Big Island Grinds

One wouldn’t expect to find a place such as Hilo Bay Cafe in Hilo. Just take a look at this place.

Where are we? It looks like some chic jazz cafe in San Fransisco or something. Well, I’ve actually never been to one, but it feels like this would be something like it. A full bar, warm lighting, and light jazz music are some of the first things you’ll notice as you walk in. The staff is very warm, friendly, and professional.

Sometimes it’s nice to “get out of Hilo”.

I started with one of my favorite beers (and they have it on tap!), a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I got so excited to drink it that I almost forgot to take a photo.

We were served a plate of bread and butter.

This baguette was one of the best I’ve ever had. The crust was very rich, hard and crusty. Inside was moist with a very dense crumb — chewy and tasty. So good. Anybody know where they get their bread from?

The French Onion Soup ($5) was good and came with a generous amount of stretchy cheese. I only wish that the toast in the soup was more toasty, since it was more soggy than anything.

Warm bacon spinach salad with blue cheese and apples ($8). This was really good. The bacon was really hearty, and the cheese was rich. The spinach was fresh with a nice tangy sweet dressing. Apples were a nice touch too.

Blue Bay Burger with Gorgonzola Cheese and Garlic Fries ($8) — half portion shown since I shared it. This was great. The burger tasted very fresh and was nice and thick… it went great with the gorgonzola cheese. The tomato and lettuce were really fresh too. Fries were crisp with a subtle garlic flavor — very good.

Also ordered was a Blackened Ahi Caesar with Organic Baby Romaine ($9). This one was said to be really good. I got to try the Ahi and it was very flavorful and fresh. The romaine looked nice and crisp too.

I’ve already been here a few times, and Hilo Bay Cafe never fails to impress with their fresh organic ingredients, relaxing ambience, and great drinks. Their prices are also very reasonable. Highly recommended!

Hilo Bay Cafe
315 Makaala Street, Hilo, HI 96720
Phone: (808) 935-4939

Brah, it was one scorcha of a day in Hilo Town today. Plus, I was off of work because it was Kamehameha day, so no air conditioned office. But I’m not complaining. I was able to enjoy one of the great pleasures in Hilo while getting some much needed sun! (I gotta be one of the whitest Filipinos)

So what would you do if you were driving down this road at high noon? I’m sure you know the answer!

Mr. Itsu himself was there making ice shave for everybody. Bev and I ordered a Coconut Deluxe Bowl. Deluxe means that the ice shave comes with vanilla ice cream and azuki beans (made as a sweet red yummy paste). I’ll let the photos explain…

A nice scoop of vanilla ice cream is put on the bottom of the bowl/cup.

Next, the azuki bean paste is layered over.

Then shaved ice is put on top and formed into a nice big ball.

Pour some a generous amount of coconut syrup, and you get the bestest ice shave on the Island!

It was perfect and so refreshing. The shaved ice was really fluffy and the syrup was really tasty, and the azuki bean paste adds a nice tangy texture. Bev really liked the ice cream too.

Itsu’s is also famous for their $0.95 hot dogs, and now I know why. They are so good.

You can choose what to put on the hot dog. Get “da yellow sauce” (they’ll know what you mean) — it seems to be a combination of mayo, mustard, and maybe relish. The bun was served very soft and moist. The hot dog is the red kine (redondos?) — really juicy. It all just melts in da mouth and everything tasted so good together. Especially with an ice shave in the other hand. Highly recommended.

Other Posts on Itsu’s:

• Itsu’s Kim Chi Burger and Loco Moco
• Itsu’s Plate Lunch

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

Okazuya-style places are great if you want a nice variety of food at great prices, and Hilo Lunch Shop is one of the most popular ones in Hilo.

It was only 12:30 when we got here, and already most of the food was gone! No more sushi, and a lot of the hot plates were missing/empty. Luckily, there were still some choices left. We made it just in time. Here is what we got to share…

2 scoops rice, 4 pcs nori chicken, 2 pcs breaded Ono (Wahoo fish), nishime, mac salad, and a spring roll. All this for $7.98. Not bad for 2 people… I’m lucky Bev is a light eater.

