The Social Honolulu Eatery & Bar – Honolulu, HI

I have been wanting to try The Social Honolulu Eatery & Bar for a while now. I have this thing about trying uni pasta at various restaurants, I don’t know what the deal is because when I eat it…I don’t even love it. I just want to love it so I always try it. Also, like I mentioned in a previous post, I’m not big on bars but we came here so early that we were one of the only customers in the place. The waiter was good because he was super chill and not in our face about anything. Here is what we had!

Maui Mule • $10.00

pau maui vodka, passion fruit puree and ginger beer

This was my drink and it was gooood. I love myself a good mule drink, Maui style? I’m there.

Truffle Parmesan Fries (Happy Hour) • $7.00

fries tossed in truffle oil, parmesan cheese and house seasoning

Oh yum. These fries were great, anything tossed in truffle oil is good in my book. I really enjoyed this.

Fried Calamari • $7.00

crispy fried calamari sticks served with cocktail sauce

Okay, we over-ordered. By this point, I wanted to save room for my pasta. What you see is right, little baby calamari served up on skewers. Was good! Just shouldn’t have gotten two appetizers…

Fried Pork Chops • $18.00

breaded and deep fried pork shops topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions

Not my dish but it seemed to be enjoyed!

Uni Mentaiko Pasta • $16.00

our signature pasta made with spaghetti, uni, and mentaiko cream sauce topped with ikura and kizami nori

This was a good pasta! I love both uni and mentaiko….and the ikura was a nice touch! Can’t really taste the uni, it’s mostly melted into the sauce. I enjoyed it but I think as an entree, it’s just too rich on it’s own. Maybe it’s a good entree to order and share….order a protein on the side to share too…something to vary things up!

Chingu – Honolulu, HI

I’m not big on the bar scene, but it’s hard to resist some bars because they seem to serve up some of the most delicious looking grub! I went to two bars in May, that’s pretty big for me. But not to worry, I am not a bar fly by any means…we have gone when they open at 5. We have literally been the only customers in the bar and we basically eat the food…haha. Probably their worst type of customer, but hey, we’re still paying customers! The first bar I’m going to feature is Chingu, brand new place that serves up some delicious Korean food and soju concoctions! There was a bit of confusion when we walked in, a bunch of workers who seemed to point to the table right next to the bar…but now that I reflect back, I think they were saying we could sit anywhere. I would have totally sat in the corner if I had known that….not smack dab in the middle fronting their area. *facepalm*

Chingu = friend

Fresh Fruit Cocktail Soju (Strawberry Lemonade) • $20.00

Big portion! And yes, the soju is not weak in this drink so it’s a pretty good price. I know $20 sounds like a lot but you’re getting a lot of drink for it. At first, I enjoyed the lemon and strawberry pulp in the drink…signals the freshness. After a while, I wanted a non-chunky drink…haha.

Kalbi • $23.00

48 hour marinated/flame grilled

Hmm…didn’t realize we paid $23 for this. Could I tell this dish was 48 hour marinated? Is that even a difficult step to do? I think the kalbi was good, but it’s the same taste and quality you get from any Korean food joint.

Dukk Bokki • $15.00

Udon/Fried Eggs/Fish Cakes

Hmmm…this dish was pretty good! The sauce was a bit spicy but also sweet. I liked the fried eggs on top and the large pieces of fish cake. Biggest complaint? The udon noodles! The noodles were completely broken and they could have given more noodles, I mean aren’t the udon noodles the cheapest part of the dish?

Chicken n Cheese • $22.00

Thai Gochujang Glaze/Mozzarella Cheese

This is the dish that I wanted to come here for. If you go to their Yelp page, it’s like picture after picture of this dish. Koreans have an obsession with cheese in their dishes and I just really really really wanted to dip some of this spicy chicken into the velvety cheese. They bring this dish out on a metal cooking plate on a butane portable stove.

That’s the shot I was waiting for! The cheese melted and ready to eat. I guess this is like a form of fondue huh? This dish was good! But definitely great fresh…we couldn’t finish the food so I got to eat this as leftovers at home. Well the cheese did not melt that great the second time around. The service was good and the manager came around to talk to every customer, he was very nice. He mentioned that it’s best to come with 4-6 folks because the food and drink portions are best shared! He’s right. So I got here right when they opened and they have space for 3 stalls in front of their restaurant. When I finished, some person parked right butt up against my car. It was rude, I don’t know how he/she got out of his car…both driver side doors were blocked by each other! I had to climb into my car through the passenger side…it was a great sight to see with my skirt! Sorry for the free show Kapiolani Boulevard!