[HI] Quick question for the local folk please:

What's your favorite restaurant in the heart of town?!

Many thanks, gang

 

Lunch or Dinner?

Indigo, Plaza Club, Oahu Country Club, Mariposa, Alan Wongs, Orchids, Hokus, Aarons, John Dominis, ...

 

hmmmmm......

japanese - hanaki
chinese - beijing
italian - philip paolo, assaggio

or you can go to the cheese cake factory.....it's really good, huge menu, and moderately priced.

Is someone going on a date????

 

>>Lunch or Dinner?
>>
>>Indigo, Plaza Club, Oahu Country Club, Mariposa, Alan Wongs, Orchids, Hokus, Aarons, John Dominis, ...

oooh.....the beastmaster eats good.....

 

>>What's your favorite restaurant in the heart of town?!

Is there a price range criteria?

I rather like Alan Wong's.
Be sure to try the poi, I always order it no matter what I have-been doing that ever since my waiter disclosed
that it is the best poi you'll ever try in Hawaii. Pretty tall claim I thought at the time, but now I am a believer.

Otherwise I go to Hoku's for the appetizers or for the Sunday Brunch (tons of seafood-the Hamachi is killer-ask the chef to bring it to your table special).

 

ooohhhhh......or Hau Tree Lanai

 

now this is a tasty topic!

for me, it's all about variety and of course, that means...buffet!

i've heard from an old japanese patient of mine that prince hotel serves mean kine japanese food on saturday nights only.

i've also heard from my co-worker that the pink palace, aka royal hawaiian hotel, has the best seafood buffet on friday evenings only.

personally, i believe the best bufffet is the kahala mandarin, not hoku's, but the plumeria beach cafe. quite casual for a fancy buffet and hotel, as guests often dine in their shorts, polo shirts, and sandals. but i can easily be a relaxed formal atmosphere with the cool trade winds and ocean lullabye contributing to your dining experience. of course, the food is quite excellent also. different themes thruout the week. i believe seafood is the weekends, and weekdays is split among ethnic themes and a bar-b-que night. the bar-b-que is the bomb. freshly grilled right out on the grass with a wide assortment of meats, veggies, and even seafood depending on availability. this is in addition to the usual entrees, awesome desserts, and even awesomer salads which include the killer crab salad and assortment of sushi and cold seafood appetizers.

oh yeah, these are all dinner choices which probably would run ~$35+ per.

a bonus selection would be chaya makino which just opened up in the old king's bakery just afteer thanksgiving. only thing is you gotta get there early, as it gets crazy within an hour of opening even on a weekday. dinner = $15-$18 per and lunch ~ $10-$12 per. fairly fresh sushi along with assorted local japanese faves. served 2 choices at a time per person, but buffet style in that there is no limit on total order.

for lunch...i think my fave place is the willows. casual yet kinda formal with all around good eats in a great atmosphere at a nice price.




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kbs

 

One more....Longhi's


>>[HI] Quick question for the local folk please:
>>
>>What's your favorite restaurant in the heart of town?!
>>
>>Many thanks, gang

 

I also used to like eating at Chai's, OnJin's Cafe, Hooters, Roy's, Palomino, Yatai Sushi, Takanawa, Prince Court, ...

 

beastmaster, where have you not eaten? you must have tried the most restraurants on oahu.

how's about where not to go? since it seems like there's so many good restaurants out there. let's just make sure you don't choose the wrong one.

but i'll tell you one thing...the best desserts for your $ is at pahke's in kaneohe. yep, at a chinese restaurant on kamehameha hwy, between the post office and kim chee's near the kahuhipa cross section. no shame go in just for dessert. we do that all the time. in fact, sometimes we even get it to go.

 

That's when I was one of the corporate titans and HAD to entertain a lot. I used to get soo sick of eating that food. I'd be happy eating cream tuna on rice!

 

I JUST KNEW THAT YOU ALL WOULDN'T DISAPPOINT! After this thread dies, I'm gonna print it for future enjoying. No BS here --> all of the local motorers that I've met so far have... ambition, their heads screwed on properly, & class. That's why this was a no-miss question.

 

P.S. Hey, where's mini-t tonight ?!

 

mini-t was busy having dinner at makino chaya -- we went there the first week it opened (food was pretty good, service was terrible) and thought we would give it another chance. this time, food was the same and the service was just a tad bit better than before.

after dinner, baronious and i were busy making something entertaining for the next m&m....stay tuned for details. yes, i love to keep people in suspense.

as for my fave restaurants, i have a bunch and it depends on how much you want to spend and what kind of food. we go out to eat almost every single day (no joke...but until i start cooking, this is the way it's gonna be :smile:. from hoku's to side street to assagio's to yohei to la bamba to happy day to teddy's bigger burger to alan wongs to ruth chris....we go everywhere :smile: if anyone ever wants to join us for dinner, just call! btw, my favorite all time restaurant is hoku's at the kahala mandarin. their newest restaurant, cabana's is also very elegant and mighty romantic for hot dates! we go to the plumeria cafe once in awhile -- the quality has gone down and i hate those flies that swarm the food!!!

