Located right below Irish Rose, one of the best local bars on the island Pho Minh Thu would make great drunk food if only they were open till the wee hours of the night. A bunch of my friends come here often because it’s convienent and according to them, really good. Well as always I had to see for myself.

Inside Pho Minh Thu was about eight covered tables. There was only one other table besides ours, which usually means a short wait will follow.

It’s just hard not to start off with Summer Rolls. They’re just so good and the perfect appetizer to start off with since they’re light, refreshing and so darn good. These were $3.95 for two. I liked that the shrimp were bright pink because it meant that the shrimp was cooked well, which for me is a good thing.

Listed under the Vegetarian Section of the Menu was these Garden Rolls, $3.95, aka, Tofu Rolls. If your vegetarian or a lover of tofu I highly suggest these. They were just like the summer rolls but with tofu. The tofu still had the skin around and was cut just thick enough to where you can really taste the tofu but it wasn’t overwhelming.

I ordered the Tofu & Green Papaya Salad, $5.95. I guess tofu just sounded good today. The tofu was good, and everything tasted really fresh, but the papaya was shredded a little too thin for my liking. I love basil so it was nice to see it topped with lots of it.

Ray ordered the combination shrimp and chicken fried rice, $5.95. This was a little on the boring side. It lacked flavor. They gave us the small shrimp, which would of been o.k. if more were given. These are the small shrimp, so I know they’re really inexpensive. Also, we didn’t realize there was any chicken in there until we took a closer look.

See, there it is. I took a picture of it next to my fork so you guys have an idea of how small the shrimp and chicken pieces really were.

I would come back for the tofu rolls. Those were a winner in my book. I don’t know why more places don’t offer them. I would think they would be a better investment than the traditional summer rolls. Everything else was mediocre.

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Pho Minh Thu
478 Ena Rd
Honolulu, HI 96815

Get Directions(808) 946-2299

Wild Ginger had their grand opening back in November. I didn’t get a chance to make it but I did make it a few days after and boy I gotta tell you this place is good.

The inside is roomy so accommodating larges parties I wouldn’t think would be a problem. Everything looks clean and fresh, the way a new restaurant should look.

After ordering they brought us a small dish of pickled sweet and sour veggies. I loved this stuff. It was slightly sweet, slightly sour and crispy. It was a perfect appetizer to wake up my taste buds for more tantalizing dishes.

For starters we ordered Vietnamese Summer Rolls, $6.00. It came with four pieces, or two rolls cut in half. If you look closer you can see big chunks of seafood. The rolls were topped with seaweed and radishes.

Selena ordered the Vietnamese Salad, $6.00. Being the picky person that she is she ordered the dressing on the side. It was our server’s first day of work and she forgot to tell them to leave the dressing off. She felt really bad and it really wasn’t a big deal. After that the cook and manager, everyone kept coming up to our table asking how everything was, if we needed anything, more water, rice, a foot rub? Everyone was so nice but so there in your face. As soon as we finish swallowing someone new was there at our table happily ready it get us whatever our hearts desire. Everything’s great, food’s fantastic and service is a little over the top. We just want to eat our food in peace people. Leave us alone! Please, leave us alone. Anyhow, the salad was delish. Really fresh and crisp, slightly sweet and nutty.

We tried to get dishes that we all could enjoy. This is the Yaki Soba Dish with Chicken, $8.00. It was garnished with a ginger. I don’t really think that ginger was the best garnish for it but whatever, it’s garnish right? The noodles had great flavor. They weren’t skimpy on the chicken either. Extra hint of veggies made for a crisp bite every time. There’s nothing I would change about this one.

And here is the dish that tied everything together. This is where all the magic happened, the Steam XO Sea Bass, $15.50. It was a sea bass fillet steamed in XO sauce and served with fresh veggies. This dish is one of those dishes you would have a personal chef prepare for you when your still trying to be healthy. I don’t know what XO sauce is but I’m a fan. I always thought that XOXO meant hugs and kisses so maybe it’s just sauce that’s made with love. Works for me. The fish was tender and flaky and tasted so good. I think everyone could agree that this was the best dish.

