Big Island Grinds

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

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

Ken’s House of Pancakes is a legend in Hilo. Located on the corner of a busy intersection near the hotels and the airport, locals and tourists alike flock to this seemingly always busy restaurant for their huge fluffy 3-egg omelettes, sumo sized saimins and loco mocos, burgers, oxtail stew, and a whole array of local and American foods. Also, where else can you go for a sit-down meal at 3am in the morning in Hilo? Ken’s is the only place!

Here is a sampling of their menu. Notice the Sumo Moco at the bottom!

From the menu:
“Sumo” Moco - This is a serious “bell ringer”. 6 scoops rice, choice of spam (4), 5 oz. Lean “Home Grown” beef patty (2), or 6 oz. mahi-mahi. Gravy + 3 eggs any style. *drool*

Ken’s has a relatively new thing going on that when anyone orders a “Sumo” menu item such as the Sumo Moco or the Sumo Min (a huge amount of saimin and garnishes), they ring this bell really loud…

…and all the waitresses/waiters yell a resounding, “SUMO”!!!!!!! They seem to have gotten it down to a science already, with perfect timing. Even the regulars join in and yell “SUMO”!!!! It gets especially louder as the clubbing-folk stumble in after the night is over.

The people at Ken’s are very warm and full of the aloha spirit. Even at the most crowded times, you can see that they are under pressure, but they still keep their cool and are nice and attentive. It feels like a big family in there.

On this visit, we sat at the counter since there were no seats available. The cooks and waitresses were going at it full blast.

Here’s their counter setup. The ketchup and tabasco is offered when the food comes.

I ordered the “Pocho” (under $7).

3 eggs with portuguese sausage, onions, and cheddar cheese. Don’t mistake this for one of their omelettes… their omelettes are bigger and fluffier. I ordered this since I wasn’t feeling hungry enough for their huge omelettes. The eggs were soft and the portuguese sausage was tasty. I put shoyu and tabasco all over.

It also came with pancakes.

Ken’s pancakes are deliciously fluffy and yummy. They also have coconut and lilikoi syrup by request, which is a great option! Although these aren’t the best pancakes I’ve had, they are still very good.

Also ordered was their Oxtail Stew (~$10).

The oxtails are extremely tender and the tomato-based stew has a deep, rich flavor. The serving is very generous, with lots of oxtail. Carrots and celery accompany the oxtails. On the side is mac salad and 2 scoops rice. Tabasco is highly recommended for dis one! I know you guys stay drooling already!

On another visit, I had a loco moco, which I just have to include here!

Ken’s loco moco is one of the better loco mocos in Hilo. The hamburger patty is big and freshly grilled. The gravy is homemade and is lighter (in color) than the regular packaged brown gravy used by most places, but it also tastes better than most places. The gravy matches the loco really well. The eggs (it came with two, but you can’t really tell in the picture) were cooked just right. At $5.45, it’s a more expensive loco moco, but still a good deal for a nice sit-down place.

Also really good are Ken’s fries, served by the basket (shown halfway eaten already).

The fries are really crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Excellent.

A pancake house has to have good coffee, and Ken’s coffee is always hot, fresh, and rich.

They keep a thermos container full of coffee at your table so that you can drink as much as you like.

Hilo is very lucky to have Ken’s House of Pancakes and I couldn’t wait to feature them on here.

Ken’s House of Pancakes
1730 Kamehameha Ave.
Hilo , HI 96720
(808) 538-1877
Open 24 hours.