A Place for My Taste

Paesano Ristorante Italiano – Waimalu (Aiea)

2012-01-28T10:31:00.000-10:00

The wife and I had occasion to dine at Paesano RistoranteItaliano recently – the one in the Waimalu Plaza across the parking lot fromSafeway. I’ve always enjoyed Paesano, and its sister restaurantAssagio. Both offer wonderfully rich Italian dishes that cater to my tastes.

It was late afternoon when we decided to have an earlydinner, and being as how we were toodling around in Aiea, we decided to try thePaesano there, having eaten at their Manoa location but never at the WaimaluPlaza site. Lucky us, they opened at 5 p.m. for dinner, just as we pulled up tothe entrance.

We weren’t terribly starved, but we were hungry. Salad, soupand/or appetizer? Nope, not that night. We went straight to the entrées.

Eggplant Alla Parmigiana

She ordered one of her standards (a usual favorite) – EggplantAlla Parmigiana, one of their specialties on linguini. Nothing really fancy,but according to her, very tasty. I tried the sauce (as usual) … yes, verytasty.

Scallops Alla Scampi Style

I was in a mood for seafood so I went with their ScallopsAlla Scampi Style with snap peas and linguini. A word of warning: Do not plan any kissing after dinner ifyou have this one. It’s very garlicky. Yummy garlicky, but garlicky for sure.Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you might want to hold off onthe kissing unless your partner or date has something garlicky as well.

I’m just saying …

Anyway, be that as it may, my food was cholesterol-heaven.Lots of butter, lots of scallops. It was heavenly! The linguini was perfectlycooked, the sauce was richly buttery, the garlic was great (they did use a lot,but minced it up really fine, and of course, one could always brush it off andmoderate its effects).

A garlicky scallopy meal like that deserves a dessert tofinish it off. Tiramisu, of course. If I were still rating tiramisu on myHeaven in the Mouth website that I sold a few years ago, I’d give it an 8 outof 10. And that’s the highest grade I’ve given to tiramisu in Hawaii.

I loved that you could taste the liqueur in the espressothat the ladyfingers were dipped in. And, nice guy that I am, I let the wifehave the cherry on top.

Paesano RistoranteItaliano: 98-1277 Kaahumanu St. (808) 485-8883.

Aloha Specialties Restaurant (Las Vegas)

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-10:00

Located in the mezzanine area of the California Hotel Casinoin downtown Las Vegas, near the overpass to Main Street Station, AlohaSpecialties Restaurant is a favorite of Hawaii residents who frequent the BoydGaming Hotels.

It offers all kinds of “Hawaii local foods” that Islandresidents are familiar with – saimin noodle soup, teriyaki beef, shrimptempura, beef stew, bento plates … y’know, take-out food.

I finally decided to give it a try the last time I was inLas Vegas, since I was staying at the California Hotel. As I stood in line tomake my order, I was in a quandary as to what to order. See, I don’t usuallyeat local Hawaii food in Las Vegas. I mean, why go to Las Vegas to eatsomething I can easily get at home?

This is one of those places where you stand in line to giveyour order, they give you a number to take with you and display on your table,and then they deliver your food.

I ordered their beef stew. Oh my, not a good move. The beefstew was much too salty and the meat was not tender enough. If you look at thepicture, you’ll see what looks like two big hunks of potato next to the rice.It’s not potato. It’s fat. Big globs of fat attached to a couple of smallchunks of meat.

The rice was a bit on the pasty side, which is a turnoff forsome people, but not for me. I like it that way. Too bad the gravy was toosalty.

The worst part? They don’t accept the Boyd Aloha couponbooks.

Aloha SpecialtiesRestaurant: California Hotel, 12 E. Ogden Ave., (702) 385-1222.

Kit n Kitchen (Honolulu)

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-10:00

The wife and I were going to have breakfast after my visitto the dentist, and the assistant told her to try a little place in theMoiliili area of town called “Kit n Kitchen.” I’m eternally grateful to her,because it was a very good experience.

Kit n Kitchen is the type of coffee house/café that I lovegoing to – independently owned, offering more than the usual breakfast meat,eggs and potatoes (or in the case of Hawaii, rice). In fact, I seek out theseplaces in my travels.

The Yius have been there for about 10 years now, and added their breakfast service about a year ago.

It’s located near the Bank of Hawaii building on UniversityAvenue, at the corner of University and Coyne … easy to find, and lots ofparking (if the shopping area’s lot is full, park in the huge Bank of Hawaiiparking lot, although you’ll have to pay to do that).

They have a pretty good variety of breakfast items:“Egg-in-da-hole” (egg nestled in a hole cut in a slice of bread, with breakfastmeat and a chunky tomato sauce), Huevos Rancheros (I’ll talk about this in alittle while), Breakfast Wrap (tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, grilledchicken, ham, onion and zucchini, roasted potato and cheese, with salsa), and acouple of Eggs Benedict dishes.

They also have something called a “Lamb Cave” (a grilledtortilla bowl containing thin slices of roast lamb, romaine, cucumber, dicedtomatoes and sour cream), and “The King of Pig Sandwich” (grilled pork andstuff in crispy French bread).

The wife ordered Eggs Benedict, which were pretty nice. Sheordered hers with rice for her starch, which I thought was a little weird, butconsequently, she was able to mash her substantially wiggly egg yokes in it,just as she does at home.

So what do I know! Plus, she got some fruit on the plate,which made her a happy camper.

I had the Huevos Rancheros. Now, it’s not like huevosrancheros I’ve had elsewhere. But it was good. Two sunny side up eggs on alarge flour tortilla, nestled in a playground of diced cucumbers, roastedpotatoes, Portuguese sausage slices, olives, parsley, black olives, sour cream,barbecued beans and salsa.

I didn’t know where to start. Every wedge of tortilla I cutoff had a different ingredient on it. And that made ME a happy camper. Pretty fun meal for me!

Each of us also got two pancakes – free. The pancakes werepretty light, but a little short on flavor. Good thing they supplied a lot ofthick maple syrup. I’m sure they give the real thing and not the fake kind thatLog Cabin or Aunt Jemima sell in the stores.

We were kind of full, so we took the wife’s pancakes home,along with one of her Egg Benedicts.

The second time we went there, I ordered their Steak and Eggs. It's not just any old steak and eggs, however. The steak is thinly sliced and served with chimichurri sauce - a Hispanic green sauce with a bit of heat.

Usually, when I have steak and eggs, I'd use a steak sauce and a few drops of Tabasco sauce to add heat. This time, however, I didn't have to do any of that. Not only did the chimichurri sauce add a chili heat, the meat was nicely spiced as well.

Instead of potatoes, I upgraded to their pineapple fried rice, well worth the small addition to the price. This is one dish I'll order again, that's for sure. The steak was so very flavorful, the sunny-side up eggs were cooked perfectly, and the pineapple fried rice was a nice change.

Since those first two times, we've been back for a couple more meals, the most recent being dinner. They have an item on their dinner menu that caught my eye immediately - Beef Tongue Stew. I love beef tongue, and just HAD to order it for myself.

The sauce was pretty much tomatoey Italian (very delicious), and the tongue was nice and tender, as tongue almost always is. What flavor! There are those who absolutely refuse to even try beef tongue, and to them, all I can say is they don't know what they're missing.

And the good thing is, I finally was in a position to order dessert. I had a slight waver during my decision, but in the end, I fell back on my fave - tiramisu. Gotta say, though, that the next time I have dessert at Kit 'n Kitchen, it's going to be the creme brulee, which along with tiramisu constitute 40% of my "5 best desserts" list.

The tiramsu was heavenly. They describe it as "Heaven in your mouth" on the menu, and I've been debating whether or not to ask them where they got the phrase as I had it for my tiramisu website catch phrase almost 20 years ago. Well, be that as it may, their tiramisu was heaven in my mouth.

According to their menu, they give you a choice at breakfast: freepancakes or a coupon to use next time. We lucked out. We not only got thepancakes, we also got a couple of coupons. And you can rest assured that we’llbe going back again – maybe for breakfast, but also, maybe for dinner.

P.S. You might want to check out the owner Kit Yiu’sCoca-Cola bottle/can collection. He says he’s been collecting for 30 years, andthat some of them were given to him by customers.

Kit n Kitchen: 1010University Ave. (808) 942-7622.

SeaBlue (Las Vegas)

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-10:00

It was my last night in Las Vegas so I went wandering aroundthe MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip, searching for a place to have dinner. Asusual, it was about 5:30 p.m.

I like to eat dinner early when I’m looking for afine dining restaurant because I can usually get in without a reservation.

My ploy worked again. And you should know that when I wasdone, there was a line waiting to get in. Awright! Score!

But I digress.

SeaBlue is a Michael Mina’s contemporary seafood restaurant,one of five restaurants that Mina operates in Las Vegas. The ambiancetransports the diner under the ocean – it’s dark and peaceful inside.

First up, appetizer. They had oysters, so that’s how Ibegan. First, they brought me some naan bread with a small variety of spreads:hummus, feta cheese with nicoise olive tapenade, and red pepper and walnutmuhammara.

Me too. I’d never heard of muhammara. So I asked my waiterDerek what it was (Derek, by the way, and with no insult intended, looks likean early toon version of Elmer Fudd). Turns out it’s a Middle East (Syrian) hotpepper condiment. It’s good.

The oyster platter arrived with three varieties of thewiggly stuff – Kumamoto, Fanny Bay and Gold Creek oysters – accompanied bycocktail sauce, horseradish, and a light sweet-sour vinaigrette dip, all verydelicious. The three varieties of oysters had their own subtle flavors and Ihave to say I couldn’t choose a favorite from the trio presented to me.

My sea bass entrée (the server’s favorite fish, as he sopointedly informed me) had some mighty crispy, intensely flavored skin. Nowonder it was his favorite. It was a perfect contrast to the Japanese snapperI’d had the night before at Japonais. Not fishy at all, very white and soft,yet flakey. A warm salad of mini-greens and mild golden pepper saucecomplemented the fish.

For my vegetable side, I ordered some spaghetti squash. I’mstill drooling over this one.

After a lovely meal like this, one just has to have dessertand coffee. For me, that night, it was a trio of profiteroles – little creampuffy pastry with a milk-chocolate crust, filled with rocky road ice cream,with dabby domes of chocholate and whipped cream gracing the plate.

I could hardly walk outta the place.

P.S. How could I forget this: They gave me two chocolatetruffles to sweeten my mouth after dinner. Beats Andes chocolate mints any day.

SeaBlue: MGM GrandHotel & Casino, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. So. (702) 891-3486.

Café Bellagio (Las Vegas)

2012-01-04T08:00:00.001-10:00

Café Bellagio is one of the brightest, prettiest hotel cafésin Las Vegas. And the best thing about it is that after you’re done dining, youcan wander right into the Bellagio Conservatory, where the wonders of theseason are presented in flowers for your delight.

There may be a long line when you get there, for it’s apretty popular place. I had a 20-minute wait in line, but that was pleasantenough, thanks to the nice people in front of and behind me, and the colorfuldisplays of the Conservatory.

Then when I was in the next four groups to be seated, I wasasked if I wanted to sit at the counter. I wish I'd known early on that theyhad a counter … I could have been satisfying my appetite much, much earlier.Still, lemme think about this. Maybe the wait wasn’t so bad; I could feed myspirit and soul while waiting to feed my body.

So, what did I order? Eggs Benedict, of course. Except thatthey call it their “Café Benedict.”

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this mostperfect of breakfast dishes? Nothing. Except that the Café Benedict had hugsslabs of Canadian bacon draped over the English muffin.

The muffins were crispy (yay!), the egg yolks were hot andrunny (yay!), the hollandaise was perfect (yay!), and the hash browns weretasty and crispy and tender all at the same time (yay!). I really liked thehash browns, and I loved the Café Benedict.

(Good coffee too.)

Café Bellagio: In TheBellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. So. (702) 693-7223.

Stage Restaurant (Honolulu)

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-10:00

Stage Restaurant is one of the better dining experiencesI’ve had in Honolulu and it’s often written up in the guides. It’s not a cheapplace to eat, but one way to try it out is to go there for lunch.

I did just that, calling in for an 11:30 a.m. reservation.When I got there, I was the first through the doors and nobody else showed upfor at least 10 minutes. And then the rush started as it neared everybody’s 12noon lunch break.

They start you off with a nice piece of herb bread and somecute little butter florets as you peruse the menu. I know how it is toover-order (having walked out of restaurants so bloated that I becamelight-headed) so I decided to order a reasonable – albeit substantial – lunchof an appetizer, sandwich and dessert.

(That looks so innocent when described that way, doesn’tit?)

For my appetizer, I pondered the Ahi Poke, then the Imu PorkQuesadilla, finally settling on their Crispy Fried Calamari (Graham crackercrusted, yuzu chili aioli, cocktailsauce, yukari powder, aji amarillo [Peruvian yellow chilipurée], topped with chopped shisoleaf). Which, wouldn’t you know it, was the most expensive appetizer on themenu. Aaah, so what!

The calamari was excellent, and the sauces were very tastyindeed. I loved the aioli, and even the marinara sauce was a bit over the edge.As for the cocktail sauce, they only gave a little plop of it, but that wasenough … it made my head perspire (translation, “It was good!”).

I decided to bring half of the calamari home with me,because I still had my sandwich and dessert coming.

They listed six sandwiches on the menu, but they only hadfive available, because they were out of the Peppered Pastrami.

My choice was their Open-Face Crab Sandwich (snow crab meat,bacon and cheddar cheese on in-house-baked baguettes). It came with a petitehouse salad, although I could have opted for French fries. But I can get Frenchfries anywhere, and wanted to taste their vinaigrette salad dressing.

That was one of the richest crab sandwiches I ever had. Thecheddar cheese added a butteriness to the huge piles of crab that were accentedby the slight saltiness of the bacon.

Again, I couldn’t finish, so I brought most of my secondhalf home with me.

Ordering dessert has a dual purpose for me. Something sweethelps clear the mouth of strong flavors, especially seafood (and especially,especially crab when it’s covered with melted cheese). Plus, if it’s one of myfive favorite desserts (apple pie or variant, tiramisu or variant, key limepie, bread pudding, or crème brulée), I can take a picture to post on my 5 BestDesserts picture blog.

And that’s why I order dessert. This time, it was Apple andBlueberry Crisp (with housemade honey ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce).Not only was it beautiful to look at, it was grand! The ice cream was perfect –not frozen hard, but mouth soft. The crumbles were crunchy, the apples weresweet, and the berries added a fresh dimension to the shootin’ match.

Gotta go back. Maybe next time I’ll take the wife with me ifshe behaves.

By the way, parking is accessed from Piikoi Street, so don’tdrive past the Honolulu Design Center or you will have some majorly long blocksand right turns to negotiate your way back.

Stage Restaurant:Honolulu Design Center, 2^nd Floor, 1250 Kapiolani Blvd. (808)237-5429.

Japonais Restaurant (Las Vegas)

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-10:00

If you like Japanese food, you may like Japonais. It all depends on how you envision Japanese foodto be. If you’re into traditional Japanese food, let me tell you that Japonaisis nothing like traditional.

Those who like a simple meal with steamed hot rice on theside are going to miss the rice. And, there’s no teriyaki anything on the menu.They do have a sushi bar, and that’s about as traditionally “normal” as itgets.

I knew going in that Japonais was going to be different. AndI wasn’t disappointed.

They started me off with an amuse bouche of a slice of albacore sashimi in a mild soy broth. Itwas so beautiful in its tiny little bowl that I hesitated before disturbing it.But y’know, that’s what it’s there for, so I actually took two nibbles tofinish it, savoring each little bite.

I ordered a Robata charcoal-grilled appetizer of skeweredsweet shrimp and diver scallop sprinkled with yuzu (a Japanese citrus) salt. Again, they don’t overwhelm you withquantity, so I took my time eating it and explored each nuance of taste.

To wash everything down, I had a bottle of Badoit sparklingwater.

For my entrée, I selected Japanese Red Snapper “poached insake with seared diver scallop and Japanese eggplant stew in a black bean vinaigrette.”The snapper was mild in flavor, tender and flakey, with a crispy skin full offlavor.

The eggplant stew was very similar in flavor to Japanese sanbai zuke (a soy-preserved daikon condiment and side dish). Alsoaccompanying the fish were mini-daikonthat were actually cool and a refreshing contrast to the mouth after eating thesemi-tart eggplant stew. Baby bok choy and some shredded green onions (thewhite part) finished the dish.

