With the long Independence Day weekend upon us, many of you will be heading to your neighborhood Costco to stock up on party essentials. On your way in and out of the store, chances are you’ll be tempted by the smell of pizza and hot dogs wafting in the air fronting Costco’s always busy Food Court.

Obviously the entire menu here isn’t going to get an endorsement from my doctor or dentist anytime soon. Yet determined to eat more healthy, without having done any research beforehand, I recently ordered their “healthier sounding” Chicken Caesar Salad over the decadently tempting and delicious giant-sized hot dog, hoping I made a nutritionally wiser choice.  Only to discover upon looking it up online the other night that this jacked-up salad has more calories, total fat, cholesterol and sodium than either the Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog or Polish Sausage. Go figure (or there goes my figure). In fact, that’s what we’re going to do here today.

Costco Food Court – Chicken Caesar Salad: Skinless boneless chicken, cherry tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, grated parmesan cheese, croutons and caesar dressing. $3.99

That salad sure looks healthy with the contrasting colors and the notion itself of having fresh lettuce, tomatoes and skinless chicken as its main feature. Yet of course I should have known that generous portion of Caesar salad dressing, grated Parmesan Cheese and croutons would demonize it, practically negating any health benefits.

So this begs to question: should I eat that? Or eat this?…

Costco Food Court – Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog. $1.50 including 20 oz. drink (including endless refills)

Well, let’s take a close look at Costco Food Court’s nutritional data on these two menu items and find out where each one really stands.

Comparing the numbers side-by-side, the Chicken Caesar Salad has more of just about everything. Yet looking specifically at the serving size,  the salad is also more than twice the amount of food in weight, tipping the scale over a pound at 20. 5 oz., versus the already giant-sized Costco Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog, which weighs in  at 8.3 ounces, or just a squirt of mustard and ketchup more than a half-pound. So we need to keep that in mind when comparing the two.

That in mind, ounce-for-ounce, actually the hot dog packs much more of just about everything, except, not surprisingly, all the  healthy stuff, including dietary fiber, vitamin A, C and calcium, where the salad clearly has it beat.

While the hot dog has more of the bad trans fat and saturated fat  per ounce than the salad, on the good side, it also has a significant amount of monounsaturated fat — the “good fat” — than the Chicken Caesar Salad. It’s still behind on the good fat per ounce, yet it must be commended for that. Had the dressing for the salad been made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it probably would have beaten the hot dog. But it’s not, and the dressing, along with the generous helping of grated parmesan cheese and croutons are certainly the culprit in all the “bad” figures making up the salad’s nutritional profile.

At least on paper, from a nutritional standpoint, for the most part, Costco’s giant-sized All-Beef Hot Dog ain’t all that bad in comparison to the Chicken Caesar Salad with all the fixinz, and is actually better for you, especially if less sodium and more monounsaturated fat are what’s best for your body’s needs. The hot dog’s expected high amount of saturated and trans fat, thanks to the very fact that it’s MEAT is really the “only” thing that hurts it. Emphasize “only”.

As for the salad, substitute the OEM Caesar dressing for an Extra Virgin Olive Oil-based vinaigrette dressing and take out some of the parmesan cheese and croutons, and it obviously will be far better for you than the hot dog. But who’s going to do that at the convenience of Costco’s Food court? Not me, that’s for sure.

So to answer the question of whether one should “Eat this, and not that”, between Costco’s Hot Dog with all the fixinz or the Chicken Caesar Salad with all the fixinz, it’ sounds like a toss-up from a nutritional standpoint. From an immediate financial standpoint, it’s tough to beat Costco’s $1.50 giant hot dog and 20 oz. drink deal. Compensate the nutritional deficiency of fiber and vitamins it lacks in comparison to the salad by getting a big bag of apples and oranges from their produce department and you should be good. Especially considering the higher $3.99 price for the Chicken Caesar Salad, where you can put that $2.49 savings in price difference compared to the hot dog towards those fresh fruits that will last you more than a week out.

So the question of whether one should “Eat this, and not that” from Costco’s Food Court is essentially asking which is the lesser of two evils, where I’d say the right answer would be “none of the above”.

Actually, to be honest, the only point I’m making here is to justify to myself, if not anyone else, that ordering a Costco Food Court Hot Dog isn’t far worse and in some ways better from a health standpoint than their Chicken Caesar Salad. Especially if I were to eat the whole salad, dressing and all. So at least I’ll feel that much less guilty from now on when choosing a hot dog over a salad, knowing I’ll be consuming that much less fat, sodium and cholesterol. All while having some spare change to buy a bag of apples in the warehouse club store to make up for the vitamins and fiber deficiency of the hot dog. And that’s my One Dollar and Fifty Cents, bang-for-the-buck take on that.

Costco Food Court  – Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog & 20 oz. Drink. $1.50 from Iwilei Costco.

P.S. Since we’re on a “Eat this, not that” kick, and while I was at it doing “research” for this write-up, I bought both Costco’s Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog and Polish Sausage to compare in a handy-dandy side-by-side comparo’. Normally I order the Polish Sausage, but you know what? I think I’m changing my mind on that, as you’ll soon read.

Here we have Costco’s Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog, before being loaded with all the fixinz…

Costco Food Court  – Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog

And here we have Costco’s Kirkland Signature Polish Sausage, before getting loaded up…

Costco Food Court  – Kirkland Signature Polish Sausage

Notice the slightly darker color, speckles of seasoning and thinner profile of the Polish sausage compared to the all beef hot dog.

Now when it comes to food, in general I’m a “the works” kinda’ guy, and add every available topping I can get. Subway? Give me all the veggies, all the cheeses, all the seasonings and all the sauces they’ve got. Baked potato? Nothing less than “fully loaded”. Cream cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, chives and heck, even melted cheese if they’ve got it.

Same for hot dogs. I say drag that sucker through the garden and throw in the kitchen sink too, if that’s possible. Even ketchup. Yup, I said it, ketchup.  With that, when dressing my Costco dog, it’s all or nothing for me…

Costco Food Court  – Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog with Ketchup, Mustard, Relish and Chopped Onions.

Ketchup, mustard, relish and fresh diced onions? All CHECK. For some reason, the Iwilei Costco didn’t have ‘Kraut on this visit. Yet I’m cool with “just” the onions.

Same toppings treatment for the Polish Sausage dog…

Costco Food Court  – Kirkland Signature Polish Sausage with Ketchup, Mustard, Relish and Chopped Onions.

What I really appreciate is that Costco’s hot dog buns have sesame seeds on them. Love that.

Also notice the dog protrudes about an inch total beyond the bun. Certainly a welcome site for meat lovers.

Speaking of measurements, let’s check the specific total length of this wiener…

Both wieners measure in at 8″ each, and get your mind out the gutter, thank you very much. lol

I forgot to measure the diameter of each one, yet I did get this cross-section shot of them side-by-side, which gives you an idea…

Here we have the two halves of the All Beef Hot Dog cut apart to the left, and the Polish Sausage Dog cut apart to the right. IIRC, the all beef hot dog was about 1″ in diameter, while the Polish Sausage was approximately 7/8″. Here you can also see the grains of spices mixed into the Polish sausage on the right, as well as the slightly darker color.

Now for the most important part, the taste comparison. The Polish Sausage is just slightly saltier, while also being somewhat noticeably spicier. It’s also more salami-like in flavor profile. While the all beef hot dog is very, well, BEEFY! Best part is, the all beef hot dog doesn’t taste as processed as the Polish sausage, but more “pure” if you will. The Kirkland Signature All Beef Hot Dog, at least for me, tastes exactly like what I envision on my palate to taste like a great-tasting all American Hot Dog. Simple as that. As much as a Chevy Camaro, Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger is an all-American muscle car through and through, Costco’s all beef wiener in a bun is an all-American hot dog through and through.

The verdict? Costco’s Signature All Beef Hot Dog wins it. Yet, I won’t turn down my former favorite, the Polish Sausage dog any time soon. They both taste delicious in their own way.

Oh, and I’m giving this post 5 SPAM Musubi because A) There’s no better deal in town than Costco’s most excellent and giant sized $1.50 Hot Dog and Drink, and B) I Love Costco!

Just want to wish all the wonderful moms out there a very Happy Mother’s Day!

With that, I’d like to share these flower arrangements my lovely and talented girlfriend made last night that she’ll be delivering today to all her “mommy” friends. She worked as a florist for many years on Maui, and these arrangements show that she’s still a master at the craft. All them fancy ribbons are made from “scratch”.  Amazing.

Ask me to do this and fuhgeddaboudit! I wouldn’t know where to start! I’ll just help carry them. At least I can do that. lol

Check ‘em out…

Da’ odda’ side (the other side)…

Da’ odda’ side (the other side)…

Da’ odda’ side (the other side)…

Da’ odda’ side (the other side)…

Absolutely gorgeous. 10 SPAM Musubi!

Speaking of which, being this is a food blog, gotta’ have something to eat, right?. Well, now that we have beautiful Mother’s Day flower arrangements covered, let’s once again check out an Edible Arrangement!…

Once again, Happy Maddah’z Day!

Yesterday, May 1st was the start of the ‘Food Hunt for Charity‘ drive, with proceeds benefiting the Lanakila Meals on Wheels program. So I decided after my usual Saturday morning shop at KCC Farmers’ Market, to stop by Leonard’s Bakery for some Malasadas, as that’s one of fifty dishes folks are asked to purchase (and eat!) as part of the ‘Food Hunt for Charity’ fundraiser.

I actually haven’t been TO Leonard’s Malasadas Bakery for some time, as we often get our Leonard’s Malasadas as “omiyage” (a gift) from vendors and associates of our company. So this was an “awakening” of sorts as to what they have that’s far and beyond their famous Portuguese “doughnut” we all know and love called Malasadas.

And what a selection! If you’re a sweets, pastries or dessert fan, Leonard’s Bakery is the place for you as you’ll soon see in this post. Enjoy!

It was a busy, busy Saturday morning.

This sign is absolutely true, as my order was definitely made-to-order and arrived in the box PIPING HOT! That alone already awards them 5 SPAM Musubi!

Da’ prices for da’ Malasadas…

Malasadas Puffs flavors of the month…

Here’s my piping-hot and fresh order of Malasadas Puffs, including Dobash (Chocolate), Haupia, Custard and Mango…

More on that later, I promise.

Now let’s check out what Leonard’s Bakery does BESIDES Malasadas!…

Whew! That’s a LOT of baked goods and pastries!

What would I choose? K, try wait, let me scroll back up and browse one more time….

K, k, I’d probably get an Eclair, Creme Puff and an Apple Fritter. That Portuguese Sausage-wrapped Pao Dolce sounds interesting as well for a savory option.

Here’s Leonard’s Bakery logo wear ‘n stuff…

If you can read Japanese, please translate this poster for us in a comment, onegaishimasu…

OK, now that we’re back to Leonard’s Malasadas, here’s what I got…

That would be two each of Leonard’s Malasadas Puffs filled with all four available flavors each: Custard, Dobash (chocolate), Haupia (coconut), and the flavor of the month, Mango.

As always, the cutaway view…

Leonard’s Malasadas Puffs: Custard, Dobash (chocolate), Haupia (coconut) and the flavor of the month, Mango

A closer look at each one, starting left to right with the custard…

Dobash (chocolate)…

Haupia (coconut)…

Mango…

Hey, hey, hey! Wait a minute, is this Mango Malasadas Puff sticking tongue at us? I think it is!…

Nice lip job. Not. And that my friends is the full extent of my Photoshop’n skillz, thank you very much. LOL!

OK, let’s sample ‘em, starting with wise-guy Mango Puff here…

Ono! Although if I didn’t know this was supposed to be Mango, I wouldn’t have known what to make of it. It’s just mildly fruity and creamy, while having a good balance of sweet without being overbearing. Very, very nice. 3 Spam Musubi.

Now the Dobash (chocolate)…

Well, “Dobash” may sound fancy and all that, but this essentially tastes like packaged Chocolate pudding. Which I actually really like, so I’m down with this one. Especially coming from me, who’s not really a chocolate person. I’ll give this 2 SPAM Musubi.

Next let’s sample Leonard’s Haupia Malasadas Puff…

Not bad, but weak in comparison to Kamehameha Bakery’s far superior Haupia Doughnut…

Primarily because, unlike Kamehameha Bakery’s haupia Doughnut, Leonard’s Haupia filling doesn’t have any grated coconut in it, so it comes off as being very artificial tasting and subtle as far as coconut is concerned. This makes the malasadas itself and its sugar coating overpower the filling’s flavor.

That said, I’ll have also confess here that while I’m half Portuguese, I’m not really a Malasadas fan, and prefer a good ‘ole American style doughnut like that used for Kamehameha Bakery’s awesome Haupia Doughnut, so I’m already a little biased in that regard.

All that said, I’ll give Leonard’s Haupia Malasadas Puff 1 SPAM Musubi.

