Since sushi is one of my favorite foods, I had to try Kai Sushi, the new Japanese restaurant that opened when the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, remodeled.

Even though there were just two of us, my dining companion and I ordered off the menu like crazy: a Baked Crab Dynamite (pictured right), Rainbow Roll, Veggie Roll, Tuna Tataki salad and the Yamada Roll.

I was quite impressed with Chef Tadashi Yoshino’s presentation. I expected the table to be crowded with several dishes, but all the sushi rolls were neatly arranged on one platter. I couldn’t wait to dig in.

My favorite was the Yamada Roll— named after sushi chef Eima Yamada—which featured hamachi (yellowtail) with spicy tuna on top. I’m a big spicy tuna fan, but I’ve never had it paired with hamachi. It was a great combination.

After dinner, we also ordered raspberry crème brulee.

This Japanese restaurant offers a view of the ocean—a nice change from rice paper walls. Get there a little before sunset and it’ll be the perfect setting for a romantic dinner. The dimmed lights and the glowing wall behind the sushi bar (below) also add to the ambiance.

The restaurant’s interior design is inspired by the native Hawaiians’ voyage across the Pacific Ocean. You’ll find hand-carved ceiling beams that mimic the shape of outrigger canoes and light fixtures designed as fishing baskets.

My only complaint? I can’t get any Yamada Rolls on Oahu.

 

I’ve been writing a lot about the shrimp meals I’ve had, but maybe these crustaceans aren’t on your list of favorite foods.

Hungry for something else? Try Uncle Bobo’s Smoked BBQ's pork shoulder sandwich (pictured right)—our choice for “Best Alternative to Oahu’s North Shore shrimp trucks.” It nabbed the honor in HAWAII Magazine’s annual “Best of Hawaii” issue, out this month.

Tucked between the Kaaawa Post Office and a 7-Eleven store on Oahu’s windward side, Uncle Bobo’s is one of the island’s best-kept food secrets. Husband-and-wife co-owners Robert and Keiko Joyce created the restaurant’s most popular sandwich.

The sandwich begins with Robert (pictured left) dry-rubbing pork shoulder with secret seasonings. He then smokes the prepared meat over hickory and oak wood for eight hours, right in the restaurant’s backyard.

“If you use kiawe wood and smoke it for eight hours, the meat will taste like a Goodyear Tire,” says Robert, about why he won’t use kiawe—a non-native mesquite wood popular for smoking meats in Hawaii.

Back in Uncle Bobo’s kitchen, Keiko piles the finished pulled pork onto a soft French cottage roll and smothers it with the couple’s zingy homemade barbecue sauce. The result is the meatiest, most tender and moist sandwich I’ve ever had.
   
Uncle Bobo’s variety of smoked barbecued meats is its specialty, as you can see. But its menu also features plate lunches, homemade burgers, hot dogs, salads and shave ice.

Robert and Keiko also run an on-site catering service. We’re told the crew of Oahu-filmed TV series Lost can’t get enough of Uncle Bobo’s Smokehouse Special.

I know your next question. Who the heck is Uncle Bobo?

When Robert’s niece was younger, she couldn’t pronounce his name so she called him “Bobo.” Hence, Uncle Bobo’s.

Insider’s Tip: You can get to Uncle Bobo’s by hopping aboard TheBus (route 55).

For more “Best of Hawaii” picks from our readers and editors, pick up a copy of our September/October 2008 issue—available at most national bookstores and newsstands, by print subscription and in a digital format you can download.

[Closed on Mondays and holidays. 51-480 Kamehameha Highway, Kaaawa, Oahu, (808) 237-1000]

  

There are many tasty garlic shrimp plates on Oahu’s North Shore, but the best doesn’t come from a shrimp truck.

At Ted’s Bakery, the butterfly-shelled shrimps are smothered in a butter-and-garlic sauce. Because the shells are removed, the flavor soaks into the shrimp. You can’t beat the buttery taste and succulent meat. That’s why we selected it as the winner of our “Best Garlic Shrimp Plate” category.

The even better part? These shrimps are topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. We know you’re not supposed to put cheese on seafood pasta. But this is an exception. Don’t knock it till you try it.

The bakery offers breakfast specials, pastries, cakes, hot sandwiches, bentos, salads and plate lunches.

Besides the garlic shrimp, we also ordered a loco moco, which actually came with three scoops of rice (pictured right). The hamburger was nice, fat and juicy, and smothered in gravy.

