I'm a fan of R Field Wine Company and when I was told there was one at the Kapolei Foodland Farms I…read morehappily made the drive in the worst weather in December just to check it out. I don't mind the drive from Halawa to Kapolei as it's going against traffic making it easier and faster than town destinations. Making my schedule to hit the furthest Costco Gas first. Home Depot for Gift Cards second then Foodland Farms lastly. Nice parking fronting the store I was jumping puddles and dodging raindrops as I entered. Located in the middle of the store is the R Field Wine Company section. Ordered two pounds of their imported Mortadella (excellent) for Italian sandwiches my son wanted to replicate after his most recent trip to Rome along with some sliced cheese. Since this visit was before Christmas I made a number of stocking stuffer purchases of Manoa Honey, Lingonberry jam, some wonderful goat cheeses and my favorite St Angel French soft cheese along with three bags of fresh Lavosh. No wines this trip but they do have some good labels on their shelves. Another trip planned this week, I'm making my list.....

Sliced to order prosciutto di San Daniele, prosciutto di Parma, mozzarella di bufala, burrata,…read morebresaola, cambozola, pate` mousse with truffle, Cambozola, savoiardi "lady fingers", unusual and imported cheese and salumi... Mmmmmm *these* are just a few of my favorite things!! After 11 years in Italy, when I returned to my native Hawai'i it was a bit of a bummer to not be able to relive and share certain foods that became daily dish staples for me. I would boast about this cured meat and THAT parmiggiano and creamy burrata mozzarella... But they were just memories of the past. Hawai'i is my home and i would never move back to Europe but just part of the palate was missing it... Until we stumbled upon R. Field Wine. Tears... ugly, slobbery tears that ruin your makeup. I cried them. But out of joy. Pure joy. You want Italian staples? You can find them here. There are several locations, all found inside or next to Foodland, but the ones I frequent most are Kailua, Ala Moana and Kapolei. All the greatest cured meats I could find in Italy, I can now find at R. Field Wine. Not even kidding. My favorite prosciutto is San Daniele (they tend to butcher the name- but they have it- so I'll take it) and my favorite type of mozzarella is burrata (a little pricey but worth every penny). If you are making a charcuterie/ grazing board to impress, the following are my go-to's from this awesome gem of a place. They give samples if you are unsure about the meat. -Prosciutto San Daniele (the smaller the round, the sweeter-- I like mine salty- so I always ask to see the cut first... **when curing, they hang the meat from smaller end- so all salt and seasoning runs down to bigger part**) -Prosciutto di Parma (the real deal, not that pre-packaged smelly cardboard- same rule as above, the smaller the round, the sweeter- the longer- the saltier) -Speck (if you find scamorza cheese, roll it up in the speck and pan-fry... ooohh!! Amazing!! They're called "uccelletti" or "little birds") -Bresaola (bray-ZA-OH-LA) this is the leanest cured meat you will find. In Italy it is common to find this smoky delicacy in horse meat but the imported one is usually beef. Sprinkle with lemon and olive oil for a model's meal. They eat this when dieting. If you want to make it more exciting, eat it with mozzarella to cut the salt. -Burrata- the creaminess of this mozzarella is unparalleled... doesn't slice well but on pizza or raw with prosciutto or tomatoes is divine. -Pate- they have black truffle duck pate and goose pate- they are amazing- just depends if you like truffle or not! Try them! Cambozola- is like a creamy gorgonzola that is less sharp but melts beautifully on warm crusty bread! Note: not for non-blue cheese lovers. The brave only! Savoiardi- what I use to make tiramisu. Don't forget the mascarpone in the fridge section! R. Field also is home to many wines and liqueurs (as the name suggests) and quality local products like my favorite kauai cocoa for tiramisu, chocolate, coffee and honey. Hope this was helpful! You can't go wrong with any of their salumi! I promise!

My BFF and I had such a great conversation with the attendant at Fujioka. We got so caught up…read moretalking because we found out he actually knew the valley we're from. We ended up bonding over McAllen, Texas, and how much we miss Texas food. It made us laugh because the tacos just aren't the same here. It was such a comforting experience to connect with someone who understood a piece of our culture. One of my favorite parts of this trip has been meeting new people and feeling more connected to the local community. While we were there, I picked up a little something for my bar cart, a surprisingly medium sized bottle of Fireball for under $2. I couldn't believe how affordable it was for the size. I also found Dos Equis, which brought back memories since it's one of the drinks my partner and I always enjoyed sharing with friends back home. I decided to try something new, too: Guava Cart. It's been catching my eye, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. I enjoyed looking around and seeing all of the different types of bottle choices they had. I definitely would like to create my own little bar at home. I had a bar at my parents house that my dad owned and owning one of my own will bring me a piece of my dad here with me.

