Sugarlina Bakeshop

Got a sweet tooth? Check out Aiea's newest dessert house - Sugarlina Bakeshop. Cupcakes are their bread and butter, but don't count out their panna cotta and macarons.

Their cupcake flavors change daily. Check their website for the menu, and call ahead if you want to make sure they have a particular flavor in stock.

Sugarlina Bakeshop
98-199 Kamehameha Hwy
(808) 312-3173
Hours: Monday - Saturday 10:30 am - 8:00 pm

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California Pizza Kitchen - Aiea

It's been a while since we've been to California Pizza Kitchen, so after a morning of shopping we headed down to the Aiea location.

We got a plateful of bread, and the boys just devoured it!  

DH and I had the Avocado Club Egg Rolls Appetizer - yummy as usual.

DH ordered the Peking Duck Pizza, which came with a bunch of condiments on the side.

DS1 had the CPKids Curly Mac 'N' Cheese (kids meals come with drinks and free refills).

I ordered the White Pizza.  Overall I thought it was okay.  I wanted to try a new pizza since I usually get the BBQ Chicken with Applewood Smoked Bacon, and I think I'll be sticking to my usual from now on.

DS2 had the Crispy Chicken (it comes with Baby Broccoli).

Although CPK was VERY, VERY busy that day (we stood in line about 10:45 and I had never seen the line that long - turns out it was the last day of the Thank You Card promotion), the service was still pretty good.

We did have to wait a little longer than usual for our food, but we still had a nice lunch.

California Pizza Kitchen: 98-1005 Moanalua Road, Aiea, HI  96701; 487-7741

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Lucky Belly

Honolulu's Chinatown district has evolved over recent years. What was once an area to be avoided once the sun goes down, is now the place-to-be, day or night. Restaurants and bars have revitalized and cleaned up the area, making it a destination point for both party-goers and foodies.

The most recent culinary edition to this historic district is Lucky Belly. Word is quickly spreading about this place, and I can honestly say that the food and service live up to the hype. Most new places have a lot of kinks to iron out, but not at Lucky Belly. Service is smooth and the food is excellent.

Lucky Belly took over the space formerly occupied by Mini Garden, on the corner of Hotel and Smith Streets.

Shrimp Gyoza ($7) - plump, juicy, and filled with chunks of shrimp

Duck Lumpia $7 - flaky, crispy, and not gamey-tasting

Bing Cherry Sauce for the Duck Lumpia

Lucky Bowl $8 - rich and flavorful. Noodles were slightly overcooked.

Ku Chu Jung Braised Brisket Tartine $10 - tender, delectable, mouth-watering.

This is "The Window" for the late night service. Here they serve their pork bao sandwiches, shrimp gyoza and chow fun in Chinese take out boxes.

Lucky Belly

50 N Hotel Street

Hours:

Restaurant:

Monday thru Saturday 11am - 2pm

(5pm-2am coming soon)

The Window:

Thursday thru Saturday 10pm - 2:30 am

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Restaurant Epic

Restaurant Epic is a good dining option for people who work downtown and want a sit-down lunch complete with cloth napkins and waiter service. I don't work downtown, but some of my friends do, and because Epic is located a few blocks from the heart of downtown, it's easier for me to meet them here for a weekday lunch because of the parking situation.

My friend made a reservation for the 3 of us, but I think you can come here for lunch without a reservation, because there were a lot of available tables at 11:30 am.

Nice, modern decor

Comfortable, spacious seating

A lot of people on Yelp rave about the Epic Classic burger, so I tried it, knowing that it would lead to a kanack attack later in the afternoon. Not bad, but not quite rising up to it's name (EPIC).

Please excuse this horrible picture of my friend's Crab and Avocado Salad Bocadillo sandwich.

My other friend ordered the grilled pesto chicken caprese sandwich.



All of the sandwiches on the lunch menu come with roasted garlic tomato bisque. Yum.

Overall, the food was pretty good; nothing to write home about, but not horrible either. The service was excellent and quick. I've heard a lot of great things about their happy hour menu. Maybe I will re-visit them again.

Restaurant Epic
1131 Nuuanu Avenue
(808) 587-7877

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Hawaiian Airlines: Fly Direct Between Hawaii and New York

In June 2012, Hawaiian Airlines debuted its daily non-stop service between New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Honolulu. To promote their new route, Hawaiian Airlines offered roundtrip airfare for less than $600 during the month of June. Once this announcement was made, travelers, including myself, jumped at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and started booking their flights.

Between the date of the inaugural flight, which was on June 4, and our flight, which was on June 17, I was searching the web for feedback on the meal service. Food is important to me, and I wanted to get some information on what was going to be served on the flights, so that we could pack enough food in our carry-ons to keep us from going hungry. I couldn't find any mention of the food, and so my husband and I winged it by loading our carry-ons with a lot of snacks. Turns out we didn't need them, because they provided us with two complimentary meal services during our 10-11 hour flights to/from JFK.

