Mikawon is somewhat hidden in the walls of Waikiki. Ray suggested this place which was a surprise since he’s never really suggests Korean. Of course I had to jump on the opportunity.

When we walked in I couldn’t help but it feel a sense of deja vu. Have I been here before? In a dream? A past life? Ah, oh well, lets eat.

We noticed on the way in a picture of a lunch special for $9.00 in the window. It looked like a decent amount of food at a fair price so we decided to give to a shot. Basically, you get BBQ beef, chicken, a dumpling, an egg patty and four sides along with rice. Yeah, I thought it was a nice deal too and as you can see from the picture it was a good amount too.

For my sides I picked tofu, kim chee, seaweed, and glass noodles, all of it came cold. I picked the sides and waited a bit for them to cook the meat in the back. The tofu was solid and tasty, the kim chee was a tad too salty, the seaweed was too seaweedy, if that makes sense, and the glass noodles were really good. The meat was like Yummies good. I liked it but that was the extent of it. There was no love involved.

These noodles were the bomb. It was the only side that we really like and of course it had to be the skimpiest. This is a close up of it and I think we were able to get a bite out of it each. It had a subtle sweet and peppery flavor. Ray was like, how come you didn’t get more of this and less of the other stuff.

The place is covered with drawings and pictures from visitors from all over. Here’s one I found that I wanted to share.

I had to take this one for Ray, since he’s Mexican. I just had to translate it for him since he doesn’t speak or read it.

Anyhow, a few days later I was going through some of my photos and what do I see, a picture of me and my friend Cammie here. We were on vacation in 2005. Haha, I knew I had been here before.

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Mikawon Korean Restaurant
2345 Kuhio Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815

Get Directions(808) 924-3277

So after Cake Culture Cupcakes we decided to stay in the Aina Haina Shopping Center Courtyard and find some place eat. We spotted Komakata Japanese Restaurant and headed that way to give it a try.

The inside was quite spacious. Lots of table seating on this side of the restaurant and the other. We came at the perfect time because there were only a few tables being used but by the time we ordered our food most of the tables were occupied.

After skimming the menu Ray and I decided on the Combination Dinner, $20.50. We got to pick two items from the list of sashimi, katsu, teriyaki chicken or beef, butterfish misoni, ahi teriyaki, tempura and sushi mix. We picked sushi mix and sashimi. The meal also came with rice, miso, soup, tsukemono, tobachi and salad.

Honestly, I don’t really know what tsukemono, tobachi is but I’m guessing it’s one of these. This is what our meal started out with and this is probably why Japanesies are so damn skinny. I don’t know the proper terminology but I call this poke, pickled radish, and pickled cabbage. Everything was good, but I could seriously eat this in under a minute and that’s not sharing. I guess this is where I practice chewing my food, enjoying one another’s company and patience. It was all fresh and yummy.

Soon salad and miso soup followed. Again the salad portion was a disgrace. The picture really makes it look big because it so wasn’t. We got one slice of tomato, one cucumber slice and a layer of mixed greens. The bowl came to us a quarter full. I think they should pick smaller bowls for the salad so it at least doesn’t look so skimpy.

One of the reasons why I love miso soup is because no matter where you order it it comes out piping hot, not warm hot but hot hot. It’s so nice because it instantly warms your tummy. Miso soup is definitely comfort food for the soul.

Here is our sushi mix. As you can see it’s a lot like a rainbow roll, sorta, just not rolled but you know what I mean. It tasted the way it looks, fresh and very satisfying. I love ginger, especially the yellow kind over the pink kind because it makes me feel like it hasn’t been tampered with and that’s the kind it came with.

Our sashimi was an absolute delight. As you can see from the picture it had a vibrant pink to it and was cut in the perfect bite sizes.

If this picture doesn’t want to make you go out and get some sashimi then I have failed you.

The meal also came with a small bowl of rice. Luckily Ray and I don’t eat that much rice because the bowl of rice was really small as well, like smaller than most small bowls of rice. Anyhow, for 20 bucks for all that food I don’t know if it makes it into my, “cheap places to eat” category. I’m gonna have to move on.

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Komakata Japanese Restaurant
820 W Hind Dr # 102
Honolulu, HI 96821

Get Directions(808) 377-5700p

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