I finally got to try this place for the first time at the strawberry moon market. Everything was…read moresooo sooo delicious. I personally think this was single-handedly the best musubi/okazuya I have ever had in a meal on this island. It is a shame that they do not pop-up as often but I was very grateful that they were able to make some more food even when the sign said they were "sold out." I guess it was fate that my taste buds were blessed by the hands of this cute Japanese family.

Food is amazing and made to order. Onigiri and side dishes are authentic and just like in Japan!!!read more

First time trying their take out at Fishcake (a rotating culinary artist incubator space). I…read moreordered "pork and lamb bolognese." Rich ingredients and taste satisfied me. Btw they cook in front of you after you place an order. You can eat in too. Thank you very much for an early dinner!

Chasing the C4 "rainbow"…read more We have been fans of Colin Hazama's C4 offerings between the Kaiser and Blaisdell open market locations. As of January, 2023, C4 is located in the Fishcake shop in Kakaako, there are several stalls right in the front for a quick dash to pick up your order. Same like before, you check their weekly offerings, email your selections at the latest, the day before, and schedule when you'd like to pick up your order, usually on a Wednesday. C4 offers a rotating selection of meals to go that are delicious, delightful and sized just right. These are not humongous servings but just right for most. Recently, we had jasmine scented steamed opakaka w/Choy sun and mushrooms. So nice and tender, not over cooked, it's always tricky to get it just right when you know most customers will be taking it home and not eating it immediately. It smelled flavorful when we received it and tasted as such when we ate it later. C4's hearts of palm coconut gazpacho: now the closest I've come this type of soup is a cold potato soup, but this soup was so much more tasty and refreshing. Perfect that it was not a cold evening to try it, it was delicious and decadent, but not heavy. A delicious starter. We were able to try the roasted 3 potato salad as an accompaniment, this was not your typical local potato salad but rather a more tangy lighter salad w/o the heavy local Mayo toss (just right for no Mayo, Fran C). I can see this one going with sandwiches too. Yum! Of course, the sweet finale has to be their flavored gummies, we are partial to their pog and strawberry gummies. Meals from C-4 are built into our go-to list when we decide to do take-out, and if it's on a Wednesday, we will always check out C4 to see what's on da menu. Support local! Mahalos Chef Colin for a nice selection of offerings every month.

I'll never stop raving about this place…read more Minasa is a restaurant serving a variety of comforting and nostalgic Filipino food -- appetizers, entree, desserts and drinks. The space is cozy and welcoming, with limited amount of seating but ok for holding intimate events. Service is always great, food always comes out fresh and hot, and they always get our orders right. My personal favorites would be: * Kare-Kare (Beef Peanut Stew), which reminds me of my mom's cooking; and * Calamansi fried chicken + noodles, the noodles are very nostalgic for me as it reminds me of my "merienda" (afternoon snack) when I was growing up (in the Philippines). They usually change up their monthly specials (which I always look forward too) so make sure to check out their Instagram page @minasahawaii. Plenty of shared parking space in the shopping complex where it's located (Tropicana Square).

We first heard of Minasa while we were with friends who says it was a modern twist on filipino food…read morewe know and love. They talked it up and hyped it up so my wife and I decided to try it out last October for our anniversary. We showed up and they were closed for an event. Since then we've tried to eat here multiple times with it being booked or not open. It's been elusive. Last weekend was the weekend we finally were able to eat here being in Waipahu and the wait finally ended! We ordered the chef's special, salted egg fried rice, ube churros, and banana lumpia sundae. The dishes were colorful and vibrant. Everything tasted good but we were looking for that twist that was hyped up to us and there was nothing unfamiliar to our taste buds. Though we left full and enjoyed our meal, the "new" flavors didn't stand out. Overall we were quite underwhelmed especially with all the hype that was given to us over their food. Maybe I ordered the wrong things? Not sure but we'll likely give this a second shot when we're in Waipahu again at the right time.

