Off-Premise ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 14 By Mari TaketaNonstopGritty backstreet Waipahu, sun's gone down, acres of warehouses loom. Here suddenly, a beacon: the familiar Soul Patrol lunch truck, dishing up grinds on white tablecloths. I've found my…
Dessert fantasy ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 25 By Mari TaketaNonstopHappy, heady holiday season! Dreams of sugar plum fairies, scrumptious tarts, gooey-chewy cookies and candies and fudge...All came true yesterday, an 85-degree day, smack in the heart of…
Fave izakaya dishes ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 17 By Mari TaketaNonstopTop 5 reasons why I love izakaya:No. 5. Sake rules — but your beer-, wine- and liquor-loving buds won't be left in the cold.No. 4. Cozy, dimly…
I hate days like yesterday. A downward spiral, triggered by a single text message from Melissa Chang: “GoShiGo closed?!”Nonononono. Plenty of room for misinterpretation with ethnic holes-in-the-wall where English isn’t the first language. Maybe the surfer dude who owns Honolulu’s…
In the week since my I hate saimin blog, I learned something important: Saimin doesn’t have to taste good to be good. What a concept. Not one day has gone by that this lesson hasn’t been hammered home. When islandgirlinnc wrote…
Kokoro-Tei ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 19 By Mari TaketaNonstopDriving down Beretania one day, I spy a new sign. Kokoro-Tei, it says. Fresh bento, coming soon.Hello! Since the demise of Iga Bento on Keeaumoku, and before that Imari…
Deep down, do you really, truly love it?
New eats: Makittii ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 25 By Mari TaketaNonstop5:30 last night, corner of Kuhio Ave. and Kanekapolei. The site of the former Perry's Smorgy is packed. Crowds throng the entrance on day one of the…
Foodie films @ HIFF ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 7 By Mari TaketaNonstopWe're scarred, we are, by this recurring vision of funk: It's October, it's HIFF season, and we're in a theater enthralled by scenes that have just…
Matsutake feast @ Zenshu ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 15 By Mari TaketaNonstopDays grow short, winds blow chill, and under special pine trees in climes cooler than ours, matsutake mushrooms begin to appear.So what, you say? Why all…
So I’m sitting here last Friday, waiting for a DM from @EatGogi to confirm his Korean taco truck is really opening as tweeted at 5 p.m.For the non-twitterati among you, that means I’m expecting a direct message from the owner…
I know nothing about Chinese food. I grew up deadened to it by years of Chinese takeout, the knee-jerk resort of a busy mom who ordered beef broccoli and cake noodles every time she was too tired to cook. Given…
I know locals who don’t eat raw fish. Another friend won’t eat fish if their heads are still attached. Another won’t eat pork because she thinks pigs are cute. And don’t get me started on people who won’t eat papaya,…
Morimoto Waikiki ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 27 By Mari TaketaNonstopOpening night for Morimoto Waikiki, and it's Masaharu Morimoto's latest moment to shine. A Michelin star for his Tokyo restaurant, another restaurant newly opened in Napa in July,…
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival brings up memories of a faraway encounter with mooncakes in Vietnam.
Fave okazuya finds ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 25 By Mari TaketaNonstopA childhood memory: It's early morning, air is cool and cars fill the streets. Field trip today, so there's a frozen can of juice in my backpack…
I’m sorry.If you’re in line at a taste-and-sip event and a short Japanese woman with wild hair flapping over her eyes cuts to the front and photographs your dish while you stand there giving her stink eye, I’m sorry.If she…
Taste at Kapolei ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 33 By Mari TaketaNonstopEleven years already, Taste at Kapolei? Where have we been? Your grassy knolls overlooking dreamy lagoons, white tents beckoning as far as the eye can see, and…
When you see the pics from the epic Nonstop Honolulu launch party, I want you to know that it was fun. Total, no-holds-barred, unabashed fun. For me, at least — I wasn’t covering it.This weekend I will be covering a…
A week ago, after arduous and weighty research, I came out with my Top 5 picks for best pizzas in town. Listed in alphabetical order according to where I found each pizza. Which, apparently, was confusing.I get that. It’s a…
Twenty-seven pizzas in two weeks: That’s what I ate to research one food gallery.Ask me about the others. Laulau? Fifteen plates from Waipahu to Waiahole. Decadent sandwiches? Twenty-two, and I would’ve killed for an apple. Best eats at Maunakea Marketplace?…
1balut ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 9 By Mari TaketaNonstopChee hoo! Awesome turnout at this growing street festival last Saturday. This year's Taste of Kalihi has expanded out of the Savers parking lot to take over the entire…
Pizza: a quest ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 16 By Mari TaketaNonstopAll pizza, all the time. Twenty-seven pizzas in two weeks I tried, and that doesn't count the ones already committed to memory. In all, the total was…
Tree to Table — A Mango Throwdown ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 34 Balmy night, end of summer, heart of Waikiki: 17 of the island's best chefs converge on the Moana Surfrider with their best mango dishes.For what?…
Here's the beef! ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 17 By Mari TaketaNonstop HonoluluHello? Right across from Times on Beretania, in the old Mekong restaurant space, new signage announces the Honolulu Burger Co., established 2010. July 29, to be…
August 19: the muse strikes ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 21 By Mari TaketaNonstop HonoluluThis soft summer's eveWe'll sip in rising raptureO joy of sake! — Photo by Ed Morita jQuery(function($) { new NggPaginatedGallery('dfca1765c7c9b0a4049383def8621351', '.ngg-imagebrowser'); });
A bon dance where? ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 13 By Mari TaketaNonstop HonoluluWhoever heard of Rissho Kosei Kai? Seriously, who?Well, it's a Buddhist temple way up in the hills above Pearl City, and we hear they have…