Finally let’s sample their Custard Malasadas Puff…

Ding, ding, ding, in the left corner we have the winner by a knock-out, Leonard’s Custard Malasadas Puff. This is definitely what Leonard’s is good at. The custard is thick, rich and very flavorful; the most flavorful of them all for sure. I suppose you can think of it as, “why not just have deep-fried doughnut, when you can inject more fat inside it to make it taste even better”. lol

Which is what they basically do is take a regular Malasadas and inject them with various fillings.

So you know where I’m heading with that thought. Like, oh say, how about injecting them with melted CHEESE?!!! Sans the sugar coating of course. Or for more “This is why you’re fat.com” ideas, how about taking a Leonard’s Malasadas and use it as a Hamburger Bun? Someone did it before with Krispy Kreme’s Doughnut, so why not a Malasadas?!! Good Lord have mercy on us. lol

As mentioned earlier, this visit to Leonard’s Bakery was to participate in the Food Hunt for Charity drive to benefit the Lanakila Meals-on-Wheels project. …

Please visit LocoKineGrindz.com/foodhuntforcharity for more information.

Leonard’s Bakery
933 Kapahulu avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii  96816

Tel. (808) 737-5981
www.LeonardsHawaii.com

The Tasty Island rating:

(5) Superb. Worthy of repeat visits or purchases. (Broke Da’ Mout’!)
*Leonard’s Bakery is an icon in Hawaii and worthy of 5 SPAM Musubi. 10 SPAM Musubi. 100 SPAM Musubi!

Being that the iconic SPAM Musubi symbolizes the ratings here on The Tasty Island, we can’t miss the happenings at the Waikiki Spam Jam. This time being their 8th annual event, taking place this past weekend on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 4pm to 10pm on the blocked-off street of Kalakaua avenue in Waikiki.

Following is a pictorial walkthrough of this year’s Spam Jam festivities, along with descriptions and commentary wherever applicable to further immerse you in the experience. Because an “experience” is really what it is at a Waikiki Spam Jam. Enjoy!

Chibo’s Spam Okonomiyaki…

Chibo’s Spam Yakisoba…

Seafood Village’s Spam Siu Mai (steamed potstickers)…

Seafood Village’s Spam Manapua (steamed bun)…

Seafood Village’s Spam Manapua in another style…

Seafood Village Spam Dim Sum Combo…

Rumfire’s Kalua Pig Enchiladas with Ancho Chile Sauce, Spam Maui Onion Salsa and Queso Fondido, and Fiesta Spam Crab Dip…

Rumfire’s Fiesta Spam Crab Dip…

Rumfire staff crankin’ out Spam Crab Dip for the masses…

Here’s quite the “medley” of foods from the earth: asparagus, red bell peppers, roasted peppers, Hamakua Alii mushrooms, rosemary and pineapple. While I’m not sure what yet, surely a very tasty dish could be created using all of these ingredients!…

Spam Tuesdays at Rumfire!…

Volcano Nachos with Spam Chili

Spam Chili with Rice

Jimmy Buffet’s Spam Fusion Fajitas…

Gordon Biersch’ Guava Mango BBQ Spam Sliders topped with Crispy Onion Rings…

Gordon Biersch’ Sicilian Spam & Basil Pizza Bread…

Gordon Biersch’ Spam Pancit…

Gordon Biersch’ Spam Gau Gee (fried wonton) with sweet, spicy chili dipping sauce…

Gordon Biersch’ awesome Garlic Fries…

Doraku Spam Musubi…

That was literally rated 3 SPAM Musubi, and these are literally rated 5 SPAM Musubi!…

Doraku Spam Jam Roll…

Doraku keeps their grilled Spam happy by smothering them with a Teriyaki glaze…

Duke’s Spam Fried Rice…

Duke’s & Hula Grill’s Spam moco ($6 for white rice, $8 for fried rice) has two slices of Spam topped with a scrambled egg over rice, surrounded by their signature brandy shiitake cream sauce and topped with crispy onion strings…

Duke’s & Hula Grill’s Spam Moco in stages of construction…

I forgot to ask why this one got the katsu treatment…

Duke’s always incredible and very popular “Hula Pie”…

Now you are thinking what I’m thinking, right? Notice there’s macadamia nuts on there. Well, being this is a Spam Jam, they should have swapped the plain roasted Mac Nuts with SPAM Macadamia Nuts! How you figgah?

Coconut Willy’s Fried Noodles with Spam…

Coconut Willy’s Garlic Shrimp with Spiral Fries…

Cheeseburger’s Combo Spam and Cheeseburger Babies…

Cheeseburger Babies…

Shack Waikiki’s Hawaiian Spam Burger made with an all-beef burger slider patty topped with hickory-smoked Spam and a pineapple tomato relish. Accompanying it is a Hawaiian-style potato macaroni salad, mixed with hickory smoked Spam, eggs, green onion, mayonnaise and mustard…

Shack Waikiki’s Spam dog ($3) smothered in Spam chili, pineapple tomato relish, cheese and onions…

The beautiful and lovely Shack ladies…

The Shack owner Brendan workin’ the booth…

What, no Spam flavor? It would go great with pineapple! lol

I would fill my bathtub up with one of these and soak in it…

At the Hawaii Food Bank booth…

Spam Macadamia Nut samples galore…

Hamakua Plantations were handing out coupons that would donate 50% of the proceeds to the Hawaii Food Bank. Fantastic.

The owner and president of Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company, Richard Schnitzler…

It was a great honor and pleasure to hear from Richard that sales of their Spam Macadamia Nuts are doing very well due in part to the thorough review I did of the product on this blog. He even credits an account his company picked up with Target thanks to their corporate folks on the mainland seeing the review I did, which was passed on by the corporate folks at Hormel. Wow! Some “big wigs” checkin’ out this site!

At least I know my blog is doing its part in helping to promote Hawaii’s food and products industry with proof positive results.

This Week: Spam in every flavor…

For some reason, anything with “SPAM” on it doesn’t look right in front of an Apple computer store lol…

I wonder if you wear this shirt into the Apple store, would they kick you out? Or would an “Anti-virus” alarm pop-up on any computer you touch? lol

There were a few non-Spam related crafts vendors there selling their wares as well…

A different vendor (not Simply Wood Studios)…

Folks Spam in up for the camera with “Spammy” (or whatever their mascot’s name is)…

Pork Butt lol…

This poor kid was absolutely HORRIFIED by “Spammy” lol…

The revolving restaurant with the lights in the background is Top of Waikiki.

“Spammy” #1 heads into the Outrigger on the beach…

Here’s a full pallet of SPAM, which includes 100 cases at 12 per case, totaling 1,200 cans…

The closing band on stage at the First Hawaiian Bank stage was Journey Tribute band named ‘Separate Ways’, which they were SMOKIN’!…

These guys sound SPOT-ON like Journey. It was really like a free Journey concert at the Spam Jam! And everyone got totally into it.

The lead singer certainly gives Journey’s current frontman, Arnel Pineda a run for the money. He even looks kinda’ like Steve Perry. And the guitarist played Neal Schon’s signature rhythm and leads to perfection with plenty of “feel”, and not just sounding like a “copy”. If you hear of Separate Ways performing and you’re a Journey fan, I highly recommend you check their concert out.

Earlier on that evening at the Waikiki Beach Walk stage, various hula performances took place…

Closing this year’s coverage of the 2010 Waikiki Spam Jam, I leave you with the lovely “Spam Girls” Alicia and Michelle…

For coverage of previous years’ Waikiki Spam Jams, click on the following banner links…

This past Saturday morning I paid yet another visit to the always amazing KCC Farmers’ Market. Following are some of the onolicious grindz offered for sale that day. Enjoy!

Kabocha pumpkins and sweet Ewa onions…

Beets…

These are much larger than regular green onion, the Japanese green onion called Negi…

Notice each bunch consisting of just five or six Negi stalks is as thick as that person’s wrist. Some ramen shops in Japan only use the white part of the stalk, and not the green part, so it looks like a small white onion ring when floating in the broth.

North Shore Farms Tomatoes….

Next we have the offerings from North Shore Cattle Company, including their own Portuguese Sausage and a Cheeseburger featuring North Shore Cattle beef…

Braised Beef Eggs Benedict, eh? Sounds interesting!…

If these sample plates look dried out, they were, as I didn’t get there until 10am, and they probably had these out since opening at 7:30am. Yet at least you still get an idea what they’re offering. I suppose their lucky dog or pet pig will get these at the end of the day.

Next up are the offerings from Hawaiian Style Chili Company…

This is the chunkiest Portuguese Bean “Soup” I’ve ever seen!…

Notice these products are by Tan-da-Dan Brand®, which “Tan-da-Dan” is a local Hawaii slang that means “Big Shot” or “Big Whip”. As in, “Whoah, howz braddah, come walking into da’ club acking all Tan-Da-Dan, laddat.” (Look at that fellah strutting in the club acting like a big shot.)

Next up we have Poi Battered Fish & Organic Salad from The Hawaiian Chef….

Hawaiian Vegetarian Kabocha (pumpkin) and Apple Soup and Hawaiian Scottish Fresh Fish Chowder “Cullen Skink”…

That’s a good deal for Fish ‘n Chips. If they’re there next week, I think that’s what I’ll try.Them Poi-battered fish sound interesting and look really ono!

India Cafe…

More breakfast plates, this time from Grandma G’s…

Here’s a couple freshly-made plates of Grandma G’s famous Fried Rice…

The plate shown above was prepared especially for me as a complimentary “sampler”, as the owners are readers of my blog and wanted my honest opinion of it. Well, putting me in the spot here, while I’m not a fan of Kim Chee Fried Rice, for what it’s worth, it had good balance, without the Kim Chee being overpowering, where you could still taste the “nuttiness” of the fried rice, and it was also perfectly seasoned. I definitely liked the Charsiu Fried Rice, which the grains of rice tasted like they were laced with a little shoyu, while being toasty outside, and tender inside, and overall moist and a little sticky as whole. Which is how I prefer my fried rice, and not loose and “granular”, if you know what I mean. Very tasty.

The thick-cut Loves Portuguese Sweet Bread French Toast also was great, as was the Redondo’s Portuguese Sausage served alongside it, while of course there’s no question SPAM and eggs are gonna’ go great together . Overall I give Grandma G’s “Sampler Plate”  3 SPAM Musubi (very good).

Next we have more healthy, mostly sugar-free, Agave-sweetened pastries from StarPoint Cafe, including this full pan of scones….

Cinnamon Rolls…

Sorry, I didn’t get the name of this, but it looks ono!…

StarPoint’s Bread Pudding…

Fryin’ up some Beignets at Country Comfort Kitchen…

Beignets (pronounced bay’ney) and lumpia fresh outta’ the fryer, ready for a sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar…

What I specifically came here for (besides to impulse shop), are the french rolls and Vietnamese style pickled carrots and daikon to make Banh Mi sandwiches from the (very big) Ba-Le Bakery booth…

Quenching my thirst while at the Ba-Le booth, I picked up a glass of their Thai Iced Tea…

While it may look like carrot juice, it simply tasted more like a subtly fruity and creamy asian style iced tea. Yet I don’t know what fruits and other ingredients it’s made of,  as none of the young Vietnamese ladies working the booth could comprehensively explain it to me due to speaking very little English.  What I do know is it was very tasty and refreshing, with them adding cube ices right before serving, making it extra cold and satisfying in the late morning heat. 4 SPAM Musubi on Ba-Le’s ice cold Thai Iced Tea.

Fittingly, KCC’s culinary students are at the KCC Farmers’ Market every weekend showing off their wares…

Hawaiian Heart of Palm…

Pat Arakawa of Pat’s Peanut’s is there every weekend serving up her awesome Spicy Garlic, kinda’ teriyaki style Boiled Peanuts!…

A chewy-meets-tender option to the much softer boiled peanuts are the “dry-boiled” style…

Like several other vendors there, Pat also serves SPAM Musubi, where one style also includes egg…

Where there’s peanuts, there shall be chocolate — as in the North Shore of Oahu’s very own Malie Kai Chocolates…

While farming’s most popular yield is food, there’s no shortage of non-edible, yet beautiful-to-look at flowers for sale at KCC Farmers’ Market…

That wraps it up. So what did I end up with on this KCC Farmers’ Market visit? Well first and foremost I wanted the French Rolls and Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Daikon from Ba-Le Bakery so I could make homemade Banh Mi Sandwiches…

Super cheap too. Ba most excellent Vietnamese pickled daikon and carrots are just $3 for a good-sized container, and also excellent French Rolls made by Bale Bakery are just $3 for 4 rolls!

A Banh Mi sandwich wouldn’t be complete without the greens to provide that snap and refreshingly healthy taste. So of course I had to pick up a fresh bunch each of sweet Thai Basil, Cilantro (Chinese Parsley) and Mint…

These very generously-portioned bunches of very fresh, flavorful and GREEN Thai Basil, Cilantro and Mint were just $1 each! There are certainly some killer deals at KCC Farmers’ Market, you just need to hunt a little for them. I could probably make 20 Banh Mi Sandwiches from just $3 worth of these herbs.

