1-2-Bite-Cut-Chew

While we do have a significant number of Mexican restaurants, other Hispanic cuisines aren't so readily represented here in the islands.   In particular, I really have no inkling what South American cuisine is like.   I have naturally always assumed that the cuisine would be very similar to Mexican food, but this is a huge fallacy. French food and Italian food have next to nothing in common.   Chinese food and Japanese food are just as dissimilar.   In fact, I really hate the term "Asian".  At least when we were called "Oriental", there was some exotic, mystical appeal to it.   But, when I'm on the mainland and they call me "Asian American", I always feel like, "Chinese and Japanese are so different, what you cannot even tell us apart??".  I would much rather be called, "local Chinese", or more simply "Pake" will do.   It really annoys the hell out of me.   So by the same token, thinking that all the Latin American cultures are the same does them the same discourtesy.  Unfortunately, since they have very little representation here in the islands, we don't really get the opportunity to explore and get acquainted with their various cultures.

While there are few South American restaurants, we cannot say that they have had no influence in our culture.   In fact, it was gauchos and Mexican vaqueros, who came over to train our local paniolos when cattle was first introduced to the islands.   Because of this, the paniolo methods and tools are very still more similar to the gauchos than to the cowboys of Texas.  Because of their excellent training, the original paniolos (like Ikua Purdy) would consistently out-rope the Texas boys in competition (something they don't like to talk about). 

Fittingly enough, when the Ward 16 complex first finished construction, we had a restaurant called Gaucho Grill.  Like Compadres, it was actually part of a small California chain.  Unfortunately, also like Compadres, most of that chain has closed including the one at Ward.   But for a while we had the opportunity to enjoy Argentina style asado in our own backyard.   Of course, being part of a California based chain, I always questioned the authenticity of the Argentine flavor.  But then again, being steak, it isn't exactly a complex dish.  I'm pretty sure the steak itself was not imported from Argentina, so that leaves only the seasonings to convey the true Argentine flavor.  When I visited Gaucho Grill, the skirt steak that I had was as tender and juicy as expected.   But I was a litlte disappointed in flavors weren't all that distinguishable from any other Western style steak place.   For the most part, steak stands on its own, and unless you're doing teppanyaki, the beef flavor doesn't change all that much.   Of course Argentina is famous for its vast quantities of flayed carcasses being grilled over open flame, so the skirt steak was probably representative, if not entirely accurately, of their cuisine.   When I think of gaucho cuisine though, I just can't help but think of Goofy describing gaucho lifestyle in his 1942 short, El Gaucho Goofy, a segment from the Disney classic Saludos Amigos.   With bread and meat protruding from each side of his hand, and naught but a knife in the other to eat with (1-2-bite-cut-chew), Goofy simultaneously conveyed both humor as well as the mouthwatering nature of the food.  To me, that will always be what Argentine cuisine is all about.

The only other major South American cuisine that we had in the islands, was in the form of a Brazilian barbecue, otherwise known as a churrascaria.   If you've never been to a churrascaria, it is basically a buffet, where a never ending line of waiters come to you with huge rapier like skewers loaded with meat.  They slide you off a piece or cut you off a portion to enjoy until the next waiter comes along with the next type of meat.  It's a huge meatfest, with different cuts of steaks, chicken, sausages, pork, and lamb, enough meat to gorge any voracious carnivore.  You're left feeling really heavy, stuffed full of meat, meat, and more meat.   In Hawaii, this meatopia could be found in McCully Shopping Center, at a place called Tudo de Bon.

Tudo de Bon was brightly lit and clean, but not really adorned with Brazilian decor.   Instead, they focused letting the food convey the authenticity.  Going to the bar for the side dishes, the most unusual (and very Brazilian) thing they had was a ground up powder called farofa, that you would sprinkle on your rice or dip your meat into.   To me the farofa didn't really add much flavor, so much as a powdery, mealy texture which to be perfecty honest I didn't really care for.   But it was the most authentically , and uniquely Brazilian thing that they offered.   The rest of the bar included various pastas and salads, which may or may not have been really Brazilian, but certainly weren't as memorable.   Of course the most memorable thing at Tudo de Bon was the meat.   There was tons of it.   Like the skirt steak at Gaucho Grill, I really didn't taste seasonings that really differentiated it from any other grilled meat, but it was all very succulent and tasty.   I tried to find similarities to Mexican food, but there really weren't any in any of the spices.   I tried to find similarities to our local Portuguese food, knowing how big an influence the Portuguese had in Brazil, but the closest thing they had were sausages that were similiar but not really the same as our own Portuguese sausage.  They really just grilled it to bring out the natural flavors of the meat itself.   While they had so many different types of steak, it was really the chicken drumettes, the sausages, and when they had it the bacon wrapped turkey that I liked the best.  After eating sirloin (picanha) tri tip, ribeye, filet mignon, and even lamb, all the red meats kind of blur together.   But it was a great experience just to have them bring everything by on those huge skewers.   The only problem was that they were really slow.   Whenever we went, it seemed like they only had one waiter (who actually bore a striking resembalance to Sylvester Stallone) going back and forth with different skewers.  I think it was this lack of proficiency in running an efficient restaurant that lead to their closing.  Sadly, they took with them our only window into Brazilian cuisine.

