Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks

A few months ago, after getting some shopping done at Ala Moana Shopping Center, we decided to eat lunch at Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks.

I ordered the Macaw Chicken Sandwich, which includes guacamole and bacon. YUM!

DH ordered the Hula Burger, which comes with sauteed mushrooms. He enjoyed the burger.

The boys shared a Jr. Quesadilla and fries.

The food was good, and although a bit on the pricier side, they do give UNLIMITED fries. For a fries lover like me, that's a great deal (I only requested one refill though--I'd thought I'd be able to eat more!).

The service was great too, and I'm sure we'll be back again--it's one of our favorite family restaurants to go to in Ala Moana!

Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks: 1450 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96814-4604, (808) 943-6670

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Chili's Grill & Bar

Recently we took the family to eat lunch at Chili's Grill & Bar in Mililani.

DH ordered the Half Rack of Ribs with Loaded Mashed Potatoes.

I ordered my usual from Chili's-Chicken Crispers. It was good, as usual.

The boys shared the Pepper Pals' Cheese Pizza.

It comes with a drink and a side. For the side we ordered mandarin oranges, but they were out, so we ordered the cinnamon apples instead.

That day they were also out of lemon and American Cheese!

Despite not having any mandarin oranges as we had ordered with the boys' meal, overall the food was great and so was the service.

Chili's Grill & Bar: 95-1249 Meheula Pkwy. Bldg. P Mililani, HI 96789, 627-0888

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Zia's Caffe (Kaneohe)

In Kaneohe, there are not many true Italian eateries to choose from. In fact, I think the only one left is Zia's Caffe, which is located on Kamehameha Highway next to the VCA Kaneohe Animal Hospital. I am a big fan of Italian food, so it was a little disconcerting to hear that there was only one Italian restaurant in my neighborhood, but after dining at Zia's, I was comforted to know that this restaurant satisfied by palate.

Most if not all Italian restaurants will give you complimentary bread without having to request it. At Zia's, you have to order it. The first two orders are free, the third order will cost you a few bucks. The bread is served with butter, pesto sauce, olive oil and vinegar.

My friend ordered the Saltimbocca Alla Linguine. For those of you who do not know what saltimbocca is, it's a lightly breaded fillet of chicken, topped with spinach, ham, melted mozzarella, and a white wine butter garlic mushroom sauce. She said it was pretty good except that it was a little on the salty side.

I ordered the mushrooms with fresco tomato sauce and linguine, and added shrimp. I enjoyed this dish very much. The shrimps were perfectly cooked, and the tomato sauce was not too overpowering. The linguine was cooked "al dente", just the way I like it. A "smaller portion" was available but good thing I ordered the regular portion because I ate the entire serving plus a few pieces of bread.

We both had room for dessert, so we asked the waiter to recommend the most popular desserts on their menu. He recommended the bread pudding...

and the spumoni ice cream...

I am not a big fan of bread pudding, so I cannot judge it against the best of the best. But I've heard that the bread pudding at Oahu Country Club (OCC) is one of the best, and this bread pudding looked nothing like the one at OCC. The spumoni was delicious.

Zia's Caffe - Kaneohe
45-620 Kamehameha Highway (across from Windward City Shopping Center)
(808) 235-9427
Sun - Thurs 11 am - 9:30 p.m.
Fri & Sat - 11 am - 10:30 p.m.

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Palazzo Ristorante Italiano

For Christmas we received a gift certificate to Palazzo Ristorante Italiano and decided to take the entire family there for lunch one day.

We went around 11:30am and it was really empty--we were the only ones there, and throughout our entire lunch only one other party showed up.

Although business was slow, service was far from slow.

Our server was really nice and always attentive.

Now only was the service great, but so was the food!

The complimentary bread. Flaky on the outside, soft on the inside. YUM!

I ordered what I usually order at Italian restaurants--Chicken Alla Saltimbocca with Potatoes.

Although I thought the portion was smaller than what I've eaten at other restaurants, it was still really good.

DH ordered the Veal Alla Piccata. He enjoyed it, but also thought the portion was a bit small.

