Hot Pot Heaven

a friend of mine has always told me to try these hot pot places and only now got the chance to try it since we didn't have the kids. we went to this new place in mccully shopping center called hot pot heaven. they have 13 different broths to choose from, thai, kim chee, mushroom, herbal, beef, vegetarian, etc. we decided to get the thai and the kim chee and my hubby got the kim chee at a spicyness of 10. the thai kinda tasted like tom yum soup which i absolutely love! you pick your choice of meat, then you go to the refrigerator to grab whatever plates of additions to put in the hot pot. they have vegetables, seafood, noodles and dumplings. they charge you on the color of the plates. the broths for lunch are 1/2 off the dinner price and they give free refills on the broths. they also have an area with all these different sauces. so good!!!! we were extremely happy and sooooo satisfied and most of all it's healthy! i give this place 5 stars! cheers!

Izakaya Nonbei

i've always wanted to try this restaurant as i LOVE okinawan food. ama ebi sushi. very good quality and my husband thinks that was his best ama ebi head. can't say i've had better as they all pretty much are the same.
ikura sushi. not the kind of ikura i like as they have mixed this one in this sauce i don't care for. i prefer regular ikura nothing fancy, but it has to be of very good quality.
this is mozuku and yama imo. both things i love! it seems to me that i love slimy things. it was placed in a ponzu sauce. very refreshing and yummy!
this is teba shio. simple dish, no fail, except when they brought it to us, there was blood on the dish, so obviously it wasn't cooked thoroughly. they took it back and reheated it.
this is the kurobuta kakuni. slowly simmered pork belly in a sweet shoyu sake sauce with a spinach ball. the meat literally melted in your mouth.

echigo beer always good with everything! what more can i say?
this is gyu tataki. seared sliced beef served cold over a bed of sliced onions and green salad topped with garlic chips. the sauce was gingered ponzu. a little overwhelming which made the dish somewhat salty. or maybe just too much sauce?

lastly, i couldn't resist...zenzai. what a great way to end a dinner. just the right amount of sweetness, mochi was very soft and overall very good.

Ono's Hawaiian Food

they probably have the best hawaiian food in town. always consistent from back in the day, although their prices have gone up considerably. i remember paying only like $9 for a kalua pig plate and now it's $14. i ordered the lau lau/kalua pig plate just because i wanted both although i had a hard time eating all of it. that's okay, the kids helped me. i wish they put butterfish in the lau lau cause i like the saltiness of the fish. the kalua pig is sooo good, tasty and moist. i love the maui onions with rock salt and the pipikaula. yum! lomi lomi salmon could have been a little saltier. i always enjoy eating here although it's not often enough. always satisfied, enjoy! cheers!

Okonomiyaki Chibo

the first time i went to this restaurant was for a friend's birthday and i was quite impressed. i recently went back for another friend's birthday and was equally impressed. my two friends had the garlic chicken. they grilled the chicken along with mushrooms and zucchini and slivered garlic pieces. they also give you a dipping sauce of ponzu and tsuri daikon. a complete meal comes with salad, rice, miso soup and pickled vegetables. what a great deal for around $13.00. i had okonomiyaki with tako and beef. it was cooked perfectly with just the right amount of sauces on top. very filling, for the price of around $10.00.

i had to add another picture of their fried ahi. i asked for it medium and sure enough it came out just that way. the sauce was a ponzu mixture and underneath was baby bok choy. the fish is topped with a tomato salsa mixture. very good! if you go for dinner the prices almost double for the same thing! imagine that. aside from the interesting conversation in the booth next to us, this place is a thumbs up! enjoy eating out sometimes. cheers!

The Mermaid Bar

i've always wanted to try this place in neiman marcus, but never really had the chance to as they don't really cater to children. i finally got the chance to go with a couple of work friends for one of their birthdays. it's a very small place, not much seating with made to order salads, sandwiches and soups. i love soup and sandwich kinda places. the first thing we ordered was the soup of the day, cream of crab soup. very delicious, it reminded of of cream of mushroom soup. it wasn't as rich as you may think, although we were wondering where the crab was in all of it. then i ordered the mediterranean sandwich. it was shaved chicken, arugula, hau’ula tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, pesto aïoli on ciabatta. it was really good, the chicken, very moist and the pesto aioli was a perfect match. the sides were potato chips, pickle spear and homemade cole slaw. my friend ordered the grilled turkey sandwich which we had split. it wasn't as good as the mediterranean. turkey was also moist, with grilled onions and cheese on toasted bread. my other friend ordered the greek salad. i didn't try it, but she said it was good. the only thing i thought was a little weird for greek salad was the salmon topping. the one side of the menu you can choose your own made to order salad. you choose your green and you can pick up to 7 toppings. i will definitely have to try that next time. this place sorta reminds me of the downstairs neiman marcus cafe. same type of food. 4 stars. enjoy. cheers!