I also had to sample Teixeira’s Pastele and Mexican Rice mini-plate straight from Waimanalo…

How was it? The Mexican rice had too much cumin and/or paprika (or whatever spices they put in it), making it overly robust and earthy. While the Pastele’s banana masa, olives and pork were all there for the party, yet suffered by being  a bit on the dry side and not seasoned enough.

Back to the rice,  I much prefer the Puerto Rican style (flavored) Gandule Rice with my Pastele over Mexican rice.

With that, I’ll give this Pastele mini-plate 1 SPAM Musubi (average).

If there’s one dish I NEVER leave KCC Farmers’ Market without a slice in my hand, is North Shore Farms’ “totally off the hook, in-it-to-win-it” Neapolitan Pesto Pizza…

I took a slice of this to my aunt, and she was FLOORED by it, agreeing with me that this was easily the best Pizza she’s ever tasted.  Its simplicity, fresh-made and locally-grown high quality ingredients and super crust all come together making it perfection in a pie. 5 SPAM Musubi. 10 SPAM Musubi. You name it. This should be on the new Food Network show, ‘Best Thing I Ever Ate’!

Finally, I also picked up a bag of Pat’s ichiban oishii Spicy Garlic “teriyaki style” Boiled Peanuts…

I like that last “ingrediment” listed on there: Peanuts, Salt, Peppers and Aloha.

Very nice! That should be a required ingredient for all products made in Hawaii.

See you next Saturday at the KCC Farmers’ Market!

The Honolulu Advertiser’s Metromix Honolulu team has been on a roll lately with their “Who Makes It Best in Honolulu” series (that’s “Honolulu” repeated three times already lol), with the latest “shootout” being “Who makes Honolulu’s best fried chicken?” (that’s four now).

Just prior to that, they held a “Who makes the best poke?” shootout, with a follow-up segment to that due to many readers protesting the results. Funny enough, I was one of the readers who protested, saying that they left out who I think is the reigning “King of Poke”, Ono Seafood on Kapahulu avenue (not to be confused with Ono Hawaiian Foods down the street). Sure enough, they went to try it, and in that foll0w-up round 2 they voted Ono Seafood the “Best Poke in Honolulu“! All I can say is, “I told you so”. lol

I still have a gripe with them on voting Violet’s Grill as having “The Best Saimin” (with Oxtails in it!), but that’s another story for another day. lol

Anyhow, today we’re talking about the winner of Metromix’s “Honolulu’s Best Fried Chicken” award, which points us to restaurateur, culinary savant and celebrated chef Sean Priester and his latest project, the ‘Soul Patrol’. While I’m not sure if past American Idol winner Taylor Hicks has registered “Soul Patrol” under copyright, there’s no denying Chef Priester’s lunch wagon is the TRUE ‘Soul Patrol’!

As in what may arguably be the BEST darned Soul Food you can find this side of the southern US. Well, at least in the middle of the Pacific.

Like many locals who were born and raised in Hawaii, I have little to ZERO exposure to TRUE good ole’ southern cooking, save for some recipes we use here that are clear adaptations from the region. My late (English-Hawaiian) grandmother for one made this amazing fried chicken with white gravy that surely has roots from the south. But that’s as far as I’ll even try to go in describing the cuisine, lest someone hurl a full pan of cornbread ‘n grits at me. lol

Chef Priester’s soul is in the food, while the “patrol” part is his lunchwagon…

Got Soul? Check. Got Food? Check…

Rounding out the urban “ambiance” where the “Soul Patrol” lunchwagon is located, you’ll be greeted by R&B and other related hits played through the boom box pointing out the lunchwagon’s front door. Very nice.

Personally I think music and food go hand-in-hand, and I really appreciate when eateries use music to enhance and immerse their customers in the style of cuisine they’re serving. When I’m eating Hawaiian food, I wanna’ hear Hawaiian music. Same for Greek, Mexican, Indian and so on. You know what I’m sayin’. Even if it’s from a place as casual (and takeout) as this lunchwagon, having both the music and the food be “served” together makes it that much more an “experience” than just a necessity of the day. Now that’s what you call SOUL.

Speaking of which, without further ado, here’s Chef Sean Priester workin’ it…

Chef mentioned his business was VERY BRISK in the last few days due to the exposure from that Metromix article, especially with fried chicken sales, having selling out well before closing time each day. Diner E and myself learned that lesson the hard way the last time over at Ethel’s Grill, who were also featured on Metromix. At that time, we had taken their advice and gone to Ethel’s, only to discover the hype had caused a virtual ONSLAUGHT of customers. This caused an unanticipated back-up in their very small kitchen and ultimately caused a big delay (as in one hour wait)  in us getting our order.

So this time having lesson-learned, I called the ‘Soul Patrol’ ahead of time and RESERVED three Fried Chicken Plates for us, lest we get there and it would all be SOLD OUT.

Of course there’s much more to Soul Food than fried chicken. Here’s The Soul Patrol’s menu for the day…

Shoots! I forgot to get the Southern Sweet Iced Tea. Darned it. I heard that stuff is really, really good. That’s OK, as from our first impression of the grindz here, we’ll be back again and again and again and again and again! I so got dibs on that Fried Catfish with Hushpuppies plate as well!

But we were here today for the first time to sample The Soul Patrol’s Fried Chicken,  just to “validate” whether Metromix REALLY knows what they’re (tasting and) talking about. So we all got the same plate, which actually isn’t listed on the menu above. It’s what they call their “Southern Sampler Plate with One Piece Buttermilk Fried Chicken”…

The Soul Patrol Southern Sampler with 1 Piece Chicken - Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Vegetarian Chili with Black Eyed Peas, Organic Collard Greens, Honey-Cilantro Coleslaw and “Sweet Corn” Cornbread. $8

The Soul Patrol Southern Sampler with 1 Piece Chicken (another one) – Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Vegetarian Chili with Black Eyed Peas, Organic Collard Greens, Honey-Cilantro Coleslaw and “Sweet Corn” Cornbread. $8

The Soul Patrol Southern Sampler with 1 Piece Chicken (and yet another one) – Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Vegetarian Chili with Black Eyed Peas, Organic Collard Greens, Honey-Cilantro Coleslaw and “Sweet Corn” Cornbread. $8

Brah, does that look ONO or what?!!! I wish I had one more plate in front of me to eat right now! And what a bargain for all that variety of stuff!

If one piece of Chicken isn’t enough for you, for $9 you can get The Soul Patrol Southern Sampler Plate with two pieces of chicken. This I found out after we already got back with our plates. Shucks, I wish I knew that when we ordered. I think Chef doesn’t want to put that on the menu though, as he’d probably run out of chicken too quickly if everyone ordered that. Still, that extra piece of chicken would have come in handy for snackin’ later!

If you just want the Buttermilk Chicken, Chef sells them at two for $5, which is a bit pricey, but hey, if you want “The Best”, why not?

Notice the food’s served on eco-friendly “green” (actually tan) 100% biodegradable recycled cardboard clamshell containers…

Even the the “Spork” (Spoon-Fork) they provide is 100% biodegradable. Further saving the environment, they don’t offer plastic bags to carry your food away; t’s BYOB here (bring your own bag; but you can bring booze too, just don’ t drink in public lol).

Ok, let’s take a closer look at each item, beginning with the star of the show, the Buttermilk Fried Chicken…

Take a look at the color and texture of that batter. You just KNOW that’s gonna’ be some good eats even before taking one bite!

Now the Vegetarian Chili…

Looks hearty and full-bodied. Thick enough where the chili can be plated in the same area with the cornbread without soaking right through it, but actually just “kissing it”. Love that metaphor.

Certainly the most unusual dish for us Hawaii folks with little exposure to this style of cuisine are Collard Greens…

For added flavor, there’s sparse bits of bacon (or pork of some form) that’s mixed in it.

Now the Honey-Cilantro Coleslaw…

Cilantro in Coleslaw? As you’ll soon read, it’s BRILLIANT.

Last but certainly not least, we have Chef Priester’s AWESOME “Sweet Corn” Cornbread…

Well. It’s time to chow! (or whatever they say in the south for “Time fo’ grind!”)

Let’s start with the Vegetarian Chili…

Dig, dig, DIG the perfectly al dente Black Eyed Peas in it (I like the band as well). “I’m a be” chillin’ with Chef Sean’s Chili. This stuff is “dope”! Seriously, what I like most about it is that it’s the chili flavor is on the  mild side; much more so than say Zippy’s, and much more so than Richie’s. It’s more “tomatoey” if you will. While there’s some other complex flavor components that make this chili 100% unique. I’ve never had a chili like this before. Never. But I will again, and that will be from right here at The Soul Patrol, as I’m giving his Vegetarian Chili with Black Eyed Peas 4 SPAM Musubi.

Now let’s sample the “Sweet Corn” Cornbread…

You know what I love about this cornbread besides everything? Everything. It’s very buttery, sweet but not too sweet, yet also having a savory element to it. There’s like this interesting smokey aroma to its flavor profile. Perhaps because he bakes in cast iron? Not sure as I didn’t ask.  Really though, my favorite thing about this Cornbread is its TEXTURE. Very mealy, with bits of corn kernels mixed in that you can feel as you bite into it. The thick cornmeal granules provide this pleasant looseness and chewiness at the same time as you bite into it. 5 SPAM Musubi for Chef Priester’s “Sweet Corn” Cornbread.

Now take some of that awesome cornbread and some of that fantastic “B.E.P.” chili and eat it together from the spoon at the same time? Braddah! Broke’ da mout’ winnahz! So ono! The PERFECT combo. With that, it would be safe to say if you order just the Chili and Cornbread for $5 you CANNOT GO WRONG. Marriage made in heaven with plenty of SOUL fo’ sho’!

OK, let’s really get some SOUL in us and sample the Collard Greens…

Delicious! I love it, love it, love it. It’s like spinach but a little more “woodsy” if you will. It tastes like it’s coated with either butter and/or light olive oil, or some kind of “fat”. The bacon or whatever pork chef mixes in while cooking it imparts that flavor, but not heavily. I was expecting it maybe having a smoky hamhock-like flavor, but it didn’t. You mostly taste the Collard Green, which is how it should be. I’ll give Chef Sean’s Collard Greens 4 SPAM Musubi.

Moving along, let’s sample the Honey-Cilantro Coleslaw…

Another winnah! Winner, winner coleslaw…. oh never mind, that phrase is WAY overused already. lol As simple as it sounds, the Cilantro (a.k.a. Chinese Parsley) adds a fantastic “3rd dimension” to what would have otherwise tasted like any other coleslaw, while providing this refreshing “snap” to it. All I can say is next time you make coleslaw, set aside a small batch and add chopped Cilantro to it. I think you’ll agree with me in thinking “Duh?! Why hasn’t coleslaw been made this way from day ONE!”. I suppose my only complaint with this coleslaw is it’s a bit runny, but that’s really the nature of it when it’s been sitting for a while (as in being served out of  a lunchwagon). Yet at least it’s not like eating a glob of mayo’. Chef’s slaw is definitely not over-mayo’d at all. I’ll just leave in saying I’ll give Chef’s Honey-Cilantro Coleslaw 4 SPAM Musubi. Less runny and it would be easy 5.

Finally, as Metromix so proclaims, let’s taste for ourselves whether ‘The Soul Patrol’ makes “Honolulu’s Best Fried Chicken” and are deserving of this very prestigious award…

OK, they’re right. This is the BEST. Metromix, this time you FINALLY got it right. FINALLY! lol Just kidding.

Seriously, while I haven’t had the luxury like they did of trying ten (or more) different places to compare this to, I’ve  had some KFC  and Zippy’s Chicken in the last couple months, and can easily say this beats them. I won’t say it blows ‘em out of the water, as FWIW, I won’t knock how much I love the Colonel’s 11 secret herbs ‘n spices. And FWIW (for what it’s worth), Zippy’s makes a mighty fine “Cardiologist’s Bird” themselves. Especially when combined with their Chili.

The great thing here is that the VERY crispy skin on this Fried Chicken has this unusual way of sticking to the chicken meat beneath it. It doesn’t just pull off so easily as you bite through it. So as you’re eating it, you get a piece of the mega-tasty ‘n “GBD” crispy skin along with the meat beneath it in just about every bite. Not da’ kine where da’ skin pulls off and all you get is plain ‘n oily chicken meat aftah’ dat. You know da’ kine, eh?

Of course if you want to, you can pull the skin off, but if you do that, you’re eating the wrong dish.

Actually I take that back, as assuming Chef is soaking these chicken in Buttermilk, I’m also assuming he uses a bunch of herbs and spices (including Cinnamon?) of his own in that marinade, as even the chicken meat under the skin permeates with flavor. Deep flavor. It doesn’t taste like plain chicken, but a flavored chicken. A really ono one at that!

And even though these Buttermilk Fried Chicken are prefried (not cooked to order) before Chef heads out with the wagon, they’ were still super moist ‘n tender when they arrived at the lunch table. You can just see it in those bite-through photos shown above. And the’re cooked properly and all the way through with no bloody spots. At least all our pieces were perfectly cooked like that.