Latin America has never been really high on my travel list, so I don't know that I'll ever taste the truly authentic cuisines of this region.   But, the absense of Gaucho Grill and Tudo de Bon did leave me curious for more. If only my Brazilian friend, Simone, knew how to cook, I'd be all set.

Fijian Indian Food

To tell you the truth, I never really cared for Indian food when I was younger.   I ate it.   But I was never really fond of it.  First of all, I am famously not a fan of beans.    I don't like the starchy powdery texture that beans, legumes, and lentils all have.   Indian food, it seemed was just about all various forms of legumes and lentils.  When ordering a plate, I would have some rice, and maybe 4 different dishes, each of which seemed like a different color of baby food.   It all looked like mush to me, and didn't even have a nice creamy texture, but one of mashed beans.  Suffice it to say, I was not impressed.  It wasn't until I was much older that I found out what I was eating, was Indian fast food.   Very poor Indian fast food at that.  The real thing is totally different, and is a cuisine filled with different colors and textures, and dozens upon dozens of different spices.

The first time that I ever had really good Indian food, where I found myself really adoring Indian food, was one the epicenters of Indian cuisine.   London, England.    Wait, London, England?   Aren't the British notorious for bad food and the most unadventurous palates on the planet?   Well, yes, but for centuries, the British Empire had colonies that stretched around the globe (thus the phrase, "the sun never sets on the British Empire").   The crown jewel of the British influence in Asia, was of course India.  What people don't realize, is that although the British were there as a colonial power with their heal down on the Indians, there was a backwash of Indians that came to London.   A very big population in fact.   So it should be no surprise, that Indian food is done really well in London.

There I was in London, England, the first stop on a long European tour with my sister.  We were only spending one day in London, so not very much time to explore.   Naturally the tour serves us some really awful food.  It was an extremely bland and dry chicken.   It was so tasteless, that I feared for the food on the rest of the trip.   Unsatisfied and hungry later that night, I decided to sneak out of the hotel in search of some real food.   It was 11:00 PM, but the sun was just beginning to set.  So we were walking around in essentially late afternoon sun, and we came across a little Indian place.  Feeling curious we bought some and brought it back to our hotel.   It was simply amazing.  To begin with the bread was unlike any other unleaven bread I had ever had.   It was crispy on the outside, and the thin inside was chewy.  Much chewier and doughier than any pita bread I had ever eaten.  But the thing that I just adored was the lamb masala.  Spicy couldn't even begin to describe the number of different spices I could detect.   It was peppery.   It had so many distinct nodes of flavor.   The lamb itself was really tender, slightly gamey (with that distinctive lamb taste), and oh so delicious.   I didn't think I would ever taste Indian food like that again.  But I was wrong.

During a rather unpleasant stint I had in Seattle, when my Po Po was there for medical treatment, we decided to wander around the area near the University of Washington.   For me, walking around was more about clearing my head and dealing with my Po Po's illness, than it was about exploring and seeking new things, as is my usual modus operandi.  But we found our way into a little Indian restaurant, right outside of UW, and I found myself having a plate of that very lamb masala over jasmine rice.   Somehow the spices and the flavors put a little spring back in my step.   It wasn't at all what I would call comfort food.  But somehow, it was comforting enough, that I could refocus on supporting my Po Po.

When I got home, I was determined to find some place that I could enjoy Indian food here.   I would no longer stand for having lousy Indian mush passing itself on as real Indian food.   But at the same time, I really wasn't familiar enough with Indian cuisine that I could walk into any restaurant and know how to order the good stuff.   Unlike with Korean food, I didn't have Indian friends to take me to try their authentic favorites.   So I searched and experimented, and finally I found a place that made really good Indian food, accessible to everyone.  But the key was to go on a Friday or Saturday night, when they would offer an Indian food buffet.   The place was right on the edge between Chinatown and Downtown Honolulu, on the corner of King St. and Smith St., simply called Zaffron.

