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Wow, considering it is a sports bar on a side street, this place definitely has good grindz!
We ordered:
- fried calamari: Perfectly fried and flavored. The calamari was tender and light.
- lup cheong fried rice: It's just fried rice but the lup cheong was nice and sweet.
- fried pork chop: BINGO! The fried pork chop is perfectly fried and seasoned. The pork chop was tender and not greasy. I could have eaten the whole plate.
- french fries: Not sure why we ordered them, but they were good.
- ahi poke: Very tasty, lots of flavor, not the best I've had but still good.
Beware, portions are huge and best for sharing! Great prices, great portions, and they even have the game on. Gotta love it!
3.5 stars
For a sports bar, the food is pretty good. The street that it's on, and even the interior of the bar itself, looks a little divey. But when my bf and I walked in a few nights ago, it was pretty packed, with families including young children. Definitely not a typical sports bar.
While the menu states that it serves pupus and apps more than it does formal entrees, this isn't exactly true, unless you considered a fried whole fish with bones intact to be an app.
We got the Chinese-style steamed moi, a really great fish. Well-priced at $20-25. It had all the usual slivers of ginger, green onions, soy sauce, etc. It'd been so long since I had steamed fish this way, and it was yummy! The only thing that detracted from it was the overwhelming presence of fish scales. It was annoying to have to stop every so often and pick out fish scales, especially when they got stuck on the roof of my mouth. Oh, and because there was too much soy sauce, by the time we started eating the other side of the fish, it was really, really salty.
I can't believe they charged $4 for a bowl of rice, but at least it was a large bowl (enough for the both of us) and had a nice mound of furikake on top. That was a nice touch, and it added flavor.
For dessert, we got the haupia puff pastry a la mode. It was ok, more like a turnover with a coconut-flavored cream filling similar to the filling you'd get in a cream puff at Beard Papa. If the pastry itself had been a few layers thicker, it would have been better, because as soon as I bit into this, the pastry "deflated" and you couldn't feel the texture of the layers at all. Either that, or they should remake this as a cream puff with haupia filling. The Roselani ice cream accompanying it was good.
I love it here. This is my ideal place to come with a bunch of friends after a long work day. It's very chill and laid-back. The prices may seem steep but the portions are very large and satisfying. You come to Side Street Inn with friends and family. If you come alone, sit at the bar and have a drink.
The pork chops ARE phenomenal. The fried rice is so-so. My uncle once remarked that his fried rice was better ... and I agree. I also enjoy the escargot. Everyone raves about the Chinese chicken salad but it is not my favorite. The iceberg lettuce is too wilty for me. Even after a huge dinner, I still need dessert, especially when I'm at Side Street Inn. I love the fried pound cake with ice cream. Super yummers!
The area is pretty sketchy. If the restaurant wasn't here, I definitely would avoid the area. Parking is scarce. Unless you're really late or it's raining, I wouldn't recommend the valet service. Just park around the corner over by the Ala Moana side. It's a meter but definitely cheaper than valet. The short (read: 2 min) walk post-meal will help with digestion and settling your stomach.
Can't go wrong!!! this is where the chefs go!! try the pork chops, its a must! The pig / small pork strips (pupu style) from the big island is my favorite, just can't remember what its called.
this is where all the chefs go to eat, its a hole in the wall bar but fun to go in groups. service… Read more »
Visited this restaurant for the second time and I enjoyed it just like I did the first time. The staff was nice, especially the bartenders and the food was yummy and in HUGE portions. We ordere the following items:
- edamame was super garlicy but very good. They seriously pile it up high too.
- ahi poke was just ok.
- pork chops of course. Thought it was good but dry since the pieces are so thick the flavor didn't marinate well. Personally even though they're known for this dish, to me there were far better dishes.
- spicy fried chicken. I think this may have been my fav dish. It doesn't taste like your typical fried chicken. And for those who can't have spicy, it's really not spicy at all though it's still sooo good and of course greasy.
