Musubi Cafe Iyasume

I love stopping at Musubi Cafe Iyasume at Waikiki Beach Walk whenever I'm staying in Waikiki. They have a nice variety to choose from!

A musubi makes for an affordable meal, especially in Waikiki. What we got ranged in price from $2.48 (Umeboshi) to $4.98 (Eel, Avocado, Egg, SPAM). The total for everything pictured was $34.

From top L-R:

• Umeboshi
• Spicy Tuna Mayo
• Avocado Bacon Egg SPAM
• Bacon Egg SPAM
• Black Pepper Cheese SPAM
• Eel Avocado Egg SPAM
• Teriyaki SPAM
• Shrimp Avocado 
• Egg SPAM 

Musubi Cafe Iyasume
227 Lewers St
Honolulu, HI 96815

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Cino

I met some friends for dinner at Cino at Ward Village, and we ended up ordering to eat everything family-style. 

Salt Roasted Baby Beet

The beets were refreshing, and I enjoyed the accompanying goat cheese, aged balsamic, mac nuts, and charred oranges, all of which added flavor and textural dimensions to the dish. 

Fritto Misto

I enjoyed the Fritto Misto, which included calamari, shrimp, and various veggies. 

Herb Pappardelle

The Pappardelle was my favorite dish of the night.  The braised short rib was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  The pasta (all pastas are housemade), was perfectly cooked.

Pork Chop

The Pork Chop was another hit of the table.

King Crab Pasta

The King Crab Pasta, with uni, turned out to be the least favorite of the night.

Cino Pinwheel

At $77, we were curious as to what made this award-winning dish, so we decided to give it a try.  Made with European butter, ricotta, and truffles, this dish was indeed rich in more ways than one.  It was so decadent, and full of umami.  

Service was great, and we had a nice time at Cino.

Cino

987 Queen St Ste 100

Honolulu, HI 96814

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Onkee Dinner Special Set $65 Per Person

I was lucky to attend a media dinner with @melissa808 and @maryandreidhicks to try the Onkee Special Set, which is available for dinner (minimum 2 people).   

The set includes:

Grilling meats (ribeye, hanging tenderloin, marinated short rib, thin skirt steak), Onkee special ssam, banchan, kimchi salad, green onion salad, egg souffle, kimchi stew, soybean paste stew, rice, and vanilla ice cream.

You can order à la carte too, and we also indulged in marinated galbi donburi, bone broth soup, and bingsu.  

If you don't want to or are unsure of how to cook the meats, the staff can grill them for you.

Tip - if you get bingsu, add it to your bowl of ice cream!

It was so much food.  My faves from the set were the soybean paste stew and the marinated short rib.  I really liked being able to make our own ssam too.

Highly recommend adding on the galbi donburi and bingsu!

Onkee Korean Grill House
1000 Auahi St Unit 220

Honolulu, HI 96814

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Happy Hour at Merriman's Honolulu

Merriman's Honolulu offers a daily Happy Hour from 3-530p. They have a pretty extensive menu of food and drink specials for Happy Hour.

Organic Taro Hummus

Fish Tacos

Kalua Pig Quesadilla

Spicy Szechuan Green Beans

My faves were the quesadilla and the fish tacos.

Reservations recommended — it was very busy!

Merriman's Honolulu
1108 Auahi Street

Honolulu, HI 96814

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Rainbow Drive-In

Because we staycationed in Waikiki for Mother's Day, we hit up our usual spot on the way home - Rainbow Drive-In.

Boneless Chicken with Gravy All Over

I got the Boneless Chicken with Gravy All Over.  It lasted me 3 meals - it was so much food.  

Fried Saimin with BBQ Beef Plate

Mix Plate with Gravy

Shrimp Tempura

BBQ Burger

Fries

And of course we had to get Slush Floats.  It's a must whenever we go to Rainbows.

Slush Float

Rainbows is such an iconic spot for local plate lunches, having been in business for 65 years.  

Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 737-0177

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Aloha Melt

Aloha Melt in Waikiki offers grilled cheese sandwiches, but elevated.  With multiple types of cheese, caramelized onion, bacon, or even beef patties - the melts from Aloha Melt check the boxes for comfort food and delicious.

Aloha Patty Melt

The Aloha Patty Melt consisted of a beef patty with cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, and American cheeses, plus caramelized onion, bacon, pickled jalapeno, and a sriracha aioli sauce.

Four Cheese

The Four Cheese included all of the cheeses above, and nothing else.

Classic

I had the Classic, which included the same four cheeses, plus bacon and caramelized onion. It was so cheesy, so tasty!

The sandwiches were all grilled to a nice, golden brown, and I loved that all the sandwiches come with aioli that you can dip your sandwich in or pour onto your sandwich.

Aloha Melt
355 Royal Hawaiian Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815

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Kaimuki Shokudo

Kaimuki Shokudo offers a lunch menu that focuses on soba, donburi, sushi, and tempura.  They also have daily lunch specials from 1130am to 330pm.  One of the specials is a Teishoku Lunch Set for $20 (Hot / Cold Kake Soba, half size, Okinawan Sweet Potato Salad, half size), Sashimi, Rice, and Washugyu Sukiyaki Beef or Grill Saba).

The other special is a half Donburi for $7 with any Soba order. 

I took advantage of the half Donburi special.  

I got the Ume Oroshi Shiso Soba (Cold), which also included nori, takuan, and bonito flakes.

It was such a huge portion, and it was very refreshing for such a warm day.

For my half donburi order, I opted for the Veggie Tempura Don, which had eggplant, maitake mushroom, and shishito pepper tempura. 

It was so delicious and actually so filling - I ended up barely touching my Soba (of course I took the leftovers home)!

Half Order Veggie Tempura Don

And of course we got the Honey Toast.

Honey Toast

I know it's "Honey Toast," but I thought they put a little too much honey - it was so overpowering.  My friend loved it, however, and ate nearly all of it!

We were a little disappointed in the service, however.  Although the staff members were friendly, no one came to check on us / clear our dishes / take our dessert order for quite a while after getting / finishing our food, and my friend actually had to go up to the bar to ask someone if we could order dessert.  We were the second table seated for the day, but other tables seated after us had already left. 

Despite that, I wouldn't mind returning to try the dinner izakaya menu, and hopefully the service will be much better!

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Bozu Japanese Restaurant

I recently met up with some friends for a great meal at Bozu Japanese Restaurant.

Bozu Style Fried Chicken & Eggplant

Toro Takuan

Burdock Tempura

Hot Kake Udon

Beef Tongue

Seared Stingray Fin

Mentaiko Butter Pasta

Unagi Avocado

French Fries with Anchovy & Butter

What a feast! I had so many faves!  The Burdock Tempura and French Fries were so addicting (I made sure to sop up all the remaining anchovy paste with the remaining fries).  The Beef Tongue was tender and delish - I loved all the green onions!

The Pasta was another fave, and the Udon was just what I needed.  

Definitely come with a big group so you can try all sorts of izakaya dishes!

Bozu Japanese Restaurant
McCully Shopping Center 2nd Floor #209

1960 Kapiolani Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96826

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Dinner at Thirty Eight

We had a really great media dinner at Thirty Eight. 

Shrimp Toast

Spanish Octopus

Black Cod

Fried Whole Moi

Braised Short Rib

Furikake King Salmon

Desserts currently include ice cream from Please Come Again.

Shiso Mint Chocolate

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

The miso butterfish (black cod) was one of the best, if not the best, miso butterfish dishes I've ever had.  The miso flavor was just amazing, and the tender fish was complemented nicely with the fried leeks and squid ink rice.

Our table raved about the Shrimp Toast and the fragrant makrut lime chili sauce.

The Short Rib was so tender, and the Octopus was cooked perfectly.

The Fried Whole Moi is a must, accompanied by an aliʻi mushroom and lup cheong stuffing.

I love that there is such a great new dinner option that I don't need to go all the way into town for!


Thirty Eight
1135 N Nimitz Hwy

Honolulu, HI 96817

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