Lunch Buffet at Zaffron

The owners of Zaffron, are Indian, but they're not from India.  In fact, they're from Fiji.   Somehow, this didn't phase me, as one of my best Korean friends spent her childood in American Samoa, and I am a little Chinese boy from Hawaii.   The fact that people are away from their source countries, tends to make them cherish and celebrate their culture more.   Besides that, like Keo's did with Thai food, I was perfectly satisfied that the Indian flavors presented there, were based upon the family recipes of this particular Indian family (from Fiji).  But the moment I tasted their lamb masala curry, it brought me back to London, and to Seattle.   It wasn't exactly the same.   It was a little milder than the incredible melange of spices in London, but it was just as savory.   It was my favorite thing on their dinner buffet.    Recently, they have begun offering a full lunch buffet as well, in which the lamb masala does not appear.   But it does have a wide variety of other tasty things.

Naan Bread at Zaffron

To begin with, they offer you a piece of that wonderful naan bread that I remember from London.   It is crisp on the outside, and nice and chewy on the inside. It is the perfect for tearing off pieces and using them to pick up your food, no utensils required.

Lunch Buffet at Zaffron

They have quite a selection of vegetables.   Yes, they still have many of the lentils that I wasn't so enamoured with to begin with.  But they've also got leafier vegetables and things with more texture and crunch.  They have a very nice okra dish that has beautiful wheel shaped cross sections of okra.   My favorite is their cabbage, which like kalua pig and cabbage or corned beef and cabbage, retains the crunch of the cabbage while absorbing the savoriness of whatever it's cooked with.

Buffet Plate at Zaffron

They've got a good selection of curries.   Of course they've got a good chicken curry, but what always surprises me is their fish curry.   I've never really thought of Indian food as utilizing a lot of seafood.  Lamb, beef, and chicken, yes, but I never really associated seafood with Indian food.  To my surprise, the fish curry at Zaffron is one of the best things there.  Somehow the tenderness of the fish absorbs the oils and spices in a way that the other meat and foul do not.  The other big surprise is their egg curry.  The eggs taste almost like an omelette that my Po Po used to make.  Sort of an Indian variation on egg fu yung.   It kept me wanting more and more.

Plate of Seconds at Zaffron

Of course you must top off any Indian meal with a cup of chai tea.   Chai has become so popular now, you can pick up a cup from any Starbucks on the corner.  But the difference with getting it at Zaffron is the intensity of the spice mix.  It's a sweet, milky, cinnamony pleasure.   For some reason though, drinking chai always reminds me of Christmas.  It's probably the cinnamon, or the combination of sweet and milky.  But the precise spice mix used in good chai, always reminds me of holiday spices and the smell of baking desserts. 

Chai Tea at Zaffron

Buffets are usually not the best quality for food, since they sit there and get cold or overcook, and many places pass off quantity for quality.   At Zaffron, however, the buffet is a wonderful way to expose yourself to something new, to try new flavors and taste sensations, and explore a different culinary culture.  I can't attest that they're the most authentic Indian cuisine, but somehow you can taste the family, the ohana, in their recipes.

Brunch and the Beach

When my friend came from living in New York for many years, she had asked me one day where we could go to get brunch.   Being the middle of the week, I thought she was being a little extravagant for a weekday meal.  After a little discussion, I realized that brunch in New York was a little more commonplace than the extravagant Sunday brunch buffets that we're accustomed to here in the islands.   In New York, brunch was also an everyday casual meal eaten in a cafe or bistro that wasn't necessarily a huge buffet.   It was simply mid-morning and crossed the barriers between breakfast and lunch items, finding a niche of its own dishes.   Not being really big here, we opted for a dim sum brunch that was just what she was hoping for.

While we don't really have a lot of restaurants that specifically carry a casual brunch menu, I really do enjoy the big brunch buffets that are all over the island, primarily for special occasions.  I like throwing on some nice aloha attire, but something a little more colorful and breezy than the type of aloha shirts that we typically wear to work.  I like matching my aloha shirts with my son, and of course I love seeing my wife in a holoku.  I like all of the variety that we have in our buffets, with influences from around the world, including cheese platters from France, dim sum from China, sashimi and tempura from Japan, good ol' American bacon and eggs, our beloved Hawaiian food, and so much more.  I like relaxing afterwards and walking along the beach to digest.  Somehow eating a big buffet in the mid morning, gives you a lot more time to digest than at dinner time when you're probably going to drop off to sleep soon afterwards.     With all of our fancy hotels in Waikiki, there is no shortage of good places for a Sunday brunch buffet.   They may not exactly be cheap, but it's a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday. 

