Rice Box Cafe

Rice Box Cafe is one of my faves in Mililani. The elevated plate lunches, featuring local, Japanese fare, are consistently good.  Ever since my first visit a few years ago, the food and service have never waivered.

My go-to is the Chicken Katsu, which is topped with a tsukemono aioli + katsu sauce.

Chicken Katsu

Furikake Garlic Chicken

Dynamite Chicken

Tonkatsu Sandwich (comes with a Side Salad)

Our family loves Rice Box!

Rice Box Cafe
95-1840 Meheula Pkwy e4
Mililani, HI 96789

Read More

Rice Box Cafe

Rice Box Cafe is a go-to in Mililani.  Our entire family loves Rice Box Cafe.  They have a small menu, but it works.  The food is consistently good!

Chicken Katsu

I love the Chicken Katsu.  The chicken is always so juicy, and they give a lot of it too!  The tsukemono aioli gives another dimension of flavor.

Misoyaki Salmon

Dynamite Chicken

One of my kid's faves is the Dynamite Chicken.  The chicken is topped with a chili aioli, negi-kabayaki, furikake, and katsuo flakes - it's one of my faves too! 

Rice Box Cafe
95-1840 Meheula Pkwy e4
Mililani, HI 96789

Read More

Visit Hilo: Coco Cantina $11 Lunch Specials

Coco Cantina is one of my fave spots in Hilo for take-out lunch, and their $11 Lunch Specials Monday-Friday 11am-3pm are a great deal!

El Azteca Burrito

Pollo Burrito

Pollo Protein Bowl

My go-to is the Pollo Protein Bowl - Mexican rice, black beans, greens, chicken, pico de gallo, guac, cheese, and salsa.  

It's so tasty and filling, and the chicken is tender and delicious.  It easily lasts me two meals.

I hope these specials never go away!

Coco Cantina

194 Kilauea Ave, #105
Hilo, HI 96778

Read More

Adela's Country Eatery

At a recent get-together with friends in Kaneohe, we ordered take-out from Adela's Country Eatery for dinner.  Adela's is known for housemade pastas using local ingredients such as ulu, avocado, and  taro. They top their pastas with savory proteins and veggies such as garlic shrimp, lechon and portobello mushroom.   We each chose a plate and enjoyed them all family-style, since we wanted to try the different menu items.

We each chose a plate and enjoyed them all family-style, since we wanted to try the different menu items.

Angel Hair with Marinara Sauce and Portobello Mushroom

Pork Belly with Garlic Rice

Ulu Pasta with Garlic Butter and Shrimp with Garlic Butter

Taro Special 

The ulu pasta with garlic shrimp was my favorite, as I love garlic, shrimp, and this dish reminds me of the garlic noodles from my favorite restaurant in San Francisco (Thanh Long). I also liked the garlic rice! 

Ube, Matcha, Lilikoi, and Guava Cheesecakes

 For dessert we tried a variety of cheesecakes - they were all very rich but delicious. I'd say the ube was my favorite, and also their best seller (and also very Instagrammable!).

Adela's is open 6 days a week (closed Sunday). Customer parking is available right in front of the restaurant. Take-out only.  I recommend calling in our order ahead of time - all items (except for desserts) are made to order.

-----------------------------

ADELA'S COUNTRY EATERY
45-111 KAMEHAMHA HIGHWAY
808-404-8884

Read More

Forty Niner Restaurant Takeout

Forty Niner makes it easy to get plate lunches to satisfy your hunger.

Egg Burger

Ribeye Steak

Hapa Pancakes

The Hapa Pancakes consisted of pancakes covered with coconut sauce and drizzled with Nutella.

Fried Rice Omelette

Housemade Chorizo Hash & Egg

I had the Housemade Chorizo Hash & Egg.  The chorizo hash was very smokey, with a bit of heat.  It was a lot of food.

I thought prices were reasonable, and we all enjoyed our food.

Online ordering made take-out quick and easy.

Forty Niner Restaurant

98-110 Honomanu Street

Aiea, HI 96701
808-484-1940

Read More

Sam's Delicatessen

Nat has blogged about Sam's Delicatessen before, and I've heard many others rave about the Mochiko Chicken there, so I was eager to finally give it a try!

Mochiko Chicken

Chicken Wings

Meat Jun & BBQ Chicken

Chicken Katsu

Meat Jun

The Mochiko Chicken was really good.  Tender pieces of mochiko-flour fried chicken were really tasty.  Each plate comes with 4 banchan / vegetables of your choice.  I got long rice, kim chee, potato, and mac salad.  Every one was delicious and flavorful.  

Everyone else loved their food, and the servings were very generous for the price.  We all had leftovers for dinner!

Glad I finally got to try Sam's Delicatessen's Mochicko Chicken!

Sam's Delicatessen
1627 NUUANU AVE
(808) 524-7777

Read More

Badass Steakhouse Burgers by Black Angus

Badass Steakhouse Burgers by Black Angus is actually an offshoot of Black Angus Steakhouse.  You'll find Badass burgers on the menu at Black Angus Steakhouse, and although there is no stand-alone restaurant, there is a separate website for Badass Steakhouse Burgers.    

