Oahu: Stuff from Young’s Fish Market and Marujyu Market

I landed at HNL a bit past 2 in the afternoon and walked on over to the rental car counter…..getting out of the airport before 3pm. It was my objective to pick some stuff for dinner along the way. The first stop? Young;s Fish Market.

This was Reid's recommendation from my earlier visit. since it was pretty close to the airport, it was pretty much a no brainer for lau lau and kalua pork.

The fish counter was pretty slim pickins' and my usual stop on the way to the in-laws, Tanioka's would be near to closing time by the time I hit Waipahu.

So instead, I got out near Moanalua Road and stopped by Marujyu Market.

Funny, I'm old enough to remember when Marujyu opened in Palolo Valley. The empire then spread all ova' the place…….I remember them being in the location that is now a Korean Market in Waimalu Shopping Center, and now to this tiny shop in Newtown Business Park.

Anyway, I made it there, with a stop at Zippy's for some Chicken, rolling into Ewa Beach just after 5 pm. Dinner was a fun affair…….The D's were always such fun…..

Here's a rundown on the grinds:

 The pork lau lau from Young's was decent, pork moist, nice flavor overall, the best I've had in a while. The visitors enjoyed it. I gotta say, the chili pepper water Young's sells was quite good; I could almost drink the stuff.

The kalua pork was on the dry side and kind of bland. I'll be back to Young's for that lau lau……

Young's Fish Market
1286 Kalani St
Honolulu, HI 96817

The poke from Marujyu didn't impress me that much, the limu ahi was the best, but still on the salty side….and I like salty poke.

The "Ohana poke", had too much sesame oil and some pretty tough pieces of ahi……lots of "sugi" (tough tendon like connective tissue) in a couple of pieces.

The pulehu tako had some nice flavor, but our guests didn't like how tough it was. My FIL enjoyed it. By the way, what's up with tako prices? It seemed to have gone through the roof since my last visit. I saw pulehu tako selling for over $30 a pound in some places…..yikes!

Overall, I guess the D's weren't that thrilled with eating raw fish; plus, it seems that my FIL has stopped eating the stuff as well, telling me that he "doesn't trust raw fish anymore."

Marujyu Market Catering
98-820 Moanalua Rd
Aiea, HI 96701

Seems like things started a bit inauspiciously…..oh well, at least no one went hungry!