We ordered the boys the Chicken Palazzo Sandwich, which came with a small green salad.

They did eat some of it--they're not used to eating this kind of sandwich, and they were more interested in eating the bread.

I gave it a taste and it was really good, and whatever the boys didn't finish, DH ate.

Our visit to Palazzo was really nice. Although we thought the portions were a little on the smaller side, the service was great and the food was really good.

I think next time we'll do take out, because they offer a 20% discount for all take-out orders with entrees!

Palazzo Ristorante Italiano: 99-080 Kauhale St., C2&3, Aiea, HI 96701, 808-485-8688

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Sweet Home Cafe

I love nabe. I love shabu shabu. Both are Japanese versions of a hot pot. Recently, I finally got a chance to try the Taiwanese version of hot pot at Sweet Home Cafe in Mo'ili'ili. My brother and his girlfriend told us about this place recently and wanted us to try it out. I looked up the reviews on Yelp and most people seemed to say the same thing: the food is excellent, the free dessert is a big bonus, and the people who work there are rude.

If you need to wait for a table, sign your name on the note pad hanging from the door. Very important.

The menu is simple - choose from 13 broths on the menu. You can either order your own broth, or share with your friends/family. We ordered two broths - the house special, and the healthy herb (the waiter said the healthy herb is their most popular).

Here's the house special - this broth is similar to the broth commonly found in oxtail soup. This was my favorite of the two.

Here is the healthy herb. I didn't care for this broth, mostly due to its color. Although it looks creamy, it is very light and supposedly "healthy". But for me, the color itself was a turn off ( I don't like creamy foods) so I ate from the house special broth.

We then placed our order for the meat from our waiter - beef, pork, and lamb (they also offer beef tongue). Then, you have to walk up to the front of the restaurant and select your other items from 3 refrigerators filled with plates of portioned food - veggies, tofu, fish/shrimp balls, noodles, etc. It's like Genki sushi - they charge you according to the color of the plate. Take as much or as little as you like.

Here is a pic of the lamb, fish balls, and shrimp balls

Pictured below are the beef, pork, udon noodles, and clams

Don't forget to select your dipping sauces. You get to choose from around 15 sauces. I chose the sesame and house sauce. Both were good. There is no limit on the quantity of sauces you can take.

Since I already knew a complimentary dessert was coming, I purposely did not eat to my heart's content. The dessert is a Taiwanese shave ice. Taiwanese shave ice is shave ice with a brown sugar syrup. It was topped with a coffee gelatin, tapioca (small balls and the bigger ones), almond tofu, and azuki beans. The four of us shared this, although I think I could have eaten one by myself (it was that good!).

Although many of the reviewers on Yelp thought the wait staff (including "Aunty") were rude, we did not experience that at all. If anything, the employees were arguing amongst themselves.

Helpful hints for a pleasurable dining experience: dress comfortably (it's hot and humid in there), be open to sharing a table if it's crowded, remove the saran wrap from the empty plates, don't fill yourself up too much on the hot pot because dessert is on its way, and don't take it personal if the wait staff are rude or harsh to you.

Sweet Home Cafe

2334 S. King St. / 947-3707 / no reservations accepted

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Tae's Teppanyaki

The next time you're shopping at Don Quiote Kaheka or Palama market, make sure you stop by Tae's Teppanyaki, it's a must try.

Tae's has to be on of my favorite places to grab a meal to go. Once a Teppanyaki Chef at Restaurant Suntory in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, owner & chef Kevin ventured out and opened a lunch wagon in the DQ parking lot sometime around 2003. He started off with one dish. A steak roll wrapped around shredded potato over a bed of romaine lettuce & 2 scoops of rice. Customers could choose 1 of 5 toppings that included: Plain (Salt/Pepper), a wasabi sauce, spicy, terriyaki, or my favorite, the garlic which includes garlic chips. All included Kevin's homemade ponzu dipping sauce.