Pretty good experience overall. I had made a reservation for opening for two on a Tuesday. There…read morewere about 3-4 other groups and eventually the lunch hour group trickling in from the surrounding businesses. We were promptly seated then we ordered from our phones after scanning their QR code on a sign on our table. We ordered four things: two appetizers and two mains. For our two appetizers, we got the lumpia look fun and the ilocos empanada bahn xeo. The two mains were utog burger and pancit pad see ew. The lumpia look fun tasted good, but I don't think I would get it again. I'm used to getting look fun in Chinatown and eating homemade lumpia. I didn't think the combination was profound for the price point. As for pancit pad see ew, I think I would have wanted to taste more of the "pancit" than the pad see ew. For me, it tasted too strongly of soy sauce, and I think I'm used to flavors closer to pancit or beef chow fun, so I couldn't quite enjoy or finish it. Would like it to be less salty and have more wok hey served hotter. Of the four, I enjoyed the utog burger and the ilocos empanada the most. I liked that the utog burger wasn't too salty and the bun held up. I absolutely love the garlic shoestring fries that went with it. The ilocos empanada was delicious, within my expectations of what ilocos empanada is (after trying some of the ones made in Waipahu) but in good balance with the lettuce. Definitely would like to have the utog burger or ilocos empanada again and try the other mains!

Finally had a chance to try them out. Non traditional…read moreFilipino food that works well IMO. The limited menu makes it easier for you to choose. . Tried a few items: Utog Burger - surprised how good this was. Reminds me of a better version of the Big Mac! If you look burgers, you won't be disappointed. Lumpia Look fun - soft on the outside and crispy on the inside. Wifey liked this one the best. Also very good. Banh - taste like a Vietnamese/Filipino fusion. The cheese shell gave it another twist. Pancit/see ew- a bit too salty. Shrimp portions were good tho . But the Thai version is better IMO. I'd skip this one next time. This dish was meh. Service was good. You order thru the app. Can also do take out. Easy process. Similar ambiance to your average china town spot. Overall solid 4/5.

I absolutely loved every dish we tried. Everything was delicious and beautifully plated…read more The restaurant itself is on the small side. Not a lot of tables inside but they do appear to have an outdoor seating area in the back. I opted to sit at the bar. My Crystal Tiger cocktail was perfect. The bartender was super knowledgeable and friendly. It was fun watching his bartender tricks while he made drinks. We had the Hokkaido Milk Bread and Onion dip for appetizers. The Grilled Kampachi was so good. Cooked to perfection with amazing seasoning and flavors. The accompanying sauce had hint of curry with lovely freh herbs. Loved it! My fave dish of all the ones we tried. We also had the Capellini Granchio. This was also delish. Pasta was perfect. A good amount of crab to flavorful noodles. I will definitely return in the future to try more things and have the Kampachi again. This would make a nice date spot. Dishes are impressive.

Interesting concept and glad we tried. Food was good but perhaps not something I need to try again…read more Service and food pacing terrific. Lotsa cheese shavings on dishes - love it! Had the lilikoi mocktail - sweet and my husband liked it. The salad - liked the endive, watercress less so. Appreciated that not too heavily dressed. . Ono crudo new on menu - unusual bc on white bean puree and topped with olives. Tasted fine. Prosciutto - our favorite. Unusual with the sesame pocket, prosciutto thinly sliced and not too salty, the perfect pickles, plenty of shaved cheese. You make little pocket sandwiches and this made for a delish bite. Fois gras torchon - rich, nice sweet sauce, onion confit, on sourdough grilled bread. This can't not be good. Dan mien - liked the consistency of noodles silky and chewy. But sauce was overwhelmingly salty w lup cheong. I couldn't eat more than two bites. Our server was so solicitous and friendly and our water was never empty. The food pacing came out one at a time in perfect order and kept us from inhaling our food. Overall I'm glad we tried it and it's worth going to. Just not sure I'd be a regular here. For all of the above with tip was about $180.

A night in Kaka'ako is always a fun place to explore, and just be entertained!…read more The Honolulu Night Market at Our Kaka'ako is indeed a fabulous adventure into the biggest street/block party filled to the brim with all things local...food, retail and culture. I've been to so many and each and every one is very unique where you can find either fashion runway stage, live street art, or even a dance night in the barn. I just love the vibe SALT and surrounding Our Kaka'ako brings with the vibrant art we're so blessed to have and this particular night (November 19th) there was actually much more shopping just perfect for the holidays and the party went further down to Ya-ya's. Tonight I was fortunate to have gone after work so I kept it short but found some awesome treats. Some straw toppers to add to my holiday gift giving and some cheesecake cups (OG, Strawberry and Cookie Butter) of course I got one of each to share...ate the Strawberry which of course omg was yummy!! Not too sweet as the Strawberries was just perfect as I tried to get an even scoop of it all in every bite. Walked further down and honestly wasn't in the mood to wait too long for anything found something that would just exactly work for me. Ya-Ya's Chophouse & Seafood and tonight they had two items - Steak Kebabs - Fat Fried Rice with TAB (aka Thick Ass Bacon lol!) I seriously wanted the fried rice but thought that the Steak Kebabs was more sensible for me personally and it came with two kebabs each fully loaded with steak, mushrooms, peppers and onions with a huge scoop of rice! So many options I really was considering including Henna from Henna Happens, Birria Tacos from Dolce Vita, Corn from Corn Onoz Hawaii but though there's always a next time yes!?! I remember pre-pandemic Yelp had a booth here and hoping as things return to normalcy that we'll see it back again one day (hint hint!) Absolutely love this Honolulu Night Market as it offers so many cultural coolness that you can't find anywhere else! Thank you!