 

>>but until i start cooking, this is the way it's gonna be :smile:

===>Follow my lead...

Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine by that really big, happy, rich guy who's got a dozen kids with his name wedged into theirs (Georgia, Georgette, George IV, & on & on & on...)

Dining out at those hot spots every night?! I say, "Yes, live it up "

 

When I visited my brother in Hawaii, I really like Sansei since I'm a japanese food lover. They had some really cool dishes. Is this a popular restaurant in Hawaii?

 

jivanivan.......ooohhh, yummy, sansei. It's popular....especially on their 50% off nights. One of my good friends from LA always wants to go there when he's in town....he's here 4 times a year, so I guess I get my fair share of Sansei.

Hey....ate at Morton's recently. That was pretty good....reminded me a Ruth's Chris.

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>>When I visited my brother in Hawaii, I really like Sansei since I'm a japanese food lover. They had some really cool dishes. Is this a popular restaurant in Hawaii?

jivanivan,
Yes, Sansei is very good and they have an early bird special about 5-530pm with discounts on the sushi menu so you can try new things.

Hawaii is full of good asian ethnic food- take your pick.

If you're vegetarian and like chinese food then try Legend Seafood at the Chinese cultural center downtown and ask for the vegetarian menu from next door.

 

oh my gosh.....I just ate at Legends last week. My friend loves that place, and that was my 2nd time. It's great Chinese food.....pretty authentic.....but I can't get over how nasty looking the carts look with all the oil and greasy stuff.....or maybe I was grossed out by the chicken feet my friend was eating!!!! Yuck!

 

legends is my favorite for dim sum :smile:

you can always check out http://www.anytimegrinds.com for a nice listing of island restaurants, menus (some w/ online ordering), and a forum section where people talk about restaurants, etc....

btw, it's not that i don't know how to cook....if i cook, baronious washes dishes and he doesnt like to wash dishes so we do both of ourselves a favor by going out :smile: someday i will start cooking again :smile:
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>>btw, it's not that i don't know how to cook....if i cook, baronious washes dishes and he doesnt like to wash dishes so we do both of ourselves a favor by going out :smile: someday i will start cooking again :smile:

===>I was only playing

 

anything buffet.... anything sushi.... just no freaking natto(and some others)!!
followup dinner with a BaskinR 31flavors double scoop and i am a happy camper.

curryhouse (just for the free candy!!)
alan wong's - eat a crapload of appetizers instead of entree.

oh yeah, i hate pineapple room.
b

 

you guys are making me hungry. From both my trips to Oahu, my favorite restaurants are all in Kaliua:

- Boots and Kimo's
- Kevin Two Boots
- Assaggio
- Buzz's Steak House (Ask for the BFRD - Big F**cking Rum Drink)

 

my fave food pizza...best pizza is by far round table...only two locations that i know of...in kailua and hilton hawaiian village. order the king arthurs supreme, it's killer. all fresh stuff. no greasy stuff. but a bit on the expensive side ~$23 for a large king arthur's. but for those pahke's, get coupons in the phone book for $3 off.

for you ice cream lover's...i know dave's, lappert's, bubbies, baskin robbins is all good stuff. but i promise that the best green tea ice cream is pahke's by far. the creamiest with just the right amount of green tea flavor. dave's has too much green tea...just look at how dark green it is. almost as dark as my brg mini.

booths and kimos...has killer pancake sauce. not sure if the pancakes itself is the best, but with that killer sauce it sure is. for pancakes solo, i still love freshly made liliha bakery pancakes.

outside of town...i have heard from my patients that friday night hawaiian buffet at turtle bay is dynamite stuff at a very cool price. if you miss it friday night, i believe they recycle it on sunday brunch buffet.

chaya makino... i think this is related to the makino's in las vegas area. about 1/2 hour drive out of downtown. our version i must say you gotta go early, for best selection and more importantly, best service, before they get busy. we went ~5:40. perfect timing. food all served promptly, like within 5 min. got filled by 6:00. and this was 2-3 weeks after grand opening on a wed or thurs night.

late at night...hungry lion i believe is open 24 hours. try their super bowl or pro bowl. mean. fried rice or fried saimin with choice of teri beef, chicken katsu or something else. all in a saimin bowl.

pies...another fave...best pie by far, blows away ted's in sunset, is ani's sweet potato haupia pie. this ain't the ordinary stuff that they sell at costco. this is all freshly made daily, found only at the halawa bakery itself, and not at any other stores. loaded with the real stuff. yet light, considering its ingredients. and best of all is the crust...simply unreal. only thing is the whole pie costs ~$13. but you get what you pay for. it's worth it, guaranteed. or i'll buy the rest of your pie and eat it myself.

 

Dinner/Lunch:
$ Irifune
$$ Side Street Cafe
$$$ Palomino's
$$$$ Ruth's Chris

Breakfast/Brunch:
$ Mitsu-Ken's (199 pennies breakfast special)
$$ Koa Pancake House
$$$ Luana Hills Country Club
but the best breakfast place was King's Bakery...mmmm that sweet bread french toast and omellete combo.