Hawaii Mom Blog: January 2012

January 31, 2012

The Alley Restaurant

by Nat

It's not too often that you head to a bowling alley just to eat. Aiea Bowl changed all that when they debuted The Alley about 5 years ago. Since then, locals have been coming here not just for the bowling, but for the Tasty Chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and lemon crunch cake.

They also have a special event every Tuesday called "Tasty Tuesdays", where they offer a Five course prix fix menu for $39 (reservations are required).

Chun Wah Kam

by Nat

Established in 1942, Chun Wah Kam started out as just a noodle and wrapper wholesaler. The company eventually branched out to dim sum, manapua, and a wide variety of entrees, making them a one stop shop for Chinese cuisine.

Their latest location recently debuted on the corner of Pensacola and Queen streets. It has plenty of free parking, a big dining room, and endless trays of delicious Chinese fare that will please your palate.

Order ala carte

Clean and spacious dining room

Different varieties of fried rice

Current hours

Entrees

This is the two item plate, served with four mini-entrees (although the server gave me five entrees!) - 1/2 udon, 1/2 chow fun, spicy chicken wing, fried pork hash, fried calamari, and garlic chicken)

More entrees!

And more!

Oodles of Noodles

Char Siu, etc.

Chun Wah Kam
537 Pensacola

Dave & Buster's

by Gem

Last month we went to Dave & Buster's for dinner.

I ordered the Boss Chicken Club (not pictured). It's what I ordered the last time I went there two years ago, and this time around everything was good - including the fries!

DH ordered the Build Your Own Soft Tacos with Steak, which he enjoyed.

DS2 had the Kids Goldfingers.

DS1 had the Kids Grilled Cheese.

I had ordered the boys drinks with their meals because I thought the menu stated that drinks come with the kids meals, but I misread it.

In fact, the kids drinks are the SAME PRICE as regular drinks, unlike in many other restaurants where if the drinks do not come with the meals, they at least charge a lot less, like $.99.

Dave & Buster's charged $2.69 for a kiddie drink!!!

Next time I have to be more careful when reading the menu.

Fortunately, the food was good and our server was really nice, and the boys had some fun playing a few games after dinner!

Dave & Buster's: 1030 Auahi St Honolulu , HI 96814 808-589-2215

Sakura Terrace

by Nat

Sakura Terrace took over the building that Peppa's Korean BBQ once occupied (Peppa's closed down soon after it was linked to an E. Coli outbreak in 2010).

The menu is quite limited. You won't find tempura, udon, ramen, or beef teriyaki listed anywhere. Instead, you'll find the word "don" at the end of each item listed in the entree section. "Don" is short for "donburi", which means rice bowl dish. Thus, this restaurant primarily serves ride bowls topped with various ingredients, such has ahi poke, salmon sashimi, chicken, and Yakiniku.

I tried the ahi poke don and really liked it. They gave a generous portion of poke, and the rice tasted like high quality short grain rice.

They also have a few appetizers on the menu, such as the spicy ahi roll pictured below.

Don't forget to ask for the jalapeño shoyu. It sounds spicy, but it's really not spicy at all, but it's delish!

Sakura Terrace

1240 South King Street

(808) 591-1181

Yakitori Glad

by Nat

A new restaurant has opened on Kapahulu Avenue, and it's a winner. Yakitori Glad had it's soft opening on Sunday and it's already bustling with hungry Japanese Nationals and local foodies. They are known for their BBQ skewered items (predominantly chicken, beef, pork) but they also have non-BBQ items such as salads, soups, and rice dishes. Everything on the menu is $3.90, food and drinks!

There are so many food items on the menu that it's impossible to try everything on the first visit, which is why I'm headed there again tonight for my second round!

Head on down to Yakitori Glad - you'll be glad you did!

Seating area has tables and a small counter

Free Parking in the back (remember to give your hostess your stall number!)

Yaki Onigiri (grilled rice ball) - if you're not a big rice eater, order one for two people)

Momo Glad-Yaki Shio (chicken thigh with salt) - my favorite dish of the evening

The restaurant uses a hand-held ordering system - no wonder the food came out so quick

Tsukune-shio (BBQ'ed ground chicken patty)

The restaurant is easy to spot from the street

Everything on the menu is $3.90, for real!

Here's how the Yaki menu items are made

Gyu-Kushi (BBQ'ed beef with a garlic BBQ sauce)

Chicken Karaage - I would pass on this one

Buta-Bara (BBQ pork) - salty goodness!

Yakitori Glad
766 Kapahulu Avenue
(808) 734-0077
Reservations Recommended

Wordless Wednesday

by Nat

Downtown at HiSAM

by Nat

Downtown at the Hawaii State Art Museum is typically known as a destination for a quick, fresh, reasonably priced weekday lunch. But what some don't realize is that it also serve as a delightful venue for small private parties.

My friend hosted her daughter's first birthday party there. It was on a Saturday afternoon when the restaurant is normally closed. The food consisted of a small buffet of panini sandwiches, quiches, fish, Ma'o farms veggies, pork, panna cotta, cookies, homemade vanilla bean ice cream in a cone, and a pineapple cobbler. The food and service were just as good as what you would experience during their normal business operations.

Having a private function here has its advantages such as privacy and a staff dedicated solely to your event. I'm not sure how much it cost per person to hold an event here, but it's worth looking in to.