I had The One with a side of crinkle-cuts and a Coke Zero. $24 with the tip; the other burgers don’t cost quite as much. The burger was solid. Very good, actually. Nice flavor. Not as good as Daley or Shay’s, but still good, and much more convenient for me.
Shilawon is the one at the bottom of a condo, right? I’m going to be at the convention center today, so I might try this, although I haven’t really enjoyed the smashburgers I’ve eaten so far. (I like the fact that they serve crinkle cut fries, though.)
I didn’t get to try the place. I ate at a Cali burrito at Senor Pepe’s, with carnitas. I thought kalua pig might be good in Mexican food, as it’s similar to carnitas. Well, the carnitas at Pepe’s taste like (a bland) kalua pig. Pepe’s is next to the Poi Bowl, so I guess the Poi Bowl is providing them with the pork?
I think a new Japanese (?) restaurant is opening (or going to open) right next to K’s Bentoya in Waipahu. We’re talking a really small place, and not really a good spot for a nice Japanese restaurant. (When I passed by at night, it looked nicer than restaurants like Yagura or Gyo Taku.)
Last night I stopped over and peered in the window. It looks like it’s just a sushi bar, which seats about 8. There’s no signage except for the numbers 22 and also “22 Waipahu” on the health certificate.
I can’t find anything online about this–except there’s a sushi place in Kailua called 22 Kailua. I never went to this place, but I’ve heard good things about it. Is he opening a new location in Waipahu? That would be kinda cool.
Honolulu Magazine featured a world traveler who lives in Hawai’i for a month every year (or something to that effect). He basically goes out to eat every day when he’s here. In the magazine, the guy featured his favorite Hawai’i dishes, and one of them was a twice-cooked pork (described as “double-cooked” on the menu) with noodles. He added that eating the pork with the noodles first and then eating the pork with a bowl of rice was the ideal approach. Finally, I believed he claimed this was better than anything he had in China (and his wife was from China).
I was skeptical, but the claim piqued my interest, so we went to try these out. Chong Quing Cuisine (located across from McCully Zippy’s) is the restaurant that makes the dish. (I think it’s a Szechuan.)
In addition to the double-cooked pork noodles, we got a beef noodle soup dish.
The verdict? On the first few bites, I thought the dish was good, but nothing really special. It’s the kind of thing that Don or Mitchell would say, “I could make this at home,” and it wouldn’t be a ridiculous claim. There’s nothing really special about it. On the other hand, it’s the type of Asian comfort food that I really craze–something simple, not spectacular, but just right when you get tried of eating out or eating non-Asian foods.
Additionally, the guy’s approach really did work well. Larri’s theory was that saltiness of the sauce at the bottom of the bowl worked well with the rice. I think there’s some truth to that.
A few other things. I think the pork was pork belly–imagine thick bacon, with some pieces being lean and others being fatty. It wasn’t really crisp, but there was a nice firmness.
The noodles for both dishes had the nice, chewy texture of freshly made pasta, but they were bland in my view. The shiru for the noodle soup dish was also disappointing. It basically tasted like spicy water. (Some northern Chinese dishes overuse chili oil, in my opinion, but that is a better flavor than the soup broth here.)
All in all, the double-cooked pork dish was solid, but I wouldn’t necessarily drive out of my way to eat it. Then again, if I’m craving simple Asian comfort food, I just might. (And I’d eat it the same way.)
This is in that old Japanese restaurant spot where you would see all the Japanese seniors lining up at 4 every day. I used to walk past it all the time when my office was on King St, and I meant to go with coworkers but we never worked it out, and now we don’t work there anymore.
Five Foot Foodie featured this spot in her IG just yesterday I think.
That guy in Honolulu Magazine eats out three meals a day, and I think it’s more than a month every year. I think it’s like every other month for a month at a time or something. Sounds like a nice life.
Don and I (and maybe Gregg?) went to that Japanese restaurant. I think it had Hata in the name, but I could be wrong. It was an OK, old school, mom-and-pop Japanese restaurant from what I recall.
New smashburger spot where Shilawon used to be. Sorry Reid.
It’s near the office and it inherited the space (which still looks like a KBBQ joint) including the under-building parking. Woo.