The reason for this post is to give you an idea of what to expect food-wise, just in case you are about to embark on this flight and want to know what you will be eating in the coach cabin.

Hawaiian Airline's new Airbus 330 waits for its passengers at the gate.

HNL to JFK Meal #1

Penne pasta and veggies. The hubby didn't like it but I ate it all. It was one step above a frozen dinner. The portion size was similar to what you consume on the Nutrisystem diet, although I doubt Hawaiian keeps the portion size small out of concern for our waistlines.

Close up of the dessert, which was actually pretty good!

HNL to JFK Meal #2: this meal was served about an hour and a half prior to landing in JFK, and since I was half asleep when they started the meal service, I completely forgot to take a picture of it. It was a round turkey sandwich (turkey and cheese only).

JFK to HNL Meal #1

breakfast burrito

Cross section of the breakfast burrito - looks like there's some egg, rice, and edamame in there.

Dessert - looks like a muffin (I didn't eat it)

JFK to HNL Meal #2

Turkey sandwich and brownie. Similar to the turkey sandwich that we were served on the flight from HNL to JFK, it came with only turkey and cheese (no lettuce or tomato).

If you're wondering what the food is like in first class, click here. Can you see any noticeable differences? :) I thought it was a nice re-cap of his experience on Hawaiian Air's JFK-HNL flight, although I thought it was funny how he does not mention that he was sitting in first class.

I have to say that the food was better than expected, and sufficient for the 10-11 hour flight each way.  The only meal that I didn't like was the breakfast burrito, but it's a step up from the breakfast frittata that we were served on a flight from California to Hawaii last year.

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Outback Steakhouse - Waipio (Waipahu)

It's no secret that our family loves to dine at chain restaurants, and we recently visited one of our faves - Outback Steakhouse in Waipio.

We always start out with the Bloomin' Onion.  It seemed smaller than the previous visits, but it was just as good.

DH had the Ahi Tuna Chopped Salad.

DS2 had the Chicken Fingers with Aussie Fries.

DS1 had the Mac-A-Roo 'N Cheese.

I had the Alice Springs Chicken Quesadilla.  It was really good, as usual.

Although our server never refilled my water, she was very friendly, and overall we enjoyed another nice dinner at Outback.

Outback Steakhouse: 810 Ukee Street, Waipahu, HI 96797, 808-671-7200

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YuZu

We recently had a girls night out dinner at YuZu.

Here are some of the drinks that some of the girls ordered:

YuZu Mojito

Sorry - can't remember what this is.

Akawain Zen-gria

Here is the food:

Lotus Root Pizza

Temari Sampler

I believe this was a sushi dish that was on the specials menu

Mango Quinoa Salad (also on specials menu)

Organic Yukon Frites

Shoyu Ginger Soy Karaage

Temari 5-0

Yuzu Pepper and Teriyaki Yakitori

Choco Banana Crepe (Bananas & Nutella)

Another Crepe - I think it had Strawberries and Chocolate

I tried a few of the dishes (not the sushi ones since I don't eat seafood), and my favorites were the Fries and the Teriyaki Chicken Yakitori.  The Salad was pretty good as well.  The Lotus Root Pizza (one of the most popular items at YuZu) and Soy Karaage were okay.

Despite sharing so many dishes (5 of us shared 6 dishes), we felt like we could've ordered and eaten a lot more.

Overall, the food was pretty good and our server was great (he was very helpful and very funny).

It was a fun night out with the girls!

YuZu: 410 Atkinson Dr; Honolulu, HI 96814; (808) 943-1155

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Visit New York City: Sweet Adventures in NYC

NYC has a plethora of bakeries and confectioners that will satisfy any sweet tooth. Here's a glimpse of what you can find in NYC:

GELATO

Eataly's Gelateria

il laboratorio del gelato

DONUTS

Red velvet donut from the Donut Pub

The Donut Pub

The Donut Plant's Valrhona Chocolate doughnut

CUPCAKES

Mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa

Crumbs' Vanilla Coconut Cupcake

Crumb's

Billy's Bakery Cupcakes

MACARONS

Bouchon's infamous macarons - available in two sizes

PIES

Mini apple pie from Pie Face

Gelateria - Eataly

200 5th Avenue

il laboratorio del gelato

188 Ludlow Street

The Donut Pub

203 W 14th Street

Doughnut Plant

220 W 23rd Street

Baked by Melissa

109 E 42nd Street

Crumbs

1675 Broadway

Billy's Bakery NYC

184 9th Avenue

Bouchon

1 Rockefeller Plaza

Pie Face

1691 Broadway

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