So yes, I’ll admit it this time anyway. Or until I get a chance myself to try all the other places, Metromix, you’re right. So far as I can tell, ‘The Soul Patrol’ makes “Honolulu’s Best Fried Chicken”. Especially, and I emphasize ESPECIALLY when accompanied with the AMAZING sides this chicken is served with. THAT’s where the magic happens.

I’d say eating The Soul Patrol’s “Southern Sampler Plate” is similar in experience to eating a Hawaiian Luau plate. You know how everything magically ties together when you have your Laulau, Kalua Pig, Chicken Long Rice, Squid Luau, Lomi Salmon, Poke, Raw Crab, Dry Aku, Opihi, Pipikaula, Haupia, Kulolo, Sweet Onion and Poi all together on one dish? It’s the same thing with this. The Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Collard Greens, Honey-Cilantro Coleslaw and “Sweetcorn” Cornbread is that very same “marriage made in heaven” dining experience.

Diner “Saimin Kaukau” E enjoyed his plate so much, that he POLISHED IT…

For that I’m giving Chef Priester’s ‘Soul Patrol’ Southern Sampler Plate with 1 Piece Buttermilk Fried Chicken 5 SPAM Musubi. I was going to give it 4, considering the food wasn’t hot enough, but most lunchwagons suffer that problem, as it’s just the nature of trying to keep food warm without overcooking in their warmers. Not to mention the 10 minute drive it took to reach our office and sit down and eat it.

But when I take into account once again how the wonderful marriage of flavors every dish had as they came together, and how much care he put into each and every one of those dishes, it’s a 5.  Add to that the rarity of good ‘ole Southern Soul Cookin’ here on Oahu, and it’s an easy 5. Easy.

The Soul Patrol’s “Sampler Plate” just has that “wow” fact. That “it” factor”. That simply said “Damned this is freekin’ DELICIOUS!” factor! I said the same thing about Chef Priester’s dishes when he was the Executive Chef at Top of Waikiki, and while he may not be at the Top of Waikiki anymore,  he’s still at the top of his game… now with more SOUL than ever!

First impression? I’d EASILY say ‘The Soul Patrol’ by Chef Sean Priester is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Soul Patrol by Chef Sean Priester
Lunch wagon currently operates (as of March 2010) on Kawaiahao Street
between Cooke and South streets,
Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Chef Priester also operates as Pacific Soul Cuisine at Manoa Marketplace
on Sundays from 8 a.m.–1 p.m, Blaisdell Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays,
4–7 p.m. and Kapiolani Community College and Kailua farmers’ markets once a month.

Reach Chef Sean Priester at 808-542-8749 or follow him on Twitter at: PacificSoul

Or visit his website at www.ChefSeanPriester.com

The Tasty Island rating (first impression):

(5) Superb. Worthy of repeat visits or purchases. (Broke Da’ Mout’!)

Related Links:
• 360º View at the Top of Waikiki – The Tasty Island
• Who makes the best fried chicken? – Metromix (Honolulu Advertiser)
• The Soul Patrol – Yelp user reviews

P.S. Here’s Metromix Honolulu’s pick for top 10 “Best Fried Chicken”:

#10) The Pastele Shop
#9) KJ’s Local Grindz
#8) Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering
#7) St. Louis Drive Inn
#6) Zippy’s
#5) Queen’s BBQ
#4) Max’s of Manila
#3) Ray’s Cafe
#2) Nolbunae
#1) Pacific Soul (The Soul Patrol)

Metromix says: “Sean Priester’s chicken closely edged out Nolbunae because it had stronger flavor and did exciting, memorable things to our tongue. Looks like the secret ingredient in fabulous fried chicken must be cinnamon, based on the top two.”

Now if they only tried Bac Nam’s Stuffed Chicken Wings. That’s a tough one to beat, although it wouldn’t be fair, as that’s a sort of different “animal” if you will.

Finally, here’s a (stitched) panoramic photo of Maunalua Bay taken last weekend near “China Walls” in Portlock (Hawaii Kai)…

Click on photo to enlarge;  use your browswer scroll bar to pan across.

Diner A picked up a bento from Tanioka’s in Waipahu the other day, where from along with that, he brought a couple musubi to share with us.

So Tanioka’s is doing Goteborg Musubi now, eh? I wonder where they got that idea from? Hmmmm. Any chance they’re offering a Poke Bowl as well? After all, they are well known for their poke, which I must say, theirs is up there with the best.

Goteborg Musubi from Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering

Notice for Tanioka’s take the on Goteborg Musubi, they form the musubi rice in the traditional extruded triangle shape, then sprinkle it generously with Goma Furikake (sesame seaweed seasoning). Then instead of the Goteborg Sausage acting as the foundational base underneath it, they cap it with it.

In comparison, here’s how the folks from Kauai (where this unique musubi is known to have originated from) do it…

“Jobos” Goteborg Musubi from The Poke Bowl (now DBA Pa’ina Cafe in Ward Warehouse)

See, so they’re each “DIFFEFRENT BUT DA’ SAME”. lol Actually I have to admit, I kinda’ preferred the more compressed texture of the rice in Tanioka’s version, as well as the much more generous sprinkling of Furikake on it. Not knocking the Oahu-from-Kauai original, Poke Bowl’s “Jobos” version though, as that one ROCKS as well.

In case  you never heard of Goteborg Sausage, I’ll once again repost the description: According to this website, Goteborg sausage is described as “Swedish sausage or Goteborg consists of 75% beef and 25% pork. The meat is chopped coarser than cervelat. It is stuffed in beef middle casings and smoked hard. In appearance it is similar to Farmer sausage. Swedish sausage is popular with the Swedish and Norwegian trade”.

I’ll just say it tastes sort of like a “gamey” Salami-meets-summer sausage if you will. Like any other cured or salted meat, frying it just ever-so-lightly really punches out the Goteborg’s flavor.

As for the history of Goteborg Sausage in Hawaii — or the island of Kauai in particular — Tasty Island reader ‘Anahola Tita’ gave the best and most entertaining explanation to date!

Re: Kauai Classic: Goteborg Musubi, Anahola Tita comments:

 OMG Guteberg!  Yummo !!  I am Kaua’i girl born/raised from Anahola Hawaiian Homes … My mom used to work at Kojima Store in Kapa’a–and the meat market in the back of the store was Da Bes’ Meat Market on the island … they were, and still are known for their marinated Kal Bi — and GUTEBERG !!  Already sliced in the perfect 6mm cut, plastic wrapped in foam trays –you can just walk in the store and pick it up in the meat section … along with trays of marinated kal bi … just down the road, literally, at Pono Market, you can get Guteberg Musubi–gotta go early or else sell out … whenever I go back home … those two stops are a must! And of course Hamura’s, Hanamaulu Cafe, and if I can make it to Lawai Store.

I’d like to share what I remember from either someone sharing with me or perhaps reading about, or maybe a combination of both–The History of Guteberg on Kaua’i evidently traces back to GERMANY.  It is a German Sausage or Salami — similar to Italian sausage, etc. — it’s a European-style deli sausage.  It was introduced to the island of Kaua’i when a German Stone Wall builder moved there back in the plantation days, and was hired to build stonewalls for the plantation owners, mostly on the West side of the island — as is evident by all the old, man-made stone walls that are strewn around the island.  The story goes that he introduced the sausage to the plantation owners he was hired by … and they introduced it to the plantation workers — at lunchtime — the one thing that every culture had in common — FOOD … it became customary for all the different cultures to share food … it became sort of a fun way to get to know each other and have respect for different cultures.  People couldn’t speak to each other — they all spoke different languages — so food became a universal language … and that is how they started to learn about each other.  Guteberg was the “Haole” man’s “kokua” or contribution to the lunchtime pot luck.

Anyways–I live on O’ahu now…married with child.  My husband is from NY and looooves Guteberg–he’s part-German…I looooove German sausage…(and Guteberg too…ahem!)–my mom lives with us now…she’s the one that used to work at Kojima’s…gotta have her saussage…so we satisfy our Guteberg urges @ Marukai Dillingham.  Although we found it in other stores, she looooooves the butchers there … and they loooooove her too — she’ll grab a long thing of sausage and walk up to the butcher’s sliding glass windows and press their button … and they slide the door open with big smiles on their faces … and she’s holds the sausage up in front of her — like, facing longways towards them … and she says … “I like ‘em t’ick (thick)” … aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaha !!  Crack Up!!  Yah!!  One Full-On Potagee Gramma asking the butchers at frickin’ Marukai if they can give her “6″ — serious !!  She go, “You Can Do 6?” aaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha !!  Da guys look at me and dey turn all red — dark-skinned filipinos !!  you can see ‘em blushing !! aaaaaaaahahahahaha !!  And they have no idea that my mother has no idea … hahlarious !!  frickin’ cartoons I’m tellin’ you!!  A bunch of deers with no eyes (no eye dear…no idea…never mind)…alrighty then–

btw … having a brain fart right now — wanna address the comment about the difference between UFOs and Flying Saucers …. Das Right !!  ONLY ON KAUAI !!  No other island has Flying Saucers … Kaua’i people know the difference … Kaua’i may be full of spacey people, but the upside of that is, they can tell the difference between UFOs and Flying Saucers … that’s what happens when you live on another planet …

kden — gotta get going — long over due for a visit to marukai…my mom was just saying she hasn’t “had it” in awhile … aaaaaaaaahahahaha!!  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha !!  hoo boy … classic … hey–at least she’s free entertainment … toodles all !!

 

Mahalo Anahola Tita! ROFLMAO! That was CLASSIC!

I was hoping maybe Tanioka’s would “surprise” us by poking an Ume in the center of the musubi as a sort of “buried treasure”, but nevah get…

 

 

 

 Summing it up, I give Tanioka’s take on Goteborg Musubi 5 SPAM Musubi. Or should I give it 5 Goteborg Musubi? Now I’m confused. lol

 

 

As for Tanioka’s Fish Patty Musubi, as you see in the first photo, unlike their “famous” fish patty served at their okazuya counter, the one for this musubi is shaped rectangular to look like a slice of SPAM. In fact, when I first looked at, I thought it was a SPAM Musubi.

 

 Slicing it in half, you can see how Tanioka’s grinds the fish meat (not eats it, but grinds it like hamburger lol) really fine…

  

Tanioka’s Fish Patty Musubi (sliced in half with a Goteborg Musubi next to it)

 

I LOVE Tanioka’s Fish Patty, and with that I’m also giving Tanioka’s Fish Patty Musubi 5 SPAM Musubi. Or make that 5 Fish Patty Musubi. Sheesh! Now I’m REALLY CONFUSED! LOL

As mentioned earlier, Diner A picked up a bento from Tanioka’s, which he’s been having to eat fish every Friday in observance of Lent. That in mind, he chose a bento that had Tanioka’s famous fish patty, a salmon patty, shrimp tempura and one giant aburage cone sushi…

Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering – Salmon Patty, Fish Patty, Shrimp Tempura and Aburage Cone Sushi Bento. $n/a

Diner A’s rating? 5 SPAM Musubi. Winnah’, winnah’, fish patty dinnah’! Err, lunch that is.

Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering
94-903 Farrington hwy.
Waipahu, Hawaii  96797
Tel. 808-671-3779
www.Taniokas.com

The Tasty Island rating:
5 Goteborg Musubi/5 Fish Patty Musubi/5 SPAM Musubi

Related (Tasty Island) links:
• Kaka’ako Eats: The Poke Bowl
• Kauai Classic: Goteborg Musubi
• The Goteborg Musubi Project

Because corned beef and cabbage was on sale so incredibly CHEAP over the last week or so, our gang in the office decided to throw a little St. Patrick’s Day “pre-party” celebration of our own. We took advantage of the 97 cents per pound corned beef tip cuts deal at Foodland, as well as their “how can they make any money on that?” 17 cents per pound local head of cabbage. With that, we had a virtual Corned Beef ‘n Cabbage lunchtime FEAST for just a little over $2 per person between the five of us. Only 2 BUCKS! Sweet.

They say the highly marbleized cheaper point cuts, while having more flavor because of it, can sometimes be TOO fatty compared to the more expensive yet leaner flat cut. Thankfully with the thrifty tips we had chosen for this meal, the ratio of beef to fat was well in favor of beef, so the luck of the Irish was with us!

Diner C saved energy expense and time by precooking the corned beef in her pressure cooker at home, which only took 1 hour for 6 pounds of corned beef tips. Just an hour! This in comparison to the conventional method in a regular pot or dutch oven on the stovetop, which would have taken about 3 hours or more for the same amount. Or 6 hours or more in a slow cooker.

So that there is 6 pounds (a little less actually after cooking down) of fork tender corned beef tips. Notice next to it we have two types mustard: the classic yellow American Mustard and deli style spicy brown mustard. I prefer the spicy brown deli style for the added kick, but yellow works for me too.

And of course a pot full of tender cooked cabbage in the heavily seasoned broth from the corned beef….