I wasn’t disappointed with the entrée. It was different, andmaybe not to a traditionalist’s taste, but I did enjoy it.

To complete the meal, I ordered a dessert. Now, there’snothing actually Japanese about apple pie, except that they prepare it withginger sugar: “Apple Pie Toban Yaki”consisted of Washington red and green apples with a ginger-sugar crumble (kindof like chopped up chunks of crust sprinkled over the apples), all served in ahot clay pot and topped with honey vanilla ice cream.

They recommended a glass of Marco Negri Moscato d’Asti, butI demurred and had a glass of iced green tea instead.

It was sinful. I ate it all, reveling in the syrup at theend. I could have soaked in it if I had a bathtub-full.

Japonais: The Mirage,3400 Las Vegas Blvd. So. (702) 791-7111.

B.B. King’s Blues Club (Las Vegas)

2011-12-17T08:00:00.000-10:00

B.B. King, guitarist, songwriter, and self-proclaimed “Kingof the Blues,” has five blues clubs/restaurants. Two are in Tennessee(Nashville and Memphis), two are in Florida (West Palm Beach and Orlando), andone is in Las Vegas.

Since I don’t go to Tennessee or Florida very often, but canbe found in Las Vegas several times a year, I decided to drop in one morningfor breakfast.

Located in The Mirage, B.B. King’s Blues Club looks likewhat it professes to be – a bar and a Southern café. The memorabilia on thewalls and table tops are all about jazz, all about B.B. King.

So it was that in order to experience the South, I orderedhis Cajun Pork Chops and Eggs for breakfast – two grilled pork chops (at 6ounces apiece), with two eggs, hash browns, and a biscuit.

As I expected, the pork chops were over-cooked (grilled) andon the dry side, but they tasted pretty good, thanks to the grill marks. Thescrambled eggs were overcooked, but I always expect that. The biscuit was notbad, and the coffee was strong.

The verdict? Extremely passable. You might enjoy havingbreakfast with B.B. King someday.

BB King’s Blues Club: TheMirage, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. So. (702) 242-5464.

Café Miro (Honolulu)

2011-12-11T06:57:00.000-10:00

Café Miro is a small little fine-dining restaurant in theheart of uptown Honolulu’s Kaimuki area. I just discovered it a few months ago,although Chef Shigeru Kobayashi opened it in 1997.

It’s an intimate place with a total of maybe 40 seats, plus abar counter with a couple of stools, plus a party room for a dozen diners.

We went there on a Tuesday night and it ended up beingpacked. Which is a good sign. In fact, Town Restaurant across the street onWaialae Avenue, and Champa Thai Restaurant across the street on 9^thAvenue were both pretty packed. Not bad. Hopeful signs, perhaps, that theeconomy is picking up?

They started us off with an amuse-bouche of Chilled Okinawa Sweet Potato Soup. The little cupof lavender soup was almost like melted ice cream on the tongue, accented ontop with a gentle swirl of cream. Very tasty indeed and a wonderful little hors d’oeuvre to whet the appetite. Mymouth is watering just thinking about it.

The menu is prix fixeand the wife decided on the three-course choice. Her appetizer was Beer Batter FriedAnago (sea eel), somewhat like unagi (fresh water eel), but a little milder inflavor. Much softer too.

Of course we traded tastes of each other’s selections, so Iwas able to enjoy the anago. It was beautiful how it melted on the tongue,intermingling its subtle flavors with the familiar taste of the deep-fried tempura batter.

Her entrée selection was Roasted Rack of Lamb with ShiitakeMushrooms and Mint Sauce. Oh my, it was tender. I didn’t particularly swoonover the mint sauce, and in fact, I seldom eat the ubiquitous mint jelly thatrestaurants usually include as a condiment when you order lamb chops.

The lamb was accompanied by potato gratin, a broccolifloret, and a sprig of mint.

I decided to choose my dishes from the Chef’s Special Menu,a four-selection option (you get an additional appetizer) that is essentiallythe same at the three-course menu, but with additional choices. Actually, itdoesn’t matter if you want the three or four-choice option, you can choose fromany of the appetizers or entrées.

My first course was the Appetizer Tasting Plate, consistingof a sampling of five different appetizers: Ahi (Tuna) Carpaccio with WasabiMayonnaise, Crab Cake, Uni (Sea Urchin) Aspect on Carrot Soufflé, Marinated Taco(Octopus), Sweet Fig and Potato Salad wrapped in Prosciutto on WasabiMayonnaise.

The samples were so very delicious that I lingered andsavored, lingered and savored, and the next thing you know, when I opened myeyes, the plate was cleaned up.

My second appetizer was Sautéed Fresh Scallops with HoneyCurry Cream Sauce. The waiter asked if we wanted an extra plate so the wifecould share. I wanted the scallops all to myself, but since it was her birthdaydinner, I relented. Lordie, the things I do for that woman!

The scallop (remember, I was forced to have just one insteadof both) was so sweet, so tender, so delicious with the sauce. I was tempted toorder another, but I kept my cool. Next time we go there, if I opt for thescallops, and if the wife is with me, I’ll order her own plate for her. Hownice of me, no?

My entrée was Braised Short Rib with Port Wine ReductionSauce. I’ve had some pretty good short ribs in my day – the best to dateprobably were at Okada in the Wynn Hotel and The Ranch at Harrah’s, both in LasVegas.

Well, I’m here to tell you the short ribs at Café Miro isright up there, top shelf, with those two restaurants. The beef was so tender.To meld two trite and overused phrases, they were fall-off-the-bone forktender.

I had the same sides as the wife, plus a little serving oftomato-stewed zucchini. And do you know, I unashamedly sopped up the winereduction with my sweet bun? By the way, I loved the chewiness of the bun.

For dessert, we both eschewed the fruit and cheese plate,and had instead, the Chef’s Dessert: Crème Brulée, Coffee Ice Cream on crisp,Coconut Soufflé, fruits and cookie stick. A perfect, sweet end to a lovelyevening on a special day.

You should know that Café Miro is closed on Mondays, as wellas Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Day and the day after. And they’re only openfor dinner. Therefore, if you want to make a reservation for Tuesday dinner(and you really should because they apparently fill up fast), don’t wait untilMonday because they won’t return to confirm your reservation message untilearly afternoon on Tuesday.

That’s what happened to me. Not good when the wife keptasking where we were going to dinner on her birthday!

Café Miro: 3446Waialae Ave. (808) 734-2737.

Maggiano’s Little Italy (Las Vegas)

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-10:00

I’ve passed by Maggiano’s so many times, but never droppedby for a meal. You can’t miss seeing it. When you’re driving on the Las VegasStrip and reach the Fashion Show Mall, there it is on the north corner, itsname big as life.

Maggiano’s is a much classier dining experience than say,the Olive Garden, or even Romano’s Macaroni Grill. It just feels more righteous to eat there.

To get my digestive juices lined up and ready for the goodstuff, I started with soup and salad:

First, they brought me a cup of Tuscan Sausage and Orzo Soup.Very good, nice and hot, a wonderful tomatoey flavor that wasn’t toooverpowering. I do believe that if I wanted a light lunch, I could do very wellwith nothing but a bowl of their soup and some of the crusty munch bread thatthey brought me.

The Maggiano’s Salad was a simple salad with a tangy vinaigrette,finely shredded lettuce and red onions sprinkled with lots of crunchy littlebits of prosciutto and crumbled bleu cheese. I’m not a big fan of bleu cheesebut when combined with their vinaigrette, the flavor was changed and a greattreat to the palate.

For my entrée, I wanted something pasta, and something rich.I also wanted some seafood. They had the perfect offering: Crab & ShrimpCannelloni. If it sounds creamy and buttery, well, it was.

The plate was swimming with sinfully yummy shellfish wrappedup in cannelloni, little red bits of roasted red peppers peeking through theAsiago cream sauce, all sprinkled with seasoned breadcrumbs. Did I say it wasrich?

Y’know, it’s not very often that I don’t order dessert.Actually, I could have slapped my head for not trying their tiramisu. So I madea vow to get back there soon, sit in their outside dining area and havetiramisu and coffee one afternoon.

Wanna join me? Just let me know.

Maggiano’s Little Italy:2100 Las Vegas Blvd. So. (702) 732-2550.

Todai (Las Vegas)

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-10:00

I first heard of Todai when they opened in Waikiki, one oftheir many international sushi and seafood buffet restaurants.

At present,there are 23 Todai restaurants, including their Las Vegas location in theMiracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las VegasStrip.

Todai offers a plethora of choices – salads, sashimi, aboatload of sushi, soups, fresh fruit to start. If one isn’t careful, one caneasily fill up on these, before even reaching the hot entrées.

On the night I was at Todai Las Vegas, the hot entreesincluded spicy barbecued pork belly, teriyaki chicken, green-lip mussels,bacon-wrapped fish on skewer, tempura shrimp and vegetables, fried rice, chowmein noodles. And that’s just a sampling of what’s available.

For me, it was impossible to sample a little of everything,so I made small selections.

The stars of the offering are, of course, the sushi. Todayputs together a beautiful assortment that includes some favorites, but withmany esoteric and creative sushi that you probably never heard of before. If Ihad let myself go undisciplined, my plate would be filled to heaping with sushialone.

But … I’m disciplined these days when it comes to buffets,and often skip many items altogether.

Salad Plate

Hot Entree Plate

Todai offered quite a variety of mini-desserts, includingthree of my favorites – key lime pie, tiramisu and crème brulée, along withseveral cakes and other fancy concoctions. I went with those three.

I was also happy to see that they had iced green tea on themenu. It looked cloudy-green, like machathat’s used in tea ceremonies. Quite tasty too, especially without lemon and/orsweetening.

Gotta take the wife next time. She’d enjoy it, I’m sure.

Todai Las Vegas Sushi& Seafood Buffet, 3663 Las Vegas Blvd., S. (702) 892-0021.

California Pizza Kitchen – Kahala Mall (Honolulu)

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-10:00

Not even a week had passed after the wife and I had lunchat California Pizza Kitchen in Ala Moana Center’s Ho’okipa Terrace, when we hadan opportunity to lunch at their Kahala Mall restaurant. Talk about luck.

Because we had their Chinese Chicken Salad and BarbecueChicken + Applewood Smoked Bacon pizza at Ala Moana, we decided to take adifferent tack this time. Besides, the wife’s mother and brother were with usthis time.

We ordered CPK’s Original Chicken Chopped Salad, whichconsisted of sweet corn, black beans, jicama, cilantro, basil, tortilla stripsand Monterey jack tossed in a very mild (almost too mild for me) homemade herbranch dressing. The full-size version of the salad was topped with BBQ chicken,tomatoes and scallions. Plus, we added on avocado for a buck more.

I ate some, but didn’t partake of my entire one-fourth of thesalad; I thought it was pretty mildly flavored and it wasn’t quite to myliking. Not bad, but not great either.

The others split aVegetarian with Japanese Eggplant pizza. It’s a pretty tasty pizza withmozzarella, baby broccoli, eggplant, corn, red onions, mushrooms, sun-driedtomatoes and tomato sauce. There was no avocado option, but I did have themmake it with a honey-wheat dough (didn’t let the family members have a chanceto even think about it).

Now the pizza was more to myliking than the salad. CPK pizzas are anything but bland, with strong flavorsthat sing on your tongue. My mouth was performing a symphony with each bite.And, judging by the yummy sounds, and the fact that the entire thing disappearedwith nothing left over to take home, everybody else liked it as well.

You know what really madeit? The sun-dried tomatoes. I love those things.

For myself, I ordered their Fish Tacos (sautéedmahimahi, shredded cabbage and ranchito sauce, served with tortilla chips androasted tomato salsa), taking the avocado add-on. It was a good choice – themahimahi was a smidgen on the spicy side, which was okay by me.

And, nice guy that I am, I gave the wife abite, and then gave my second taco to my brother-in-law, ‘cause that guy caneat more than I can.

When I had my tiramisu website, CPK Kahala Mall had thehighest-rated tiramisu in Hawaii. That’s what we had for dessert. The family nolonger does the “What? You’re having dessert?” unbelieving and fake criticismof me. They’ve learned I order dessert for a reason, and unashamedly partake,assuaging any false guilt they might have because after all, they don’t want towaste food and besides, HE’S the onewho ordered it, not them.

CPK has good tiramisu. I had given them an 8 on a scale of 1to 10. That’s pretty good. And that’s why I ordered it that day.

California PizzaKitchen: Kahala Mall, 4211 Waialae Ave. (808) 732-7736.

California Pizza Kitchen – Ala Moana Center (Honolulu)

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-10:00

I’ve had pizza and salad at a number of California PizzaKitchens (aka CPK) in Hawaii, Las Vegas, and throughout California, but I’venever been to the Ala Moana Center restaurant until recently.

It’s in the Ala Moana Center’s Ho’okipa Terrace, where anumber of other restaurants (including Bubba Gump Shrimp Company) lure thehungry folk away from their shopping.

The wife and I went there for a late-lunch/early-dinner,after a hot and strenuous walk at Magic Island, just across Ala Moana Boulevardfrom the shopping center.

First, we split a Chinese Chicken Salad (Napa and redcabbage, lettuce and wontons tossed with carrots, scallions, sesame seeds andcilantro in a sweet and sour dressing, topped with chicken). A full order wouldhave been too much, so we had a half order.

Then, we had them bring us a Barbecue Chicken + ApplewoodSmoked Bacon pizza – BBQ sauce, smoked Gouda, Mozzarella, BBQ chicken, redonions, cilantro and applewood smoked bacon. The BBQ piece is more or lessCPK’s signature pizza, and the smoked bacon is a variation of same.

For dessert (and remember, I espouse dessert to close off ameal with intensely flavored dishes), we agreed on Key Lime Pie on grahamcracker crust, served with whipped cream. The “limeyness” simply hit the spot.

Although I had ordered diet cola, the waitress mistakenly broughtme iced tea (does “Diet Pepsi” sound like “iced tea”? Hmmmm, could be.) When Iadvised her of her error, she brought the Diet Pepsi and let the wife keep theiced tea at no charge. She was happy (the wife, that is).

Haven’t had a bad experience at CPK yet!

California PizzaKitchen: Ala Moana Center, 1450 Ala Moana Blvd. (808) 941-7715.

Tequila (Las Vegas)

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000-10:00

Tequila Bar and Grill is located in the Bally’s Las VegasHotel on the Strip, with Mexican food on the menu. If it’s Mexican, you canorder it.

Root beer isn’t Mexican, but that’s what I had from the bar.Good choice, as cola sometimes does battle with Mexican food when I have it.The beverage came with refills, by the way.

The dish I ordered was Carnitas, very tender marinated steakon a bed of peppers (sweet green and red peppers, as well as hot chilies),Spanish rice, refried beans; pico di gallo, guacamole and sour cream; andchoice of corn or flour tortillas.

It’s actually much like having fajitas. In fact, I evenwrapped some of the food in a tortilla, but that was too messy. I needed to usemy fork; it was neater, and it was faster.

Let me talk about the steak. It was very tender andperfectly cooked medium rare as ordered. In fact, it’s probably the best steakI’ve had in a Mexican restaurant, and would compare most favorably with steaksI’ve had in fine-dining restaurants.

The only things left on the plate when I was done were twotortillas (they gave me four). And I was cleaning out my salsa-guacamole-sourcream bowl with the second one when I decided I’d better stop eating.

If you’re feeling brave and extra hungry, you might take the“Texas 3-Pound Challenge” – a three-pound Angus charbroiled burger served withsix cheddar cheese slices, 12 thick bacon slices, Tequila’s special barbecuesauce, lettuce, a whole tomato and red onion, on an artisan bun.

Finish the burger in a half-hour or less and you don’t haveto pay for it. Plus, you’ll get a souvenir tee-shirt and your picture will beplastered on the Tequila Bar and Grill Wall of Fame.

I … wouldn’t even give it a thought.

Tequila Bar and Grill: Bally’sLas Vegas, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd., South. (702) 967-4653.

Bally’s Steakhouse (Las Vegas)

2011-11-05T08:00:00.000-10:00

Okay. This was my “expensive meal” adventure during a recenttrip to Las Vegas. Bally’s Steakhouse is located in (where else) Bally’s LasVegas on The Strip.

