Grace’s Inn – Honolulu, HI

Feb2

I either have never tried Grace’s Inn or it’s been over 20 years. Did they open a location in Market City Shopping Center before? By Ben Franklin’s? If so, maybe I’ve tried it but for sure I’ve never tried their Beretania location. I was pleased to see they had online ordering! I picked the wrongest day and time to come, it was a rainy day after work and both Beretania and Keeaumoku was slammed with traffic. As I am patiently driving in my backed up lane, of course another car decides they want to cut in last minute because waiting doesn’t apply to them. They get to the side of me, stop, turn on their blinker and already start coming into my lane. Well guess what? I like to play games too and I drive straight up and don’t let them in. I could care less. The car in back of me ends up letting them in and we both ended up at the same parking lot. It’s all fun times and I didn’t get clobbered. Heh. Anyway, as many people mentioned – the lady at the front counter is oh so sweet. I would return just to be helped by her.

This must be an inside joke thing but I had to ask her how the “every other day” specials worked. Like what day started the day…so I could figure out what every other day would be. LOL, she had a kick showing me the sign. Yeah so the joke is, those specials are available every single day…I think. She showed me the sign so fast. I hope I got that right. Anyway, so how was the food??

Fried Noodles w/Chicken Katsu | $15.50

Chan’s order for dinner, gotta be honest – they could be a little more generous with the amount of noodles to give. Noodles are cheap! It should have been chicken katsu on a BED of noodles! Anyway, the noodles tasted fine – nothing special. The chicken katsu is good, fried crisp and they have a good katsu sauce.

Mixed Plate (Chicken Katsu & Roast Pork) | $17.00
Mac Salad and Kimchi (choice of 2 “salads”)

I read on Yelp that they might have changed ownership in the past few years. I have nothing to compare it to so I can only judge what I ate. The roast pork in the Yelp pictures were thick cuts of pork slathered in gravy. This pork was sliced super thin – the meat was rough and dry. Would not get that again. And yes, they still do put some chow fun under your entree. Since I got the mixed plate with two entrees, both entrees got the chow fun treatment. You no can even see the chow fun so you don’t really get a lot. The mac salad was a bit sweet so it was just alright for me. Kimchi was local kine style, not hot and very vinegary (Mr. Korean did not approve of this).

Side Order Chili Cheese Fries | $6.50

Got a little appetizer to go with our food which allowed me to try their chili. Hm, I actually like their chili! It was nice! And the portion of fries with chili and cheese was good. I would get this again!

All in all, the food was good. Your typical lunch plate fare, would I make a special trip out here again? Not sure on that one. I’m happy to have tried and maybe I’ll come back to try their other dishes. But if I’m going to be at Times Beretania, why not go Kevin’s Kitchen?

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Mixed Plate Friday

Jan30

Look! Another first word win! A miracle! I was so surprised! Now I am stuck without a first word guess again. I don’t know your strategies but I like to choose one word I start with everyday and it’s just a word I like. It sets the pace for the rest of the guesses so I am so lost right now. But woohoo!

Just wanted to show you how much I’m winning at Duolingo. I had to figure out what bakkupakku was from the four images they provided for multiple choice. I mean, they made it pretty hard to figure out but I did it. (LOL)

Elvin’s Bakery (from top left, clockwise): Tiramisu, Mango Mousse Cake (2x), Lychee Mousse, Strawberry Shortcake

It was Chan and I’s anniversary so I got us some special dessert to share! Didn’t want to get a whole cake so I got us some slices at my favorite bakery, Elvin’s! I asked if they were able to write a message for me. They said no. If you know their bakery, they actually just write it on a piece of white chocolate and put on top of the cake. I think it was do-able especially for what I paid but what can you do? The mango mousse cake remains my favorite. This was the first time I tried the lychee mousse, it was okay but nothing special. Just has the lychee flavor (artificial flavor?). I will continue to order the mango mousse for future occasions!

