Ahi & Vegetable – Kalihi, HI

Long time no see folks! I hope you are all doing well. Everyone is probably busily getting ready for Thanksgiving huh? The past 2 weeks were probably the worst of the semester. Nonstop events and my final presentations. The presentations are all done and the bulk of the events are done. We had a craft fair this past Friday and I made my famous kimchee fried rice and holiday bowtie pasta. I don’t mean to toot my own horn but I will, the kimchee fried rice was the best yet. I paid for my own order (lol) and it was heavenly. I make some bomb fried rice. It was hard work prepping and cooking it but it was all worth it.

I hope to do some cooking soon so I can share new recipes again. I won’t be making a turkey this year, maybe some oven baked chicken tenders. Random yah? It’s okay, I’m hoping they will be delish. Quick post today to share a previous lunch from Ahi & Vegetable, they opened a fairly new shop in Kalihi. They basically specialize in seafood..and not much else. Here goes!

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141125-02Sashimi Combo on Rice – $15.00

I don’t think this is on the main menu but look at that fish! Looks amazing. My coworker got this and she LOVED it. A bit pricey for lunch but did you look at the fish??

141125-03Bento B5 – $11.00

This bento comes with spicy ahi, ahi poke and BBQ chicken over rice. I think it’s a bit pricey and the cuts of fish isn’t that great. Their spicy ahi has a different texture from usual spicy ahi – it’s more of a mush than the cubes of ahi you’re used to. This bento set also comes with a miso soup. Would I get it again? Not likely….

Ahi Assassins Fish Co. – Moilili, HI

The weather has been lovely this weekend! Last night as I walked out of a store, I actually felt windchill. Wind. Chill. It was great. Last night was positively chilly, I actually had to grab my blanket. This is fantastic. And Sunday? The nice weather continued, nice winds and not too hot temperatures. Please please please continue! So here I am, updating some posts for my blog. Yesterday was lost, there was a Law and Order Special Victims Unit marathon on and I can’t possibly study when that is going on. Today, what have I done so far? I tried to continue my presentation but can’t concentrate. I started my final paper a bit and well here I am updating my blog. Hehe…

Ahi Assassins Fish Co. has been open for less than a month and they are getting stellar reviews on Yelp. I love that they are so close to where I work so I got to give them a try for lunch. Their parking lot is a bit small but I was able to get a spot before it got busy! The most appealing part about this shop is that the owners are fishermen! How much fresher can that be? They also charge quite little to me…all good stuff! Let’s get to the pictures, shall we?

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141110-02Menu as of October 2014 – Cash only!

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Shoyu Garlic Ahi Poke Bowl – $7.00

I just realized I forgot to take a picture of my Spicy Ahi bowl! Good stuff, great slices of fish. The spicy ahi, it’s definitely spicier than other spicy ahi! So when they say spicy at this place, they mean it.

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Pan Seared Ahi with Garlic Plate – $8.00

141110-06Yes, that’s garlic on top. Garlic garlic garlic.

141110-07Very raw inside. I like that so it’s okay.

I originally wanted to get the baked ahi stuffed crab but they were all out, that made me sad. So I settled for this, great piece of fish. Great portion but the taste was unfortunately not there. The ahi was not seasoned and I feel like they just sauteed a bunch of unseasoned garlic and put it on top. I was so disappointed that the ahi had no seasoning – I had to add a dressing to eat this meal. If I get this next time, I will probably try the furikake one.

 

New 711 Goodies

Okay, I went to Target last night and well it was pretty empty by the time I got there. We got there around 8:15 pm and there was parking right off the bat. How was the store? Pretty good! Felt like a typical shopping night. However, once you got to the food shelves, a lot of them were wiped clean! Especially the bread. I was able to pick up most of what I needed (no batteries left) and after my brother broke a glass lantern holder by mistake, I got out of there. We apologized and reported it but I felt so bad by then that I didn’t want to stay. Their water was all gone too! I heard you can head to the water bottlers directly to grab some water for those who still don’t have any. I’ll remain positive and hope for the best – I really hope it weakens and there will be minimal damage.

I also decided to go to Costco after Target for gas. It was 9:15 pm and the line was still out to the road. The line moved pretty fast considering how congested it originally was. Glad I got my gas last night, I was actually running low anyhow. Take care everyone and stay safe out there.

Anyway, onto today’s post! 711 is stepping up their gourmet game! I’ve noticed quite a few new items lately and decided to give a few a try. Here they are!

