HIeats's Profile
nice spot for fancy girly cocktails in/near kailua?
Buzz's son's restaurant: Lucy's Grill n Bar
http://honolulu.metromix.com/restaurants/hawaiian/lucys-grill-n-bar-kailua/505229/content
Honolulu: Local restaurant reviews: Which ones do you read? [moved from Elsewhere in America board]
Thanks for everyone's feedback. Chowhound lives up to its name—everyone is very akamai and clued into the food-reviewing press (or advertorial machine). The combined knowledge of everyone that chimes in here is a valuable resource.
Two new Oahu-based food blogs [moved from Elsewhere in America board]
Manomin, I totally hear you about schlepping somewhere for food. I'm in Makiki and sometimes Kaimuki seems too far away. I so lazy.
Nice to read your comment about Town service. I agree.
I recommend waiting a few weeks to try Himalayan Kitchen. I went a week ago and the owner (who was a server at Bombay Restaurant when it opened) said he's still working out the menu. I enjoyed it, but they're still working out the early-days kinks and it will get even better.
Honolulu: Local restaurant reviews: Which ones do you read? [moved from Elsewhere in America board]
You are hilarious. Pretty much the way I feel. (And I'm flattered.) I sometimes enjoy Dave Choo's reviews in Hawaii Business, for his injections of humor more than for his food knowledge. Food reviews are like movie reviews—you've gotta find a reviewer who has similar taste to you. Locally Nadine Kam at the Star Bulletin comes closest—and is the most honest.
Yah, what is it with the paid "food sections" here? And your average joe doesn't realize that they are advertorials. Yeesh. Thanks for your input manomin.
Honolulu: Local restaurant reviews: Which ones do you read? [moved from Elsewhere in America board]
Wanted to take informal poll of chowhounders. Of local food reviewers (magazines, newspapers, websites, TV segments) are there any that you follow regularly? If yes, which ones and why?
Kailua Pub
Burger sounds delish! I'm wondering if there are any other British things on the menu. Everything else sounds like a sports bar (wings) or New York deli (reuben) food. The steak and mash sound promising. No cornish pasties or shepherd's pie?
Two new Oahu-based food blogs [moved from Elsewhere in America board]
Haha, thanks manomin. I agree with most of your tips and comments here too.
KaimukiMan, you're right Food Trippin' isn't about Oahu eating so far. II's by a local couple, and they just went on a family trip to Italy and wrote about that. I'm hoping they will continue to write about their food experiences now that they are back in town.
One more food blog by a friend of mine: http://asknataliehawaii.blogspot.com/
Recent posts include Himalayan Kitchen and Olive Tree Cafe.
Thanks for the support eatizens!
Great Eats on North Shore
You don't have to eat just OK burgers and OK burritos on North Shore anymore!
• Opel Thai Food lunch truck in lot across from McDonalds in Haleiwa is one of best Thai joints on the island.
• Haleiwa Eats: Almost as good Thai food in an airy cafe setting: http://honoluluweekly.com/restaurants/2005/09/country-thai/
• Banzai Sushi—sit on an open-air deck with other locals: http://www.banzaisushihawaii.com/
Owned by a Brazilian woman, so there's ceviche on the menu; get it.
• Romy's Shrimp Truck. Giovanni's is so over (and their shrimp doesn't even come from the North Shore—it's from Kaua‘i). Romy's is right NEXT to its own shrimp ponds. You can even see them harvesting the shrimp.
Check the video: http://hawaiirama.com/2008/06/eating-hawaii-oahu-north-shore
Anyone Try Maria Bonita's on Hotel Street?
It's OK. The usual enchiladas-burritos-beans-rice. Owner Diego Gallardo is the guy who ran the Maria Bonita lunch truck in Waimanalo. He's a single dad with a passel of kids and does the best he can. Will we ever get something like Los Dados, Rosa Mexicana?
Two new Oahu-based food blogs [moved from Elsewhere in America board]
Eatizen Jane: http://hieats.wordpress.com/
Food trippin': http://foodtrippin.wordpress.com/
New-ish places in Honolulu?
But there is nothing Spanish or Portuguese about the menu, so the name still puzzles.
