Oahu – Page 2 – mmm-yoso

Honolulu – The Kaka’ako Farmers Market, Leʻahi (Diamond Head) Summit Trail, and Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden (Kaneohe)

September 20, 2024 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Honolulu, Oahu, Travel

**** No food in this one. But we did go to a wonderful Farmer's Market and did a couple of hikes walks……

After our rather disappointing dinner at XO, we decided to take a short stroll. The Missus really enjoyed the shops on our previous visits to Kaimuki and we noticed that this shop was open.

It was one of those "zero waste" shops….ok, now we're really talking hipster, right? We had actually visited Origins Grocer when we did our Staycation at the Lafayette, so we were a bit familiar with places like this.

This place however, had kinds of "stuffs", and the Missus got a couple of things. The service was so friendly.

We'll probably return when we're in the area!

Keep it Simple Honolulu Zero Waste
3466 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

We then "wen hele" back to the hotel and got back in time to see this lovely sunset.

We got up fairly early the next morning.

Funny thing, in the comments of my post on XO "Mar", a fellow ex-pat Kama'aina, mentioned the changes to various neighborhoods and made special mention of Kaka'ako. And man, is she right! So many developments! I remember when John Dominis was the fancy place and really stood out off Ahui street. In fact, I got a really funny story about JD's, but I think I'll save that for another day. I had first read about the Kaka'ako Farmers Market on Onolicious Hawaii, Kathy's fabulous blog….so much good info!

Anyway, it was Saturday morning and we didn't have to check out until 11, so we decided to walk on over. Man, so many changes in what used to be the Ward Warehouse/Ward Center area!

Things were just getting started and were pretty mellow when we arrived.

Some interesting booths…..

It was after Lunar New Year, so there was the "mini" Dragon thing going on…..

And of course, there were the pooches!

This one really cracked me up….

This is a literal definition of "doggy bag", right?

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The Missus was intrigued with the bowls at this stand.

We ended up buying two wooden bowls. The woman running the stand was so enthusiastic and spent a good amount of time going over the curing and maintenance of the bowls. She even gave us paper instructions.

Unfortunately, we really didn't find anything we wanted to eat. So, we headed on back to the hotel.

Still, we had a fun time.

Kaka'ako Farmers Market
919 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814
Saturdays 8am – 12pm

We walked on back to the hotel, stopping to pick up some coffee. After checking out, we got some stuffs to eat from Foodland Farms….we had a cooler which came in handy.

And then we headed to our next stop before driving back to Ewa Beach. Among all the places the Missus wanted to check out, the Diamond Head Summit was one of them. Like I mentioned in my posts on visiting Dole Plantation and doing the Makapu'u Lighthouse trail, these are places I hadn't been to in over a quarter of a century at least. In fact, the last time I did DHC was maybe more like over 30 years ago? Back in those days you didn't have to make reservations nor pay to visit. These days you do. Anyway, we arrived at the assigned time.

Of course the Missus thought of this as being a mere walk. All I could recall about my previous visits were the stairs……

Which weren't too bad. And of course the views are quite nice.

It was a lovely clear day.

After descending back into the crater we had a nice, light picnic lunch. Then headed on back to Ewa Beach…except….the Missus still wanted to do "something". As we headed past Moanalua I had an idea. There was a place I hadn't been to since the mid-80's. Some good friends took me there, just to check it out. Now, like 40 years later, I was interested to see how things were. So we drove up H-3, then over to Kam Highway, turning on Luluku Road. The Missus was wondering what the heck we were doing in what seemed to be a residential neighborhood. Eventually, the road becomes the access road to Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden, established in 1982.

There was ample parking and heck, I don't even remember there being a visitors center here when I last visited?

We enjoyed the displays and stories.

Especially this. And no, it's not what just entered your mind……

It's the seed of the Coco de Mer!

We decided to take one of the loop walks, which was fun and interesting.

The gardens have specific areas with different regions represented.

And the views of the Ko'olau is wonderful.