- two types of fried rice which was like two mounds served on super large plates. It could feed an army! I thought the kimchee one was better than the Chinese sausage one. The kimchee one isn't like the Korean style. It's actually a little sweet.
- boneless kalbi. This was def tasty though on the salty side. All of their dishes are on the salty side but not too salty for me since I like my sodium. The pieces of meat are again quite thick and a bit chewy but still so flavorful.
- steamed fish which was really tasty and flaky. The fish is, of course, so super good here in Hawaii. It was in a soy sauce base with ginger.
This is a small very casual place to grab drinks and good food with a bunch of friends any day of the week.
Here's the scoop: the Steamed Moi and Kimchi Yakisoba are where it's at. Soooooooooo Good!!!
Also, how cool is it that Side Street Inn has its own signature Rogue Brewery ale? It's super cool, in case you didn't know. I was just at the Rogue Brewery this summer and they didn't even have it for sale there, on site in Newport, Or. The back of the bottle reads, "DEDICATED TO COLIN AND HIS PORK CHOPS." Unreal.
So that's all. I'm going to sleep now (after drinking a huge glass of water). Hopefully my extremities won't burst after this weekend of Side Street and UH Tailgating.
What is there to add (besides one more review to my name) about Side Street Inn?
I find it to be a…
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And joining my exclusive list of grindz...one of Oahu's iconic...Side Street!
Side Street isn't for everyone and it doesn't matter - it's everything that so many places are quickly not becoming - generous portions of good local style food that you can talk story over.
Side Street is on the makai side of Kapiolani, with parking in the building across the street or if you're lucky, on the street. They open at 4pm but if you plan on hitting peak hours, it's best to make a reservation.
The food is good - kimchee fried rice (yup, even if you don't think you'll like it), pork, all pupus, stir fry. The plates are generous and served family style, about a plate a person should do it for hearty eaters. Drinks are moderately priced with prizes some nights. I head over usually when I'm in the mood to eat 'till I'm stuffed - if there's one thing to recommend (since everything is ono), it'd be the kimchee friend rice - even though I don't like kimchee!
Side Street caters primarily to locals and is well known in the community. The service is good and everyone has always been friendly - checking in, "special" orders, and talking story a bit. While it's a pleasant atmosphere, it'll be nothing like my other top restaurants on my lists (and it's a good thing).
Hope you enjoy it! For those tourists who might hesitate to venture outside of Waikiki, a second Side Street is looking to open on Kapahulu.
If I were a food journalist I'd write, "Side Street Inn...where hole in the wall meets awesome home grown gourmet eats!"
Side Street Inn is a total slippers and shorts casual restaurant/bar found in the back streets of Ala Moana. It's one of those places that would be pretty hard to find unless a local friend took you there because it's in an awkward back street. . I like that you can find families, seniors, construction workers, business people, hip chicks and their boyfriends all under one roof. It makes for really good people watching! It is not a pretty place with it's vinyl booths and worn out tables, but that's also why most of it's regulars like it. Sometimes you don't want to feel hoyty toyty and just want to relax with your bud light. Don't forget the bucket ice and the bar top video game machines!
Service is decent but not always the most consistent, but who cares because the food is "DA BOMB!" My fave are the pork chops which have a thick crusty layer of crunch to them because I believe they are backed and then deep fried. The pork chops come really salty so if you're watching your blood pressure, this is probably not for you! They are also known for their sizzling plates of meat, noodles, and everything is family style. Oh yes, I do not come to Side Street for salad my friends!
My family goes here a lot for birthdays and special occasions because it's my Uncle Paul's very favorite place to eat. It's not a fancy place but at least you know the food will be really good, and in the end that's what really counts!
This is the type of local hide-away where friends gather after work every day to talk story and share some good food. It has a very good neighborhood feel and is always busy. The winners here are the pork chops and poke. The servers are friendly which is what you would expect from a neighborhood type establishment. I would go early to steak out your place. They have a bar where you can watch games or whatever. You also get good value for your money since the portions are pretty good too.