I took a photo but it’s not a very good photo. But here’s the IG: https://www.instagram.com/carl_og3_ojisan
I had The One with a side of crinkle-cuts and a Coke Zero. $24 with the tip; the other burgers don’t cost quite as much. The burger was solid. Very good, actually. Nice flavor. Not as good as Daley or Shay’s, but still good, and much more convenient for me.
Shilawon is the one at the bottom of a condo, right? I’m going to be at the convention center today, so I might try this, although I haven’t really enjoyed the smashburgers I’ve eaten so far. (I like the fact that they serve crinkle cut fries, though.)
Yeah that’s the one. You spoke fondly of that place.
…but as their IG says, they are closed through Wednesday.
OK, thanks.
I didn’t get to try the place. I ate at a Cali burrito at Senor Pepe’s, with carnitas. I thought kalua pig might be good in Mexican food, as it’s similar to carnitas. Well, the carnitas at Pepe’s taste like (a bland) kalua pig. Pepe’s is next to the Poi Bowl, so I guess the Poi Bowl is providing them with the pork?
Overall, the whole thing was disappointing.
I’ve eaten at Pepe’s a lot and I really like it, but I’ve never had that.
I think a new Japanese (?) restaurant is opening (or going to open) right next to K’s Bentoya in Waipahu. We’re talking a really small place, and not really a good spot for a nice Japanese restaurant. (When I passed by at night, it looked nicer than restaurants like Yagura or Gyo Taku.)
Last night I stopped over and peered in the window. It looks like it’s just a sushi bar, which seats about 8. There’s no signage except for the numbers 22 and also “22 Waipahu” on the health certificate.
I can’t find anything online about this–except there’s a sushi place in Kailua called 22 Kailua. I never went to this place, but I’ve heard good things about it. Is he opening a new location in Waipahu? That would be kinda cool.
Honolulu Magazine featured a world traveler who lives in Hawai’i for a month every year (or something to that effect). He basically goes out to eat every day when he’s here. In the magazine, the guy featured his favorite Hawai’i dishes, and one of them was a twice-cooked pork (described as “double-cooked” on the menu) with noodles. He added that eating the pork with the noodles first and then eating the pork with a bowl of rice was the ideal approach. Finally, I believed he claimed this was better than anything he had in China (and his wife was from China).
I was skeptical, but the claim piqued my interest, so we went to try these out. Chong Quing Cuisine (located across from McCully Zippy’s) is the restaurant that makes the dish. (I think it’s a Szechuan.)
In addition to the double-cooked pork noodles, we got a beef noodle soup dish.
The verdict? On the first few bites, I thought the dish was good, but nothing really special. It’s the kind of thing that Don or Mitchell would say, “I could make this at home,” and it wouldn’t be a ridiculous claim. There’s nothing really special about it. On the other hand, it’s the type of Asian comfort food that I really craze–something simple, not spectacular, but just right when you get tried of eating out or eating non-Asian foods.
Additionally, the guy’s approach really did work well. Larri’s theory was that saltiness of the sauce at the bottom of the bowl worked well with the rice. I think there’s some truth to that.
A few other things. I think the pork was pork belly–imagine thick bacon, with some pieces being lean and others being fatty. It wasn’t really crisp, but there was a nice firmness.
The noodles for both dishes had the nice, chewy texture of freshly made pasta, but they were bland in my view. The shiru for the noodle soup dish was also disappointing. It basically tasted like spicy water. (Some northern Chinese dishes overuse chili oil, in my opinion, but that is a better flavor than the soup broth here.)
All in all, the double-cooked pork dish was solid, but I wouldn’t necessarily drive out of my way to eat it. Then again, if I’m craving simple Asian comfort food, I just might. (And I’d eat it the same way.)
This is in that old Japanese restaurant spot where you would see all the Japanese seniors lining up at 4 every day. I used to walk past it all the time when my office was on King St, and I meant to go with coworkers but we never worked it out, and now we don’t work there anymore.
Five Foot Foodie featured this spot in her IG just yesterday I think.
That guy in Honolulu Magazine eats out three meals a day, and I think it’s more than a month every year. I think it’s like every other month for a month at a time or something. Sounds like a nice life.
Don and I (and maybe Gregg?) went to that Japanese restaurant. I think it had Hata in the name, but I could be wrong. It was an OK, old school, mom-and-pop Japanese restaurant from what I recall.