If I recall, the gardens sprouted (pun intended) from a project of the Army Corps of Engineers. To prevent flooding a dam was built and the gardens were created surrounding the reservoir. Which is named Loko Waimaluhia ("Lake of Tranquil Waters"). This is my favorite part of the gardens.

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It is indeed quite tranquil. We were pretty much the only folks in the place. Well, except for the ducks who ran the place.

While this might not be a destination if you're just on Oahu for a couple of days unless you're a plant lover. If you want some relaxing views of the Ko'olau Range, this might be the place for you!

Plus, admission is free!

Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden
45-680 Luluku Rd.
Kaneohe, HI 96744
Open Daily (Except for major holidays)
9am – 4pm

After our nice relaxing walk, it was time to head back to Ewa Beach!

Thanks for stopping by!

XO Restaurant (Honolulu)

September 19, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Fine Dining, Honolulu, Oahu, Travel

During our last stay back "home", while staying in town we wanted to have a nice meal. I had really enjoyed spending time in my old neighborhood. Having grown up in Kaimuki, it was crazy to see all of the changes. The place is kinda "hipster" now.

I made reservations at a place I'd heard good things about. I was really interested because growing up, this was the location of Kwok's Chop Suey. I actually went to school with one of owner's sons whom my my old friend from "small kid" time that I ran into at Ala Moana Park told me still lives in the old family home in Kaimuki!

The shop is now home to XO Restaurant.

Having grown up here, being exposed to the blending of cuisines, and then the heyday of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, I'm a bit cautious about the food being more "con-fusion" than fusion at these places. And yet, we'd had good meals at at Senia and more recently at Merriman's in Kamuela. So, I thought it would fun checking out XO.

We easily found parking in the tiny lot, but that was probably because we had early reservations. Upon entering I cracked up as I had the mental image of old Kwok's Chop Suey floating thru my head. Of course it no longer looks like that place…..

Our Server was very friendly (of course) and we ended up getting the Tasting menu along with extra "shooters".

Things started out with the Hamachi & Fake Crab Cannoli.

Not sure why a place of this caliber would be serving surimi in one of their dishes. But whatever. We enjoyed the crisp "scorza", but the filling was too sour and salty. We really couldn't make out much. So, I guess having fake crab in this really didn't matter, eh?

Next up was the Hamachi Crudo.

The fish was of decent quality, but all the "stuffs" really didn't elevate the dish. That's shishito, not a serrano, so no spice, the dollops of aioli had no flavor…the slices of orange added just a slight hint of citrus and there was a sour flavor to this that we didn't enjoy. We would have enjoyed a nice savory touch, a bit of pungency, or decent acidity.

The Thai Beef Larb Salad was mostly iceberg lettuce and mayo.

It was like having a few pieces of bulgogi on lettuce squirted with Kewpie mayo.

The Buttermilk Fried Chicken was more on the crunchy side, than crisp. The sauces, especially the sourish tzatziki really detracted from the overall flavor of the chicken.

The Shrimp and Calamari Seafood Pancake, obviously a take on Pajeon was texturally nice.

The exterior was nice and crisp, but the calamari was super tough, the glaze salty which over-powered the entire dish.

The Grilled Pork Belly Ssam was one of the better dishes of the evening.

The pork was nicely grilled, good seasoning, the Gochujang sauce was on the salty side, but not too bad as the lettuce could calm things down.

One "shooter" per person was included in the meal. You could add shooter for $11 each. Since there was A-5 Wagyu and Foie Gras on the list, how could we just get one each? We both got an additional "shooter". Which was basically said protein item on slightly seasoned rice.

The A-5 Wagyu was fine, if a bit overcooked, quite beefy in flavor. And you know me, if there's foie gras on the menu…… The foie gras was also a bit overcooked, but at least it wasn't what we call "dog food". It was pleasantly livery and sweet. I'm thinking it could have been elevated even higher with a nice glaze.

The desserts presented a funny moment, the Missus did enjoy the "Bunny Butter Mochi".

It's the Wagyu Fat Caramels that kind of freaked Her out; She got flashbacks to beef tallow butter and other versions in the past. Actually, it was perfectly fine.