Garlic Steak Roll

Spicy Steak Roll

Wasabi Steak Roll

From his humble beginnings he was able to open up a shop nearby on the corner of Kalauokalani Way & Makaloa Street. Today, Kevin still serves the same famous steak roll with one scoop of white rice and one scoop of brown rice. You can request all white, all brown or for those carb conscious folks, all romaine lettuce.

Now also on the menu, you can get a pork roll (served the same way as the steak roll), a NY strip steak, beef or pork bowls for those not looking to suffer from food coma and the sukiyaki bowl.

Prices range from $6 for the bowls, $7 for the rolls and $8 for the NY steak. Soda or bottled water is also available and you can also dine in comfortably in A/C while watching the big screen TV on the wall.

I did wish he would serve chicken or shrimp...or for the vegetarians, some teppan-style veggies or fish. But who knows, if you ask you never know! Make sure you check Tae's Teppanyaki out!

Tae’s Teppanyaki
1666 Kalauokalani Way
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 383-2280 (pre-ordering is recommended for take out)

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Cacao Fest at Haleiwa Farmers' Market

Last month, after enjoying a nice breakfast at Cafe Haleiwa, we headed to the Cacao Fest at the Haleiwa Farmers' Market.


There was the typical farmers' market fare--fresh flowers, produce, and lots of good food, however for me the draw was the chocolate samples!

There were chocolate creations from restaurants such as Alan Wong's and Town.

You could even try out cacao fruit if you wanted to.

The cacao fruit was sad to be bitter, and I ended up not trying it, but DH did, and he said he didn't like the taste at all.

There were also many delectable delights in a recipe contest. Here are just a couple of the many entries.

Hopefully if they have another Cacao Fest there will be a lot more vendors that offer chocolate samples or chocolate products to purchase!

Haleiwa Farmers' Market: Hawaii 83 & Joseph Leong Hwy, Haleiwa, HI 96712, Every Sunday 9am-1pm.

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Blazin' Steaks

A bunch of Blazin' Steaks have been popping up around the islands, and our most recent visit was to the one in Pearl City.

All of the plates are $6.00, except for the combos.

I usually order the Korean BBQ Chicken plate, but this time I decided to try the Mushroom Chicken plate.


All the plates come with tossed salad with your choice of dressing.

The mushroom gravy was good, but the chicken was a little on the dry side. I only ate a few bites and gave the rest to DH.

DH ordered the Steak & Shrimp combo. He thought it was pretty good--he ate the entire plate.

The prices are reasonable, and the next time I go I'll stick to ordering the Korean BBQ Chicken.

Blazin' Steaks: 425 Kamehameha Highway, Pearl City, HI 96782-3238, (808) 488-7808

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Denny's Grand Slam Guest Appreciation

On February 9, Denny's offered free Grand Slams in its Grand Slam Guest Appreciation Promotion.

Prior to that day, I saw a lot of blog posts and tweets about it, and never thought about going.

Then DH saw the commercial during the Super Bowl and asked if we were going, and I said "Are you crazy?"

I could just imagine how chaotic would be.

Then the morning of February 9, he asked me again if we were going. Although very reluctant, I decided to call a couple of Denny's locations to see if the promotion was valid in Hawaii and to see if the lines were crazy.

I first called Denny's Kunia, and the woman who answered said it was a full restaurant, but people were moving quickly.

Then I called Denny's Aiea--they had a couple of empty tables.

Well, since DH really wanted to go, we didn't want to fight traffic into Aiea, so the entire family headed to Kunia.

As soon as we got there, I stood in line while DH parked.

There were only 4 people in front of me, but the line quickly grew behind me.

I had to wait no more than 5 minutes before getting seated. 5 minutes!

The restaurant was completely packed, but the service was great. In just a few minutes a server came by to take our order (Grand Slams of course!), and a few minutes later, we all were ready to dig in...

The Grand Slam consists of two pancakes, two eggs, two strips of bacon and two sausage links.

We all enjoyed the breakfast--especially DS1--he just devoured the pancakes!

