All Hail the Mighty...V?

T and I went to watch "Harry Potter" today.  The movie was good and I enjoyed it but I got the biggest laugh from one of the commercials that played prior to the film.  It definitely falls into the category of "Whoa, didn't see that one coming!"  I thought it was funny but there are a number of feminists who have their balls in an uproar over it.  Though I can see some of their points, I decided to let this one go.  T's reaction said it all:  "Really?" I only wish this blog could capture that mingled tone of disbelief and you're-kidding-me-right? tone in his voice. that pretty much said it all.

Just click on this blog's title and it'll take you there!

The (modified) Food Quest

As my sons are less than intrigued by the idea of "questing" and are more focused on the "consuming," I decided to expand our Food Quest; rather than focusing only on places we've never been to, I decided to include some of our great neighborhood eats--and there are a lot!

There is a little mall called City Square on Dillingham Boulevard--most of us don't know it by that name; we identify it as "the place where the DMV is located" or, if you are really old school, it's "where Gem's used to be." If you make your way behind the DMV and Chuck E. Cheese's, you will find a small wealth of good eating places and locally owned shops such as Ko'olau Farmers and Kalihi Pet Center.  Pancakes and Waffles can be found on the Kohou Street side.

I am partial to "breakfast" food and have no problem with eating it at any point during my day.  In addition to the expected offerings of bacon and omelets, P & W puts its own spin on classic dishes such as Eggs Benedict (beautifully poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce on 2 little, crispy brown waffles), and fried chicken and waffles (either served with brown gravy on the side or honey butter.  One dish that C especially loves is vinha d'alhos, a vinegary Portuguese pork that is reminiscent of Filipino adobo.

The meals run in the $10 and below range but servings are generous--the chicken and waffle plate comes with one large waffle and three large thighs!  Definitely enough to share or to satisfy the most significant of appetites.  Other pluses:  parking is plentiful and service is courteous and brisk.  A few downsides:  since they are only open till 2 PM they do get crowded; going during non-peak hours (10 AM, or so) is recommended;  drinks are self-serve and food is brought to your table after you order at the counter.  Minor points, but ones that some consumers may consider important to know.

Waffles for brunch, pancakes for dinner.  What's not to love?

Food Quest, Day 4.5

After having lunch at Choi's Garden, we ran a few errands and decided to stop off for some shave ice.  When you consider that Hawaii has perfect weather for shave ice and my family really enjoys eating it, you would think we would take the time to get it more often.  One of the biggest deciding factors for me is both places we frequent, Shimazu on School Street and Waiola on, well, Waiola Street, have horrible parking situations.  Shimazu is on a main thoroughfare and though there is metered parking nearby, on really hot, and therefore busy days, one's chances of getting a nearby slot are rather slim.  Waiola is on a corner in a fairly quiet residential area so parking is on a wherever-you-can-squeeze-into-that-does-not-have-a-fire-hydrant basis.

On this particular occasion, we found a nice sized space immediately across the street.  So far, so good!  Though there is always a line at Waiola, the service is brisk and we were munching on icy, fruity snow in minutes.

C ordered strawberry and lilikoi, I had lychee and strawberry and T decided on mango and lime.  Waiola's best qualities are a powdery, fine-textured ice and real fruit syrups that they make themselves.  The lychee syrup was nearly clear but fine bits of tan pulp were visible against the white ice.  Yummy stuff. 

We haven't eaten at Waiola since last summer and the one thing that disappointed us this time around was all of us had a fairly substantial white core in the middle of our cones where no syrup had gotten through.  There was a time when the syrup was uniformly distributed throughout--which of course, is one of the elements desired in a shave ice. 

We have been patronizing Waiola since the kids were small and working up a hyperactive lather at Old Stadium Park, just around the corner.  One of the things we always looked forward to was the promise of shave ice before we turned homeward.  Maybe the syrup thing was just a fluke.

Food Quest, Day 4

So our Food Quest has hit a big of a snag.  First of all, our momentum was interrupted because of my week-long jaunt to Anaheim at the end of June.  Second of all, I am finding that my sons are less interested in the "quest" part of the journey than they are in the "food" part; I had thought that part of the fun would be doing a little internet research on places that we would be interested in trying.  I thought.  T and C seem to feel otherwise.  Neither of them have been motivated enough to do a little 'net surfing to find new and exciting places to eat.  They just want to eat. Which makes it pretty much Mom's choice all the time.  Fine.

Two Thursdays ago we went to Choi's Garden (on Rycroft, behind Wal-Mart).  I had gone there previously and the biggest draw is definitely their yakiniku menu; portion sizes are generous and there is a vast selection of different meats and vegetables.  Since neither of the two boys felt like cooking their own meal when we went to Choi's, we ordered off their regular menu (it's huge!).

The accompanying veggies were delicious and somewhat unusual; besides the kim chee, there were also bean sprouts, konnyaku, tofu, and ong choi.  We each got a bowl of soup with wakame.

I ordered a stone pot with beef and mixed vegetables. T had something similar except his was with seafood.  I believe C had a mixed BBQ plate of some sort--sorry, it's been 2 weeks and I just can't recall without a photo!

T's hot pot had a nice variety of seafood--scallops, shrimp, fish and a whole baby octopus!  I thought his meal choice was tempting except for one thing; there was a large quantity of raw watercress over the top.  Watercress is evil.  But I digress.

The food is very good but somewhat pricey; plates average about $15 which is nearly twice as much as I have paid for very similar food elsewhere.  I was more willing to pay a higher amount for their yakiniku selections; those at least, were "different" from what I encountered at other korean grills.  Though service at Choi's is prompt and efficient, I have to say that in several Korean restaurants that I have frequented, I always get significantly better service when E and/or the boys are along with me.  I hate to say it but the part-Korean blood really does come in handy here--in this particular instance, more than once, I noticed one of the waiters and one of the waitresses studying the faces at our table.  When we were part-way through the meal, the waiter came up and asked if we wanted more veggies.  A few minutes later, the waitress asked the same thing.  The degree of warmth just gets a little more so at these places.  I guess I shouldn't complain!

Choi's does get pretty busy for both lunch and dinner so reservations are recommended.  The parking lot is small but they do have a valet who will take care of your vehicle when the lot fills up.  They are a bit pricey but there is a huge variety of dishes and their yakiniku is definitely worth a try, at least once.  Let me know if you want to borrow either of the boys--you just may get more veggies that way! ;-)