Parking can be valet or you can park right on top yourself for a small fee. The upstairs parking lot is accessed by the road behind the one that the Side Street Inn is facing and can be hard to find if you are not looking for it.
Two of the best meals I had in Hawaii. First for dinner, we ordered the fried rice, the pork chops, and the sliders. Second was for breakfast the next morning. we heated up the leftovers and it was still really tasty.
If you happened to be in the parking lot of the Pearl Harbor Memorial, and saw four girls in a suburban, eating out of foam boxes... That was us!
We had the furikake ahi, spicy chicken, and chicken katsu. Everything was better than expected. I loved the Nalo greens that come with each dish. Everything is family style so there is a lot to go around and share. Nothing fancy here so don't get your hopes up in regards to the ambiance..... think bowling alley or old style inn. But again if you are concerned with ambiance this is not the type of good for you!
nice local spot for da kine grindz. family style. everything was good. the yaki udon to the fried rice to the fried chicken and porkchops.
and they have bambucha primo!
First thing to remember is to rate this place for what it is. A local hangout where you can have great local food, friendly staff, and interesting patrons.
The two of us were very impressed with the taste of the only two dishes we ordered... Pork chops & fried rice. Why only two dishes? Like the other Yelpers described...Huge portions. Will go back and try the other choices. My kind of place...cocktails and pupu's, a dream come true.
SO. I'm REALLY wanting to give this place 3*s. I just can't. The service was okay. The portions are ginormous, but the food was par. Maybe a little below.
This place is touted as being THE place for the local chefs to head to after their shifts. That's enough of a rumor for me to grub on.
The only thing I really enjoyed was their edamame drowned in garlic. IT IS AMAZINGLY tasty.
Other than that, our party ordered everything that the waitstaff AND yelp suggested.
Pork chops were good. Enough. NOT fanFREAKINtastic like everyone keeps raving about.
KimChi fried rice. I'm NOT a fan of fried rice. SO it better be freakingFANTASTIC for me to rave about it. So you yelpers really disappoint me. Maybe it's because you've never been to Koreatown in Los Angeles. Your tastebuds must make the pilgrimage.
Escargot. I *love* escargot. Here? Not so much.
Spicy chicken? NOT so spicy.
Local fish we ordered was a little lukewarm when served. Slightly fishy and prepped in a very ordinary chinese ginger soy based sauce.
Eh.
I forgot whatever else we ordered, since it was THAT memorable. I just figured I'd clue all you yelpers in. I'm not happy with your reviews. They totally misguided me on this one.
Oh yeah, there's KARAOKE. Did I mention that? Yeah, not a fan, but hey, if y'all are in for drunking sqwaking --- shoot. Tis the perfect place to be.
Maybe the food IS really good, I'll never know. After REALLY looking forward to this place, my wife and I came in about 2:45 in the afternoon, hot, thirsty, and tired. We were the only customers. They said the kitchen would be open in 15 minutes. We ordered a beer and made some small talk with the bartender. We mentioned that we had heard of the place on Anthony Bourdain's 'No Reservations'. I asked how the exposure had affected business. The manager chimed in saying things were really good until the tourists started coming in. I felt very uncomfortable after that statement. We paid our bill and left. I wish them well.
I'm on the fence about this place, so therefor, I have to round down.
The prices tend to be a bit high for the menu items, but the portion sizes are large... so I guess it all washes out somewhere.
The Thai spring rolls were crunchy, served hot and not too greasy.
The half-order of Cesar salad was plenty for three or more people, but had too much dressing... I attest drowning lettuce.
The pulled pork sliders and the roasted pork sliders were basic at best. Good flavors, but nothing to write home about.
And finally the ever so popular pan-fried pork chops... some of the pieces were tender and moist and yummy... other pieces were tough and not so yummy. Though the dish overall was decent, I felt that it was missing something... maybe some off pan dripping would have helped.
Service was good, there's TV all over the place, and the place can get loud when the place gets crowded.