As for the meal? Well, it was quite disappointing. More "con-fusion" than fusion. Kind of sad since we were looking forward to this dinner, especially since the location has a special place in my heart. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

XO Restaurant
3434 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

Oahu – Bean About Town (Kaimuki), the Makapu’u Lighthouse Trail, and Revisiting Ono Seafood

August 17, 2024 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Honolulu, Oahu, Poke, Travel

After having a wonderful evening in town, I woke to this view in the morning.

Of course the Missus wanted to go "holo-holo" right away, but I needed some nourishment to keep up with Her. I had picked up some extra musubi from Iyasume the day before and had that for breakfast. And then we headed out. Of course we needed to get our caffeine fix on the way.

I'd read about a place named Bean About Town in Kathy's page about dining in Kaimuki and it seemed like the perfect spot. They have two shops; one in Waikiki and the other on Waialae avenue. Old timers would recognize the location as it is in the same building as where Tanoue's (which I wrote about in my post on visiting the old Neighborhood) used to be. It's a small shop, there looks to be like 5 parking spaces, so street parking is likely. If I recall, this used to be a barbershop when I was growing up.

Right across the street is Kaimuki Park where I wasted spent a good amount of time as a kid.

The Missus ordered a pour over, which She loved, and I got a nice, fairly stiff Cold Brew.

We had a nice seat on the little two top facing Waialae avenue. The Missus liked the design on my cup so much that She sent me back in the shop to see if they had some merch with the same design.

Sadly they did not.

Well, it looks like we've got a place to get some coffee next time we're in the area.

Bean About Town
3538 Waialae Ave. Suite 101
Honolulu, HI 96816

From here we headed up Waialae to H-1, then Kalanianaole, past Hawaii Kai and Sandy's to our destination; to the gate that says Kaiwi Scenic Shoreline. Since we were fairly early we found parking. I had the Missus pick out some hiking (for Her this was all "walking") spots for this trip. She chose the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail. Man, I don't remember the last time I was here.

Anyway, it's a paved trail, that goes a bit over the mile each way, with a 500 foot elevation gain. I actually enjoyed myself. I even saw Pele's Chair on the path up!

And of course, this is Hawaii, so you will see rainbows.

You can see inside Koko Crater too.

Of course the Lighthouse is not accessible for folks and is off limits, but you do get glimpses of it.

There's a lookout at the top.

And of course, there's Rabbit Island.

It's a wonderful panoramic view.

I heard that you'll often see whales, but none for us on this day.

Still, it was a fun activity for us. I was having fun "playing tourist".

Afterwards we headed back; stopping in Aina Haina for a short break. On our way back to the hotel, the Missus said, "can we go to Ono Seafood, I want more poke!" Man, we hadn't been to Ono Seafood since 2019! It's long been a favorite of the Missus since we first visited in 2011. So, we headed on over and easily found parking in the lot for the apartment building the shop occupies.

We got a poke bowl with brown rice and shoyu poke. Then headed back to the hotel to eat.

Though it seemed a bit more "sauced" than I recall, this was ono! Good shoyu, we enjoyed the limu, which adds a nice oceany-crunch. The fish was tender without the chewy connective tissue that permeates poke here in San Diego. Still one of our favorites for sure.

Ono Seafood
747 Kapahulu Ave. Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816

After lunch, we headed back on "footmobile" (when's the last time you heard that one?), walking to Don Quijote on Kaheka, then returning to Ala Moana to do a bit more shopping, before returning to our room for a nap.

Looking out at the lanai, I noticed that I wasn't the only one enjoying the view.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Honolulu – Returning to 8 Fat Fat 8 and a Nightcap at Agave & Vine

August 16, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Cocktails, Honolulu, Oahu, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

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.

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It was great to be "home"!

Thanks for stopping by!

