registered Oahu business name, but just relocating it and giving it a little makeover.  Perhaps in future Five-O episodes, there’ll be a fictional Zippy’s right on Waikiki Beach, and The Shack on the North Shore; both of which currently don’t exist.

As for the show itself, the reaction by folks who attended the Hawaii Five-O premiere at Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki this past Monday seemed to be favorable. It’ll just take some getting used to the new generation of cast members.

Hawaii Five-O Official CBS website

Thankfully one very important element they preserved from the original series is the signature Hawaii Five-O soundtrack intro’, just ever-so-slightly modernizing it with some electric guitar. Check out the making-of/studio recording of the new Hawaii Five-O theme song here…

Like the popular LOST television series was when in the making here, it’s going to be exciting for Hawaii residents and visitors alike to run into more filming locations around the islands in the foreseen future for the rebooted Hawaii Five-O.

Book ’em Danno. And have some Waiola Shave Ice while you’re at it…

Honolulu Vacations

Kalihi Eats: Gulick Delicatessen

Gulick Delicatessen is one of the most recognized and well established Okazuya on Oahu, having been in business on Gulick Avenue in the heart of Kalihi, a.k.a. “God’s Country”,, a.k.a. “The Center of Hawaii’s Food Universe” for over 30 years.

Founded by the Takara family,  the new generation has since remodeled the original location, as well as opened a second Gulick Delicatessen on King Street at the former King’s Bakery location recently in 2007 under the ownership of son’s Cory Makishi and Lee Takara, along with Lee’s wife, Denise. This new location also sports a hip new local Japanese restaurant named Kochi by Gulick Deli.

As mentioned earlier, they’ve done a nice remodel to their shop on Gulick Avenue, with contemporary ceramic-tiled walls and new stainless steel warmers and refrigerator display cases in front…

Like Masa & Joyce, Marujyu and a few others, along with the prepared Okazu selections on display to pick and choose, there’s also a menu board where you can order plate lunches in set form, breakfast plates and other specialties they have to offer…

Yet, I don’t know about you, but when it comes to an Okazuya, the Okazu line where you get to pick and choose is what it’s all about for me. LOVE that. Plus, I don’t have to wait for anything to be cooked. It’s in and out in a snap.

With that, let’s check out what was on the Okazu line at the original Gulick Deli on this lunch hour visit, which specifically was yesterday, Friday, September 10th…

Wow, what a spread! All the usual Okazuya suspects are there. The only things missing that I would have liked is Kabocha (pumpkin) and specialty fishcakes, which Nuuanu Okazuya is known for.

What’s nice about Gulick is they put a SIGN in front of each item with the description, and more importantly the PRICE, so you know exactly what you’re plate is going to cost. Some Okazuya shops don’t do this, and I’ve been sticker shocked a couple times when the counter person rang up my bill. Not here. Mind you, even here it will add up if you’re not careful — especially if you choose with your eyes only, and not your stomach or wallet in mind.

That said, on this visit I walked out with this plate from Gulick…

Gulick Delicatessen (original location) – Okazu plate (clockwise from top left): Ume Musubi, Furikake Musubi, Vegetable Tempura, Maki Kombu and Nishime. $7.55

Diner E put the pedal to the metal, coming out with this V-8 of a plate…

Gulick Delicatessen (original location) – Okazu plate (clockwise from top left): Vegetable Tempura, Tofu Patty (hidden underneath) Shoyu Chicken, Inari (Cone) Sushi, Gobo Kinpira, Nishime, Kombu Maki and Chow Fun noodles. $12.50

Whoah! Here’s that same plate taken apart so we can itemize it better…

Back to my plate, here’s where I was kinda bummed: the “gravy” from the Nishime had spilled over the plate divider and all but demolished and ruined my Ume Musubi on the bottom left…

Look at it… it’s a mess! Whah! Whah! I’m so sad! Whah!

