July 18, 2010
Honolulu, Day 6: Happy Hearts Mochi, Champion Malasadas, Waikiki Beach, Curry House, and Bubbies Ice Cream
I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yeah, that was two months ago. I've been a bit sidetracked since getting back from Portland. I ONLY HAVE TWO MORE POSTS LEFT; I CAN DO THIS. You'll stick with me, won't you, dear reader? Won't. You? Okay, thanks.
- Mochi breakfast.
I didn't plan on eating mochi for breakfast, but thanks to Reid, I did. At the previous night's dinner he presented each of his guests a variety pack from Happy Hearts Mochi, a custom order-only mochi business in Honolulu.
Is it worth ordering from Happy Hearts when there are so many places in the city that sell mochi? According to Reid and Kathy, yes. And even though I didn't get to try much other mochi during my trip, I'd concur: This mochi was damn delicious and some of the best I've ever had. The glutinous rice skin tasted especially fresh—its soft and smooth texture melded perfectly into the thick block of haupia and chocolate filling. It was like eating the perfect macaron, or the perfect cupcake—when the components of cake/cookie/glutinous rice is paired with just the right amount of frosting/filling, which in turn are flavored to have just the right amount of sweetness and...whatever flavor they're supposed to have. I've had a lot of bad macarons and cupcakes in my life though—I think mochi is more forgiving.
Posted by roboppy at 4:40 AM | Comments (17)
July 11, 2010
Anyone Have Food Recs in Amman, Jordan?
Nope, I'm not taking a trip there (someday, maybe), but my friend Alex is! (Remember Alex? Vegetarian partner-in-fooding in Paris, and Philly, and NYC, and official Giant Manatee tamer.) He's in Jordan right now and will be in Amman at the end of the month to visit early Islamic archaeological sites. In the off chance that any of you well traveled, food-loving people can help suggest food recommendations in Amman, please leave a comment or drop me a line at roboppy@gmail.com. Thank you!
Posted by roboppy at 1:24 AM | Comments (7)
July 6, 2010
Honolulu Day 5, Part 2: Dinner at Town, Dessert at Nobu
I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yup, that was...a long time ago. I've just got two more Hawaii posts to go before getting back to New York City—I SWEAR IT WILL HAPPEN, unless I die in the next two weeks. Refresh your memory with Day 5, Part 1.
- Special menu featuring a bagillion calories = yay!
When Kathy and I told Reid of Honolulu-based blog Ono Kine Grindz that we were visiting Honolulu and wanted to break some bread with him—we've been reading each others blogs for years—we didn't expect him to organize a family-style 11-course dinner by executive chef Ed Kenney at Town followed by a six-course dessert by pastry chef Rachel Murai at Nobu in Waikiki.
But we should've, because Reid is a serious eater of the sort that I doubt I will ever be. These chefs put together special menus for Reid and his band of happy food blogger friends, which included Alan of ma'ona in addition to Kathy and me. It was Reid's first time meeting all of us, and with the help of Ed and Rachel he left his mark by making us all feel mega pregnant and happily food coma-ed by the end of the night.
It's been over one and a half months since I ate these meals—it's safe to say the flavors no longer ring clear in my mind. But I can tell you that everything tasted awesome, a sentiment that will hopefully become clear from the following bagillion pieces of food porn.
- Starter.
We started with small plates of almonds, cantaloupe slices, and pancetta.
>> Continue reading "Honolulu Day 5, Part 2: Dinner at Town, Dessert at Nobu"...
Posted by roboppy at 1:08 AM | Comments (15)
Back from Portland, Totally Stuffed, Totally Missing It
- Go towards the light!
During our first night in Portland, Erin and I roamed the nearly deserted streets around our hotel near midnight in search of something delicious. Because even though we were hungry enough to eat just about anything that was non-toxic—our stomachs were on New York time, after all, and we hadn't eaten dinner—we didn't want to waste any calories during our short trip.
But just when we were afraid we'd have to settle for potato chips from a convenience store—lo!, a twinkle of lights appeared on a block of mostly closed food carts on SW 3rd Ave between SW Stark and SW Washington, and the meaty and spicy smells of Vietnamese and Thai food from Pho Le pulled us in. It just made me...so happy. I felt like sun beams were bursting out of my head. I can get a freshly made banh mi for $3.50 at midnight on a Wednesday night? PORTLAND, I LOVE YOU.
Then I found out how many more great late night food carts existed. And I loved Portland even more. New York City has an amazing variety of great food, but as far as carts go we've got nothing on Portland, and we probably never will.
Thank you so much for your recommendations on my last post (and for all you Portlanders, for reading my blog from afar)! I won't be writing about the food we ate on this blog, but Erin and I will have posts coming up on Serious Eats, and some stuff we ate will be reserved for the Serious Eats book. For now, I'll share the list of places we hit during our three-day stay:
- Pho Le and Asia Express (last night munchies on Wednesday)
- Tin Shed
- Tonalli's Donuts and Cream
- Tasty N' Sons
- Pix Patisserie
- Big Egg
- Garden State
- Le Pigeon (just for the burger)
- Potato Champion
- Whiffies
- Bloop (oatmeal cart; awesome name, right?)
- Tabor
- Brunch Box
- Nong's Khao Man Gai
- Bunk Sandwiches
- Olympic Provisions
- Pok Pok
- Portland Farmers' Market: Sol Pops, Pine State Biscuits, Tastebud
- Voodoo Doughnuts (had to wait 40 friggin' minutes; granted, I was one of the gazillion other tourists waiting in line)
- Kenny & Zukes
I'm sorry we couldn't visit all the eateries you recommended (or even all the places on our original itinerary)—we could've eaten more if we tried—but I think we did a pretty good job for our short visit. Thursday was the craziest eating day, Friday was a bit less gluttonous, and we were much more relaxed on Saturday. When I got back home at 8 a.m. on July 4, I took a mega-nap and ate a small meal for dinner (I did nothing to celebrate independence, unless staying home all day counts). I think I'm still recovering.