Mehhh... This place isn't as good as others say it is. If you are coming here for the food you will be disappointed... if you are coming here to grab a beer and watch the game.. its okay. Yes the portions are big but so are the prices. I went here based on the reviews here but honestly I have had much better food elsewhere. This is what I ordered:
Fried Rice - okay honestly, I could make better fried rice than this. First off, they use japanese rice which isn't good for fried rice because its stickier and more starchy. They have to use a ton of oil in order to keep the rice from sticking. Its terrible, if you want good fried stick with jasmine rice. IF you don't believe me look at the pictures. I like my fried rice to be light and flavorful like a salted-fish or dried scallop fried rice.
Fried Pork Chops - really dry and flavorless. I was expecting some juicy pork chops but all I got was a plate of chops that seem like it was seasoned with the salt & pepper mix they use in chinese restaurants only the pork chops weren't as crispy or juicy. Really disappointing. They serve this with ketchup which I thought was pretty gross as well.
Poke - This was actually pretty good. This was the only dish I enjoyed. The tuna was fresh and not over seasoned. Kind of expensive though, you can probably get same quality of poke at Yama's Fish Market
This is a local restaurant that just serves great food. I can see why this place consistently gets good reviews.
Ate here with Allison of Alliway (BTW.......go check out Alliway at Ward. Place is awesome!!!).
We ordered, escargot, kimchi fried rice, and spicy chicken. Since Allison does not eat escargot, I ate the whole thing. Be careful eating these critters 'cause they will be HOT! The roof of mouth is still scalded from the burn. The garlic butter sauce is awesome, and the entire plate is covered in melted cheese. Accompanying garlic bread is perfect!
The kimchi fried rice was also great. It was extremely flavorful. The spicy chicken was perfectly crispy and was seasoned perfect; especially with lots of garlic.
The total tab including tax and tip plus 3 drinks came to be around d$65.
This place is not cheap but the portions are huge. It's best to come with a big group. We ended up having a lot of chicken and fried rice left over. I think there was enough food for 4!
Side Street Inn is famous for their Pork Chops. They're known to be juicy, meaty and overall delicious. Maybe I went on an off day, because I found the pork chops a tad dry, but it was seasoned to perfection. Though a little on the dry side, it was still a tasty treat. I preferred chewing on the bony peices because the meat near the bone is always more moist.
The Spicy Chicken was smack your lips delicious. A combo of sweet and savory and spicy battered chicken. It's probably the best fried chicken i've ever tasted.
We also ordered the Kim Chi Fried Rice and I've never met one I didn't like. It probably could have had just a little bit more Kim Chi.
Even though we were stuffed to the max, what's a meal without dessert? The deep fried pound cake topped our meal off. It was decadent and scrumptious... I ate the very last peice.
Take note: the portion sizes are HUGE. 1 order of the pork chops can feed 3-4 people. Make sure to come hungry!
Our last night in Honolulu... you'd maybe assume we'd do some bougie place like HWAK, Roy's or maybe even Alan Wong's. Not for us! Side Street Inn was possibly our favorite meal during our trip to Oahu.
I've been to Side Street Inn before about 5 years ago- but only went to socialize and never had the food. Dim lighting with lots of booths for large parties. A real Cheers kinda vibe where locals and Hawaii's top chefs conjure for some good food and good times.
The good: There is HELLA food - the portions are overflowing amounts that make you think you're at an all you can eat buffet. The bad: There's only 2 of us so we could only handle 2 dishes. FTL :(...
So really, it's super ideal to go here with a big group of friends, order some dishes, beers and get stuffed.
We had the Kim Chee Fried Rice and Spicy Chicken. My boyfriend and I are both convinced that both are sprinkled with crack. Especially that Spicy Chicken! Ooowhee. The fried goodness and special sauce really made it a hit. The boyfriend love, love, loved the Kim Chee Fried Rice... and it was a delicious experience for half the price of what we could've spent for some overpriced tourist trapped, overlooking the Waikiki Sunset restaurant. Besides... we already did that!
