Big Island Grinds

This is from Two Ladies Kitchen, given to me as a small gift. *smile*

Merry Christmas everyone!

Two Ladies Kitchen
274 Kilauea Avenue
Hilo, HI 96720
808-961-4766

From the outside, Itsu’s looks like a quaint old house that sells fishing supplies. But upon walking in, especially during lunchtime, it looks and smells more like a take-out restaurant.

The actual fishing supplies are all the way in the back. I just hope Itsu’s keep this “cover” going because they are already very popular among the locals, and the lines don’t need to get any longer! Hrmmm… blogging this won’t help either, huh?

I used to come here a while ago for their ice shave, but I’ve never tried their lunches before. I’ve just kept on hearing about how good they were, so I decided to pay a visit today for some lunch.

Inside you’ll notice two lines: one for shave ice, and one for food. Luckily, the food line wasn’t too long and it was moving fast.

Itsu’s offers different local-style daily specials which you choose from the hot plates. They also offer hot dogs, a variety of burgers (including their famous kim chi and gravy burgers), chili, and loco mocos. So many choices and not enough stomach space! I’ll be coming back here to feature more stuff again.

I figured I’ll get a two choice plate ($5.95 tax incl.) with beef stew and mahi mahi.

Now this is how to do a plate lunch! Not only were the portions generous, but the taste was outstanding. This was one of the best plate lunches I’ve ever had!

Here’s a close-up of the beef stew.

This beef stew was so tasty and hearty. The gravy was thick and full of flavor, and the meat was very tender, and slightly fatty. The vegetables were perfectly cooked. I often add some shoyu or tabasco to help out the flavor, but this one didn’t need anything at all!

Mahi Mahi close-up…

The two people ahead of me ordered the Mahi Mahi, so that’s why I ordered this. Plus, this is a fishing supply store, so the must do their fish right, right? Well, they sure did. The Mahi Mahi was perfect: lightly fried with nice searing marks and a very moist center. The fish tasted very fresh, was seasoned really well, and came with a mayo/mustard tasting sauce. It was a great combination. The cut was nice and thick too.

Also, the mac salad was really good (full of flavor and just enough mayo). The rice was good too. I wouldn’t have changed a thing!

Oh, and here’s a photo of their fishing supplies.

Well, I really hope to come back here soon to try their other foods, so check back again. Reid, now I know why you come here every time you visit Hilo!

Itsu’s Fishing Supplies Inc
810 Piilani St Hilo
(808) 935-8082

Akmal is a small Pakistani & Indian restaurant located in a new food complex on the corner of Kilauea Ave & Lanikaula St which also has Spoonful (coffee/ice cream shop), H&K Lunch Shop (Korean), Soontaree’s Deli (vegetarian cuisine), and a Subway.

Akmal is supposedly the only restaurant of its kind on the Big Island. I was excited to see an Indian restaurant popping up in Hilo since I’ve only tried Indian food a couple of times on Oahu, and I’ve never tried Pakistani food.

Inside, there are only a few tables (~5-6). A counter with a variety of different dishes are kept hot to choose from during lunch time. During dinner, you order from a menu. When I entered at about 11:30am, I was the only person there, which seemed strange since the last time I came here, there were a lot more people.

They have this cool display of spices.

I ordered a plate of Garbanzo Bean Curry and some kind of Tempeh Curry to go, which also came with basmati rice and yogurt chutney ($7.00).

The basmati rice is a wonderful long, fluffy, and very light type of rice. It went really well with the curries since it can soak up a lot of liquid. Considering this was all vegetarian, I was amazed at the amount of flavor and richness there was in both curries.

The garbanzo beans had a nice firm chewable consistency and it still soaked up a lot of the flavors (lots of coriander and cumin). It was just slightly spicy. The tempeh curry was really good! Very rich and creamy with a nice spicey flavor. The tempeh went great with the curry sauce and it looked like it had potatoes, zucchinni, and onions inside of it. The yogurt chutney tasted great with everything, mellowing out the kick of the spices.

A co-worker ordered a Samosa Plate ($6.00).

Two samosas (deep fried pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes and green peas) topped with garbanzo bean curry, salad, and yogurt chutney. I’ve had this the last time I came here and it is perfect for a light lunch. The salad and garbanzo beans go really well with the light and crisp samosas.

I’m not sure if what I ate was Indian or Pakistani, but it all tasted yummy. Good times.

View Akmal’s menu and more reviews at Hilo Eats!

Akmal Pakistani & Indian Cuisine
14 West Lanikaula St, Hilo, HI 96720
Phone: (808) 969-7479

in Waipahu, Oahu

Being born and raised in Waipahu, my family ate here all the time ever since I can remember. It just feels like home everytime I eat here. No wonder I always try to visit here when I fly to Oahu. Unfortunately, they moved to a different location in Waipahu recently, but the food and atmosphere here is still the same and very homestyle.

When I was little, I don’t recall many Filipino restaurants around, but now there are many other Filipino restaurants sprouting up in Waiphu and other places (i.e. Golden Coin). But as far as I’m concerned, Elena’s is the best!

My two favorites here are the Sari-Sari (a tasty vegetable & pork soup) and the Kare-Kare (a peanut buttery oxtail soup).

Here’s the Sari-Sari.

Mixed vegetables, egg plant, squash, ongchoi, and very crispy lechon (pork skin). I love having this for breakfast! The hot soup is very rich with a strong fish and pork flavor, the vegetables are nice and fresh, and the crispy lechon is scrumptious.

Here’s the Kare-Kare.

This is like an oxtail & vegetable stew but with peanut butter. This might sound weird to some at first, but the peanut butter really thickens the stew up and balances out the flavor. The oxtails are fall-off-da-bone soft and the vegetables soak up a lot of flavor. The salty Bagaoong is a perfect compliment to this slightly sweet dish.

Filipinos love pork. Here is pork presented three ways: pork guisantes (pork & peas), pork adobo, and dinuguan (pork blood stew). Elena’s got these traditional dishes down to a science. They all are so tasty and tender. The flavors permeate through all of the pork. My favorite has always been the dinuguan.

I can’t wait to come back to Oahu to eat here again. Hilo just doesn’t have any good Filipino restaurants.

Why oh why do I keep doing this to myself? Why do I keep coming back here for a bland loco moco in hopes of it one day being better?

Well, I can get an “ok” loco moco and a small chili for well under 4 bucks… the chili was pretty good actually, not bland at all. It scored extra points to make up for the loco moco, which still has a thin strange tasting burger and bland gravy… let me just say, it’s amazing what a lot of shoyu can do to a bland loco moco.

To be fair, the gravy was actually thicker and tastier than the last time I’ve reviewed this place.

And isn’t it cute how they package everything so neatly into a small box? It’s just fun to do take out here.

Dear Cafe 100, I still have faith in you!

Hilo finally has a pub! Nichols Public House is a small Irish style pub which opened this past Wednesday, located across of the old Kaiko`o mall on Kilauea Avenue.

It was a packed house at 10:30pm and everyone was having a good time. There was a $5 cover since there was a live band playing (I really hope they drop the cover in the future). The vibe was very warm, cozy, and classy. Maybe a little too cozy, though, since there was only standing room left.

I managed myself to the bar and ordered a Bass ale… they ran out of Guiness already!

Mmmmmm! Drinking a good beer in a nice place like this with good music just made it all worth it. I can’t wait to come back to try their food!

Check out the menu. The food looks great here! (click to zoom)

I’ll keep you all posted on this place when I visit this place next time. It looks very promising!