Steph C.'s Profile

When Matt B. and I came to Hawaii, Melissa K. directed us to the Halekulani for sunset cocktails, romantic style.  We arrived at House Without a Key (I love the name, by the way, both on its own and as a musical reflection of the name of the hotel) around six after a long traffic-filled drive from the North Shore.  We were afraid we'd miss the sunset, but good to know - valet was free for restaurant customers, so we didn't have to make a trip to our garage.  We weren't seated right away, so we lingered by the restaurant on lounge chairs facing the beach.  Happily, we got a table soon after and had drinks in our hands when the sun went down.

The views were lovely, not quite panoramic, but very pretty, and the sky went down softly, in many colors.  The patio was relaxing, and service was great. We were attended to by a waiter named Charlie who treated his job with pleasant earnest.  He gave us potato chips when we sat down, and checked on us often.  The chips were later refilled.

Matt and I have gotten drinks at enough fancy hotels that we kind of know not to be offended when we're monstrously ripped off.  Before we opened the menu, we took turns guessing how much the drinks would cost.  We guessed $15 and $17, and we decided that either would be okay, as we were paying for the venue.  The prices were a nice surprise - the "cool concoctions" cost a not-cheap-but-reasonable $12 each.

The second surprise came when the drinks were really quite delicious.  We had a Mai Tai, a Strawberry and Basil, and a couple Rangpur Guava Fizzes, and they were all excellent tropical cocktails.  The Mai Tai was fantastic, boozy and not too sweet, with rum and rum and rum, some curaçao, lime, and orgeat and rock candy syrups with plenty of crushed ice.  It came garnished with mint and lime, a sugar cane stick and a pretty pink flower.  Perfect for a Hawaiian evening.  The Rangpur Gin Fizz was also fantastic, with a citrus gin and guava juice making a refreshing combination with just a bit of sugar.  The only drink I didn't care for was the Strawberry and Basil, a tropical gin martini with Tanqueray 10, strawberries, and basil.  Not bad, but not very balanced.

As we sipped on our drinks and grew slowly tipsy, we watched the sunset and a small troupe of Hawaiian entertainers.  We were treated to the hula stylings of a current or recent Miss Hawaii.  It was an idyllic evening on the island, a true and pure interlude of undisturbed vacation.  When I'm bored or stressed with my non-island life, I might take flight to sunset at the Halekulani, where I savored the waning day with a cold Mai Tai in my hand.

Did you guys ever watch Food Wars on the Travel Channel?  It was this show that conducted blind taste tests to determine the winners of various local restaurant rivalries.  Philly cheesesteaks, Chicago pizza, that kind of thing.  It was mostly vapid, as the actual substantive content was hard to stretch to half hour segments, but I understand why it sounded like a good idea at the time.  Rivalries are almost inherently interesting, and sometimes you wonder how one purveyor of a prominent regional food stacks up against another.

Matt B. and I did not set out to eat Waiola and Matsumoto's in the same day, but due to rental car logistics, we hit both in about a four hour window.  With shave ice, this was about as close as it gets to a side by side taste test.  In the battle of Hawaiian shave ice on Oahu, Waiola won.  The determining factor was the smoother fluffier texture of the ice.  That is the primary metric by which to judge shave ice.  Everything else is detail.

That said, Matsumoto's was also great.  If venue were a consideration, Matsumoto's would have swept that category.  The grocery store was cute and friendly, and the line that formed at 4 PM on a Monday afternoon moved fast.  Service was friendly and quick.  Prices were good.  Two regular size ices with condensed milk on one cost $6, including $.25 each for the large plastic cone holder.  This wasn't really optional.

The portions were gigantic.  Matt wandered off while I ordered, and I got us both large ices.  The only other option was small, for a quarter less, so I figured, what the hell.  When we paid at the register and received our desserts, Matt took one look and asked, "Did you mean to do this?"  The green cup holders were frisbee-sized, and the small paper cups inside were hilariously overloaded.  The ice mountains were as big as cotton candies.

Thankfully, they were easy to eat.  The ice was a bit icier, chippier than Waiola's, but it was still nice, with a finer texture than your average snow cone that took well to both syrup and condensed milk.  I got the Matsumoto's combination with pineapple, coconut, and lemon, with condensed milk on top.  Matt got the similar Rainbow, with strawberry, pineapple, and lemon.  All the flavors were fresh and delicious.  Though they came in bright colors that didn't match their respective fruits, they didn't taste at all artificial.  I enjoyed my ice quite a bit, and would certainly visit Matsumoto's if it were in my neighborhood.