Bourdain Approved. Aly Approved.
Service wasn't bad. The poke portions wasn't as big as people claim it to be. It seemed to have a lot more onions than fish. The calamari wasn't home made like I was told it was ... pre-packaged and frozen... not fresh.
The pork chops ... well its was OK. A lot of people played the hype that they would be the best... I think kampai had better chops than here. The wingdings ... not spicy at all .
Over all my dining experience here was ok. Minus the false claim that they have fresh calamari .... the meal wasn't bad at all.
I took my wife and kids here tonight for dinner based on another Anthony Bordaine favorite Hawaiian restaurant pick.
This is by far the cheapest dinner that I have had ($71.00), that I would have paid double the price for....Yes its that good, in fact, OUTFUCKINGSTANDING good!
We ordered the Kalib short ribs, fried chicken, Lop Cheung fried rice, pan fried pork chops and the fried pound cake which Albert the manager had given to us as a gift.
The short ribs are basically Korean style bbq ribs, but with huge portions of meat, the fried chicken was boneless with this incredible flavored batter (think KFC extra crispy), the Lop Cheung fried rice is the best that I have ever eaten (think chinese sausage with bbq pork), the pork chops were battered and deep fried with a pepper seasoning, the fried pound cake was basically pan fried pound cake with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. This was soooo good that we ate the whole thing although we were all stuffed.
I want to thank my fellow yelpers for writing about this place.
YOU MUST EAT HERE WHEN U COME TO HONOLULU!!!!
Casual, sports bar-lounge atmosophere with the greatest Chinese/Korean/Hawaiian dishes.
This is a local hangout that many of Hawaii's famous chefs come to after hours.......and now I know why. Comfort food that tastes fucking good!!
If you come, be prepared to wait in line.............be prepared to eat and eat and eat and not stop eating and ordering more food because the dishes are so fucking good!!!
You will gain weight here because many of the dishes are deep fried, and have fattening sauces....
You can kill me right now, since I can rest in peace, knowing I have eaten one of the best meals in my life.
I do not need a BJ or any sex tonight, I am so satisfied!!
Had dinner here for a friend's birthday and let me tell you, this place is wonderful!
Coming in, you'd notice right away that both areas of the restaurant were PACKED. We usually don't like sitting at the bar, but the bartender's welcoming and friendly demeanor washed the negative thoughts away immediately.
The most expensive thing we ordered was the escargot at around $13.95, but it was so good we ended up ordering two. We had the signature pork chops, as well as the misoyaki chicken (which was amazing) and the fried calamari.
The price is definitely worth it.
Well, you will probably have some trouble finding it, even if you are a local. You might have some unadventurous relatives pretty angry at you because you always pick the sketchiest places to eat. (Actually, I wear that as a badge of honor). When the food arrives, people will dig in, smack their lips, and all bad feelings will disappear.
The Ahi Poke is more than generous with giant chunks of Ahi glistening with a simple glaze and sprinkled with green onion.
The pork chop, I am not sure what is going on there, but Side Street has found the definitive way to make the best pork chop in the world and I am not going to argue with them.
Spicy chicken, was probably the crispiest chicken I have ever had. It was not very spicy.
Fried rice, yes, and perfect with a side of Kim Chee.
My tips would be: make a reservation if you can, and relax about the sketchiness or lack of fine dining atmosphere. Just concentrate on stuffing your face. Oh, and some of the best Mai Tais on the island!
Went to this little spot in Honolulu a few weeks ago. Best to go with only a few people as it is very crowded. We opted to sit at the bar as opposed to waiting an hour for a table that it really no different than sitting at the bar. The lady and I ordered the Chicken Katsu, Island style pork chop, fried rice, mac salad, and some Primo's.
The Chicken and Pork were fried just right with a nice light breading. The Fried rice was also delicious (doesn't contain scrambled egg which is fine by me)
Definitely a good spot for Local Grindz.
