Good Food.
02-07-2007, 10:38 AM
#1
Good Food.
This thread is spawned from the conflicting views I tend to have with the quality of food here. I don't quite know the proper format for this but I think category of food and restaurant should suffice. I'll begin...
As Elicit requested, here is some of my ranges of food...
Vietnamese - If you can post up a good restuarant here, I will try it immediately. I am half vietnamese and I have YET to find a good restaurant on the island. On a related note, are there any true restaurants? All I see are Pho houses. I'm talking a sit down and have 5-6 course meal type restaurant...
Chinese:Hunan - Most restaurants here are a blend of sechuan and some cantonese
Mexican - not a good restaurant on the island
Greek - olive tree - anymore suggestions?
Thai - Phuket is not bad, the place on King across from longs is pretty good
Egyptian - DA spot is pretty good, Pyramids is ok
Italian -
Steaks - Garlic house
Soups - How about a place just to get good soup?
Sandwiches - I love subway and quizno's like everyone else but how about something along the line of a Jason's Deli?
These are what I crave the most. I'm not too keen on the Pacific rim/fusion. It's not bad, it's just everywhere...
As Elicit requested, here is some of my ranges of food...
Vietnamese - If you can post up a good restuarant here, I will try it immediately. I am half vietnamese and I have YET to find a good restaurant on the island. On a related note, are there any true restaurants? All I see are Pho houses. I'm talking a sit down and have 5-6 course meal type restaurant...
Chinese:Hunan - Most restaurants here are a blend of sechuan and some cantonese
Mexican - not a good restaurant on the island
Greek - olive tree - anymore suggestions?
Thai - Phuket is not bad, the place on King across from longs is pretty good
Egyptian - DA spot is pretty good, Pyramids is ok
Italian -
Steaks - Garlic house
Soups - How about a place just to get good soup?
Sandwiches - I love subway and quizno's like everyone else but how about something along the line of a Jason's Deli?
These are what I crave the most. I'm not too keen on the Pacific rim/fusion. It's not bad, it's just everywhere...
02-07-2007, 11:31 AM
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i don't frequent many of those categories you have listed but here are a few of my favorites:
Japanese- Yohei. super quality fish, creative assemblies. we're eating live ice-fish when they arrive in march. some have said Mitch's, but i don't like the area (and i work in the area LOL). rokkaku has super clean flavors, ingredients and presentation
Continental/steak- Hy's. one of the best/most consistent restaurants in the state. the Ribeye almost kicked Marissa's butt
Morton's. beautiful cuts, excellent service. porterhouse and potatoes
Bistro. quality, traditional continental, no trendy gimmicks. quiet and private
I miss Byron's steakhouse...RIP
Italian- i've never been to italy, so i don't know what's authentic but Cafe Sistina has several fantastic dishes. B especially likes the shrimp with squid-ink pasta. i think their veal is excellent. eat the bread last HAHAHA!!
Yakiniku - that place next to millions, Toraji (does_not_belong can attest to this one. and the bill with 38 orders of food on it!!)
other notables: La Mer, Alan Wong's, 12th Ave grill, orchids, mariposa, roy's (i'm not really a fan of this restaurant but you don't make it on the cover of BON APETITE without having a few great things on the menu), Le Bistro. also, there's a bunch of new places opening up in waikiki, we'll see 'bout those.
the other thing to note is that not every dish on the menu is going to be fantastic. there are so many times that i/we crave a dish and select a restaurant based on that particular dish.
Japanese- Yohei. super quality fish, creative assemblies. we're eating live ice-fish when they arrive in march. some have said Mitch's, but i don't like the area (and i work in the area LOL). rokkaku has super clean flavors, ingredients and presentation
Continental/steak- Hy's. one of the best/most consistent restaurants in the state. the Ribeye almost kicked Marissa's butt
Morton's. beautiful cuts, excellent service. porterhouse and potatoes
Bistro. quality, traditional continental, no trendy gimmicks. quiet and private
I miss Byron's steakhouse...RIP
Italian- i've never been to italy, so i don't know what's authentic but Cafe Sistina has several fantastic dishes. B especially likes the shrimp with squid-ink pasta. i think their veal is excellent. eat the bread last HAHAHA!!
Yakiniku - that place next to millions, Toraji (does_not_belong can attest to this one. and the bill with 38 orders of food on it!!)
other notables: La Mer, Alan Wong's, 12th Ave grill, orchids, mariposa, roy's (i'm not really a fan of this restaurant but you don't make it on the cover of BON APETITE without having a few great things on the menu), Le Bistro. also, there's a bunch of new places opening up in waikiki, we'll see 'bout those.
the other thing to note is that not every dish on the menu is going to be fantastic. there are so many times that i/we crave a dish and select a restaurant based on that particular dish.
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02-07-2007, 12:14 PM
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Italian = Mediterrano on King St. Italian guy is the owner/chef. Osso buco is a "must try" there
Sandwiches... there's a sandwich joint in the Manoa Marketplace. I can't remember the name, but it's on the side closest to Longs, and they have really impressive panninis.
Sandwiches... there's a sandwich joint in the Manoa Marketplace. I can't remember the name, but it's on the side closest to Longs, and they have really impressive panninis.
02-07-2007, 12:16 PM
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vietnamese-
hale vietnam in kaimuki
and the place next to viet cafe used to be pretty good, they still have a few dishes are that good.
i have not yet come across a vietnamese restaurant that's not a pho house.
chinese-
Fook Yuen in mcully but then again you gotta know what to order and it helps when you can do it in chinese.
