Da Kitchen

I have been wanting to try this place out since the first time I saw their name on the building last year. Just the other week a friend had mentioned that he likes to go there to grab dinner. We were talking about how there was no Grace's in Market city anymore. This is where I would go to get a teri beef sandwich. Although if you ask me I think the Grace's on Beretania is better. There is an L&L in the spot Grace's vacated in MC. But any way we finally made an effort on Monday night to try out Da Kitchen, we were going to just get some take out. There were quite a few people dinning there but since there were open seats we decided to eat there.

The service was on the slower side but, we were not in any rush. The prices seemed a bit high but I already knew it would be. I got the shrimp tempura salad and the other plate was a chicken katsu. I liked the katsu it was crispy and the bonus is they served a nice thick katsu sauce. My tempura was okay. The salad had way too much cabbage for my taste. The salad was large I took home half of it. The dessert list looked interesting. If anything I would like to go back for a drinks, pupus, and finish the night off with a dessert. We had already planned on having lunch on Wednesday(today.) The trying it on Monday was to make sure we wanted to have lunch there.

Today we got there a bit after noon and had to wait for a table, there were three of us. Our table order was crispy korean chicken, teri beef sandwich, pastrami sandwich. This time I got a better look at the menu. My teri beef was ~$9-10, which came with a scoop of potato mac salad. I had tasted the mac salad the other night since the katsu came with mac. I did not plan on eating it. But to get a toss salad instead it was +$2.50. I think the french fries were $3 something. So knowing I would not finish my food if I ordered the substitutes and/ or add-on. I just go the teri beef sandwich as is.

The beef was a sweet teri. The meat was a good texture for a sandwich. I had a piece of the chicken and it was okay. I am curious of what their loco moco looks like. So maybe the next trip will be dessert and loco.

Bangkok Chef- Iwilei

We pass by on occasion when using Nimitz Highway. Seemed like a place to stop and try out. I knew one person who had tried it and he didn't give any negative comments about it.

Okay so all signs pointed to not eating here. Here is my list...

1. The sign in the window said something about stalls 900 for B.C.'s(I will from here on use B.C. to refer to the restaurant.) parking. We entered from the Alakawa street entrance, it might have been better to enter from the Lowe's side. Although there was probably a lot of space the parking area had an illusion of being small. We found a space without any problems, although the parking lot was full, not sure where all these people were.
2. It was close to 1pm well past mid lunch time. When we entered B.C. there was only two people in there at a table.
3. We were quickly greeted and told that they were only taking cash payments, since the credit card machine was broken. I mean who doesn't like collecting points on their card. I knew we had more than enough cash on had to pay for lunch, but when I turned to discuss it with Kent he said he had enough cash. It wasn't a matter of cash... So instead of trying to talk to Kent while the person was waiting for an answer I just said fine.
4. We were seated fairly far into the little establishment next to a plant. Honestly I dislike sitting next to a plant. I don't care if it is really or not. If I am not on a picnic, I don't need a plant next to me.
5. Glancing at the menu I didn't see anything that really jumped out at me. So I settled on a green curry, one of the things I usually am able to judge a place by. Kent got his normal Pad thai.
6. I inquired on what type of fish they used, which was catfish. No thanks on the catfish. I wasn't about to have shrimp at a place I didn't not know how the food was.
7. The Pad Thai came out right away. So I had some which I thought was okay. I'm really not a fan of pad thai, and every place makes it so differently. There was a long wait on my curry.
8. This was not help by the fact that other people were walking in. A couple that I guess knew the owners walked in with their starbuck's drinks and sat at the table next to us. They quickly got three or four plates of food in front of them. Seriously?? So all through our meal we had the constant chatter of another language next to us.
9. My curry arrived and I was just disappointed with it before even touching it. Initially the smell reminded me of cat pee. Okay one would wonder why would I even decide to try something that reminded me of pee. Honestly I do not know, maybe I was just hungry at that point.
10. As I looked at my plate I saw that the curry contained some type of white meat. So okay I though it has chicken... noooo I think it was pork I still don't know what it was.
11. There were green peas, the only curry I have seen green peas in is hamburger curry.
12. The eggplant was sliced in thin rounds. Yet they looked as if they were barely cooked. The only thing that I was hopeful about when I looked at the plate was the fresh basil leaves that I could see in the curry. And the serving of sticky rice was a generous portion.
13. There was way too much pork and bamboo shoots in the curry. I think the initial smell was probably a result of the bamboo shoots. I admit I am spoiled in that I grew up with fresh bamboo shoots. So I dislike eating canned ones. I've also noticed that some canned ones have a horrible stench.
14. The green peas still had that just out of the freezer flavor, not heated enough taste.
15. I am an eggplant snob. After eating eggplant from my Dad's green house that past few weeks, I had to force myself to eat the eggplant in this curry, which I think should have been cut thicker and cooked a tad bit longer.
16. The basil barely gave the dish the nice aroma that I enjoy from a green curry.
17. The lime leaves gave the curry a nice flavor, but I had one leave that looked like it was yellow... I don't need old drying leaf in my food.