I've heard this is where all of the chefs go after work, and when I've asked my "local" friends about it, they've said nothing but good things...plus the pictures of the fried pork chops kind of got to me...so of course I had to try it.
I was truly NOT disappointed. It was total home-cooking, comfort food for me. My grandmother used to make pork chops like that. My favorite part is the piece with the bone...so yummy!
We also ordered the manila clams w/ white wine sauce, lilikoi baby back ribs, aspargus w/ bacon (who doesnt love bacon?!?), misoyaki chicken and the kim chee fried rice.
The menu items ranged about $15-20 a dish, but everything was so tasty and the portions were HUGE! There were five of us, and we had plenty of left overs. Parking is a bit sparse, but you can valet for $5 or park in the lot across the street. They do take reservations, but if it's really busy, they'll only take walk-ins.
I definitely recommend this place if you're looking for tasty, homely, comfort food.
Forget the fancy interior, primo location, and all that other hooplah. If you wanna eat some seriously great food you won't find better than Side Street Inn.
It's one of those places that looks like crap, is surrounded by trash, and serves food better than what you'd pay 3x for at some fancy schamncy place. Side Street is all about the food so go with the flow here and get your grub on.
We had the fried rice, pork chops, and ahi tuna combo. 3 dishes isn't much for us typically but this is the Side Street...the portion of fried rice is big enough for 5 of your biggest and closet friends. The infamous pork chops were just as bountiful and just as good as everyone says they are. They are fried in magic batter...seriously.
I love the Side Street Inn. It is a foodie's paradise and I can't wait to come back.
Always crowded but worth the wait. Food is delicious but sometimes takes a while to get to your table. But the beer comes quickly so we never have minded.
I just about hated everything I ordered here. The escargot was completely covered in half a pound of yellow cheese. The clams were edible but for the price it wasn't worth it. The porterhouse steak was the worst I've ever had. It was so tough I had to spit it out. The only saving grace was the fried pork chop but I wish it had a sauce other than ketchup. The service was slow but she was nice. I may come back and give it another chance but I'll probably stick to the asian food and stay away from the american food.
This is a pretty good place. It's kinda in no-man's land. If you've never been to Honolulu and don't have friends there or read Yelp (which should not apply to any of *you*!) you'd never know this place existed.
Parking is a drag, but we ended up parking down the street at the Ala Moana shopping center structure, which worked out just fine.
The problem is that we made reservations for 6:30pm on a Sunday night and ended up waiting an hour before half my family members got fed up and left (two grouchy kids, two very frustrated parents, and one very tired grandmother). Ironically, after five more minutes of waiting, we got seated. The seater felt really horrible about all this so he ended up giving us a couple free appetizers: poke salad and garlic edamame. We also ordered the panko fried mahi, the boneless kalbi, the kimchi fried rice, and the fried pork chops.
I think this place was a bit hyped up for the wait. The service was great though and the rest of my family ended up going back and getting hooked up again. So I'd give them 4.5 stars if I could based on the service we received.
Now onto the food:
Poke salad: seriously, I can't really tell the difference between this poke salad and lots of other poke salads. It tasted like raw fish... there - happy? :D
Stir fried garlic edamame - now this is something to write home about. This is literally the Gordon Biersch of edamame. Very very good appetizer.
Panko crusted mahi - this was okay... the fish was pretty bland and the fried panko wasn't reminiscent of panko at all in my opinion.
Kalbi - pretty good stuff although I prefer my kalbi bone-in, like a true wanna-be Korean. Tasty stuff though.
Kimchi fried rice - this was okay as well. The portion was pretty big so we had leftovers. Nothing that really stuck out to me about this. I was more interested in trying out the kimchi fried rice at Taiyo, which I ended up not getting to try at all :(
Fried pork chop - not sure what the big deal is about this dish. Maybe it's just me but I've had better...? The portion was pretty big, but the flavor was kinda on the bland side and it was semi-dry too.