I do wish there were more of an area to sit and eat, and that the trash cans where we disposed of our remains weren't so visibly swarmed with big black flies.  These are nitpicks, though.  Our second shave ice detour of the day wasn't as good as our first, but it was plenty pleasant, even on full stomachs.  Matsumoto's may not be Waiola, but second place isn't bad when the rivalry is hot.

Matt B. and I took a five day trip to Hawaii, and for one of those days, we rented a car.  We wanted to drive up the island and back, but had very little in the way of an actual itinerary.  Instead, I used Giovanni's as our endpoint.  It was a worthy destination.

We went for a late second lunch, and it left me full enough to skip dinner, and loaded with heinous garlic burps until the next morning.  It was glorious.

We arrived at the parking lot containing Giovanni's after passing several decoys claiming to offer North Shore's famous garlic shrimp.  We parked without trouble and beelined for the decorated truck. There was a short line at 3:30 on a Monday afternoon.  The truck was out of hot dog buns and macaroni salad.  No big deal.

The menu was short and easy, and I got the shrimp scampi, a half order of the hot and spicy, and a garlic hot dog.  With two sodas, the total was an even $25.  Not bad for a full meal for two worth a 30 mile drive.  Service was great.  The man who helped us was friendly and cool and danced through most of our meal to a reggae soundtrack.  The food came out reasonably fast.

Matt doesn't like when his food looks like animals, and though the shrimp didn't even have heads, he pouted when I revealed at the last minute that the shrimp would be unpeeled.  Since I had fully intended to trick him, I took responsibility and peeled all eighteen of our shrimp.  The job was easy.  Messy, but easy.  The shells came right off the bodies, and there was an outdoor sink to wash my hands when I was done eating.

While I peeled, Matt started in on the garlic hot dog.  After a couple minutes, I looked up to try the sausage, and the villain had the last bite poised on the end of his fork, ready to enter his mouth.  I would have dumped him on the spot if he weren't my ride back to Waikiki.  Caught, he relinquished that final morsel of garlic hot dog, and it was delicious.  Meaty, very juicy, and loaded with the same buttery garlic sauce that coated my fingers.  It might have been better with a bun than with two scoops of rice, but it did form a cute smiley face the way it came.

The shrimp trumped the dog.  That shrimp scampi was insane.  The butter and garlic seeped into every little bite of shrimp, and the texture had the perfect level of snap and chew, without a hint of rubber.  The fresh shrimp flavor was also very evident, marrying well with the dominant garlic.  The hot and spicy shrimp was also delightful, very spicy, but not so hot as to be tongue-numbing or unenjoyable.  Both sauces went well with the fluffy white rice, which was a great accompaniment to the shrimp.

I realize that Giovanni's is a tourist spot, but I've found that tourists are often right.  I will never visit North Shore without stopping for this shrimp scampi, and I'll look forward to that taste until my next trip to Hawaii.

I stayed in Waikiki for my recent trip to Hawaii, and while I refuse to be one of the tourists who puts down Waikiki Beach for being "touristy," I have to admit that Waimea Bay Beach was nicer.  As I have no natural athleticism, the surfing potential in North Shore means nothing to me.  The beauty of beach and water, though, I can certainly appreciate.

Matt B. and I stopped at this beach on our drive up and down North Shore, and it was lovely.  Parking was a bit of an issue, but once we found a corner to lurk, we got a spot pretty quickly.  We walked in past picnic tables and restrooms and little rinse showers, all of which would be important to a full day spent at Waimea.  We stupidly forgot to bring towels from Waikiki, so we didn't lay out in the sun like I would have liked.  Instead, we walked along the beach in the soft sand, and enjoyed the views.  The water was clear and gorgeous, and the white tide curled up against the shore in elegant even waves.  Not as wader-friendly as the waters in Waikiki, but not ferocious, either.  The people watching was great in more than the usual superficial way.  The beach wasn't crowded or filled with caricatures, but we saw people cliff diving, and a man paddleboarding with his dog.

Waimea Bay Beach felt like a beautiful place to soak in sun and water and relax until you get tired.  There were plenty of  cars and people, but it was isolated enough that it wasn't crowded.  Next time I'm in Oahu, I'll know to spend a day at Waimea, wherever I happen to stay.

Short review for a short stop.  Matt B. and I parked the car to visit this beach because we saw that it had drawn a crowd.  We were tourists, after all.  We walked down to the little beach and knew instantly why we were there - greeting us with their lazy eyes and glacial movements were two sea turtles, as big and majestic as we could hope for.