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CINO – Ward, HI

Jan28

Chan and I had a new year’s celebration meal with two dear friends of ours at Cino. Cino is a newish restaurant located at one of those new Ward condominiums (very close to Tonkatsu Kuro). The menu sounded very nice and I was excited to try a new restaurant! Did I jinx myself with the excitement? Perhaps…let’s check it out together.

Yuzu Peach Collins (non-alcoholic) | $10.00

This restaurant seems to be allergic to printing things on menus. I asked if they had any mocktails and this was the only choice so here we are! It was a good drink! Not strong on yuzu taste which is good for me.

1/2 Dozen Oysters | $24.00

No can comment because no can eat!! Damn me and my oyster sensitivity! You know, I did eat one raw oyster in Japan and did just fine. Should I keep testing my resolve? I don’t know…

Beef Tartare | $24.00
Creekstone Farm’s Filet Mignon, Egg Yolk Emulsion, Capers, Tapioca Puff

I apologize for the photograph! I love beef tartare and this was a nice preparation, the tapioca puff was fried light and crispy. Very good dish!

Charcuterie Board | $34.00

Their board is a “chef’s daily special” so we didn’t know what would come on the board. We asked the waitress and she recited it out to us. That’s a lot of information to take in and I can’t remember it all. There were 5 different types of meat, 2 different cheeses and a nice apricot jelly. It was good! This was also where I tasted mortadella for the first time and hmm…not a fan. Not from here anyway.

Rigatoni Bolognese | $29.00
Veal, Beef, Pork, Sofrito

Lamb Shank | $52.00
Seasonal Vegetable Scafata

Got a taste of this, very nice and tender. Had a good gamey taste which I like.

House-Aged Half Roasted Duck | $49.00
Confit Leg, Sauce alla Orange

Felt like some duck and not from Chinatown. It was very nice! I enjoyed the orange glaze with the rich duck. Would I prefer the Chinatown style over this place? Well, probably but it’s nice to branch out!

Pork Chop | $48.00
14 Day Dry-Aged Averna Apple Reduction

This was the shock of the night for me – Chan’s dish but I got to try a piece and it was so good. It was cooked medium so you shouldn’t order this if you are sensitive to pink pork meat. It was super tender and flavorful. We had leftovers but reheated, it wasn’t the same. Once it gets fully cooked, it’s just like any other run of the mill pork. It was good freshly prepared.

Crispy Garlic Potatoes | $16.00
Parmigiano, Parsley

The table enjoyed this dish, I tried a piece and it was good! I’m more of a rice gal.

Mango Panna Cotta with Seasonal Berries | $12.00

Yet another instance where there was no menu! No dessert menu – can you believe it? When the waitress asked if we wanted dessert, we asked to see the menu and poor thing had to recite every single dessert. WHY? Anyway, I decided to try this dish because I wasn’t feeling ice cream or any of the other dishes. I wasn’t expecting much at first but boy was it good. I loved it. I would get this again. If you can see, there’s actually a mango layer in the dessert. The fresh berries offered a perfect offset to the creamy panna cotta.

In the end, the food was good but the restaurant was just okay. It is a very young and trendy restaurant so it was very loud. We were seated by a table of young galpals and they were very loud and vulgar (f-bombs left and right) all night. Made it hard to have any real conversations. Glad to have tried, don’t plan to return anytime soon.

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Lam’s Kitchen – Chinatown, HI

Jan26

Lam’s Kitchen recently reopened after a renovation – I didn’t even know they were closed for renovation! Then again, I don’t make it out to Chinatown all that often. When I was a kid, I dreaded being dragged out to Chinatown with my parents. The smell of urine, the dirtiness (sorry), and just constantly running into people they knew. It would always lead to comments (more like snide remarks) about me so a shopping to trip to Chinatown always felt so much longer than it needed to be. You’d think my dad was running for mayor or something with the amount of people he talked to.

