The Traditional Filipino Feast at Dana’s Restaurant in Waipahu Leaves No Room for Dessert
Forks optional.
Mari Taketa
Articles
Take Five: 5 Spam Musubi to Tuck into Your Keiki’s Lunch Box
Musubi Café Iyasume sells up to 23 kinds of Spam musubi. Here are five different versions—safe and more adventurous—for your kids to try.
Pig and the Lady Opens in Tokyo
Chinatown's popular Viet-global restaurant opened to full houses on Thanksgiving weekend.
Foodflash: Foodland is opening a poke restaurant in Kakaako
Foodland, the state's biggest locally owned supermarket chain, just announced it's opening a poke bar and restaurant Dec. 12 in Kakaako. Redfish, a 36-seat eatery at Salt Kakaako, will have poke and other dishes plus local beers, craft cocktails and…
After 71 Years in Business, Hawai‘i’s Family-Run Foodland is Swinging for the Fences
Changes are happening across Foodland’s 33 stores, some gradual and subtle, others over the top. And there’s more coming.
These 3 Family-Owned Eateries Are Bringing Local Favorites to Wider Audiences
While keeping the “small island feel.”
Iyasume Makes Up to 23 Kinds of Spam Musubi
Did you even know the world needed 23 kinds of Spam musubi?
Honolulu’s King of Spam Musubi Now Serves 23 Varieties at 7 Spots on O‘ahu
Spam musubi aficionados have 23 reasons to stop by a local eatery that’s building an empire on a mountain of rice balls.
Natto feast coming to Jon Matsubara’s Feast restaurant next week
Update 9/26: Both Natto Feasts at Feast on Friday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Sept. 28 are SOLD OUT. The thing about Jon Matsubara's food is everything has a story, and somewhere in the story there's a twist. Sometimes it starts…
Manoa gets a new Feast
You who drove to Moiliili and fought for parking to eat Jon Matsubara's butter-poached crab and bacon sandwiches and fried chicken dipped in umami aioli and gochujang sambal, and you who never made it to his months-long Feast at Anasia…
Chef’s picks: What to eat at Rangoon Burmese Kitchen
I met Khun Sai, chef-owner of Chinatown's Rangoon Burmese Kitchen, at last month's Hale Aina awards. Or rather, Sai had just won Best New Restaurant - Editor's Choice, one of only two awards selected by the top eaters on the…
Foodflash: Pigs do fly! Look who’s opening in Tokyo
It's official: After months of rumors, Chinatown's Pig & the Lady confirms today that its first overseas restaurant will open in Tokyo this fall. The new restaurant will be owned by Tokyo-based Transit General Office, whose other restaurants include four…
Summer slime: Natto Day feast coming 7/10
Note: The July 10 natto dinner is sold out! So we've added an identical encore feast on Sunday, July 14, 2019. For tickets to More Summer Slime: 7/14 Natto Feast encore, order online at Eventbrite. There is slime, and there…
One of Honolulu’s best chefs is cooking vegan next week
I couldn't believe the Instagram message from Jennifer Hee, chef at Kaimuki's Juicy Brew: "Hi Mari! Chef Jon Matsubara will be popping up here next week. Vegan Feast!" Matsubara, you may recall, was the architect of the $65 Ultimate Loco…
Ultra-local stuff you find at Foodland Farms Ala Moana
If you think Foodland Farms Ala Moana is a standard higher-end supermarket, you've either never been or you need new glasses. It opened nearly two years ago as the biggest of Foodland's 33 stores, just two blocks from the state's…
Natto again! All-natto dinner coming April 17
Note: The April 17 natto dinner sold out in record time. So we've added a second natto dinner with an identical menu at Zigu on TUESDAY, APRIL 23 at 6 p.m. Scroll down for the ticket link! Break out the…
Foodie films, Super CW and more coming to HIFF Spring Showcase
Films that make you laugh, cry and hungry for fried chicken, cheese and soba — there's a lot packed into the Hawaii International Film Festival's April 5-14 Spring Showcase. Think 30 movies from 13 countries, including hits from the film…
Local food is back
Maybe it was when Waipahu's 72-year-old Highway Inn opened up in Kakaako in 2013. Or when Liliha Bakery expanded to Nimitz Highway the following year. After that, especially in the last few months, things have snowballed: Longtime eateries we grew…
Your Guide to Mochi in Hawai‘i: How to Eat it, Where to Buy it and More
Honolulu’s mochi makers combine Japanese tradition with unique, only- in-Hawai‘i touches.
The 11 Best Vegetarian and Vegan Dishes on O‘ahu Right Now
Welcome to the table, vegans and vegetarians: Honolulu’s eating scene has come around to the joys of meat-free dishes.