As it turned out, both Musubi had “rice issues”. You regular readers of this blog may recall my last post on Musubi-ya Iyasume, who I raved about as being EXPERTS in making a GREAT Musubi. Well, in contrast, the musubi at Gulick simply paled in comparison. The musubi rice here didn’t taste seasoned at all with salt, while being on the dry side (yet still acceptable), and most importantly, was WAY TOO LOOSE. Even the Furikake Musubi that didn’t get damaged by the Nishime gravy practically fell apart in my hand as I tried to eat it. NOT good.

The only saving grace here was the Ume (duh) and the Furikake (double “duh”), where I reluctantly give Gulick’s Musubi even 1 SPAM Musubi (average), but I’ll go with that.

Note to Gulick management: if you’re going to offer as many Musubi selections as you do, you MUST cook and season your rice properly. Must! Invest in a better rice cooker (Grant’s Grill did!), and/or perhaps better quality ‘premium’ rice. If Iyasume does it, so can you!

Things can only get better from here, which for the most part thankfully it does, where next let’s check out the Nishime…

Shiitake Mushrooms? Check. Maki Konbu? Check. Fried Tofu? Check. Konnyaku? Check. Daikon? Check. Carrots? Check. Everything all cooked Al Dente and well saturated with the Nishime gravy? Check, check and check.

Oishii desu ka? CHECK! Omai! Really good!

There was just one problem both Diner E and I noticed, which is that the fried tofu tasted a little sour, like it was beyond its freshness date. Not repulsive, but detectable. Other than that isolated component, the Nishime as a whole for me was fantastic, where I easily award it 4 SPAM Musubi. Throw in FRESH fried tofu and I’d easily give Gulick’s Nishime a solid 5 for the slam dunk.

Next let’s try Gulick’s Maki Kombu…

Gulick Delicatessen – Maki Kombu: Kombu (seaweed) wrapped around chicken, carrot, takenoko (bamboo shoots) and gobo (burdock root) and tied with Kannpyo (calabash/gourd).

Both Diner E and I have just one problem with this: it’s WAY TOO BIG. This is like the Japanese equivalent of “why make the burger 1 story high when you can make it 10″ approach. Just look at how big it is in the previous photos. It’s HUGE, measuring 4″ in length by 1-1/2” diameter. I’d rather have it being a tiny compact morsel where I eat the whole thing in one fell swoop, not nibble at it section by section. Ya’ know? I just want to taste all the ingredients TOGETHER, not separately, which you’re sort of forced to do in this super-sized Maki Kombu form.

Other than that issue, the flavor and texture of the components combined was spot on, and everything was well saturated with the sauce. I also noticed a distinct ginger accent to it, which was really nice.

Summing it up, I give Gulick’s Maki Kombo 3 SPAM Musubi, where believe it or not, if they scale down the size, I’d say it can only get better.

Only one thing left on my plate to share my thoughts on, where actually this photo is from Diner E’s plate, which is the Vegetable Tempura (on the right next to the cone sushi)…

Winners. The vegetable tempura batter has a nicely seasoned flavor and delicately-crispy texture that’s quite unique and unlike tempura I’ve had from other Okazuya establishments. This is definitely one of their “MONEY” items and worth driving out of your way for. Best of all it didn’t taste greasy, while the medley of veggies and Kamaboko (fish cake) all brought their A-game to this party. Summing it up, 4 SPAM Musubi for Gulick’s Vegetable Tempura.

Back to Diner E’s plate, check out how tender and juicy the Shoyu Chicken was…

A closer look at the Gobo Kinpira (left) and Tofu Patty (right, in chopsticks)…

Diner E enjoyed the Gobo Kinpira, while noting it was on the sweet side, which he thought was good, but noted could have used a little more spicy hot in the form of Togarashi. The Tofu Patty was just “a-aight”, but not a choice he’d make again.

Finally, we have Gulick’s all-important Okazu dish, the Chow Fun…

“Too busy” says Diner E. Too much carrots and cabbage. The seasoning was also too pronounced, where, like Mac’ Salad, both Diner E and yours truly believe in the “Simple is best” approach to this dish. Which St. Louis Delicatessen remains the reigning KING of Okazuya-style Chow Funn Noodles.

Service at Gulick Deli was friendly and quick, prices are “competitive”, while street parking in this suburban neighborhood location can be hit or miss, depending how busy they are when you arrive and/or how far you’re willing to walk.