America's Most Wanted

The America's Most Wanted burger included a panko-fried American cheese patty, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and BA Burger Sauce.

High Noon Showdown

The High Noon Showdown was a patty melt with American and Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, and BA Burger Sauce. 

Chicken Tenders and Fried Zucchini

I shared the Chicken Tenders and Fried Zucchini with one of my kids.  If you've had these items at Black Angus before, you know how good they are.  Panko-crusted, crispy, and delish!

The burgers were indeed impressive!

Badass Steakhouse Burgers
98-1262 Kaʻahumanu St

Pearl City, HI 96782

Read More

Visit Sydney: Macchiato Wood Fire Pizza and Coffee Roastery

We were tired after a long day of train rides, so decided to order pizza for dinner from Macchiato Wood Fire Pizza and Coffee Roastery.

Margherita

The Margherita was topped with pomodoro, mozzarella, basil, and extra virgin olive oil.

Chicken Funghi

The Chicken Funghi was topped with pomodoro, mozzarella, chicken breast, mushrooms, olives, red onion, chilli, and extra virgin olive oil.  The pizza was loaded!

Of the two pizzas, I liked the Margherita the best, but they were both good.  The sauce was robust and the crust had a nice texture with great char.

Garlic & Cheese Crust

The Garlic & Cheese Crust was tasty, but I do wish they put more cheese!

Macchiato offers an extensive menu pastas, salads, and other main dishes, so even if you're not in the mood for pizza, you may find other Italian specialties to satisfy your hunger. 

Macchiato Wood Fire Pizza and Coffee Roastery
Shop 2/338 Pitt St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Read More

Jax Wood Fired Pizza

In the mood for pizza, we ordered take-out from Jax Wood Fired Pizza in Haleiwa to eat at the beach.

BBQ Pork

The BBQ pizza was really good, with a tangy BBQ Sauce.  Topped with mozzarella, kalua pork, jalapenos, red onion, and cilantro, this was my favorite pizza of the two we ordered.  

I thought I would really like the Da Kine pizza the most, but I felt the sauce was underseasoned.  The pizza was topped with bacon, kalua pork, sausage, and pepperoni.  

Da Kine

I thought the Bread Sticks were pretty tasty.

Bread Sticks

I thought the crusts were a little too flimsy on the pizzas, but they had a nice char, and our pizza cravings were satisfied!

Online ordering makes take-out a cinch.

Jax Woodfired Pizza
66-197 Kamehameha Hwy

Haleiwa, HI 96712

Read More

I Love Korean BBQ

I was not in the mood to cook, so decided on take-out from I Love Korean BBQ in Ka Makana Ali`i. 

Shrimp Katsu & BBQ Beef

Nori Spring Rolls

Garlic Chicken

Kimchi Ramen

Mandoo Kook Soo

K Special

Mandoo

I had the Garlic Chicken, which had a mild garlic flavor.  Each entree comes with your choice of 4 vegetables.  I chose corn, kimchi, tofu, and creamy potato.  The banchan was disappointing - the corn and tofu had no flavor at all, the creamy potato was just two gigantic pieces of potato, and the kimchi was pretty bland.

The portions were very generous, however, and although I thought the chicken and banchan fell flat, I did enjoy the Mandoo, which was nice and crispy and delicious.

The Nori Spring Rolls were pretty good too!  

My son thought the Kimchi Ramen was really spicy (and he likes spicy) and my youngest son liked the Mandoo Kook Soo, but I wish they had separated the broth and the noodles / mandoo for takeout so the contents didn't get soggy.

My husband and my oldest son ate up their Korean BBQ plates.

I Love Korean BBQ
Ka Makana Aliʻi
91-5431 Kapolei Pkwy #303

Kapolei, HI 96707

Read More

Mad Bene Takeout

One of the few things Nat and I agree upon is how good Mad Bene is.  Over the past couple of years, she's gifted me some gift cards to Mad Bene, and thanks to her generosity, I recently ordered take-out for the fam.

Caesar

N.Y.C.

The N.Y.C. didn't have as much pepperoni as the first time I ordered it, but it was still good.

Supremo

The Supremo pizza consisted of housemade Italian sausage, maitake mushroom, fennel.  Loved the fennel, which I thought helped intensify the flavors of the sausage.

Pappardelle Bolognese

I loved the pastas!  The Pappardelle Bolognese was fantastic.  The pasta was perfectly cooked, and the 12-hour ragu had amazing aromatics and flavor.

Tagliatelle Dogana

If you love mushrooms as much as I do, the Tagliatelle Dogana is sure to please, with a shiitake-porcini sauce.

And no order from Mad Bene is complete without Crispy Potato Guy.  I could just eat this and be content - crispy potatoes drizzled with a Calabrian chili aioli.  Simple, but so delish!

Mad Bene is the best restaurant out in Kapolei, in my opinion!

Mad Bene
4450 Kapolei Pkwy
(808) 744-7400

Read More