New-ish places in Honolulu?
That's cause Azure is intuitive. But what the hell is an Azul?
New-ish places in Honolulu?
No, no connection. The restaurant at Ko Olina is called Azul.
Hanger Steak on Oahu ?
The grill flatiron steak at Brasserie Du Vin isn't bad
http://www.brasserieduvin.com/menu.html
You might want to call 12th Avenue Grill to see if they're hangar steak is back, as they don't update their online menu often.
Keith Endo at Vino (Restaurant Row) has been doing an excellent Tuscan-style steak although I forget the cut.
Maui recommendations?
Mala in Wailea and Lahaina
http://www.malaoceantavern.com/
Lovely wine bar Marc Aurel in Wailuku
http://www.cafemarcaurel.com/
Main Street Bistro in Wailuku
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/bestrestaurants05/restaurant?id=193
New-ish places in Honolulu?
Izakaya Sushi Gaku
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/Aug/22/en/hawaii808220303.html
Kaiwa
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Sep/28/en/hawaii709280303.html
Vino
http://www.foodandwine.com/golist/2008/us-canada/us/honolulu/vino
Matsugen
http://www.foodandwine.com/golist/2008/us-canada/us/honolulu/matsugen
12th Avenue Grill (Daniel Dae Kim ate there last week)
http://www.foodandwine.com/golist/2008/us-canada/us/honolulu/12th-avenue-grill
Downtown
http://www.foodandwine.com/golist/2008/us-canada/us/honolulu/downtown
Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas
http://www.foodandwine.com/golist/2007/us-canada/us/honolulu/hiroshi-eurasion-tapas
Town
http://www.foodandwine.com/golist/2007/us-canada/us/honolulu/town
New-ish places in Honolulu?
Azure in the newly refurbished Royal Hawaiian. It's where Jon Matsubara landed.
Here's review of it on my new food blog: http://hieats.wordpress.com/
help on the big island!
Hilo Bay Cafe
http://www.foodandwine.com/restaurants/hilo-bay-cafe-hilo
fresh mussels in honolulu?
Yah, I've had some recipes calling for mussels I wanted to try and hunted everywhere and came up with nothing. I substituted clams.
50th birthday celebration in Kauai
http://www.restaurantbaracuda.com/
Bar Acuda, headed up by a former Food + Wine Best New Chef
Ko Olina--anything noteworthy?
If you happen to be out there, Roy's isn't bad...you can sit out on the terrace overlooking the golf course where Michelle Wie practices when she's in town. I spent one afternoon out there watching her hit ball after ball as I ate my crab salad sandwich.
Moving to Oahu... Please Help Me Stock The Pantry
Hey EN,
I guess you've scoped out Whole Foods by now. As a local who lived "abroad" for 17 years and am now back on Oahu, I find it a godsend. I can finally get skirt steak, brisket, mache, and a bunch of other stuff that I had to find substitutes for because local supermarkets didn't carry them. I would rather support local businesses, but if they don't have what I want, it's hard.
Dining Around Honolulu
Amy,
If I were you I'd avoid all restaurants at the top of hotels here. Or if you really want a romantic dinner with a view, try the new Twist at Hanohano, on the 30th floor of the Sheraton Waikiki. I've had one so-so dinner there, and one good dinner. Their schtick is "island cuisine"—with the chef drawing inspiration from islands around the world, from Santorini to the Seychelles. It's prix fixe only, choose from 3, 4 or 5 courses, with or without wine pairings. If you go, get a table on the Diamond Head side of the room, the other affords a view of the crane atop the rising Trump Tower.