There are a few brunch buffets that stand out in my mind than others.  Of course, I love visiting the Willows.  You can't beat them for greenery, Hawaiian music, and Hawaiian food.  I adore the Prince Court in the Hawaii Prince Hotel.  They may have one of the most elegant settings in Waikiki.  I really love going to Hoku's in the Kahala Resort (formerly the Kahala Hilton and then the Kahala Mandarin Oriental).   I distinctly remember going there for my Aunty's birthday one year, and they had these oysters that were sizzling in their own juices on the half shell over an open coal grill.  They were so plump and juicy, and the smell of the oysters was just carried in by the sea breeze.  They were fantastic.  And of course after you're done, you've just got to walk around the Kahala.   It's such a beautiful resort, that my best friend was married there on the beach.  I love their gorgeous rock stairwell that is completely covered in all different types of blooming orchids.  There's one orchid there that smells exactly like chocolate!  I love the waterfall that they've got right outside Hoku's.   I love walking their own private strip of Kahala beach, just about the perfect beach.   I love flopping down in their rope hammock and listening to the surf wash ashore.  But most of all, I adore the 4 dolphins they have in their lagoon.  My wife and I used to take moonlit walks on Kahala beach, just to come visit the dolphins at the Kahala, and do some snuggling and stargazing in the hammock.   We love them so much, that on our 5th wedding anniversary we decided to forego eating at Hoku's entirely, and decided to just have a swim with Kolohe and Niele.  

Swimming with the Dolphins at the Kahala Resort

While I adore the Kahala Resort, there is one other buffet that we tend to patronize more than any other place for Sunday brunch.   That would have to be the Oceanarium restaurant in the Pacific Beach Hotel.  While I've got great memories at the Kahala, I have a ton at the Pac Beach as well.  Pac Beach is where I had my junior prom in high school (with the girl I had a crush on since I was 11).  Pac Beach is where we spent countless birthdays, Easters, and Mother's Days.  When my wife worked at This Week magazines, they would frequently give her bonuses in the form of credit at Pac Beach, so we would find ourselves taking guests to Oceanarium frequently as well.

The 3 Story Aquarium at the Pacific Beach Hotel

Of course, the most striking feature of the Pac Beach is their 3 story tall aquarium.  Growing up, my wife was neighbors with the family that owned and designed the tank at the Pac Beach.   Even when I was a little kid, I remember having dinner at the Pac Beach and staring endlessly at all of the fish in the tank.  Nowdays, I see my son doing the same thing, utterly fascinated with all of the fish in the aquarium.   Both of us particularly love the giant stingrays that they have, which glide so effortlessly and gracefully through the water.   My son also likes it when the puffer fish comes up to him, for it appears to have a built in smile on its lips.  He also loves watching the diver come by every hour to feed the fish.  Although I have never understood how so many of them like nibbling on lettuce, when lettuce obviously isn't part of their natural diet.

Fish Feeding in the Aquarium at the Pacific Beach Hotel

For as long as I could remember, the Pac Beach had 3 restaurants near the aquarium.  Diners at the Oceanarium could view the colorful reef fish at the bottom of the tank.   The middle of the tank created the illusion of the deep open ocean, more appropriate for the seafood lovers at Neptune to view larger fish wandering about.  The waterfall at the top of the tank was the perfect addition to the Japanese decor at Shogun Restaurant.    My wife always loved Shogun, because she likes to keep her food separate (something I found extremely funny that the TV character, Monk, has in common with her).  So she really appreciated a Japanese buffet that featured bento boxes with distinct chambers, something you don't find in many places.   Sadly, the Shogun closed a few years back, but at least the other two are still there to enjoy.