My waiter (John L.) had a great personality and was veryknowledgeable – not only about the menu and food in general, but about what wasgoing on in Las Vegas at the time. Very observant guy too. He noticed I wastaking pictures of my food, so he sauntered on by and engaged me inconversation.

When he found out I wrote a food blog, he told the maitred’, who came over and told me one of the chefs had alerted him that I was goingto show up tonight. I had to disappoint him and tell him I wasn’t THAT blogger. But it was indicative ofhow conscious they are of today’s new media.

I wanted to try something different for an appetizer,despite having the Prawn Cocktail calling my name out loud. So I ordered LobsterMedallions with Caviar (American Paddlefin Sturgeon). Good lordie. The lobster wasvery tender and sweet, and the caviar nicely mild and slightly salty. It’s notthe first time I’ve had caviar, but it’s the first time I’ve liked it.

For my entrée, I had prime rib. I always try to have primerib at least once when I’m in Las Vegas. I picked a good night and place tohave it. My steak arrived perfectly medium rare, about 1-1/4 inches thick, withlots of “wrap.”

That was a big hunk of meat. The only time I’ve had largercuts were at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills (the Diamond Jim Bradycut), and at Hugo’s Cellar in downtown Las Vegas’ Four Queens Hotel.

The accompaniments were the usual creamy horseradish, and bakedpotato with butter, sour cream and chives; and a small, roasted half tomatotopped with herbs.

Although John recommended their “famous” banana cream pie(it was tempting), I had Vanilla Crème Brulée with fresh berries – blueberries,raspberry, strawberry, blackberry. It was a wonderfully sweet way to end thedinner, accompanied by rich, dark and flavorful Colombian coffee.

My only disappointment? I forgot to use my 15%-off coupon.

Bally’s Steakhouse:Bally’s Las Vegas, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd. (702) 967-4661.

Sekiya's Restaurant & Delicatessen (Honolulu)

2011-10-30T08:56:00.000-10:00

Sekiya's Restaurant is the first restaurant I went to when Ifirst came to Honolulu in 1962 to attend the University of Hawaii. A bunch ofMcKinley High School grads I met at orientation took me under their wings andtook me around for a while.

Over the years, I’ve been to Sekiya's every now and then, butit’s been maybe 10 years since the last time. So it seemed right that we wentthere the other week. I understand it had been closed for a while forrenovation, and it showed. The stainless steel table tops had been replaced.

I started with a side order of inari (cone) sushi. The flavor was good, albeit on the milder side,and the rice was very loosely packed into the age cone. It was okay, but I wouldn’t order a boxful to take home.

The previous time I ate there, I was on a shrimp tempurakick so I had their tempura and miso-yaki butterfish. As I recall, it was aboveaverage.

This time around, my choice was their pork sukiyaki fullcourse meal – thin slices of pork in a broth with shiitake mushrooms, tofu, round onion, takenoko (bamboo shoots), makina(Chinese cabbage), green onions, gobo(burdock root) and itokonnyaku (yamnoodles).

Wow, the shiru (shoyu broth) was very, very tasty, and whenpoured over my rice, just made my day. The sides included steamed white rice,miso soup, tsukemono (saltedcabbage), and green tea.

I gotta get there more often when I want a simple Japanesemeal.

Sekiya's: 2746 KaimukiAve. (808) 732-1656

The Sidewalk Café (Las Vegas)

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-10:00

Located in Bally’s Las Vegas casino, The Sidewalk Café is open for breakfast and lunch, but not dinner(which I was slightly bummed to discover when I went there … for dinner).

Yep, it was closed, so I had dinner at Tequila Bar &Grill, located right next to it. But that’s another tale to be told at anothertime.

But … I did go back the next morning for breakfast. Itdidn’t take me long to decide on what to have – I hadn’t had Eggs Benedict yeton my trip, so that’s what I ordered.

Their Eggs Benedict was pretty acceptable, but the whites alittle runny. The Hollandaise was very smooth, buttery and creamy. The muffinswere toasty, the ham was a bit thin but adequate. And the best part? It cameout hot.

The accompanying hash browns were crunchy crispy on theoutside and moistly tender on the inside, making the breakfast experience agood one.

I love it when a restaurant does things right, turning whatused to be a semi-gourmet item into a very well-done everyday menu item.

The Sidewalk Café: Bally’sLas Vegas, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd., South. (702) 739-4111.

Sushi + Sake (Henderson)

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-10:00

On my way back to the Paris Hotel and Casino after spendinga day at Lake Havasu City, I was going to take in a Las Vegas 51s baseballgame. But I was too tired, so I stopped at the Green Valley Ranch Casino tohave dinner.

Not knowing exactly what restaurants were there, I wanderedaround a bit before coming across a Japanese restaurant called “Sushi + Sake.”Sounded good to me. It’s open to the casino but Green Valley Ranch is huge andthe slot machine noise didn’t carry into the restaurant.

It’s a very comfortable place and as is typical in Japaneserestaurants, everybody called out “Irashaimase!”(“Welcome”) as soon as I entered.

They start you off with a complimentary Cucumber-Kani (crab) namasu salad that’s very refreshing, crunchy, sweet and vinegary.Along with my bottle of Vivante sparkling water, it got me in a very good moodfor dinner.

But that appetizer was pretty small, more of an amuze bouche, so I asked the waitress tobring me a Hashi Salad. I could onlygo by the description, but basically it’s Hawaiian poke – raw yellow fin tuna cubes marinated in a vinaigrette,resting on chiso leaves and a bed of daikon threads.

I have decided that I must have the salad again someday.

My main entrée was Tempura, a traditional deep-friedJapanese dish that included three shrimp, potato, carrot, broccoli florets, andeggplant, along with a little bowl of soy-mirindipping sauce. It was something to write home about – the shrimp were perfectlycooked until they just barely turned opaque, with a sweet and crunchy batter.

The vegetables likewise were delightful, the flavors rangingfrom the savory broccoli and eggplant to the sweetness of the potatoes andcarrots.

The tempura came with miso soup and a bowl of steamed rice.

One thing about Japanese food is that if you do it right,you’re not stuffed at the end, leaving some room for dessert. Therefore, I justhad to try their Ginger Brulée, describedas “a ‘not so traditional’ crème brulée infused with ginger and anise.”

Wow.

Sushi + Sake: 2300Paseo Verde Parkway. (702) 617-7075.

Javelina Cantina (Lake Havasu City)

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000-10:00

There are two Javelina Cantinas in the United States, bothin Arizona, and I can now say I’ve eaten at both of them – Sedona, and now,Lake Havasu City.

After a two-hour jetboat ride down the Colorado River fromLaughlin, Nevada, a hearty lunch was definitely on my agenda. Good thing too,because other than lunch and the London Bridge, I have to say Lake Havasu Cityisn’t at all attractive.

Most of the others went to a coffee shop for breakfast, butI’d grabbed a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin (gag) at the Edgewater Hotel beforeboarding the boat, so I wanted something better. The Javelina Cantina broughtback nice memories, so I sauntered into the restaurant and took my placeamongst the gaggle of residents there for lunch.

First thing on the table was a basket of taco chips and asmall bowl of salsa. Crunchy, slightly oily chips with lots of flavor, and thesalsa was just hot enough to bite the back of the tongue, yet not oppressive.Gotta tell you, munching on salsa-dripping taco chips is a sure way of boostingyour appetite.

For my lunch selection, I ordered one of their combinations “Doce(12)” that consisted of one taco (choice of chicken, or ground or shredded beef),soft or crispy taco; one cheese enchilada, refried beans, Spanish rice, and picodi gallo.

Oh, so good. My taco was shredded beef in a crispy tortilla,the red sauce was excellent, the rice loose and moist, and the refried beanssmooth and delicious.

No complaints from me. I just wish Lake Havasu City was moreinteresting.

Javelina Cantina: 1420McCulloch Blvd. (928) 855-8226.

Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant (Honolulu)

2011-10-01T08:00:00.000-10:00

Located in McCully Shopping Center at the intersection ofKapiolani Boulevard and McCully Street is a little Chinese restaurant called“Fook Yuen” (okay, get it out of your system and make fun of the name, I’llwait).

The one thing that sticks with me after my recent experiencethere is that for some reason, every step taken by every person in therestaurant shakes the floor and transmits sound vibrations up to one’s butt. Atfirst I thought it was only me, but the wife confirmed it.

I hoped I’d get over it eventually, but it bothered me allthe while we were there. Not that it would have made the food taste any better,but come to think of it, anything that would add flavor to the food would havebeen appreciated.

They feature a daily luncheon buffet that on paper lookspretty good. In actuality, their food is pretty average … the same old dishesyou find elsewhere:

Egg drop corn soup, lettuce green salad, fried chicken wingmiddle joints, fried shrimp, mabo tofu, roast duck, sweet and sour pig’s feet,oyster sauce chicken, beef broccoli, eggplant, fried noodles, steamed and friedrice, tapioca almond float, orange slices and canned pineapple chunks.

The price is right, however – $10.95 per diner. They alsohad an ala carte lobster on the menu for an additional $11 or so. And if youwant to order off their regular menu, you can do that as well.

I really have no cause to complain, because it was someoneelse’s treat. I just don’t feel compelled to say very good things about therestaurant or its food. “Average” – that’s the proper description for it.

Food Yuen SeafoodRestaurant: 1960 Kapiolani Blvd. (808) 973-0168.

Hickory Pit Steakhouse (Laughlin)

2011-09-25T08:00:00.000-10:00

The Hickory Pit Steakhouse in Laughlin’s Edgewater Hotel isnot one of the better steakhouses I’ve dined it. In fact, it kind of reminds meof the old downtown Las Vegas steak restaurants that used to flourish in the‘60s.

That being said, the food – albeit not beautifully presented– was fairly tasty.

My opening appetizer was a shrimp cocktail with five verybig shrimp. Not a bad start. The cocktail sauce was very “horseradish-y” andstrong, just the way I like it. If nothing else, it cleared out my sinuses.

Instead of a salad, I had their wild rice mushroom soup. Itwas thick, like gruel, and in fact looked like a bowl of breakfast oatmeal. Butit did taste fairly good despite its ugly looks. I swear, I could have stood myspoon up in it. Didn’t try, though, too many people were around.

I wasn’t terribly hungry, so for my entrée, I had a halfrack of baby back ribs with barbecue sauce. The sauce was tasty, and the porkribs were fall-off-the-bone tender. It was accompanied by a little bit ofspinach and some Virginia corn pudding. Those were nice.

For my starch, I debated between a baked potato and atwice-baked potato. I picked the twice-baked, which was a mistake – the thingwas pretty dry. They obviously had pre-cooked it and left it standing under afood warmer. I didn’t eat much of it.

As for dessert, they had one of my five favorite desserts onthe menu -- crème brulée – so of course, that’s what I ordered. It wasn’t bad.

The crème was very creamy rich and nicely firm yet moist, and they “bruléed” itquite judiciously.

The strawberry on top wasn’t sweet, but it wasn’t soureither. It was simply … “strawberry-y” if there’s such a word.

One thing I’m going to remember about eating at the HickoryPit. The front of one of my molars broke off, something I discovered when I wasalmost done with the ribs. At first I thought a big ol’ piece of pork bone hadbroken off and stuck between my teeth, but a check in the mirror after dinnersoon disproved that. It didn’t hurt, but it sure did feel weird.

Wait until the dentist hears this story.

Hickory PitSteakhouse: Edgewater Hotel, 2020 S. Casino Dr. (702) 298-2453, ext. 3716.

Original Pancake House - Charleston (Las Vegas)

2011-09-19T09:00:00.000-10:00

I’ve told you about the Original Pancake House before – theone in the Green Valley Ranch Resort casino in Henderson (Las Vegas).

On my most recent trip, I decided to try one of their otherlocations, this one is on Charleston at the Decatur intersection, just a fewdoors north of the Blueberry Hill Restaurant.

I wasn’t disappointed. At the Green Valley Ranch location, Ihad their Venecia Benedict. This time, I decided to order Eggs Michael – toastedEnglish Muffin, breakfast sausage patties, and poached eggs smothered in amushroom sherry sauce. It came with four potato pancakes on the side.

It was another winner. And, it came out hot. The egg yolkswere nicely runny, the whites were perfectly set, and the sauce was delicious.

Actually, I think I liked the Venecia Benedict with itsspinach better. But … the Eggs Michael are nothing to laugh at!

The Original Pancake House Charleston seems to be a favoriteof the locals. I saw a bunch of families there, and the waitresses seemed toknow many of the customers and called them by name.

Original PancakeHouse: 4833 W. Charleston Blvd. (702) 870-1553.

Surf Lanai (Honolulu)

2011-09-13T10:53:00.000-10:00

Formerly known as the Surf Room at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel,the restaurant has changed considerably, having undergone renovation andrepositioning three years ago.

Now known as The Surf Lanai, it serves breakfast and lunchin a beachside and poolside setting during the day. In the evening, therestaurant (the indoor portion at least) transforms into Azure Restaurant,which specializes in seafood.

It’s been years since I’ve been “Surf-ing” at the RoyalHawaiian and I had no idea of the changes when we went there for lunchrecently. We headed the same way we used to many years ago, only to discoverdirectional signs that sent us in a different direction. I went the old way,just to scout it out, and discovered the check-in had moved clear over to theother side of the venue.

So … a word of warning: If you haven’t been there in awhile, follow the signs, don’t go where you thought the entrance was, becauseit isn’t there anymore.

The Surf Lanai is open for breakfast daily from 6:30 to 11a.m., and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The view of the ocean and Diamond Head, of course, is bothrelaxing and spectacular, as you watch hundreds of tanned (i.e., “red as a lobster”) tourists get sand in their swim suits andscatter water from their hair as they run in and out of Waikiki’s water.

We were able to get a table inside, next to the lanai areaand its open wall, so the sea breeze was right there to cool us off. Eachsetting at the table greeted us with a beautiful little orchid, just theperfect amenity to put us in the mood for a nice lunch.

Our waitress, Reiko, brought little glasses of berry andbanana smoothies, to occupy our taste buds while we perused the menu. Thesmooth, cool starter was a very nice touch.

The wife and her brother ordered the Eggs Benedict – theusual English muffin topped with ham and poached egg, and covered with a lemonyHollandaise sauce. Two bennies each, with some hashed brown potatoes – crispyon the outside and tender inside. The dish came with half a roasted Romatomato.

I was actually going to have Eggs Benedict as well. In fact,having checked out the menu online the night before, that was my initialchoice. But two things stopped me. One, the wife ordered it and she usuallyshares her dish with me, and two, I saw something else on the menu that wasscreaming my name.

It was the Royal Loco Moco. Now, everybody knows what a locomoco is – hamburger patty on rice, smothered in brown gravy and topped with afried egg. It’s good stuff, but variations can be spectacular.

The Surf Lanai’s loco moco was near-spectacular. The shortrib meat was so very tender and flavorful. It was topped with a rich au jus andsome Hamakua mushrooms, nestled on a bed of beautifully steamed rice, with twopoached eggs on top.

Sprinkled on top of all that were some crispy fried Mauionions. And next to it were salad greens flavored with a mild vinaigrette.

Break open the yolks and the near-orange goodness just oozesinto the rice and over the rib meat.

The wife’s Eggs Benedict were good, except the muffinsweren’t as crispy crunchy as I like. That could be because she didn’t send someover until I’d nearly finished my dish. The Royal Loco Moco was delicious. Nocomplaints with the flavor or presentation.

What did bother me was that both our dishes weren’t hot whenwe got them. Which means that they’d been sitting for a while before ourwaitress brought them over. Mine, in fact, was lukewarm. What a shame.

Still, all things considered, it was nice to visit arestaurant I haven’t been to in at least a decade.

Surf Lanai: RoyalHawaiian Hotel, 2259 Kalakaua Ave. (808) 931-7440.

Wolfgang Puck’s Pizzeria & Cucina (Las Vegas)

2011-09-07T11:06:00.000-10:00

After taking in the “Viva Elvis” show at Aria Resort, wewere looking for a place to have dinner, and ended up at Wolfgang Puck’sPizzeria & Cucina in Crystals at City Center.

Asparagus Salad

Service was a bit slow that night, which irritated some ofthe people in our party. If it weren’t for the manager who stepped in and gaveour waiter a hand, there might have been some actual complaints lodged.