Maple Garden on eisenberg has a few hunan dishes but mostly szechuan
it's really hard to say where's an exact good chinese restaurant unless i know exactly what you want to eat. if you want you would be willing to try inventive out of the ordinary food, ie frog legs or pig intestines than Fook Yuen would be the place
if you are looking for authentic hong kong cafe food then Cafe Oriente on mauna kea would be the place to visit.
Kirin has a wonderful late night fare of you're looking for good jook and onion pancakes.
it's all a matter of preference. i could go on an on about the hole in the wall places that you might be afraid to venture into but there's always something really good to eat.
mexican-
i don't eat it often but i really liked azteca in kaimuki, don't even know if they're still there.
greek-i don't know what it's called but there's a greek deli downtown.
thai-i don't think phuket is very good at all. they're just in the right location. and chaing mai is okay but too greasy.
siam garden on nimitz has the most authentic tom yum that i've tasted.
Italian-
Mediterraneo and Cafe Sistina.
Mediterraneo if you want a quieter more intimate gathering, you can bring your own wine and it's very rustic.
cafe sistina is a must try atleast once. just to see the amount of work that the owner sergio has put into that place. everything is painted from floor to ceiling in renaissance like art.
paesano if you want to eat something more commercialized but they serve good steaks. don't go to assagios, they are owned by the same brothers but paesano is much better, better service, better food.
Steaks-you gotta ask the t-rex.
Soups-
I love soups but have yet to find a place that caters to only good soups. covenant books and music next to hale vietnam has good homemade soups but they are always different and only open during the day. and don't mind all the freaky bible studiers.
Joleen at matters of taste always has a good daily soup.
Sandwiches-
I don't know what a Jason's Deli is so i have no comparison.
Diamond Head Grill and Marketplace is owne by my friend Kelvin and he has a good spread of pacific rim/fusion that doesn't cost a lot of money. he also has the best gramma's corn bread. it's buttery and full of fat, so yummy. he makes great desserts.
Japanese-
Yohei has the most buttery yet not overpowering miso butterfish.
sushi masa has good sushi but he has to like you, when he gets to know you he's a funny guy, so you go for as much the entertainment as for the food.
If you like meat, perhaps you should try Toraji where mackeywatson used to work. they have good meat yakiniku style. they also make a mean buckwheat noodle soup too.
there are a ton of good yakiniku places around if you like meat. as for me and t-rex, well we have a special place but it's a secret because they are busy enough as it is. sorry, i don't like to wait for my meat.
i'm sorry that you haven't had many good eating experiences here. It's true that we are lacking in certain places like mexican, greek and egyptian food. i think it's partly due to the fact that we don't have enough of the population to support those kinds of foods.
as much as we kamaiaina's like to support our local businesses, there are many who are stuck in their ways and don't like to branch outside of their comfort zones.
hale vietnam in kaimuki
and the place next to viet cafe used to be pretty good, they still have a few dishes are that good.
i have not yet come across a vietnamese restaurant that's not a pho house.
chinese-
Fook Yuen in mcully but then again you gotta know what to order and it helps when you can do it in chinese.
Maple Garden on eisenberg has a few hunan dishes but mostly szechuan
it's really hard to say where's an exact good chinese restaurant unless i know exactly what you want to eat. if you want you would be willing to try inventive out of the ordinary food, ie frog legs or pig intestines than Fook Yuen would be the place
if you are looking for authentic hong kong cafe food then Cafe Oriente on mauna kea would be the place to visit.
Kirin has a wonderful late night fare of you're looking for good jook and onion pancakes.
it's all a matter of preference. i could go on an on about the hole in the wall places that you might be afraid to venture into but there's always something really good to eat.
mexican-
i don't eat it often but i really liked azteca in kaimuki, don't even know if they're still there.
greek-i don't know what it's called but there's a greek deli downtown.
thai-i don't think phuket is very good at all. they're just in the right location. and chaing mai is okay but too greasy.
siam garden on nimitz has the most authentic tom yum that i've tasted.
Italian-
Mediterraneo and Cafe Sistina.
Mediterraneo if you want a quieter more intimate gathering, you can bring your own wine and it's very rustic.
cafe sistina is a must try atleast once. just to see the amount of work that the owner sergio has put into that place. everything is painted from floor to ceiling in renaissance like art.
paesano if you want to eat something more commercialized but they serve good steaks. don't go to assagios, they are owned by the same brothers but paesano is much better, better service, better food.
Steaks-you gotta ask the t-rex.
Soups-
I love soups but have yet to find a place that caters to only good soups. covenant books and music next to hale vietnam has good homemade soups but they are always different and only open during the day. and don't mind all the freaky bible studiers.
Joleen at matters of taste always has a good daily soup.
Sandwiches-
I don't know what a Jason's Deli is so i have no comparison.
Diamond Head Grill and Marketplace is owne by my friend Kelvin and he has a good spread of pacific rim/fusion that doesn't cost a lot of money. he also has the best gramma's corn bread. it's buttery and full of fat, so yummy. he makes great desserts.
Japanese-
Yohei has the most buttery yet not overpowering miso butterfish.
sushi masa has good sushi but he has to like you, when he gets to know you he's a funny guy, so you go for as much the entertainment as for the food.
If you like meat, perhaps you should try Toraji where mackeywatson used to work. they have good meat yakiniku style. they also make a mean buckwheat noodle soup too.
there are a ton of good yakiniku places around if you like meat. as for me and t-rex, well we have a special place but it's a secret because they are busy enough as it is. sorry, i don't like to wait for my meat.
i'm sorry that you haven't had many good eating experiences here. It's true that we are lacking in certain places like mexican, greek and egyptian food. i think it's partly due to the fact that we don't have enough of the population to support those kinds of foods.
as much as we kamaiaina's like to support our local businesses, there are many who are stuck in their ways and don't like to branch outside of their comfort zones.