Lunch at TsuruTonTan a Hit with Our Family

Signature Lunch Special

It can be a challenge to find a reasonably priced restaurant with a large enough menu to accommodate a 10 person family with kids with picky palates. On top of that, we like restaurants with ample parking. 

TsuruTonTan is located in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and opens daily at 11:30am. They offer their happy hour prices until 5:30pm. They also offer monthly specials as well as kama'aina deals. My husband was most impressed with their January $3 draft Sapporo special.

We ordered a variety of dishes and most of us had their in-house daily made fresh udon which was excellent. Service was also great. We all had a great meal and I think this may be our go to in the future!

Takoyaki

Chicken karaage

Curry Udon

Aburi Shime Saba

Spicy Chicken and Cheese

Beef Udon

Taiyaki dessert with ice cream

Parking is validated for one hour at the restaurant, but if you are Kamaʻāina or military, you can receive 3 hours free parking with a purchase of $25 or more. Guests can receive their Kamaʻāina & Military validations from Helumoa Hale Guest Services, from 11 AM through 8 PM, located Building B, Level 1, next to The Royal Grove.

TusurTonTan

Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center

2233 Kalakaua Ave Ste B 310 

Honolulu, HI 96815

 

 

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Yumi Kim Grand Opening at Royal Hawaiian Center

Yumi Kim boutique has opened its doors at the Royal Hawaiian Center! The brand's designer, Kim Phan, created Yumi Kim when she moved to New York in 2004 and opened the original flagship store crediting the sunny color palettes and vibrant florals that echo the extraordinary experiences of her journey as a tribute to her collection. 

The Yumi Kim store at the Royal Hawaiian Center is bright and inviting with beachy vacation vibes. The quality dress styles range from pretty, feminine, and romantic to classic and elegant. You'll also find cute romper styles as well as sets. The store also offers shoes and accessories. I had a very fun time shopping for myself and will definitely return!

Perfect to shop for gifts or yourself

Love this cute beach bag of the island

My friend Racyne with designer Kim Phan

We had a super fun night celebrating the Yumi Kim opening!

Store hours are Monday to Sunday from 10am to 9pm. Yumi Kim official website is yumikim.com

Yumi Kim
Royal Hawaiian Center
Building B, ground floor 

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Restaurant Suntory Reopens

Restaurant Suntory, one of the original tenants of the Royal Hawaiian Center, recently re-opened after a $2M renovation. I have been coming here since I was child, and I still regard this restaurant as one of my favorite restaurants on Oahu. 

I met up with a couple of friends for lunch to celebrate a birthday. We sat in the teppan room, which is where the teppanyaki chefs prepare your food on a hot flat iron grill right before your eyes.  

My friend, the birthday girl, ordered the Sashimi & Grilled Miso Black Cod Combo - it's not teppanyaki style, but it sure looked good! Suntory uses the freshes cuts of fish.

My other friend and I ordered the Chefs Special "Washugyu" Top Sirloin Steak. Each meal came with salad, miso soup, grilled vegetables, and steak. We each added garlic fried rice to our meal for an additional charge. 

Grilled vegetables

Steak

Garlic Fried Rice

Reservations are highly recommended for either the teppan room, sushi counter or washoku dining room. They also now have an exclusive private dining room. 

For more information, visit their website. 

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RESTAURANT SUNTORY
Royal Hawaiian Center, 3rd Level
808-922-5511

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Wicked Maine Lobster

Since we were in Waikiki for a short Staycation, we walked over to the Royal Hawaiian Center food court for dinner. The nice things about food courts is that everyone can choose what they want to eat. The twins (who always disagree on everything) were happy to choose their own dinner - Panda Express for one, Raising Canes for the other.  And mom and dad were happy to because we got to finally try the Lobster Rolls from Wicked Main Lobster, which has its orgins in California as a Southern California farmers market vendor.

They offer two types of lobster rolls - the California Lobster Roll (lobster, bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, lemon garlic aioli sauce) and the Maine Lobster Roll (warm lobster with melted butter).  I decided to get the Maine Lobster Roll, as I wanted to get a better taste of the lobster and butter.  

The lobster roll was amazing! It came with a generous amount of chunks of lobster meat, and the bun was nicely toasted and buttered. The french fries were very salty, virtually unedible (and I love salty foods in general).  In hindsight I probably should have went back to ask for another batch of fries. 

There weren't a lot of customers at Wicked Maine Lobster when I came here, and I'm wondering if it's because the $30 price tag doesn't really align with customers' expectations when they're looking for a meal at a food court. While I thought the lobster roll was good, I would honestly have a hard time dropping $30 for another one.  But I'm glad I got to try it at least once! 

