O.k so I got this fan mail via e-mail the other day from Travis. And I say fan mail because It makes me feel like a celebrity. He was telling me how hilarious I am, that my food blog is the high light of his day and that he digs through my garbage at night. And then he gives me this list of restaurants that are his favorite and suggest that I give them a try if I haven’t already. Just so you all know, I love suggestions. I have the boys pick a place off the list and of course being the sandwich whores that they are they pick A Taste of New York. As soon as we cruise up to this place I start to get really excited because I recognized it as one of the many places that I made a mental note to try. This is the view from the street.
This is what it looks like when you walk up to the entrance.
Cute right? As soon as we walk in we see Lei Melket. She’s a bigger celebrity than I am here on the island and is known for the song Falling, at least that’s how I know her. I really haven’t heard any of her other songs. It’s crazy because this is like the 4th time Ray and I have ran into her so this time I was like, I’m just gonna go up to her, introduce myself, tell her that I listen to her C.D. first thing when I wake up every morning, have every song memorized, ask to take a picture with her and hope that stardom hasn’t turned her into a total biznatch. But before I was able to the host goes, “this way please.” Oh, well. I know fate will bring me to her again. Back to food.
The inside is small but totally adorable. The waiter goes up to us and goes, “who wants to start off with a Dr. Browns cream soda?” I’m not a soda drinker, actually, I’m not a carbonation drinker at all. But I do enjoy a good cream soda from time to time, not to mention I just love his intro so of course I say, “I do.” The boys don’t want to make any hasty decisions and get water.
We start to skim the menu and can’t believe what we see. The classic sandwiches are $13.59, famous triple decker sandwiches are around $17.00, lox bagel was $12.75. I thought the lox bagel was expensive at Bogarts and that was $7.75. So of course when all else fails get dessert right? Wrong, $9.95 for a cheesecake slice and only $80.00 for the whole cake. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, your cool, fuck you. I’m outta here. Now, for those of you that love this place, I’m sure they have great food and it’s worth every penny, but there are places that have great food and don’t feel like ass raping customers in exchange for it. I love those places. I want to take my money there always. It’s my way of saying, “thank you, thank you so much for not riping me a new hole, take my money, give me good food.” I think Travis failed to read the part of my blog that says, “cheap places to eat,” but thanks for the suggestion Travis. We paid for the cream soda and left. On our way out was a very adorable Japanese couple that also left after they scanned the menu. They go, “that place is kinda pricey, yeah?” Shane goes, “I’m glad you said that because that’s exactly what we we’re thinking.”
They do give you free pickles though, all you can eat, right on the table.
A Taste of New York
1137 11Th Ave. #103
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-3354
10 Responses to “A Taste of New York”
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September 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 pm
My bad, I didn’t know they raised their prices since I went a while ago. It wasn’t that expensive. But, in my defense, the sandwiches are so friggen enormous that you can only eat one half and can share the other half, hence, not really costing that much if you share it.
I know tons of other really cheap places to redeem myself.
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:25 am
I’ve been to A Taste of New York and agree with you about being over priced, even if the sandwiches and cheesecakes are quite big. I miss the Days of Aloha restaurant that was directly upstairs. Nice owners, good quality and prices. I think that the owners moved back to Japan.
Have you tried Covenant Books Store on 12th Avenue? Good soups and sandwiches at affordable prices. Don’t go on Sundays because its a Christian bookstore, so they’ll be closed.
http://www.covenantbooksandcoffee.com/index.html
There’s a place across the street from the Blood Bank on Dillingham Blvd called Koi Catering: http://koi808.net/.
They were the previous owners of the Puuwainani Lunchwagon on Halekauwila and South St. who decided to concentrate on a takeout-catering operation. Their menu isn’t like the L&L’s, Grace’s plate lunch places.
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 am
No, really, I want to try this place eventually. It was just that some days you have it in your head that your gonna be cheap today, and nothings gonna stop you. It was that kinda day for me. But thanks for the suggestion Travis
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:44 am
I haven’t tried Coventant Book Store. Are you sure it’s a restaurant and not a book store? I’m not saying I don’t love books and religion, I love to read and religion’s cool but If I go there and theres books and no food I will but a book just to beat you with it. Just kidding, but no, really, there better be food.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Covenant has a counter in the back of the bookstore where you order your food. They have a couple of tables where you can sit, but they don’t have table service. Its not a preachy place. The quality of their soups and sandwiches at affordable prices have been a well known “secret” for several years. I thought I’d share it with you.
By the way, I’m Matt, not Travis, and I wouldn’t be giving you a BS recommendation. I was trying to be helpful because I’ve been to a lot of places, some good, some bad, some overated.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:04 am
yea im dumb, i meant to type Covenant. GOD dammit im goin straight to hell. see you there you table decoration/candle klepto
September 4th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
[...] when we left A Taste of New York, well this is where we ended up at Cafe Laufer. After leaving A Taste of New York we were basically [...]
January 30th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
This place totally sucks and I was surprised that you even had it on your “cheap places to eat” blog. I also found it odd that you had it on your “I also recommend” at the bottom of the page. I recommend this place if you’re someone that hates their taste buds. I went there looking for a taste of New York, instead it was more like the Big Apple in the sense that I got raped.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:15 am
viking »
did you even finish reading? I ended up walking out of here. Also I have a lot of places on this site that are good and bad, expensive and cheap. I just review places that I’ve been to, give my opinion and readers can decide if it’s worth their time or not. What’s expensive to me could be really cheap to others, know what I mean. Also, the “I Also Recommend” section at the bottom of the page is recommending other reviews I’ve done that are similar to read, not to eat. For example, if I do a write on Chinese food, then at the bottom it will have on the I recommend section other Chinese reviews that I have done, regardless if it sucked ass or kicked ass. It’s a way to keep readers reading. Anyhow, thanks for reading and commenting.
July 12th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
i just leave munching and eating cheesecakes, they are tasty and yummy”*,