Honolulu – The Crack Seed Store (Kaimuki), Musubi Cafe Iyasume (Ala Moana), and Other “Stuffs”

August 12, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chains, Honolulu, Japanese Restaurants, Oahu, Travel, yoso-silly

**** I hope you don't mind another Hawai'i post. Not a whole lot of food in this one.

On this trip home the Missus really enjoyed Herself. She got some hiking ummm walking (Her definition) and we visited places I hadn't been to in decades. We also managed to stay 2 nights in "town" (Honolulu), which I really enjoyed.

But first, the Missus needed Her Li Hing Mango fix and since we were headed to town there was one place She really loves, it's in my old neighborhood, where I grew up. Located on Koko Head Avenue is the Crack Seed Store, which I included in the post linked above. I was also interested in visiting because I had found out that the original owner, Mr. Young, who BTW, ran the place for over 40 years had retired. Thankfully, he did find new owners, who according to this article are also in the same business and use the same distributors. Mr. Young also shared his "secret" recipes with them so everyone could get the same stuffs they had always enjoyed.

Anyway, we drove up, there was no street parking on Koko Head, but I managed to score some parking in the lot behind the businesses. A guy pulled out of his stall as I was turning in and guess what? He also still had over an hour of parking left on the meter. Double score!

There were several different li hing mango versions, but the Missus zeroed in on the one She likes. Forgot to take a photo of that, but here's a plethora of li hing mui.

Of course the Missus went and opened up the bag and started chowing down on it as we walked to the car.

She said it's just as good as She remembered! Awesome!

Crack Seed Store
1156 Koko Head Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

It was still fairly early, so we decided to walk around a bit.

Looking at the businesses, when did Kaimuki get so hipster?

The Missus enjoyed this shop.

The name sounded familiar and yes indeed, the owner told us they used to be in Ward Center, but moved here in 2021.

We had fun buying gifts for folks back in San Diego. And, we even got something for ourselves.

Red Pineapple
1151 12th Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

We then headed over to Ala Moana Center. We were staying at the Ala Moana Hotel. You know, I'd never stayed there. There was just no way I wanted to stay in Waikiki and I didn't think the Missus would go for the Pagoda, so Ala Moana Hotel was it.

Anyway, it was too early to check in, so we went to the mall to check things out. It was Chinese (Lunar) New Year so Ala Moana Center was all decked out.

And as often happens; we saw something that reminded us of Sammy.

The Missus did Her usual tea shopping at Lupicia.

After which, it seemed like a good time to get something small for lunch. We'd had a big breakfast back in Ewa Beach in the morning.

Thanks to fellow long time blogger Kathy, who now does the fabulous Onolicious Hawaii blog, I found the post on the Lanai, in the location old Shirokiya (we miss you so) store, in her guide to Where to Eat at Ala Moana Center. We enjoyed the Lanai because the places seemed more "local" focused. And there is a location of Musubi Cafe Iyasume there!

And we felt that two musubi would be enough for a very light lunch.

So we got the Avocado-Bacon-Egg-Spam.

The rice was nicely cooked, but in spite of the presence of my favorite canned meat product; the bacon was soggy and rubbery and there wasn't enough avocado to really make a difference.

We did like the Kimchi and Spam version though. I mean; kimchi….Spam…..

Salty-sour-a bit of spice, say no more. I'm looking forward to having this again.

Musubi Cafe Iyasume (In the Lanai – Ala Moana Center)
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814

I had parked on the second floor of Ala Moana Center on the Mahukona Street side where there's the bridge to the hotel. I walked on over and went to see if our room was ready; which it was! Yes!

In another funny moment, the nice young man at the check in counter asked me if I've stayed with them before. I told him no, it was too expensive to stay here when I was young; though I did go to Rumors (a legendary night club in the hotel that closed in 2017) quite a bit in my younger days. He told me, "awesome, you ever heard of the Point After?" I told him I used to go there and Bobby McGee's a lot too. He then told me "my Grandfather used to go to the Point After a lot." Aiyah! Suddenly I'm "Ji-chan"?

Anyway, our room had a decent view.

We had a nice nap, then decided to take a walk before heading out to dinner. We strolled on over to Ala Moana Park for a pre-dinner walk.

As a whole it was pretty mellow on this late afternoon.

