So my friends and I got to talking about those places to eat that have ridiculous service. Not ridiculously good but ridiculously outright in your face sassy service. We exchanged horror stories. I brought up a place called Green Door in China Town. I haven’t written about it because at the time I didn’t have a food blog but this lady was so crazy. She was definitely in a world where customer service didn’t exist. She got to us when she felt like it, straight up ignored us when we asked for something and even suggested we go else where. And then when we ordered she told us that that wasn’t what we wanted and she totally picked us out something without even confirming it with us. Crazy right? It’s straight comedy and I love it. Now, not every place could pull off service like this but those who can and still do well must have something impressive to put out on the table. My friend was like we have to go to this place called eight and a half. She said that this guy is like a soup nazi. He’ll serve food by throwing it at you, has no problem kicking people out and has a very extreme mannerism about himself. Anyhow, is wife is suppose to be super sweet and his kid is supposely some musical protege. After our conversation I had to experience soup nazi service for myself.

Once inside you could tell the owners had a love and passion for music. The place was a mix of earthy meets jazzy, a very nice mix.

We started off with some bread, free of course. I think it was the owners wife that served us. She seemed very pleasant, sweet and obedient. The owner was conversing with the table next to us. Is it crazy that I was disappointed that I didn’t get the brusque service I was so looking forward to. Ah, oh well, let’s eat.

This was my friends order, Ratiatore Verde, kiawe grilled steak on zucchini pesto pasta, $13.00. She gets this dish every time she comes. I got a chance to try it and I could see why. Very tasty.

This was my pick, Stufato Di Manzo, Italian Beef Stew with rice or mashed potatoes, $12.00. It kinda looks like cow diarrhea doesn’t it. Well despite it’s looks it was very tasty. I didn’t pick mash potatoes it just came with it. I actually was hoping for rice instead. The dish had great flavor but was very fatty. I know some fat is necessary for flavor but this was slightly overboard. Since I have no class I didn’t mind spitting out the fat on to a napkin. My ba-dunk-ka-dunk butt has enough junk in the trunk, no need for more.

My other girlfriend got the Pollo In Potacchio, chicken in wine, tomato sauce and herbs with rice or mash potatoes, $12.00. She was very happy with her dish and said it reminded her of some hearty southern food with mash potatoes. Of course I got to try it and it was exactly as she has described it, hearty souther Italian.

This was the extent of the abrupt service I was looking forward to. I’m gonna have to agree with it. It doesn’t surprise me that the owner is a San Francisco native. Anyhow, come on down to this place. I can’t guarantee that you’ll get spectacular bad service, but you will get delightfully simple Italian cuisine at a not very bad price.

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Cafe VIII 1/2
1067 Alakea St
Honolulu, HI 96813

Get Directions(808) 524-4064

Driving down Waialae, you’ll see a strip of small businesses, but one that has always caught my eye was Town. It struck my curiosity because I never was quite sure what the heck it was. I mean, driving by at 35 mph I’m only given a quick glimpse and then I’m left to guess. Is it a wine bar? An internet cafe? Fine dinning? “One day babe, we’re gonna find out,” I said. Well, one day came and we paid a visit to Town. It just so happens that Town is a cute little eatery, so we stayed to eat.

It took a while to be sat. I think we arrived at the wrong time, right after lunch. It seemed as though the help was more interested in getting ready for dinner than seating us. Finally we got sat and the server said she would be right with us and then placed this clip board on our table.

So we sat and waited for the her to come back with some menus and then we realized that this clip board on our table was our menu. Oh, I get it, duhhh. How cute and innovative. Apparently everything in yellow was what we could order from. That part was annoying as hell. All of a sudden I felt like I was back in college, going over someones notes before a test, trying to figure out why this was highlighted and make sense of it all. “Honey, you just order for me,” I said.

Ray went over the menu as I got up to check out the place. This bistro had a modern, contemporary, Italian feel. I love places that allow you to sit outside as will as in, this place lets me do that.

Finally the server got back to us. I think she might have forgotten that she sat us out here. Ray ordered the Panino of prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, arugula, $9.00. All the sandwiches were served with ma’o greens or french fries. I picked ma’o greens and hoped that meant a small green salad.

So here’s our order and it was to die for. Ray and I shared this dish, and it turns out it was almost enough to fill us. This picture actually makes the sandwich look bigger than it really was and the salad was really small, they just fluffed the greens up a bit, but it was no more than three full bites. Also, I didn’t really liked the dressing it came with.

For $9.00 I have to debate if it’s worth it and after much consideration I have to say, yes this was worth $9.00. Even though there was not a lot of meat, the sandwich tasted like a real gourmet sandwich. I loved the creamy mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. Even Ray fell in love with this dish. The salad portion was a bit discouraging, but they made up for it in taste. I would order this again, but only this time we have to order two because sharing is not an option when it comes to this one. Also I want to add that they’re known to have a great wine selection and if you bring your own corkage fee is $10.00. Some may think that’s reasonable, but I don’t. Ten dollars? A lot of wines that I drink cost that much, so to pay the same amount just to have someone open it for me is robbery. A lot of places will only charge only 2-5 dollars, just ask around. Also, they have a stupid website.

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Town
3435 Waialae Ave # 104
Honolulu, HI 96816

Get Directions(808) 735-5900

Lights, Camera, Action!

Here’s another chain that doesn’t get enough credit. The first Buca opened up only 14 years ago in an apartment basement in Minneapolis. Today there are 93 Bucas nationwide. That’s pretty fucking impressive. Luckily, Hawaii is home to 1 of the 93. Buca di Beppo of Hawaii is located in the Ward Entertainment Center right below Dave and Busters and Edward Cinema. I try to avoid this area in the evenings of Thursday, Friday and Saturday because the area is festering with annoying pubescent teens.

I forgot to take a picture of the inside for this blog. I’ve been to quite a few Bucas before and all of them have the same nostalgic Italian decor. Walls are cluttered with pictures and random flare. Table tops are covered with the traditional red and white table covers. Along with the dim lighting everything seems to flow nicely.

One reason why I love it here so much is because you have the option to order your dish as a small individual dish or a large family style dish. In the spirit of Italian culture everyone should order family style when dining here. It’s just so much fun to be able to eat what everyone else is eating and talk about it. Here we ordered a large linguine frutti di mare, aka, seafood linguine, $21.99. The large is $31.99. It was my favorite pasta noodle, linguine mixed with shrimp, mussels, clams, and calamari. Yum!

First I want to apologize for the shitty picture. You see, one of the troubles of going to a place with really nice lighting is taking a really nice picture. You see, I don’t have the expensive extras to go along with my fancy camera, so I have to decide, do I use the flash or do I not? Here I used the flash, it looks really bright and I apologize. When I can afford to buy a fancy flash and lens for the camera I will. Anyway, this is the Small Spicy Sausage and Mushroom Pizza, $14.99. It was yummy as always.

Now I know this place isn’t exactly cheap, but if you come here with a big or small group and order a few dishes it could be. There was 3 of us and we ordered two small dishes and there was left overs to be had. I don’t suggest coming here if you plan on being stingy and not sharing, unless you can afford to. Happy eating to you.

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Bucca Di Beppo
1030 Auahi Street #1
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 591-0800