Oh mall food, where do I began. I’ve never been a fan of most mall food because most of the time it’s just seems as though it’s a clutter of fast food, poor in quality with really horrible service all within an overcrowded food court. Unless of course it’s a restaurant all on it’s own and, well, that’s a different story. We were turned on to Gourmet Express by a close friend of ours, who chooses to remain anonymous, Amber. She said it wasn’t really expensive, the portions were pretty big and it was surprisingly good. Also, they have vegetarian items, which is a good thing since she’s one of those people. While shopping at Kahala Mall one day Ray and I happen to stumble upon Gourmet Express and decided to give it a whirl.

It’s Christmas time at Kahala Mall so pick a seat around their festively large tree.

I didn’t mind the mall food court on this side of the mall because it didn’t give me that mall food court vibe. As you can see although all the tables are taken up there’s not a lot of hyperactive energy going on. Did I mention it was Christmas time?

Since we weren’t ridiculously hungry we decided to share something. I know I mentioned this before but I highly recommend sharing. Ray and I do it almost every time. It prevents us from overeating and allows us to try anything on the menu without worrying about how expensive it is since we save money on the extra meal we can splurge on anything we want so long as we agree on it. On this day we decided on a Quesadilla. Ray goes, “We’re gonna get a Chicken Quesadilla. Is there a difference on the Chicken or Checken.” And the lady behinds the counter goes, “Huh?” looks up at the sign and goes, “Oh, it’s just spelt wrong.” I have one word for you, Retards. They have to be. I mean if both of them were spelled, “checken,” well then that’s a different story. I spell words wrong all the time but the first one was correctly spelled so how is it that they couldn’t manage to correctly spell the second one. I mean, really it’s right there in front of them. It baffles me. This person had to be highly confused and in a moment of despair decided to play the odds game. At least this way one of them would be correct. Great, now I’m a little worried about the turnout of my food.

Here it is, Checken Pesto Quesadilla, $6.99. As you can see the presentation is pretty basic. Our quesadilla came in four cut pieces in a styrofoam container inside a plastic bag with a small side of salsa. You can see Rays arm to the side so hopefully you guys can have an idea of how nice the portions were.

The quesadillas were fully packed with chicken, cheese, pesto sauce, tomatoes and even corn. Wow, it was really good. The pesto sauce was mixed with olive oil so even though it seemed a little greasy it was the good grease. The chicken didn’t once taste fatty or too dry. I told Ray I wouldn’t question this dish the least bit if it were served at a gourmet restaurant on a fancy plate with lovely garnish and a lovely price to match. The salsa was nothing spectacular, tasted like the can stuff you get at the grocery stores.

This might not look very enticing but I opened up the last bit of my quesadilla so you guys have an idea of what’s on the inside. No surprises.

There you have it folks. I was happy, Ray was happy and we have Amber to thank for it and now you do too. Thanks Amber, now just go over there, show them which chicken is correct and everyone will be happy.

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Gourmet Express
4211 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 732-7700

Alright, I’ve been holding off on writing this post long enough. If you’ve been a good little fan and reading all my post then you’ll remember when I said Metis, or Rainy Day Cafe is the best internet cafe on this island in one of my previous post on Morning Brew. Metis just recently changed its name to Rainy Day Cafe. I personally thought the name Metis was more fitting. The manager was hired to give the place a nice douche job. Although the cafe was nice before I do notice a few subtle changes that really enliven the place.

As you can see, this cafe is pretty spacious. Unlike a lot of internet cafes around the island, there’s plenty of space. There’s seating at the counter, couches, and at the tables. Like a good internet cafe, they have computers for your using pleasure, not that kinda of pleasure you sick, sick man, for a small fee of course. Now, if you already have a laptop, sweet, because if your a computer whore like me and can easily spend countless hours with your laptop, then you’ll appreciate all the power outlets they provide. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to an internet cafe and been forced to leave only because my computer ran out of power. If your hungry they have a small selection of food and if you want something sweet they have a nice array of pastries and tarts to choose from, all which look very tempting. Also, the restrooms always looks clean and inviting, which is a nice bonus, as we all know coffee is a laxative. Every time I go into the restroom to do my thing, I regret not taking my fully charged laptop with me. I swear I can hear the toilet say, “come in old friend, my how I missed that sweet ass of yours. Come sit on my face.” And I respond, “don’t mind if I do.” I think a bidet would look quite nice in here. Anyhow, internet isn’t free. I know I mentioned many times that all business should give free internet but if your a noncorporate internet coffee shop, then I guess it’s okay. The fee is $3.00 per user but Ray, Shane and I like to all go in and pay for only one user and pass the access code around. There’s been days where we are the only ones in there and still we pay for only one user fee. I know they’re not stupid and have to know but they probably just don’t care or know that we are just loyal customers and would rather spend the money we save on food. Here’s what we bought.

This Bagel Sandwich, $4.95. Yes only $4.95. There’s not a lot of places that have food for under five bucks so even if you don’t have any desire to use a computer and you just want to to grab a quick bite that’s cool too.

