When I was a kid my mother use to take me to San Jose on her days off. San Jose has a huge Vietnamese community that made my mom feel right at home. We would drive an hour just for some pho, then before we drove back home we would make a stop at a deli to stock up on some Vietnamese sandwiches.

If your not familiar with a Vietnamese sandwich it might look a little odd at first. A basic one, like the one you see above will consist of pork sausage, pickled sweet and sour carrots and radishes, cilantro, meat paste, mayonnaise, and sometimes a few fresh slices of jalapenos on a French roll. These have to be one of my all time favorite sandwiches.

This one was really good. However, I didn’t really care for the fish sauce they put on it because it made the sandwich a little too salty for my liking.

Summer Rolls, $4.29. These were large and nicely rolled. I liked that it came in a combo pack of one shrimp and one shredded pork roll.

As for my dessert I couldn’t decide between almond jello or tapioca so I got them both. At the low rate of $1.50 I could afford to treat myself. The almond jello was good but the tapioca one was really mushy and soft. I don’t think it was overdone, just probably sitting there too long.

Bale Sandwich Shop is one of the largest local chains in the state. With two locations in Maui, one on the big island, one on Kauai, and about twenty here on Oahu this place has really prospered and grown.

Overall I’m pretty satisfied with this place. The prices were fair, food was good. Just don’t order the tapioca unless it looks fresh and remember to ask for the sandwich without fish sauce.

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Ba Le Sandwich & Vietnamese Shop
333 Ward Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 591-0935

This post is long overdue and I apologize for that. I try to keep my post as current and fresh as possible. As most of you already know, I’m still somewhat new to this island. Ray and I made a bold move back in March and dropped everything just to move out here. We didn’t have internet at first, but luckily the hotel next to us did, Ray’s computer was strong enough to grab it but it was slow and he needed to get work done. He searched for places that offer free wifi and are within walking distance online at wififreespot.com. Coconut Cafe was on the list and really close so we decided to pack up our laptops and have lunch there.
The place is extremely small, not really an ideal place to work. I think there were 3 tables and all two seaters. We scan the menu and this is what we got.

Ray ordered the Seafood Mixed Sandwich, $4.99. All sandwiches are served with your choice of lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, cheese, cucumbers, carrots, mayo, and mustard. He said this sandwich didn’t taste right. The seafood tasted bad like it had been sitting there in a tuperware container for a while. I took a bite and it tasted a bit mushy. I’m not a fan of seafood sandwiches unless it’s grilled.

I couldn’t decide so of course I resorted to dessert. I got the Azukibean Shaved Ice with condensed milk, $3.99 but the condensed milk cost an extra .75. This was rather large and a little messy. It looks more exciting than it tasted.

I also forgot to mention that online it states that internet was free, which was the reason why we went there in the first place. When we got there it cost $8.00 a day. Of course we didn’t pay, that’s just ridiculous and false advertising.

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Coconut Cafe
2441 Kuhio Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 922-8700

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.

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A Taste of New York
1137 11Th Ave. #103
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-3354