Nihon Noodles

this is my third time here. all three times i've ordered the same thing, the nihon trio. a friend of mine ordered the curry ramen. i tasted the broth of the curry ramen and it was a little on the bland side, but that's how they make their broths. a lot of people think it has no taste, but i like it. the nihon trio has three different noodles, thick, medium and thin and three different broths, pork, shoyu and miso. my favorite is the pork broth. you can taste the richness of it, but it's not as heavy and oily as some other places. the only drawback is that the broth gets colder towards the end of the meal and i like mine piping hot as i'm eating. maybe they should bring out the broths as you ask for them. if you read the yelp reviews, you would be so disappointed and wouldn't try this place as they say the service is bad and the ramen is blah, but i suggest you do. it's not your typical salty saimin place. enjoy eating. cheers!

Nabe

i got completely hooked on ichiriki when my sister first took me there. after a few visits, i thought of making my own. now we never go there anymore, much cheaper at home. although i don't put in all the stuff they do, it still works. ingredients: green onion, shiitake, enoki, won bok, beef shabu shabu, tofu, aburaage, arrow wheat noodles and HOMEMADE tsukune. the tsukune is made with ground pork and chicken. the nabe sauce consists of chicken stock, water, dashi, mirin, sake, ponzu and shoyu. to add a little more flavor and kick throw in garlic slices and roasted chili pepper. so healthy and good for you! enjoy. cheers!

Spicy Pork Eggplant with Edamame Rice

sunday night dinner: spicy pork with eggplant, edamame rice and shumai. eggplant made with garlic, ginger, sherry or sake, shoyu and sugar. edamame rice is so easy to make and good for you. hot rice, shelled edamame, nametake mushrooms and wakame ochazuke. shumai....well that wasn't homemade, but i needed a side dish to go along with the meal. enjoy my cooking, get ideas. cheers!

Pho South King

a friend of ours mother recently opened up a pho restaurant on king street. way back like (uuuhggumm) 20 years ago, whenever we used to party at his house, his mother used to prepare all kinds of foods for us. simply home cooked vietnamese cooking. what more could you ask for? so after years and years of wanting to open her own restaurant, mrs. pak finally did! and yes, i'm name dropping cause she is the bomb cook! one of the specials of the day was this fried shrimp with sweet chili dipping sauce that she wanted us to try. very light and crispy, cooked to perfection. wrap in lettuce, dip and eat. soooo good. we then ordered the summer rolls. again no complaints. then finally we get our beef pho. the broth was delicious, just the right amount of taste compared to some places are a little too sweet and some just plain salty. the hot sauce she uses is really good too. i like the variety of the fresh greens as some places only give you basil. i would recommend this place to everyone, after all let's support her new restaurant. 5 stars! cheers!

Homemade

spicy 'ahi maki for dinner. negi toro, kewpie mayonnaise, schirracha sauce, tobiko, sesame seeds and sesame oil. this is soooo yummy. easy to make and good for you! cheers!

sunday dinner: meat juhn with dipping sauce - sliced beef sukiyaki dipped in shoyu/sugar sauce, lightly flour and egg battered then fried, bbq teriyaki chicken, mandoo with dipping sauce and namul (seasoned bean sprouts). i was feeling korean. enjoy! cheers!

Homemade

sunday dinner: pork lettuce wraps and teriyaki flank steak. the pork filling is made with ground pork, chicken breast, mushrooms, water chestnuts, round onions, garlic chives (from my garden), ginger and garlic with a sprinkling of flour, oyster sauce, shoyu and sugar. then fill in lettuce (from my garden). everyone thinks flank steak is very tough, but if cut against the grain at an angle, it's probably one of the softest pieces of meat without all the fat! soaked in a teriyaki sauce for a couple of hours then grilled. with the left over sauce, i boiled it for 10 minutes, then poured if over the grilled meat. it was yummy, lots of compliments. cheers!