I don't know how there are always turtles on display, but they appear to be a regular attraction at this beach.  They were roped off to protect them from crowds, and they seemed pretty unbothered by all the attention.  I've only seen giant turtles a few times, and the view at Laniakea was much closer and more intimate than the ticket price at any aquarium can buy.  It was lovely to meet these two sleepy beach crawlers, and they enriched our North Shore drive and Hawaii vacation with their turtle power.  Cowabunga.

I remember the first time I had Waiola Shave Ice.  It was in 2003, and though I had had numerous snow cones and giant bowls of pat bing soo (Korean shaved ice with red beans) in my life, the fluffy, snowy texture of Waiola was new to me.  In the nine years since that Hawaii trip, I have encountered great shave ice a few more times, but I've never forgotten that first taste.

When Matt B. and I finished a more-strenuous-than-it-should've-been hike at Diamond Head, he wanted to get shave ice from the truck at  the bottom of the trail.  I'm sure that would have been refreshing, but I insisted that we make the trip to Waiola.  He grumbled minimally, and when he demolished his ice less than a half hour later, he had to concede that the short drive was worthwhile.

I didn't remember what the place looked like.  A shack, apparently, in a less than scenic part of town, with less of a crowd than you'd think on a warm afternoon.  There was a very friendly mentally ill woman sitting on a bench by the window, and she talked at us at great length while we ordered.  The only other customers were a family of three, the father taking pictures of the adorable little son, eating shave ice happily in a Matsumoto's T-shirt.  Ordering was fast and easy, and our ice was ready almost right away.

The ice was as good as I remembered (though I will say, if you're reading this from L.A., Get Shaved is just as good, so go get some!), light and feathery, with a nice creaminess from its interaction with condensed milk.  I had an azuki bowl with strawberry and original ice, which came topped with condensed milk, sweet red beans, and big, chewy balls of mochi.  It was delicious and refreshing, with the restrained sweet profile of many Japanese desserts.  It cost $4.50, which seemed fair.  Matt got a bowl of lime and cherry, both of which were great.  He's anti-condensed milk (he doesn't like the way it looks, and he's missing out), so his was less delicious than mine, but still.  Good choices otherwise.

We went to Matsumoto's the same afternoon (not because we were trying to be gluttonous, but because we had a rental car for one day), and I think Waiola wins by a landslide.  The texture is much nicer, and when it comes to shave ice, the texture is all.  The one downside to the airy ice, though, is that it melts very fast.  I inhale my frozen desserts, but my shave ice came with a sizable soup chaser.  (It was, at least, a liquid delight.)  No matter.  Waiola Shave Ice is one of the things you must eat in Oahu, and I'll never set foot on the island without longing for an ice-cold bowl.

As my reviews tend to reveal, I like to eat.  I also shun exercise of almost any kind.  I am lucky enough to be less than tremendously fat, but I'm sure I'm quite unhealthy.  The Diamond Head trail is supposed to be the easiest, most accessible hike on the island.  It confirmed for me what I already knew - that I have the physique of a wilted cabbage.

Matt B. and I spent five days in Hawaii, and we figured we should do one hike on our trip.  We looked up a few and decided on Diamond Head because it seemed popular and accessible.  I bought socks for the occasion, with turtles on the ankles.  I'm glad we went with the McDonald's PlayPlace level trail, because as we made the trip with numerous toddlers and retirees, my heart rate reached dangerous levels it had not experienced in at least a year.

It was, despite my pitiful lack of athleticism, a lovely hike, and less than an hour up and down.  The trail lacked shade for the most part, but though the weather was warm, it was typically pleasant, with a cool breeze to help us along.  The payoff awaited us at the top of the hike, but there was enough natural beauty along the way to keep things interesting.  A couple dry spots, sure, like tons of stairs and a little cave-like pass, but overall nice to look at.  There were also a few intermediate lookout points along the way.  We skipped a couple of these with the intention of going back on the way down.  Word of advice - it's only worth stopping when you're going up.  The view from the top obliterates the buildup.

Diamond Head is a popular trail and you're never alone hiking up.  The crowd was most apparent, though, at the top.  It wasn't easy getting a picture without a stranger's sweaty body part somewhere in the frame.  This didn't really bother me, though, and we enjoyed the views.  We stood in the breeze and looked out at the blue sky and blue sea and the skyline and lush green expanses that made up the island.  We didn't even have to tell each other that the hike was worth it.  Sure I was tired and a little ashamed of being schooled by numerous kindergarteners, but I would do it again.