Then the other very important part of this dish, the tender potatoes and carrots, which also have been cooked in the same pot with corned beef…

While personally the potatoes are enough starch for me with this dish, in Hawaii there’s always room for rice, and with that we had both white and brown rice joining the party…

Looks like the only thing missing is the Guinness Stout, but we’re “on the clock” so no having that.

Now let’s see how various folks chose to plate their Corned Beef and Cabbage…

Yes, that’s FURIKAKE sprinkled on the white rice there. Furikake Rice with Corned Beef and Cabbage? Only in Hawaii my friends. Only in Hawaii. lol Looks like this diner opted out of the carrots and potatoes.

Here this diner likes to SMOTHER their slabs (that’s really what they were) of Corned Beef with a huge pile of tasty cabbage piled over it…

Finally we have a fan of corned beef served with yellow mustard on it…

Another plating strategy…

This was my plate, where you see I’m experimenting (notice I like to do that?) by adding a Dill Pickle to the party…

The train of thought being that if a Dill Pickle goes great with a deli style Reuben Sandwich, it should work out well with this close relative of his. Did it work? Eh, not really. Perhaps a sweet dill pickle may have been better, but this one was too acidic and overpowered the corned beef. Notice I “gas” (pour a lot of) the Spicy Brown Deli Mustard. The way it brings out the complex seasonings and beefy flavor of the tender corned beef is so delicious. Whoever thought of pairing mustard with Corned Beef is a genius.

Notice I also put Furikake on my white rice just to see how it would match with the dish, and you know what? They paired with each other really well! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about that, as L&L Hawaiian Barbecue (a.k.a. L&L Drive Inn) holds an annual St. Patrick’s Day Musubi Eating Contest, where the musubi has a slice of corned beef on it, while the rice is covered on all sides with green furikake to tie in with the holiday theme.

Looking at the way each of us served our own plate, this has me thinking: while I haven’t researched it online yet, I wonder if psychologists or scientists have ever studied human personality traits and the way that correlates to how individuals choose and plate their food in a kitchen or at a buffet line? The results of that study might turn out very interesting! On that note, my Teriyaki SPAM Macadamia Nut Ice Cream and now a Dill Pickle with my Corned Beef and Cabbage may indicated I’m a RISK TAKER. lol

What I do know is that sure was a lot of DELICIOUS food for a price that would make any Leprechaun be singin’ de’ luck of the Irish. 5 SPAM Musubi!

Well here’s to a Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you tomorrow. Hope you too enjoy your Corned Beef ‘n Cabbage feast!

There continues to be a growing list of highly acclaimed restaurants being located in the most unexpected of places. From furniture stores, to gas stations and amusement parks, to where we are today at The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl.

The story goes that brothers Gregg and Glenn Uyeda bought the entire bowling alley back in 2006 from Mako Kobayashi, who owned and managed the business since 1970. The Uyeda brothers then spent over a year and a half and over $1.5 million in renovations, with a good chunk of their investment going into the bowling alley’s new electronic scoring system.

Yet their restaurant concept would be the “bread and butter” of their business model to take this bowling alley into the next century of viability. And with that, everything was built from the ground up for a fresh start, including a brand new kitchen, bar, dining area and lounge.

While the menu may initially appear to be what you’d find at any typical plate lunch joint around town, being that Glenn is a seasoned chef by trade, with past professional experience including a stint at Le Bernardin in New York, “under the hood” there’s a considerably higher level of sophistication and care in how each dish is prepared, yet still very reasonably priced. And to make sure the food’s always cooked right, if chef himself isn’t there overlooking the kitchen, his mother will be.

Giving Chef Uyeda a day to really bust out his chops, you can make reservations for “Tasty Tuesdays” (hey, GREAT name!), when he offers an exclusive upscale 5-course Prix Fixe menu for just $38…

Coming here for lunch this past Sunday, which was somewhat a rainy and overcast day, the place was packed…

On the backside of the restaurant facing the alley lanes is a full-service bar, where here today we have former Hot 93.9FM radio DJ “Urusai” performing bartender and manager duty…

Opposite the bar is a row of bar stools and counter where you can enjoy the grindz and perhaps a cold one while watching folks bowl…

The Alley Restaurant is full service (served by waitstaff) where you can choose to sit either in the semi-enclosed restaurant and bar, or opt for seating right outside the restaurant within the concourse of the bowling alley area…

Here’s a look at the lanes…

That oval-shaped “space-aged” keypad in the foreground is part of their new electronic scoring system, which displays the players’ scores on a large flat panel HDTV hanging above each lane. Pretty neat! I actually took those photos right before last call, but earlier just about every lane was taken.

Getting back to the restaurant, let’s check out the menu…

Oh, that’s an ice-cold glass of Stella Artois on there. The server didn’t bring a coaster, so I used the menu as one. The Alley Restaurant, Bar & Grill needs to make their own logo beer steins, with option to purchase it. Hint, hint.

While waiting for our order to arrive, a young couple sitting right next to us were nice enough to let me take a photo of their dishes that had just arrived. Here we have The Alley Mixed Plate, in this case a Loco Moco and Tasty Chicken combo’…

The Alley Mixed Plate – Loco Moco (handmade hamburger smothered in buttery brown gravy) and Tasty Chicken (Alley’s famous chicken, battered and deep-fried), 2 scoops rice and tossed green salad. $11.75

Here’s The Alley Burger and Garlic Fries…

The Alley Burger – The Alley’s homemade hamburger patty on a sweet sesame seed bun topped with lettuce and garlic fries (25¢ extra). $8.70

After about halfway through their meal, I asked them what they thought of it on a scale of 1 to 5, and they both gave it a 4, which already had me impressed, even having not tried the food yet!

The girlfriend noted how much she loves their brown gravy; so much so that she had an extra bowl of the stuff on the side! Wow, I’m gonna’ have to try that.The boyfriend noted the burger patty was cooked perfectly medium to medium rare with a great char-grilled, house-made flavor. He only wished he had added more toppings (extra cost), as, as it was, was kinda’ plain. Big thumbs up on the garlic fries.

Looks like I’ll get to try that awesome brown gravy our neighbor raved about, as my girlfriend pretty much ordered the same thing, except she opted for Mac Salad instead of tossed greens…

The Alley Mixed Plate – Loco Moco (handmade hamburger smothered in buttery brown gravy) and Tasty Chicken (Alley’s famous chicken, battered and deep-fried), 2 scoops rice and macaroni salad. $11.75

Finally for my choice, I COULD NOT RESIST trying The Alleys’ “famous” Oxtail Soup!…

Oxtail Soup – The Alley’s famous Oxtail Soup served with Ponzu Sauce and rice. $12.95

It looks like I’m in for a TREAT!  **Rubs hands together briskly with eyes wide open**

Before I continue, did any of you catch the latest episode of Travel Channel’s ‘No Reservations’ with Anthony Bourdain? The episode was titled “Obsessed”, where one segment featured several food bloggers who were almost disturbingly obsessed with food and the lengths they’d go through just for the sake of blogging about it.

Well, I’m going to further validate Bourdain’s point about a food blogger’s obsession, by dissecting this bowl of Oxtail Soup from every conceivable angle I can, just for the sake of blogging about it (which really is to share with you every nitty-gritty detail). So take that Bourdain! lol

Let’s have a closer look…

Broth has a rich brown color. Looks like lotsa’ goodies in there. Let’s do some dredging and see what we’ve got…

Wow, this bugger’s loaded with Oxtails! I see they add fresh Shiitake Mushrooms in it as well. Nice.

Getting the greens in there, we have a several whole leaves of Bok Choy…

You’re probably wondering what that red seed thing is. No it’s not an Ume, it’s a Date…

So far, am I being obsessive enough about this bowl of Oxtail Soup? No? More? OK, here’s the Ponzu sauce and grated ginger it’s accompanied with it…

Notice it has a reddish color with chili flakes and sesame seeds in there. It doesn’t taste like plain Ponzu sauce straight out of the bottle, but a modified version, yet I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what they added to it. Tastes good though!

Add the fresh grated ginger into the Ponzu sauce and the fresh Chinese Parsley into the soup…

Finally, let’s have at it…

If you’re used to eating Oxtail Soup with plain Shoyu and grated Ginger, it may takes a little getting used to the slightly acidic citrus accent of the Ponzu, but once your palate acclimates to it, it turns out complimenting beefy oxtail flavor really well. If you don’t like it, you can always pour shoyu in another bowl and add the ginger to that. I stuck with the Ponzu sauce in order to fully “experience” The Alley’s take on it. And I dig it! No, I LOVE IT!

Let’s try another bigger piece of Oxtail…

While getting this photo, the Oxtail meat was literally starting to fall off the bone and into the Ponzu Sauce, so I had to scoop this up to my mouth after getting the shot to prevent that. Every piece was that falling-apart tender, yet still packed with rich and beefy, marrowy-good Oxtail flavor.

Oh. My. God. This is so divine. These are the kinds of things that make life great. It’s the simple things like an amazing bowl of Oxtail Soup that brings meaning to the day, and this is a great day indeed, my friends. I think I’m crying tears of joy. Someone please pass me the box of Kleenex®.

Let’s sample the Shiitake Mushrooms, Bok Choy and Date…

Nice. Very nice. The whole shiitake mushrooms were slightly firm yet al dente, not wilted and lifeless. Their woodsy and robust meaty flavor paired splendidly with the Ponzu and grated ginger sauce. The mushrooms also broke the monotony as compared to if it were just Oxtails in there like it is at Kapiolani Coffee Shop.

The Date has an interesting, almost meaty flavor profile as presented here in this Oxtail Soup, yet there is some fruityness to it as well, adding that much more dimension to the senses.

Rounding out this super-hearty local soup delicacy are an abundance of peanuts…

Add to that the EXCELLENT broth that’s rich and beef with extra depth thanks to the Shiitake Mushrooms, while tasting complex-yet-simple all at the same time.

Put it all together and we have one truly AWESOME Oxtail Soup at The Alley Restaurant. 5 SPAM Musubi certified!

While I won’t say The Alley’s is “The Best Oxtail Soup” on the island, as that’s always subjective to personal taste, it’s certainly in contention to take the crown. Ultimately, whether you’re an (obsessed) Oxtail Soup fan (as I now am) or just trying this dish for the first time, The Alley’s take on this classic is almost guaranteed to have you walking out (or into the bowling alley area) with a big smile on your face. It did for me!

As for the Loco Moco and Tasty Chicken Mixed Plate, as our fellow diner attested earlier on her plate with “extra gravy on da’ side”, the Loco Moco’s brown gravy at The Alley is WINNAHZ!…

It is indeed “buttery”, but not so much where it’s unpleasantly too rich. Just enough where it’s silky smooth in texture and just melts all over that wonderfully seared ‘n juicy homemade hamburger patty, giving you this explosion of flavor as you shovel the gravy-coated burger and egg into your mouth. Awesome.

I didn’t try the Tasty Chicken (by now you should know I’m not particularly a chicken fan), but my girlfriend explained it as tasting like a slightly sweet and spicy Karaage Chicken, noting that is was very moist and tender inside, not dried-out at all.  It must be great, because this is one of their best-selling entree selections.

I did try the Mac’ Salad…

Perfect. Cool, creamy and simple, while the macaroni is cooked perfectly al dente and seasoned just right. Winnah, winnah, mac-0n-da-side dinnah. Er, lunch that is.

Summing it up, just like our dining neighbor, my girlfriend gives their Loco Moco & Tasty Chicken Mixed Plate 4 SPAM Musubi. Personally I’ll give their brown gravy and mac salad a 5!

The Alley Restaurant also offers fresh made pies and cakes either by the slice or as whole, such as this ‘Mama Mia Chocolate Cake’…

Pumpkin Crunch…

Lemon Crunch…

By the slice…

We passed on dessert on this visit, but I hear their Pecan Tart is AMAZING.

If you’re in a rush, The Alley also has a takeout window outside in front next to the restaurant entrance, where you can order everything that’s available inside to go…

There’s so much more on the menu we need to try, but this first impression has me excited to return for more and more dishes to try. No question you MUST put The Alley Restaurant on your MUST-DO list if you’re obsessed with Oxtail Soup or a fantastic Loco Moco. While if you’re obsessed with bowling, well, there really isn’t many more choices left on Oahu anyways, so looks like you HAVE TO come here!

The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill
Aiea Bowl
99-115 Aiea Heights Dr, Ste 310
Aiea, HI 96701
(808) 486-3499
www.AieaBowl.com

Business Hours (for the bowling Alley):
Sunday thru Thursday 7:00am to 9:30pm
Thursday thru Sunday 7:00am to 12:00am (midnight)

The Tasty Island rating:

(5) Superb. Worthy of repeat visits or purchases. (Broke Da’ Mout’!)

Related links:
• Inside: The Alley at Aiea Bowl – Metromix Honolulu
• The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl segment 1 (cooking presentation) – Hawaiiangrown TV
• The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl segment 2 (cooking presentation) – Hawaiiangrown TV
• The Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill – Yelp user reviews

“Hau’oli Makahiki Hou” means “Happy New Year” in Hawaiian. Also just to let you know if you’re not from Hawaii, “Mele Kalikimaka” means “Merry Christmas” in Hawaiian.

