Dining Out: Island Sub and Burger in Manoa

One of our favorite takeout places in Manoa is Island Sub and Burger.   Inexpensive, great food tucked away in the Manoa Marketplace.  The only thing is, they close early (7:30PM and even earlier on Sundays).

Half of the penne w/marinara

1/2 of a Chicken Philly 6 inch

We haven't tried everything...we haven't even tried their burgers...but the male half of this couple loves their marinara sauce.  For $4.95, you can get a nice sized serving of penne with marinara and a small piece of garlic bread.  We'd ordered it in the past with chicken...but for the extra money, the chicken is nothing to write home about.   We normally share the penne with marinara and one of our other favorites, the Chicken Philly sandwich.  Another great deal.  There aren't too many restaurants in Hawaii who can cook up a Philly sandwich up to a Pennsylvanian's liking.  Island Sub and Burger uses that CheezWhiz stuff on theirs which makes their cheese really gooey...mmm.  One of our friends reminded us shredded cheese has an anti-caking agent which when melted will never melt into that gooeyness of CheezWhiz.  Their philly sandwiches may not be the best or equal to the ones you can get in Philadelphia..but for Manoa, we love it.

We've also tried their Reuben sandwiches which are also very good.

If you're looking for an inexpensive, but great tasting fast food meal, Island Sub and Burger is worth a try.

Dining Out: Pho One in Honolulu

Lemon Beef Salad w/Jellyfish

We're not very experienced eaters of Vietnamese food, but we do enjoy chicken Pho and lemongrass chicken.  Recently we made friends with a young gal who's parents are from Vietnam...she is fluent in Vietnamese.  Great gal, very nice and intelligent...oh and generous.  I always tell her she has an old soul, wise beyond her years.

Pork Plate

Our friend offered to share her culture via tradiational Vietnamese cuisine at Pho One in Honolulu (near Ala Moana Shopping Center).  We couldn't refuse!  She knows the owners of the restaurants and knows they make their own chicken and beef stocks from scratch, clean the vegetables one by one and by hand, etc.

Special Beef Pho

We asked her to do the ordering and we got some fabulous dishes:  Lemon Beef salad with Jellyfish, Beef Phở and a dish that wasn't on the menu, Bò lá lốt...more on this dish later.  She also ordered a dish with broken rice (small grains of jasmine rice), pork chops, shredded pork and Vietnamese pork meatloaf.  The Vietnamese steam their meatloaf making it light and fluffy and looks more like a piece of dessert (pretty)....it was very tasty.

Bo La Lot

First came the Lemon Beef salad with Jellyfish.  Very tasty dressing, the lettuce fresh and the onions mild.  The beef is served rare.  The male half of this couple doesn't get excited about food, but he claims this is the best salad he's had in a long time.  Next came our Beef Phở...it was one of the better bowls of Pho we've had, but we could've done without the tendons, tripe and whatever other piece of beef was in there.  This Pho is served with raw thin slices of meat also...our friend asked the waiter to have that meat served on the side so we could put the beef in when it arrived at our table...so the meat doesn't overcook...it was a great idea.

Rolling Bo La Lot

The last dish is the female half of this couple's favorite dish...Bò lá lốt, the meat portion is beef rolled in a pepper leaf.  At Pho One, they serve all the ingredients on a pizza pan, you roll the ingredients in rice paper yourself.  The tray comes with very fresh ingredients and it was recommended to us to lay down half a leaf of lettuce as the base (on the rice paper which you dip quickly into warm water), followed by the rest of the ingredients in whichever order you prefer.  The rest of the ingredients were: bun (noodles, cake form), the meat portion, pickled vegetables, basil and mint (leaves only).  Roll like a burrito tucking ingredients in so the rice paper isn't loose.  Dip the roll into the fish sauce holding it close to the top or else after you take a bite, everything tends to fall out of it.

It was quite an experience...but a great one.  We were too full to try the three layer Vietnamese ice dessert..next time we think we'll just to the salad and Bò lá lốt.

Dining Out: Yohei Sushi in Honolulu

If you're looking for a Japanese restaurant that's pretty close to being something you'd find in Japan, Yohei Sushi is a great choice.  Yohei's in the Kapalama/Kokea area along the canal across Honolulu Community College.  It's a small restaurant with a sushi bar.  The sushi bar is popular...their sushi is very good.

Sapporo Beer at Yohei Sushi

The other night we spent over an hour looking for items for a renovation at Home Depot and we were both famished.  After running through the restaurant choices in the area, the male half of this couple decided to treat me to some "fancy" sushi.  That's how the female half of this couple refers to high quality sushi made with top grade fish...as compared to the smaller fast foot type sushi places that use previously frozen fish.

This place is definitely not cheap, but you'll never have anything that doesn't taste fresh.  We decided to do sushi at a table since the sushi bar was full on a Wednesday night!  We were so hungry, we only took a picture of the beer!