On a future visit, I must try their “high ticket item” Butterfish, while for some reason I’m intrigued in sampling their Pinak Bet (notice the spelling). Which is what’s so great about the typical Okazuya in Hawaii, where the’s so much cultural diversity under one roof that you can mix and match on one plate. Love that.

It’s GREAT to see “old school” mom ‘n pop Hawaii businesses such as this place still thriving, thanks to the next generation of ohana carrying the torch. Long live Gulick Delicatessen!

Gulick Delicatessen
1512 Gulick Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii   96819
Tel. (808) 847-1461

The Tasty Island rating:

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

Things To Do
Honolulu

New University of Hawaii 'Throwback Jack' Rainbow Warrior Antenna Ball

Jack in the Box Hawaii debuted the University of Hawaii ‘Throwback Jack’ Rainbow Warrior Football Helmet Antenna Ball recently on Thursday, September 2nd, on the day of the University of Hawaii Warrior football season-opening game against the USC Trojans at Aloha Stadium.

Speaking of which, many speculators anticipated our Warriors would take a severe beating against 14th ranked USC. Yet we ended up doing better than expected, with a final score of the Trojans topping the Warriors 49-36, making that a 13 point spread, undermining the 21 points that were in favor of USC.

This would hopefully be a sign of good things to come this season for our Warriors football team, and it has. For today Hawaii got the first “W”, beating Army on the road 31 to 28, with key plays and a turnover happening in the final 3 minutes of the game. The Warriors will remain on the road, taking on on Colorado next Saturday.

Anyhow, this year Jack in the Box decided to go retro with this cool new ‘Throwback Jack’ UH Football Helmet Antenna Ball. Donna Yano, Vice President for Jack in the Box Hawaii says, “Although the university retired the old logo in 1982 after nine seasons, it still resonates among longtime UH supporters.” Indeed many UH fans, especially the “old timers”, still shout out “Go ‘Bows!”, as they prefer to honor the team’s former name ‘Rainbow Warriors’, hence the now classic logo design you see here.

Notice on the poster at Jack in the Box, the face cage is black, yet thankfully they’ve since updated the production run and gave the ‘Throwback Jack’ a GREEN face cage, which is exactly how the actual 1976-’81 season UH football helmet was issued.

On the down side, also notice the paper-based sticker doesn’t conform well to the curvature of the tiny helmet, crinkling-up on the edges. This also means the sticker won’t last long stuck on there should you decide to actually use it as an Antenna Ball on the outside of your vehicle. A couple windy trips up and down the Likelike or Pali highway and it’ll probably be “Aloha Oe” for Mr. Rainbow Warrior sticker. It’d be nice (and much more durable) if they made the sticker out of vinyl, or better yet, screen print it directly on the soft foam helmet material.

One cool new addition this year is the ‘Eye Black’ anti-glare markings under the eyes…

Here’s a look at last year’s ‘Warrior Jack’ Antenna Ball, where you see it didn’t have ‘Eye Black’ anti-glare markings…

The new ‘Throwback Jack’ UH Football Helmet Antenna Balls are available at Jack in the Box’ Hawaii locations for a limited time while supplies last, FREE with purchase of any LARGE Combo Meal. Some locations are also selling them separately for $1.49 each. We visited the Dillingham location, where the cashier told us they were they were only giving them away with large combo meals, and weren’t being sold separately without a meal. So we ended up eating there just to get our first ‘Throwback Jack’…

This here is their new REALLY BIG CHICKEN SANDWICH Combo for $3.99, which when “jacked-up” to be a LARGE combo for an addtional 90 cents, comes out to $5.11 cents, including tax. Which I suppose is a really good deal considering you’re getting the ‘Throwback Jack’ — a $1.49 value — thrown in the deal. Doing the math, that makes the price of that HUGE chicken, bacon and cheese sandwich, gigantic pile of Seasoned Curly Fries and the equivalent of almost 4 cans of soda in one cup just $3.59.