My friend Michael K. has done a few hikes on Oahu and he says Diamond Head isn't his favorite.  There are others with better views along the way, and with fewer people ready to take on the more arduous journeys.  Maybe one day I'll be ready to tackle a more challenging trail, but I was more than happy with this one.  If Diamond Head is crowded because most tourists are out of shape, I certainly lack the standing to complain.

I had a lot of places I wanted to hit during my five day trip to Hawaii (thanks in large part to Michael K.'s blog, http://tangandbolster...., which also brought me here), but Matt B. and I ended up eating at Diamond Head twice.  We came for breakfast both times, but missed the 10:30 cut-off on our first attempt and stayed for lunch.  No regrets. I'd come back twice in one trip again.

The place was easy to deal with, short lines and fast window service with an outdoor seating area.  There was an indoor bakery section, but otherwise the space was limited to the strip of tables adjacent to the parking lot.  The place was busy but never crowded, and the food came out quickly enough.

I loved just about everything I ate, and I'm curious to try the rest of the menu.  There were a lot of choices for both breakfast and lunch, and on my first visit I went straight for the mixed plate.  It came with teriyaki chicken, char siu pork, and hamburger, and salad and rice on the side (choice of white or brown - I chose brown).  This was one of the best plate lunches I've had in Hawaii, and I will seek it out again.  The teri chicken was the undisputed star of the show, marinated through, with a pervasive grilled flavor and just a bit of sweetness.  The meat was juicy even where it looked thin and possibly dry.  Not a bite was tough or bland, or even tougher or blander than the rest.  The char siu pork was also a winner, with a pronounced Chinese bottle sauce flavor (I mean this in the best possible way) and very tender slices of meat.  The hamburger was my least favorite of the trio, but even this was great.  The ground beef was well packed and flavorful, and it came with soft cooked onions and a rich, saucy gravy.  The rice and salad were only functional, but they were necessary to the meal.  Matt had the kal bi beef rib plate with white rice only (they replaced his salad with an extra scoop of rice, which we didn't ask for but appreciated very much).  The kal bi was great.  The ribs were tender and full of flavor, the marinade just an ounce sweeter than in traditional Korean barbecue fare, as expected from a Hawaiian kitchen.

By the time we finished our lunch, we had decided to come back for breakfast the next day, as long as we still had our rental car.  It was a great decision.  I went with the breakfast plate, which offered  two eggs (I got them sunny side up), a choice of bacon, ham, spam, or Portuguese sausage (Portuguese sausage please), a tall scoop of rice (I got white this time, sort of on accident), a block of cornbread, and a slice of orange.  The sausage was delicious, lightly charred and bursting with flavor.  It was cut up into small circles, and each of these produced plenty of snap and pleasant chew.  The eggs were cooked right, and I let the yolks run free.  The only thing I didn't care for on the plate was the cornbread, which was a little dry, but I didn't need it to be great.  Matt's blueberry pancakes were not terrible, but less successful than my breakfast.  The blueberries were nice, and the pancakes tasted good, but they kind of went to mush at the end of every bite.  We'll skip over these in the future.

We shared a blueberry cream cheese scone with our breakfast, and took what we couldn't finish on the road.  What an incredible scone.  I took the first bite, and Matt asked if we would need butter.  I laughed.  The scone tasted like butter, but also like blueberry and even a little bit like tangy cream cheese.  The texture was perfect, crumbly but dense enough to hold solid, and it melted away in my mouth.

After our first meal here, we did the Diamond Head hike.  It was a nice trail with a beautiful view at the top, but the meal was definitely a chief highlight of that excursion.  We came back the next day with no intention to exercise, and I imagine we'll do so again on any future trips to Honolulu.

Matt B. and I are in the market for a couple of big purchases, one of which is a nice watch for him.  We may buy it now or, more likely, we may wait a year, but as long as we were window shopping up and down Waikiki, we decided to stop in and browse the Tourneau.  Lower sales tax if we decided to pull the trigger early.

The shop was pretty and well organized, and we gave it a good browse.  We were helped by a lovely Korean woman named Diana Kim, who is the main reason I'm writing this review.  She was very helpful and forthcoming.  She told us everything we wanted to know about the watches we looked at, and we chatted with her about our lives and hers.  I liked her a lot, and we took her card and decided we'd go back there if we were to buy a watch on our trip.  She even offered us discounts on the watches we liked - good to know that you can haggle.

