I could understand why a lot of locals stir clear of Waikiki. With mobs of tourists and an endless supply of pigs in cars, on bikes and even foot ready to give hard criminal jay walking tickets at any given moment. However, where there are mobs of tourist, there are hotels and where there are hotels therein lies restaurants and they’re usually pretty damn good.

Hula Grill is located in the Outrigger Hotel and the best time to come is right before sunset.

That’s not a mural on the wall; it was actually our view.

I really appreciate places that give free all you can eat bread. These were given to us hot filled with herbs and incredibly soft. I usually have a one basket rule but sometimes rules are meant to be broken, this was one of those times. I broke down and had the waiter get me another basket.

On the table laid what tasted similar to the Thai sweet and spicy chili and olive oil. They tasted marvelous with the bread. I don’t suggest it because it’s addicting and what led me to break my one basket rule.

For starters we got Kahuku Corn Crab Cakes with pickled plum aioli, $11.00. It came with three cakes. Although these were called “corn crab cakes, I didn’t really notice any in the cakes. Maybe they’re referring to corn meal? It came with few slices of mushrooms on top along with a fresh green mixture. These were good but a little small. I like my crab cakes with big hearty chunks of crab and I didn’t get that with these. They were cooked to perfection with a nice golden skin on both sides. The best crab cakes on the island is still from the Garlic Restaurant, but these had really nice presentation, which is always a good thing.

For dinner we order the Shrimp Scampi with garlic butter udon noodles, tomatoes and capers, $20.75. The waiter split our order for us so we could each eat off our own plates. Although it was a nice gesture, I would of preferred it if he left it all on one plate, for blog purposes. I’m quite certain that no more than one package of udon noodle was used. I was really disappointed with the amount of noodles we received. The picture made it look like we got way more than what we really did. We got 2 pieces of shrimp each. Not a lot of shrimp but they made up for it in size. These had to be tiger shrimp. The flavor was really tasty  but after the first few bites Ray and I both agreed that this dish was a little too buttery. I felt like my insides were given a lube job.

I’m telling you these shrimp were large.  Besides being slightly too buttery and the small portions, I really did enjoy this dish.

Yes, come right before sunset so you can experience it all. There was also live music in the background, not from here but from down below but we could hear it loud and clear. Overall my experience here was nice. I hate the prices, and food wasn’t mind blowing. I love the shrimp, sunset, music, Ray and feeling like I was on vacation.

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Hula Grill
2335 Kalakaua Ave # 116
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 923-4852

Get D

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

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