Quick Pic: California Rock n' Sushi Triple Combo Early Bird Special

Umami had a family dinner on Saturday at California Rock n' Sushi.  It's the sushi place next to the Kanpai (fka Tio's Garage fka Dixie Grill) on Ward, across from Ross and Sports Authority.

From 5:00 to 6:30, CRnS has a Triple Combo Early Bird Special:  for $13.50 you get Tempura (two shrimp, and assorted vegtables), your choice of Grilled Salmon or Chicken Teriyaki, and your choice of Sushi, Sashimi or California Roll.  Comes with rice, miso soup, and salad.  Not bad at all!

Triple Combo Early Bird Special - Tempura, Sashimi, Salad, Chicken Teriyaki

Tempura was nice and crunchy, but, thankfully, the shrimp was not overcooked!  Vegetables were:  broccoli, carrot, zucchini.  Representing the fungus group:  one mushroom.

Sashimi pieces were small-ish, which was fine given the amount of food, but might be disappointing if you're expecting larger pieces.

The Chicken Teriyaki portion was generous, with a tasty, albeit somewhat generic, sauce.

All in all, a perfectly respectable combination plate.  

Given the prices, you can expect a crowd, but the restaurant now takes reservations for parties of four or more.  Or, you can time it to arrive as the first rush leaves (around 6:00), get a table, then as long as the order goes in by 6:30, you're all good! (Or, as Umami's friend, Shellie, would say, "all good in the hood!"  So street, yah?  Word.) 

California Rock ‘N Sushi
404 Ward Avenue (across Sports Authority & next to Kanpai)
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
Tel. (808) 597-8000www.californiabeachrocknsushi.com

Richo

Richo is a fairly new restaurant in the old Momomo site on Waialae Avenue.  It's interesting because it's Korean food, as interpreted by a Japanese restaurant chain, definitely not the typical Korean BBQ!

Homemade Kim Chee . . . not free . . . 

For example, Kim Chee is not gratis at Richo, but will cost you $3.  It is nice and spicy, but it's odd to have to pay for it.

Bulkogi Salad

Bulkogi Salad ($7) was flavorful, slightly on the sweet side, but did not have a lot of beef.

Seafood Leek Chijimi

Seafood Leek Chijimi ($8 for half order, pictured) is basically Korean okonomiyaki . . . frittata . . . quiche . . . omelette.

Good stuff!

Regardless of the name, it was tasty, familiar, comfort food.  Half order is plenty, but a whole order would be tempting.

Korean Style Ahi Sashimi

Korean Style Ahi Sashimi ($9 for half order, $14 for full) requires you to wrap the ahi in nori, and top it with the various toppings provided.

Richo Nabe/Chigae

Richo does an interesting cross Japanese Nabe and Korean Chigae.  All the ingredients are presented in a low dish, broth is added and seasoning added to taste.  Be advised that extra garlic is, well, extra.  You can also order extra meats and/or vegetables.  The dish comes as a tower of bean sprouts, with the proteins in a ring at the base, crowned with green onions and kim chee.

Cooking

It's cooked tableside.  Umami would have preferred more meat and less bean sprouts, but can't argue that it's a tasty dish, with heat, that goes really well on a bowl of rice (extra $, course).

In sum, Richo is a bit of a pricey adventure, but the food is well done and worth trying.

Richo Korean Cuisine
3008 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 734-2222
www.richo.asia

Umami on the Prowl: Hakone

Umami went to a family birthday dinner at Hakone on Sunday.  It did not get off to an auspicious start when the restaurant called to say there would be no valet service because there was a wedding reception that was going to take precedence.  Regular restaurant customers could park at the Ilikai (Hakone would validate) or scramble for metered parking or very limited free parking at Ala Wai Harbor parking lot.  As it turned out, there was also a first birthday party as well, so there were tons of people milling about.

We were also there for the 5:30 seating, along with maybe two dozen other people.  So, when the doors finally opened, it was kind of crazy getting in, and then discreetly rushing to the fresh sushi bar.  Hard to say why there was such a rush for the sushi bar, since the sashimi trays are loaded with lots of varieties of fresh fish.  They are all beautiful pieces of meat, with a nice amount of fat . . . if fish could be buttery, these would be!  Also, the sashimi trays change as the evening progresses; a later tray had tako, and other fish.  Really, unless you have sushi fetish, you could do very well with just the sashimi and other items in the buffet line.

Umami likes this pic of the salmon.  The piece is about the size of a quarter, but it looks just like a mini salmon steak.

This is the Hiyayakko (Cold Tofu).  It's homemade, and comes with a number of toppings, but Umami liked it plain, with a little ponzu shoyu.  The little receptacle on the side held some citrus zest, and you poured the shoyu over it.  The tofu itself was creamy in texture, almost like a custard.  Beautiful with the sashimi . . . in fact, that's probably the best way to go.  Okay, maybe with some noodles, if you have to have a starch.

Or, just wait for dessert to load up on carbs.  These are four of the choices and they were all uniformly excellent.   Clockwise from top:  blueberry cheesecake (airy, with a cake "crust," so it was super-light, for a cheesecake), mini cream puff (filling was actually a custard . . . nice!), guava cake (very good, but Umami suspects DeeLite Bakery would turn in a superior version).

All told, it was a really excellent meal, and Umami thinks it's a value, even at $46/head for the buffet.  However, don't go at 5:30 and get caught up in buffet mania.  Instead, try a later seating.  It would be awesome to linger over the fish with good sake and good company.  Umami will be back!

Hakone
Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki (Umami calls it "the Waikiki Prince")
100 Holomoana Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96815

944-4494
Dinner:

• Wednesday - Thursday, 5:30pm - 9:00pm
• Friday - Sunday, 5:30pm - 9:30pm