We both thought everything was really ono. Bev especially liked the nori chicken and mac salad. They are famous for their nori chicken… very flavorful and moist inside, while being crispy on the outside. It’s so good. The mac salad was actually a potato/mac salad with cucumbers, eggs, and carrots — really yummy. Everything else was good too. The breaded Ono was nice and moist inside, the nishime was fresh and tasty. The spring roll was big and crisp, but just average tasting.

Hilo Lunch Shop serves up some onolicious food. Just make sure to get here well before noon!

Hilo Lunch Shop
421 Kalanikoa Street, Hilo, HI 96720
Phone: (808) 935-8273

Hi everyone! James finally found his camera but is still too lazy to update his blog, so this is his wife Bev writing the latest one for you.

Yesterday morning we headed out to the Farmer’s Market, which is becoming part of our weekly routine. The sun was out, the market was packed with people, and we were hungry. So we made our way through the crowd and found our way to a vendor that sells all kinds of musubis and Filipino foods. Choosing what foods to buy was a tough one because everything looked good, but here is what we got…

… spam and egg musubi, teriyaki chicken musubi, and a tray of pancit. The drink we got from a nearby vendor — a fresh lilikoi drink for only $1! And da guy even wen put ice for free!

After our adventures at the market, we took our food back home to eat. First things first on my list of foods to try: the PANCIT! There wasn’t any meat in this pancit but was still really ono. It was mostly veggies and noodles, and oh yah! Kalamansi, which is a small lime that has a tangy and a little sour flavor — squeezing the juices all over the pancit is an essential part of the whole experience.

Next, was their spam and egg musubi. A very flavorful musubi, I must say. I think the furikake and proportions of the musubi were just right. It was much better than a 7-11 Spam and Egg Deluxe Musubi. I wish I could say the same about the teriyaki chicken musubi, though. There was too much rice and the chicken was kinda dry. Kinda hard to eat, too, since had too much rice. I’ll need a bigger mouth to take one good bite of it!

Finally, to wash down all the yummy foods we ate, we got our lilikoi drink with ice. It was freshly made and very refreshing — matched especially well with the spam and egg musubi.

This was a pleasant and fulfilling breakfast from the Farmers Market. I look forward to trying more things from this vendor next time, possibly their Arroz Caldo (rice soup). I heard it’s another popular choice from there.

We just want to thank everyone for all your wishes in the last post. We got wedding pictures up so you can view them at http://jamesrubio.net/wedding.

You’ll find everything from Bul Go Ki to Tonkatsu Domburi…to Loco Mocos at Restaurant Osaka. I find myself coming here at least once a month for their homestyle cooking and maybe a beer or two from the lounge.

Osaka’s has two rooms: a lounge and a restaurant. Both rooms serve the same food, but one room is darker and has a more chill feel… sometimes it’s nice to eat in there. It is usually crowded with a full parking lot, and tonight was no exception.

Within a couple minutes we were served some miso soup. The waitress was very nice and friendly.

Very yummy with fresh crunchy green onions.

Since I ended up ordering a Korean dish, I was also served these sides.

The kim chi was good. Spicier and more flavorful than the average kim chi from other places. The pickled daikon was nice and crisp. On the right are strips of well cooked potatoes seasoned with sesame oil, it seemed – nice flavor.

I was originally going to order the Spicy Chicken, which I was told was really good by the waitress, but she said that she prefers the Spicy Pork since it’s more tender. So I ordered the Spicy Pork ($8.95).

The generous portion of Spicy Pork was served over a bed of vegetables on a hot metal plate shaped cutely like a cow. It smelled wonderful, and I love how it looked with the nice dark charred grill marks. The meat was very tender and juicy. The flavor of the meat was not too spicy, but I could taste that the marinade permeated through all the meat… it tasted great! The vegetables were nice to eat with the pork as well.

Also ordred was the one of the specials, Sweet Sour Spareribs (~$7).

These spareribs were very tender and tasted great. The bones were soft enough to eat. There was not too much vinegar either. It tasted just right. The mac salad was one of the better mac salads I’ve tried… it had great consistency and flavor… it tasted like half potato and half macaroni.

We were also served some hot tea later.

The food was great on this visit, and they are pretty consistent with the food quality. Unfortunately, I have not yet tried their loco moco. Also, I don’t recommend the saimin from here. Everything else I’ve tried was great, though, and the service is very pleasant!

Pure genius.

Note the layers of teriyaki sauce.

Simply amazing.