Overall, I thought the food here was overpriced, but since they threw in two free appetizers it sorta made things worth while. I really wanted to get a Kona Fire Rock to go down with the meal but my dad was making a big fuss about how I was the rental car driver. Yada yada yada...
When my best friend and I were planning our May 2009 trip to Oahu, we knew we had to eat here after see the restaurant featured on "No Reservations." I mean, it had to be good if the top Hawaiian chefs and Anthony Bourdain eats here, right? And boy, was it good! We ordered the misoyaki chicken, chinese sausage fried rice, and the smoked pork. Everything was just so tasty. It will definitely be a stop on our next trip!
Unfortunately, the service kind of lacks and the place is small. Reservations are a must also. Parking is street or you can valet your car for less than $10.
Oh Anthony Bourdain, we go grindz indeed!
The food was exactly what I envisioned after watching the Honolulu episode: big portions of great food. This is one of those local restaurants that you just gotta try. I came in with a party of 10, $300 tab (with drinks) and we still managed to have leftovers. So let's get down to the food, shall we?
Poke - Massive chunks of tuna mixed with shoyu, sesame, and onion. One of the better places I've had poke.
Calamari - The big kind. done.
Fried shrimp basket - HUGE! That was enough to feed 5 people only on that.
Fried rice - enough to feed 10 people and have a good amount of leftovers. The rice wasn't overly doused with soy sauce and that's the way I like it.
Furikake crusted ahi tuna - MY FAVORITE! The furikake (dried seaweed flakes) really makes the ahi. The salad was also a nice compliment. I was surprised that it was only $15.00.
Porkchops - Pan fried and really meaty. Definitely not a sissy meal... but then again, I don't think anything on the menu was for sissies. Slightly pricey at $22.
Also get the li hing mui margarita, it's a house special.
Our server was really sweet, she made sure all of our drinks were constantly filled and that the food was to our liking. Poor girl had to deal with 10 obnoxious people, she deserved her big tip.
It's slightly hard to find, but if you see the "buy me drinky drink" bar, Side Street is right next door.
Tasty Hawaiian cuisine at a restaurant that's trying to burst out of it's "sports-bar" shell!
How is it that Honolulu can be so spread out, yet still be impossible to park at? Luckily, as you drive down the small street to find Side Street Inn, you will be greeted by an attend who will park your car for $5.
After going in and finding a 30 minute wait, we walked around for a bit, but there's not really much to see in this area, and it's not really made for walking, so I'd recommend just hanging out there.
Side Street Inn has the feeling of a place that started out as a sports bar, but then decided to try and serve food, and quickly found that the food was so popular that they had to cram in as many booths as possible to handle all the people.
And after having the food it's easy to understand why! The Kimchi Fried Rice was awesome, the pork & pineapple with BBQ sauce in Chinese Peking-duck-esque pancakes were sweet and delicious, and the salad we had was tasty too.
Extra points for the great service as well - our waitress suggested we get a half salad to share, and I overheard her warning our neighboring table that they had probably ordered too much food. What great honesty!
Food here was delicious. Not sure why people rave so much about the pork chops though. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice piece of meat and cooked perfectly, but it didn't have a lot of flavor which I'm guessing is why they serve it with ketchup... If they could season it vietnamese style or cantonese salt and pepper style, I'm sure I'd be raving about it. We had the Kalbi which was awesome. The poke was also very good. I'd love to come back someday and try other items on the menu.
Come here with a big appetite as the plates will not disappoint. Seriously the portions are ridiculous. We ordered the lomp chung fried rice, the grilled pork chop, and the kaiua pig sliders. They are well know for the pork chops. The pork is lightly battered in flour and grilled. Its served steaming hot with ketchup, this is just like how my mom used to make it. There must have been at least 3 lbs of fried rice...and that was after we had 3 servings each.
Next we moved on to the pork sliders. These were by far my favorite. The pig was very moist and topped with this amazing sauce and a nice big piece of grilled pineapple.
