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FUUD: Underdogs Sports Bar & Grill in Kalihi

by Catherine Toth on May 7, 2013 in Food

Yes, FUUD blog and it’s not even Friday!

Most of my friends know it’s hard to get me to go out late at night, especially when the surf’s up.

So it probably shocked my gal pal, Melissa Chang (@melissa808), when I agreed to meet up with her and Olena Heu (@OlenaHeu), part of the Wake Up 2day morning crew, at a fairly new sports bar in Kalihi, a full 14 miles from where I live.

Underdogs Sports Bar & Grill opened several months ago in a spot vacated by, well, another kind of bar. It’s right next to Fujiya, the popular candy- and mochi-maker, on Waiakamilo Road.

Even though I’m from the area — I was born and raised in Kalihi Valley — I don’t usually venture into this ‘hood after hours.

But Olena assured us this spot was worth it. (Melissa wrote about the sports bar, too, on her blog, Urban Mix Plate on Nonstop Honolulu.) It’s been her go-to spot lately, mostly due to its proximity between the station and her home. (Those are good enough reasons for me!) She loves the pork-and-tots and the Melona cocktail.

And why wouldn’t the food be good? One of the owners is Jensen Hirota, who used to work at Alan Wong’s and was one of the partners at Kanpai Bar & Grill (my old haunt).

So I hopped in my car and drove aaaaaaaall the way to Kalihi — and after hiking up Makapuu with my dogs! — to sample a sports bar menu that folks have been raving about.

Here’s what our recent eating excursion looked like:

Inside

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Underdogs Sports Bar & Grill is your typical local-style sports bar with flat-screen TVs, dart boards, karaoke and a great happy hour with cheap drinks.

Underdogs Sports Bar & Grill, 508 Waiakamilo Road in Kalihi. Hours: 2 p.m.-2 a.m. daily. Phone: (808) 888-2873

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FUUD: Shaloha in Kaimuki

by Catherine Toth on May 3, 2013 in Food

When I was going to the University of Hawaii, I would grab lunch at JR’s Bar-B-Q on Waialae Avenue so often the owner would know my order as soon as I walked through the glass doors.

So I was disappointed when the Korean take-out shop closed awhile back.

That is, until I found out a new eatery opened in the same spot, one that serves classic Israeli street food like shawarma and falafel.

Shaloha — a blend of “shalom” and “aloha” — offers Middle Eastern cuisine with a Hawaiian twist — or so the menu says. It’s got the regional staples of Turkey and Egypt with local adaptations of traditional dishes brought to Israel by Jewish immigrants.

So it’s truly a Middle Eastern mix plate!

And if you’re not into that kind of cuisine, you gotta at least go for the homemade pita bread. It’s light and fluffily and airy and so good I could eat an entire bag myself.

Here’s what our recent lunch looked like — and yes, we’ll be back!

Shaloha

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Open last year, Shaloha in Kaimuki is one of only a few restaurants on Oahu serving Middle Eastern cuisine — this one with a local twist.

Shaloha, 3133 Waialae Ave. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone: (808) 744-4222.

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FUUD: Menchanko Tei in Keeaumoku

by Catherine Toth on March 22, 2013 in Food

It’s been so cold lately.

In fact, with the exception of last night, I’ve been wearing pajamas to bed every night and sleeping under three layers of blankets.

And it’s almost April!

So lately I’ve had a craving for ramen — that warm bowl of noodles is the perfect cold-weather dish.

My girlfriend suggested we try Menchanko Tei on Keeaumoku Street, which opened this location in May 2012. The original shop was founded in Hakata, Japan in 1980 by Akihide Yonehama, who then opened up shops in Fukuoka, Manhattan and Honolulu.

I hadn’t been since it opened here — there was a location in Waikiki — and I was eager to try something new.

So here’s what our recent lunch looked like:

Inside Menchanko Tei

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This ramen shop — its first location outside of Waikiki — opened here last year in the space vacated by Go Shi Go and Broadway Seafood & Oyster Bar on Keeaumoku Street. But I remember this spot most as the location where my beloved Taishoken Ramen once was. It was hard going back!

Menchanko Tei, 903 Keeaumoku St. Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-11 p.m. daily. Phone: (808) 946-1888

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FUUD: Kaiwa in Waikiki

by Catherine Toth on March 15, 2013 in Food

Those who know me know I’m not a big sushi eater.

I like my dishes cooked, not freshly slaughtered.

So going to a sushi bar is only fun if 1) the person I’m with loves sushi and 2) there’s stuff on the menu I’d eat.

Luckily — more for my friend than me — the restaurant he had suggested had enough assortment on its menu to make even a non-sushi-eater like me enjoy dinner at a sushi spot.

Kaiwa, located on the second floor of Waikiki Beach Walk, has managed to survive the changes to the neighborhood for five years. Its garnered a loyal following of foodies who love (and crave) the eclectic offerings such as hamburger steak with Hudson Valley foie gras, grilled live baby abalone from the Big Island, hamachi jalapeno carpaccio, ika somen uni shoyu and — get this — an awabi and uni glee martini topped with a steam whole abalone.

Weirdness.

So I was intensely curious to sample the strange dishes served and prepared here by innovative executive chef Hideaki Kishishita.

Here’s what my recent dinner looked like:

Kaiwa on Waikiki Beach Walk

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Though it had opened back in 2008 — and I'm always in Waikiki — I had never eaten at Kaiwa. Maybe it's because I'm not much of a sushi fan. (After all, the word, "sushi," is on the sign outside.) But I was pressured into trying this Tokyo-based teppan fusion restaurant by a sushi connoisseur. I think he just didn't want to share.

Kaiwa, Waikiki Beach Walk, 226 Lewers St., 2nd floor. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-11 p.m. daily. Phone: (808) 924-1555.

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FUUD: Kissaten Ramen in Waikiki

by Catherine Toth on March 1, 2013 in Food

I miss Kiwami, that authentic noodle shop on the lower level of the Waikiki Shopping Plaza.

And ever since it closed last year, I still frequent the spot, waiting to see if there’s word it will re-open somewhere else.

But last night, something else was in the spot vacated by one of my favorite ramen shops.

Kissaten Ramen — or Japanese Noodle Shop, as it said on the window — had its soft opening yesterday

This is owned by the same folks who run the popular 24-hour Kissaten Cafe near Ala Moana Center. But it’s strictly a ramen shop; don’t expect to find the cafe’s tomato bisque or turkey pesto melt here.

Here’s what our recent dinner looked like:

Kissaten Ramen

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I'm not sure if this place is called "KIssaten Ramen" or "Kissaten Japanese Noodle Shop," but the sentiment is the same: this is a ramen shop, not a coffee bar.

Kissaten Ramen, 2250 Kalakaua Ave. Suite LL-102, Waikiki.

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