One of my friends let me take a picture of her plate – an AsparagusSalad, with Parmesan Panna Cotta and Prosciutto that looked pretty colorful andtasty.

Carpaccio

As for me, I ordered the Prime Beef Carpaccio, with Shallots,Celery Hearts, and Parmesan Shavings, which I shared with those at the table. Noteverybody likes carpaccio, because it’s raw beef served with dressing (kind ofa beef sashimi).

This one was deeee-licious. Thin slices of excellent, soft,lean beef served as a foundation for a large mound of steak tartare. Perfect.Two forms of carpaccio, topped with the fresh veggies and the cheese shavings.And the sauce … a perfect creamy condiment.

Chicken Piccata

For my principal dish, I had an entrée of Chicken Piccatawith Lemon-Caper Butter, sitting on a bed of Sautéed Rapini. The breast filetswere soft and delectable, the sauce was nice and tangy, accented by lemon andan occasional bite of salty caper.

To wash it all down, I ordered a bottle of Perregrinosparkling water. It’s the perfect beverage with strongly flavored Italian foodwhen one doesn’t drink wine.

Of course, when we were done, I ordered tiramisu for thetable. Unfortunately (damn!) they had run out of the heavenly dessert for thenight.

And that kind of spoiled the evening just a skosh.

Wolfgang Puck’sPizzeria & Cucina: 3720 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (702) 238-1000.

Le Burger Brasserie (Las Vegas)

2011-09-01T10:40:00.002-10:00

Le Burger Brasserie is a sports bar in the Paris Las Vegas-Bally’sconnecting concourse, with a great hamburger menu. It’s a noisy, lively place,with television sets mounted up high – your typical sports venue.

Personally, I love the name of the place – it conjures upimages of a brassiere with cups shaped like hamburgers. Hey! I’m just saying …

Instead of a burger, I ordered an open-face Filet MignonSandwich (“filet mignon grilled to order and served open faced on a toastedbun, topped with caramelized onion and bleu cheese”) on an onion bun.

Good lord, it was great. The steak was so tender and thetotal burger experience was pretty messy as eating a burger should be. I’m nota big bleu cheese fan, but on hamburgers, well that’s a different story. Thecheese just added another dimension to the sandwich.

For dessert, the table shared a Chocolate Tiramisu (“layersof espresso-soaked flourless chocolate cake and creamy mascarpone mousse toppedwith bittersweet chocolate dust”). It went around the table and when it gotback to me, at least there was some left. Guess my group isn’t big time intodessert.

I think you’d like it there.

Le Burger Brasserie:Paris Las Vegas, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South. (702) 946-4346.

The Egg Works II (Las Vegas)

2011-08-26T15:16:00.000-10:00

The first thing I did when I got my rental car on my most recent trip to Las Vegas was to find The Egg Works II, a sister restaurant to The Egg & I, a breakfast restaurant I frequent when I’m in town.

It’s very easy to find, being situated at the east end of McCarran Airport runway. Head east on Sunset, alongside the airport, turn left at Eastern Ave., then right into the shopping area. It’s visible from both Sunset and Eastern. You can’t miss it.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Oh wait, I’ve told you that many times before.

Egg Works II, like its sister restaurants Egg Works and The Egg & I, offers everything and anything you’d ever want for breakfast. They specialize in egg dishes – omelets and scrambles, fried, boiled, poached, basted, with or without sauce, with almost any breakfast meat you desire – but they also have good griddle food.

Their pancakes are huge, and their waffles are very tasty.

They started me off with a banana nut muffin that truly exemplified what good pals bananas and nuts can be.

I was in the mood for country fried steak, but was very tempted by their Country Fried Scramble (country-fried steak, potatoes, eggs your way, country gravy). It’s not much different from country fried steak and scrambled eggs with potatoes on the side, but it sure does fill up a sizzling platter.

The steak was nicely battered and crunchy, the eggs were surprisingly not overdone, the gravy was thick and delicious, and the potatoes were cooked just right. It’s just that there was a lot of potatoes. Not a complaint, mind you, but I do hate to leave a plate with food still on it when I’m done.

They had good coffee too.

The Egg Works II: 2490 E. Sunset Rd. (702) 873-3447.

Himalayan Kitchen (Honolulu)

2011-08-15T15:11:00.000-10:00

The wife and I noticed Himalayan Kitchen the first time we had lunch at Mexitlan Restaurant in the Kaimuki section of Honolulu. It’s upstairs in the little food building that fronts 10^th Avenue. Lots of parking in the nearby city lot.

Deciding it was time to try it out and experience something different for lunch, we meandered into the place, taking in the Indian-Nepalese aromas that greeted us.

Himalayan Kitchen entrance

The menu was quite an adventure. All the food was new to me (an anachronism, I know, for the cuisine is as old as the hills … or the mountains, as the case may be), and I didn’t understand most of what was offered.

But, as we like to say … “Chance ‘em.”

Of course, we had questions, the most important of which had to do with just how spicy certain dishes were. I had advised that when you ask someone used to spicy food if a certain dish is spicy or not, and he responds with “Not very spicy,” that usually means it will be spicy to her palate.

Once satisfied that she wasn’t going to scorch her mouth, the wife ordered a Gorkhali Style lunch plate (lamb and chicken cooked in onion tomato base curry served with rice and papadum).

I ordered their Mix Tandoori Grill (a combination plate of chicken tikka, sekh kabob, lamb seakwa and shrimp grilled in a tandoori oven). Unfortunately, they were out of sekh, so the waiter asked if I wanted extra lamb. Thank you, I said, not knowing what sekh was. As I found out later, sekh (aka “seekh”) is spiced minced meat either grilled, or cooked in a tandoor oven.

We also ordered some naan bread, which I actually knew something about and had before.

Because this was an adventure and a discovery lunch for us, we shared all our dishes.

Mixed Tandoori Grill (center), Gorkhali Lunch Plate (circumference)

The wife’s lamb and chicken curry was a bit on the hot side – actually too spicy hot for the wife. I on the other hand thought the heat was very mild and gave a very slight “almost-burn” that enhanced the dish. It went well with the sweet, long-grained rice that accompanied.

Papadum

Papadum is crispy lentil wafers that come with a dipping sauce of chopped cilantro in a thin lemony sauce. I hate cilantro so I only dipped a few times, preferring to munch on the papadum without any condiments.

When my plate arrived, I thought they’d given me some Chinese char siu; the chicken had been marinated in a red flavoring and really looked like sweet pork. It was chicken breast chunks, and a bit overcooked, I thought. The lamb was excellent, and the shrimp (though overcooked) was tasty.

I can understand the overcooking, however, as I’ve never been able to master cooking chicken and shrimp over direct heat … say in a hibachi at home.

The meats were accompanied by a yummy sauce, and a very nice salad that refreshed the mouth between bites of the main course. Half the time, I loaded up meat, salad, curry and rice in a fold of naan bread to munch.

Gulag Jamun

For dessert, I ordered Gulab Jamun just to experience something different. It’s milk powder and flour mixed in a ball shape, deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup. This was a little strange. It had a very different consistency, like undercooked dry rice tightly packed together.

The flavor of the jamun wasn’t unsavory, just a bit weird. However, the ultra-sweet syrup brightened the taste the longer you kept chewing. Weird.

But, y’know, I think the syrup would have tasted good on toast.

Himalayan Kitchen is open for dinner daily from 5 to 10 p.m., and for lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I may go back. I dunno. Maybe.

Himalayan Kitchen: 1137 11^th Ave. (808) 735-1122.

Banyan Tree Showroom (Honolulu)

2011-08-09T11:13:00.000-10:00

The Banyan Tree Showroom is the venue for the Hale Koa Hotel’s Sunday Brunch Buffet, but you have to qualify before you can eat there.

Only active or retired military can book reservations at the buffet. If you want to go, get one of them to invite and sponsor you, and to be there with you. I’ve been fortunate to have dined there many times – at the showroom, at organization functions, and at the coffee shop downstairs.

The showroom isn’t easy to find, especially if you haven’t been to the Hale Koa before, or haven’t been there for a while. But don’t be shy. Ask.

The Sunday buffet is pretty good. There isn’t a huge selection, but what they do offer is top shelf. The last time we were there, I mainly concentrated on trying different dishes, choosing not to pile up my plate with the usual favorites (I learned how to eat at a buffet from the maitre d’ at The Prince Hotel buffet on Maui many years ago).

Salads

More Salads

Breakfast Entrees

For example, I skipped most of the hot entrées, and decided to concentrate on breakfast, taking only eggs Florentine, potatoes and pork link sausages. That doesn’t mean I didn’t assemble a nice salad plate first – lots of fresh fruit, sweet pastries, salad greens, beautiful tomatoes, sushi, sashimi, marinated mushrooms … endless variety.

There’s always a line at the omelet station, and I’m happy to say mine was perfectly prepared. It didn’t crack in half when the chef folded it on my plate, there wasn’t a toasted crust, and it didn’t leak uncooked egg on my plate.

Carving Station and Hot Entrees

They also didn’t have the usual prime rib, which was okay with me. Instead they carved up a rack of lamb for you, as many ribs as you wanted. Not a fan of lamb? They had a beautiful leg of ham under the warming lights as well.

Desserts

Good desserts too. I ended up eschewing the sweet stuff, however, and instead had a bowl of ice cream with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, and a strawberry on top. Sometimes one just has to have the familiar things that bring back memories of sitting on a stool at the drug store in Hilo.

The Hale Koa Hotel (“Hale Koa” means “House of the Warrior”) is an 817-room, world–class resort hotel and a continual R&R favorite destination for our country’s military personnel.

Banyan Tree Showroom: Hale Koa Hotel, 2055 Kalia Road. (808) 955-0555.

Morning Glass Coffee + Café (Honolulu)

2011-08-02T13:35:00.002-10:00

There’s a new café in my neighborhood that specializes in breakfasts – mostly coffee, though. It’s Morning Glass Coffee + Café in Manoa. A friend and former student posted a picture of his breakfast one day on Facebook, so I thought I’d give it a try. It hasn’t been open very long, maybe just over a couple of weeks at most.

It’s a small place, and it doesn’t offer full breakfasts until the weekend – Saturday and Sunday. The first time we went was in mid-week, so I had to settle for coffee and a frittata. Then, we went back on the weekend for a full breakfast.

Here’s what we had on Day 1:

Cocoa and Scone

The wife ordered hot chocolate (she’s not a coffee drinker) and a Currant Scone. She liked the cocoa very much and the scone was pretty tasty, I must say.

I had a cup of freshly (individually) brewed Ethiopian Duromina coffee. According to their chalk board, it’s a “dynamic coffee with intense floral aromatics, Asian pear and raspberry notes in flavor, and a smooth, buttery finish.” It was dark, strong and flavorful, just the way I like my coffee. Excellent.

Frittata

Then, I had a Spinach, Muenster Cheese, and Oven-Roasted Tomato Frittata. THAT was delicious and I’d order it again if it’s on the menu the next time we’re there. It alternates with a breakfast sandwich or a breakfast special.

On Day 2, we made it a point to go there on a Saturday. Here’s what we had:

Fried Rice Omelette with Portuguese Sausage

The wife had a Fried Rice Omelette with Portuguese Sausage. When we were both about halfway done with our own dishes, she and I traded, so I got to taste her meal. Very tasty indeed. The Portuguese Sausage wasn’t Redondo or Gouveia, but it had a slightly sweeter flavor and was less salty than the popular brands.

I had their Holler Mountain coffee, which they described as “Stumptown Coffee Roasters’s most popular organic blend. Syrupy heavy bodied coffee with dark toned notes of blackberry, raw tobacco and toffee.” Again, it was dark, strong and flavorful. And I just love the individual drip method of brewing that they utilize.

Omelette en Casuela

For my breakfast, I ordered their Omelette en Casuela (Hamakua mushroom, gruyere, carmelized onion) with hash browns, along with a side of Shinsato Farms pork sausage.

The omelette was presented in a traditional Spanish cooking bowl, with the eggs just barely set. The mushrooms were moist and tender, the gruyere cheese creamy, and the onions were so soft and sweet. I thought the hash browns were rather dry, as if they needed to be served with a pat of creamy butter.

Shinsato Sausage

The pork sausage had a different flavor, very herby, not spicy and not with the traditional fennel spice flavor. I liked it, and so did the wife.

Morning Glass offers at least three varieties of coffee daily. The actual coffee changes, but usually includes at least one from Hawaii. On the days we were there, they offered Rusty’s Ka’u Red Cattura as their Hawaiian coffee of the day.

Individual Brews

The daily morning menu includes scones, muffins, coffee cake, pound cake, toast, and either breakfast sandwich, frittata or breakfast special. The choices expand after 11 a.m. to include fresh sandwiches: Fresh mozzarella, tomato, baby arugula and basil (also available grilled), Fra’Mani salame rosa and provolone, albacore tuna with scallion aioli. At that time, they also offer Grilled Sanwiches: Gruyere and caramelized onion, Fra’Mani mortadella, provolone and hot peppers.

Full breakfasts served on Saturdays and Sundays until 1 p.m. and include baked pastries, Oatmeal Brulée, and biscuits and gravy.

Oatmeal Brulée? Next time. Biscuits and gravy? Next time. Wait … that’s two next times.

Morning Glass Coffee + Café: 2955 E. Manoa Road. (808) 673-0065.

Mexico Restaurant (Honolulu)

2011-07-27T11:17:00.005-10:00

I had a nice lunch with the wife the other day at one of Honolulu’s few-and-far-between Mexican restaurants – Mexico Restaurant in the Kalihi area of the city. They’re associated with Mexico Lindo Restaurant in Kailua on the windward side of Oahu.

Sometimes I check the Yelp website whenever I’m going to a restaurant I’ve never eaten at before, and this was one of those times. I noticed that (as usual), the patrons either love it or hate it. You know me, I have to try it for myself, so we went.

It’s not hard to find. Just drive along School Street and its distinct building just hails at you. The red and green Mexican flag colors are pretty distinctive. There’s lots of parking alongside the building, but the lot is quite narrow and if it’s full, I can see where it’ll be very difficult to turn your car around and drive out front first.

But it was an early lunch on a Saturday when we went, and it wasn’t crowded at all.

Their menu is quite extensive. My eyes shot over to the Huevos Rancheros and my mouth actually started to water. I love breakfast, and hadn’t had good huevos rancheros in a long time. The last time I had it was in Las Vegas at Treasure Island’s café more than a year ago.

The waitress – Azotla was her name – gave us some time to make a decision, bringing some taco chips and salsa to tide us over while we contemplated the menu. The chips are great – very tasty and very snappy crunchy. The salsa was pretty hot, enough to provide a satisfying burn that lasts for a few minutes and paves the way for your bodily hormones to speed through your veins.

Chicken Quesadilla

The wife decided on a Chicken Quesadilla. It came first, with lots of food on the plate – refried beens, some fresh pico de gallo, sour cream, Spanish rice, and a slice of orange. The quesadilla itself was plentiful and according to her, very good.

She ate about half her plate and brought home the rest, which was later devoured by our older son, who also proclaimed it very good.

Vallerta Fajitas

As for me, I ordered their Vallerta Fajitas – a sizzling plate of seafood and a steamy hot bunch of tortillas to wrap it in. You can see how much food they give you – two large chunks of fish, scallops and shrimp, mingled friendly-like with onions, sweet green and red peppers, and mushrooms.

The sizzles came with another plate of cheese floating on refried beans, guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo. Nothing was spicy hot, so heat-o-phobes won’t have to be afeared of chili burns on their tongue and lips. They had bottles of hot sauce (and of course the hot taco chips salsa) for that.

The fajita innards were pretty subtly flavored, allowing the natural flavors of the seafood and veggies to tickle the palate. Because of the sizzling metal plate it was served on, some of the seafood that touched the metal was overdone, but that’s to be expected.

Nothing to complain about here! I’ll be back. I want to try their huevos rancheros next time. Will let you know what I think about that one.

Mexico Restaurant: 1247 N. School St. (808) 845-9059.

Golden Duck Kahala (Honolulu)

2011-07-12T15:08:00.002-10:00

Golden Duck in Kahala is the sister restaurant of the Golden Duck on South King Street, which has been there ever since I can remember. The Kahala restaurant opened some time in 2010, I do believe. It’s where Tony Roma’s used to be, across the street from Kahala Mall.