Or is that REALLY a deal? Well, depends what you’re counting: volume of food to fill up your stomach, or volume of fat and sodium to coagulate and boil your blood stream. Looking at Jack in the Box.com’s nutritional statistics, (literally) get a load of this:

Jack in the Box Nutrition Information:

Really Big Chicken Sandwich™
Two crispy chicken patties topped with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo onion sauce on a toasted bun
Serving size: 1, Calories: 748, Calories from Fat: 395, Total Fat (g): 44, Saturated Fat (g): 9, Trans Fat (g): 0, Cholesterol (mg): 85, Sodium (mg): 1834 Potassium (mg): 471, Carbohydrates (g): 56, Dietary Fiber (g): 2, Sugars (g): 4, Protien (g): 30

Seasoned Curly Fries – Large
Serving size: 5.99 oz., Calories: 584, Calories from Fat: 303, Total Fat (g): 34, Saturated Fat (g): 3, Trans Fat (g): 0, Cholesterol (mg): 2, Sodium (mg): 1279, Potassium (mg): 728, Carbohydrates (g): 63, Dietary Fiber (g): 5, Sugars (g): 0, Protien (g): 7

Fanta Soft Drink – Large
Serving size: 44 fl. oz., Calories:321, Calories from Fat: 0, Total Fat (g): 0, Saturated Fat (g): 0, Trans Fat (g): 0, Cholesterol (mg): 0, Sodium (mg): 26, Potassium (mg): 0, Carbohydrates (g): 87, Dietary Fiber (g): 0, Sugars (g): 87, Protien (g): 0

Good Lord! It’s no wonder Jack looks like this…

Thankfully the Jack in the Box Kapiolani Boulevard location (on the corner of Kapiolani and Ward; across the Blaisdell) were selling ‘Throwback Jack’ Antenna Balls separately, and I didn’t need to subject my body to anymore “large combo torture” just for the sake of getting a few more antenna balls.

Specifically I wanted a few more to add as a bonus prize to my fun new Foodland Musubi Bags & BONUS UH Football Antenna Ball set giveaway contest. Learn more about that and enter to win yourself by checking out my previous post on Musubi-ya Iyasume here!

What? New Limited Edition University of Hawaii Football ‘Throwback Jack’ (circa 1981) Antenna Ball
Where did you buy it and how much did it cost? Jack in the Box’ Dillingham Blvd. location, FREE with purchase of Large Combo meal. Also purchased separately for $1.49 each from Jack in the Box Kapiolani Blvd. location.
Big Shaka to: “Retro cool”. 1976-’81 season Rainbow Warrior Football Helmet logo is accurate. Green colored face cage is accurate. New ‘Eye Black’ anti-glare markings. Includes suction cup base, spring head mount and thorough instructions on how to assemble it. lol Available for purchase separately (at certain locations only?), saving my body from unnecessarily high amounts of sodium and fat intake. Fans who still prefer to cheer “Go ‘Bows!”
No shaka to: Paper logo sticker doesn’t conform well to curvature of helmet. Dillingham location not selling ‘Throwback Jack” antenna balls separately (you must abuse your body with a large combo meal).

Waikiki Eats: Musubi-ya Iyasume

Tucked away in an “alley” on Koa Avenue — an access road behind the Hyatt Waikiki Regency & Spa — you’ll find Musubi-ya Iyasume. They’re located on the ground floor of a low-level walk-up apartment building that’s since been converted to a hotel named Hale Waikiki.

Unless you’re a very observant person, the clutter of signs placed near the sidewalk out front to catch pedestrians passing by is the only clue you’d have to know this place exists, along with other neighboring businesses open to the public. This includes next door neighbor Hana No Sato, another tiny Japanese restaurant specializing in sushi and fresh fish, the Aloha Store and Wang Chung, a karaoke bar located upstairs.

“Ya” means “shop” in Japanese, and as that suggests, Musubi-ya Iyasume is for the most part a takeout affair, save for 2 sets of tables inside if you wish to sit in and eat there…

Yeah, you noticed that up on the wall too, huh?! Here’s a closer look…

You can check what other vehicle vanity (custom) license plates are available for the City & County of Honolulu here at this link. I already checked various ways to spell “MUSUBI”, and they’re all spoken for.

