September 30, 2010

Le Bistro

You'll find Le Bistro Niu Valley in a small neighborhood between Kahala Mall and Hawaii Kai. It's a great place to go if you're celebrating a special occasion or in the mood for a fine dining experience. The service is great, the food comes out hot and tasty.

I ordered the small portion of the short ribs. The meat was very tender and cooked perfectly. I could have polished off the regular portion but I wanted to save room for dessert.

My brother loved his lamb chops which came with a small serving of pasta.

My husband and my brother's girlfriend both enjoyed the beef quartet which consisted of (starting from the top left corner moving clockwise) shirt ribs, Kobe beef slider, rib eye, and filet mignon. I would highly recommend this if you love red meat!

For dessert we ordered the bread pudding with chocolate chips. I liked how the bread pudding wasn't eggy like most bread puddings. Just wished they would add more chocolate chips.

Le Bistro / 5730 Kalanianaole Highway / 373-7990 / reservations highly recommended



Le Bistro on Urbanspoon

September 28, 2010

Little Village Noodle House

One of my favorite Chinese restaurants is Little Village Noodle House on Smith Street in Nuuanu/Chinatown. Strangely, you won't find any Chinese-Chinese customers here, which leads me to believe that their food must be a westernized version of Chinese cuisine, but regardless, I still love it.

Spinach with garlic. A healthy dish that is probably very easy to make if I was one of those people who can figure out the recipe by taste.

My husband and I LOVE their salt and pepper pork chops. Fried to perfection with lots of flavoring. Watch out for the red pepper!

Minute chicken Cake noodle. The cake noodles are crispy and the minute chicken is boneless -yum!

1113 Smith Street / 545-3008 / limited free parking available in the back of the restaurant

September 27, 2010

Blue Angels Day 2

Brought my DSLR to the second day of the air show.

Ready to roll - have a good one!

Taking off

Look how close they are to each other- 18 inches from wingtip to wingtip, to be exact.

All 6 in formation

Pretty!

September 26, 2010

Blue Angels Day 1

I only brought my point n shoot camera to the air show since I had to work and did not want to lug around my bulky DSLR, so these pics are not that stellar, but I did get a couple of nice shots. The maintenance crew salutes the pilots as they approach their planes.

The pilots wave to the crowd before taxing to the runway

I love this stunt - two air crafts approach each other at over 400 mph and do a roll right before they pass each other.

Here's what the bottom of the planes look like.

Their final stunt - pretty!

September 24, 2010

Rai Rai Ramen

One of my favorite ramen houses on Oahu is Rai Rai. Everyone who I've introduced Rai Rai to has loved it, including my friends who have traveled to Japan for the real deal. That to me validates my opinion of this place. The gyoza is pan fried to perfection. Not too oily and the pi is thin.

I love their fried rice.

I always order the shoyu ramen. The broth is full of flavor and salty. The char siu melts in your mouth.

My friend liked his Hakata ramen. According to my friend, there aren't too many places around town that offer Hakata Ramen.

They have two locations to serve you 124 Oneawa Street 230-8208 760 Kapahulu Avenue 737-3877

September 22, 2010

En Fuego

One of our favorite eating spots in the Kapolei area is En Fuego. It's located in the Kapolei Shopping Center near Safeway. It's a little pricey for a plate lunch joint but it's well worth it. Their menu is filled with all of the standard plate lunch choices, but since I'm a big fan of garlic chicken, I order that at every visit and thus cannot comment on the rest of their menu. My brother ordered a mixed plate of shrimp scampi and garlic ahi. He said it was pretty good.

The rest of us ordered the garlic chicken. It was not as garlicky as Sugoi's, but still pretty damn tasty.

En Fuego 590 Farrington Highway 674-8805 Mon-Sat 730-2000 Sun 730-1600 www.enfuegogrill.com



En Fuego Grill & Poke on Urbanspoon

September 19, 2010

Kono's - Haleiwa

We recently picked up food from Kono's in Haleiwa.

Kono's is known for their breakfast burritos, which are filled with potatoes, cheese, and scrambled eggs, and your choice of other fillings.