This bagel sandwich comes with fresh romain lettuce, cheese, tomato, cucumber and a creamy pesto sauce. Everything works in conjunction really well. The creamy pesto gives it a nice gourmet touch while the cucumbers really balance out the strong natural flavors of the salami.

Next we have the New York Lox Bagel, $6.50. The last lox bagel I had was at Bogarts and apparently if I go back there one of the workers will jizz in my food. She’s a female so I’m assuming in order to do this she would have to squat over my food. Either way, no thanks, besides the one at Rainy Day Cafe is cheaper. Like all Lox Bagels it comes with cream cheese, slices of thinly sliced onions, tomato, smoked salmon and capers. Ray and I ordered this before and we’re ordering it again because it was just that good.

Did I mention that they have pastries. I notice that they pastry selection changes from time to time, which is good because that means we’re always going to get something fresh. On this day they had a huge array of baklava. I’m not Jewish, or Russian and maybe that’s why I’m not really crazy about baklava, but it just looked so pretty that I had to get one.

I got one and it came in this over sized container.

Side view of my baklava.

Top view of my baklava. It was a really small piece and cost my somewhere around a buck fifty. This one had pistachios and like all baklava’s, was soaked in honey. I’m glad I didn’t get two because one is usually all I can eat. I like sweet, but baklava’s are too sweet for my liking. Lets me on.

On a separate occasion I had cake. The chocolate cake was moist and spongy and the cream was the soft whipped kind. I’m sorry but I don’t remember how much this cost me, I’m guessing around $3.50, but I do know that it was worth every penny.

There you have it folks. This place is by far the best internet cafe on the island. Lets face it when it comes to internet cafes, it’s all about the ambiance. This place makes for a nice work space. It’s a little hidden right outside the mall which is probably why it’s not always ridiculously busy.

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Rainy Day Cafe
1601 Kapiolani Blvd # 150
Honolulu, HI 96814

(808) 945-9944

The Contemporary Museum is the only museum in Hawaii committed solely to contemporary art since 1940. It’s educational, entertaining, affordable, interactive and a perfect way to spend the afternoon. I came here with a group of friends. It cost $5.00 each to get in and parking was free. When we arrived the cafe was full and had a 45 minute wait so we decided to put our name on the waiting list and go through the gallery first. I was impressed with all the interactive art that was offered. After what seemed to be one hour we headed to the cafe for some grub. I was mentally prepared to spend a little more since I was at a museum but pleasantly surprised to find that lunch here was quite affordable.

There is seating both inside and outside

We started off with two Spinach & Artichoke Dips, $7.00 each. It came with slices of warm pita bread. I loved it, thought it was really tasty and wished everyone had their own bowl, or at least I wished I had my own bowl. Shane is the one who is crazy about spinach & artichoke dip, especially the one from California Pizza Kitchen. Every time we go there he orders one thing and one thing only, spinach and artichoke dip. He said this one doesn’t compare. I beg to differ but, he has more experience in this dish than I do.

We also got Hummus & Pita, $6.00. It was served with warm pita bread, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, feta cheese & kalamata olives. I have nothing bad to say about this dish. It’s pretty hard to fuck up hummus and fresh vegetables. Not that I really know how to make hummus. I guess the real work comes in presentation and to me it looked yummy and that it was. Everything tasted fresh and the bread was warm to the touch.

Sara ordered the Portabella Mushroom Burger, $10.50, baked portabella mushroom on a kaiser bun dressed with sun dried tomato pesto, basil pesto, lettuce, tomato, & gorgonzola cheese. It was accompanied with some more hummus and chips. This dish was delicious. The mushroom was cooked to perfection and seasoned just right.

Huumm, I wonder who ordered a sandwich? Could it be Ray the whore of most sandwiches. Yes Ray ordered this sandwich, the Cuban Style Ham & Turkey Sandwich, $11.00. It came with fresh turkey, black forest ham, pickles, mayo, lettuce and tomato all on a soft baguette. Ray said the bread was much too hard, so hard that he started eating the insides and left the bread for dead. He also said that it was a petite sandwich that didn’t serve his hunger justice.

This dish too came with chips and hummus.

And here is my dish. I was quite content with my pick, Shrimp Roasted Shallot & Tarragon Salad, $12.00. The tarragon dressing was lite, slightly sweet and oh so good. The sauteed onions were a little over done but the shrimp was grilled to perfection.

When we got to the cafe we were one of the last 3 tables. It took about 45 minutes to get our food after we had already ordered it. This sucked because we had already waited 45 minutes just to get sat. My friend, Ona actually cancelled her Turkey Avocado Wrap because she was tired of waiting and irritated that all of us had gotten our food already. The service wasn’t bad, it was the waiting when it wasn’t busy that annoyed the hell out of us. By the time we got our food we were the only ones there. It just didn’t make any sense. But I do want to say that we were the last table and they were probably just getting ready to close down lunch. After we ate we went for a walk around the garden. Here are some pictures I took.

Pretty cool place right? All I have to say is, today was a good day. My experience here was whimsical.

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The Contemporary Museum Cafe
2411Makiki Heights Drive
Honolulu, HI 96822
(808) 532-3362