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.

If you haven't checked out Minasa already, you gotta put it on the top of your must-try list…read more Filipino flavors with a modern twist, it's one of my favorite Filipino restaurants on the island. You can sometimes find them at food festivals, and they always have the longest line but at their brick and mortar- you can always satisfy your Filipino cravings. One of my favorite things on their menu is the calamansi chicken wings, it's got a bit of spicy kick and it's so good. You can order just the wings or get it as a bowl with rice and pickled vegetables. The sisig is also a classic that you can get with either crispy chicken or pork belly that's chopped up into small pieces and served with an egg. I love that all of the food here has a nice balance of salt, fat, and acid. And if you're wanting to try out all their best sellers, go for the kamayan sampler with lechon fries, calamansi fried chicken with rice, and ube churros. Or their Chef's special with lechon, calamansi fried chicken, and kalbi short ribs.

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).

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.

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

My favorite Furikake Ahi (yellowfin tuna) Had lunch all the…read moreway at Waimanalo. I have not been here at Ono Steaks an Shrimp for a long time! So happy I was able to drive over today after work.

Wife and I happened on this place for a late lunch one day…read more It is counter service and the girl behind the counter was friendly and efficient. Answering our menu questions thoughtfully. The garlic shrimp and the coconut shrimp were good, but not stand-out - nothing special. It is in an older but clean building. The restrooms are in a separate building behind the restaurant and they too were old but clean.

We were a large party of 12, there wasn't any plate that we didn't like... food was delicious,…read morefresh and affordable. The only places on my second visit in Oahu that I will go back to eat at

Visited the aina for the first time in 8 years. I had no idea this place existed, but my daughter…read moresaid I should try it. The street parking is limited; so, I was pleasantly surprised that there was a LOT of parking behind the restaurant. There were sparrows and pigeons patrolling the outside seating area, which is common for Kailua. It was entertaining watching them and did not put off our experience. We both ordered the calamari with fries and coleslaw. I usually don't order calamari; so, take this with a grain of salt--best ever calamari! Lol. It was seasoned perfectly and it was so tender. When we I usually eat calamari, it is rubbery. Only ika on sushi is usually this tender and moist in my very limited experience. Excellent! The staff was friendly too. Definitely will recommend this place and will return next time I visit the ohana.

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