I admit I was curious about the different flavored tapioca, but then I noticed them in the display when we were leaving. They were in a small plastic cup and the price seemed ridiculously expensive. So over all I do not need to go back there again. I am not even curious about the papaya salad.

Anytime

I've been wanting to try Anytime Cafe since it opened a while back. We finally tried it since Grace's is no longer in Market City. Grace's is where I would occasionally get my teri beef sandwich deluxe with cheese. I've been searching for a while now for a good teri beef sandwich. I used to get it from the L & L near the old stadium park on King st. But a few years back I think the owners changed and all the food tasted different. Speaking of L & L it makes me think I really miss the L & L that used to be located in Puck's Ally. Nobody seems to make a cheese burger like they did. Or chicken katsu, or lemon chicken... *sigh* I see I am off topic...

Back to the cafe, so far I've been there three times.

First

I had the beef tendon noodles. The broth was okay, the meat was tender and tasty. I don't recall the noodles so they must have be soso. I also tried the Hong Kong milk tea, which I will not get again.

Second

I had seen Hainan chicken and rice on the menu. I really enjoyed the Hainan chicken I had in Beijing. So the plan was to have some chicken and try out the mango ice dessert they have. I liked the chicken although it was a lot of work to eat it. I didn't not eat the rice or the broth because I didn't not care for the flavor. So it was almost like I was having ginger chicken when I used the ginger condiment that it came with. I did not want to eat a whole mango ice by myself and Kent said he was quite full since he had my rice with his meal, which was a risotto and pork. so I settled on the mango pudding thinking I would be able to eat most of it myself.

The pudding made the whole meal better, I had a happy tummy. It came in a small glass, topped with whipped cream and a small scoop of sorbet. The sorbet was yummy, I could have had a couple scoops of that and been happy. The pudding tasted like a nice ripen mango. There also were sweet chunks of mango in the pudding.

Third

I was at Market City to meet someone. But since my meeting was close to dinner time Kent met me there and we decided to try for the mango snow ice. The plan was to share some food and have room for ice. We decided on build your own pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and tomato. Which I would not get again, it felt like a pre made pizza that had toppings tossed on it. (I've done this with the pizza you can buy at Sam's club or Costco before. A box of three margarita pizzas for $12, makes for a nice snack. I used salami and some fresh colorful bell peppers on it. Or whatever I have on hand. I usually have some type of cheese to add on to it.) We also ordered some sweet potato fries. I would order the fries again. They seemed to be coated with something, but maybe it was just the potato starch. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. And to my surprise they were regular sized. Most places do a thin cut on the sweet potato, which is sometimes nice. But it usually becomes just a fried potato flavor. I was actually looking at the bag of sweet potato fries at sam's club. I think I might want to try them now and see if they are regular cut fries.

Oh! So the best part is getting the Mango snow ice. The mount of ice was decent, not a "wow that looks like a lot." The toppings on the sides were tasty. Mango, mango pearls, coconut jellies and mango jellies. The fresh mango was a bit tart. The ice had just the right amount of milky flavor. Over all enjoyable. I would rate the pudding higher than the ice. I'll have to go back and try the pudding again to see if it was just by chance I got the only good pudding cup.

Sushi

The other week I got to see The Debt. It was just as I thought it would be. I went with two other people, one said it was boring, the other had no strong opinion about it.

Before we went to the movie, we decided to try Sushi San. I've been wanting to try it ever since I saw it, since it has a highly visible street location on Kapiolani. Their carousel is quite impressive. Sushi traveling both ways.

