Big Island Grinds

It was another weekend night, and we were hungry at 4:30am. Ken’s, Verna’s, 7-11, or…Kandi’s? Yup, Kandi’s opens at 4am! That was good news because I’ve come here many a time between 8-9am and their fried rice breakfasts were usually sold out. Not happening to me this morning. *grin*

Kandi’s serves all the traditional local comfort foods at great prices. There were about 5-7 other people hanging out in the drive inn’s small eating area.

Here’s their breakfast and daily specials menu:

I asked the lady taking our order, “You guys still get fried rice?” She laughed, and said yes, mentioning that it always gets sold out by 9am.

There are three different fried rice breakfasts: Fried Rice Special ($3.75 - fried rice topped with egg and hot dog), Fried Rice Omelet ($3.50 - fried rice wrapped in eggs w/2 slices of spam), and Fried Rice Hash & Eggs ($3.95 - fried rice, corned beef hash, and topped with an egg).

I ordered the Fried Rice Omelet w/spam.

This was so good and is such a great deal at $3.50. The fried rice in this egg omelet had a great texture, firm yet moist, which absorbed lots of the wonderful crunchy bacon and ham goodness. It was a bit oily, but it just made it taste better. I loved how some of the rice grains were burnt crisp just a little, adding to the great flavor. The two slices of spam were thick and cooked gently, which kept them moist and sweet. Serious homestyle comfort food.

My friend ordered a Teri Loco Moco and added a ton of ketchup.

A teri loco moco is the same as a regular loco moco, with added teri sauce to the burger. I had one bite and it tasted just ok. The teri sauce added a nice sweetness to it, but the burger was thin and didn’t taste that good… might’ve been premade. The gravy was basic, but it had a full flavor and wasn’t watery. Egg was cooked well. I didn’t get to try the mac salad, though. Overall, it was just an average loco moco.

Another friend ordered toast, eggs and hash browns, which I didn’t get to try. He seemed to enjoy it, though.

For a cheap and very tasty breakfast, I would highly recommend this place. They also offer lots of plate lunches and bentos. I’ve tried their beef stew and teri beef plate, which were both very good and tasty (sorry, no photos).

Kandi’s Drive Inn
56 W Kawailani Street
Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 959-8461

The entire office at work was treated to a nice Christmas luncheon at the Hilo Yacht Club, a beautiful recreational club sitting on the beach (Reed’s Bay).

This is an exclusive recreational club kept alive by its members who pay an initial and monthly fee which varies depending on your age and living location. Members can use all of their facilities as well as their banquet rooms for special events. So is it worth joining here for the food?

I started with the French Onion soup with Gruyere Cheese ($4.50)

Sadly, this soup tasted more like beef broth with soggy bread and onions. The onions still had a small crunch to them, not caramelized at all, which onions in a proper french onion soup should be. Even the crust of the bread was soggy, and the bread was not even good bread. French onion soups need bread that can hold up to the soup and stay crusty, me thinks!

Rib Eye Steak (medium rare) with mushrooms & onions ($14.95)

The steak tasted good and was well seasoned, but was unevenly cooked and was a bit tough considering it was a rib-eye. Half of the steak was thin and other half was thicker, making one side well-done and the other a medium. I wish they cut it thick instead of thin and large. Vegetables were good and buttery though.

Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries

I think this was the best thing that came out of the kitchen so far. The mousse was smooth, chocolaty, and not too sweet. The strawberries were ripe and sweet. It was a great ending to the meal.

Here are some of the other dishes ordered which I didn’t get to taste:

Lobster & Crab Salad with Fresh Fruits and Sherbet ($9.50)

Homestyle Chicken Curry ($8.95)

Mud Pie ($3.95) and Chocolate Brownies with Kona Coffee Ice Cream ($3.95)

Food-wise, this club just doesn’t cut it, but they offer a lot more including an oceanview pool, three tennis courts, a black sand volleyball court, and beautiful views of the beach.

Honolulu, Oahu

It smells so good everytime I visit (or pass) here. They make one of the best cups of coffee!

That big contraption in the middle of the store is a coffee roaster. I see them actually using it sometimes, so this might be why the coffee tastes so fresh.

I was lucky on my visit because their coffee of the day was the Kona Peaberry, a special type of coffee berry that less than 5% of the entire crop yields.

The flavor is much more intense and a bit sweeter than regular Kona coffee. It’s just hard to describe how happy this made me!

Also ordered was a Cafe Mocha.

Not too sweet with the espresso flavor still dominating, this was an excellent mocha!

Honolulu Coffee Company
Ala Moana Shopping Center, Upper Level
1450 Ala Moana Blvd., Space #3066
Honolulu, HI 96814
Phone: (808) 949-1500

Honolulu, Oahu

Late night chowder cravings brought us here. Our last visit was quite awhile ago and we recalled some decent chowder. Chowder House is located in Ward Warehouse. There were about 7 other tables occupied at around 9pm.

We were promptly served some water and given our menus. Service was very friendly.

They have a bar with some beers on tap. I tried a Keoki Gold Draft brewed in Kauai ($3.25) for the first time.

This was a very refreshing, somewhat fruity, medium-bodied beer. It kept a nice head too.

We both ordered chowders: one New England Clam Chowder and one Corn Chowder ($4.75 each).

The chowders filled our chowder cravings, but they didn’t taste like what we remember them. Both of the chowders tasted a bit watery. The clam chowder, to me, tasted too starchy and not creamy enough. I think the corn chowder actually tasted better. What made it even worse was that the clam chowder was served warm, not hot!

We also halved a hamburger deluxe w/fries ($7.25) to go with our chowders.

This burger was hit and miss. The burger patty was fresh tasting, flame grilled, tender and not over cooked. The bun crumbled as eating it. Toasting the bun might’ve helped it. The fries were the worst! Many of them were chewy, soggy and oily. If you zoom in on the fries you can see what I mean. We ended up not finishing the fries, and rarely do I waste french fries.

This “Ginger Fire” sauce was sitting with the other condiments and it caught my attention.

I sampled it on the burger, and it tasted yummy. Then I sampled it in the chowder and it was… yummy but kind of weird. This sauce had a hot ginger kick, sort of like the heat that comes with eating raw ginger. The heat hits sharp and hard but did not linger too long. Interesting stuff.

Although our chowder cravings were fulfilled, I’m sure there are better places for chowder in Hawaii. Maybe we came here on a bad day?

The Chowder House
1050 Ala Moana Blvd
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 596-7944