Homemade

i wanted to make an appetizer to take to a friends house and decided on a firecracker salmon roll with sweet chili dipping sauce. dust strips of salmon with cajun spice and place in a lumpia wrapper shell with leaf lettuce, cilantro and nori. roll and tie the ends with green onions, then deep fry. this is a sure hit! i then attempted to make roasted corn, the one they sell at carnivals, stadiums and farmer's markets. to think we all pay $5 for each corn! don't think i'll be spending that kind of money anymore on roasted corn. it was to die for and i could make some serious money selling these! just grill fresh corn, butter it, then sprinkle garlic salt, cajun spice, parmesan cheese and drizzle kewpie (japanese) mayonnaise. there are other options for toppings, but that was all i had. enjoy my homemade cooking. cheers!

Homemade

as much as i like to go out to eat and try different foods, i do cook some delicious dishes. as a little girl, i used to watch my mom and grandma cook and when i moved to the mainland i really had to take those skills and transform them into my own. i still take into account the "taste" my mom and grandma had. i have made a mojo de ajo with salsa. you can grill any type of fish sprinkled with paprika and salt and pepper. sauce it with butter, garlic and lime juice and top it with salsa. thanks to a friend who catches fish on a regular basis, this was fresh ono! all the greens are from our garden (manoa lettuce, mizuna, mesculan green and swiss chard).

next is garlic butter clams with sake. next is chicken assagio. thanks to a friend of mine, i ate it at her house and loved it! believe it or not it is really easy to make. bottled roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, capers, olives, mushrooms and lots of wine!!! lastly, is the cioppino. i was inspired to make this since someone made it for me. it's an italian seafood soup/stew. a little time consuming, but well worth it, plus it also has lots of wine in it! normally it asks for lots of random seafood, but i only put in shrimp and crab legs. you can pretty much put in whatever vegetables hold well in soups. if you need recipes, i'll be glad to share them with you. although, a lot of people get discouraged cause i don't give measurements. as long as i have the ingredients i just figure it out and taste as i go till i think it tastes good. cheers!

Sabrina's

never been to italy and have always wanted to. and one day i will go there. i used to eat at this really good italian restaurant in del mar, ca and when i moved back to hawaii, i never new of a place that was authentic italian cooking. so many people told me about this place Sabrina's off waialae. and low and behold this place was awesome! the wait time for your meal is a good 45 minutes or so, but so worth the wait. they prepare each dish as it is ordered, it's byob and no corkage fee! we had the escargot in butter, garlic and parmesan cheese. this was once of the best escargot i've had. lots of garlic and lots of parmesan. eaten with the warm bread and i was in heaven. the kids had the meat sauce spaghetti, which was even better than those "other" restaurants. my husband had penne with vodka cream sauce, which was so delicious. tiny bits of prosciutto mixed in, perfect! but mine was the best dish of all, black squid ink pasta. it's one of their most ordered pasta. the red sauce was perfect, a little spice to it was perfect, the whole dish was perfect! we will definitely go back for more. 5 stars, fo sho! cheers!

Bubbies

this is my all time favorite ice cream parlor. it's been in existence ever since i can remember and i used to frequent this place while in college. they have the craziest names for their ice cream desserts like "eat my balls", "keep it up all night" and "come here little girl". yes, a bit over the edge and kinda creepy, but who cares when the ice cream is to die for? all the ice creams are homemade. creamy, but not rich. we ordered green tea, chocolate, cookies and cream and mint chip. all excellent choices! they also have ice cream cakes and their semi newest item is mochi ice cream. 5 stars, definitely. cheers!

Cafe Kaila

cafe kaila in market city. simple and delicious! great place for brunch. wait staff is attentive and they also give you subtle hints of what's good. as you wait for your table they gave us samples of their belgium waffles. crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. delisioso!! i ordered the turkey club and the waiter asked hot or cold and i had to think about it and he said get it hot. so i did, and glad i did! served with a green salad, the dressing was sorta like a sweet balsamic vinegarette. they put a slab of cranberry sauce which makes it all the better! the only thing is the melted cheese got a little hard towards the middle of my meal. my mom ordered a sausage, spinach omelette with their grilled potatoes. the omelette was like any other omelette, but the potatoes were super good! a little on the burnt side, which i like and just the right amount of herbs. not oily, just perfect! my sister had their famous pancakes with a side of bacon. it seemed like they used the same batter for the waffles, taste was the same. the pancakes are to die for! the outside was a little on the crisp side and the inside was soft. these are the best pancakes i have ever eaten. usually pancakes are just a soft, flat, round piece of cake per say, but this one was different, i now have a new respect for them! this place gets really crowded, however the wait time is not that bad. try it! 5 stars! cheers!