Would definatly recommend this place and we are for sure going to hit up this place the next time we are in oahu.
First of all, what kind of place charges for tapwater in Hawaii? Minus two stars for that alone!
After eating at this place I learned two things:
1) That (mayor) Mufi Hanneman is not the only overrated thing in Honolulu.
2) That Anthony Bourdain is nice and knows how to be political.
How do I know #1? Because Honolulu is 3 years closer to becoming Haiti after Mufi took over. How do I know #2? Because I ate here and the props he gave the place are undeserved. (I think he was being polite because the owner of SS Inn took him around that day for his "No Reservations" show and he can't offend him, unlike Top Chef, where he regularly rips the contestants a new colon AND urethra.)
First of all, there's the charging for water thing. Second, the legendary kim chee fried rice was just bland fried rice with some grocery store grade kim chee thrown in. You could barely taste the kim chee. Walk 3 blocks down to Palama market and you can get real kim chee fried rice for $5 less. (Hint: if kim chee fried rice doesn't come out the color of red, then your eyes should!) The poke was good, but it's not better than Whole Foods and was twice the price per lbs. The misoyaki chicken was not bad and is the reason why this place gets two stars instead of one.
Yeah, yeah, all the naysayers are probably saying, "eh, brah, you nevah wen try da pork chops!" Even if those things are good, they're way overpriced and cannot be good enough to salvage the restaurant.
The problem with Hawaii people is that we're accustomed to overpaying for mediocrity, whether in our restaurants or in our gov't, and to make ourselves feel better about it, we tell ourselves and others that we are not, which is why places like this one are deemed as treasures and the same idiots keep getting elected mayor. For the price you pay here, you could get a bomb diggity spread at Uncle Bo's. Save your time and go to Big City Diner instead if comfort food is what you want.
And the final nail in the coffin? The menu gets all high maka maka and boasts of serving presidents and celebrities...but is full of bad spelling and grammar! Auwe.
For overpriced comfort food, an overblown ego and a menu that would fail 3rd-grade English, this place gets Franksabunched with 2 stars.
I love this place! The food is awesome and so is the service. My gf and I make sure we stop here every time we visit Hawaii.
If Anthony Bordain says something is good, I am all about it. Side Street Inn has been on my "bookmarks" since I found out I was going to Honolulu two months ago. Finally, today was the day.
Once I arrived, I realized soon after that the restaurant does not open until 2 p.m., a full hour and fifteen minutes after my arrival. Oy. Luckily, an employee directed me to the huge outdoor mall nearby.
At around 2:30, I returned. I knew to order the spicy chicken, but I also ordered the clams in white wine butter sauce. The clams were phenomenal. Absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, the chicken left a lot to be desired. After reading the rave reviews, I was expecting something I had never before tasted. Instead, I found myself sorting through pieces of fatty, deeply fried meat, to get to anything tender. I hate to say, but PF Chang's offers the same thing (but with all white meat).
The Side Street Inn's charm was not lost on me, despite the underwhelming chicken. I ended up talking to so many locals during my time there, that I was offered other samplings of the menu. The ahi poke was amazing. Like nothing I have ever tasted or seen on the east coast. The clams with sausage were also pretty fantastic. It's hard to decide which variety was better.
Side Street Inn does not need any accolades from this lowly yelper. The presence of the locals says it all.
I'm not local but I think their food represents the best of local style food
We had to make this one of our stops since they are known for their famous fried pork chops. Even though I'm not a big fan of fried foods, the pork chops were good...simple, yet good. Served over a bed of chopped cabbage with ketchup for dipping. We also tried the clams, reduced in white wine served with garlic bread. I personally liked the garlic bread dipped in the white wine sauce.
Servings are large and can be shared. We ordered two bowls of rice, thinking one wouldn't be enough for each person, but ended up wasting the rice. Nothing fancy about the decor; it's very laid back with a bar.
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Honolulu, HI
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Honolulu, HI
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Honolulu, HI
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