After our stroll and my interesting encounter at Ala Moana Park we headed off to dinner. We had reservations for a more hip and popular place the following night, so when I asked the Missus what She wanted for dinner, She said "8 Fat Fat 8"! Really! I think She was thinking of me since, as I noted in my post from 12 years ago, I had been a customer from when the place opened in 1985. And even after I moved away, I would still drop by for Pau Hana Time when I was "home". And as I noted in that earlier post, even the Missus enjoyed Her visits there. Still, it had been almost 12 years since my last visit, so this was going to be interesting. We walked on over from the Ala Moana Hotel.
I was quite happy to see that the Midas Muffler is still next door, Times and Grace's across the street. Sometimes, things like that bring on nice memories and a feeling of comfort.
It was a Thursday around 430 and the place was very quiet. The nice guy working told me that Mary, the daughter of the late owner Sy wasn't working this evening.
As I mentioned before, when I'm here, it's full "local mode" for me and I'll be getting a Bud Light "bucket ice". You don't mess with tradition.
In case you're wondering what a Bud Light is going for at 8 Fat, these days……
Yep, it's a whole four bucks! The Missus had a glass of the House White ($6), which She said wasn't bad.
I just had to get some Crispy Gau Gee ($10).
Well, this was even better than what I'd had the last time. Perfectly fried and crisp, the filling was moist, with great pork and shrimp tones. The Missus has never been a fan of this dish; but it's the style of Chinese Food I grew up with, so it was a nice taste down memory lane.
The Missus wanted some veggies so we ordered the Ong Choy ($10).
Man, talk about the generous portion! Stir fried nicely, still crisp, great chlorophyllic flavors, the garlic added a nice pungent counter point.
And of course we had to get the signature Fat Fat Chicken ($15).
The Missus loved this. It was one of Her favorites way back when and I guess it still is. Crispy skin, good salt and pepper (and probably msg), tender meat. I'd forgotten how good this is!
We talked to I believe his name is Reagan and I mentioned some of the regulars from back in the day. Many have passed and he told me that most of those regulars stopped coming after Covid. Kinda sad, but then I started seeing folks arriving, so it looks like a whole new generation of folks have adopted the place.
Yes, it's divey, but for me it feels like home! And I was happy to finally be back here; and apparently the Missus was too. Because according to the Missus, this was Her favorite meal of the trip!
8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille
1327 S Beretania St
Honolulu, HI 96814
We took our after dinner "walk" back to the hotel. Once there, we decided to get a nightcap. Earlier that day, when we picked up lunch at the Lanai in Ala Moana Center, we noticed a bar in that food court. We decided to check it out. It's named Agave & Vine and they were pretty busy on this Thursday evening.
The bartender seemed to know quite a few of the customers. There were folks bringing food from other stalls and restaurants over to eat, have a drink, and perhaps watch some sports.
I decided to try the Bad Decisions ($12).
Not bad, not watered down, nice citrusy tones, the Blanco came thru nicely. The Missus enjoyed Her glass of wine.
It was a nice little stop right across the bridge from the hotel.
Agave & Vine (In the Lanai – Ala Moana Center)
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814
Once in our room, I sat on the patio, just enjoying the city lights.
It was great to be "home"!
Thanks for stopping by!
The bread was again nicely toasted, the cucumbers again refreshing, I wish it had more tomatoes and I appreciated the mint. There was a generous of labneh slathered on the toast, but it was just too puckery and sour for me to enjoy, the sour Zaatar just piled on, I'd have appreciated perhaps touch of sweetness and savory to balance things out a bit? As a whole, much too sour for me. My salivary glands are puckering up just looking at the photo!
Love the tortillas here, full of maize goodness, heated on the comal with drippings, it is always up to the task. The tripas have a nice mild crunch with beefy goodness. I bet you'd never figure out what it was if you were served one of these.
My goodness; this was even better than we thought! Fried to a light crispness, the interior was light, creamy, and almost fluffy. There have been times when we've had a iodine like aftertaste when having mollejas, but this was mild with a slight offal-nutty-buttery-sweetness. We actually didn't need salsa, lime, or heck, even the wonderful tortillas.
Let's take a look at that chicken. It's a huge piece but does it look "crispy" to you? Also, it was fairly tender, but quite dry for confit, making it somewhat bland; the supposed nuoc cham edged to the sweeter side of the scale. The fried garlic was fine; but the garlic rice was super hard and dry. It was like trying to eat barely cooked rice. Now come on, how can you mess up rice?
Again the greens and tomato was outstanding. But take a look at that rice, it's the same as the "confit chicken" and the photo shows more clearly how hard and dry it was. Speaking of dry; you can add the ahi belly as well. It was dry, lacking in that rich, fatty, texture. It was also strangely fishy in flavor; the Missus had one bite and was done.
We checked in and waited until we were walked over to our seats. The restaurant has sushi bar only seating. I counted a total of 15 seats for our dinner.
As you can tell by that photo, hairy crab was going to be in the first dish, which ended up being a wonderful savory chawan mushi.
These were those jumbo sized wings; the batter was really thick and more hard-crunchy than crispy. The seasoning was a good amount of salt and black pepper. The wings were moist, especially the flats, and looked to be of good quality. As whole, just way too much batter for me, but decent wings. It threw the entire proportion off and I really needed that cabbage with dressing and the mul kimchi, which hovered on the sweeter side of things to reset my palate.
The batter for this seemed a bit different; it was thinner, more lacquered, but still on the crunchy end of the spectrum. The menu says "aromatic and slightly spicy", I'd go with barely spicy and teeth rattling sweet and sticky. The wings were, as before moist and tender, but this was too much for me. I ended up needing the cabbage a mul kimchi to recover! Also, I had to request extra napkins, because of that sticky sauce. Perhaps they'll stock some wipes in the future?
My goodness; this consisted of six slices of akami maguro! Fresh, nice texture, no off flavors, refreshing. The young lady asked me if I wanted some wasabi and grated ginger and I answered with an affirmative. This just added another layer of enjoyment. The maguro was seared nicely; the fried onions adding a nice sweet-pungent-crispness; there could have been more ponzu, but this was quite good.
I also loved that the wing tips were attached; I just love gnawing on them, even though the sticky-sweet sauce got all over my hands. The batter was on the crunchy side, almost lacquered, and it held up for the entre meal. The meat was moist, had no off colors or flavors. The sauce was a bit too sweet for my taste though, but still, well worth the price.