Look what’s open for lunch in Moiliili
The exact moment Jon Matsubara became one of my favorite chefs was when he put a bowl of foie gras-topped short rib and micro watercress greens in front of me, poured in hot broth and called it pot-au-feu — French…
At last, the winner of the Honolulu PokeFest fan favorite voting contest
Remember Frolic’s Honolulu PokeFest? The four-hour smorgasbord that brought the 14 of your favorite poke makers across Oahu together at Ala Moana Center in late September? It was a blowout success, thanks to the rabid appetites of Hawaii poke fans.…
“Crazy Rich Asians” Flew This Hawai‘i Chef to Cook a Crazy Feast in Hollywood
Pig and the Lady’s Andrew Le is cooking with Eddie Huang and Roy Choi.
Here’s What We Think You Should Order at Chef Morimoto’s Two New Restaurants
After closing one restaurant, the Iron Chef opened two more at the ‘Alohilani Resort: Momosan Waikīkī and Morimoto Asia.
$15 happy hour: Dean and DeLuca
Prices have gone up since the menu was revamped. As of June 2019, it's more like $20 happy hour. What can you get for $15 at happy hour? Like, beyond edamame and fries? At Dean & DeLuca, you get more…
Why I ate at Rangoon Burmese Kitchen three times in six days
Editor's note: The restaurant is no longer BYOB. There's a full bar with beer, wine and excellent cocktails. If it weren't for Hurricane Lane, I would have told you last week that Rangoon Burmese Kitchen, a new outpost of Moiliili's…
Eating is believing: Basalt’s $29 prime rib dinner
Editor's note: Basalt in late summer updated its menu: The $29 prime rib dinner is no more. Instead, that 12-ounce prime rib is now an entree choice in a $43 three-course Sunset Special dinner from 5 to 6 p.m. daily.…
Here’s all the ways we aloha poke
You just don't get it, Aloha Poke Co. I mean, it's fine for you to sit there in Chicago and with no connection to Hawaii, open a poke shop, and then another and another until you have 15 poke shops…
Natt-yo average natto encore: July 25 dinner at Shokudo
Last Tuesday at Shokudo, in celebration of Japan's official Natto Day on July 10, natto fiends feasted on eight dishes dripping with the slimy fermented beans. Natto cheese and crackers. Natto gyoza. Natto dashimaki egg roll stuffed with unagi. Natto…
Kampai! The Sake Shop Is Back in Business
The new spot in Kaka‘ako has 100-plus sakes, Japanese beers and whiskeys—and parking.
Coming July 10: Natt-yo average natto feast
Get ready to twirl your chopsticks, natto lovers, Hawaii's annual midsummer Natto Day dinner is coming up — on July 10, the same auspicious day when natto-loving Japan celebrates the stinky-slimy fermented bean! This one is definitely natt-yo average feast.…
Natto to da Max all-natto feast coming up 4/17
Note: This dinner is now sold out. Even with natto, Japan's famously slimy, stinky fermented bean, some things must be seen to be believed. Like bone-in beef burgundy simmered in a red wine-natto sauce. Or a play on crab rangoon,…
So this happened at Piggy Smalls Sunday night. Here’s what Obama ate
Staff at Piggy Smalls, sister restaurant to Chinatown's Pig and the Lady, is still picking their jaws up off the floor after Sunday night's command performance dinner. The guests: former President Barack Obama, an old friend from Punahou, some staffers…
Agu Ramen’s doing plate lunches in Kalihi
Agu, the chain of six ramen shops in Hawaii and six more in Texas, now has a seventh Hawaii slurp spot — and this one's serving up plate lunches. Agu Express opened in Kalihi last week with the chain's full…
5 Hidden Waikīkī Restaurants You Need to Try
Look between the tourist hot spots and chain restaurants to find these five hidden gems.
2018 Hale ‘Aina Awards: Behind the Scenes of Hawai‘i’s Top Restaurants
Take a closer look into a few of the winning restaurants and meet some of the people who make Hawai‘i’s dining so amazing.
Meet the New Leaders of Four Hale ‘Aina Award-Winning Restaurants
Get to know the talented chefs behind some of your favorite dishes.
Offal-ly good: Chris Cosentino cooking with Ed Kenney 11/5
Six years ago, when I organized a seven-course snout-to-tail pigfest in Manoa, meals using whole animals were a rarity in America. As in, so rare that chefs capable of breaking down and preparing all parts of a pig were known by…
Drink Local Guide: Where to Get Locally Crafted Beer, Wine and Spirits in Hawai‘i
It’s not just a craft-beer boom anymore: Hawai‘i produces our own wine, vodka, gin, mead and more right here in the Islands. Find out who’s behind it and where to get it.
Drink Local Guide: Where to Get Locally Crafted Spirits in Hawai‘i
Just about every kind of spirit, from rhum agricole to traditional shochu, can be found crafted in the islands.