There you have it folks. Another great find. Now I know this place isn’t the icon for cheap places, but It’s somewhat affordable. So if you feel like treating someone you love to a nice meal this would be the place. Like I said, service was a little over the top, but I think it had something to do with just opening up and trying to make sure everyone had a great experience. Overall I have to say we all did. At the end of our meal, the manager gave us 25% off our check for the inconvenience of the dressing on the salad. It wasn’t a big deal, but I’m never going to fight a discount. So in the end, for us, it was a cheap place to eat.

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Wild Ginger
3441 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
808 738-1168

By now you should know this is a blog about cheap and not so cheap places to eat and not eat in Oahu Hawaii. P.F. Chang’s is at the borderline. I have this love hate relationship with this place. Although it’s a chain, I don’t mind coming here because it’s a fun place to dine. The inside of P.F Chang’s are always dressed up real nice, service is ehh, food is ehhh and prices are ehhh. Well, I guess the main reason to come here is for its ambiance.

I think one great reason why P.F. Chang’s has managed to stay afloat is because there’s no other chain like it. It’s the only big Asian chain that is well known, stylish, fun to dress up for, o.k. if you don’t and not as expensive as fine dinning, but still a nice place to dine. The inside of this one is like an fusion between 70’s and Asian if you ask me.

There’s some outside seating as well.

Another thing that P.F. Chang’s does differently is have the server make this sauce at the table upon greeting you. For as many times as I’ve been to one of these places I still don’t know how I feel about that. Actually, the fact that I’ve been to one of these so many times and still don’t know how I feel about it probably means I would prefer it if they didn’t. The scenario, I imagine is pretty much the same at every table. The server greets you, “hi, how’s everyone doing? My name is Mary Jane, I’ll be your server today. How do you like your sauce, spicy, medium or mild?” And this gives everyone at the table something to converse on, “ohh, I like it spicy, how do you like it? I like it mild. I like it medium. I can’t handle spicy.” Blah, blah blah. Then the server will create a mixture of hot sauce, hot mustard and soy sauce in the center ramekin. The vinegar and hot oil are never used. Everyone stares in awe like the waiter is some big sushi chef. Every once in a while someone idiot will yell out, “ohhh, will you add some hot oil to mine,” or something of that nature. And the server goes, “sure” but she’s really thinking, “Bitch, are you fucking retarded, it’s just sauce, fucking add the shit yourself.” And just so you know, the mixture is usually the same every time, regardless of whether you said hot, medium or mild. All I’m saying is, yeah I get why they do it, it’s fun and different, but I could make my own sauce, spank you very much. It’s not the way I want it and I never see anyone use it. Not to mention, now that we have this amazing sauce, we’re expecting you to give us something to dip it in? Oh, what, you mean there’s nothing. The sauce you just made is for nothing. So that was basically a waist of my time and a complete waste of yours. Sweet. Anyway, lets move on.

We start off with these crab won tons served with a spicy plum sauce for $5.95. I use to make these everyday at our family restaurant so just being able to eat them with out any of my labor involved made these fritters even more special. It came with 5 pieces. The sauce for me was salty. I would of preferred the traditional sweet and sour sauce.

Just so you know, this is probably the easiest thing to make if you have a deep fryer. It’s a mixture of mainly cream cheese and minced crab meat.

What ever happen to the days when you could expect rice to accommodate your order? At P.F. Chang’s they still uphold that tradition. Not only that but you get a choice of white or brown rice. I always pick brown since I don’t get to eat it much.

We shared a Combination Chow Mein, $10.95. It was tasty. Ray could of done without the bean sprouts and celery. He said vegetables should never be bigger than the meat. I guess that’s a good point, not because I like meat, but I don’t like big chunks of vegetables. However, the size of the celery didn’t bother me. If you prefer your chow mein with some kind of sauce or gravy, then request it or order something else. This chow mein was dry.

Overall my response is still, ehh. The flavor, like it’s decor is very contemporary. It’s Chinese food but modern American-Chinese. They lack true authentic flavor. P.F. Chang’s is like Panda Express Food in a really nice restaurant. Sometimes Panda Express isn’t so bad, at least it wasn’t this day. By the way did you hear Bill Gates, now the second richest man in the world, bought 1 million shares in P.F. Chang’s stock. If he believes in their food, well then so do I.

Lies, all lies!

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P.F. Chang’s
1288 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 596-4710