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WICKED MAINE LOBSTER
2201 KALAKAUA AVENUE (2nd Floor Food Court)

Instagram: @wickedmainelobster

 

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Kith Treats

While staycationing in Waikiki, we made an ice cream stop at Kith Treats.  Located in the Royal Hawaiian Center, Kith Treats is adjacent to the Kith store, which is a popular lifestyle / streetwear brand. 

Turns out the treats are very popular as well - ice cream mixed in with various cereals and other ingredients to make for a very decadent treat!

The Bam Bam Ice Cream

The Bam Bam Milkshake

The treats come in ice cream swirl, milkshake, or commuter bowl (cereal + mix-in + milk) formats.  The Bam Bam consisted of Rice Krispies Treats, Cookie Crisp, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Kit Kat, Crushed OREO, and Marshmallow Charms.

 

The Sylvester

The Sylvester comes swirled with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Apple Jacks, Cookie Dough, and Mini Marshmallows.

Yes, they are filled with lots of sugary-goodness for a once-in-a-while indulgence, and it is quite pricey ($9-$11 for the ice cream swirl), but it really tastes as good as it looks.

You can also create your own combos, or enjoy ice cream sandwiches and other frozen treats.

Kith Treats
2301 Kalakaua Ave

Honolulu, HI 96815

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Take-Out Specials at TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie

When the pandemic first hit Oahu in March and the state shut down dining in at restaurants, TsuruTonTan in the Royal Hawaiian Center suspended operations.  Nearly FIVE months later, they re-opened for takeout and delivery, with a limited menu that featured udon sets from $12-20!

The five sets offered on their special takeout menu is as follows:

• Nigiri Sushi Set
• Chirashi Sushi Set
• Sushi Roll Set
• Chicken Karaage Set
• Tonkatsu Bento Set

All sets come with a full size of one of the following:

• Kake Udon (hot)
• Hiyashi Udon (cold)
• Curry Udon
• Cream Udon

They make their udon noodles, dashi, and soups from scratch every day, with ingredients from Japan. My favorite udon is their Hiyashi udon, which consists of cold udon noodles served with cold soup. It's so refreshing when it's hot outside. The chirashi set (pictured above) came with a very generous portion of sashimi - it's definitely adequate for two people.

They receive A LOT of orders for these sets, therefore I highly suggest calling in your order at least an hour in advance of your desired pick up time. 

Picking up takeout from Royal Hawaiian Center restaurants has never been easier now that the Royal Hawaiian Center has stalls on the third floor of the parking garage reserved for those picking up take-out orders (20 minute time limit). Don't forget to get your parking ticket validated.

TSURUTONTAN UDON NOODLE BRASSERIE
2233 Kalakaua Avenue (Royal Hawaiian Center, 3rd Floor)
(808) 888-8559

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Pork Tamago Onigiri Shop

Po-Tama onigiri

Potama, short for Pork Tamago Onigiri, is a shop from Okinawa.  Just as you can find spam musubi all over Hawaii, you can find this onigiri-sandwich made with a slice of grilled spam and fried egg at convenience stores and bento shops in Okinawa.  Now, the first specialty shop of its kind in Okinawa has made its way to Hawaii.  

Located in the new Waikiki Food Hall of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, Potama makes each onigiri by hand upon order.  They have quite a few choices on their menu, but we wanted to try their original so we ordered the Po-Tama.  My son and I were both quite surprised how such a simple food tasted so good.  After one bite, I regretted not ordering two.  

The shop along with the Waikiki Food Hall is currently closed due to COVID-19 state guidelines, but once it reopens, we will definitely return for more onigiri yumminess.

Made to order for quality and best taste! 

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JTRDD Cafe at the New Waikiki Food Hall

This smoothie cafe is located in the new Waikiki Food Hall at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. One of 8 tenants, JTRRD serves up the most instagram-able smoothies.  The new eateries are currently closed due to COVID-19 state guidelines, but add them to your list to check out once we can all go out safely again.

I had a feeling these beauties would be only skin deep, but I'm so glad I was wrong.  We tried the yellow art smoothie and a green juice smoothie and both were very tasty. For the art smoothie, you just pick a juice color and leave the rest to JTRRD in turning it into a work of art.  At $12 it’s not a regular treat for us, but we are glad to have tried it.

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TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie

At TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie, it's is all about udon. They make it fresh, in-house, every day. But what you may not realize is that they also have really good appetizers ...