We couldn't decide that fast, though, and we're still not sure when we should make the purchase.  I'm sure this Tourneau gets plenty of business, but I would have liked to give Diana the commission.  If you're interested in buying a watch in Waikiki, this is a good spot to do it.  Handsome selection, tempting discounts, and great service.  All nice things in general, but especially welcome when the goods are priced this high.

On our second day in Hawaii, Matt B. told me he wanted pizza for dinner.  I consulted Yelp on my iPhone as we sat by the beach, and found Arancino.  A cursory look told me it was an Italian/pizza restaurant with $$, 4 stars, 150 reviews.  Good stats.  We decided to check it out.

Yelp!  We both know that a restaurant where almost all the pizzas are in the $20 range is not actually a $$ spot.  It is definitely $$$.  Someone fix that mistake.  With tip, we dropped $150 to the dime on this $$ dinner.  We weren't terribly unhappy about it, but only because we could afford to say, "Well fuck it, we're on vacation."  I guess this is probably true for most of Arancino's customers, but still?

We also had our expectations adjusted when we arrived at the restaurant and got a look at the menu.  We had called ahead and were seated quickly, but the maitre d' was stationed outside, surrounded by a waiting crowd.  We had a chance to turn around when we saw the prices, but I was already hooked by the idea of uni pasta.

The place was friendly and busy, and as I had begun to suspect, entirely Japanese.  There is a category of Italian restaurants in Japan that fits a certain pattern - classic Italianish decor (red and white checkered tablecloths, wall hangings alluding to some vague country idyll), extensive classic Italian menu with very occasional Japanese twists, and yet a totally undeniable Japanese ambiance that is only partially anchored in the Japanese staff.  I'd never been to one of these places in the states until Arancino, but the atmosphere was instantly recognizable, and welcoming on its merits.  Our waitress was an older Japanese woman who might well have been an owner, and she was helpful and friendly, even downright ebullient.

Our meal kicked off with a basket of warm rosemary focaccia with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  We ordered a bottle of wine soon after we sat down.  This was somewhat accidental.  Our waitress came to take our order and I looked across the table as my boyfriend scanned the drink menu.  I noticed that most of the wines were priced in the $20 range and was pleasantly surprised to the point where I said, in front of the waitress, "Oh, the wines are really well priced."  My boyfriend gave me a look and passed me the menu, and by the time I figured out that the drink menu was organized in a numbered list, we were on the hook.  We got a $48 bottle of Montepulciano.  Not terrible, but cocktails and beer would have been a lot more cost-effective.  Oops.  At least the wine was good.

The most overpriced part of the meal was the $19 affetato misto, which Matt and I shared as an appetizer.  This was a plate of Genoa salami, pistachio mortadella, and prosciutto, with small cubes of Grana Padano cheese, and green and Kalamata olives.  The portions were tiny, with only a few small slices of each meat, and not enough cheese to qualify as more than a garnish.  The quality was good, at least.  The salami was well spiced, the prosciutto salty and silky.  I often find mortadella weird and spongey, but this version was good.  Still, $20+ for less than a fistful of meat is kind of bullshit.

Pastas were still expensive at $28 and $22 for the spaghetti ai ricci di mare and the linguine ai gamberetti, but they were worth the price.  I loved the spaghetti ai ricci di mare - this was the signature uni pasta, with heaps of fresh sea urchin and a sweet garlic white wine cream sauce.  It was spectacular.  The pasta was cooked a lovely al dente, and the uni melded into the sauce, which then clung to the pasta, with excellent unity.  The portion was substantial, but I inhaled the dish and would've eaten more.  Matt's linguine (despite his clamoring, my weird-ass boyfriend never gets pizza when he decides he's in a more all-purpose Italian restaurant) was also a winner, served with black tiger shrimp and arugula in a homemade tomato sauce.  The shrimp was fresh and snappy, and the wilted cooked arugula brought a nice green edge to the dish.  The pasta was cooked to a tee, and the sauce was fantastic, hearty and acidic, with a great punch of garlic.

For dessert, we shared a glass of lemon gelato, which came with three scoops (but only one flavor allowed? whatever).  It was a refreshing way to end the meal.

Arancino was expensive, sometimes needlessly so, but I was happy with our meal and secretly thrilled that it wasn't just a throwaway pizza joint.  The uni pasta was worth the trip alone, and I'd recommend this place to anyone looking for casual upscale Italian.