We went for lunch only to be surprised that they only do a buffet style lunch that cost $16.99. I think I usually have 3-4 plates for lunch, so average cost would be around $2.75 which means about $11 for lunch. So when I heard $16.99 I was hesitant about staying, come on we know that means $17 just looks better with the 16 than the 17. The hostess when we entered was nice and explained the change of a buffet style. But the host was sort of pushy and explained it all again. I asked for a minute to decide. The guy took it to mean a minute because he was back trying to convince us to stay. Showing us a menu saying we could order the top part for free. Um really? You want us to pay $17 per person and then say we are ordering stuff for free??? I was one foot out the door, but was reminded that we wanted to eat before the movie, so time had to be considered.

Since the two other people I was with didn't care either way, we decided to try it out. We spent most of the time trying to guess what was on the conveyor belt. Since the chefs do 'creative sushi', yes not my words but the words of the host. Many were covered with multiple sauces, to name a few, sweet chili, the sauce they place on the unagi, a yellow sauce- assume it was mustard, etc.

First thing I grabbed was a shrimp tempura, to my surprise it was good. We ordered a couple things that were on the "free" made to order menu. I wanted to try the salmon. I think spicy tuna and a poke don(hot, meaning served in a hot stone bowl) was ordered and a couple other things. Let's just say I didn't not eat another salmon plate. I tried another shrimp tempura, this second one was heavy on the batter, oily and the batter toward the shrimp seemed a little under cooked. The scallop mayo was bitter and the scallops tasted a bit old, but it is rare to find a place that the scallops are sweet and how they should be. I was actually thinking of trying the hotate(located on the +$3 menu, not on the "free" buffet menu) but after the mayo one I decided not to.

The spicy tuna had a different flavor, I forgot what was guessed as the difference. To me it tasted like they mixed sweet chili sauce in it. I pulled a plate for someone since we were sitting in a booth, I had to eat it since it had a shrimp tempura rolled in it, and the person who asked me to pull it is allergic to shrimp. I wasn't very happy with this since the sushi was drenched in sauces.

I do not know what made me look at the floor under the table, but there were two plastic bug traps. They looked like the black plastic Combat traps. Not to mention the floor looked a little dusty.

I think the best part for me was watching a young girl reach over to the inner belt with two hands/arms, and in the process of picking up a plate dipping her elbow into another plate of spicy tuna. Laughing (the person across from me saw it too) I explained it to the person next to me, at which point it was said "I'm done, let's go." Which just amused me more.

Movie mishap

I found the previews for The Debt to be interesting. So the plan was to watch a Saturday matinee and use a Screen saver, that would make it cost only $7.00. The plan was squashed because the time we picked was 4:35 p.m. and the cut off time for a matinee is 4 p.m. We could not use a GMT because it was still on the list of non-screen saver movies.{Why consolidated Screen savers? I buy mine at Marukai(you don't seem to need a membership, even though I have one) which means I get a booklet of 10 for $70. Marukai charges $0.25 more per savers ticket, but I think if you buy it from consolidated minimum purchase is 100 for $675. A general admission movie ticket ranges from $9- 10.75. I usually go to Ward so that is a difference of $3.75 per ticket. If you go in with four people $3.75 times four is $15! A matinee is $8.50, which would only make it a $1.50 savings, but times that by four again which is $6 and you have almost enough to by another savers ticket. So if you plan on purchasing 10 consolidated tickets and are watching it during matinee times

or watch after the first few weeks of the movie coming out-when it is still on the no pass list-, you might want to consider using some Screen saver tickets.}

Trying to decide which movie to watch instead in the hot humid day was not fun. Most were movies that had not received decent reviews. The other half was movies that were on the no pass list.

After narrowing it down to two movies, it was decided that we would see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Really not the movies that I would have liked to see. But I was assured that it got high review ratings, and positive comments. The nice thing about seeing something that you have low expectations for, is that the movie has a higher chance of being better than you expected.

Reasons why I did not want to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes:

In the previews I did not like the creepy eyes of the ape.

Primates attacking people.

Experimental testing on animals.

I don't remember liking the last planet of the ape type movie

I wanted to see The Debt

The eyes were still creepy when I watched it. The violence was still disturbing. The testing and bio-experimentation was still disturbing. I still want to see The Debt.