Occupying such a small space, they find every place available to put their rice cookers, while also displaying lots of love for SPAM…

I mean, rice cookers EVERYWHERE…

While a musubi is a seemingly simple food that for the most part uses a minimum of ingredients, that very trait makes it that much more important that every one of those ingredients are the best quality they can be. That said, here you see Iyasume uses Tamanishiki brand U.S. No. 1 Grade Short Grain Super Premium Rice…

I went to Don Quijote to check out the various brands and grades of rice they carry, and believe me, all the Super Premium brands are MUCH more expensive than the common $10 on sale/20 lb. bag of “Extra Fancy” Hinode rice most local folks buy. Specifically, a 15 lb. bag of Tamanishiki Super Premium Rice was on sale at DQ for $24.97. Ouch! And that’s just the US-grown brand. Now hold on to your socks and get a load of this: at Ward Marukai, a 10 lb. bag of Minami-Uonumasan Koshihikari Rice costs $60. Sixty bucks for just ten pounds! Totemo takai desu yo (that’s crazy expensive)!!!

Well, like most things Japanese, Iyasume is all about quality, and it’s reassuring to see they offer their customers the best they can within the budget at hand.

Now let’s check out their menu, starting with the star attraction, their Musubi, a.k.a. Omusubi, a.k.a. Onigiri…

Most of the menu items at Iyasume are made to order (a good thing, especially for the onigiri!) and can take about 5 to 10 minutes or more to prepare. Yet if you’re in a rush, they do have some bento lunches and omusubi that are premade and ready to go…

We like this place so much that we’ve already went through one member card and are on our way to filling out another one…

Now let’s check out some of the goodies we recently got from Iyasume, starting with the iconic SPAM Musubi…

This SPAM Musubi has a Shiso leaf underneath it, which adds an interesting flavor and texture contrast to the SPAM. There’s just a hint of shoyu on the SPAM, but it’s not too “Teriyaki-ish” like some other places, which is surprising being this is a Japanese establishment.

Here we have two Onigiri…

The one on the left is Ume and Bonito, and on the right, Takana (Mustard leaf).

Biting into it, you see there’s an abundance of the tart Ume and savory Bonito flakes nestled within the rice center…

Same for the Takana (Mustard leaf) Onigiri…

So every bite you take, you’ve always got that slight saltiness from the various fillings to help flavor the rice. Oishii!

Speaking of rice, THAT is really where the money’s at here, as it’s PERFECT. Just perfect Onigiri rice, thanks in part to them using that high quality Tamanishiki Super Premium grade stock. Every precious granule is soft and “pillowy” and of course not mushy at all. It’s also seasoned perfectly with just a slight hint of salt seasoning on the rice itself.

Most importantly It has plenty of stick, so you eat through the entire Onigiri without barely a grain falling off. Ever ate a musubi where you end up licking more loose rice off your hands, napkin or plate instead of eating it how it should be eaten, where it’s one integrated morsel? Well, that’s never the case here at Iyasume. These folks are pros and really know how to whip up some mighty fine Omusubi.

Along with that perfected Onigiri rice, as mentioned previously, Iyasume makes them to order, so when you receive it, it’s nice and hot. Can’t beat that! Way better than those musubi you see wrapped up in plastic that’s been sitting on the store shelf or the warmer for who knows how long. Well OK, I won’t knock Manabu’s because their musubi can probably sit out all day and still taste great, but still, no matter what, fresh made is always best, and that’s how it’s done here at Iyasume.

Summing up the SPAM & Shiso Leaf Musubi, Ume & Bonito Onigiri and Takana Onigiri, they each deserve an “I’ll be back for more and more!” 4 SPAM Musubi.

On another more recent visit to Iyasume, I tried one of their combo meals…

This is Iyasume’s Deluxe Combo set, which includes two musubi, vege miso soup, fried chicken, takuan and sausage for $7.95. Everything tasted premade except the musubi, which were both made to order.

The “sausage” is actually a regular ‘ole American hot dog, which I was a little disappointed, as I was hoping it would be some exotic Japanese fish sausage, or at least Arabiki. It tasted like it was simmered in a light shoyu broth, Okazuya style.