There were only about 4-5 food trucks when I visited, and it felt small. Around 6 PM, the area had…read morevery few people. There was some live music, but it seemed more like a quick stop for tourists rather than a real night market. I didn't try any food because the atmosphere wasn't appealing, so I left quickly.

About 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, there was already a line of people placing their order for fresh…read morepulled noodles. We were told that the first batch would be served about 11 a.m. so we quickly put our order in. The first thing that caught my attention, was the savory aroma of their 5-spice ground pork being cooked. You can add this as a topping to the noodle dish. The second thing that caught my attention, was the labor of love going in to each order of fresh pulled noodles. You can watch him stretch the dough ball and slap it on the counter before he boils each batch with careful preparation. The third thing that caught my attention, was their adorable mother, helping to slice the cucumbers and top each dish with crushed iso peanuts. Do not forget to order the side of pickled bittermelon....so good!! From beginning to end, this was an incredible experience of all my senses! To see and hear them at work and then to taste the delicious sesame sauce on the fresh pulled noodles....WOW! The soft noodles, the crisp bittermelon, and the savory sauce....super delish! Seriously, go early to place your order. The wait is totally worth it :) Will come back next time to try other menu items.

Shima Dreams of Noodles is a pop-up, located at Fishcake -…read more This place supposedly has a huge following, and people anticipate for the changing menu of various noodle dishes. When we went, the menu focused on udon: +Hot Yamakake Udon with Quail Egg (a special) +Cold Yamakake Udon (a special) +Hot Udon +Cold Udon The special udon dishes are servied with tororo (grated mountain yam), housemade tsukudani (seaweed braised in a sweet Japanese sauce), crispy nori, green onions, and an option to add wasabi. We went for both the hot and cold udon specials - I think it was a consensus that we would have liked to have more noodles in the dish. This is definitely a sweeter dish, with the tororo and the tsukudani. The place already had a long line, and the best way to enjoy would be to dine-in. Note that if you do order a carry-out, the quail egg would not be included. +ordering online is available +changing menu of noodle dishes +popup at Fishcake

They are back!!! This time in the old Cafe Lani space which is much larger. They even have a…read morerestroom in the location. They just opened yesterday and are open 5pm until midnight Su-Thu and until 2am on Fridays & Saturdays through Halloween. Fun Halloween themed pop up bar with drinks that are just as festive. They serve their shots in a syringe and have a prop coffin that makes for a great photo op. Goose shot with strawberry ($10) in a syringe. Good amount of alcohol as it is a large vessel. Faceless Lady ($7) shochu, lychee, lemon-lime soda. Spider ring to keep. Green Lady ($7) shochu, melona, lemon-lime soda. Spider ring to keep. Drinks are in smaller plastic cups and on the sweeter side which is an ode to the candy holiday. Not the place to get hammered as the drinks aren't that strong. I can appreciate the work and cost that has gone into putting up such an elaborate pop up for my favorite holiday. If you love Halloween like I do, Ghost Bar is a must, costumes optional. Can't want to go back!

This is a pop up Halloween themed bar on the second level of the Ala Moana Center. It is right next…read moreto Longs Drugs on the parking garage side. The bar has some cool decorations and unique novelty drinks. When I went there the place was packed. I had to wait a few minutes in a line while they checked IDs. Then I never was able to get a seat. I stood at a bar area along the side wall. It is open seating, so it's everyone for themselves when they get in. There most popular drink by far is the one that comes in a trick or treat pumpkin and serves 2 to 4. Seating is on picnic tables positioned around the bar. You can either go up to the bar at the front door and place your drink order or they have servers that can take your order from you where you are, if you are paying with a credit card. This be is a novelty and is only open in the month of October. The crowd is a mid to late 20-ish crowd. The draw for me was the novelty. I had to check this place out. For me it is not a place that I would visit frequently. But like I said, it is a must see, especially for Halloween lovers.