Seared Salmon Sashimi

Garlic Shrimp

Spicy Tuna Tartare Cone

Hamachi Carpaccio

Soy Garlic Fried Tatsuta Chicken

Select appetizers are discounted during happy hour (11 am - 6 pm; 8:30 pm - closing daily). If you plan to dine here, I highly recommend you come during happy hour!

But try not to go too crazy with the appetizers, because you want to save room for the udon ... hot, cold, curry, sukiyaki, stir fry, spicy ...

Tempura Zaru Udon

My favorites are the tempura zaru, and the beef sukiyaki.

Beef Sukiyaki Udon

There is no cost to upgrade the size to a large, which is the perfect size for sharing. 

Service is outstanding - quick, accurate, and very friendly. Reservations are easy to make (via Yelp or just call), even for large parties (I had no problems making a reservation for 12 people).

TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie

Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, 3rd Floor

2233 Kalakaua Avenue

(808) 888-8859

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Tim Ho Wan Celebrates 1-Year Anniversary with New Menu Items

Although Tim Ho Wan opened in Waikiki a year ago, it wasn't until last week did I visit for a tasting of some of the new menu items.

Nat had blogged about Tim Ho Wan twice before, so I knew the food was good and was excited to try.

Steamed Kona Abalone ($14.99)
This Hawaii-exclusive menu item comes with two fresh pieces of the famous abalone from Hawaii’s Big Island.

Steamed Maine Lobster ($29.99) 
The lobster with “the best price in Waikiki” is full of umami, flavored with Tim Ho Wan’s signature homemade soy sauce and topped with green onions and ginger. The whole lobster is cut in half, making it easy for guests to enjoy the meal without much fuss.

Pan Fried Rice Roll with XO Sauce ($12.99)
Featuring the hot rice rolls sautéed with vegetables in XO sauce, a homemade spicy sauce prepared with dried scallop.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings ($5.80)
Vegetarian-friendly, the vegetable dumpling features enoki, celery, carrot, Chinese peas, and Wood Ear mushrooms.

Pan Fried Chicken Dumpling with Ginger Essence ($5.80)
This delicious dumpling comes with a side of Red Vinegar and julienne ginger.

Matcha Sesame Balls with Red Bean ($5.80)
Jin Dui lovers rejoice! These bite-size sesame balls are ideal for dessert. 

Other new menu items include:
Fried Noodle with Char Siu ($9.99)
The beloved Fried Noodles is now available with char siu.

Fried Shrimp Dumpling with Chives ($5.80)
Theses crispy deep-fried dumplings stuffed with succulent shrimp and chives are as addictive as they sound.

Won Ton with Spicy Sauce ($5.80)
Spicy yet flavorful, the won ton takes the dim sum line up to the next level.

My favorite of the new menu items was the Pan Fried Rice Roll with XO Sauce.  I loved the texture of the rice rolls, and I enjoy all things spicy.  The XO sauce had a real nice kick to it!

Others at my table raved about the Lobster and Chicken Dumplings.

We also tried a trio of Tim Ho Wan signature menu items:

Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf ($6.80)

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling ($5.80)

Steamed Pork Dumplings with Shrimp

I loved the Steamed Pork Dumplings, which is a very popular item at Tim Ho Wan!

I can't believe it took me so long to try Tim Ho Wan!  I'll be back soon for more dim sum!

More notable news from Tim Ho Wan:

From Monday, April 22, through Friday, April 26, Tim Ho Wan will offer a special lai seered envelope to the first 20 customers (per day) that mention “Happy Birthday, Tim Ho Wan!” to servers. Each lai seeenvelope will contain a $20 gift card, along with offers of free BBQ Pork Buns, free Hong Kong Style Milk Tea, and free dessert. Offers are for dine-in customers only.

Luxury Dim Sum for Two ($70)
Tim Ho Wan Waikiki will also offer a new Luxury Dim Sum set menu for two. At $35 per person, the menu features signature dishes including Steamed Maine Lobster, Steamed Big Island Abalone, Baked BBQ Pork Buns, Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow), Steamed Pork Dumplings with Shrimp (Siu Mai), Congee with Pork and Preserved Egg, and Sweet Osmanthus with Goji Berries Jelly. The set menu does not include beverage, tax, or gratuity.

The set menu for two as well as the new menu items are exclusive to Waikiki and will be available to order all day starting Wednesday, May 1, 2019, from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM daily. Reservations are available from 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM, daily for parties of six or more, and can be made by phone at (808) 888 – 6088. Parties over 20 people require deposits. Validated self-parking is available at Royal Hawaiian Center for all guests.


Tim Ho Wan Waikiki
Royal Hawaiian Center
2233 Kalakaua Ave., Building B, Level 3, B303
Honolulu HI 96815
Phone: (808) 888 – 6088

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