Hawaii Mom Blog: hawaii restaurant reviews

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Showing posts with label hawaii restaurant reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hawaii restaurant reviews. Show all posts

December 26, 2016

MW Restaurant Revisited


MW Restaurant is no stranger to the bloggers at Hawaii Mom Blog:

June 2, 2014 (Nadia)
June 2, 2015 (Nadia)

As you can see, Nadia is a HUGE fan of MW!

Since it's been over a year since we last blogged about MW Restaurant, I thought now would be a good time to revisit them to see if the food is still as good as it was when they first opened.  After dining here for lunch with my aunt, I'm pleased to report that it's better than ever!

Thank goodness I made a reservation, because the place was packed when we arrived.  It seemed like a lot of folks were celebrating the holidays here today.

After looking over the menu, my aunt insisted that I order the prix fixe menu.  Since it's the holiday season, I thought "why not?!"  The holidays are a time for indulging!

The prix fixe menu consisted of a trio of appetizers, choice of entree (I chose the Chinese style monchong), and dessert.  


Trio of Appetizers

Chinese style monchong

Banana Cream Pie

My aunt had the "fried chicken" and house salad.  She had to box up half of the salad because it was so big.  

"Fried Chicken"

House Salad

In addition to the dessert that came with my prix fixe lunch, we also ordered the kula strawberry "shave ice", which is one of my favorite desserts of all time.  

Kula Strawberry "Shave Ice"

MW Restaurant continues to be one of my favorite places to dine at for special occasions. 

MW Restaurant
1538 Kapiolani Blvd.

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March 26, 2015

New Restaurant in Downtown Honolulu: Square Barrels




 
I love a good burger so I was excited to check out Square Barrels over the weekend with my family.  The restaurant is located on the Hotel Street side of Bishop Square, formerly home to Che Pasta.  You can park for a fee in the building and the restaurant will validate.

I love, love the feel of the restaurant.  The space is nicely decorated with wood, white and black.  I heard they raised the ceiling and the ceiling tiles they use are beautiful.  I love that there is not only a bar, but private booths (super family friendly - high chairs and boosters available), free standing tables, and tables with bench style seating against the wall for larger parties.  The space is trendy, clean and neutral so it is appealing to everyone.  It's a great place to hang out causally with family and friends.  




Square Barrels offers an extensive list of craft beers, wine and cocktails.  I've never seen so many beers on tap before.  Very impressive.  Their menu is somewhat limited to burgers, pastas, and salads.  I had the broiled burger which is made of thirds of ground beef, pork and bacon.  I opted to add on cheddar, fried egg, and dehydrated bacon.  My burger was juicy, cooked to medium perfection, and soooo tasty.  They also offer a house ground beef burger as well as a venison burger.


For my kids, I requested an order of pasta with the sauce on the side which they accommodated.  We all enjoyed the fries fried in the pork fat.  They were so crispy and delicious, a definite favorite for the kids. 





For dessert, we had the beignets and the Elvis whoopie pie; banana bread filled with peanut butter and bacon.  I especially liked the moist banana bread.  


 


 
The chef stopped by to chat for a little bit and I was especially excited when he mentioned that they would be bringing BRUNCH to the weekends soon!  He mesmerized me with promises of mimosas and a Bloody Mary bar.  Square Barrels is currently open for lunch and dinner.   Definitely will be back.



Square Barrels
1001 Bishop Street
808-524-2747


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February 2, 2015

Michel's, Perfect for Your Valentine!


Michel's is a beautiful restaurant located right on the beach with the most gorgeous view of the ocean.  With Valentine's Day coming up, it's an ideal place to have an intimate and romantic dinner with your special someone. 

If you are in the mood for soup, get Michel's French onion served in a puff pastry shell.  Delicious!  I never pass on onaga and it was perfectly served steamed with ginger, garlic, green onion, Chinese black bean and turnip with somen noodles.  For dessert, I shared the Grand Marnier Souffle.  It was seriously amazing.  It is my new favorite dessert.  Very delicious!  A must order!






Service was wonderful and dinner is served daily from 5:30 pm.  Complimentary valet parking is available.

Michel's, The Colony Surf
2895 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, HI
808-923-6552 Michel's at the Colony Surf on Urbanspoon
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January 14, 2015

Eat This! Milk and Cereal Pancakes from Scratch Kitchen and Bake Shop



When friends ask me for a brunch recommendation, Scratch Kitchen & Bake Shop easily comes to mind.  I love the laid back, relaxed atmosphere the restaurant offers.  It's a great place to brunch with your girlfriends, but it also makes for a fun breakfast with your kids.

What triggered my recent visit was a picture of Chef Brian Chan's Milk & Cereal Pancakes.  My goodness, they were beautiful.  And although I had just made a bunch of New Year's resolutions, I knew they had to be broken so I could taste the yumminess.  Plus, technically, calories are cumulative so if I just have a light dinner, all should be forgiven.  Right?
Don't answer that.  Besides, they were absolutely delicious and totally worth it.  The pancakes are not just any pancakes.  They are frosted flakes pancakes and topped with bananas and berries sitting pretty in a sweet milk syrup.  

This amazing dish wasn't on the breakfast menu the first couple of times that I dined at the restaurant.  I love that the menu changes from time to time surprising patrons with new and innovative dishes.  They are located on Smith Street in Chinatown and open daily from 8 am to 2 pm.

Scratch Kitchen & Bakeshop
1030 Smith St.
808-536-1669
Scratch Kitchen and Bake Shop on Urbanspoon
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September 23, 2014

Heavenly Island Lifestyle's Grand Opening in the Shoreline Hotel Waikiki



Gem and I had dinner at the coolest surfer’s café last night.  We were fortunate to be invited to the grand opening of Heavenly Island Lifestyle, a new cafe in the Shoreline Hotel Waikiki.  The atmosphere is cozy with a casual and beachy feel.  The interior is decorated with whimsical wall art with feel good sayings like “Today I choose Joy” and “You had me at Aloha.”  I instantly fell in love with the decor. 