They have a lot of selections of wines and I enjoyed the wine tasting experience. My bf and often…read morego to see what beers or wines or whiskey they have. I hear there's a whiskey tasting too.

Tumuras deli has changed so much! They downgraded a lot with the deli in quality!!!…read more I grew up on tumuras when their musibis use to be $0.50 back in the day! They had variety musibis where they use to put tuna or ume in them which I loved eating both when my mom use to buy us for breakfast!!! Their bentos use to be very good too! I remember their rolled eggs which was my fav to eat. Over the years they added spam To it which I didn't eat because I don't eat pork anymore! Their bentos also changed too! Their chicken use to be the best on the menu now it's just a copy cat of Zippy's chicken. I don't buy their deli anymore just their poke because their poke is always better quality from other stores.

I went to Tamura's wahiawa for have lunch with my daughter the other day, she wanted to have with…read moreme and my mom " grandma " cause she live whitmore we met her there, in my opinion for was ok we had poke bowl, the sushi and others, before we left I ordered take out, the loco moco, my wife had the fried noodle plate was good but according to the staff there is no bathroom for customers like really I remember when was Bigway and my dad used to go there had bathroom before, even when you ate at bigway burger now it's Dominos pizza I think next time I go to the one in Waianae bet that ones better

Tamuras is where you should go for no frills poke. You can by a poke bowl or poke by the pound. The…read moreflavors and variety is awesome. If I visit hawaii and dont get tamuras poke.... i didnt visit hawaii. Non touristy and more of a locals spot. Every single thing I ordered was bomb.com.

This is such a dangerous shop to go into! We came here for a specific champagne and left with so…read moremuch more lol. I mean just look at all those awesome snacks in one location. See, dangerous! All of the West side shops that we checked around didn't have this particular champagne available. I wouldn't normally be so picky about the type of champagne except I had already started a dessert recipe using a specific bottle and then I ran out and needed to make more. This Tamura's happens to be right down the street from my doctors office. Their poke selection is much bigger than the one closer to home. Freshness wise, the quality is still top-notch no matter which location.

It's open late, and they have a wide variety of unusual beers, so I bought several different kinds…read more It's convenient for buying alcoholic beverages now that the nearby Longs Drugs store is gone.

Not bad, had a lot of different liquor. And special sets good for giving as gifts. Person there was…read morevery helpful. Was kind of tight getting around. Had so much items there.

It's either a FRONT or it's just runner down. Lol No for reals... this WHOLE TOWN CENTER NEEDS A…read moreFACE LIFT! Especially because they actually CHARGE $10 for parking! They have QR CODED to SCAN posted in the buildings. I've NEVER noticed them before... Then again, I've only came during the evening most times. And don't stay LONGER than 2 hours. But if you ever need a drink for the food shops you're eating at... KNOW that there is a mom & pop shop in the center. It's a bit messy & cluttered tho. So, it kind of makes you wonder if they're renovating inside. Anywho, that's mostly the reason why I gave a 2 STAR because of the appearance. Otherwise, I'm glad they had drinks. And I think there's what looks like an adult "SAMPLE TASTE" station. BUT IM NOT TOO SURE! I didn't ask... he looked a bit grouchy. I didn't want to irritate him more. Anywho, you should check it out if you need simple snacks or drinks! Okie dokes! Have a good one!

JnJ is a great beverage store, a place to go for your unique and often lower-priced alcohol needs…read more Nathan is a huge help if you have any questions, he knows his stuff about pretty much everything. He genuinely cares about ensuring that you purchase what is right for you. They have a huge selection of wines and spirits (I even found a wine that shared my last name!), as well as refrigerated drinks. They often have reduced price bottles, and a point-redeeming program to earn certain free products. You may even get a chance to get a taste test of certain items. Where else can you do that? I really enjoy this place and try to support local.

We happened upon this store while driving up the coast. In need of some refreshments, we went in…read more The atmosphere inside is so friendly and down to earth. The spam musubi with pickled radish and egg is the best I've ever tasted. Super tender and soft rice - yum. They have some really fun local treats and snacks as well.

Super old school general store with long history and all the good stuff. Double pastele with rice…read morewas mean, especially for being under ten bucks. I may have risked death by getting the salmon furikake rice that looked like it may have been sitting out at room temp for too many hours, but da buggah was 'ono and less than six bucks. Would do it again! :P