BREAKFAST COOKED BY CHEF KELI

CHEF KELI AT WORK

SCRAMBLED EGGS AND BACON
KELI COOKS BREAKFAST


Woke up on Sunday to find Keli preparing breakfast all on her own.  She made some really good scrambled eggs and bacon and finished her presentation with a ketchup smiley face.  She has cooking in her blood now and also asked to post this on the blog.

SCRAMBLED EGGS AND BACON BY CHEF KELI

HAPPY FACE MADE OF KETCHUP TOO!

STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST WITH RISOTTO

STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST

WITH RISOTTO

DINNER AT HOME

Stopped by Foodland Farms on the way home and found a stuffed Chicken Breast in the Meat Department.  The breasts were large and beautifully wrapped in butchers twine.  Stuffed with Wild Rice and Mushrooms.  While the chicken baked for one hour, I made a Risotto with Asparagus and Parmesan Cheese.  Pretty good meal for three for around $20.  The chicken needed a sauce so I mixed up some chicken stock, butter, mustard, honey and balsamic vinegar.  Not the best sauce, but added a bit of flavor.

KAHAI STREET KITCHEN - CALIFORNIA DELUXE BACON CHEESEBURGER

KAHAI STREET KITCHEN

HONOLULU, HAWAII

Kahai Street Kitchen did it to me again.  Made me break down and eat another burger.  This Bad Boy was the Bomb!  Bacon, Swiss Cheese, Fresh Avocado, Salsa, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion served with some really good Sweet Potato Fries.  I loved this burger.  It was tough to only eat half.  I wanted the entire burger but gave half to a co-worker because my pants are getting tight.  The avocado and salsa put this thing over the top.  Once again Kahai Street delivered big flavor.

Burger of the Week: California Deluxe Bacon Cheeseburger...............................$8.75 Our Homemade Burger Charbroiled Medium Rare-Medium and topped with Bacon, Guacamole, Salsa, Swiss Cheese, Lettuce, Tomatoes and Onions, Served with Sweet Potato Fries

YUMMY'S KOREAN BBQ

YUMMY'S KOREAN BBQ

HONOLULU, HAWAII

One good thing about living in Hawaii is the place is loaded with good Korean BBQ restaurants.  I like Best Korean BBQ on Sand Island but Yummy's does a good job too.  This is the Yummy's Special Plate.  It includes Kal Bi, BBQ Beef and BBQ Chicken and is served with your choice of four vegetables for around $8.  This is enough food to enjoy for lunch and dinner.  I take more than half home and my girls love it.  On this visit I chose Corn, Kim Chee and a double order of Spicy Cucumbers.  Really liked the Chicken and BBQ Beef.  Full of flavor.  Here is a bit of info from the Yummy's website.

As the flagship line, Yummy Korean BBQ has set the standard that other concepts in the restaurant group follow.  Gallons of marinade are prepared at one centralized kitchen, while vegetables and meats are cut at another kitchen and are delivered to Yummy restaurants each morning.  Yummy knows its business so well that only enough meats and vegetables are cut for a full day's supply with limited overage.  This eliminates extra costs and guarantees quality and consistancy.  Frozen pieces of barbecue beef, chicken and kal bi are soaked overnight in the marinade and not an hour longer to ensure the right texture so that meats are tender but not mushy.  Entrees are prepared on-site for freshness.  Yummy uses black cod, a white flesh, mild flavored fish, for its Fish Jun.  Specialties include Kalbi, Meat Jun and BBQ Chicken.  Diners pick an entree accompanied by your choice of vegetable side dishes and steamed rice.  Combination plates, mini plates, noodles and soups, and side orders are also available.