Beachy feel inside Heavenly.
Heavenly shares the same owners as Aloha Table and Goofy Café & Dine.  Emphasis is put on using locally sourced and organic ingredients to promote a healthy island life style.  I found out that Aloha Table has many restaurants in Japan and has been expanding their chill surf-style cafés to Hawaii, but geared mostly to the Japanese clientele.  But the secret is out and many locals have discovered the restaurants and are too enjoying the healthy cuisine.
       
Keigo Yoshimoto, Executive Chef to all three restaurants, treated us to a delicious multi-course dinner that was presented to us by Makoto “Mild” Hasegawa, Heavenly’s manager.  Heavenly has a nice selection of beers and wines that include an organic wine collection and surfer recommended wines.  I was most impressed by their offerings of my favorite kind of drinks: sangrias, classic cocktails, mojitos, and mimosas.  Designated drivers are in luck too.  Heavenly has an awesome selection of fruit and veggie juices as well as signature smoothies. 

Keigo Yoshimoto, Executive Chef and Mild (Makoto Hasegawa), Manager.
Island Mimosa selection: Maui gold Pineapple, Guava, Mango, and Organic Acai.
We started our dinner with some delicious “green” pupus:  Local Avocado Guacamole with Molokai sweet potato chips and tortilla; Hamakua mushroom marinade; and the Bagna cauda- seasonal veggies with housemade miso dip.  

Loved the fresh chunks of guacamole paired with the sweet potato chips.
Hamakua mushrooms were cooked to the perfect texture.  Marinade was lovely.
Not your typical Bagna Cauda, but still enjoyed the fresh veggies with the housemade miso.
We then sampled Big Island Ginger Ahi Poke with local kale salad and Kona kanpachi coconut ceviche with organic coriander. 

The Ahi Poke was very tasty and especially enjoyed the ginger with the kale salad.
Ceviche was one of my favorite dishes.  
We enjoyed a local green Cobb salad with kale dressing with two entrees: Kauai Makaweli ranch ribeye steak with local grilled veggies, naked cow truffle sauce and Shinsato pork Big Island ginger sauté. 

Not a typical Cobb salad, but the greens were very refreshing.
Really liked the truffle sauce on the ribeye.  
Pork was tender and I liked the ginger flavor but thought the texture from the corn starch could be improved.
Our next pairing was Heavenly's organic veggie and beans loco moco made of 100% Big Island kulana beef, local farm eggs, local ginger soy glaze and Kahuku shrimp ravioli nalo herb cream sauce with organic cauliflower sauté.

Loved the loco moco.  The beef was lightly seasoned and I liked that the glaze was light.
Another favorite.  The ravioli was a great texture and the cream sauce was wonderful
For dessert, we were treated to a Hawaiian ginger creme brulee, a housemade Kona coffee tiramisu, and the Piña Colada, a pineapple and coconut sorbet with tapioca.

All the desserts were AMAZING!  My favorite was the Pina Colada.  The sorbet was refreshing and the tapioca added a nice touch.  Really enjoyed the strong Kona coffee flavors in the tiramisu and the ginger in the creme brulee was a delight.

Thank you to Chef Yoshimoto, Mild, and the Heavenly staff as well as Shoreline Hotel Waikiki. We had the best time and thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful dinner collaboration by Heavenly and the Shoreline Hotel Waikiki.  


Heavenly Island Lifestyle
Shoreline Hotel Waikiki 1F
342 Seaside Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
808-923-1100

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August 5, 2013

Sugoi

When it comes to restaurants that serve good garlic chicken, often times Sugoi will be mentioned.

They're also known for their bentos, but on a recent visit I had to stick to their garlic chicken.

Spicy Garlic Chicken

Garlic Chicken - really tasty, but the mac salad that accompanied it tasted like nothing buy mayo!

Sugoi is indeed the place to go for some really good garlic chicken.

Sugoi
1286 Kalani St
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 841-7984 Sugoi on Urbanspoon
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July 2, 2013

Thai Village - Waipahu

Thai food is one of my faves, and we recently picked up dinner from Thai Village in Waipahu.

Basil (Pad Phet) with Chicken

Look Fun Pad Thai with Chicken

Spring Rolls
The last time I went to Thai Village was in 2009, and I thought the food was just as good as it was then.

Although I usually eat Chicken Pad Thai whenever I go to a Thai restaurant, I decided to try something new - the Look Fun Pad Thai, and it was quite tasty!

Thai Village definitely satisfied my Thai food craving!


Thai Village 
94-1040 Waipio Uka St # 13
Waipahu, HI 96797, 678-2878 Thai Village on Urbanspoon
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June 18, 2013

Waikele Country Club Restaurant

I recently met up with some of the girls for lunch at Waikele Country Club Restaurant.
Side Order of Curly Fries

Hamburger Steak

Teishoku

Fried Rice

Chicken Katsu Curry
Because I had a very early dinner that same day, I only ate the curly fries.  It was a side order for $5.50, and it was a HUGE plate of fries.  Even after sharing some with a friend, I still couldn't finish it, and another friend took home the leftovers.

All of the food looked really good.

Our server was super sweet - even offering to give everyone separate checks!

Even though I didn't eat very much on this visit, I still think it's a good place to go to for lunch or dinner.

Waikele Country Club Restaurant
94-200 Paioa Pl # 2
Waipahu, HI 96797
(808) 676-1199 Waikele Country Club on Urbanspoon
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