The fried chicken was lame; the batter soggy and lacking any flavor whatsoever, while the boneless chicken meat inside wasn’t anything to write home or here about. With that, these two items get a “yawn” 1 SPAM Musubi.

You can choose any musubi on the menu for the Deluxe Combo set, where on this occasion I went with Asari (clams) and Salmon and Salmon Roe…

Like all their Onigiri, here you see an abundance of Asari clams and Salmon/Salmon Roe filling in the center of these two…

So there’s happy-happy joy-joy in every scrumptious bite.

The Asari clams were “meaty” delicious, but I think it could have used something else with it, like perhaps Hijiki (tiny seaweed flakes). The Salmon/Salmon Roe was pretty good, but that also could have also used some “oomph”, like perhaps mayonnaise, which is in fact available on their menu. Thankfully the high quality nori wrapped around each onigiri makes up for anything that may be lacking in the filling.

Getting more into that part, the nori isn’t very crispy which some folks might prefer, but more on the soft and pliable side, which is actually how I prefer it. For me, when the nori is stuck to the rice and allowed time to “bond”, it imparts some of its flavors into the rice versus when it’s first placed on and still crispy. I just don’t like biting into a musubi and the nori cracks apart, and simply like it stuck to the rice.

Summing up Asari and Salmon/Salmon Roe Onigiri, they each deserve a still-very-respectable 3 SPAM Musubi.

As for the Vege Miso Soup, now THIS is some oishilicious stuff!…

The broth is very “meaty”, which after confirming with the folks there, come to find out this is the same broth used for their Tonjiru Soup, which is made with pork, vegetables and miso. And I must say, this is one MIGHTY FINE example of Tonjiru Soup. Like I could practically eat a whole bucket of this stuff, it’s that good. It’s loaded with sliced Daikon and Aburage, along with sliced onion and Konnyaku…

Summing it up, a super-duper oishi 5 SPAM Musubi on Iyasume’s Vege Miso (Tonjiru) Soup. So good, I’d recommend instead of getting the Deluxe Combo set, just order any two musubi along with a side order of this soup and you’ve got yourself one mighty satisfying and tasty lunch from Musubi-ya Iyasume.

On another also-recent visit, I tried their Summer Special SPAM Musubi…

My usual bite-through view…

Om-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom. lol

The generous amount of seedless ume spread underneath the SPAM was fantastic, giving it that wonderful tangy “bite” and contrast to the meaty, salty luncheon meat. As for the cucumber, it was sliced way too thin to have any impact on flavor and seemed more for decoration than anything else. While I mentioned earlier that I like my Nori soft and pliable, the Nori on this SPAM musubi was too soft and to the “melting point” already, where if you touch it, it easily breaks apart. So minus a point each for “melted” nori and the cucumber sliced too thinly, where I’m going with 3 SPAM Musubi on Iyasume’s Summer Special SPAM Musubi. Does that sound right? lol

Finally, for dessert I tried their Original Coffee Jelly…

Jello® with cream is always good. Let’s try this Coffee-flavored “jelly”…

Yeah, I know, I’m supposed to invert it on a plate to make a nice presentation, but who am I trying to impress? You, the reader? Come on, we’re all good friends here now, so let’s just dig in and eat the darned thing! lol

How is it? It tastes basically like a quality sweetened black coffee turned into Jello® form. For those who prefer cream in their coffee (like me), that’s where the cream comes in here, which is actually half & half (half cream, half milk). The half & half (or cream) definitely makes this, as I couldn’t see eating this straight “black”, just the same as I am with coffee in liquid form.

I’d go as far as saying if you’re a coffee drinker, consider buying a pack of gelatin and “Jello-izing” a pot of coffee and keep it in the fridge in individual containers like this. It’s an equally satisfying, cool and refreshing alternative to a regular ‘ole hot cup ‘o joe or ice coffee, and would make for a fun thing to munch on before heading off to work or to snack on at the end of your lunch break. 3 SPAM Musubi.

As for parking in the immediate area to hit up Musubi-ya Iyasume,  for the most part forget it. Except for loading and unloading, there’s no street parking available on Koa Street, unless you have someone who can wait in the car while you run in. There’s a parking garage under the hotel, but that’s limited to hotel guests.

