Big Island Grinds

Bev and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary here and it was wonderful! We had such a great time. The food was amazingly fresh and super ono. Ambiance was really warm/intimate, and the service was friendly… and not too obtrusive, which was nice since it was our anniversary.

They offer different places to sit. You can choose outside or inside on tables, the sushi bar, or on the floor in the tatami room. We wanted to sit in the tatami room… it’s really cozy.

We started with some nice genmaicha (green tea, $5 a pot).

The kitchen brought out little samples of roasted eggplant with tomato and creme fraiche on a toasted baguette which were delicious. I love it when the kitchen surprises you with little goodies!

We then ordered some sushi! Starting with some local snapper ($8) and Maguro ($6).

Hamachi ($7) and more Maguro (since it was so good!).

Wowzers this is some ono sushi! Super fresh and was prepared perfectly. The waitress said that the fish just came in that afternoon. Too bad they never had some of the other sushi we wanted (chutoro & saba) — she said that they only will serve the fish if it’s absolutely fresh. It was a great to know how important freshness is to them.

At this point, we ordered a couple Kirin beers on tap.

We had to try one of their rolls. This is the Four Tower roll ($12 or $14, i forget).

You know, I don’t remember exactly what was in here… I think it was some kind of combination of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, shrimp, crab, avocado, fried up tempura style… for sure I got that wrong… anyone who knows please post a comment. It was scrumptiously good. My only problem with rolls is that it’s hard to appreciate all the ingredients in the roll… especially with top quality ingredients like this, but as a whole, it was yummy. The sauce was nice and spicy and it came with a wakame salad.

We were tempted to just eat more sushi, but had to try one of their entrees (for research reasons, I told Bev). It was really hard to choose. We decided on their Wok Lacquered Prawns with Caramelized Onions ($17).

Hoooo brah. Dis was seriously broke da mout’! For real, these prawns were super juicy and cooked perfectly. The caramalized onions rocked. The sauce was so tasty — very very rich and not too sweet. It complimented the prawns perfectly. Very generous portion too.

And for desert, a Kona coffee chocolate cake with tahitian vanilla cream and chocolate sauce ($8 I think?).

Now I’ve had a lot of chocolate cakes, but I gotta say this was one of the best I’ve ever had. What made this one special is how well the coffee complimented the chocolate. It had a very deep dark roasted nutty flavor. The cake as a whole also was not too sweet, which allowed the chocolate and coffee shine. Add to it the Tahitian vailla and the rich chocolate sauce, and it was perfect! The Tahitian vanilla cream had a really nice flowery sweet flavor. Could it get any better???

Thank you Fujimamas for the wonderful time. It was very memorable! We will be back.

Fujimamas Restaurant & Sushi Bar
75-5719 Alii Drive (right next to Panchos & Lefty down a small alley off of Ali’i Drive)
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
(808) 327-2125
www.fujimamas.com

Visiting this place today brought back my passion in food blogging, something I’ve missed for a long time. In fact, I was so excited to share with you guys about this place I couldn’t wait (even though I still have a backlist of places I still need to write about). Hawaiian Style Cafe is my new favorite place for SERIOUS GRINDZ.

Brah!!! Just look at my breakfast, “Da Tita Mok” ($8.25):

Huge thick flame-broiled hamburger patty, 2 thick slices of spam, moist and crunchy chicken cutlet, 1 egg, grilled onions, fried rice, and rich tasty brown gravy over everything.

It tasted just as good as it looked. The hamburger patty was great quality local beef and fresh. It was actually on the leaner side but still very moist and meaty. Kind of like Ken’s burger but thicker and more moist. The chicken cutlet was my favorite. So moist and crispy on the outside and perfect with the gravy, which was very rich and homemade-tasting. Fried rice was really good too… not too salty and it didn’t overpower the rest of the dish. Grilled onions was a good touch and the spam was cooked just right. My only complaint was that the egg was a little overcooked on the bottom, but it was still nice and yolky. Wow. Quantity and quality.

95%

Bev ordered two pancakes ($2.25/each pancake) but we actually shared everything.

HUGE HUGE HUGE. I liked these. Soft. Spongy. Moist. I do wish they had a bit more cake-like texture because it was a little too spongy/bouncy. I also wish that it was more crisp on the edges. I still would order these again. They were so soft and tasty.

Here’s the specials menu that was up (they even have “Stew Luau”! aka Beef Luau):

Here’s the Breakfast & Lunch Menu:

How was the service? Friendly, local-style, like walking into your favorite Aunty’s kitchen… but very slow and sometimes forgetful (they were really busy). If you are in a rush to go somewhere, don’t come here. This is somewhere to go when you have all morning to eat and digest and all afternoon to sleep. One thing we missed was that you need to sign-in to the right of the door then wait until there are free seats.

The food made it all worth it though. I can’t wait to go back! I wish they were in Hilo!