DH got the Pipeline, which includes ham.


I got the Waimea, which includes bacon (it looks just like the Pipeline, above).

The burritos were nice and hot, fairly large, and delicious! They're served with salsa on the side. YUM!

DS2 got the french toast (he only ate one slice since 3 slices are too much for him, and we took the rest home).
He really liked it and it smelled so good!

DS1 got the Banana Macadamia Nut Waffle.

He loved it!

Breakfast is served until 1pm, but they're lunch options looked really good too.

Just another spot in Haleiwa for yummy food!

Kono's: 66-250 Kamehameha Hwy # G110, Haleiwa, HI 96712-1493, (808) 637-9211


Kono's on Urbanspoon

September 15, 2010

WW: Beautiful Day at Ali`i Beach Park


For more participants, visit Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom.

September 13, 2010

Laniakea Cafe

Although there were food booths at The Biggest Little Airshow, I knew my boys wouldn't eat what was being offered, so we ended up dining at the Laniakea Cafe in the Pacific Aviation Museum.

Although a bit pricey, as expected for the venue, we didn't mind because it was air-conditioned and they served food I knew my boys would eat.

DH got the Hangar Burger.
I got the Aviator Chicken Sandwich.

DS1 got the Kids Grilled Cheese Sandwich (kids meals come with a bag of chips and a small drink).

DS2 got the Torpedo Dog.

The restaurant was packed because of the airshow, but thankfully we went early enough and got a decent table.

The food was okay and so was the service. I don't know if we'll ever dine there again--only because I doubt we'll ever be on Ford Island again, unless we decide to visit the museum, but if we do, I think next time I'll order the Pineapple Fried Rice (it was HUGE!).



Laniakea Cafe: 319 Lexington Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96818-5004,(808) 520-1048

September 9, 2010

The Biggest Little Airshow

A few weekends ago we took the boys to The Biggest Little Airshow on Ford Island.

We arrived before the show was to start, so we toured the grounds and in Hangar 79 to look at all the helicopters and fighter planes.



At 10am the show was to begin with the Color Guard and Military Aircraft Flyover.
I was hoping there would be more than one aircraft flying around, but it was just one that flew, and only for a few seconds.

Then the emcee announced that the remote control airshow would be starting in an hour, at 11am.

I'm not sure why they left such a huge gap in time, especially knowing there would be lots of families with restless kids, but fortunately, lots of owners were practicing with their models and some owners even did some pre-shows before the "real" show started at 11am, which really helped to pass the time.



It was really neat to see what the remote control airplanes could do, and although we did see one crash in the water, overall the parts of the show that we did watch were pretty amazing!

A couple of the planes participated in candy bombings.
My boys didn't participate in trying to get any candy in the candy bombings, which was a good thing, because there were sooooo many kids, and sooooo little candy being dropped, that I'm sure they would've gotten trampled on!
The airshow continued throughout the afternoon, and there was also a concert, which we didn't stay for.

There were a few food booths at the airshow, but we ended up not getting food from any of them.

We all enjoyed The Biggest Little Airshow--seeing planes big and small, and it was great for the family to go and experience something we never have before!

September 3, 2010

Paesano Ristorante Italiano - Aiea

The girls recently met up at Paesano Ristorante Italiano in Aiea for a baby shower.

Lunch started off with some nice, warm bread.
The guest of honor ordered a Tossed Green Salad (what a nice looking salad!)...


and the Osso Bucco and Shrimp Scallop Alla Bolla.


The rest of our orders included...

Shrimp Marinara
One of the Fish Specialties (fish was Opah)

Chicken Paesano, which two of the girls ordered

Chicken Alla Saltimbocca Romana

Chicken Piccata
and I ordered the Chicken Vegetable Linguine with Pesto Sauce.

It was really, really good.

Everyone else seemed to enjoy their food too.

Although our server was not the greatest, other staff members in the restaurant who assisted us were nice, and overall it was a really wonderful lunch with friends!



Paesano Ristorante Italiano: 98-1277 Kaahumanu Street, Aiea, HI 96701, (808)485-8883, 485-8889



Paesano Ristorante Italiano on Urbanspoon