When it comes to food, a popular tradition in Hawaii originally introduced by the Japanese  is the eating of Sashimi on New Year’s Eve, which is believed to bring prosperity in the new year.

Personally I eat sashimi as often as I can. Love the stuff. The highest quality Ahi tuna can sometimes sell for nearly $30 per pound during this high demand season in Hawaii, but thankfully supply was plentiful this year, so the local market prices were a little more reasonable.

Well, sort of. The sashimi on that plate is from top-grade Bigeye Tuna (according to the butcher who sold it to me), which I fortunately scored today (last minute) on New Year’s Eve at the Kapahulu Safeway (of all places). It came at a still-hefty $24.99 per pound, so that .54 lb. portion rang up at $13.49.  I tried to get my sashimi from Ono Seafood on Kapahulu, but when I got in there, found out they were only serving phone orders on the eve, and not walk-ins. Bummers. That’s OK though, the quality of the fresh Ahi I got from Safeway was comparably top-notch, and as long as I got some, I’m happy to hopefully be prosperous in 2010!

Let’s dip a slice in the wasabi shoyu and sample some cuz’…

OMG, once it hits the mouth, it just melts like buttah! So silky-tender and fresh-as-can-be, raw ahi delicious! Yum, yum, yum.

When I eat Sashimi, I always prefer it be served on a bed of finely sliced cabbage, which adds a fantastic crunchy texture contrast to the raw tuna…

Mmmm… so ono! More…

I tell ya’, if I could eat this every day, I would. My mouth surely is feeling the prosperity here. 5 SPAM Musubi, easily. Nothing beats top-grade ahi sashimi. It’s probably one of the simplest, yet best foods in the world.

As for the sauce, I CHOKE da’ wasabi in my (Yamasa brand) shoyu. My late Japanese calabash aunty scolded me once for doing that, saying I’m drowning out the delicateness of the ahi, but ah, nevah mind. No hold ‘em, choke ‘em! lol

Oh, the sashimi paired perfectly with the Primo Beer. I love their new  lager brew. Very smooth. That’s also probably one of the best beer label logo designs ever. Classic.

Well, I just want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year filled with love, happiness, good health and prosperity. Looking forward to sharing a lot more good eats in 2010 here on The Tasty Island.

Kampai!

~ Pomai

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwHmvPPmMto

Blue Ocean Thai Restaurant
By Tony Kawaguchi

A few months ago, a friend of mine had told me about Oahu’s first truly authentic Thai restaurant, Blue Ocean.  I was confused, since I had been eating Thai food in Oahu for a long time, but since she was born and raised in Thailand, I had to believe her.  According to her, all the other Thai restaurants on Oahu actually use Laotian recipes and cooks.  So of course I was anxious to see what the difference would be between other Thai food and Blue Ocean’s “authentic” version.

When we entered Blue Ocean, we were surprised first of all to see how nice it is inside.  The classy tables and place settings were of much higher quality than in other Thai restaurants.  High in style, but not too high in price, thank goodness!

The place was empty, I guess because it was a Monday night, and also because it’s a pretty new restaurant.  I would think in that area the daytime business is better anyway.

It’s just off Ala Moana Blvd. before it turns into Nimitz, across from the old Comp USA.  Lots of business down there, but not much foot traffic since Comp USA closed.

Since we had five people in our party, we chose the largest appetizer, the Blue Ocean Treasure, with traditional Thai chicken satay, steamed tulip, crispy rolls, shrimp in the blanket, Thai dumpling, and Somtum salad.  This was a great sampling for us to start with.  The chicken was tender inside, crispy on the outside, and the perfect amount of juiciness.  Delicious!

The shrimp was great too.  Nice and plump and not chewy, which means it’s fresh!

Warning – the salad is the spiciest thing I have eaten in years.  It has chopped Thai chilis in it, and it will burn your mouth like there is no tomorrow.  Wow!

My father-in-law had lived in Thailand for a while, so he was very excited to try everything to see how authentic it was.  He was pretty impressed with this Tom Yum Soup with shrimp, a traditional Thai lemon grass soup with coconut milk, galangal, mushrooms, and basil.   We all really enjoyed this soup, which was creamy but not heavy, with just enough coconut to make it milky.  For only $10.95, the large bowl was enough for all five of us to have soup with leftovers.  Excellent soup with a lot of shrimp, my father-in-law was pleased!

Next came the Shrimp Pad Thai for $12.95.  Now what I’m about to say could get me in a lot of trouble.  I’m putting my credibility on the line, but here goes – This is the BEST Pad Thai I have EVER had in my life!

It’s the perfect soft melt in your mouth goodness you hope for from Pad Thai, without the heaviness, and without too much saltiness.  Sweeter than other Pad Thai, and a lot more tender. The noodles are cooked to perfection, as soft as I’ve ever had.  I actually ordered an extra plate of it to bring home to my neighbors, because I wanted them to try it.  If you like Pad Thai, you must go try it at Blue Ocean.  Amazing!

This is the Pineapple fried rice with chicken for $10.95.  It’s made with jasmine rice, pineapples, eggs, onion, snow peas, carrots, and broccoli.  It has a lighter flavor than Japanese or Hawaiian style fried rice, which probably means way less shoyu.  The flavor is still marvelous, which is why this was my father in law’s favorite dish.  Try it with some of their traditional Thai spices (next pic) and you can make some great combinations.

Everything at Blue Ocean seems to be prepared with a little less oil and butter than the Thai food I’m used to, which may be part of what makes it so great. You can hide mediocre cooking with lots of butter, but to make something taste great without a ton of heavy sauces and over salting takes a lot of skill.  The cooks here have some serious skills.

You can’t eat Thai food without eating curry, so we ordered the Red Curry with chicken for $10.95. Again a pretty large portion that could feed a few people, and a spicy full flavor that was rich and tangy at the same time. Prepared with green beans, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, and jasmine rice, it’s a wonderful curry that is a perfect Thai staple.

Our server recommended our final dish, the Thai Basil and Chili with beef for $10.95.  With fried onions, green beans, and basil chili sauce, it was my least favorite dish, but still a solid effort.  Not as interesting or as creative as their other dishes, but good none-the-less.

The service was friendly, and the atmosphere was higher class than we expected, so combined with the fantastic food, we were all very pleased with Blue Ocean Thai.  In my humble opinion, it may be the best Thai food on Oahu.

5 Spam Musubi Rating!

Blue Ocean Thai Restaurant
327 Keawe St. (next to the former Comp USA)
Honolulu, Hawaii

Tel. 585-9545
www.BlueOceanThai.com

The Tasty Island Rating:

(5) Superb. Worthy of repeat visits or purchases. (Broke Da’ Mout’!)

Related links:
• Blue Ocean Thai Restaurant – Honolulu Star Bulletin
• Blue Ocean Thai Restaurant – Yelp user review

Pop an extra blood pressure and/or statin pill, because it’s that time again to review yet another brand of island style Portuguese Sausage. This time from the valley isle of Maui, we have Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand Portuguese Sausage.

I picked these up directly from Ah Fook’s Supermarket in Kahului…

…which I believe is the only place you can get them. I didn’t see them in any of the Maui Foodland or Star Market locations.

As you see, they have both HOT and MILD. Here’s how they look uncooked out of the package…

Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand Portuguese Sausage: Hot on the left, mild on the right

I notice the neighbor island manufacturers make their sausages in this U-shape rack-hanging style, while most of the Oahu manufacturers make their sausages in a straight tube shape. See my infamous Great Portuguese Sausage Shootout to see what I’m talking about.

Here they are uncooked and sliced so you can see the marbling…

Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand Portuguese Sausage: Hot on the left, mild on the right

Fry ‘em up in a little bit of oil and serve…

Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand Portuguese Sausage: Hot on the left, mild on the right, with an Ume Nori Musubi and a slice of Maui’s Uradomo Farms Spiced Takuan

An Ume Nori Musubi works perfectly as an accompaniment to the salty, spicy, meaty sausage. Notice I also include my usual Takuan, which matches beautifully with the Portuguese Sausage – a trick I learned from the mama sans at the late Tropic Fish & Vegatable Center in Ward Farmers Market.

First let’s try the mild…

Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand Mild Portuguese Sausage

Considerably salty in a good way. Although the ingredients list sugar in it, I couldn’t quite detect any sweet going on. At least, not nearly as much as my other favorite, Purity brand. Certainly smokey, but not overpowering. Kinda’ “beefy” even though there’s no beef in it, probaby due to the smoke accent. The pork seems to be more in whole chunks than ground up. Plenty of fat marbling for that all-important flavor punch. The casing also seems natural, not the collagen stuff, although I’m not sure, as it doesn’t specify on the ingredients listing.

To sum it up, it tastes more like home-made Portuguese Sausage; da’ ‘kine your uncle with the smoke house on the Big Island would send you every Christmas as a gift. It has that kind of backyard style flavor.

Do I like it? I LOVE IT. Easily at the top, sharing that spot with my other favorite, Purity, and Franks from the Big Island. Solid 5 SPAM Musubi for Ah Fook’s Mild Portuguese Sausage.

Now let’s sample da’ HOT ones…

Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand Hot Portuguese Sausage

Ooh man, it’s certainly HOT. Although not quite “Hurry! Get me a glass of water NOW!” hot,  it’s definitely got some kick. Other than that, it has all the same attributes I described of the mild version. Which means this one also gets a solid 5 SPAM Musubi rating.

So next time you visit Maui, make sure to stop by Ah Fook’s Supermarket in Kahului and pick up a few packages of their No-Ka-Oi Brand Portuguese Sausage to bring home. In the now crowded arena of island style Portuguese Sausages , theirs is “no ka oi” (number one best) indeed!

What? Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand Hot and Mild Portuguese Sausage
Where did you buy it and how much did it cost? Ah Fook’s Supermarket in Kahului, Maui. $2.49 per 7 oz. package
Big Shaka to: Perfect blend of salt and other seasonings. Perfect accent of smoke flavor. Perfect amount of pork fat marbling. Solid chunks of seasoned pork. Casing has a pleasing, natural texture.  AMAZING with Maui’s Uradomo Farms’ Takuan.
No shaka to: Currently not available at Oahu retailers (to the best of my knowledge)
The Tasty Island rating: 5 SPAM Musubi

Related links:
• The Great Portuguese Sausage Shootout – The Tasty Island

P.S. While I was at it, I tried making Kinpira Gobo with Portuguese Sausage from Jean Hee’s most excellent local cook book series titled ‘Best of the Best Hawaii Recipes’.

Here’s how it turned out….

Kinpira Gobo with Portuguese Sausage, featuring Ah Fook’s No-Ka-Oi Brand, served with Takuan and an Ume Nori Musubi

Here’s the recipe:

Kinpira Gobo with Portuguese Sausage
• 1/2 pound gobo, scraped clean, slivered and soaked in water
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp, minced
• 1/2 cup Portuguese sausage, cubed
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• dash pepper

Heat oil and saute shrimp. Drain gobo and add shrimp; stir-fry 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and continue cooking over medium heat until sauce is absorbed.

Variation: Slivered carrots may be added for color.

So I followed this recipe to the “T” (except I used the frozen packaged, precut Gobo and Carrots) and it turned out pretty good, but I think it calls for too much shoyu (1/4 cup), as it was kinda’ salty and over-marinaded with that flavor. At least with the Yamasa brand shoyu I used. If you make this, I’d recommend using less shoyu – like say about 1/8 cup – or perhaps using a more mild shoyu like Aloha’s low sodium stuff. Other than that, the Portuguese Sausage certainly brings plenty of complimentary flavor to the Kinpira Gobo party, as does the subtle accent of the minced dried shrimp (Opai).

Wind back the clock to the 1970′s and 80′s in Honolulu, and you probably remember the La Ronde Revolving Restaurant – later renamed Windows of Hawaii – atop the Ala Moana Office Building.

What’s an interesting “Wikipedia fact” about La Ronde, is that it was the United States’ first revolving restaurant, and the second of its type in the world. Add to that, the fact that Ala Moana Shopping Center right below it was the United States’ largest shopping center at the time it was built, and that’s quite some compounded bragging rights for the city of Honolulu’s history.  Ala Moana still remains as the world’s largest open air shopping center.

While the La Ronde’s UFO disc-shaped structure above the building is still there today, it’s since been converted to a private office space that’s currently vacant (if you’re interested in movin’ in, give them a call!)  The panoramic view from inside is still there as well, just sans the 360º rotational floor, thanks to them unifying it by welding it to the stationary outer structure due to the mechanism being in disrepair. This according to someone representing building management who I recently spoke with.

Since La Ronde, revolving restaurants have taken off all over the world (no pun intended), including another one right here in Waikiki, aptly named Top of Waikiki, which is where we enjoyed dinner at a few evenings ago.