I took notice of the change only a few months ago, which goes to show you how unobservant I can be sometimes (and this is me, former reporter who noticed everything, and current blogger who tries to notice everything so I can have something to write about every day).

Anyway, be that as it may, I’m digressing here.

Reading the restaurant’s reviews on Yelp, I was a little apprehensive. They weren’t very complimentary, but I hadn’t been there so I took my brother-in-law there for lunch the other day.

The parking lot is small, but there were ample spaces available for my car as we arrived around 12:30 p.m. The place was pretty full. Of course, the restaurant now has two sections.

The street-side section, where we sat (where everybody else was sitting, by the way), has eight tables of four, three round tables for six or more, and five booths. So I figure (adding in my head) that it can accommodate 70 patrons at a time. (Did you come up with the same total?)

The back room has larger round tables that seat 8 to 10 diners each. I figure 70 to 80 people can squeeze into that “party room.”

Although there were only two waitresses working the street-side room, they were pretty efficient and were working hard, while at the same time carrying on friendly patter with the patrons. I like that, it was a friendly atmosphere. Looking around, everybody looked local.

My brother-in-law, being the non-adventurous type, ordered their lunch plate (sweet sour spare ribs, pot roast pork, pork chop suey, crispy won ton and steamed rice).

I on the other hand had a hankering for a plate of tomato with beef, quickly found it on their extensive menu (typical of nearly all Chinese restaurants), along with a bowl of steamed rice, and two dim sum appetizers just in case I needed something to fall back on if I didn’t like the beef tomato.

Look Fun Dim Sum

The dim sum arrived around the same time as the main plates – pretty quickly, I might add. What were they? Three look fun rolls apiece – scallops and char siu. Hey, not bad. The look fun was very tasty, almost sweet,. There were big chunks of scallops, and a whole bunch of diced char siu hiding in the noodle.

Tomato with Beef

My tomato with beef was very, very good. The tomatoes were not all gooshy and runny, but nicely firm and sweet. Nestled within the yummy sauce were wedges of sweet onions and green peppers that delivered a satisfying and juicy crunch.

Oh my, the sauce was delicious. The best tomato with beef I ever had was at Joy Luck Palace in Cupertino, California. Golden Duck Kahala’s was right up there with it. Almost as good, and the best I’ve tasted at a Chinese restaurant in Hawaii. Granted, I haven’t had tomato with beef in a Hawaii Chinese restaurant in decades, but that’s beside the point.

I talked to a frequent patron, a nice lady in the booth next to our table, who loves it there, especially when she can’t get to the Golden Duck in town. She said she was going to try the tomato with beef next time. I took that as a compliment. Why wouldn’t I?

Golden Duck Kahala: 4230 Waialae Ave. (808) 737-7188.

Cinnamon’s Restaurant (Kailua)

2011-07-06T11:22:00.001-10:00

I’m always on the lookout for good breakfast places, and having tried most of them on the Honolulu side of Oahu, I’ve been scouting for some on the windward side.

A new discovery for me is Cinnamon’s Restaurant, almost a straight shot into Kailua from Honolulu, over the Pali Highway, onto Kailua Road, with a left turn on Aulike that takes you to the parking lot in the back.

Luckily, Cinnamon’s has a website, which allowed me to do some preliminary research on their menu.

Wow, it’s a pretty good menu, featuring just about everything breakfast you can think of. From cinnamon rolls (well, natch!) to English muffins smothered in stuff, from a pancake sandwich to seven kinds of pancakes, from seven different egg benedicts to a host of ethnic omelets, from skillets to eggs with meats, and French toast.

And the coffee is pretty darned good too – dark and strong, just the way I like it.

The wife went for her usual “sandwich” combo – pancakes, egg and breakfast meat (ham, this time). The two pancakes she got were pretty light and fluffy, and they served two large ham slices.

I always try to order something different, something I don’t usually make at home. The Chinese Omelette was calling to me, so that’s what I had – three eggs, shredded roasted chicken, char siu pork, and fu yong veggies (i.e., shredded carrots, mushrooms, bean sprouts … veggies like that).

The Chinese Omelette

The omelet was very tasty, like eating a big ol’ fat egg foo yong dressed with a little dash of oyster sauce. They had shoyu on the table, but who needs that when the omelet is so tasty. I even passed on Tabasco Sauce this go-around. I loved how the bean sprouts crunch when you take a forkful of eggs in your mouth.

Since the wife had ordered pancakes, I figured I’d swipe some of hers. So my side starch was white rice, to go with my Chinese omelet. Besides, when I swiped some of her pancakes, she swiped some of my rice. Even-steven trade.

I think I’d like to go back and try their Baja Breakfast – eggs with green chiles on a corn tortilla with all the condiments you associate with a Mexican breakfast.

Oh, and the Eggs Benedict as well. I’m thinking a Mahimahi Benedict (if they use fresh, not frozen, mahi). Or maybe a traditional Benedict super-combo’ed with spinach and tomato. Sounds good to me!

Cinnamon’s Restaurant: 315 Uluniu St. (808) 261-8724.

Town (Honolulu)

2011-06-30T10:38:00.000-10:00

Town has developed a nice reputation for its creative food and on one particular morning, I dropped by to try their breakfast.

The first thing you see when you walk in is the bar, with tables to the right, then a left turn with the seating area extending toward the back of the restaurant.

To order breakfast, you need to place your order and pay at the corner of the bar, grab your juice and/or coffee, and find a table. When your order is ready, someone brings it to your table. Their regular waitress service begins during lunchtime. No problem, I’ve done this before.

Their regular breakfast menu offers (1) granola, fruit, yogurt and honey, (2) two eggs, rice or toast with bacon ponch or fresh fish, (3) a breakfast burrito with eggs and tontine panino, or with bacon or prosciutto.

On the day I was there, the breakfast specials included (1) banana pancakes with eggs or bacon, (2) bruschetta, arugula pesto eggs, prosciutto, Waimea tomato and parmesan cheese, (2) grilled polenta, luganega sausage, lacinato kale and a sunny-side up egg, and (3) a frittata of red onion, Hamakua mushroom, green beans, and goat cheese, with a simple salad.

Polenta breakfast

I ordered the polenta breakfast, picked out a nice filtered sunlight table and settled back with my coffee to read the newspaper, taking in the homey ambiance and listening to the light rain outside. Not too long afterwards, my meal arrived.

It was delicious. The strong flavor of the kale with its carmelized onions, little raisins, garlic and chili flakes was tempered by the creamy soft polenta (crispy-fried on the outside, mouth-melty on the inside). When I broke open the egg yolk, it flowed like a golden volcano onto the kale and polenta.

The sausage hit the spot, providing me with a bit of morning meat protein to sustain me until my next meal. Muy delicioso!

The next time I went there, it was for lunch with family. The wife ordered the uhu (parrotfish), which was quite delicious, beautifully moist and tender. Mother-in-law ordered the chicken-green papaya soup. She hated it, so my brother-in-law ate it for her. He had gone conservative and ordered a “Big Salad,” which looked great (he liked it).

Roast pork with polenta and kale

I ordered the roast pork with grilled polenta and lacinato kale, fondly remembering how wonderful the sides tasted the last time I was there. I wasn’t disappointed, except that I thought the pork was a bit too firm. When I think of roast pork, I think fatty juicy, which definitely it was not. The soy-based flavor was exceptional, however.

And what can I say about the polenta except that it was creamy and yummy; the kale was great as well, just as I remembered it.

Oh, and both times, I thought the coffee was very, very good – bold, rich and deep in flavor.

There’s adequate parking at the lot next door, and if that’s full, street parking is available as well.

Town: 3435 Waialae Ave. (808) 935-5900.

Crepes No Ka ‘Oi (Kailua)

2011-06-24T10:48:00.002-10:00

I’ve heard (or rather, read) about Crepes No Ka ‘Oi and was curious to see if the restaurant could live up to the hype. According to the restaurant owners, their place has been cited as having the best crepes in Hawaii.

It’s fairly easy to find, but you do have to keep your eyes peeled because it’s small. But at least it’s on the street and not tucked away in a small neighborhood mall. However, if there’s a big van parked in front, then you might miss it.

Our little party of four ordered three different crepes. My mother-in-law had the Healthy Alternative (non-fat yogurt, honey, granola, fresh strawberries and banana), which she hated, then switched with the wife, who had ordered The Vegetarian (melted Jack and cheddar cheese, sautéed mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, sautéed onions and black olives).

The Vegetarian Crepe

My brother-in-law and I both had the Ultimate Breakfast Crepe (melted cheddar cheese and a medly of potatoes, bacon, onions and rosemary, topped with a poached egg, all folded into the crepe and served with a little cup of hollandaise sauce.

The Ultimate Breakfast Crepe

The dishes were pretty tasty, although I could feel a slight yearning for ketchup coming on as we dug into the cubed potatoes. There lots of potatoes in there, and they were cooked just right, juicy and yummy. I just wish they’d put in a little more bacon, however. Deep down inside I’m a ham and egger.

I think they shouldn’t brown the crepes. I’ve always thought crepes should be golden, not toasty spotted brown like the ones we had.

Still, appearances aside, the food was good. I’d go back again, if I’m ever in Kailua and want breakfast.

Crepes No Ka ‘Oi: 131 Hekili St., (808) 263-4088.

Café Vettro (Las Vegas)

2011-06-18T16:35:00.002-10:00

Located in the Aria Resort and Casino at City Center in Las Vegas, Café Vettro is a delight to visit and patronize. The décor, both inside and outside, is a delight; the service is excellent, and the food can be the highlight of your day.

It’s a 24-hour restaurant, serving as Aria’s coffee shop. But it’s more than just a coffee shop. It’s casual, it’s beautiful, and it’s a whole lotta steps above Denny’s and Carrow’s. This is an experience. It has a high ceiling and the walls remind one of gardens and stone cliffs.

I forget what the wife had for dinner (forgot to take pictures), but she swiped food off of my plates.

I wanted a basic steak and green salad, and I wanted a dessert. So the waitress – Inni – recommended their prix fixe selection: choice of soup or Vettro Salad, and choice of BBQ Grilled Salmon or Grilled Bone-in New York Steak.

Perfect! I had the steak and salad and saved five bucks.

The salad was beautiful – julienned carrots and beets over a bed of lettuce and big chunks of tomato, accompanied by buttered garlic toast topped with mini-greens.

I only got to eat half of the salad … the wife swiped the rest from me in mid-bite.

My steak was cooked to near perfection. It was a juicy medium-rare, just as I had ordered it, topped with onions, with a side of creamy scalloped potatoes that I protected with my life from my wife. Boy, did that steak hit the spot. No ketchup for me! No sir … they had provided a little side bowl of A-1 Sauce.

As I said, I wanted a dessert. So they brought me apple pie. Not just a slice, but rather, a mini-apple pie presented ala mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, sprinkled with crunchy little nuts and crunchy things, then finished with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

The wife ate about half the dessert, which is okay. I usually am the only one at the table who orders dessert when the family goes out to eat. Then everybody attacks it after I’ve eaten what I want (usually just a few spoonfuls to satisfy my post-dinner sweet tooth).

Good experience there at Café Vettro. I’m going back the next time I’m in Las Vegas.

Café Vetto: In the Aria Resort and Casino, 3739 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (877) 230-2742.

Rainforest Café (Las Vegas)

2011-06-12T10:58:00.003-10:00

Rainforest Café is a jungle-themed restaurant chain with 25 locations in the United States and nine others internationally. If you’re looking for a quiet place to eat, this is not a restaurant for you. But if you want a restaurant your kids will enjoy, well then this is it.

We went to the Las Vegas restaurant, which is located in the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip across from New York New York and the Monte Carlo, where we were staying.

Occasionally interrupted by a braying elephant or a grunting gorilla, we spent time checking out the salt-water aquarium next to our table. Pretty nice and the fishes seemed well-cared for.

We had a coupon for a free appetizer given to us by Hertz when we picked up our car, so we got a free plate of cheese sticks. I was envisioning bare cheese, but the appetizer was breaded and deep-fried, accompanied by some marinara sauce.

The wife wasn’t quite as hungry as she normally is (due to a head cold), so she decided to just order an appetizer plate: The Awesome Appetizer Adventure.

The Awesome Appetizer Adventure

I gotta say it was a huge adventure … a VERY huge adventure. Her plate was filled with chimi-cha-chas (the Mexican equivalent of Vietnamese spring rolls), three colors of tortilla chips, spinach and artichoke dip, deep-fried cheese sticks, and chicken tenders.

The wife’s food was okay; I especially liked the spinach-artichoke dip. Didn’t care for the flavor of the chimi-cha-chas, and I thought the chicken tenders were not moist enough. We didn’t touch her cheese sticks because we’d had enough of those when our free appetizer came.

Taste of the Islands

What did I have? I had the Taste of the Islands – cocoanut shrimp on skewers, blackened tilapia topped with a mango salsa, and “Dynamite Scallops” in a delicious spicy cream sauce that went well with the Caribbean rice sitting alongside the fish.

They also served some seasonal veggies (“traffic light” sweet peppers), which they hid beneath the seafood.

My meal was a lot better than hers. The scallops were delicious; they made my head perspire but that’s okay. I like tilapia, especially when it’s sautéed in a spicy rub. The shrimp were delicious, very sweet and nicely munchy (the wife swiped one in the blink of an eye).

All-in-all, definitely not gourmet, but pretty tasty. Plus the restaurant itself is fun and a good experience.

Rainforest Café: In the MGM Grand, 3799 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (702) 891-8580.

Golden Eagle (Honolulu)

2011-06-06T11:13:00.004-10:00

Golden Eagle Chinese Restaurant has been around for quite some time now, located on South King Street across Old Stadium Park in the Moiliili section of Honolulu, tucked in back of a shopping area next to Young Street.

It used to be a regular lunch stop for me (their lunch plate special is perfect for a quick lunch) before I retired five years ago, so it’s been a while since I’d last eaten there.

We had occasion to have lunch there recently. Don’t you just love it when a niece comes to town and craves Chinese food because she hasn’t had it in a long time?

My brother-in-law was in charge and he ordered the “Party for 10,” substituting for a couple of items (despite the note that substitutions weren’t allowed), and adding a couple extra. The upshot? A very delicious 10-course Chinese dinner at lunch (11 if you count the rice).

So … what did we have? Chicken salad, scallop soup, egg rolls, honey-glazed shrimp, the house special seafood, ginger onion lobster, minute chicken, salt/pepper crab, ginger onion fish, waffle crackers, and rice. Too much food, but just enough. There were leftovers, but a reasonable amount.

My mother-in-law grumbled and said the portions were too small, but she’s old school – if one can’t bring home a half-dozen containers of leftover Chinese food, then she’s not happy. As for me, I was entirely satisfied; my hunger and taste buds were well tended to.

The flavors were exquisite. Everything was tasty, not too salty, not ordinary in the least. The presentations were beautiful. And the lovely lady who waited on us was a gem. Wish I had asked her what her name was.

Check out the spread:

I think I need to go back there more often! (Next time I’ll find out what her name was.)

Golden Eagle Chinese Restaurant: 2334 S. King St. (808) 955-5080.

Studio B (Henderson)

2011-05-31T09:54:00.003-10:00

Studio B is the buffet at the luxurious M Resort, located at the south end (the extreme south end) of Las Vegas Boulevard, at the St. Rose Parkway intersection. It’s nearly nine miles past the Mandalay Bay.

We went for Sunday Seafood Brunch with our eldest son and his friends, who were also in Las Vegas at the same time.

I must say that the Studio B buffet had one of the largest variety of dishes I’ve seen. The buffet servings snaked in curves and presented us with a pretty good selection. As usual, one can’t sample everything. I always sample as much as I can, taking small portions, but even then I wasn’t able to taste anywhere close to a quarter of what they had.

The salads looked great, the hot entrees looked great, the pastas looked great, the breakfast section looked great, the omelet chef looked great, the Asian food section looked great, the Mexican food section looked great, the Italian food section looked great, the carving station looked great … in fact, everything looked great.

Except for the desserts … that section looked extraordinarily fabulous. It was like shopping at a bakery. You picked, you asked, they gave it to you. Plus they had gelato … many, many flavors of gelato. And gourmet coffee or tea.

Y’know, they probably had lots of other things that I either missed seeing or can’t remember. Looks like I’m just going to have to return the next time I’m in Las Vegas.