Selected Awards:
"Best Kim Chee & Kal Bi,"  -  Honolulu Weekly's Best of Honolulu Readers' Choice, 2004
"Favorite Korean Restaurant" Award  -  The Honolulu Advertiser's Ilima Awards, 2001
"Best Korean Restaurant,"  -  Honolulu Magazine's Hale Aina Awards, 1997
"Best Korean Restaurant,"  -  Honolulu Magazine's Hale Aina Awards, 1995

KAL BI RIBS AND CHICKEN

GRILLED PORK CHOPS - DINNER AT HOME

GRILLED PORK CHOPS

DINNER AT HOME

Pork Chops were on sale at the market so we grilled them and topped with a shallot and mustard sauce.  Served with fresh French Green Beans and Cherry Tomatoes.

SALMON WITH HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

SALMON WITH HOLLANDAISE SAUCE 
- A FAMILY FAVORITE!

This is one of our favorite family dinners.  Grilled Salmon with

fresh vegetables, rice and Hollandaise Sauce.  Our daughter

did most of the cooking this time and it was GREAT!

BROADWAY SEAFOOD AND OYSTER BAR

BROADWAY SEAFOOD 

AND OYSTER BAR

HONOLULU, HAWAII 

UPDATE:  THIS RESTAURANT 
CLOSED IN OCTOBER 2011.


Sometimes I get lucky and find a gem before the masses find out about it.  That is the case with Broadway Seafood and Oyster Bar located on Keeaumoku Street.  I had recently read a brief description of the restaurant in the local newspaper which noted that they will be serving "fresh" oysters from the West Coast, Canada and New Zealand.  "No Way" I said.  "You can never get fresh oysters that actually taste good here".  Well, to my surprise you can now get tasty "fresh" oysters in Honolulu.  We ordered a dozen of mixed oysters ($30) and loved them all.  The plate comes with tags that tell you the name of the oyster and where it came from.  On this visit we enjoyed oysters from Washington State and Canada.  The oysters are served on a plate of crushed ice and a side of cocktail sauce and horseradish.  I was pretty amazed to find the lunch menu to be very affordable.  We enjoyed an order of Fried Oysters ($5).  Five nice size oysters deep fried and served with tarter sauce, small salad and bread.  Not bad at all.  You could actually taste the oyster through the breading.  We loved the fresh bread.  I tried the Pescatore (Seafood Pasta) for $12.  Price includes a bowl of Clam Chowder or the House Salad.  I tried both the Chowder and Salad.  The Chowder was pretty good.  There were large chunks of potato in the Chowder, but the clam flavor came through.  The House Salad had a light and delicious dressing and was the perfect size for lunch.  I was amazed at the pasta portion served.  Large plate of pasta in a tomato sauce with clams, calamari, shrimp and mussels.  Pasta was cooked perfectly.  Liked the sauce but wish it had just a little more flavor.  It was good.  My friend enjoyed the Pasta with Clams ($12).  Beautifully presented with lots of fresh clams.  He said it was great.  This was a really good lunch.  I cannot wait to return for dinner with the family.  I checked out the dinner menu and entrees are around $14.  This is a really good deal.  Taste of Hawaii recommends Broadway Seafood and Oyster Bar.