Anyhow, now as an adult going through Chinatown not knowing anyone, I actually find it to be quite joyous. I generally just shop at grocery stores so the large variety of items I can find in Chinatown is delightful. I can get past the smell of urine and not so sanitary conditions lol. Oh sorry, I got off-track. Anyway! Lam’s Kitchen is still in the same exact location, it looks like they just expanded out. It’s a very nice renovation with freezing cold air conditioning.

Beef Flank and Tendon Look Fun (no tendon) | $14.99

My friend doesn’t like tendon so she asks for just beef flank and they are absolutely fine with that request! If I remember correctly, they used to serve this with choy sum but this time it was lettuce. I’m used to Chinese folks serving up cooking lettuce but wanted to let you folks know.

Beef Flank & Tendon Mein | $14.99

I decided to get the same dish but with mein instead of look fun. I was full of regrets, I enjoy the skinny noodles but dang it looked like I got WAY less noodles than my friend did. I learned my lesson! How was the taste? Good as always! Wasn’t too hungry this morning so we didn’t get any side orders.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Jan23

Soon’s Kal-bi Drive-In

Bento Combination Plate | $15.95
BBQ Beef, Fried Chicken, Meat Jhun, Mandoo, Bean Sprouts, Cabbage, and Rice

Soon’s Kal-bi Drive-In has been around for decades – I used to go to school across the street from Salt Lake Shopping Center and the willowing smoke from their kitchen was a signature memory. There is a distinctive taste to their food, it’s hard to explain. It’s not authentic Korean, more of a local style Korean. But somehow, their taste is very distinctive to Soon’s. I’d say if someone fed me their meat jhun and banchan blind folded, I would be able to tell it was from Soon’s.

I got to try it the other week and am happy to report that the taste is all the same. How nostalgic that was. It was a nice treat to get after a Target run. I would definitely return! And for prices nowadays, $16 isn’t bad for all this food!

L&L Hawaiian BBQ Regular BBQ Chicken | $17.25

Uhhh…it’s been a while since I got a regular plate from L&L but does this look worth $18 to you? Especially comparing it to the Soon’s plate, I can’t help but feel cheated. Especially just for BBQ chicken! But heck, I felt like the good ole L&L style BBQ chicken so here we are. Tasted fine, wasn’t worth it.

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Recipe: Rice Paper Kimbap

Jan21

You read that right, rice paper kimbap! What a genius idea, I saw this on TikTok (obviously) but to add cred to the recipe, it was created by Koreans (from Korea lol). If you are trying to go for less carbs, this is a great way to do it…and this is coming from the rice queen herself. I didn’t miss the rice at all – the rice paper holds all the toppings in and wraps it up nice and tight!

This recipe starts with a full sheet of nori cut in half!

You need to find the smallest size rice paper. I compare it like a taco size? Here is the package I bought.

Soak the rice paper in water – I just do it for 10-15 seconds, flipping it a few times to get both sides

Since the rice paper is a bit wet and sticky, you immediately place it to the end of the nori. Be very careful, the rice paper is delicate!

Get the toppings onto the rice paper, I like to line it up at the edge of the rice paper to allow room for rolling up. You have to roll it up like a burrito – roll it up a little to gather the toppings together, fold in the sides and continue to roll!

See? Pretty easy, just keep rolling! The nori will hold onto the rice roll.

Boom! Mini kimbaps! I brush sesame oil on the rolls and sprinkle on some salt.

My knife isn’t even that sharp and it cut it just fine lol. Give it a try! The hardest part of this recipe is definitely getting all the ingredients prepped ahead of time and since it’s just half a sheet of nori, you have to cut all the ingredients down to size too. I think I will experiment with the bigger rice paper next time and roll up a full nori sheet.

Here’s the link to the tiktok video recipe!

Happy rolling and eating!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Jan16

A familiar sight. Amazon package during the month of December. I ordered three of my moisturizers but they certainly would not fit in this box. Could this be the box of my previous shipment that went missing? That would explain the size…

Yeah, no. They really did just throw these three little things into that huge box to ship. GOOD JOB!