Okay, I know you’ve been waiting for pictures of the food. I had five plates and was pretty selective with what I took:

Salad Plate

Breakfast Plate

Entrees Plate

Prime Rib Plate

Dessert Plate

Studio B: In the M Resort, 12300 S. Las Vegas Blvd.

The Café (Las Vegas)

2011-05-25T10:53:00.002-10:00

The Café is the 24/7 restaurant at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, located within the casino area.

As we were staying at the Monte Carlo, we had dinner there one night, expecting a good experience that is typical of a Las Vegas Strip hotel.

Reuben Sliders

The wife ordered the Reuben sliders, which basically was a Reuben sandwich cut into four pieces. Three of the pieces made it onto her plate; what happed to the fourth piece is beyond me. Maybe the chef ate it?

It was pretty tasty, but a little light on the Russian dressing and sauerkraut, she thought. I agreed.

Pan Seared Sea Bass

I ordered their Pan-Seared Sea Bass because I’ve had wonderfully prepared sea bass before, and because it sounded good on the menu – with white rice, Tuscan tomato relish, and a balsamic Reduction.

It was disappointing. The sea bass was overdone and pretty firm … like wahoo rather than bass. The flavor was okay but the crust was a bit too salty. The balsamic reduction didn’t do much for the dish.

The rice was cooked nicely, albeit a little dry on the fringes of the scoop, as though it had been sitting for a while. And, the Tuscan tomato relish was nothing to write home about. All it consisted of was four cherry tomatoes cut in half and not even arranged nicely on the plate.

We skipped dessert (if daddy doesn’t want dessert, mommy doesn’t order it either) and didn’t go back there again the rest of our trip. Life’s too short.

The Café: In the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, 3770 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (702) 730-7777.

Grand Depot Café (Williams)

2011-05-19T10:32:00.000-10:00

We stopped by the Grand Depot Café in Williams, Arizona, for lunch on the way to the Grand Canyon on our bus tour from Las Vegas, the first change we really had to put some hot food in our stomachs after waking up at 5:30 a.m., being picked up at our hotel at 6:30 a.m., and starting our long bus trek to the canyon at 7:15 a.m.

The bus driver kept telling us how lucky we were to be getting a hot meal on our tour instead of cold box lunches offered by other Grand Canyon tour companies.

I knew it was going to be a buffet because I’d read up on the tour at the company’s website. Sure enough, it was a buffet. And not a terrific one at that. Adequate, but really … nothing to write home about.

The offerings were quite sparse – fried chicken, flavored rice, mixed vegetables, beef barley soup, a salad bar, some pastries and bread, and some pasta. Y’know, cafeteria food. It was adequate, definitely not a destination restaurant, but for those staying at nearby tourist lodgings, and for those of us who still had a couple of hours left on the bus, it was fine.

By the way, Williams, Arizona is where you can catch the Grand Canyon Railway, which takes you down into the canyon.

Grand Depot Café: 233 N. Grand Canyon Blvd. (800) 843-8724.

Chloe’s Café (San Francisco)

2011-05-14T09:53:00.001-10:00

I love little neighborhood cafés that dot big cities and cater to breakfast and lunch crowds. During a recent trip to the Bay Area, we had a late breakfast at a wonderful little café with one of our nieces who lives in San Francisco and had read about it on Yelp.

Chloe’s Café sits on the corner of Church and 26^th Streets, in the Noe Valley district of the city. It opens at 8:30 a.m. daily and closes at 3 p.m. (a half-hour later on weekends). Their menu is fairly substantial for such a small place (maybe 20 seats inside and a few outside tables), including dishes like fresh pear and almond pancakes (three of ‘em).

It’s rare that everybody at the table orders the same thing, but my niece, the wife and I all ordered their special scramble for the day: Two scrambled eggs with fresh spinach, mushrooms, roasted red bell peppers, onions and choice of cheese (Jarisberg, cheddar, feta or cream cheese). We all had the Jarisberg, which we found out is something akin in flavor to Swiss cheese.

But that’s a veggie scramble, so I ordered a side of chicken sausage that came with some red onion rings. The coffee was strong, nice and hot, with a deep flavor, and the orange juice was cold and freshly squeezed.

Accompanying the scramble was a mess of home fries and a crunchy slice of sour dough toast with blackberry jam on the side.

That was a delicious breakfast, especially since the café offered a new experience for me. I’m always optimistic when I try out somewhere I’ve never been before, and at times am disappointed. This time my optimism was justified. The scrambled eggs were moist and soft and everything tasted good.

By the way, their restroom is the smallest I’ve ever been in – it was like using the restroom on an airplane. To wash your hands, you had to use a very small dedicated sink next to the restroom after you exit it. I appreciate airplane restrooms more now.

Chloe’s Café: 1399 Church St. at 26^th Street. (415) 648-4116.

Ariake Sushi (San Jose)

2011-05-09T09:54:00.003-10:00

Ariake Sushi has three locations in Silicon Valley– the one we visited on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, another on Stevens Creek Boulevard in San Jose, and a third on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale.

It’s a jumping place. When we got there, it was packed and overflowing with a long waiting list that actually moved fairly quickly. The guy in the front was multi-tasking like crazy, taking phone orders, assigning tables, giving people their phone-in orders, and yelling “Irashai” (Welcome) whenever someone walked through the front door (which was often).

They have one of those “sushi-go-rounds” so before the waiter comes to your table, you can jump up, reach into the array of sushi passing by on little wooden boats and whisk them back to your table. As is typical in sushi restaurants like this, they keep track of what you’ve eaten by the number and design of the little plates they serve it on.

We ordered extra items – soups, salads, noodles – for variety and to give us some protein. I had a deep-fried seafood special with a tossed salad, a bowl of rice, a half orange, and lots of calamari rings, fish, and oysters (and as usual, the wife swiped some), plus a bowl of tonkatsu dipping sauce.

The sushi rice is very good, not bland like some at other sushi restaurants can be. That’s wonderful; it means they’re paying attention. And the seafood? Nice. Juicy. Crunchy. Delicious.

If you have a birthday, they do a loud ceremony with banging drums and chants and shots. It’s a pretty exciting place to have a snack or lunch or dinner.

I’m going back the next time I’m in San Jose. Plus, it’s fun to watch my grandson slurp down his udon noodles without chewing.

Ariake Sushi: 1008-D Blossom Hill Rd. (408) 269-8383.

Scrambl’z 2 (San Jose)

2011-05-04T10:07:00.001-10:00

I’ve written about Scrambl’z before, so I’ll keep this fairly short. We go there at least once every time we’re visiting our grandson in San Jose and this last trip was no exception.

They’ve got a nice selection of dishes, with everything from pancakes and waffles to omelets and combination meals and everything in between. Scrambl’z is pretty popular. We went there on an Easter weekend Saturday and the place was crowded with a 20+ minute wait.

But it was worth the wait (it’s always worth the wait at Scrambl’z). The wife and I wandered through the 99¢ store just up the parking lot until they called us inside.

This trip, I had country-fried steak and eggs. Nothing real fancy, just some good (crispy outside, tender inside) meat smothered in country gravy with big chunks of sausage, and nicely done over-easy eggs. Very good stuff!

Scrambl’z: 5055 Almaden Expressway. (408) 269-2900.

Indigo (Honolulu)

2011-04-23T14:51:00.007-10:00

Indigo is located in downtown Honolulu, with its front entrance on Nuuanu Avenue, where many of the city’s antique and art shops are located, and a back entrance off of Chinatown Gateway Plaza.

When I first ate at Indigo many years ago, they served a full menu at lunch. I remember my last meal there was a rib-eye steak … a very tasty rib-eye steak.

The wife and I had some business downtown recently and she’d never been to Indigo so I took her there. The restaurant still looks the same, and we were given a seat in the enclosed patio abutting the park.

That’s when I discovered they now serve a light luncheon buffet – a variety of salads, pancit noodles, breast of chicken, fish medallions, teriyaki tenderloin of beef, potatoes, and a selection of saucesand chutneys.

Additionally, they have four table service dishes touted as being “on the lighter side” that included Roasted Tomato Garlic Crab Soup, and Asian Caesar Salad with Chicken Yakitori. They sounded good, but we went with the other two.

The wife selected their Dim Sum Sampler – goat cheese wontons, lumpia shrimp and crab cake, served with chipotle aioli, four-fruit sauce and picked vegetables (tsukemono). The dim sum items were very tasty, but the aioli dip was a little too spicy for her. The servings were small, but adequate for her needs that day.

Dim Sum Sampler

I wanted something a bit more substantial, so I selected their Kobe Beef Sliders in Indigo Buns. Before ordering, I asked how many sliders were included in the dish. The waitress replied “Two,” which was a bit of a disappointment, as the usual order elsewhere is three sliders.

Kobe Beef Sliders

But, what the heck, I ordered the sliders. The “Indigo Buns” were rounded, which although they looked nice resulted in too much bread. The kobe beef was dressed with blue cheese and grilled onions, with lettuce, tomato and pickles on the side. The sliders came on a plate with excellent crispy and salty french fries.

The ketchup they provided for the fries wasn’t just straight out of the bottle. It was laced with Tabasco sauce. Plus, they included some of their chipotle aioli for the burgers (but they also tasted good with the fries). Some very gentle heat to intensify the flavors of the sliders and fries.

Surprisingly, the meal filled me up and I skipped dessert. Maybe next time.

Indigo: 1211 Nuuanu Ave. (808) 521-2900.

The Pineapple Room by Alan Wong (Honolulu)

2011-04-16T10:02:00.009-10:00

The Pineapple Room, run by Hawaii restaurateur and master chef Alan Wong, is located in Ala Moana Center, on the third level of Macy’s Department Store, occupying space that was once the Liberty House Garden Court restaurant.

It’s a pleasant place to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s not always easy to walk in and occasionally it pays off to have made a reservation – especially if you’re there during busy shopping hours.

The wife and I had an anniversary dinner there recently and were intrigued by the menu, which definitely had changed since the last time we were there. We were surprised to see that loco moco, that Big Island delicacy that has become a state-wide culinary institution, was on the dinner menu.

That’s what she ordered – the “Loco Moco Prix Fixe” – which began with a choice of appetizer (Poke/Sashimi, local style with chili, sesame oil, Kahuku sea asparagus and shiso; or A Simple Salad of Nalo Greens, locally grown Nalo greens, Hamakua Springs vine-ripened tomatoes, furikake cucumber, soy balsamic vinaigrette).

Simple Salad, and Tomato Salad

The loco moco itself consisted of a kiawe-grilled Kuahiwi Ranch hamburger patty on rice with two Peterson Farms eggs any style, and veal jus.

Her prix fixe meal concluded with her choice of dessert: Homemade chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream, macadamia nuts and chocolate ganache sauce; or Lilikoi Cheesecake with lilikoi and guava sauce.

She could choose from Waialua coffee or regular iced tea. She didn’t want a beverage so I stole her iced tea.

My selection wasn’t as interesting as hers.

Loco Moco, and Steak and Scampi

I ordered Steak and Scampi (Maui Cattle Company striploin with Umami Shrimp, sautéed Hamakua Heritage Eryngi Mushroom and Onions), plus a Ho Farms and Hamakua Springs tomato salad with fresh local watermelon, beets, and ume dressing.

The salad was very interesting! It wasn’t simply a tomato salad; it was created from cherry tomatoes of varying colors and “designs.” I had wondered how watermelon cubes would taste with their ume dressing but I’m pleased to say it was a very nice combination.

The steak was very good, and the shrimp was done just right – not undercooked or tough. Just right. I’d order this dish again in the future.

Anniversary Chocolate Cake (Complimentary), and Lilikoi Cheesecake

We opted for the lilikoi cheesecake, and were surprised with a slice of chocolate cake, compliments of the house, with “Happy Anniversary” wishes written in chocolate on the plate. What a nice gesture and the perfect end to a delicious dinner.

The Pineapple Room by Alan Wong: 1450 Ala Moana Blvd. (808) 945-6573.

Big Al’s Oyster Bar (Las Vegas)

2011-04-11T13:06:00.002-10:00

Located in The Orleans Hotel & Casino west of the Las Vegas Strip, Big Al’s Oyster Bar isn’t just an oyster bar. In addition to raw oysters and clams, they also offer a wide variety of Louisiana cuisine, as well as Italian pasta dishes.

You can sit at a counter and watch the talented guy shuck your oysters for you, or retire to a booth or table and let the waiter or waitress do all the food hustling for you.

Since the restaurant’s name does mention oysters, I decided to make an appetizer order of a half-dozen oysters on half-shell. They were nice and fresh, juicy and tasty, accompanied by some lemons, cocktail sauce and grated horseradish.

Add in some Louisiana hot sauce and let them slide smoothly down your throat.

Halibut isn’t exactly my favorite fish, but I have had some good experiences when it’s done right. So I ordered the Pan-Seared Halibut. It was herb-dusted, then pan-seared, served on rice pilaf and accompanied by a spring greens mix. Also included was a small bowl of a warm cream dip for the fish.

It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t as tender and moist as I’ve had, but it was pretty good. Halibut is basically a firm fish that can turn chewy if it’s overcooked. Thankfully, they stopped short of overdone. Verdict? Not too bad.

They had tiramisu on their dessert menu so I ordered a piece along with a cup of coffee. This classic Italian dessert was pretty good, prepared in the classic style with no fancy-dancy accoutrements. And hallelujah, you could even taste the liquor!

It’s open to the casino, so it’s a bit noisy, but if you concentrate on the food and on your dining companion, you soon forget the machines are there.

Big Al’s Oyster Bar: The Orleans Hotel & Casino, 4500 W. Tropicana Ave. (702) 365-7050.

O-Bok Korean Restaurant (Honolulu)

2011-04-06T09:21:00.002-10:00

O-Bok Korean Restaurant has been a part of the Manoa Market Place, sandwiched between East Manoa Road and Woodlawn Drive in the Manoa Valley, for more than 30 years.

It’s basically plate-lunch Korean food served in a restaurant. The place is small, but just the right size to serve its dedicated cadre of customers.

As soon as you walk in, your senses come alive to the aromas emanating from the kitchen – teriyaki sauce, kim chee … all good stuff!

O-Bok Special Plate

The last time I was there, I ordered the O-Bok Special Plate, which is very reasonably priced (less than $8.00 and that’s pretty economical for dinner). Along with the Korean teriyaki kal bi short rib, a tasty chicken thigh, man doo potsticker, na mul veggie sides, and rice, they give you some pretty wicked-looking kim chee – two types: daikon, and Chinese cabbage.

Their kim chee has a good flavor, not quite as salty as others I’ve tasted. And although it’s red as can be with chili peppers, it’s not that hot. Spicy good, but not oppressively hot.

Whatever you do, however, don’t go there on a Monday. Why? Because that’s the day of the week they’re closed.

O-Bok Korean Restaurant: 2756 Woodlawn Dr., #6-104. (808) 988-7702.

Palm Restaurant (Las Vegas)

2011-04-01T11:59:00.004-10:00

It’s been there for quite a while now – Palm Restaurant near the summit of the Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops valet escalator – but I’ve never eaten there. Until recently.

I didn’t know exactly what I would order, but then I saw a poster publicizing “A Trio of Filet Mignon.” Intrigued, I took a table. My waiter was a friendly guy named “Dutch,” who, when he found out I was from Hawaii, talked about his honeymoon visit to Maui and his return during his wedding anniversary last year.

He promised that the filet mignon trio would be good, so I took his word for it. Guess I already knew that’s what I was going to order, because it probably won’t be there the next time I’m in Las Vegas (“Available through March 31^st,” the poster said).

Dutch started me off with a bread basket: French bread, sweet walnut bread, raisin-walnut bread. The sweet walnut bread was my favorite.

The special price included a salad, and he recommended their apple-arugula salad with sugared pecans, crunchy sweet bacon bits, crumbled blue cheese, in a tart vinaigrette dressing. He did me no wrong with that suggestion; the salad was delicious (a little too tart, but that sweet apple chunks offset the acidity of the dressing nicely).

The Trio of Filet Mignon consisted of three thick tenderloin medallions. One was topped with a sort of Lobster Newburg (chunk of tail meat with creamy sauce), the second sat on sundried tomatoes and was covered with deep-fried crispy shallot rings, and the third was topped with chunk crab meat laced with herb-infused olive oil.