Out of all the restaurants there however, it is the Oceanarium that we tended to visit the most.   Not just because you could see more of the fish in the aquarium, but also because we really love the brunch buffet there.   Whenever I go, my first plate will inevitably be a plate with all the different types of cheeses they've got.  I love cheese, and having a spread of cheddar, swiss, jack, gouda, and brie is like heaven to me.   I always follow that up with a cold plate of all their fresh seafood items, poke, sashimi, oysters, mussels, and shrimp cocktail.  Admittedly, the oysters are nowhere near as plump as the ones I remember at Hoku's, and the sashimi is nowhere near the quality of a place like Yanagi Sushi, but they're decent and usually whet my appetite for everything else.   My favorite thing at Oceanarium will come next.   I love the made-to-order omelette station they have there.  I always have mine with some Portuguese sausage, bay shrimp, olives, mushrooms and cheese.  Now, I'm a pretty good hand at making omelettes myself (something I do every Mother's Day), but it's nice to have someone do it for me.   Plus they use a lot more buter in theirs than I do, so it's always more rich.   As far as eggs go, they also make a very good eggs benedict (or is it eggs florentine?).  Usually I don't like eggs benedict, because the hollandaise sauce usually makes the english muffin all soggy and when english muffins get soggy they get very chewy.   But the ones I've had at Ocenarium are always still pretty toasty and crisp.  They've also have a great mix of breakfast and lunch items, from bacon to coffee infused tenderloin to seafood pasta.   But if you're serious about getting the good stuff you head straight for the prime rib carving station or the snow crab legs.  My son really likes the snow crab legs, as long as his Goong Goong will sit there and shell it for him.  To top it all off, they've got a lot of nice desserts, but my favorite was always their hang yen tofu (or almond float).  A lot of places that make almond float make it too thin and watery, and rely on the fruit cocktail to give it flavor.   Other places I've had it make it kind of hard and there's almost an unpleasant crispness when you bite into it.   But the one at Oceanarium is almost (not quite) how my Po Po used to make it.   It's firm, like very firm finger jello (not the jiggly regular jello), but when you bite it, it instantly becomes very very creamy.   It has a yummy milky taste, similar to white rabbit candy.  It's just the thing to top of a great meal there. 

Sunday brunch may not be the casual everyday meal that my friend was thinking of, but it was also a great way to welcome her home, when I eventually took her.   Walking the beach in your Aloha shirt after enjoying a great Sunday brunch, may be the idyllic vision of Hawaii that everyone dreams of, but that only we get to enjoy.

Where There's Smoke

If there is any Korean food that is popular on the mainland, it is Korean BBQ.   In fact, that may be the only form of Korean food that people on the mainland are generally familiar with.   Even when I was away at graduate school, there was a Korean BBQ nearby.   I was really bad actually.  There was one class that I had which was a business case study course.   The class was divided in half, during the first half different groups would come up and present their analysis of a classic business case and after the break the professor would lecture about the concepts we were supposed to have learned.   Unfortunately, the professor was just so old and boring that I just couldn't stand listening to him, and the fact that the class was an evening class just made it worse.   So almost every other week, after the first half, my friend Sean and I would skip out of class and go to have dinner at the Korean BBQ.   Given the choice between an exruciatingly boring lecture and some warm inviting bulgolgi, the bulgolgi wins out every time.   It would always aggravate my classmates to no end, especially since my friend and I actually did so well in that class. 

Back at home, we're no stranger to Korean BBQs.   However, they're never given the name Korean BBQ.   Nor are they really called by their Korean name, gogigui.   They're always called yakiniku restaurants.  Of course this is a little bit odd, since yakiniku is a Japanese equivalent, but these are Korean restaurants, not Japanese.   To add further confusing, the kanji for yakiniku, in Chinese reads "siu yuk" (or roast meat).  But siu yuk, is what we call the Chinese roast pork with that nice crispy skin on top.   So a newcomer could easily be confused.   But here in Hawaii, we know that yakiniku places are Korean restaurants.

There are quite a number of yakiniku places here on island.   Just driving along Kapiolani next to Ala Moana, or driving up Keeaumoku, you will find at least a dozen of them.    Ironically one of the nicer yakiniku places, is actually a Japanese chain (although it's Korean food), called Gyu-Kaku.  What sets them apart, is that whereas most yakiniku places use a propane burner, Gyu-Kaku uses coals.   The orange red glow of the coals gives everything a better flavor than using gas.   The only drawback of Gyu-Kaku is their smaller portions (of which you're meant to buy many of), but not-so small prices.   My favorite yakiniku place however, is Camellia Buffet Yakiniku on McCully (across from where McCully Chop Suey used to be).   They also have a place called Yakiniku Camellia on Beretania closer to the University, but I think the McCully location has slightly more variety.

Cold Asile at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

Camellia is probably the best value you can get eating at a yakiniku place, since it's a buffet.   But don't let the buffet part fool you.  This is not a matter of quantity over quality.  Everything that they have tastes quite fresh and high quality.   The big drawback to most buffets is that the food sits there on the line getting cold.  Things start to congeal.  Things get overcooked.   Things get soggy or wilted.   But at a yakiniku place, this is a completely negated problem.   The only things sitting around are the cold vegetables (kept in refrigeration units), and meats (which are sitting in their marinade getting more flavorful).   Then as you eat, you're cooking directly on the burner, so everything you're eating tastes completely fresh off the grill (because it is).   In this sense, this is probably the best buffet there is.   Ever.   