Then the strangest thing happened; I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and didn't recognize this older fellow. He identified himself and holy smokes! He was my best friend from Elementary, Intermediate, and High School, thru the mid 90's. He lived a half block from me in Kaimuki! Even though by the time I left the islands I had a new group of friends, I'd still drop by and talk story and stuff. He was the first of us to get a driver's license and used to drive his grandfather's car. We used to go to Keyhole at Ala Moana park, go swim, have some, ahem, liquid refreshment, all that kind of stuff. He still comes here several times a week to walk and still lives in the same Kaimuki house he grew up in. Makes me wonder if I would have been the same had I never left the islands? He caught me up on some of the folks that were in our "group"; some have already passed on. Everyone from that group except me ended up in the trades; painters, refrigeration, sheet metal, it's not a easy life. He still has the same phone number, which I recited from memory. It's been almost three decades and I'm not sure how he recognized me? I'll need to call him when I'm back again.

It was turning out to be an interesting trip.

Thanks for stopping by!

Oahu – Waialua General Store and Dole Plantation

August 11, 2024 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Oahu, Poke, Travel

Before our last trip "back home", the Missus gave me some "guidelines" and places She wanted to check out. It was kinda strange because some of the places were major tourist spots. But in retrospect, it ended up being fun, because when I lived in Honolulu, we would never go to these places unless we had visitors. But heck, having left the islands a quarter of a century ago, I'm just a tourist these days too right?

One of the places was Dole Plantation. Yeeesh, the last time I was here was with the Missus, back in the late 90's. For me, "Dole" is the cannery in Kalihi, but this ended up being a nice drive to Wahiawa.

For me this was mostly a bunch of shops and stuff.

Coming from the grandson of immigrants who worked for Maui Pine; this seemed more about selling stuff than telling the story of those who worked. After all, my first job was picking pineapple over the summer.

I did enjoy seeing who was "really" in charge.

For those that don't know. You don't mess with the chickens here. There's a real "pecking order" (sorry, couldn't help it) in place. Even the cats know…..

The Missus did enjoy shopping here.

And She ended up buying a really cute bag.

Dole Plantation
64-1550 Kamehameha Hwy.
Wahiawa, HI 96786

In some ways, I really enjoyed driving here. In a previous life I did frozen food delivery. Being the low man on the "totem pole", my route was places like Whitmore Village. Heck, I used to deliver to the Iroquois Point Naval Exchange in Ewa Beach! This is why I always picture "that" Ewa Beach when we're there visiting my In-Laws!

There was a place I had been wanting to check out near the North Shore. After a short discussion, the Missus and I decided to head on up to Waialua to get some poke at Waialua General Store. From what I recall the town was home to a major sugar mill back in the day.

The little shop in a strip mall, before you get to the "North Shore" kind of stuffs is quite low key. They do a lot of Filipino BBQ and such, but I just wanted some poke.

I could not believe the prices! The woman was so friendly! We got a "bowl" with the Hawaiian Style (aka Limu) and the Secret Spicy Poke. We were kind of hungry and were told to just head over to where the owner's husband was grilling things to sit and eat.

We walked over and the gentleman doing the grilling told us to have a seat. There were several "old timers" (like me) there and I had a blast "talking story" with them.

As for the food; the Missus also got Seaweed Salad, can't tell you about that 'cause I don't like it, and pickled mango which was quite good.

As for the poke, the quality of the fish was decent, wish there was more limu in the Hawaiian style, the secret to the "spicy" was kimchi, but this was still better than what I get here in San Diego. The Missus was hoping for a brown rice option, but c'mon, really?

This was quite good!

I was having a great time chatting with the "old timers"; about how things have changed, what it's like living in SoCal and then coming back home. And then it happened. The gentleman grilling pulled off two skewers and told us; "here this is for you"! For real? My first thought was to turn him down, after all you want them to make some money or offer to pay….but you just don't do that here, that would be an insult. It was such a beautiful gesture.