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140806-03Curry Doria! Isn’t that awesome?? I got this from the cold case and followed instructions to heat it up in the microwave. The instructions lied! I even put it in an extra 30 seconds and it was still cold on the inside. The top was completely hot and melted so I thought the whole thing was heated through. How was it? Other than the hard cold rice, not bad! A tad too salty for me but I am definitely glad I tried it!

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140806-06Spicy Ahi and Seafood Poke Bowl. Translation – a few chunks of ahi and a lot of imitation crab in the spicy ahi sauce. The price is good so I didn’t mind! How was it? Bleh. Not good. The spicy ahi and seafood mixture didn’t taste that great, I prefer a stronger sesame oil taste. The rice? Super mushy and sweet. I think they were going the Tanioka’s route in terms of a sweet rice but they didn’t execute it well. I would not get this again.

Sushi Company – McCully, HI

Sushi Company has been around since 1999 but I only got to try it very recently! I really have no excuse, it’s such a short drive from my workplace but I never had motivation to go. I’ve seen a few pictures pop up on Yelp which makes their food look mighty good and they have great prices so I had to give them a try. So how did it go? The parking lot is a bit awkward but luckily they are the only one open at lunch time so I think they have ample parking. Parking at night? They have the new Izakaya Torae Torae next door so that will definitely be a bit of a nightmare. Sushi Company knows they are in the grab and go business and they adhere to it. I got my order within five minutes of ordering – I thought that was awesome.

140514-01Garlic Chicken Bento – $6.40

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140514-04How was the bento? Not bad. Great price. The chicken was good, not tender but not overly hard so it was fine to eat. I think they cook it ahead of time and keep it heated – there’s no way I could have gotten my bento so quick if they had fried it fresh. What did I notice after eating the bento? MSG attack. They definitely use MSG in their food, my mouth/throat was dry all afternoon.

140514-05Spicy Ahi Don – $7.25

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140514-07I thought the way they make their spicy ahi looks so delicious. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the red fish eggs. How was it? Pretty good. Not the best spicy ahi I have ever had but definitely not bad.

Local Cravings – Honolulu, HI

Another ahi poke place in Kalihi! Thank god! Costco stopped serving their ahi poke bowls, not that I liked going to Costco anyway. That place is always nuts no matter what time of day it is. I heard Local Cravings used to run tents in farmers markets but now has opened it’s own shop in the City Square shopping center in Dillingham. I’ve been there twice so far. The first visit was a bit of a fluke to be honest. They had been open for only a few days so things weren’t running smoothly yet. I ordered the spicy tuna and they asked what rice I wanted, they suggested the sushi vinegar rice. I didn’t care for it mixed with spicy tuna. Then as I was eating, I found four scales. So, I decided to let them find their footing before going back about two weeks ago. So how did it go?

140318-01Spicy Ahi Crab Poke Bowl!

140318-02The generous bowl comes with rice of your choice (white, brown or sushi rice), furikake, poke of your choice, cucumber kimchee, and taegu. Delicious!

140318-03So the spicy ahi crab poke was a new addition this time around. The lady helping me mentioned that it is one of their best sellers so I definitely had to try it. What did I think? I thought it was just all right. The imitation crab kind of takes away from the full poke experience and there was a strong oyster sauce flavor.  I think for me, when I go back (yes, when not if!) – I will go for the regular spicy tuna over regular rice. Winners. The people (I assume owners) are nice people so I definitely want to return to support local. Also, any excuse to get a bubble tea at Thang II is always welcome.

Mixed Don – Kuru Kuru Sushi

While I frequent Kuru Kuru Sushi – I have never ordered one of their dons until my last visit.  I used to watch as other tables got these mountains of spicy ahi/poke and just sit in envy.  I don’t know why I never ordered it, perhaps because if I were to ever eat that I would not be able to eat anything else?  Well, this time I had a partner in crime so I ordered it.  The taste was great, the photo opp even better.  Isn’t it glorious?

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Alicia’s Market – Honolulu, Hawaii

I don’t think I need to tell people again that Kalihi has the best lunch spots, the only sad thing is that they are usually closed or have limited hours during the weekends.  One day, when I was running errands for work – I was able to drop into Alicia’s Market for lunch!  Oh my, my food was SO good.  I got a mini plate – two choice with poke.  How will be this served?  They actually used the square mini plate lunch box!  And boy was it STUFFED.  Check it out!

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I told you…

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