Marinating Meats at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

All of Camellia's meats taste fantastic.   That's because they're basically just sitting there all day in their marinade, getting tastier and tastier.   They've got all the standards: chicken, bulgogi (beef), kalbi, spicy pork, and when you come at dinner tri-tip beef steak.   You can throw on garlic, mushrooms, onions, lots of other goodies to enhance the flavor as well.  The worst part about eating steak, or any meat is when it gets cold and the fat starts to congeal in it, making it very unappetizing.  But at a yakiniku place, you basically can take it right off the grill and pop it in your mouth (if you're careful not to burn yourself).   In my opinion, there's pretty much no better way to eat any meat.

Vegetables at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

Just because they've got tons of meats, doesn't mean that the veggie world gets left behind here.    They've got a huge, supermarket long aisle of veggies.   About half are different varieties of kim chee.  But the other half are yummy seasoned vegetables, like choi sum, cabbage, seaweed, bean sprouts, and a whole slew of others.  They're nice and cold too, so it goes great along with the fresh off the grill meat.    It's like those old McDLT commercials where McDonalds would give you a container that kept the (burger) hot side hot and the (lettuce & tomato) cold side cold.   Only this is even hotter, colder, and fresher as it's not take out.

Kalbi & Bulgolgi on the Burner at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

My wife's big complaint about going to Camellia is the smoke.   The moment you step through the door, it's like you're walking into a thick haze of smoke.   It's practically like fog.   She says that after you leave all your clothes and your hair smells like you've just escaped from a burning building.    But to me that smell is completely alluring.   It's intoxicating.  Smoke, sizzling meat, fire.   There's something primal and irresistable about it.   They actually did a study and found that women are more attracted to flowery scents (which is why guys should always bring flowers to a woman on a date, even if they just don't see the point).   Guys on the other hand are more attracted to food scents (so if women want to attract guys, they should wear things like vanilla, cinnamon & sugar, orange or other fruity scents).   So I always tell my wife that she smells great after we've gone to eat there.  She thinks I'm daft, but I'm only half-joking.

Spicy Pork on the Burner at Camellia Buffet Yakiniku

Going to Camellia to me is kind of a guy thing.   I mean there's fire.  Mmm, fire.  Grunt.  There's meat.  Mmm, meat.  Grunt grunt.  And if you're so inclined there's soju and Korean beer.  It satisfies all of the basic caveman urgings that guys tend to have.   But actually going to yakiniku can be kind of romantic too.   My wife is, once again, going to think that I'm out of my mind, but sitting around the warmth of the fire at a yakiniku place, kind of reminds me of camp fire at senior camp at Camp Erdman.  My whole class as sitting on log around the fire, and I was sitting there alone when she came and sat down and snuggled next to me (although she still says I sat next to her).   It was the warmest and coziest I felt in my entire life, and that had nothing to do with the camp fire.   Somehow sitting around the fire at a yakiniku reminds me of this (although the warm, glowing coals at Gyu-Kaku are probably better for this than the sizzling, smokey haze at Camellia). 

Fire.   Meat.  Smoke.  Warmth.   As much as you want.  Who cares if you smell like you just escaped from a burning building.   The yakiniku experience is one of my favorite dining options in the world.  It's primal.   It's carnal.   It's simply outrageously delicious.

The Secret Garden

Hawaiian food is always about family, about ohana.    It has always been about a good family meal.   Therefore almost all Hawaiian restaurants are really geared more for taking food home to eat with your family, or taking food out to have a picnic by the sea.   But this creates a little problem.  Since Hawaiian restaurants are really geared more for a casual family dinner, there aren't that many restaurants that present Hawaiian food in a really nice upscale, dress up, type environment.   And there have been many occassions where I wanted to take my guest for a more exclusive, fine dining, experience, yet still treat them to Hawaiian food.   This is true of special occassions, like birthdays or graduations.   It's true of taking a client or a date out to a more elegant atmosphere.   It's especially true of when wanting to entertain out of town, VIP guests.   For all of these occasions, I have really only ever found one restaurant that fits the bill.   It is that beautiful little oasis, hidden away in Moiliili, the Willows.