The service was excellent, the food was great, and the whole process was so efficient--we were so impressed and pleased with how everything went that we ended up giving a 30% tip based on what we would have paid had the Grand Slams not been free (price of a Grand Slam in Hawaii is $8.99).

The manager said last time the promotion ran they gave away 2000 Grand Slams and were shooting for 2500 that day.

I wouldn't be surprised if they passed that number.

If Denny's has another promotion like this I would definitely go again, and I would definitely go to the Kunia location.

Denny's: 94-305 Kunia Rd, Waipahu, HI 96797-5375, (808) 671-6200

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The Officer's Club at Marine Corp Base Hawaii

My husband and I had never gone out to celebrate Valentine's Day before, so we decided to celebrate the Hallmark holiday this year at the Officer's Club at the Marine Corp Base in Kaneohe. The Officer's Club offered a special four-course Valentine's Day menu on Saturday Feb 13 and Sunday Feb 14.

The tables were tastefully decorated with the menu on pink paper and a little candle.

First course: Taro-Kalua Pig-Clam Chowder. It was very chunky and came with a big clam on the top - yum!

Second course: Rainbow Salad of Nalo Greens with Tri-Color Sushi Wrap and Kona Lobster Mousse with Shoyu-Wasabi-Ginger Vinaigrette. This was a very usual salad. The Lobster Mousse looked like sushi but there was no rice.

Bread and Butter: the dinner rolls were nothing special - I think they were King's Bakery dinner rolls or something similar. But, the homemade Lilikoi butter was ono. I ate the roll just so that I could eat the butter.

My Third Course (Entree): Steamed Opakapaka and Gingered Vegetables with Nori Wrap, Jasmine Rice and Choi-Sum. I was impressed with the size of the fish - a very generous portion.

My husband's Third Course: Grilled Cured Striploin of Beef with Truffled Yaki Sauce, Molokai Sweet Smashed Potatoes and Fresh Asparagus. I was lucky enough to taste a sliver of beef - very tasty. The sweet potato mashed potatoes were very sweet.

We were lucky enough to sample one of the other entrees they were offering: Hoisin and Ginger Roast Pork Tenderloin topped with Asian Pesto Hollandaise Sauce, and King Crab Meat. The Hoisin sauce was good - tasted just like how it does at a Chinese restaurant.

Fourth Course (dessert): Strawberry Creme Brulee. By now, I am so full from the previous three courses plus the bread with lilikoi butter, but I ate this anyway. I think I would have called this a "strawberry mousse" rather than a creme brulee. But I was impressed at the large chunks of strawberries under the burned sugar.

They had to practically roll me out of the restaurant - they gave us so much food. The Officer's Club was a nice place to celebrate Valentine's Day, especially since we went on Saturday, instead of Sunday. No crowds, no waiting for a table, the food came out quick, and the service was friendly. Although that's the kind of service you'll receive at the Officer's Club at every visit.

Also included with the special Valentine's Day dinner were two free tickets to the movie showing at the K-bay theatre - Did You Hear About the Morgans? Since we had already seen that movie, we skipped the movie.

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WW: The State Flower

Visit Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom for more participants.

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Simply Ono Lunch Wagon

At UH Manoa, there are several options when it comes to where to eat for lunch. The main dining places are Campus Center, Paradise Palms Cafe, and various kiosks located throughout the campus (Govinda's, India Cafe, Papa Lucks). There is also an L&L BBQ on lower campus. On this particular day, we decided to check out Simply Ono Lunch Wagon. They are located on Legacy Path, which is right off of Dole Street, across from the law school.


Simply Ono's menu changes daily. You can see what they have the menu here. Two of my friends ordered the carnitas, which came with beans, spanish rice, and tossed salad. They said it was very tasty, and as you can see, you get a lot of food for under $7.


I wanted something on the lighter side, so I chose the mini spaghetti for $5. The spaghetti came with a red marinara sauce, chunks of sausage, and a small cup of salad. It was definitely worth $5.


Simply Ono is one of my favorite spots to hit when dining on campus. The portions are generous and it tastes like home cooking.

Simply Ono Lunch Wagon
M-F 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

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