Ryan "Hawaii" O.'s Profile

There are easily dozens of "famous shrimp trucks" on the North Shore, and they're popping up elsewhere, including Mililani and Pearl City. But one of the original, or at least well-known, shrimp trucks is Giovanni's.

The menu is pretty simple. The classic shrimp scampi, "hot and spicy," and lemon and butter. The "hot and spicy" is denoted with "very hot - no refunds." My wife had the spicy, and found it almost too much. I agreed it was hot, but still tasty enough (it wasn't overwhelming to the point of having no shrimp flavor at all). I got the classic, and loved it.  On the shrimp side, Giovanni's does not disappoint.

My primary complaint? The rice. Giovanni's obviously sells a ton of food, so they have to churn their rice pot pretty fast.  But it was obvious they weren't letting it cool between batches, or adjusting their cooking time, because our rice was absolutely horrible. Inedible "pellet" or "bullet" rice, hard and slimy. The one bite of rice we each took almost soured the entire meal. We ended up getting better rice with a kal bi plate from the next truck over.

As of this writing, Giovanni's is actually located in Haleiwa Town, across from the McDonald's in a dirt lot below Kamehameha Highway. It's a space it shares with three other shrimp and food trucks, but stands out because it tends to have the longest line.

A favorite spot for meeting friends. It's a small space with maybe five tables, and parking can be tricky (hint: the underground municipal lot off Beretania just past Nuuanu is perfect), but the food is homestyle simple and tasty. I love how the kitchen is right there, where you can watch them prepare their great dishes.

You can't go wrong with any pasta dish here, the eggplant pasta being my constant fall-back. But the sandwiches are fantastic -- perfectly toasted bread and a great mix of fillings (including roasted vegetables for the meat-averse). Even though the turkey sandwich is usually the most boring item on any menu, it's outstanding, here. I like the salads, too... though my most recent one had french fries in it, which seemed like an odd choice.

No soft drinks, but cool drinks, from lemonade's to Jones soda in a bottle.

My coworkers took me here for my birthday. It was a fantastic gift. A hidden gem in an otherwise unremarkable shopping center, once you stepped in the door you're transported to a better place.

The food was fantastic. The sushi was fresh and vibrantly colored. The tempura batter was crisp and flaky I'd swear they cooked each serving in a new batch of oil. The serving sizes were just right. I'll absolutely be back.

A side room that seats 16 or so looks promising for a group or family event.

Not cheap, but the quality justifies the price. This place was packed solid for a weekday lunch, so I can't imagine the crush of people for dinner. The biggest challenge is finding parking in one of the worst designed lots on the island.

Negligent, slow, scowling service. Mediocre food. High prices. I was wholly unimpressed with how impressed Soleil K seemed to be with itself.

We were first-time visitors to San Diego. We picked all our restaurants on a whim, walking past or spotting them from the trolley. We liked every eatery we visited, from holes-in-the-wall to fancy waterfront restaurant... except Soleil K.

We were standing on the corner, and looking at the subway sandwich chain across the street, but chose Soleil K. for its sidewalk tables.  From that moment forward, I knew we made a mistake.  We wanted to leave before our server even deigned to acknowledge we were there.  And we should have gone with that instinct.

Finding parking is nearly impossible (it's a tiny lot shared with a residential apartment complex), and you'll spot six health code violations the moment you walk in the door. But Ethel's is a hidden gem for old fashioned, homestyle local food at a great price. Combos include miso soup, a small salad, and fruit punch, and while you now have to pay a little extra to get the side sashimi, it's worth it. Most plates are $5.50 to $7.50.

As noted by other reviewers, Nick's Cafe went out of business some time ago.

"Upscale" and "Chinese restaurant" don't often appear together, but with The Mandalay, it fits.

Located downtown on Alakea in the old Yong Sing location (everyone laments the loss of those trademark Chinese gates), The Mandalay is the creation of the culinary minds behind the old Eastern Garden.  But they've taken their good food and served it up in an impressive wrapper.  The striking, but not flashy, decor seems almost out of place, with the financial district just down the block and Chinatown a few bus stops away.

The draw is the dim sum, and the twist is this: rather than picking items from carts that rotate around the restaurant -- a system that sometimes leaves some diners stranded and some food items a little long in the tooth -- you mark your choices on a form that will give you SAT flashbacks.  You're aided with a nice photo sheet with pictures of each dim sum, for those (like most people) who are used to choosing with their eyes rather than their limited Chinese vocabulary.  Your choices are then prepared fresh in the kitchen and delivered to your table.

Frankly, dim sum is dim sum to me, but I'm told it's pretty good here.  Since it's made to order, I can see why it might be.

We visited their opening week, and decided to order off the menu.  Everything looked great, and what we had was delicious.  Dried scallop fried rice with egg whites, clams with black bean sauce, and peppersalt shrimp.  Those first two dishes made a particularly wonderful pair.

The Mandalay may also turn out to be a good spot for people watching.  Well over a handful of Honolulu's movers and shakers were spotted at nearby tables when we were there.

Apart from "upscale" service speeds (i.e. a little long for a typical downtown lunch), the only other downside are the slightly high prices.  You're paying for a great looking restaurant.  But if you want Chinese food but without "traditional" level of service and decor you'd get at a hole in the wall a few blocks away, The Mandalay is a great addition to the downtown dining scene.

Surrounded by other much-hyped pho restaurants, this second location of a popular Vietnamese eatery (the original is in the Pearl Kai Shopping Center) is, to me, a great Chinatown secret. Cuu-Long's pho is well regarded, but for some reason people would rather stand in line at a more "legendary" spot on the river than to come and relax at the only occasionally crowded and always comfortable Cuu-Long II on the corner.

The pho portions are generous (the "Super" bowl is just that), and the broth is just right.  Not at all oily, not too salty, flavored and seasoned just right.  The restaurant is open (no cramped clusters of tables) and clean and you can watch the many characters of Chinatown pass by outside.

A Mainland chain, sure, but one certainly welcome in a town that hungers for more (if not better) Italian options.  We went during their soft-opening, and again last week, and loved it.  Family friendly (a plus for us and our three kids), decent portions for a reasonable price.  The kitchen speed has been a bit uneven - main courses sometimes beat the salad or appetizers to your table - but the servers are sharp and friendly and no dishes were lacking in richness or flavor (I always end up taking almost half of my order home).

As with the opening of other major chains (notably the Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki), right now the line to get in can be long -- show up at 6 p.m. on a Friday, and you'll have to wait an hour or more.  But, at least with its location within Honolulu's retail Mecca, there's no shortage of things to browse to pass the time.  Presumably, in a few months, the lines will subside (especially as other new dining options open in Hookipa Terrace).

If you visit O'ahu, you have to visit the historic North Shore town of Haleiwa.  And if you visit Haleiwa, you have to get some shave ice.  The typical visitor will naturally gravitate toward M. Matsumoto's Store, which has been written up so many times, the line to get one of its cones can stretch down the street.  But my choice will always be Aoki's, just a few yards away.

Sure, Aoki's might seem like the Portland to Matsumoto's Seattle, the also-ran, the hanger-on.  But in addition to the practical benefit of having a (slightly) shorter line, it's no less a cozy, charming neighborhood store that happens to also excel in one of Hawaii's favorite icy treats.

There's no rocket science to shave ice, and I'd probably fail in a taste test between the two, but Aoki's shave ice is delicious, and my underdog preference.