We couldn't have eaten so much without tons of help from Maggie and her husband Matt, and Erin's friend Brian. Many thanks to my friends Rebecca and Ezra for joining us as well! I met a few TGWAE readers—hi Kristina and Daise—which was totally sweet. (For future notice, if you ever recognize me eating food and taking photos, don't be afraid to say hi! It makes me fuggin' happy to meet you guys.) I'm looking forward to visiting Portland again, after I feel less blimp-like.
Posted by roboppy at 12:07 AM | Comments (4)
June 29, 2010
Going to Portland This Week, June 30 - July 3
View PDX Serious Eats in a larger map
I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but I'm visiting Portland (Oregon) with Erin Zimmer this weekend for a Serious Eats-related trip from Wednesday night until Saturday night. The point of the trip: research the best food Portland has to offer for our upcoming Serious Eats book. And we will accomplish this by EATING AS MUCH GOOD FOOD AS WE CAN just shy of puking.
As our time is limited, we already have an impossibly long list of places to tackle (which I will share with those who are interested), so we're set on the food recommendation front. Maggie and her husband Matt are going to help us eat on Thursday and Friday, and my friend Rebecca is coming down from Seattle to eat with us on Saturday, but we could probably use more stomachs here and there. I'm not under the impression I have any readers in Portland (aside from the friend I already contacted; HI, EZRA!), but if I do...SPEAK NOW...and maybe we can get fatter together.
UPDATE: Thanks for raising your virtual hands, Portland eaters! I just popped in the handy dandy map Erin made. Look at all those blue markers...mmmyes....oh lord.
Some people have recommended pizza to us, but methinks we're not eating pizza because Adam has that covered. :) We chose places based on what we're covering in our book, which is breakfast, sandwich, dessert, and food cart-heavy
Posted by roboppy at 11:00 AM | Comments (21)
June 27, 2010
Honolulu Day 5, Part 1: Sconee's, Zippy's, and W & M Bar-B-Q Burger
I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16, which means I've been back in New York City for over a month. And these Hawaii posts aren't even done yet. Oh dear. I'll get back on the New York track in a month, maybe.
On the third day, I ate about 50 percent more than I should've. On the fourth day, I tried to compensate for the third day by eating less. And on the fifth day, I compensated for the fourth day by eating about 200 percent more than I should've.
- This janky image is brought to you by Paint, which is turn in brought to you by me being at my mom's place in NJ and using her Photoshop-less laptop. For better Paint-y drawings and hilariousness, visit Hyperbole and a Half.
This math, it just doesn't work. But it's amazing how malleable the human stomach is when pummeled with a five-meal day.
- Sconees.
Kathy and I started our day at Sconees, purveyor of scones and other baked sweets. Upon Kathy's recommendation, we skipped the scones and went for...
>> Continue reading "Honolulu Day 5, Part 1: Sconee's, Zippy's, and W & M Bar-B-Q Burger"...
Posted by roboppy at 3:52 AM | Comments (15)
June 18, 2010
Honolulu, Day 4: Korean, Cakeworks, Diamond Head, and Grandma's Chicken Curry
I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yup, that was about a month ago. Only three more days to recap!...which will probably take another month.
- It's time for YUMMY.
To follow up the previous day's plate lunch gorge-a-thon, Kathy and I took it slow. Really slow.
After an Internet session at Barnes & Noble (thank you for your non-password protected wifi, B&N) at the Ala Moana Center, we went to the crowded food court to eat lunch at Yummy Korean B-B-Q.
Posted by roboppy at 1:53 AM | Comments (18)
June 14, 2010
Honolulu, Day 3: Five-Location Plate Lunch Tour, Plus Desserts
I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yup, that was about a month ago. Thank god for digital photography or else I wouldn't remember enough to write about anything. ENJOY.
I got my malasada breakfast. I conquered a mountain of shave ice. The only major Hawaiian foodstuff left for me to gorge on? Plate lunch.
When I first heard of plate lunch—basically consisting of an Asian-influenced entrée, scoop of white rice, and scoop of macaroni salad—I thought, "That is what I want to eat every day." Okay, maybe not the mac salad as much (not that I'm against it; it's just not something I ever crave), but the Asian entrée? Yup. And the rice? Yes. A thousand times yes. Rice is my favorite starch. You know that moment when you open the lid of a rice cooker full of just-cooked rice and it releases a fresh poof of rice steam? I love that part—I take a giant whiff. And then relish my nutrient-barren rice.
The key to our plate lunch success was Stephanie Miwa. Stephanie is our friend Shannon's mom. Shannon wasn't actually in Hawaii—she's one of Kathy's roommates back in New York City and longtime friends from Honolulu—but Stephanie is so sweet that she didn't mind hanging out with us in her daughter's absence and being our tour guide for a few hours while driving us around the city.
Let the gorging begin.
- Monarch Seafoods.
Our first stop, Monarch Seafoods, ended up being my favorite of the day. I wanted to try everything on the menu—ahi sashimi salad, spicy firecracker chicken, garlic butter sauteed tiger prawns, pan fried butterfish, and garlic roast pork, just to name a few options—but considering we had hours of eating ahead of us and limited space in our digestive systems, we started with a mixed plate of deep fried poke and mochiko chicken served with scoops of white rice and macaroni salad. Only $8.45 for this heaping pile of food.
>> Continue reading "Honolulu, Day 3: Five-Location Plate Lunch Tour, Plus Desserts"...
Posted by roboppy at 1:58 AM | Comments (22)
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