Food Quest, Day 2

It was T's turn to choose and he opted for Panya Bistro and Bakery in Ala Moana Center.  Panya is an Asian/Italian/American fusion restaurant that features a rather expansive menu of appetizers, salads, noodles, sandwiches and drinks.  Their bakery is set-up in the front of the restaurant so the variety of breads and sweet treats are a temptation going in and coming out; bakery items can be served at table with a modest serving fee.

T ordered the fried baby octopus appetizer and when they say "baby octopus" they mean baby octopus; tiny tentacles curled and crisped are still attached to the head.  C declined--whether it's because he was saving himself for his lunch or because T's comment that he could, "see where the eye used to be" grossed him out too much, I could not fathom.  The little darlings were quite tasty (though chewy) and the mixture of mayo and shoyu that accompanied them, though not my dip of choice, went over well.

The boys opted for ramen--C had miso and T had the gomoku which had a shoyu base.  Both bowls had a generous serving of noodles, flavorful broth and an abundance of toppings that included aburage, shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko and bean sprouts.  C said the miso had a bit of a kick to it and he enjoyed the broth so much that he finished it off completely.  T enjoyed his as well but filled up rather quickly; must be from all the tentacles tangoing in his tummy.

I had the baked pork chop which was basically rice fried with egg then topped with thin slices of onion, peas and bread pork chop slices all swimming in a tomato sauce.  Think smothered tonkatsu and you'll get the picture.  Though the pork was tender (and boneless, which is a plus), I found the rice rather ordinary and the tomato sauce was too sweet for my taste. 

The appetizers are priced in the $8-10 range and the meals average $10-18 or so for good-sized portions and lots of variety.  Our waitress was friendly and efficient but the bakery workers at the door, who also doubled as hosts, left much to be desired.  The initial greeting was cursory and we were waved in the general direction of our table where our waitress greeted us and seated us. When we paid for our bakery items on the way out, the man who rang up our purchases was talking on the phone while also talking to the girl who was wrapping up our treats--in Korean.  She did say thank you when she gave me my change.

Overall rating--good food, reasonable prices and good table service.  I hope they work on the other stuff.