Other recommendations:
Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas, my fave Hawaiian Regional Cuisine chef
http://www.hiroshihawaii.com/
Vino, charming enoteca, chef Keith Endo has been getting better and better. His salad nicoise, with fresh seared ahi, is addictive.
http://www.vinohawaii.com/
If you like Japanese, my favorite newish place is
Izakaya Sushi Gaku http://tinyurl.com/5ln949
For fun, try Hank's Haute Dogs
Owner Henry Adaniya was the owner of the famed Trio in Chicago. That's the restaurant where chefs Grant Achatz, Rick Tramonto and Dale Levitsky made their names. He moved here to open his hot dog shack, serving gourmet weiners. In fact, i'm headed there for lunch today, cause in Saturday the special is duck-and-foie-gras sausage with housemade fruit compote. Mmmm.
http://www.hankshautedogs.com/
And yes, there's Town. My favorite go-to restaurant. If you live somewhere like SF or NY, it's nothing special...there are bazillions of mid-priced contemporary bistros like Town in those cities. But here it's a rarity. Much of the produce used comes from organic Ma‘o Farm in Wai'anae, which teaches at-risk youth leadership skills. If you're lucky they might have some wild boar carpaccio or sausage that chefs Ed and Dave made from an animal that a hunter friend gave them. And you might see Naveen Andrews from "Lost" sitting at the back of the room.
Equally good is Town's sister lunch-only spot, Downtown, in the Hawaii State Art Museum. Hope that their duck confit sandwich is on the menu.
Up the street from Town is 12th Avenue Grill, which actually opened a little before Town did, blazing the modern-American bistro trail. Chef Kevin Hanney cooks comfort food elevated a notch. You can't go wrong with the specials.
http://www.12thavegrill.com/
Chef Mavro's new winter menu is great. Highlights are his abalone ceviche—paper-thin slices of baby abalone raised on the Big Island paired with a savory cod croquette and a vibrant red chimichurri sauce, roasted squab "pot au feu," with a delicious mushroom broth, and a Moroccan-inspired lamb loin crusted in chickpea with a yogurt-garlic sauce. www.chefmavro.com
A local insider tip: Lunch at the Honolulu Academy of Arts' Pavilion Cafe. Light Med- and Asian-inspired dishes, such as salad nicoise and grilled mahimahi over cold soba salad. It's open-air, next to this wall-o-water feature and a row of famed ceramist Jun Kaneko's towering dangos. They've got an amazing exhibition of kapa (hand-pounded mulberry bark) by Hawaiian Living Treasure Marie McDonald up, as well as a photography exhibition that includes works by Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand and Sally Mann. Here's the menu: http://www.honoluluacademy.org/cmshaa/academy/index.aspx?id=435
California Hound in Maui
I review restaurants locally. My favorite Maui restaurant is www.malaoceantavern.com in Lahaina. Chef-owner Mark Ellman made his money with Maui Tacos and returned to a "real" restaurant scene with Mala. Sit on the deck at sunset, and you can see sea turtles swimming below. Locals jam the place, where they're elbow-to-elbow at the bar snacking on Kobe beef cheeseburgers and sipping mojitos. Ellman gives a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern twist to dishes such as sweet and spicy chicken wings, tangy in a pomegranate sauce that takes its cue from Persian fesanjan. For the fish special, he makes an addictive cilantro mojo sauce. They just opened a branch at the Wailea Beach Marriott. The original opened in I think 2003, and not much worth noting has opened since.
Local arty types gather at www.cafemarcaurel.com in Wailuku to drink from a nice wine list and graze on cheese plates, sandwiches, panzanella.
Also, it's worth trying the food of chef Ivan Pahk at Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Kapalua. www.sanseihawaii.com/menu.html
Kakaako Big City Diner a No-no
I've never understood the popularity of BCD. The food is just so-so, and giant portions don't make me think it's better. The food is much better as local karaoke bars such as Any Place, where the fried rice is far superior. They also have beautiful simple poke and one of the best pork tofus in town. Just because you get a lot of food at BCD, doesn't make it good. Even the burger is blah, when I'd expect a place like that to make one of the best in town.
Oahu - what are your favorite NON-ASIAN joints?
Glad to hear! Ha, nice description of the cardamom crunch.
Indian in Honolulu? (Urgent -- for Valentine's)
Bombay India Restaurant in Discovery Bay is the best in town. Curries are layered with spice, dishes come with rice, naan comes blistered straight from the tandoor. And they have a full bar. The place is actually designed to be a restaurant, not just a room with some subcontinental tchotchkes thrown around. Maharani used to be my favorite until this place opened.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/bestrestaurants07/restaurant?id=27