We tried the hamachi kama (broiled and served with grated radish and ponzu sauce), negitoro maki, salmon nigiri, natto handroll, scallop/mayo nigiri and hamachi nigiri...everything was excellent. The female half of this couple's been to this restaurant many times and has had the sashimi/tempura teishoku and the zuke done (ahi and cucumber on rice) - both excellent dishes.

Once in a while, this place is a great treat!

Dining Out: Mix Cafe in Honolulu

The male half of this couple doesn't like spending a lot of money on food unless it's really, really good and a good sized portion.  The other week the female half of this couple decided to grab sandwiches from Mix Cafe on Alakea Street in Downtown Honolulu since the male half has never been there.  Grabbed a chicken sandwich and a steak sandwich...both are REALLY good.  As the female half waited for the owner to heat up the sandwiches, the voice of the male half popped into her mind...she heard him telling her about the $8 sandwich he just had from a new place on South Street and how bad it was and very little food for that much money.  Oh no!  The sandwiches we were waiting for at Mix Cafe are between $7.50 and $8.50...yikes.  Well, it comes with a salad and the sandwich is big and did we mention it's delicious.

Normally, the male half doesn't get excited about food (except for his mother's home cooking), so when she asked "how was the sandwich?", she expected to hear "good" but heard "very good, where did you get it from!"  Wow, the female half almost fell out of her chair.

Today we had to run downtown again and guess what the male half wants to eat tonight...sandwiches from Mix Cafe :-)

So far, we haven't had anything bad from this place.  They have two locations, so if you don't want to bother with parking downtown, park in one of the nearby municipal lots near the Beretania Street location. You won't regret spending the $8 or so on a sandwich.

We've never been to the Beretania location, but we believe they have a larger menu there.  The Alakea location seems to only have sandwiches which are all laid out on the counter for you to choose from, desserts and drinks.  Google Mix Cafe in Honolulu and check out the photos from Yelpers.  Mmm!

Dining Out: La Tour Cafe in Honolulu

SEE UPDATE BELOW TOO!


The female half of this couple's been here to La Tour Cafe a few times...the food is very good, a little pricey, but worth it.  The Wagyu burger is very good.  Normally she only eats the burger and the bottom bun, but the buns are freshly baked and very good.  The french fries are delicious and that aoili sauce they serve with it, even better.

She's also tried the turkey panini with a green salad and the chicken pesto panini...the later being the tastier one.  The only thing the chicken pesto panini could do without is the spinach, it almost overpowers the pesto.  


A friend tried the curry, she said the bread was good, the curry tasted good, but it was very soupy.  The desserts are also very good.  Macaroons in several flavors are $1.50 each - matcha green tea, chocolate, POG (Passion Orange Guava) and coconut are just some of the flavors available.  


The food is a bit pricey, but it's definitely good.  Most of the sandwiches are between $7.00 and $9.50 which includes a generous portion of fries or a small green salad.  The restaurant is relatively small, but very modern looking and only maybe 10 tables with a small bar along one of the windows to sit and eat at.  It's a order at the counter, serve your own drink and place your number on your table.  All the servers and staff are very friendly and helpful.   There's a specials screen also.  Click here to view their menu.  Click here to see yelpers photos of food from La Tour Cafe.


In addition there is a small rack with their freshly baked breads.  A case of danishes which has been almost empty by evening.  A small refrigerated section with meats and other items..and a small shelf area with other baked goods.


Be sure to go during an off hour if you plan to eat there.  Parking is free, but limited...we're wondering what the parking situation is going to be when Lowe's opens next door.


UPDATE:  4/15/11 - We tried the La Tour Salad with Chicken.  It was good, but pricey for a small salad.  We also tried the Bacon Jalapeno Cheddar Burger...same patty as the La Tour Burger (Wagyu) but this time the patty was overdone and dry.  Next time we'll be sure to ask for medium rare.  Even though the Bacon Jalapeno Cheddar Burger is only $1 extra, we still prefer the La Tour Burger.

Dining Out: Nico's Pier 38

Photo from Nico's website, grilled ahi sandwich

On Friday the male half of this couple wanted to have fish for lunch.  He wanted to go to Nico's Pier 38.  The female half of this couple said, "have you been to Uncle's?"  He says, "I've never been there, let's try it."  She says, "How about La Tour since the last time we went it was closed due to the tsunami warning.   Since all three restaurants are very close to each other, we decide to try La Tour.  La Tour is a POPULAR lunch spot apparently.  The parking lot was already full (and Lowe's next door hasn't even opened yet!).  As we waited in the line of cars for parking, someone opened the door to La Tour and the line was to the door.  We said, "next time" and were on our way to Uncle's.