Hawaiian Style Cafe
65-1290 Kawaihae Rd, Kamuela, HI 96743 (map)
(808) 885-4295

Two fresh and crispy yummy samosas with garbanzo bean curry and a refreshing salad ($6.25). Search this site for an earlier review of Akmal’s.

We went go holoholo with some friends in Kona… and we ate at Sushi En Fuego, a brand new restaurant on Waterfront Row. This place is so new, they didn’t even have their liquor license yet… which is good news! You can spend more $$ trying the food and drink your own booze! We ended up dragging a cooler filled to the brim with beer. *good times*

Sushi En Fuego translates to “Sushi on Fire” — it’s supposedly a fusion of Latin and Japanese. Most of their offerings are spicy and they have a good variety of sushi and non-sushi items. Ambiance is beautiful here at sunset since many of the tables are on a balcony. Service is also very attentive and fast. Our first dishes were served in under 10 minutes.

Shiro Maguro (albacore) slightly seared ($5.50). Very fresh and wonderfully creamy texture… no fishy flavor. Best news? Huge pieces of fish! There was a light sauce on it and the rice was good texture. Great start.

Spicy Tuna Roll ($6). Very good. Nice brief spicy kick. Bev thought the spiciness was just right — I thought it should be spicier. Avocado made for a good pairing.

“Pollo Lolo” Chicken Skewers w/Mac nut miso sauce ($10). We all loved these. The chicken was nicely charred with a sweet cumin flavor. Accompanying it was a spicy mango salsa (which was excellent) with homemade chips.

Red Dragon Roll ($14). Spicy tuna, cucumber topped with unagi, masago, bonito and eel sauce. This was mouthwatering. I love unagi.

Left: Beef and Reef ($13) - Soft shell crab, daikon sprouts, asparagus topped with seared beef and tataki sauce.
Right: Catepillar Roll ($13) - Unagi, avocado, masago.

I wasn’t able to try either of these. *tear* I’m sure they were good though… how can go wrong??

Salmon Cerviche w/ mango and lime ($12). I only heard from across the table that this was “really good”. *sigh*

Lobster Roll with Tempura Asparagus ($12). Nice balance of lobster and crispy asparagus. They didn’t skimp on the lobster either. Very yummy!

Tempura Spicy Tuna Mushrooms ($11). I never got to try these, but my friends said that it was their “favorite” and “make sure to tell them it was reaaaally good on your blog”. Hahahaa…

Dessert time! Tempura Banana Split ($6) — this was one of their specials. Wow. This one was so delicious! The bananas were fried tempura style and they were really sweet and juicy. The chocolate sauce was very rich. Three scoops of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry). If you only have $6, just get this. The only funky thing was that they fried the cherries tempura style — it made them have a really bitter flavor… but we thought it was funny. Tempura maraschino cherries????

Overall, we all had a great time here at Sushi En Fuego. The food, ambiance, and service was all top notch. Highly recommended!

Sushi En Fuego
(808) 331-2200
Waterfront Row, Kailua Kona
Hours: 11-3 & 5-10 (Tues-Sat), 4-9 (Sun), Closed Mondays

A nice individual brought in lunch for our office today from some tortilla factory in Shipman Business Park (industrial area between Hilo and Keaau).

What’s the name of this place?? I’ve heard great things about here but all they said was a “Mexican place” or “tortilla factory”. Hopefully some of you guys can help me out.

UPDATE: This place is called “Emma’s”. Thanks guys.

Here is a pork quesadilla with beans, rice, guacamole, and salsa (hidden underneath). The tortilla is what seriously shined. It was the freshest I’ve ever had — very moist, super soft, and so delicious! The pork was tender and perfectly seasoned. Lots of gooey cheese smothered with some thinly sliced onions and peppers. The sides tasted really fresh too. Very satisfying.

These guys/gals (whoever they are) really know what they are doing. I hear you can also buy very cheap and good fresh tortillas here. So what’s the name of this place?

P.S. Thanks for lunch! It was great.

Good morning from Ken’s House of Pancakes!

Presenting the Sumo Loco (and keiki fries). This is what you call a heavy breakfast. Can you finish one?

From the menu: 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.

We chose the traditional beef patties, cooked medium. If they don’t ask you how you want it cooked, let them know because otherwise, they cook it pretty well-done.

Knowing I couldn’t finish a sumo loco by myself, I brought some help. I really don’t think Bev pulled her weight though.

We tried and tried…

… and this is about how far we got (note Bev still had some left in her smaller bowl we used to share).

Ken’s fries go so well with their loco mocos… so crisp!

Definitely one of the best loco mocos in Hilo, whatever size you get.

94%

• Burger: 28/30pts (excellent quality hawaii grown beef, grilled)
• Gravy: 26/30pts
• Egg: 20/20pts
• Rice: 20/20pts

Related Post: An earlier visit to Ken’s House of Pancakes

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