The Willows was, in my dad's day, THE exclusive restaurant to take people to.    It was originally built on top of a natural spring.  Apparently, during my Goong Goong's time, all of Moiliili was filled with natural springs, and the young boys would swim in them and crawl through the connecting tunnels.   By my dad's time, the one at Willows was one of the only ones left.   As more and more construction was done in the Moiliili area, that spring dried up as well.   So when Willows was renovated, they preserved the original image by creating an artificial spring and pond.   Probably the coolest table at the Willows is the one in the outrigger canoe that sits on the edge of the pond.  

Named for the willow trees, that are still growing over the wall of the restaurant, the grounds are kept as a lush tropical garden.   It is one of the most magnificently kept gardens in the whole state.   From the minute you walk in, you're treated to a visual feast of fauna growing on rock walls, hanging from trees, and everywhere you look.   As you walk further in, you even cross a small arched bridge over a little stream.  

Blue Ginger at the Willows

At the entrance to the restaurant, there is a small art gallery.   The gallery was really significant to me, because for quite some time it was operated by and featured my classmate (well he was an upperclassman), Kelly Sueda.   The first time I strolled into the gallery, I did a doubletake, because in high school, Kelly was more of a thesbian than a painter.   But I guess sometime in college he switched media and has been pretty prolific ever since.

Jumping Water Fountain at the Willows

As you walk in further, there is fountain in the middle of their courtyard that features jumping water.   It's a great little place for the kids to run through afterwards and try to play with (or avoid) the leaping streams of water.   A little further in from that, they've even got a chapel for couples who want to get married and hold a reception there afterwards.

The best thing about the Willows, is that they've got a really great Hawaiian food buffet, that's taken Hawaiian food and dressed it up for a more elegant setting.   So you've still different types of poke, and kalua pig, and lau laus, and chicken long rice, and poi.  But the poi is served in neat little cups, and there are separate cups for your long rice, and the ti leaf is easily removed from your lau lau with the serving tongs, and discarded right at the buffet line.   They've taken all of the familiar flavors and dressed them up nicely. If you come on certain days, the Willows even features a trio of strolling Hawaiian muscians (ukulele, guitar, and cello).  Real, melodic, Hawaiian music, like we used to sing on the porch in Hawaiiana, or at May Day, to accompany your Hawaiian food.   It's the perfect way to show off our authentic culture to malahini from the mainland.

Farewell Brunch at the Willows

I've taken countless friends from the mainland to visit the Willows.   For some, it is their first trip to Hawaii and their first taste of our real culture.   It is the Hawaii of their dreams, and yet absolutely nothing like the faux-Hawaii of the the tiki bars and hula huts.    For others, who have come home after many years being transplanted on the mainland, it is the Hawaii of their childhood memories, yet made even more beautiful when served on fine china rather than those 5-sectioned chinet paper plates they had as kids  (although I do have a certain fondness for those old brown Hawaiian print little square dishes you can't find anywhere else).
We've had many company Christmas parties at the Willows.  But the most important function I ever had at the Willows was my eldest son's 1st birthday party.  Having a lot of senior guests, a few children, several out of town visitors, needing someplace that was comfortable, elegant, and still Hawaiian, there was really only one place that we could go.

I've been trying to figure out where to hold my second son's 1st birthday party.   Given the same criteria though, the list of contenders is really short. 

To Everything... Turn! Turn! Turn!

When I went to visit my sister on the mainland, I really got to like Greek food, particularly the gyro (by the way it's pronounced "yee-ro" not "jai-ro").  There's just something about that beef and lamb meat which is so succulent.  It's not as finely ground as a hamburger or meatloaf, yet it's much softer and more uniform in texture than a piece of steak.  I think it's all that time it spends spinning on a spit.  The constant turning and cutting means that every slice is perfectly browned and crispy, while the unexposed side remains so soft and yummy.   But you offset that meatiness with the cold, creamy (but not fatty tasting), slightly tart, brilliantly herby tsatsiki yogurt sauce and your mouth just wakes up with the flavor.   While, gyros are as common as a hamburger or hot dog on the streets of New York, Hawaii is pretty far removed from the Middle East and so we don't really get good Greek food right?   Or do we?

It's true, we don't have nearly the Middle Eastern influence that New York has being on the Atlantic.  However, we do have a number of good Greek restaurants.    Did you know, we even have an annual Greek Festival held at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park.    We do have a small Greek population, and even have a Greek Orthodox Cathedral here..   We've got quite a number of little Greek restaurants too.   If you're working downtown, you're probably familiar with Leo's Taverna.  If you attend UH, you're probably familiar with the Greek Corner at Puck's Alley, who make this totally addictive garlic mayo for dipping your fries in.  If you're in Kahala, you're probably friends with Sabas over at Olive Tree Cafe.  Ironically though, if I'm hungry for a gyro, it's not a Greek restaurant that I seek out, but an Egyptian one, The Pyramids on Kapahulu.