The Top of Waikiki’s rotating restaurant interior clocks in at a casual, barely noticeable one revolution per hour, providing a 360º panoramic view of Waikiki and the surrounding city of Honolulu from high above on the 18th >>> 21st floor of the Waikiki Business Plaza, which is located smack in the center of Waikiki off Seaside and Kalakaua avenue.

From the restaurant’s lofty vantage point, at the 6 o’clock position of the rotation (assuming 12 o’clock is facing Mauka – towards the mountains) as you look towards the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, you can see the surf roll in on Waikiki beach…

Top of Waikiki, overlooking Royal Hawaiian Hotel (in pink), with the Sheraton Waikiki on the right and Waikiki beach

At the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock position you get a birds eye view up and down bustling Kalakaua avenue…

and at 12 o’clock you get a peripheral view of manoa and the surrounding Tantalus and St. Louis Heights. When the sun sets, the city lights surrounding you provides a romantic backdrop to the low-lit, elegant ambiance inside the restaurant.

This panoramic mural on the wall in the Top of Waikiki’s entrance area gives you a good idea of the makai (seaside) view you’ll be enjoying from the restaurant’s giant windows when the sun is still up…

That’s pretty much what you’ll see from the Diamond Head to Ewa view from the Top of Waikiki, provided you arrive before sundown

Yet the Top of Waikiki isn’t just about a pretty view, but fantastic food as well.

According to Executive Chef Sean Priester, he regards his cuisine as being a fusion of Italian, Hawaiian, Thai and southern cooking. very interesting. Especially the southern part, as you soon see in one of the dishes we’ve tried.

Top of Waikiki Executive Chef Sean Priester

Before we get to the menu, let’s look around inside the restaurant, starting with the waiting area in front…

Since it was the day after Halloween on the evening of our visit, we were greeted at the door by this creepy talking butler…

This is the hallway that leads to the revolving restaurant section…

Here we are inside the revolving restaurant…

The restaurant seating is on two tier levels, so every table in the house has a view out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Here’s the tables on the second tier level…

The bar occupies the revolving center…

While the kitchen is a stairway below on the fixed part at the top of the building, behind the restaurant lobby..

Here you see where the revolving floor meets the fixed exterior of the cylinder disc-shaped structure….

You should have a good idea now how the place is laid out. So let’s eat!

Top of Waikiki draws you up to the top and excites your appetite from the moment you enter the building from Kalakaua avenue below…

These are lightbox image ads inside the elevator…

Hungry yet? Good, me too! Let’s check out the menu…

For the life of me, I missed a shot of the beef and pork page. Sorry about that. Not to fret, as you can see that part of their menu on their website here. Usually the menu on restaurant websites don’t have EVERYTHING they serve, which is why I like to get photos of the actual menu as you see here.

The following dishes are a combination of two recent visits, with one being this past Sunday, the day after Halloween, and the other dishes from a visit a few months ago.

Getting to it, our meal begins with the complimentary house bread…

If you’re wondering whether that’s butter melted on it, YES. A sweet Date Butter to be exact. Here’s how the bread looks cut apart…

OMG, this dinner bread is EXCELLENT. So good, you might be tempted to ask your server if they could pack some for you to take home. It has a firm crust, with a nice chewy, yet flaky texture as if you mixed sourdough bread with a biscuit. Decadently buttery and mildy sweet along with a mild hint of salt. YUM. Oddly, they serve it on individual plates per guest instead of being kept centrally warm in a cloth-lined basket. Anyhow, be careful with these, as you could easily fill yourself up eating this delicious bread before even getting to the first course.

Speaking of first course, we couldn’t resist the Spicy Tuna and Kona Kampachi Sashimi…

Top of Waikiki: Spicy Tuna and Kona Kampachi Sashimi with Kahuku Sea Asparagus Salad – Sweet and Sour Fennel, Wasabi Avocado Citronette, Maui Onion and Local Citrus, Sea Salt and Togarashi, $16

We also tried the Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Salsa and Cold Soba…

Top of Waikiki: Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Salsa and Cold Soba – Sweet Chili and Macadamia Nut Crusted Prawns served with Pineapple Reduction and Chilled Soba Noodle Salad, $11

Those were from our previous visit. On this most recent visit we ordered these two appetizers…

Top of Waikiki: Nachos – Hand-cut Tortilla Chips, Sweet Corn, Kukui Sausage Co. Chorizo, Asiago Sweet Corn Cream, Fresh Tomato and Scallions, $9

Top of Waikiki: “The Original” Hawaiian Sliders – Three Mini Burgers of Fois Gras, Duck Pistachio Cognac Pate blended with Our House Ground Beef, Pear Pineapple Relish, Camembert Cheese on a Prefiterole with Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries, $16

Going back to our previous visit, for the main course we ordered the Niman Ranch BBQ Pork Loin Chop with Espresso Glaze…

Top of Waikiki: Niman Ranch BBQ Pork Loin Chop with Espresso Glaze and Cenica Farms Fresh Collard Greens – ‘Berkshire, Duroc and Chester Whites’ this Blend of Breeds create an All-Natural Pork Chop of Superior Marbling and Flavors. Served  Charbroiled with Roast Cornbread, Apple Butter and Apple-Jicima Slaw. $36

Top of Waikiki: Hawaiian Snapper Sous-Vide-Chinese Style with Szechuan Seafood Udon (Chef’s Choice) – Poached with Fresh Ginger, Cilantro and Scallions and Seared with Hot Sesame Oil, Served with Day Boat Scallops, Spicy Crab Udon, Lup Cheong and Shomeji Mushroom, Tokyo Negi in a Bonito Consomme. $35

Again, those were from our previous visit, with these main dishes from our most recent…

Top of Waikiki: Seafood Pasta – Crab and Ulu Ravioli, Bacon Herb Crusted Day Boat Scallops with Spaghetti Squash and Celery Cream Sauce, Pan-Roast Prawns with Lemon Gastrique Butter. $35

Top of Waikiki: 16 oz. Grilled Roasted Ribeye Steak with Maple Togarashi Bacon – Soy Balsamic Glaze, Patatas Gravas and Wasabi Aioli. $38

Two of us on the table ordered the same dish…

Top of Waikiki: 16 oz. Grilled Roasted Ribeye Steak with Maple Togarashi Bacon – Soy Balsamic Glaze, Patatas Gravas and Wasabi Aioli. $38

Surf ‘n turf…

Top of Waikik: Steak & Shrimp – Sirloin Flap Bistro Style Pan-Roasted Steak with Red Wine Mushroom Demi Glace & Truffle Pommes Puree. Crispy Miso Shrimp with Wonton Pasta, Fresh Tomato & Edamame-Basil Pesto. Served Medium-Rare. $35

Back to the previous visit, we finished the meal off with these two desserts…

Top of Waikiki: Candy Bar – Flourless Chocolate Cake Layers, Candied Ginger, Toffee and Macadamia Nuts, Coated with a Crispy Ganache with Creme Anglaise, Vanilla Gelato and Caramel. $10

Top of Waikiki: Hawaiian “Creamsicle” Panna Cotta with Fresh Island Fruit – Local Citrus Juices in a Cool Italian Custard & Hawaiian Honey with Papaya, Citrus & Kula Strawberries and Raspberries, $6

Then on our most recent visit, while everyone was quite full, we did make room sharing this…

Top of Waikiki: Tiramisu Cheese Cake – Chocolate, Coffee Liquor, Espresso and Rum are Marbled Throughout Our New York Cheesecake with an Ammaretti-Graham Crust. Served with Bananas Foster – Rum-Flavored Caramel Sauce with Fresh Bananas. $9

Libations included a glass of Cabernet Souvignon (I can’t remember which label) and a couple of Tropical Drinks…

Top of Waikiki: Green Flash – A Refreshing Burst of Bombay Gin, Midori, Tequila, Sweet & Sour and Sprite. $8.75. Also Cabernet Souvignon, $9

Top of Waikiki: Hale O’Mau – The Big Kahuna of Drinks! Bacardi Superior, Galiano, Peach Schnapps, Sour and Pineapple Juice, $8.75

My Lord, just the descriptions alone has me licking my chops!

But the proof is in the pudding, so let’s go over how everything tasted, starting with a closer look at the “Hawaiian Original” Sliders…

Top of Waikiki: “The Original” Hawaiian Sliders – Three Mini Burgers of Fois Gras, Duck Pistachio Cognac Pate blended with Our House Ground Beef, Pear Pineapple Relish, Camembert Cheese on a Prefiterole with Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries

Notice the generous slice of seared Fois Gras topping the Pate-infused beef patty.

Here it is in assembled form…

Top of Waikiki: “The Original” Hawaiian Sliders – Three Mini Burgers of Fois Gras, Duck Pistachio Cognac Pate blended with Our House Ground Beef, Pear Pineapple Relish, Camembert Cheese on a Prefiterole with Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries.

Even a delicate little morsel such as this couldn’t evade the knife for a cross cut view…

Top of Waikiki: “The Original” Hawaiian Sliders – Three Mini Burgers of Fois Gras, Duck Pistachio Cognac Pate blended with Our House Ground Beef, Pear Pineapple Relish, Camembert Cheese on a Prefiterole with Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries.

How was this slider? Very, very rich, and of course, very unique. Never tasted a burger like it before for obvious reasons. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had a glass of Red Wine (I had a tropical drink) to cut the fattiness of it. I’m not a Fois Gras or liver/pate fan, so this wasn’t my personal favorite, although others on the table really enjoyed it. For me, I give it a 2 SPAM Musubi, yet others thought of more like 3 and 4. The Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries were also “interesting” and a nice side attraction, but nothing I’d order a whole plate of on its own.

The Nachos were also just OK for me, but far from the best I’ve ever had. I didn’t find the Chorizo complimented the tortilla chips as much as I had hoped, while I would have preferred the whole thing be smothered in some type of exotic melted cheese blend; not the sweet corn cream they apply. That kind of almost made it taste like I was eating a cream corn soup with tortilla chips on top. It was still delicious, don’t get me wrong, just not “Nacho-ee” if you will. With that, I’m going with 2 SPAM Musubi for their Nachos.

The Spicy Ahi and Kona Kampachi was AWESOME of course. Loved the incorporation of the Kahuku Sea Asparagus. You may remember a while ago I did a presentation of Kahuku Sea Asparagus Poke, which was dynamite as well. Anyhow, the Spicy Ahi and Kona Kampachi was as fresh and like-buttah tender as can be, while the simple seasoning of sea salt and Togarashi (japanese chili pepper flakes) brought out the flavors perfectly without overpowering it. Solid 5 SPAM Musubi for this app.

The Coconut Shrimp with the Cold Soba Noodles were great as well. I can’t remember every nuance to explain here, but I do remember raving about it as we ate it. For that I’ll give it an “IIRC” 4 SPAM Musubi. lol

Moving on to the main courses, we had that BBQ Pork Loin Chop, where you notice Chef Priester throws in his southern roots, plating it with Corn Bread as the “starch”…

Top of Waikiki: Niman Ranch BBQ Pork Loin Chop with Espresso Glaze and Cenica Farms Fresh Collard Greens – ‘Berkshire, Duroc and Chester Whites’ this Blend of Breeds create an All-Natural Pork Chop of Superior Marbling and Flavors. Served  Charbroiled with Roast Cornbread, Apple Butter and Apple-Jicima Slaw.

All I have to say is this is absolutely GENIUS! The Espresso Glazed Pork Chop matched PERFECTLY with the slightly sweet, very buttery cornbread. Just awesome.

Here we cut away at this mixed breed pork chop, finding it perfectly seared on the outside, while being wonderfully tender and juicy inside…

Top of Waikiki: Niman Ranch BBQ Pork Loin Chop with Espresso Glaze and Cenica Farms Fresh Collard Greens – ‘Berkshire, Duroc and Chester Whites’ this Blend of Breeds create an All-Natural Pork Chop of Superior Marbling and Flavors. Served  Charbroiled with Roast Cornbread, Apple Butter and Apple-Jicima Slaw.

The Apple-Jicima Slaw was also absolutely delicious, crispy and refreshing, while the collard greens really enhanced that Southern feel to the dish.

I’m tellin’ ya’, you haven’t had a Pork Chop until you come to Top of Waikiki and have Chef Sean Priester’s Niman Ranch BBQ Pork Loin Chop with Espresso Glaze and Cenica Farms Fresh Collard Greens. This is up there as being one of the best Pork Chop I’ve ever had. VERY SOLID 5 SPAM MUSUBI for this dish. Highly, highly recommended.

Then we have that Ribeye Steak…

Top of Waikiki: 16 oz. Grilled Roasted Ribeye Steak with Maple Togarashi Bacon – Soy Balsamic Glaze, Patatas Gravas and Wasabi Aioli

You can choose several side dishes to go along with your steak, including Escalivada/Mushroom Escabeche, Potatoes – Au Gratin, Puree or Sweet Fries or Grilled Asparagus.

