This place was great, happy I found it! Got the garlic shrimp and pork belly bao. Generous portions…read moreand everything was super fresh. They have a robust menu, so looking forward to trying more items.

Great people and great food. If they get iced coffee, it's mean! Amazing supporters of Makaha Canoe…read moreClub!

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.

My wife and I were on an adventure out to Waikele and decided to stop by Waipahu for lunch. How I…read morefound this place, I'm not sure. It might've been the search for fried chicken to which Minasa didn't disappoint. We arrived just after opening and happened to get the last open table - after ordering, of course. The restaurant is clean and well put together with darker accents. Our food came out relatively quick - having the chef's special and ube churros. The kalbi sauce soaking into the rice was the perfect balance of flavors. Same for the calamansi fried chicken. Lechon, I must say was also a fine example of how seriously the chefs take their selection of ingredients - as I looked closer, it had the classic 5 layers (shown in my photo). Usually, this is the prime factor in the perfect roast pork - providing juicy layers of pork meat. Overall, this has been the best (new) meal we've had in a LONG time. It was so delicious, I could only wish there was a way to share this place with a larger collection of diners because frankly, if you haven't tried this place, I honestly think you're missing out on the definition of culinary art. Each dish carefully crafted with the goal of providing the best experience to all the patrons. I seriously seriously hope you all have a chance to visit. If we're ever back on this side of the island, we won't hesitate to stop by.

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.

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

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

Excellent service and massive portion of fries! I initially wanted to get the garlic Parmesan fires…read morebut my husband doesn't like cheese so we decided to get the regular fries. The wait time was short, and the fries came out crispy and perfectly seasoned! I'd definitely come back to try the garlic Parmesan fries..

The best Lemon Pepper Wings I ever had! It's well seasoned, cooked to perfection and hot & fresh…read more My friend ordered the buffalo chicken and she liked her order as well. I searched online to find where the truck was going to be located. Couldn't find it so I DM the company on IG. They told me they would be at the Pearl Ridge Mall parking lot that weekend. I didn't want to stand in a long line so I got there at 4pm when it opened. To my surprise others had the same idea I had. The wait wasn't too bad I had 4 ppl in front of me. You place your order and wait for your name. There are picnic tables available for limited seating. I sat there waiting for the order. Keep in mind it is outside this is a food truck/ pop up shop. The restrooms will be in the mall. Bring your hat, sunscreen, glasses and an umbrella. It is hot as minimal breeze blow's through that area.

First thing I wanted to eat when I returned from my Asian holiday trip was some good ole…read morehomecooking. That's what Graciez cooks up! Gracie Espindola, aka: Boss Lady, Chef Extraordinaire, is not only the heart behind the business but is also the talent. Graciez also known as Graziezgrindz808 can be found on IG under that same name. Found them at this past New Product Show being held at the Blaisdell Center. My table mates had this amazing looking plate of pastele stew. Yasss! Exactly what I was craving for. Usually make the trek into Kalihi for pasteles or Waipahu for pastele stew and empanada. Let me tell you, the food that I was about to experience knocked them out of the ballpark as far as taste goes. The person sitting next to me and I both said that we might have to return the next day to the Blaisdell JUST so we could eat Gracie's delicious cooking again! What I had: Meat pastele. Filled with goodness bursting with flavor. 10/10 Pastele stew - best I have EVER had. Shhh dont tell my Puerto Rican friends whom I humbly enjoy their home cooking when offered. 12/10 Gandule Rice - yes please! 10/10 Macaroni salad- you don't understand... I don't usually eat this dish. It was the first thing I finished on my plate. All of this came in a combination plate/container so heavy I was afraid it would break. Yes, I did take much of it home. Look for them at various popup events or better yet, let them cater your next gathering! Thank you Graciez for totally ruining me for all other Puerto Rican cooking. I will find your booth and enjoy again! Can't wait to try those advertised pastele pork hash and pastele musubi! Say whaaaa?!? Yumm !

I always order all my cakes from Gracie'z. She definitely puts love into them and you can tell. I…read morehighly recommend trying her Pastele/Pastele stew combo! It comes with one Pastele smothered in Pastele stew, gandule rice and mac salad.