We got to Uncle's, grabbed a table, then noticed the prices went up, a lot!  After a couple of minutes perusing the menu, we decided since Nico's was right next door to Uncle's we'd walk over there.  Wow, the line!  Nico's is a very popular place..reasonably priced, but be careful...if the menu doesn't say "Fresh" next to the dish, the fish may be "previously frozen" or at least taste that way.

Photo from Nico's website, fresh catch plate.

There was a band playing Hawaiian music, so there were no tables open and diners weren't leaving.  Seating is open air, most of it's covered and there are a few cement tables with cement benches and umbrellas across the driveway along the water.

We tried the Grilled Ahi Sandwich which was ok, tasted like previously frozen fish.  We also tried the fresh catch which was Swordfish in a creamy caper sauce, this was very good.   Check out the photo above from Nico's website...the fish wasn't even that big, it was skinner, a bit longer, but we sure didn't get that much.  The french fries were ok...we've had better at other restaurants.    The photo to the left is also from Nico's website and again, the fish wasn't even that big.  We also got our plate with a scoop of brown rice.

All in all, Nico's is a good place to try.  If you're trying this place, go either early or later, we got there at their peak lunch hour...so we waited a while for our food.  The $9.95 we paid for the fresh catch plate was worth it.  If you're visiting Hawaii, this is a nice place to get a local plate...but we don't recommend some of the other non-seafood items.  We've tried the loco moco once and it was just ok.

Dining Out: Tanioka's in Waipahu

With an upcoming trek to Kapolei, we decided to pick up lunch at Tanioka's on our way back to town...to eat someplace different.  At any given time, there is a line at least 10 people or more waiting to order fresh poke or pick up okazu like mochiko chicken, corned beef hash patties, etc.  This past Sunday, there was a line of about 20 people...and by the time we got to the poke (seasoned raw fish) area, there looked like at least 15 more behind us.

We've always found Tanioka's poke to be very fresh and in a wide variety.  There's regular ahi limu poke, spicy ahi poke, dried poke, tako poke and a LOT more.  We got our favorite, spicy ahi poke which was excellent.  The ahi limu poke was great also.  We also tried the spicy marlin which didn't taste very spicy...come to think of it, it really didn't have much flavor.

We also got their famous fish patties...chopped up poke pan fried in patty form.  Very good, but a bit on the salty side.  There are so many things to choose from, if this place were closer to town, we'd probably eat there regularly!

If you're not from Hawaii and aren't sure what to get, the workers there are friendly and will give you samples of the poke items.

Dining Out: Hy's Steakhouse in Waikiki

The presentation was much nicer when it arrived at our
table, but since we always share our meals, this is the
result of splitting meals!

Waikiki's not a local's favorite place to go, but once in a while it's ok.  Don't get us wrong, Waikiki has a lot to offer visitors - a beautiful beach, many places to stay, lots of shopping and great restaurants like Nobu's, Morimoto's and more.  Nobu's is great, pricey, but the food is wonderful.

Waikiki was very different way back when...at one point it was known as the playground for the Hawaiian Royalty.    For us, a visit to Waikiki is on a "as needed" basis!  It's the crowds and traffic we try to avoid.  We have gone to Waikiki for some great get togethers with friends from the mainland.

Scallops

Last night we dined at Hy's Steakhouse on Kuhio Avenue.  Hy's is a fine dining restaurant, but the attire for Hawaii's fine dining really just means no shorts, tank tops and jeans (although some allow jeans).  For men, slacks and aloha shirt is just fine for a fine dining restaurant here.

The restaurant is basically in 3 sections: the front area where you can watch the chef grilling steaks behind a glass wall; the bar area which has has some nice tables and tonight they had live music (mellow); and what looks like a restaurant decorated back in the 70's.  We decided at the last minute to go to Hy's, so we were seated in the last area.  The first two dining areas really look like you're sitting in an old mansion - they even made part of it look like you're sitting in the mansion's library.

Making the Chocolate Lover's Flambe

The service is excellent, our waiter made some great recommendations.  The food was fabulous, but pricey.  We started with a shared Caesar salad (if you order two or more orders, the prepare the Caesar tableside).  The salad was good, a bit on the sweet side though.  For our main entrees, we shared the Fresh Catch Opakapaka (pink snapper) cooked in an Asian sesame oil/green onion/ginger sauce and served with stir fried Asian veggies.  Very good.  The steak and scallops combo with a Delmonico steak served with Hy's mashed potatoes; also very good.

Chocolate Lover's Flambe

Since we had a gift certificate and were trying to use it up, we decided to treat ourselves to dessert.  As always, the male half of this couple let the female half of this couple choose all the dishes....Chocolate Lover's Flambe it was!  Wow, it was very good.  Hy's is one of the few restaurants on Oahu that still serves tableside Flambe.  What a treat!

If you're looking to treat yourself to a great steak experience with that supper club feel, we highly recommend this place!

Enjoy!