I remember ordering something like this before, and how the third piece of meat would become a little overcooked due to carryover heat, so I did a smart thing. I took alternate bites from each of the medallions in turn instead of finishing one before starting on another. Take my word for it, it’s the smart thing to do.

Given a side to choose from, I picked creamed spinach. Now that was a mistake. I love creamed spinach, but theirs was much too salty. I could only eat about a tablespoon of the spinach.

Also included in the special was a dessert -- crème brulée or cheesecake. I took a crème brulée, which came topped with raspberries. I tossed the raspberries because the seeds get stuck in my teeth, but the crème itself was nice – firm, not watery and runny, with a rich flavor.

It’s too late to order the Trio of Filet Mignons because it expired. But maybe you’ll get lucky and it’ll be back on the menu the next time you visit Las Vegas.

Palm: Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South. (702) 732-7256.

Tanaka Saimin (Honolulu)

2011-03-26T10:58:00.000-10:00

I was a little apprehensive about trying Tanaka Saimin, which is essentially an extension of Dillingham Saimin, which originally was named Boulevard Saimin. Why? Because I made the mistake of checking them out on Yelp.

In general, the Yelpers weren’t very kind, giving the restaurant an average of two stars out of a possible five. But I just had to try it for myself.

Tanaka Saimin was busy at lunchtime on the Monday I visited, but service was pretty quick and the food came out only slightly delayed. That was because I ordered one of the specials touted at the table. So as far as my party was concerned, the Yelp complaints over slow service were unfounded that day.

Steamed Basa Fish with Choy Sum

I ordered their Steamed Basa Fish special; basa (Pangasius bocourti) is a Southeast Asian catfish with firm, semi-moist white fish. It’s very mild in flavor. The basa floated on a shallow bed of mild shoyu broth and was topped with Chinese lup cheong sausage, shiitake mushrooms, green onions, and preserved cabbage.

The entrée was accompanied by choy sum cabbage (looks like baby bok choy), and two scoops of white or brown rice (I chose white).

The fish itself was very mild and nicely cooked, complimented by the mild soy sauce broth. The topping was a bit on the salty side; the lup cheong wasn’t quite as sweet as I expected, and after a few bites, I brushed the sausage and some of the mushrooms aside. The fish and broth were enough for me.

Unfortunately, my rice was inconsistent. One scoop was perfect, the other was rather dry. It could have been a consequence of the air conditioning, I don’t know for sure.

The accompanying miso soup was rather weakly flavored; I would have preferred more miso. I ordered a side of konbu (kelp) sambai-zuke (pickled) that I enjoyed – it was deliciously sweet and sour, and the dried daikon strips gave it a good crunch.

I tasted my wife’s saimin broth to see if complaints were justified. I liked the flavor … it wasn’t too strong or too watery, but it was heavy on the ebi (dried shrimp flavor), which is okay.

The verdict? The Yelpers were pretty spot on. I’d give it two stars.

Tanaka Saimin: 888 N. Nimitz Hwy., #103. (808) 524-3030.

Silverado Steak House (Las Vegas)

2011-03-20T10:51:00.004-10:00

Silverado Steak House is located in the South Point Hotel & Casino, about five miles south of the Mandalay Bay, on the Las Vegas Strip.

Before my plans changed, I was going to stay at South Point and so, I had researched the restaurants there. The Prime Rib restaurant was closed on the day I went there, so I went to Silverado fully intending to order prime rib.

My waiter, Paul, changed my mind when he pointed out the Filet Oscar. Why not? I haven’t had something different like that in the way of steak in a long time.

The usual bread offering appeared on my table – a bun, a couple of mini-pretzel loaves, some raisin-nut bread. Good bread, especially the raisin bread.

Seafood goes well with steak (surf and turf!) so I started off with a shrimp cocktail – three HUGE jumbo shrimp (is “huge jumbo shrimp” a redundant oxymoron?), and a couple of red endive leaves, all with their heads buried in a tangy horseradish-laced cocktail sauce.

Next came my salad, a chopped sensation of bib and romaine lettuce, artichokes, hearts of palm and calamata olives, wading carefully in some champagne vinaigrette dressing.

Okay, the Filet Oscar … two four-ounce filet mignons topped with crab, asparagus and béarnaise sauce. They were so tender, cooked medium-rare almost to perfection, coupled with the sweet crab meat and herby béarnaise sauce. Steak heaven! Paul earned his tip that night.

You know I always order dessert to end the meal on a sweet note. The Peach Bread Pudding fairly screamed out my name, so I ordered one. One? There were TWO on the plate, guarding a scoop of cinnamon vanilla ice cream, separated by a load of whipped cream, and autographed by thin streaks of bourbon caramel sauce.

Did I enjoy dinner? Hell yes. It was steak house heaven.

Silverado Steakhouse: South Point Hotel & Casino, 9777 Las Vegas Blvd., South. (702) 797-8075.

Pancakes & Waffles (Honolulu)

2011-03-13T10:09:00.001-10:00

I gave this place a try recently; the wife had taken our son and his family there one day and she wanted me to see if I liked it. It’s located in a little shopping area called the City Square Shopping Center.

Pancakes & Waffles specializes in … wait for it … wait for it … pancakes and waffles! It’s really a local food place where you place your order at the counter and they bring your food to you on disposable plates when it’s done. So technically, I consider it a sit-down (albeit only “sorta”) restaurant.

Waffle Eggs Benedict

The wife ordered their Waffle Eggs Benedict. We didn’t care for it. The waffles were too soggy, and the hollandaise sauce was too sour, as if they used too much lemon. We did agree, however, that the egg yolks were perfect. But one out of three doesn’t cut it.

I wouldn’t order their regular Eggs Benedict because of the bad hollandaise, no less their Waffle Eggs Benedict.

I ordered their Country Gravy Chicken and Waffle. See, I had to give chicken and waffles another try after my bad experience at Hash House a Go Go in Las Vegas. Besides that, I was in the mood for fried chicken.

Country Gravy Chicken and Waffle

The fried chicken was good. They gave me three huge thighs with a tasty, crunchy fried coating. And it was juicy. Very nice. The gravy also was delicious, slathered liberally over the chicken. That plate was heaping high with chicken and gravy.

Then, I reached the waffle.

You know, a place that calls itself Pancakes & Waffles really should have good waffles. Mine was awful. It was soft, even where the gravy didn’t touch it. Waffles should be nice and crispy on the outside, and light and fluffy and moist on the inside.

Mine collapsed under the weight of the fried chicken. That’s just not right.

Perhaps I won’t go back. Yet, perhaps I will, if only to try their pancakes and see if at least half their namesake is worthy of being featured in the name of the restaurant. And I need to see if their omelets are any good. Yeah, maybe I’ll go back.

Pancakes & Waffles: 1284 Kalani St. (808) 847-7770.

Hau Tree Lanai (Honolulu)

2011-03-08T12:19:00.007-10:00

View of the Seating Area

Located in the upscale boutique New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, located near the Queen Kapiolani Fountain at the east end of Waikiki, Hau Tree Lanai is a pleasant place to have a meal.

It had been a few years since I last dined there, so the wife and I had breakfast there one Saturday when we decided to check out a Waikiki Aquarium event.

Parking for the event was at a premium with nary a spot available along the avenue, thanks to a simultaneous event being held at Kapiolani Park. So it was a good thing we decided to have breakfast first. The Kaimana Beach Hotel valet was a godsend.

Diners at the Hau Tree Lanai sit outdoors under the shade of two large hau trees and are treated to beautiful view of Waikiki Beach. Hau is actually a hibiscus plant that grows to large proportions. It was used by early Polynesians in the making of canoes.

The wife ordered Eggs Benedict Kaimana, which is essentially what you would expect, except that turkey is laid on top of the Canadian bacon.

Eggs Benedict Kaimana

The Seafood Omelet was pretty big, and most satisfying. The eggs were cooked a little too long and could have been moister, but the dish’s salvation was the flavor of the marinara and the light, firm texture of the seafood ingredients.

Seafood Omelet

I ordered their Seafood Omelet, which was chock full of tiny calamari pieces, shrimp, salmon, scallops onions and mushrooms, all basted liberally in a mild marinara.

As is often our custom, we each have a portion of the other’s meal. Her Eggs Benedict were very good, and the English muffin was pretty close to the way I like it – nice and crunchy toasty (at least part of it was). The Hollandaise was a bit mild, but that’s okay, because the yolks were cooked to perfection – thick and warm and very soft.

View from Our Table

You can read more about the restaurant and the awards it’s won at www.kaimana.com. You can even make reservations online. (I do recommend making reservations. We didn’t have reservations and had a 20-minute wait for a table.)

Hau Tree Lanai serves breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. daily, lunch from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Sundays and 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. the rest of the week, and dinner from 5:30 to 9 p.m. daily.

Hau Tree Lanai: 2863 Kalakaua Ave. (808) 921-7066.

America (Las Vegas)

2011-03-01T09:27:00.001-10:00

I remember when this restaurant was called the “America Café” and its menu categorized meals according to states where they were popular. Invariably, any dish that included pineapple was given a name indicative of a Hawaiian locale.

America in Las Vegas is located in the New York New York Hotel & Casino, and it still has its trademark huge three-dimensional map of the United States hanging from the ceiling. The first time I went to this one was several years ago, when the old-style menu was still in effect.

(The first America restaurant I patronized was in Union Station in Washington, D.C. … went there three times.)

The last time I ate at the Las Vegas restaurant was quite recently. I was in the mood for a steak that night, so I ordered their American Wagyu Kobe Flat Iron Steak, with sautéed mushrooms and onions, accompanied by choice of potato.

Wagyu Kobe Flat Iron Steak

The steak was one of the better flat iron steaks I’ve had (flat iron steaks are also known as top blade steaks and actually come from the chuck shoulder). But as far as Wagyu Kobe steaks go, this was on the bottom end of tenderness. It was excellent in so far as flat iron steaks go, but below-average for a Wagyu Kobe steak.

Accompanying my steak was a side of sautéed veggies – carrots, zucchini and asparagus. Thank God they weren’t overcooked. My baked potato was very good – not fluffy (I don’t care for fluffy), firm but tender and not crunchy (I don’t like crunchy baked potatoes).

All in all, pretty good stuff.

America: New York New York Hotel & Casino, 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South. (702) 740-6451.

Terrace Pointe Café (Las Vegas)

2011-02-24T10:04:00.003-10:00

Terrace Pointe Café is a bright, open café that opens on one side to a wide hallway, and on the other side to a garden view.

Always make friends with the waiter when you dine in a nice restaurant. I’d eaten at Terrace Pointe Café before when I checked out the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. Then, I didn’t talk to the waiter. This time, I did. His name was José.

Pulled Pork Benedict

I asked José what he recommended. I got there too late for the regular breakfast menu, but there were some breakfast items on the lunch menu “for late risers." He pointed to the Pulled Pork Benedict and said the jalapeño cornbread that they used instead of an English muffin was excellent.

So that’s what I ordered. The Pulled Pork Benedict was nothing like I imagined it would be. Two beautifully poached eggs sat on the pulled pork that was cooked in a mild barbecue sauce and sitting on top of country potatoes.

Two triangles of jalapeño cornbread guarded the pork, which was topped with a barbecue hollandaise sauce, and sprinkled with chopped green onions. I’ve got to hand it to the chef. The barbecue flavors did not fight with the eggs and pork. They blended perfectly!

My only criticism … when the hostess sat me, and asked if I would like a newspaper (Wall Street Journal or USA Today). I told her USA Today. Then when I was seated, José asked me the same question, but the hostess told him she’d already taken my newspaper request and would bring it to me.

I never got the newspaper.

Anyway, try the Pulled Pork Benedict at Terrace Pointe Café the next time you’re in Las Vegas. It’s on their regular breakfast menu, as well as their lunch menu.

Terrace Pointe Café: Wynn Resort, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South. (702) 770-3360.

Orchids (Honolulu)

2011-02-19T09:27:00.000-10:00

Situated ocean-side in the luxurious Halekulani Hotel, Orchids boasts perhaps the best buffet not only in Honolulu, but the entire state of Hawaii.

Adding to the elegance during their spectacular Sunday buffet is the beautiful music of a harpist-flautist duet that wafts over the diners as the warm tropical breeze flows throughout the open-air restaurant.

The food is extremely well prepared and presented, and it’s difficult not to try a little of everything. But one does try!

The salad bar is not just a bar, it’s a room – beautiful salad greens, popular salads with a special twise, sushi, poke, sashimi, pastries, soups all conspire to make you load up your salad plate.

But don’t get over-enthusiastic with salads, for there’s much more to come. The breakfast selections included (when we last ate there), made-to-order omelets, salmon egg Benedict, chicken and pork sausages, Portuguese sausage, and crepes. There were many more items, but one has to be disciplined, y’know.

The hot entrees included fish and chicken, but I decided to stick with prime rib (perfectly roasted), island pork, and freshly steamed cauliflower. I stuck to my guns and didn’t go back for a second helping of any entrée … besides, my tank was near to being full and I had to save room for dessert.

I could have gone hog wild over the desserts, but again I exercised great discipline – only four items made it to my plate: a beautiful guava soufflé in a demi-cup, some almond float, a nice cube of haupia (coconut pudding), and a serving of the best bread pudding I’ve had in a long, long time.

Oh, they had cakes and pies and napoleons and flans, but as I said, I was very cultured that day.

The service is impeccable, quick and courteous. The ambiance is top shelf. The view of the ocean is breathtaking. The food is beautiful and absolutely delicious.

What more could a person ask for in a restaurant and Sunday buffet?

Plate 1: Salads

Plate 2: Breakfast

Plate 3: Hot entrees

Plate 4: Dessert

Orchids : 2199 Kalia Rd. (808) 923-2311.

The Cracked Egg (Las Vegas)

2011-02-13T10:00:00.001-10:00

All these years that I’ve been going to Las Vegas and searching out breakfast places, I never came across The Cracked Egg. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of it until a friend posted some pictures on Facebook of her meal.

That could lead to only one thing – I’d HAVE to visit the place the next time I went to Las Vegas.

The Cracked Egg has four locations in Las Vegas, and was established in 2002. They’ve won several recognitions, including “Top Ten,” “Best of,” and “Top Restaurant” awards. They’re open for breakfast and lunch.

Their menu includes egg dishes of all kinds, coffee cakes, pancakes, French toast, soups, salads, sandwiches and burgers.

The "Carnitas" Omelet

I was in a Mexican mood the day I ate there, so I ordered “The Carnitas” – a three-egg omelet folded over seared pork, grilled onions, bell peppers, salsa, and chorizo, with jack cheese and sour cream on top. Hash browns and cinnamon coffee cake completed the order.

The omelet was delicious and had a little bit of heat to it because of the salsa (a mild, tasty chili verde). Mexican omelets in the morning are a perfect way to take up your mouth, your throat, and your senses, stoking the fires of your body engine to see you through to dinner.

And that sweet coffee cake was pretty yummy too, perfect for finishing off the meal with a cup of steaming hot coffee.

Maybe next time I’m in Vegas I’ll try one of their other locations and see if their quality is consistent from restaurant to restaurant.

The Cracked Egg: 6435 S. Rainbow,#100. (702) 220-6449.

The Coffee Cup (Boulder City)

2011-02-08T12:11:00.001-10:00

The Coffee Cup has received its 15 minutes of fame, having been featured on the Food Network’s program, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” episode DV0104, they proudly proclaim on their menu. It’s not a diner, and it’s not a drive-in, so it’s gotta be a dive.

Located in the Old Town area of Boulder City on the way to Hoover Dam, The Coffee Cup’s innards look like something out of a road trip movie – license plates on the wall, a couple of shelves of coffee cups, a wall dedicated to servicemen, and kitsch, kitsch, kitsch.

The sign is rather busted up and needs a repainting, but y’know, if they did that, they’d take away from the charm of the place.

Okay, so it’s a dive. But it’s an interesting dive. The place was packed to the gills a few minutes after I dropped in at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. So it’s popular!

Perusing the menu took a few minutes, and when I saw Country Fried Steak and Eggs, that’s what I decided to get. Then the lovely young lady asked me what I wanted, and I said, “I’ll have the Pork Chili Verde Omelette.” Because I saw it there and suddenly remembered them putting it together on the television show.

The menu listing said it’s “Tender Pork in our Famous Green Chili Sauce and Cheddar Cheese. Served With Hashbrowns OR Short Stack”. I got the hash browns (I wonder why they didn’t capitalize “our” … a bit of modesty, perhaps).