PASTA WITH CLAMS

OYSTER BAR MENU (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

LUNCH MENU (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

NEW ENGLAND STYLE CLAM CHOWDER

FRESH BREAD SERVED WITH BUTTER

HOUSE SALAD SERVED WITH LUNCH ENTREE

ONE DOZEN FRESH OYSTERS - TAGS TELL YOU NAME AND LOCATION

FRIED OYSTERS SERVED WITH SMALL SALAD

SEAFOOD PASTA

D

TANGO CONTEMPORARY CAFE

TANGO CONTEMPORARY CAFE

HONOLULU, HAWAII

Recently enjoyed a pretty good meal with great service at Tango Contemporary Cafe.  This award winning restaurant is small and quaint.  Located near Ward Center next to P.F. Changs.  We started with the Chef's Daily Soup ($4.75).  Smoked Turkey with vegetables in a very light clear broth.  Everyone at the table tasted the soup and liked it.  I went for the Hamakua Mushroom Risotto with Asparagus and a grilled chicken breast ($13.50).  The chicken was grilled nicely and topped with a very light pesto.  Had some nice flavor.  The Risotto was a bit bland but not bad.  Would have liked to have tasted more of the mushrooms.  They were lost in the dish.  Liked the asparagus.  Not a bad dish.  Just needs a bit more cheese or something in the Risotto.  The Penne Pasta with Grilled Chicken ($12.75) seemed to be a hit.  Nice pieces of grilled chicken and large chunks of fresh seasonal vegetables in a tomato sauce.  The Grilled Mahi Mahi Sandwich on a Nori Bun ($9.75) looked great on the plate and was a hit.

www.tangocafehawaii.com

TANGO CONTEMPORARY CAFE

TANGO CONTEMPORARY CAFE IN HONOLULU

MENU PAGE 1 (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

MENU PAGE 2 (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

SOUP DU JOUR - SMOKED TURKEY AND VEGETABLE

PENNE PASTA WITH CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES

MAHI MAHI SANDWICH

RISOTTO WITH ASPARAGUS AND CHICKEN BREAST

GRILLED SHRIMP WITH BLACK BEAN AND CORN RELISH

GRILLED SHRIMP WITH BLACK BEAN AND CORN RELISH

DINNER AT HOME 

Trying to get back to eating low fat meals.  Took a look in the refrigerator and found some shrimp, fresh corn, cherry tomatoes and green onions that needed to be used in a dish before they spoiled.  Pulled together a pretty good dish.  First I marinated the shrimp in garlic, orange juice, cilantro, olive oil and a little cayenne pepper.  Popped them in the refrigerator for about one hour.  While the shrimp marinated, I mixed up some black beans with orange and yellow bell pepper, white onion, green onion, cucumber, imitation crab meat, cilantro, salt, pepper and some vinaigrette dressing.  Grilled the shrimp and placed them on top of the relish.  Tasty, low fat and easy dish.

GRILLED SHRIMP WITH BLACK BEANS AND CORN RELISH

MARINATE SHRIMP FOR ONE HOUR

GRILL THEM UP

LE CACAO BISTRO

NEW ENTRANCE ON WAIALAE AVENUE

LE CACAO BISTRO
HONOLULU, HAWAII

You can search this blog and see that we are huge fans of JJ's Bistro.  When the restaurant opened a second eatery right next to JJ's called J2, we dined there and gave a good but guarded review.  J2 is now history and in its place is the Le Cacao Bistro.  This time I must call it as I eat it.  Eating at Le Cacao was like sitting through an episode of Gordan Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.  During our over two hour dinner, we witnessed patrons rolling their eyes, yelling at the waiters and just about everything else you see on Kitchen Nightmares.  The staff here is part of the problem.  They are young and there does not seem to be a manager or leader in the front of the house.  You can bring your own bottle of wine to Le Cacao so I had the waiter open the bottle after sitting for 15 minutes.  When he opened the bottle, he left all of the foil rough cut on the top.  A total mess.  The wine would have went all over the table if I left it hanging like that.  The menu includes Pasta, Seafood and Meat entrees.  You can get a three course meal with beverage for around $15 to $20.  The four course meal with a meat entree is $28.  This includes soup, choice of appetizer, entree and dessert.  After ordering, it took 45 minutes to get our soup and salads.  I liked the Onion Soup.  The House Salad was fresh and simple.  The Caesar Salad really lacked flavor and was served with no Parmesan cheese or Anchovies.  The anchovies were the reason we ordered the Caesar.  Forget asking for the anchovy on the side, the waiter never returned.  Service is a problem here big time.  This is the exact opposite at JJ's.  JJ's staff is seasoned, professional and very attentive.  We waited almost an hour and a half for our entrees to arrive.  Very nice presentations.  The Fettuccine with Clams was beautiful but really lacked flavor.  The pasta was bland, the clams were bland and the sauce was bland.  The Rack of Lamb should have been called the "Lack of Lamb".  Two very small pieces that were a bit dry.  I ordered the Pork Rack with Mustard Sauce.  Looked good on the plate but disappointed on flavor.  The sauce was bland, the pork was bland and overcooked.  Very dry and tasteless.  We all liked the potatoes topped with fried onion, but there was no seasoning on the potato.  During the course of our dinner we noticed several tables leaving and they were not happy.  One guy went off on the waiter verbally.  After two hours, we enjoyed some great desserts that were fantastic.  Le Caco Bistro needs some serious attention to pull the wait staff and kitchen together.  If they continue on this path, the restaurant will have the same ending as J2's.  This is sad because we love and respect the family that owns the restaurant and JJ's Bistro.  Would I return to Le Cacao Bistro.  Sadly no.

