I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven past this place thinking it was one of the cutest little restaurant in Chinatown. I don’t know if you guys have ever been to Chinatown or not, but it seems as though any Chinatown you go to, doesn’t matter what city or state, but they’re always super crowded and filthy. So when there’s a cute restaurant that looks inviting it tends to stand out a bit and that’s exactly the place that Little Village is. I’m a bit annoyed that I forgot to take a photo of the outside but here’s the view from outside the restroom.

I came here after work and it was a pretty shitty day at the office so I decided to splurge on a couple of dishes to make up for it. I ordered with the Spicy Garlic Shrimp, $13.95. There definitely was a lot of garlic to this dish, but as a whole it really didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, and I think the ambiance made me think I enjoyed the dish more than I really did. The texture of the sauce tasted and reminded me of the Thai sweet spicy sauce. I have to say, it was just boring in flavor.

I also ordered half a Peking Duck, $17.00. It came with small white buns to wrap around. If your a chicken and biscuit type of gal, or guy, and you like duck then you love these.

The waiter came and proceeded to insert pieces of the duck, and duck skin into all the buns. This was entirely too much work for him and required too much patience on my end, no thanks I’ll do it myself, thank you.

The crispy duck skin was served on top of fresh, crispy shrimp chips. I like laying the chips on the tongue until I feel it sizzle. A thing I use to do as a child and I like to keep the tradition alive. As for the duck skin, uhh, not a fan. My parents think I’m crazy for never eating duck skin, or the skin of any animal for that matter. I guess it’s unheard of for a Chinese to not eat duck skin. I mine as well not eat chicken feet, uh wait, I don’t. Sorry mom. Eating duck skin is no different from eating crispy chicken skin, if you like that then I promise you you’ll be happy with duck skin. It really adds more flavor to the whole duck and bun experience.

My favorite was the lettuce wraps, $7.95. This was probably one of the better lettuce wraps I’ve had. Definitely better than PF Changs and Brew Moon. My friend was like, “what is this again because I would totally order just this next time.” It wasn’t too salty, like PF Changs and had way more flavor than Brew Moon. I loved loved the chopped up black mushrooms and crunch from the water chestnuts.

Alright guys, there you go. Overall, I would definitely say this place was worth coming to. Stay away from the garlic shrimp and don’t leave without the lettuce wraps.

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Little Village
1113 Smith St
Honolulu, HI 96817

Get Directions(808) 545-3008

Cruising down Waikiki can be a bit overwhelming. Big name brand shops here, restaurant there, little Asians passing out fliers over there, and more tourist shops here. It’s so much to take in, even for the natives, which is probably why they don’t come to this part of the island, that and they have this idea that we’re taking all their land. I’ve been living in Waikiki for a year now and I’m still uncovering hidden treasures tucked down lonely streets and buried between sky high buildings. There’s a ton of them just waiting to be explored so keep an open eye. I spotted Arancino while strolling through the chaotic streets of Waikiki. I made a turn down a quite road trying to get away from all the commotion and I came upon Arancinos.

Arancino’s is a quaint little eatery. What you see here is all there is, just two small rows of tables. We came here for lunch and as you can see they weren’t very busy.

We started off with a modest loaf of bread. The rosemary on top gives off the illusion of a fresh loaf of bread filled with herbs. It’s an illusion, rosemary was just sprinkled on top, I didn’t taste any herbs here. Ray and I have this one basket rule when it comes to bread but this time I broke it because as you can see, one basket isn’t very much. Ray hated the bread, said it was as boring as bread can be. I didn’t mind it so much with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Glancing over the menu I realized that this was one of those places that look small, cute and inviting, but is actually small, cute, inviting and not so cheap. Well that sucks because I really wanted to like this place and wanted to come back. But I guess I should of known, after-all, it’s still Waikiki right? Oh bother, let’s see what to order to fill us up without raping a hole in my wallet. Ah, here we go, The Margherita Pizza, which is just a fancy way of saying margarita pizza. The menu said it was fresh mozzarella, basil, and homemade tomato sauce, $14.25. I have tasted many margarita pizzas in my time to know that this is a sorry embarrassing example of a margarita pizza. I mean, I know the menu said, mozzarella, basil and tomato sauce, but what about the tomato slice on each piece of pizza, and look at the skimpy amount of tomato sauce, and cheese, and basil. You know those pathetic mini frozen pizzas you get at the grocery store for around $1.79 on sale, those were a million times more exciting than the one you see here. Actually those are fucking amazing when you’re a little buzzed and you’re at home watching a game and drinking beer, I know some of you can relate. Anyhow, Ray and I got to talking and it wouldn’t have taken much to make this pizza a little bit more pleasing. This is what I suggest. Cut up slices of tomato and put one slice on each piece of pizza, add a bit more tomato sauce and cheese, chop up some basil so you get to taste the fresh herb with every other bite and also leave the whole ones for garnish in the center. There you have it, a thousand times better than that sorry piece of shit you guys call a margarita pizza.

If your in Waikiki and you want pizza don’t come here. Take your money to California Pizza Kitchen about 3 blocks away. I usually don’t support corporate places but at least they know what the fuck is going on. But if you do want Italian, just not pizza and you have the cash to burn stay at Arancino and check it out. The place is adorable, the menu looked mouthwatering and service was done with a smile. Happy eating to you.

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Arancino Pizza and Pasta
255 Beach Walk
Honolulu, HI 96815

Get Directions(808) 923-5557

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

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