Well there you have it. Yet another place to get your musubi on when you demand only the best. Particularly if you happen to be in Waikiki. Next time you’re walking around this world-famous tourist mecca and looking for something delicious to snack on at the beach or back at the hotel room, consider heading a street up from Kalakaua avenue on Koa and check out Musubi-ya Iyasume. Oishii!!!

Musubi-Ya Iyasume
2410 Koa Avenue Suite #4 (behind the Hyatt Waikiki Regency & Spa
Honolulu, Hawaii  96815

Tel. (808) 921-0168
www.tonsuke.com/eomusubiya.html

Other locations:
Iyasume Bento Express
Waikiki Shopping Plaza

Iyasume
611 Kapahulu Avenue
Tel. (808) 735-3530

The Tasty Island Rating (Koa Avenue location):

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

Related Tasty Island links:
• A Marukai Musubi Fest
• Musubi Mania at Mana Bu’s
• Mana Bu’s Hana Hou

P.S. Guess what time it is? It’s time to have a GIVEAWAY CONTEST! YAY!!!!!

What is it that’s being given away? This!…

2010 Foodland limited edition Musubi Reusable Eco Shopping Bag

PLUS THIS!…

2010 Foodland limited edition Musubi insulated hot cold Bag

Yes, two lucky winners will each receive one (brand spankin’ new) Musubi-themed Foodland Reusable Eco Shopping Bag and one Musubi-themed Foodland Hot Cold Bag. These are limited edition bags that will soon sell out at local Foodland retail stores and will no doubt be a collectible item.

To enter to win these two cool musubi bags, all you need to do is submit your entry via a comment (or eMail me if you prefer to remain private) that says “I want those SPAM Musubi Bags!“ That’s it. Simple as that. Two winners will be chosen by a physical drawing, where I’m going to print each entry person’s name on a piece of paper and pull it blindly from a SPAM Musubi bag. I’ll record the drawing on video, and when I announce the winners in a future post, I’ll insert the video in that post via YouTube  to show proof that this contest wasn’t “fixed” or “juiced”. Make sure that your comment or eMail includes a valid return eMail address so I know how to contact you if you’re a winner.

PLUS, on top of that, I’m throwing in a BONUS PRIZE!…

2009 limited edition Jack in the Box University of Hawaii Football ‘Warrior Jack’

PLUS THIS!…

2010 limited edition Jack in the Box ‘Throwback Jack’ (from UH’s 1982 football season!)

If you also want a chance to win the University of Hawaii Jack in the Box Warrior Jack and UH Throwback Jack Antenna Ball BONUS PRIZE on top of the two Musubi bags, along with your comment that says “I want those SPAM Musubi Bags!”, in your comment or eMail, you must also submit an ORIGINAL Haiku on the subject of what else? SPAM Musubi! Yes, submit a Haiku on SPAM Musubi. Don’t know what a Haiku is? Learn more about it here.

These UH Football antenna balls are also limited editions, where in fact the 2009 “H” logo helmet antenna ball is no longer available at Jack in the Box Hawaii locations, and the new “Throwback Jack” UH “Warrior Bows” (circa 1982) helmet antenna ball is destined to sell out quickly.

The Haiku won’t be judged on anything else except that it must be your own original work, it must be a valid Haiku, adhering to the 5-7-5 syllable rule, and it must be about SPAM Musubi.

Keep in mind, you don’t need to submit a Haiku to win the Musubi bags. It’s only if you ALSO want to win the Jack in the Box University of Hawaii football helmet antenna ball bonus prizes.

Deadline to enter is Saturday, September 18, 2010.

NOTE: CURRENT HAWAII RESIDENTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE to enter this Musubi Bag and UH Football Antenna Ball contest. Upon selecting the winners, if your mailing address is in Hawaii, you will be disqualified.

2 winners! 2 Musubi Bags + possibly 2 UH Football antenna balls to each winner! Good luck! Go Warriors! Err, Go ‘Bows! Err, SPAM Musubi! Bag that is.

Things To Do
Honolulu