Maybe it's not so ironic.  In Hawaii we're all the way on the other side of the world, so we're not so accutely aware of it, but Greece and Egypt are just separated by a small strip of water called the Mediterranean.  They've got much shared history.   In fact, all of the cultures in that area that border the Mediterranean do.   When visiting my sister in New York, it wasn't a Greek place she took me to, but a Turkish one.   She has a good friend from Turkey (who by the way has this super suave Turkish accent that imbues his singing voice with romance.  You can imagine all the little girls swooning when he sings U2).   She took me to eat some savory halal meat off a cart on the street as well as a Turkish restaurant for "doner kebob" (pronounced "doh-nair").   Her friend explained that "doner means to turn and kebob... eh, kebob is a kebob"  (okay that bit of circular definition sounds a lot funnier with the Turkish accent).   Fittingly, the word "gyro" itself also means to turn in Greek.  So it shouldn't really be such a surprise that an Egyptian restaurant would have some really good gyros.

Buffet at the Pyramids

Just walking in, the Pyramids are appropriately themed with heiroglyphic wallpaper.  If you visit the Pyramids in the evening, the you will be treated to real belly dancing, and some tasty Egyptian fare, like clay pots of rice and spiced beef.    But to me, the time to go to the Pyramids is for lunch.  Pyramid's lunch menu is mainly their lunch buffet.  Unlike other buffets around town, the Pyramids buffet is pretty affordable.   But this is especially nice, because Greek food in Hawaii is actually kind of expensive.  While you can pick up a gyro in New York for the same as what you'd pay for a hot dog or hamburger, getting a small gyro here is always pricier than buying a plate lunch, so it's nice to be able to have as much as you want for just a little more.  They also don't fall into the trap of all buffets, which is letting the food sit, dry out, and overcook.  They only shave off a little at a time, but have a good turn around for guests.

So what's good there?    Well, the hummus is particularly good.   I don't even like chickpeas, because I don't like the powdery starchy texture.  But their hummus is wonderfully smooth and thick.   It's got a very mild taste, with very sublte hints of the oils and herbs against the smooth backdrop.   Shmear that onto some warm, thick, chewy pita bread and it's immensely satisfying.  On top of that, do you know how expensive it is to buy a small container of hummus in the grocery store these days?  Again, being able to have as much as you want here is fantastic.

My own gyro at Pyramid's buffet

Of course I love their beef and lamb kebob.    I love building my own little shawarma, with a stack of pita bread, Greek salad (lettuce, cucumber, feta cheese), beef and lamb kebob, and some tsatsiki to top it all off.  All of these bright flavors bouncing off each other.  Warm and chewy against cold and crisp.  Browned and meaty against tangy and herby.  They all add up to a perfect bite.    But again, being able to get as much or as little as you want is a big plus.  The first time I took my wife to eat a gyro at a Greek restaurant, I thought she would really like it, because she loves the gaminess of lamb.  But she was really turned off because the herbs in the tsatsiki were just too strong for her.  She doesn't like strong herbs or strong spices, and particularly doesn't like a lot of sauce (a remnant of the those old School House Rock cartoons where they warn you not to "drown your food").   So it took me a while to be able to convince her to try it again.   But she really likes Pyramids, because she can control exactly what she's adding to her plate in just the right proportions.  

Besides the beef and lamb kebob, Pyramids has one of the best barbecue chickens in town.   But it's not barbecue as in marinated in sticky sweet barbecue sauce.  It's not even glazed in kal bi or teriyaki sauce like we're used to.   It's simply got a few herbs to it, but the smoky charcoal flavor is what is so aluringly intense, and it brings out the savory chicken flavor.   It seems like a simple chicken, but the smokiness gives it so much depth.  My parents are also crazy about the tomato stewed okra at Pyramids.  Between my mom's diet, my dad's pickiness, my wife's aversion to spiciness, and my son's young palate, it's usually kind of hard to agree on a place to eat.   But somehow we all agree that we like Pyramids.   That really says something.

We really are on the otherside of the world from the Mediterranean.   As such, I can never really comment on the authenticity of Mediterranean flavors that we have here.  But the world we live in always amazes me, that we even are able to enjoy tastes from the other side of the planet.