To which here we have the Potatoes Au Gratin…

Top of Waikiki: Potatoes – Au Gratin. $6

This Potatoes Au Gratin was also AWESOME. Delicate, fork-tender layers of potato and cheese, potato and cheese, potato and cheese and seasoned wonderfully, whatever is they use. This is another very solid 5 SPAM Musubi item, and it’s just a side dish! Yet I could make a meal out of this alone in a larger portion… it’s that good. Highly recommended.

Back to that massive 16 oz. (that would be ONE POUND) boneless grilled Ribeye, OMG. Another solid 5 SPAM Musubi dish. The Soy Balsamic Glaze with it’s slightly sweet, slightly acidic twang really brought out the flavor of the char-grilled, nicely marbled beef ribeye. The only thing I didn’t care for was the Wasabi Aioli or the Maple Togarashi Bacon, which I didn’t find complimented the Ribeye at all. Still, the Ribeye alone was absolutely STELLAR, making this dish still worthy of 5 SPAM Musubi.

Then there was that Seafood Pasta dish…

Top of Waikiki: Seafood Pasta – Crab and Ulu Ravioli, Bacon Herb Crusted Day Boat Scallops with Spaghetti Squash and Celery Cream Sauce, Pan-Roast Prawns with Lemon Gastrique Butter

The selling point for this dish was the mention that it had Ulu in it. That’s quite unusual. FYI, Ulu is breadfruit that’s very popular in Samoa. The prawns were very sweet and so were the day boat scallops. While the Celery Cream Sauce was on the subtle side, while I couldn’t really taste the crab in the ravioli due the sauce, even though that was subtle. Overall I’d give this one a very delicious 3 SPAM Musubi.

Then there was the Steak and Shrimp…

Top of Waikiki: Steak & Shrimp – Sirloin Flap Bistro Style Pan-Roasted Steak with Red Wine Mushroom Demi Glace & Truffle Pommes Puree. Crispy Miso Shrimp with Wonton Pasta, Fresh Tomato & Edamame-Basil Pesto. Served Medium-Rare

What I’d have to say about this dish is that there’s too much going on, so your palate becomes confused. While the ingredients were all top quality and the cooking and seasoning executed perfectly, they need to simplify it a little more. I think it was the the Edamame-Basil Pesto that kinda’ clashed with Red Wine Mushroom Demi Glace the flap steak was prepared with…

Top of Waikiki: Steak & Shrimp – Sirloin Flap Bistro Style Pan-Roasted Steak with Red Wine Mushroom Demi Glace & Truffle Pommes Puree. Crispy Miso Shrimp with Wonton Pasta, Fresh Tomato & Edamame-Basil Pesto. Served Medium-Rare

I must say though, the flap steak was mighty tender and fantastic on its own terms. I just didn’t care for eating some of that, than following up with that pesto sauce covering the wontons and shrimp. Those alone worked alone on its own term, but didn’t work following vice versa. For that I’ll still give 2 SPAM Musubi.

Rounding out our tasting of the main courses, we had the Hawaiian Snapper and Scallops…

Top of Waikiki: Hawaiian Snapper Sous-Vide-Chinese Style with Szechuan Seafood Udon (Chef’s Choice) – Poached with Fresh Ginger, Cilantro and Scallions and Seared with Hot Sesame Oil, Served with Day Boat Scallops, Spicy Crab Udon, Lup Cheong and Shomeji Mushroom, Tokyo Negi in a Bonito Consomme.

As you can see, the Snapper was cut-with-a-fork tender, moist and delicious. So were the scallops…

Since this dish was consumed a few months ago, again I can’t retell every nuance of the flavors, yet the description should give you an idea how it all came together. With that, I’ll give it another “IIRC”, very solid 4 SPAM Musubi rating.

Finally, the desserts, which I’m giving a 5 SPAM Musubi to the Hawaiian “Creamsicle” Panna Cotta…

Top of Waikiki: Hawaiian “Creamsicle” Panna Cotta with Fresh Island Fruit – Local Citrus Juices in a Cool Italian Custard & Hawaiian Honey with Papaya, Citrus & Kula Strawberries and Raspberries

The delicate Italian Custard was so delicious when combined wiht the honey and fresh fruits floating above it. YUM-OH. This dessert is highly recommended.

The Tiramisu Cheesecake with Bananas Foster was also stellar. Come on, just read the description and you know that’s GOTTA’ be scrumptious. It was. A very solid 4 SPAM Musubi.

Finally, the Candy Bar with the Vanilla Gelato and Candied Mac’ Nuts was yet another winner, garnering yet again another “IIRC” 4 SPAM Musubi.

Summing it up, Top of Waikiki is a great choice for entertaining out-of-town guests or for any special occasion. You have the novelty of it being revolving restaurant for one, and with that the spectacular view that comes with it. Marrying beautifully with that spectacular view is the wonderful Southern-meets-Italian -meets-Pacific Rim Cuisine offered by Chef Priester and staff. The service is great, and the restaurant decor is clean, classy and elegant.

On your next visit to Waikiki, put the Top of Waikiki restaurant at the top of your dining out list. Highly, highly recommended!

Top of Waikiki
A Revolution in Cuisine
Waikiki Business Plaza
2270 Kalakaua Avenue 18th Floor
923-3877
www.TopofWaikiki.com

The Tasty Island rating:

(5) Superb. Worthy of repeat visits or purchases. (Broke Da’ Mout’!)

Related links:
• Top of Waikiki – Yelp user reviews
• Chef puts longtime Waikiki restaurant back on top – Metromix

P.S. As I mentioned earlier, our most recent visit to the Top of Waikiki was this past Sunday, the day after Halloween, making Halloween fall on a Saturday this year, as you know. So I took a bunch of pictures of folks in costume walking around Waikiki this past Halloween night. Check out my photo gallery of it here…

Note: Click on the arrow(s) on the sides of each page to get to the next gallery page. There are 17 pages total.

Diner E’s recent Pan de Sal Burger “invention-turned-enlightenment”  concept had him once again experimenting this novel east-meets-west idea.

In this take he decided to try using fried chicken, while continuing to use the simply brilliant slaw-like topping of roughly-chopped fresh, raw cabbage and Best Food’s Mayonnaise…

(Valerio’s) wheat Pan de Sal Fried Chicken Sandwich -- with fresh chopped cabbage (vs. lettuce) and Best Foods Mayo’ topping

The chopped cabbage and Best Food’s Mayo’ topping blend makes all the difference in the world, while sealing the deal is the addition of this interesting and fitting Filipino twist, the addition of a drizzle or two of Banana “ketchup” sauce…

(Valerio’s) wheat Pan de Sal Fried Chicken Sandwich -- with fresh chopped cabbage (vs. lettuce) and Best Foods Mayo’ topping and Jaffron Banana “ketchup” sauce

Particularly, the ideal Banana “ketchup” Sauce of choice according to P.I. native Diner C is this  brand by Jufran…

Juffran Banana Sauce (ketchup), less than $1.00 in most supermarkets

Here’s a package of Valerio’s  Pan de Sal rolls, where in this case it’s the healthier whole wheat variety…

Wrapping this up, here we have a cross-cut look at Diner E’s Pan de Sal Fried Chicken Sandwich with Filipino Banana Ketchup/sauce invention…

Diner E invents: Valerio’s Pan de Sal Fried Chicken Sandwich topped with fresh chopped cabbage, Best Food’s Mayo’ and Filipino Banana Ketchup/sauce topping.

Summing it up, Diner E and yours truly gives his OTHER new Pan de Sal creation here a very SOLID 3 SPAM Musubi. Potential four or five if the fried chicken was deep-fried-fresh. Make that, GAURANZ.

On that note, here’s another one of them Burger Machine commercials…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hCnOS-als4

Ummm, sarap sarap!
______________________________________________________________

This next dish is up there in the top three most sought-after queries searched for on this site, which would be Mechado Filipino Beef Stew…

Mechado, as prepared by Diner C

Mechado is very similar to your typical tomato-based “Hawaiian” beef stew, with the difference being that it gets a significant contribution of its core flavor from the red bell peppers, which you can readily see here.

The beef shortbribs are fall-apart tender, while the low-level gravy is just enough to provide plenty of moisture and shoyu, garlic and red pepper-infused flavor. Umm. SARAP SARAP! (I just learned that word from Diner C, which translates to REALLY, REALLY DELICIOUS in Tagalog).

I’ll feature a retake demonstration of the recipe in a future installment, done next time (unlike the last time), 100% in accordance to Diner C’s method. My take was good, but hers rocks! 5-SPAM Musubi.

Related links:
• Pan De Sal Burger -- The Tasty Island
• Mechado Filipino Beef Stew -- The Tasty Island

Town
By Tony Kawaguchi

Some food you just eat. Some food you remember.  You may have driven by “Town” in Kaimuki without ever noticing it, but if you taste their locally focused fare just once, you’ll never forget it.  Their menu boasts, “’Local first, organic whenever possible, with Aloha always.”  The local farm bent blends sort of unexpectedly with the stainless steel tables and concrete floors, which give the smallish restaurant a contemporary feel.

One look at the menu and you can tell this is a serious foodie haven, as they list every major ingredient in every dish.  It reads almost like a recipe list, and the server even told us that their avocados were from a tree in Palolo, and the oranges from one in Kaimuki.  Now that’s local.

We began with drinks, a nice red wine, Rojo ‘granjoro’ garnacha ‘07 from Spain, and two Ciao bellas – Nardini grappa. Nardini amaro. Lime juice.  Bitters. I’m not sure what “bitters” actually were used, but yes, they were bitter, with an almost whisky like taste.

Each table receives a complementary plate of Focaccia Bread, butter, and olives, drizzled in sweet olive oil.  Crispy outer bread with fluffy centers. A great start for any meal, and our expectations were now very high.

Our first appetizer was a grilled lamb sausage with farro tabouleh, and cucumber raita for $8.  The four small lamb cuts were spicy, while the raita cooled it off just right. It had a very Mediterranean feel, even though they were calling it Raita, which of course is Indian.  My friend gave it a very high 9 of 10, and having lived in Greece for a few years, he really loved this dish.

We ordered two salads, beginning with this baby arugula from Ma’o with grilled beets. Kaimuki Orange, pecans, ricotta salata for $8.50.  It was not over-dressed as many salads are, and we loved how fresh the local greens were. It had a slightly more peppery taste than store-bought arugula.

Our other salad was a combination of organic lettuces from Ma’o, Palolo Avocado, sweet onion, radish, and buttermilk dressing for $8.50.  Probably the crispiest lettuce I have ever eaten; like a potato chip made of lettuce. Superb.

This ahi tartare starters for $14 was fabulous and so clever.  Ahi on a risotto cake?   Inventive was the word we came up with.  The presentation was attractive, yet simple… maybe too simple? The flavors really worked together without dominating the fish too much. The only downside is we thought the 3-medallion serving was a little too small in size for the price.

After our starters and salads the server reset our table as all great restaurants do.  Then our first main course was this colorful fried Menpachi.  It had meyer lemon ponzu and a side of rice that had been baked I think. $8.50. The fish was soft – almost too flakey, falling apart before it could be eaten, with beautiful presentation.  Maybe slightly overdone. Too soft?  Pretty good with a nice balanced sauce. 8 of 10.

Then we tried the softest gnocchi any of us had ever tasted, made with local pumpkin, sage, and brown butter for $16. To say it was very soft doesn’t do it justice. It was melt-in-your-mouth soft like a slice of warm chocolate, but with a fabulous light tasting butter sauce.  I usually think of gnocchi as kind of firm, almost gummy, but this was softer than any in comparison we could come up with.  Excellent.

The pan-roasted chicken came next, with torn bread, tatsoi, grapes, and pancetta for $23.50. The grapes were the highlight of this dish, as they added a great, almost spicy kick to the taste of the chicken, which was good but not as great as some of the other things we ordered.

We ordered the polenta side with our meal; it was buttery but light with some flavor but only a little bit of spices.  A perfect alternative to plain rice, but with more taste.  Creamy, almost like very thoroughly mashed potatoes, but not as heavy.

Another side: mixed Hamakua mushrooms, tender with a drizzle of oil and butter.

Town is not cheap.  The four of us tallied up a $150 bill, including only 3 drinks.  But it’s also not just regular food that you eat and forget.  It’s the kind of meal in which you learn things about food, cooking, and combining flavors with textures you don’t expect.

The service was excellent, and we enjoyed our friendly server’s explanation of each dish and the source of the ingredients.  Somehow it was more enjoyable eating food that we knew had been grown just a few miles away.

Town is a great special occasion meal, and you can probably eat there on a regular basis for a lot less money than we did, as we were trying as many different plates as possible.  It’s a great foodie place that I’ll remember for a long time, one I look forward to enjoying again.

5 SPAM Musubi. Broke Da’ Mout’!

~ Tony
www.AlohaTony.com

Town
3435 Wai’alae Ave.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
Tel. 735-5900
www.TownKaimuki.com

The Tasty Island guest blogger rating:

(5) Superb. Worthy of repeat visits or purchases. (Broke Da’ Mout’!)

Related links:
• Town – Yelp user reviews
• Food in the Motherland – My Trip to Japan – By Tasty Island guest blogger Tony Kawaguchi