Boy … was it delicious. The chili verde has a mild spiciness that floods the mouth with some latent heat, but it dissipates rather quickly, leaving you feeling all warm and cozy inside. Plus, as I said, it’s delicious. And, I’m glad I got the hash browns. They were great with the chili!

They’ve got a bunch of humor floating around the restaurant, and on their menu as well. They don’t mind you thinking of substituting something on the menu for something else. There’s no charge for that.

Ah, but if you ask for it, they’re going to charge you a buck. And if you ask for a substation on an item that specifically says “No Substitutions,” it’ll cost you $20. And, asking whether they’re serious will set you back $40. So don’t ask!

The Coffee Cup: 512 Nevada Way. (702) 294-0517.

Cattle Company Steakhouse (Pearl City)

2011-02-02T11:01:00.005-10:00

Stuart Anderson’s Cattle Company Steakhouse used to be located in the Ward Warehouse shopping/dining complex many years ago, but that location closed. Consequently, the only Cattle Company Steakhouse remaining in Hawaii is in Pearl City, in the Waimalu Times Square.

On the mainland, you may be familiar with Black Angus. It’s the same company.

We went there for lunch recently – a family and friends gathering to show off our grandson, who was visiting us with his parents from the mainland.

Their bread is always a hit, and any that isn’t consumed at the restaurant always manages to find its way into the take-home box.

We all munched on a variety of appetizers (a few orders of their Wagon Wheel Sampler Platter– deep-fried zucchini, twice-baked potatoes, buffalo chicken tenders and shrimp cocktail – and three Fire-Grilled Ocean Mist Artichokes). The appetizers are great and one of those sampler platters alone would make a fair-sized meal for almost anybody.

Filet Mignon Sandwich

As I said, we were there for lunch, but the wife and I ordered from the dinner menu. She ordered the filet mignon sandwich packed with steak, sautéed onions and red bell peppers, cheddar cheese and a chipotle mayonnaise. The balance of the plate was filled with French fries.

Prime Rib and Lobster Tail Combo Plate

I on the other hand was in a prime rib mood. And a lobster tail mood. Good thing they had a combination plate – an eight-ounce slice of prime rib and a large lobster tail. The prime rib portion looked a little small at eight ounces, but that didn’t matter, because the lobster was a nice size.

The plate included some drawn butter, nicely done green beans with bacon bits (cooked just the way I like them – not too raw, and not too limp) and a baked potato with all the fixings.

See how red that prime rib looks? I ordered medium rare, but it was more like rare. Not complaining, mind you, as it is, it was beautifully tender and flavorful. And, see how the wrap-around flap (on the left side, under the layer of fat) is wide and long? That’s my favorite part of the beef steak, and I’m so happy when there’s a lot of it.

The lobster was moist, firm, and pretty sweet … a big improvement over the last time I had lobster tail at the Tropicana Express Hotel’s Steakhouse Restaurant in Laughlin, Nevada.

I was entirely too full for dessert, but broke down and got a root beer float. If you haven’t had a Stuart Anderson (Cattle Company, or Black Angus) root beer float, you don’t know what you’re missing. First of all, it’s very big, and second of all, it’s a guilt-laden delight.

It looked so good that I forgot to take a picture of it until I’d had three or four big slurps.

Oh well … next time!

Cattle Company Steakhouse: 98-1262 Kaahumanu St. (808) 487-0054.

Bella Mia (Honolulu)

2011-01-27T10:02:00.003-10:00

Located in Kaimuki’s 11^th Avenue Atrium, with cheap parking in the city parking lot (enter on 12^th Avenue), Bella Italia reminds me of some small, family-run Italian ristorantes that I’ve patronized over the years, particularly in Chicago and New York.

Owner Joe Gonzales came to Hawaii from Brooklyn having been in the pizza business since he was a young boy. His small (60+ seat) restaurant offers a homey touch – Vic Damone, Perry Como, Dean Martin music wafting over patrons, small groups siting on wooden chairs, eating off of gingham tables, holding glasses of red wine in jovial toasts.

The menu is quite extensive: Pizzas, pizza rolls, pasta (stove top or oven baked), sides (meatballs, sausages), hot submarine sandwiches (various parmigianas and even Philly steak), salads, appetizers (including some of my favorites like bruschetta, fried mozzarella sticks, and fried calamari), and a raft of entrées with names that end with parmigiana, or marsala, or piccata, scampi, carbonara, cacciatore, cariofi, Alfredo or francaise.

The even offer Pellegrino sparkling water from Italy.

The evening starts off with some wonderful soft bread buns with marinara sauce. Although the bread is on the “side order” listing, our gracious waitress gave us more to take home with us when we were done.

Veggie Parmigiana

The wife decided on the daily special – Veggie Parmigiana. It was pretty good; her selections are always pretty good (I know because we always taste each other’s dishes). But I thought mine was better.

Veal Marsala

I had Veal Marsala with mushrooms in a rich Marsala sauce. Those who order entrées off the regular menu are given a choice of linguini, spaghetti or penne. I was in a spaghetti mood that evening.

The veal was a joy – tender and most flavorful on its own, but a definite treat playing on my tongue as I scooped up spoonfuls of marsala sauce to shovel into my mouth with the veal. The sauce was creamy and rich, with sautéed mushrooms and nice pieces of sweet onion peeking out from the light red sea.

Tiramisu

We decided to end with a dessert and I was delighted when our tiramisu arrived. It was excellently classic without any additions or adornments. Just the way I like it, and you could taste the liqueur. It wasn’t made in-house, by the way, but it’s sent frozen to Bella Mia from New York. If I still had my tiramisu website, I would have given it a #9 rating, which would have made it the top tiramisu in Hawaii.

Guess Joe Gonzales maintains his New York food connections, huh? Go there for lunch or dinner. You’re going to like it there.

Bella Mia: 1137 11^th Ave. (808) 737-1937.

Anytime Café (Honolulu)

2011-01-20T10:08:00.004-10:00

The Anytime Café is located in the corner of the Market City Shopping Center in Kaimuki. Formerly known as the Banana Leafs, this restaurant has a rather large and varied menu consisting primarily of Chinese and Italian food.

I was chuckling to myself as I sat and perused the menu. What should I call the food? Chintalian? Italinese? No matter, I was just being silly.

Having seen Anytime Café when the wife and I had breakfast a couple of doors down at Café Kaila, I was a little intrigued about trying it out for the first time.

People seem to be talking about its noodles and its desserts, but since it was lunch and I hadn’t any breakfast, the Baked Pork Chops with Fried Rice jumped off the menu. And at $11.95, it seemed like a decent choice.

Given the option of soup or green salad, I went with the salad. Somehow, cream of broccoli soup wasn’t too appealing that day. According to the menu, the dish consisted of “pork chop and onions with our own tomato sauce over fried rice.”

I ordered a glass of iced Thai tea to wash everything down. Thai tea is basically a strong tea with milk in it; a tiny pitcher of simple syrup accompanied the tea for sweetening.

Baked Pork Chops with Fried Rice

The first thing I noticed upon being served was that the meat consisted of three thinly sliced portions of pork loin, not a pork chop. To me a “chop” connotes a “t-bone” with a little border of tasty fat. The pork was a bit on the dry side, but to their credit was tender.

The tomato sauce was pretty tasty, like a mild spaghetti sauce, and when eaten with the pork, moistened it considerably. As for the fried rice, I was a little disappointed. It didn’t seem fried, and maybe I’m used to fried rice with beaucoup ingredients in it, but all they had were some peas and cubed carrots. The peas were nice, though; they lent a little pop when bitten.

By the way, I didn’t notice any onions in the dish. No big thing, but perhaps they should have made at least a couple of onion slices visible to satisfy the nit-pickers like me.

My verdict? It was a good meal … an okay meal. It certainly wouldn’t delight a gourmet palate, but it wasn’t bad. Nice and average, I would say.

I’m glad I tried Anytime Café. Would I go back? Maybe, but not anytime soon.

Anytime Café: 2919 Kapiolani Blvd., #218. (808) 735-3888.

Mexitlan Grill (Honolulu)

2011-01-07T10:11:00.001-10:00

If you haven’t been to Mexitlan Grill yet, don’t do what I did. Don’t cruise up and down 11^th Avenue in Kaimuki looking for the place. What you need to do is take my word for it, the restaurant IS there. You just need to find the entrance from the large city parking lot behind the building (enter on 12^th Avenue).

It’s nestled in a small arcade called the “11^th Avenue Atrium,” next to Bella Mia Italian Restaurant, and I was anxious to try it out because a nice lady friend who writes restaurant reviews for the local daily newspaper recommended it to me.

The wife and I went there for lunch the other day, early, as soon as they opened at 11 a.m., because I’d heard that lines sometimes form due to their popularity.

Wall Art

I have to warn you that this is NOT a sit-down equivalent of Taco Bell, or any other quick-service Mexican food restaurant you’ve been to. It’s a sit-down restaurant, thank you, and your food is brought to you on real plates at a real table with silverware and real cloth napkins.

There. Now you’re all set to go.

It’s a cozy place and if you’re seated right, you can see the chef at work in the kitchen. Depending on what you order, service is pretty quick or it might take a few minutes. But they give you a nice basket of tortilla chips and a terrific dipping salsa that’s a little spicy, but not terribly – just enough to make you thirsty.

Which brings up a point … Mexitlan Grill is a BYOB place; their beverages are all soft drinks (including Mexican soda – Tamarindo, Guava or Sangria).

King Lobster Burrito

The waitress said her personal favorite was the King Lobster Burrito, and it had an easily-understood name and description, so that’s what the wife ordered. It’s a wet burrito with lobster, Monterrey cheese, salsa, sour cream, a special lobster sauce, and chopped cilantro. The plate was completed with Spanish rice, refried beans, and some pico de gallo.

I tasted some of the Lobster Burrito and it was good, but I thought my entrée was much better.

Madrazo Fish

My selection was Madrazo Fish – Fresh mahimahi on a bed of spinach, covered with red sauce and Monterrey cheese. The sauce was mildly spicy and truly delicious. And although I haven’t put a lot of cheese on fish in my day, it was very tasty and complemented the mild flavor of the mahimahi.

I also had some rice and refried beans; ate some of it but the fish was so good, it almost filled me up to the brim, so I didn’t finish the rice and beans. The rice, by the way, was wonderful when I mixed it with my pico de gallo.

Then, the waitress teased us and asked if we wanted dessert. Just as when I finish an Italian meal, a sweet dessert would soothe the palate tremendously. So I ordered a flan. Well … wouldn’t you know it, she came back, apologized, and said they didn’t have any desserts that day. No flan, no ice cream, nuffin’.

But that’s okay, my brain was saying, “Si, si, si!” but my waistline was saying “No, no, no!”

I’m going back to Mexitlan Grill and have one of their shrimp selections – Diablo Shrimp, Barbecued Shrimp, Garlic Shrimp, Shrimp Tequila, Mexico Shrimp. They’ve also got wraps of all kinds, fajitas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, salads and appetizers all designed to make you thirsty.

Just remember … it’s BYOB.

Mexitlan Grill: 1137 11^th Ave. (808) 737-5678.

Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill (Honolulu)

2010-12-27T10:03:00.001-10:00

They’ve made a service change at Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill, which allows me to write and post about this popular seafood restaurant in A Place for My Taste.

Because Uncle’s used to distribute pagers and require their customers to pick up their own food once they ordered, I couldn’t consider them for inclusion in this blog. My requirement is that there be table service – I do make two exceptions: (1) if they bring your food after you order it at a counter, or (2) if it’s a buffet.

Uncle’s serves top-shelf seafood dishes, including lobster and loads of freshly caught fish. On this particular day, the wife and I had two different versions of fish and chips (our favorite order when we eat there).

First, we shared a New England-style seafood chowder (rich and chockfull of seafood). Then, she had the Big Uncle’s Combo & Chips: shrimp, calamari and fish, with french fries and coleslaw.

Opakapaka Fish and Chips

I had plain ol’ fish and chips. Plain ol’? Hardly. My fish wasn’t just frozen cod or anything quite so prosaic as that. I had fresh Opakapaka – deep-fried with panko batter, lots of tartar sauce, and (just so I could say I had my vegetables) cole slaw.

Their lunch and dinner dishes are served on plates, but the deep-fried combos are served in woven baskets, a big improvement over the red plastic baskets they used to use.

Nice changes! I like being served at Uncle’s.

Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill: Pier 38, 1135 N. Nimitz Hwy. (808) 275-0063.

Monterey Bay Canners (Aiea)

2010-12-21T13:51:00.005-10:00

I hadn’t been to Monterey Bay Canners Fresh Seafood Restaurant in years. The last time was when they had a restaurant in the Ward area, and that closed a long time ago.

So I was slightly excited when the wife and I decided to dine at their Pearlridge Center restaurant, just a hop, skip and jump away from where we were last night. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great dining experience. Something’s happened to their food, and it isn’t for the better.

To make matters worse, we were seated at what surely must have been the coldest spot in the restaurant. We decided to tough it out, as it wasn’t that terribly frigid.

First off, we ordered an appetizer – deep-fried zucchini slices with cucumber ranch dressing. This wasn’t bad. The zucchini was pretty good, and the dressing was perfect. Unfortunately, it arrived warm and not hot, and then turned cold within a minute or so because the room was cold.

The wife ordered one of their daily specials: a combination plate of miso butterfish and teriyaki fried shrimp. I saw opakapaka (pink snapper – my favorite fish) on the menu so I ordered that, sautéed in butter and capers.

As usual, we sampled each other’s dishes.

The butterfish-shrimp combo was awful. The shrimp was undercooked and the not-quite-cooked shrimp had a coat of raw batter surrounding it. I think their oil was a bit too hot, as the outside was nicely colored and crunchy, but the inside needed a few more seconds.

Although it looked like a nice hunk of butterfish, in reality it was the center bone that made up the mass of the fish serving. I would estimate that there were maybe just a couple of tablespoons of fish.

My opakapaka was overcooked and on the firm side (it should be moist and flakey). The flavor was not bad. The wife and I agreed that our steamed vegetables were terribly undercooked – the carrots seemed simply warm and crunchy, almost like raw. I ate a couple of the broccoli florets and half of one carrot slice before giving up.

It’s going to be quite a while before I give them another try. Certainly not their Pearlridge restaurant, but maybe one in another state.

Monterey Bay Canners: Pearlridge Shopping Center, 98-10005 Moanalua Rd., (808) 483-3555.

Café Kaila

2010-12-13T10:41:00.004-10:00

Front and Inside Views

It’s not very large, fewer than 50 seats tucked away in Kaimuki, one of a number of eating establishments in the little Market City Shopping Center complex. But Café Kaila, which opened in 2007, has a lot to offer.

The name, Café Kaila, derives from owner Chrissie Castillo’s middle name. Her inspiration was breakfast – her favorite meal.

I had lunch there the other day, after discovering the restaurant on a little lunching expedition in the uptown Kaimuki area of Honolulu.

It has a varied menu, but basically, they offer breakfast (eggs, griddle pancakes and breakfast meats), panini-style sandwiches, salads, pastas, and a few entrée items like steak and roast chicken. I was reading the framed newspaper and Internet coverage stories, and apparently they’re a local favorite for breakfast.

My selection was from a list of sandwiches that come with chips, but I upgraded to a tossed salad because … well because I hadn’t had my vegetables that day. They all looked so good, but I finally settled on the Chicken Parmesan Sandwich – a tender slice of Italian-flavored breaded chicken breast, with marinara sauce, melted cheese and eggplant.

The salad included some grape tomatoes and a few small, crunchy carrots, and was dressed with a lovely vinaigrette.

An orange slice went well with the salad (I broke mine into wedge pieces and tossed them into the leafy greens to play with the dressing). They also included a little condiment container of extra marinara sauce for dipping.

Toasted and served hot, the sandwich was perfectly done to my liking. And I’m proud to say, I didn’t rag up the roof of my mouth with the toasted bread – something I’m always doing. And I’m even prouder to say that I left there without a single spot of marinara sauce on the front of my shirt. Now THAT’S an accomplishment in itself.

Breakfast, huh? I’m going to have to take the wife to breakfast there one of these days.

Café Kaila: 2919 Kapiolani Blvd. (808) 732-3330.