Some how the whole movie worked. There was rarely a point where it felt like the lull was too long. Or the action scene was overly stretched out. Sure there were things in it that just did not make sense in the connection and of the likely hood of it happening, but you just need to remember it is only a movie.

Dinner and lunch

One night when we were walking around Ward I noticed a different place at the corner. Tango Market, it went onto the let's try it later list. After looking at the more positive then negative reviews online we decided to meet some friends for dinner at Tango Cafe.

We went on a Sunday at 5:30, it was a fairly small place and only a handful of tables were occupied. Our friends were having a cocktail next door at P.F. Chang's happy hour when we got there. After a few texts we were all seated chatting which made us take a while to look over the menu.

We got a Swedish Gravlax with crispy skin and a bottle of white wine to share. We each ordered something different. Lamb, Duck, Risotto-shrimp and Salmon. Everyone enjoyed their food. Nothing on the dessert menu called to me, I just got an Iced coffee instead of dessert which was good. Two people got desserts a creme brulee and affogato di gelato. The affogato di gelato was vanilla bean ice cream covered in expresso. A glass with scoops of ice cream was placed in front my friend and expresso was poured on top, at which point the ice cream started to melt quickly. It came with a spoon, but I thought to myself he could probably pick it up and just drink it since it looked like an ice cream soup.

A few weeks later we went to Tango Market for lunch on a Wednesday. Two Pesto chicken sandwiches and a Gravlax were ordered. The sandwiches came with a choice of pasta or mixed greens. I liked the pesto chicken, although it was a little on the dry side. But I rather have it a little dry than under cooked. I thought the pasta salad was okay. I was glad I didn't try the Gravlax, since it was an open faced sandwich. I think if I am in the mood for salmon and rye I would prefer Cafe Laufer, but Laufer has the unfair advantage with desserts to sway me into going there. (Tango: salmon, hard toasted rye, sliced boiled eggs, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, boursin spread, mustard dill sauce. Laufer: salmon, pumpernickel, capers, cream cheese, onions.*pumpernickel is a slightly sweet rye*)

Over all the food was great, but the price seemed to be a little on the higher side. I would go back for the Duck confit and the polenta on the dinner menu since their polenta is better than the one I make and I don't cook duck.

I'll try to catch up.

I've been slacking on my blogging. I think I will start up here by using this one to comment on things I've done. Maybe working in both directions for the time being(into the past as well as things of the present.)

I went to Cheese Cake Factory in Waikiki. The last time I went was a while ago. I don't venture into Waikiki too often so the last time I went to the Cheese Cake Factory(Waikiki) I remember them being just okay, and the wait was really long. It was when they were fairly new so I thought the wait was understandable. But I did not feel the need to return.

So why did I go back? We has a Gift card. I admit choosing a weekend during dinner time was not a wise idea. There was a line to the Host counter. When we reached the front after what seemed like 10 minutes, we were told the wait was 90 minutes. I said okay, thinking we drove all the way down there, had a gift card... So we were told to come back in 30 minutes at which point we would be given a pager.

Feeling hungry and a little tired I didn't want to go far since in 30 minutes one of use would have to come back to grab a pager. Starbuck's was on the opposite of side of the shopping complex, so I was hesitant to walk so far just for a caffeine pick me up. My friend wanted a to go to get a frap, so we started on the trek. We left the others to wait in line to get a pager.

On the way to get the frap, I was pleased to see a Panya. I was excited to not have to walk so far and get a Thai coffee, what better than a Panya thai with its two shots of expresso. It quickly turned into disappointment. They are not a full coffee bar at the RHSC and had no Thai coffee. The coffee guy was nice enough to try and make me an imitation thai coffee. Lacking in a true thai coffee flavor, as well as just being a milk coffee it worked in giving me a boost to endure the long wait for cheesecake.

When we did get seated, we already knew what we wanted since we had lots of time to stare at a menu, while we waited for our pager to go off. I got the herb roasted chicken. I liked my mashed potatoes and after thinking it over ate the drumstick on my plate which was good. I got the rest of my meal boxed, which was a three pieces of chicken, half my mash, and 1/3 of my carrots. I got the Dulce de Leche caramel cheesecake with coffee. I found the meal to be much better than I remember than last time. But maybe it was because the wait was shorter and I had a Panya coffee.