MENU (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

MENU PAGE 2 (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

ONION SOUP WITH NO CHEESE ON TOP - THIS WAS GOOD.

HOUSE SALAD

CAESAR SALAD - THEY FORGOT THE ANCHOVIES

CHICKEN WINGS - NOT TOO SPICY AT ALL.

FETTUCCINE PASTA WITH CLAMS

RACK OF LAMB - SHOULD BE "LACK OF LAMB"

PORK RACK WITH HERBED MUSTARD SAUCE

PORK RACK - A BIT DRY AND TASTELESS

DESSERT CABINET IN FRONT OF RESTAURANT

BRING YOUR OWN BOTTLE

THE CHOCOLATE PYRAMID - ALWAYS THE BEST!

CHOCOLATE TART - THE WIFE LOVED IT!

WARM CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH GLASS OF MERLOT

KURU KURU SUSHI

KURU KURU SUSHI

KAHALA MALL

HONOLULU, HAWAII 

It is rare that I eat sushi twice in one week.  After my daughter saw that I had sushi for lunch, she wanted to have some too.  I had heard that the new Conveyor Belt Sushi restaurant in Kahala Mall was really good by two people recently.  We ended up going there for lunch.  There was a line waiting when we arrived.  They take your name and ask you to wait outside in the mall.  When there is room at the counter someone comes out and calls your name.  The staff is very young and energetic.  We were seated and served ice water and hot tea immediately.  Then it is just a matter of picking off the plates as they slowly come by on the conveyor belt.  Pricing is based on the color of the plate.  We had a few Yellow Plates ($1.45), Green Plates ($2.10), Red Plates ($2.75) and one White Plate ($4.75).  These are good prices for sushi in a mall.  The Ahi Tuna is $2.75 for two pieces.  Pricing aside,  the sushi here to me was just o.k.  I keep thinking about the crab and corn sushi that was overloaded with mayo.  The Lobster Balls were imitation lobster that tasted like sugar.  Could not eat this thing.  The winners of the day were the Ahi Tuna and Udon Noodle soup.  I would go to other conveyor belt places over Kuru Kuru.  Not a bad dining deal though.  $30 for two.

KURU KURU SUSHI - MY FAVORITE - AHI TUNA

ENTRANCE NEAR THEATRES AT KAHALA MALL

CONVEYOR BELT AND COUNTER SEATING

GRAB A PLATE OFF THE CONVEYOR BELT

SPICY CUCUMBER (THIS IS KOREAN)

DELICIOUS SPICY TEMPURA SUSHI

KELI'S FAVORITE SUSHI EGGS

SHRIMP TEMPURA WITH TARTER SAUCE

CRAB & CORN WITH TOO MUCH MAYO

SHRIMP

LOBSTER BALLS - IMITATION LOBSTER FRIED.  YUCK!

DAILY SPECIAL - UDON NOODLES WITH TEMPURA

THE BOSS LOVED THE UDON NOODLES

WATERMELON FOR DESSERT