kaukaulesa

McCully Chop Suey closed?!

Well Bento reopened in same spot, with same menu, with new owners, who were fans.

I've heard good things about Tom Selman's Main Street Bistro in Wailuku. Tom was formerly corporate chef for D.K. Kodama's restaurants, and was Vino's original executive chef.

Wow, I'm really sad to hear that! Do you guys remember last year the Willows trying to change its image with a tasting-plates spot in its Rainbow Room? Well, chef Jay Matsukawa, after a stint at the Plaza Club, is back with a new rerstaurant in the Rainbor Room. Now it will be called J at the Willows. He'll be doing a French-Japanese fusion (shades of Hiroshi Fukui?). Opening July 29. Just noticed a Philly cheesesteak place on Bishop Street. It's been there for three months. Ono Cheese Steak. A 7-inch philly classic is $4. They do a Hawaiian style version with kalua pork. Also, Spices on King Street is worth trying for the Laotian curry and Burmese khao soi. Andchef Pony's housemade ice cream is really different for this town. Lemongrass-and-chili ice cream rocks. Spicy cold stuff! I just got an e-mail from Jay Matsukawa. Here's the initial menu of J: Dinner Menu Tuesday thru Saturday 5:30pm-9pm Appetizers Fresh Japan Hamachi Carpaccio Thinly sliced Island Hamachi in a citrus and Hawaiian chili pepper sauce. Garnished with fresh garlic slices, Black sesame seeds, and roasted garlic and Shiso oil 12.00 Oxtail “Pot Au Feu” Slow cooked oxtail served with a flavorful coriander infused broth. Accompanied by Waimanalo micro greens 9.00 Blue Crab and Lobster Cake A blue crab and Lobster cake sautéed and served with a Tarragon vinaigrette and Waimanalo micro greens 9.00 Chilled Portobella Mushroom and Roasted peppers Thinly sliced Portobella mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and mozzarella cheese marinated with an Anchovy and Citrus herb vinaigrette 8.00 Potato and Cheese Croquette with Warm Spicy Scallops Deep fried potato cheese croquettes topped with a scallop and tobiko caviar mixture. Served warm with an Asian style plum sauce 11.00

You might try calling Hubyba Mohamed. She grows herbs for restaurants at her Palolo home. I'm not positive that she grows curry. 735-2875.

Maybe it's just people voting what they know year after year, or after they've had a taste in Vegas or LA. Just look at Zagats...it's a poll. In New York, up until 2003 (when I left there), supposedly sophisticated eater voted for Nobu year after year as best Japanese, even though by then it had been far surpassed by other restaurants. Maybe that has changed with the arrival of Masa and other high-end "Japanese" spots. But it really has to do with familiarity I think. People from Jersey and Long Island thought they were supposed to like it so they did, esp when paying $16 for a little piece of miso glazed butterfish (not THAT much different from the version at Anyplace Lounge!). It's the same reason I still get a strawberry ICEE once a year, or a teri burger and Green River at Sekiya...nostalgia, familiarity. (There, I said it, OK?) But that doesn't explain BluWater Grill does it? OK, it's ballot stuffing. Man, that place sux, to put it eloquently.

Andrea, Yes, thanks for your in-depth knowledge on Vietnamese food! I learned a lot from your posts. When I ate at Bac Nam, I was surprised to see lamb on the menu, and asked the owner if lamb is eaten "back home," and he said yes. But as you pointed out through that cookbook mention, perhaps that's a recent addition to the meat lineup. You're right, I think the husband is from the north, and the wife is from the south (or vice versa). Sun-Ki, I am so happy to see your great photos and thorough coverage of the place. I'm with you...I'm so scared to see them go under. I want to keep eating the lamb curry! aloha Lesa

And next month DK and Chuck Furuya are adding a "Little Vino" section to Sansei at Restaurant Row!

Right on, good goals! My favorite place is Maharani, which is in Moiliili, next to the health food store Down to Earth. It's super casual, no-frills, but not bad South Indian food.

SK's right on. And close or not, coming to Honolulu to eat Indian food is like going to New Delhi for good poke.

Great topic. I went to work in a kalo lo‘i for a day with my Hawaiian class. Our kumu took some kalo home then brought it to class simply steamed and cut up into little squares. We were blown away by the sweetness (due to the type and place...Kahaluu, later, another kalo from Wai‘anae wasn't as tasty). And I wondered the same thing: Why isn't kalo on the supermarket shelves and flying into our shopping carts? It might be because production hardly fulfills poi manufacturing needs. Kalo is humbug to grow, and it's humbug to prepare too. I was just reading an article about how in a remote Marshall Island hardly anyone eats a traditional diet cause it's so much easier to open a can of Spam. And the result is the population is one of the fattest in the world. One thing I miss from New York is the wealth of tomato types. I miss heirloom tomatoes, all sweet with summer's sun.

Worth checking out is the new Cuisine Okonomi Kai. (Reviewed in last week's Weekly.) V. cool space and good food. Also went to Inamas Tei next to Puck's Alley for the first time. Amazing! If you can't afford Sasabune, the sushi there is a good lower-priced alternative. Classic edomaezushi in perfect bite-size pods as it should be. But as I left, i stuck my head into the place next door. So Japanese, stuff like "baked onigiri" (!) and "liver and leek" on the menu. I guess it's izakaya. the chef is from Tokyo, the owner from Kanagawa. It's called Kohnotori.

kismet! one of my resto reviewers just did India Cafe and it'll be in the next Weekly. The picture he took is totally different from yours, Sun Ki...his food came on a thali.

Another golden oldie closing: House of Hong. The Lewers Street restaurant closes its doors at the end of this month, although the bar is staying open.

Ah Chunky's. Why did you have to bring them up? I miss it every time I drive by that big ugly bank. When I used to come home to visit, sometimes I'd make my Mom stop their on the way home, for one of their cheeseburgers and an orange freeze. The burgers were disgusting...premade paper-thin patties, but it was that puke-green special sauce that did it for me. It was junk-food perfection. Thanks for the info on the Chinese restaurant...another late-great landmark gone by the wayside. New spot opened in Hawaii Kai (at the shopping center with Safeway): BluWater Grill. Owned and run by some Ryan's veterans. It opens today. Yes, there are kalua pig tostadas on the menu. You get the HRC drift. heh.