The glaze had a nice sweet-salty-sour balance. Nice porkiness, fairly tender meat, it was quite good. The folks here were so friendly….like very old school style. We loved it. In the end I took a spare Hamilton and went into the shop and put it into the tip jar. The woman told me "eh, no need", but I said "no, I need".

This kind gesture made our day; the food was good, I loved the "small town vibe", if you want true Aloha Spirit here it was, or more precisely "lokomaika'i", to be generous, which is what the folks here were. It just puts you in the right frame of mind.

Waialua General Store
67-272 Goodale Ave.
Waialua, HI 96791

It was a wonderful day.

Dinner was, of course Jiaozi!

And after dinner we strolled on over to the beachfront in Ewa Beach.

It was a beautiful evening…..

And for a moment, all seemed right in the world!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oahu – Mahi ‘ai Table (Inside Foodland Farms – Kapolei)

August 10, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Oahu, Travel

Yes, trying to catch up on all my travel eating posts! Sheesh am I behind. Anyway, if you remember this post, well, we were "back home" in February. Since we spend so much time on the Leeward (that would be "west") side of Oahu these days, and were spending much more time there on this trip, I was on the lookout for new places to eat. Several years back, I had read about a new development near what we used to call "North-South Road" back in the day. I had heard that a hotel was coming up, which turned out to be a Hampton Inn. I had also read about a Foodland Farms opening in the shopping center. Now some of the folks I know scoff at the Foodland versus Foodland Farms thing, saying it's just a way of charging more, in other words, Hawaii's version of "Whole Paycheck". Though I will say that on our previous visit, we checked out FF in Pearl City and got some decent chicken wings and chicken skin there.

I had also read about a restaurant named Mahi'ai' (which I think in this context means Farmer) Table opening within the FF located in Ka Makana Ali'i which is the name of that shopping complex in Kapolei. We had gotten in at a bit after 1pm, so I thought once we got settled, we could just head over, order takeout, and do a bit of shopping and easily have dinner.

The shopping center is huge, so many shops, everything from movie theatres to Macy's to Olive Garden to Reyn Spooner!

The Foodland Farms seemed quite bustling. The restaurant itself is located right as you enter into the market.

Mahiai 01

The woman working was very friendly and it looked like a nice big space.

Mahiai 02

But we would be doing take out. So, I placed my order and went to do some shopping.

There was still a short wait after finishing up our shopping. The drive back to the In-Laws was less than ten minutes, so this is quite a convenient location.

And so we had an early dinner; it was quite a bit of food.

The Blistered Shishito Peppers ($14) weren't very "blistered".

Mahiai 03

There was "puffed rice" on this which brought a bit of texture to the dish; but the peppers weren't "charred" enough and the "umami aioli" just made it seem greasy. This was very bland as well.

The Lechon Style Brussel Sprouts ($13), featured delicious tomatoes, but were a bit too undercooked and we like our brussels crunchy, but this was hard! The sauce used also seemed to add a layer of unpleasant greasiness to the sporuts.

Mahiai 04

We like vibrant flavors on our brussels and this was too bland. And I was thrilled to see that the dish included crispy pipikaula; but really, one slice. Kinda manini!

We got the Soy Habanero Wings ($17), which were more on the sweeter side.

Mahiai 05

The wings also didn't keep it's crispness during the ten minute drive back to the house. Meaty wings; the flats were decent but the drumettes quite dry. I thought the addition of bubu arare was quite interesting.

We loved the greens that came with the Crispy Confit Chicken ($23).

Mahiai 07 Mahiai 08 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?

The Sticky Ribs ($19) was probably the best item we had.

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The ribs came off the bone cleanly and were fairly moist. The sauce, while again on the sweeter side of things still had enough soy and salt which combined with the porkiness of the ribs worked well. The pickled onions and namasu helped to balance out things.

I was so excited to see Mochiko Crusted Ahi Belly ($19) on the menu. Man, ahi belly, one of my favorite things. And while I didn't expect this to be better than my favorite version, but this wasn't even close.