Ted’s Bakery is also the home of the original chocolate-haupia cream pie (pictured below). The cream pies come in other flavors, but I recommend the original. You can buy whole pies or just a slice. If you can’t get to Sunset Beach, Ted’s pies are available in Honolulu at most Times Supermarkets and Longs Drugs store.

At Ted’s, it doesn’t matter how you’re dressed. You can often find shirtless, tanned beach boys walking into the bakery barefoot. Who can blame them? The beach is right across the street.

If you’d rather not eat at the beach, there are covered picnic tables right outside the bakery.

Insider’s Tip: If you don’t drive, there’s a bus stop right in front of Ted’s. Catch route 52 on TheBus to get there. Look for the mural on the restaurant.

For more editors’ picks, check out our “Best of Hawaii” cover feature in our September/October 2008 issue—available at most national bookstores and newsstands, by print subscription and in a digital format you can download.

[59-024 Kamehameha Highway, Sunset Beach, Oahu, (808) 638-8207]

 

When it comes to Oahu’s North Shore, two things come to mind: big waves and shrimp trucks.

Shrimp trucks are like mini restaurants on wheels. You can find many of them along Kamehameha Highway, including Giovanni’s Aloha Shrimp.

Even though this restaurant has no address, it’s not hard to find. When you’re in Kahuku, look for the graffiti-covered van (pictured above), which serves as a kitchen.

But don’t expect anything fancy: The “restaurant” is really a bunch of plastic tables under a roadside tent, as you can see. 

Giovanni’s offers three types of shrimp plates: shrimp scampi, hot and spicy shrimp (“Super hot, NO REFUNDS!!”) and lemon and butter shrimp. They also sell hot dogs cooked in garlic.

We ordered Giovanni’s most popular item, the shrimp scampi—shrimps sautéed in white wine, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon juice (pictured below). For $12, we got two scoops of rice, a lemon wedge, hot sauce in a container and a half-pound of shrimp.

They also give you a stack of napkins. Believe me, you’ll need them. Eating can get messy, but you won’t mind once you taste the garlic-and-butter sauce. They even pour the sauce on your rice!

The only downside? The shrimps’ shells are left on.

I’m not a big shell eater. The problem with peeling off the shell is that the buttery garlic chunks also came off, leaving me with a plain shrimp. Not wanting to skip the best part, I ate more shells than I anticipated.

Despite its Kahuku location, the shrimps we ate were not from Kahuku. They’re flown in from the neighbor island.

Insider’s Tip: If you stop by Giovanni’s on a holiday, they only sell shrimp scampi plates.

[Two locations on Oahu: Look for the famous graffiti-covered trucks in Kahuku and Haleiwa’s historic town near McDonald’s. (808) 293-1839]


 

I was a fan of the Super Burrito at La Taqueria de Ramiro on Fort Street Mall in Honolulu.

Now I’m a Fried Wet Burrito fan. Let me explain.

This plate lunch is more than just a burrito. It comes with rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream and of course, the fried burrito, wet or dry. I like my fried wet burrito filled with pork (pictured right).

La Taqueria de Ramiro (Ramiro’s Restaurant) offers five types of burritos and four tacos. Each comes with a choice of five different meats. The restaurant also serves nachos, quesadillas, tostadas and enchiladas.

We also ordered another fried wet burrito plate, a Super Nachos (pictured below), California-style tacos and some regular tacos. It was more food than the five of us could finish.

The next day, we went back for more Mexican food. Seriously.

Chef/owner Angelo Hernandez is part Mexican, part Japanese. He looks more like a tall Japanese man, but you won’t find a piece of sushi anywhere in the restaurant.

Angelo is no stranger to Mexican restaurants. In 1972, his father started a Mexican restaurant in the San Francisco Bay area. Today in Alameda, Calif., his mom still runs Taqueria Ramiro and Sons, which opened in 1981.

But it was always his dad’s dream to start a Mexican restaurant in Hawaii.

Unfortunately, his dad passed away in December 2004. Determined to honor his father’s dreams, Angelo opened La Taqueria de Ramiro in March 2006 and named it after his father.

We’re glad.

The food is delicious, the prices are affordable, the customer service is great and the restaurant is clean. Plus, we love the fact that the restaurant is a three-minute walk from our offices.