Just wanted to show off a project my baby brother made in school It had broken apart and he just threw it off to the side like it’s nothing. Well, it means something to me. Any arts and crafts being done by others is special so when I found it, I brought it to work and glued the base back together. It’s proudly displayed on my desk and I’ve already gotten compliments on it. Goes to show you that something not special to you can be very special to others.

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Hong Yeon – Moilili, HI

Jan14

Back for another visit to Hong Yeon, if you remember my previous post, I came here when they first opened for their $10 jajjangmyun deal! This time we came back after things have settled in and tried their lunch combos! I think the lunch combos are the best deals in the restaurant, they only have it on weekdays so plan accordingly. Also, the parking lot is junk with limited stalls so I recommend coming early! Let me just say, this restaurant was pretty bustling full of Korean customers. Whew. I wanted them to continue to be busy because I don’t want them to close! The wait staff was a mix of Chinese and Korean folks, that was interesting. It doesn’t matter cause we got great service! Here’s the lunch combos menu.

Daikon, raw onion slices and black bean paste are the required banchan. I don’t make the rules. (Kimchi would have been nice though).

Tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour Pork)

The combos are either jajjangmyun or jjampong with your choice of side dish. We both chose tangsuyuk as our combo choice. They brought this out first and placed it on the table and I wasn’t sure what was going on. Did they combine our two sides into one and serve it? I say that because it’s a pretty big portion of pork. Guess what? Nope, this was just the first one! They brought out a second one that was the same exact size. Crazy! We both packed up the other plate to go home which fed very satisfied S.O.’s (significant others).

Small Jajjangmyun

When the waitress placed this dish down, she mentioned it’s the small size. I think because the regular size when you order it ala carte is way bigger. I think this is the perfect portion size for a combo!

Jjampong!

I decided to try something different this time and got this. No regrets, it was SO good! Not as spicy as it looks, the broth has great flavor. Lots of seafood too! I was concerned about getting my clothes dirty so I started making a napkin bib when they came around and gave me a disposable bib to wear! Thank god they did, I needed it (lol). Love the thick noodles too. I’ve been to other restaurants where they have split bowls and you can order both the jajjangmyun and jjampong as one! Wish a restaurant here would do that.

Noodle Pull!

Definitely would recommend checking this restaurant out – it’s nice to have another option for Northern Chinese cuisine.

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Homemade Naengmyun

Jan12

You read that right. Homemade naengmyun! Well sorta. We basically bought the kit from the store and cooked it up ourselves…but, there’s a catch! Chan decided to buy a big slushie machine and this is the first thing I thought of making with that machine. Ice cold naengmyun broth slush! Check this out…

Naengmyun Broth in action!

Here are the bowls ready for their ice bath! Hard boiled eggs, pickled daikon, raw onion and cucumber slices serve as toppings.

The icy broth melts perfectly as you eat, it was so good! We also had leftover kalbi so it was just a meal meant to be. It was so good. What else can we slush? Anyway, I wouldn’t mind eating this again soon!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Jan9

2025 Christmas Seafood Boil

I actually made my family a seafood boil back in late October when it was a brother’s birthday. For some odd reason, I felt like seafood again so I didn’t make my typical prime rib and tortured myself making this. It was expensive and takes a lot of time. My brothers also for some reason were not hungry so my god, the leftovers were crazy. I spent like over a week trying to eat down the leftovers. Talk about first world problems but it’s still a problem okay? It was good but I am off seafood boils for a long while.

Spotify Listening Age: 81 Years Old

Everyone seemed to get a kick out of this when I posted it on my Instagram feed. Did I expect 81 years old? Absolutely not. I was watching people post their ages which was always in the early 20’s. LIES! What are you guys listening to! Anyway, yeah I’m an old fut who listens to old fut music. So wot? Haha, have a great weekend.

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