Mahiai 09 Mahiai 10 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 were quite disappointed with this meal. Perhaps Mahi'ai Table is only for dining in; but I don't think it would matter in terms of dry and hard rice, fishy ahi belly, greasy brussel sprouts, and so forth. We did like the greens and tomatoes; so I guess if Bruddah is going to eat here again, it's going to be a salad? Not likely though.

I also had a good laugh in thinking that maybe all places named "Farmer's Table" has some kind of bachi?

It was kind of a bad start to our stay "back home".

Mahi ‘ai Table
91-5431 Kapolei Pkwy. Suite 1704 (Inside Foodland Farms)
Kapolei, HI 96707

Still, it was good to be back in the islands. And the meals would get better!

Stay Tuned!

Where in the world are we?

February 18, 2024 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Oahu

Yes, we're on yet another trip. It was time to head on "home".

This time around, instead of visiting the neighbor islands, the Missus wondered if we could do some more touristy "stuffs". At first, I wasn't too keen on doing that, but after giving it some thought I realized that the places that came up I hadn't been to in ages, like in 2-3 decades or more. So why not?

And it has turned out to be fun.

We even stayed in town for a couple of nights.

And of course, this being the Missus we have gone on a couple of "hikes", of which were kind of "walks" as defined by the Missus.

The longer I'm away, the more I appreciate where I'm from.

And of course, we've been checking out some old favorite places as well.

And we've been eating well.

Hitting up some old favorites.

And even what you might consider an "old school" favorite.

And we made time to visit a couple of "new" places.

Mahiai 06

I really don't want to be "drag-gin" this out……

So, I'll leave it at that. We've got a couple of days left before heading home. Hoping to hit up a few other places and then hopefully catch up on my huge backlog of travel posts when I return!

Until then, the blog remains in the capable (and busy) hands of Cathy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Honolulu – Fort Ruger Market a Quarter Century Later

January 4, 2024 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Markets & Grocers, Oahu, Poke, Seafood, Travel

The Missus and I were looking at some of my old photo albums and flipped the page to my third grade class photo. I started cracking up and the Missus gave me a quizzical look. I then pointed something out to Her. All the boys were wearing long pants (no shorts were allowed in those days), Aloha Shirts (after all, it as class photo day), the girls Mumu's, but…….most of us were barefoot! I explained to the Missus that until the fifth grade, many of us actually did walk to school barefoot (though not uphill both ways). I mean this was the late 60's, early 70's, and things were different then. Plus, as I mentioned in my post on my "old neighborhood", Ali'iolani Elementary was just a block away from where we lived.

And this kinda brings me forward to this post. On our last trip back "home", the Missus asked me when I first remember having poke. We had just finished doing some stuffs at Ala Moana and I decided to show Her. Way back, when I was in the 5th or 6th grade, my Mom had an appointment in the Fort Ruger area. I was raised by a single parent and my Mom never ever drove, so we had to catch the Ruger bus and I waited while my Mom did her thing. After the appointment, we walked over to Ruger Market, and that's where I first remember having poke I really liked, over 50 years ago! I'd probably had it before; of course during the holidays there was sashimi and stuff, but I remembered the poke from Ruger Market clearly. Later, when I was older, my friends and I would drive on over after going to Cromwell's (I can't believe the cove is still around, though maybe not for long) and grab some poke, then go for a drive around Diamond Head Road and eat at the lookout or hele on over to Kapiolani Park or Paki Park and grind there.

So, we drove on over….and heck, I hadn't been to Ruger Market since before I left the islands; which would be over 25 years, but the place looks pretty much the same.

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Though it's more of a seafood- Filipino/Hawaiian restaurant these days. When I was growing up, this was the neighborhood grocery for the area.

Different grades of Ahi is available, you can get poke made with pre-frozen Ahi (nah) or with fresh Ahi, what is called "Auction Fresh Ahi" on the sign.

You know what we got, right?

We'd already had some small stuffs to eat at Foodland Farms and this was a kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, so we didn't go too crazy. We got one poke bowl, with brown rice, the chicharrons looked really good, so we got that, and also some boiled peanuts.