We also loved La Taqueria de Ramiro’s breakfast burritos, which are served from 7:30 to 10 a.m. I recommend trying the one-plus pound breakfast burrito filled with chorizo (pictured above). One thing’s for sure: this isn’t the same breakfast burrito down the street at McDonald’s.

Insider’s Tip: Go early. As it gets closer to noon, the restaurant fills up with businesspeople, Hawaii Pacific University students and out-of-town visitors.

[Open Monday through Friday for dining in or take out: 1148 Fort Street Mall, (808) 532-TACO (532-8226)]


 

We know how it is.

You go out of town on a vacation or a business trip. You have family or friends from out of town staying at the house for a week. You get slammed at the office. There’s a weeklong marathon of Magnum P.I. episodes on cable.

When daily life intrudes, you can’t find a few minutes to check out our daily updates.

Whatever the reason … we understand: Sometimes you miss one of our fine Hawaii Today posts while it’s on the homepage.

Our Hawaii Today posts never disappear. You can always find them—going all the way back January—by clicking “next entries” at the bottom of  the home page. There are now more than 300 posts on all things Hawaii. (Trust us, we counted ‘em.)

Still, we thought it’d be a good idea to bring some of our best stuff back up to the top of the homepage again—as links—in case you missed them. If you like it, we’ll do it every few weeks.

Here’s the first bunch:

• Vintage photos show bygone Hawaii from soldiers' view

• Pssst! Want to see an amazing new Kilauea volcano photo?

• New Kilauea volcano land collapses explosively into ocean

• Kilauea volcano magma meets ocean with 100-foot lava burst

• "Explosion-like" earthquakes, lava fountains stir Kilauea volcano

• Hawi was great! What about Lanai?

• Hidden Hawaii: Hawi and Beyond

• Free Hawaii trip up for grabs

• The Koko Crater Trail. I climb it.

• It's O-bon season in Hawaii

• Scenes from Lantern Floating Hawaii ceremony

• Indiana Jones and the Eight Best Movies Filmed in Hawaii

• Char's Chopsticks: Dim sum at Mei Sum in Honolulu’s Chinatown district

• Jack Johnson and Kokua Festival: A fifth-row dispatch

• My Favorite Places: Thurston Lava Tube

• Remembering Mauna Loa's last eruption

• Maui’s humpback whales

• Hawaii's state parks: Worth a visit?

  

When I have cravings for bun cha gio thit nuong (a Vietnamese dish consisting of rice vermicelli, barbeque pork and spring rolls), I like to go to Vietnam Café Pho Saigon, a small restaurant on the corner of Hotel and Smith streets in Honolulu’s Chinatown.

There’s nothing fancy about the restaurant, but don’t let appearances fool you.

The dishes on the menu are written in Vietnamese, with descriptions in English. If you can’t pronounce the dish’s name, you can also tell them what number you’d like to order.

The best thing about ordering No. 7 is the generous amount of toppings on the bed of cold noodles: spring rolls, grilled barbeque pork, lettuce, bean sprouts, cucumber and fresh mint.

If you’d rather not eat pork, you can get these cold noodles with broiled fresh prawns, lemongrass beef, chicken curry and crab meat to name a few other options.

It’s best to get to the restaurant by 11:30 for lunch. As it gets closer to noon, the restaurant fills up with businesspeople, retirees and out-of-town visitors.

Insider’s tip: The bill doesn’t come to the table. When you’re done, walk to the front counter. They’ll know how much you owe when you tell them your table number. At least this way, you never have to wait for your waiter/waitress for your change.
[52 N. Hotel St., (808) 536-8462]


 

It’s Aloha Friday, which means the end of the workweek, for me at least.

To celebrate the impending weekend, I spent my lunch break near the ocean, eating endless amounts of Hawaiian food.

Wish you were here?

HAWAII Magazine was invited to attend the Aloha Friday Luncheon at Shore Bird Restaurant in the Outrigger Reef on the Beach hotel.

On the menu: kalua pig and cabbage, lomi lomi salmon, chicken long rice, poi, Hawaiian beef stew, fresh pineapples, ahi and tako (octopus) poke, sweet potatoes, haupia and more.

Topping off the meal were hula and music, including performances by the famous Brothers Cazimero and Grammy award-winning musician John Cruz.

In the crowd were Hawaii’s recording artists like Mihana Souza, Pali Kaaihue, even 100-year-old professional ukulele player Bill Tapia (pictured below). Plus Kamehameha Schools’ Class of 1958 was having a 50th reunion.

As the Hawaiian music played, I could see the waves washing onto Waikiki Beach. I wished I brought my swimsuit.

The Aloha Friday Luncheon is hosted by Hawaiian music radio station 105.1 KINE. If you can't be there, check out the live broadcast on KKNE 940 AM. Each month features different contemporary musicians from Hawaii.

The next luncheon is set for July 11. Normally, the event is held on the first Friday of each month, but, of course, not on the 4th of July. For info: (808) 922-2887.

In the meantime, here’s a clip of the performances by John Cruz and the Brothers Cazimero at the Aloha Friday Luncheon.




 

I can’t get enough sushi. One of the places to indulge in this Japanese cuisine is Makino Chaya, located in Aloha Tower Marketplace.

The restaurant’s decoration is a bit cheesy (where else would you find fish and octopus legs hanging from the ceiling?). But don’t let that deter you from entering the restaurant.

Makino Chaya has five different food stations: Neptune Island, We Love Sushi, Tempura Bar, Teppen Yaki Ki and Makino’s Kitchen. The restaurant’s setup is similar to a food court, but unlike the mall’s food courts, it’s a buffet!

I ordered pretty much everything I saw: from shrimp tempura, unagi (freshwater eel) sushi, California rolls, sashimi, lumpia, spicy ahi rolls, stuffed crab shell, baked onaga (red snapper), mussels, salmon to tako (octopus) on a stick. There was an endless joy of seafood and sushi in the We Love Sushi section.

In addition to sushi, you can also have fried rice, fried noodles, miso soup, grilled-to-order Wagyu beef, salads and several side dishes such as poke and macaroni salad.

A must-try? The sushi covered in tempura batter and then deep-fried. Yes, that’s right. The best of both worlds, sushi and tempura.

I managed to save a room for dessert. We headed straight for the station where fresh crêpes are made right before your eyes, with your choice of fresh fruits, mixed berries, whipped cream and ice cream. I chose to have strawberries, blueberries and vanilla ice cream in my crêpe, topped with powdered sugar and drizzled with chocolate sauce (pictured right). Yum.

Makino Chaya also has a chocolate fondue station (pictured below). As I walked back to my table, I couldn’t resist dipping a marshmallow into the cascading chocolate waterfall. Who could blame me?

I must say, it was a great lunch deal for $13.98 (plus tax). It’s amazing I walked back to the office after lunch.

Makino Chaya is open daily for lunch and dinner. Buffet prices are slightly cheaper on the weekdays. Children 3 years and younger are always free. Call (808) 585-6360 for hours, menu prices and reservations.

  

I love getting dim sum. If you like seeing food before you order it, there’s no better way to dine out.

And Mei Sum Chinese Dim Sum Restaurant is the place to have it when you’re in downtown Honolulu’s Chinatown district.

Carts of Hong-Kong-style dim sum are rolled around the restaurant right to your table. If you like what you see on the cart, just ask your server for it. Don’t like what you see? Wait for the next cart to come around. Instant gratification!

Going to a dim sum restaurant requires little prior experience or expertise in Chinese cuisine. If you’re unfamiliar with what’s on the cart, most restaurants have a menu with pictures and the names of each dish. If you’re still unsure about an entrée, you can always ask your server.

In addition to Mei Sum’s dim sum, you can also order entrées or starch dishes like noodles and fried rice. But most of the fun comes from checking out what’s on the carts.

We ordered pretty much everything we saw: from char siu bao (barbeque pork manapua), spareribs with black bean sauce, shrimp dumpling and shrimp pork hash (pictured above) to pot stickers, barbeque pork pastry and cold jellyfish (pictured to the right).

That’s right, cold jellyfish, which I was curious to taste. It was a bit chewy, and definitely an acquired taste.

A must-try though? The deep fried taro (pictured left).

The best thing about eating at Mei Sum is that it’s affordable. The price for each dim sum entrée depends on its category: small dishes will cost you $2.15, medium dishes are $2.55 and large dishes are $3.35.

Mei Sum is open for lunch, dinner or takeout. Reservations are highly recommended for large groups.

You’ll find Mei Sum at 65 N. Pauahi St. (on the corner of N. Pauahi and Smith St.). Call (808) 531-3268 for hours and more menu information.