And then we headed off…..just like those hanabuddah days, I drove around Diamond Head Road to the lookout.

You can find the Amelia Earhart Plaque here as well.

As well as the "best seat in the house"….at least on this day.

And the local "security detail".

We headed on down and found parking and a table at Kapiolani Park and proceeded to dig in.

I was surprised to find that the kimchi was decent; not overly fermented, but still quite refreshing. The brown rice added a nice nuttiness to the bowl. The quality of the fish was good; tender and buttery in texture without connective tissue. We preferred the restrained, classic, soy-saltiness, with a hint of oceany sweetness of the Local Style Ahi. The Spicy Shoyu wasn't very spicy and was a bit on the salty side. Still, the quality and prep was way above anything here in San Diego.

The Chicharron was as good as it looked.

Crisp, with a slight crunch; porky and savory, which just enough salt. Talk about a guilty pleasure.

As for the boiled peanuts, well, the Missus was saving them for later. Though this little fella tried to make a move on the legume.

The Missus loves Her boiled peanuts, so he didn't stand a chance!

It was good to know that Ruger Market still makes decent poke.

The older I get, the more I treasure and appreciate those times and the chances I get to reflect on them. And it was wonderful to share a bowl of memories with the Missus.

Fort Ruger Market
3585 Alohea Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

And I also want to thank you for sharing in those memories with me! Thanks for stopping by!

Oahu – Fresh Catch (Pearl City)

January 27, 2023 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Oahu, Poke, Seafood, Travel

We were finally visiting "home", the four years away seemed like forty. And it wasn't without some apprehension on my part. I wondered if Covid had changed the Hawaii that I knew. How were things going to be, what had changed, had I changed?

It was drizzling as we left San Diego.

The remnants of the "atmospheric river" that pounded San Diego for over a week. On the other hand, back home, rain is seen as a blessing…..

We flew Hawaiian Airlines and while the food wasn't stellar, unlike most domestic first class, HAL seats will lay flat, so you can actually take a nap if you want to.

But I shouldn't have worried…once we landed, it felt like "home". And like the Missus says, "once you get here you walk different and talk different". Some things never change.

Of course as soon as we landed poke was on our minds. Unfortunately, due to our schedule, we weren't able to visit two of our favorites as Tanioka's was closed the day we arrived and Ono Seafood was closed on the day we went into "town".

Still, we wanted our poke fix, so I did some searching and found that Fresh Catch had opened a location in Pearl City at the end of 2020. So, we decided to head on over to grab some poke for an afternoon "snack" of sorts.

The young man working was really friendly. While looking at the offerings, the Missus pointed at the Oio Lomi, the scraped bonefish that's really an acquired taste. She wanted to try it….well, the Missus had really enjoyed aged poi, so I thought "why not" and got a quarter pound of it.

Unfortunately, She found it much too gooey and "fishy" for Her taste.

I, on the other hand had eaten my share of this growing up and thought this was a decent version. I enjoyed he tongue coating texture…yes, it does "taste like fish". It was a bit on the salty side as was everything else we got from here.

The "Hawaiian Blend", basically Ahi Limu was really salty and the fish was on the more "chewy" side.

Too much salt, too much shoyu. Some really tough pieces with too much "tsuji" – connective tissue.

The Ahi Wasabi was a bit better.

Though again, we thought the quality of the fish wasn't quite up to what we enjoy. Still a bit overly salty which muddled the heat from wasabi, a bit too overly sauced as well.

Kind of a bummer overall as we'd enjoyed our visits to the Kaimuki location on previous visits.

Fresh Catch
98-371 Kamehameha Hwy.
Pearl City, HI 96782

Of course, we had jiaozi for dinner. We had really missed my MIL's handmade jiaozi! Over the years it's become comfort food for me. I basically ate this whole plate. In fact, when my MIL asked us what we wanted for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it was jiaozi! We can't get anything close to this in San Diego.

And then we had baozi for breakfast!

With some potstickers!

Before we headed off to the Big Island.

It was so good to be "home"!

Thanks for stopping by!