Tamura's Fine Wine & Liquors

Umami was killing time before dinner one evening and wandered into Tamura's.  Just to check out the wines and liquor selections.  It was an impressive array indeed.  But the best thing?  They sell Icees!

Tamura's Fine Wine & Liquors
3496 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI  96816 
808-735-7100 

Restaurant Week: JJ Bistro

It's Restaurant Week in Honolulu, but, alas, Umami hasn't made it to d.k. yet!    But he and Trish did go check out JJ Bistro and French Pastry, which was running a four course prix fixe for $24.70.  For that price, you get . . . 

Sweet pea soup with scallop.  Cute little bowl/mug of soup.  The soup was thinner than you would expect, but with a delicate pea flavor, with hints of butter, and a scallop.  As it turned out, one cute scallop per bowl/mug.

Choice of appetizer.  Trish and Umami normally coordinate their orders to get as many different dishes as possible, so this is appetizer #1 . . . manila clams.

Appetizer #2 was the Bake Lobster Avocado:  lobster on French bread croutons with a sauce that was almost a cross between a guacamole and salsa.  A little of the sauce went a long way for the lobster, plus some sprouts for crunch.  Good fun.

Seafood Brioche

Inside the Brioche

Entree #1:  Seafood stuffed Brioche, served with leek, Shiitake mushroom, red bell pepper in chef's special black pepper cream sauce.

Entree #2:  Baked Lamb Wellington:  Rack of lamb with bell pepper & Cheese wrapped in puff pastry, served with side pan seared potato and black pepper cream sauce.  This was an interesting dish.  Umami is not normally a lamb fan (because sometimes the taste can be a little strong), but couldn't resist.  It's a neat little dish, worth trying.  Oh, if ordering the restaurant week special, this entree costs $5 more.

Dessert Case

Now, the interesting thing for this special is that you get one dessert with the meal, and one to take home!  Though you can eat both there.   Plus, a little baby creme brulee as well.  So, doing the math, that's six desserts between Umami and Trish!

From left to right:  Iced Drop Framboise, Red Velvet Cake, Creme Brulee.

Sorry this is so dark!  From left to right:  Chestnut cake (very delicate chestnut flavor, reminded Umami of the chestnuts from Shirokiya), Chocolate Pyramid (intense dark chocolate flavor that was awesome with coffee . . . they also have mini pyramids ($1) and raspberry chocolate pyramids).

It was a veritable dessert fest!

The restaurant does a smaller scale prix fixe menu daily; it's worth checking out:  www.jjfrenchpastry.com.  It's always fun to try a lot of different things, and the Restaurant Week special is a great excuse to do so.  And . . . six desserts . . . !!  Check it out.   

JJ Bistro and French Pastry 
3447 Waialae Ave 
Honolulu, HI 96816 
Tel(808)739-0993
Fax(808)739-0991 

Restaurant Week!

Restaurant Week is back, November 15-21!  It's one week of special deals and menus at participating restaurants, with some of the proceeds going to support the Culinary Institute of the Pacific.  Umami went last year and is looking forward to this year!

Here's the link:  http://www.restaurantweekhawaii.com/About.aspx?c_id=1.  Check out the participating restaurants for the various deals.  Umami is very intriguted by this one, from d.k. Steak House:

APPETIZER:
PEPPER CRUSTED FRESH HAWAIIAN AHI NICOISE

With Nalo Farms baby Arugula, Ho Farms Tomatoes, Haricot Verts, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Quail Eggs

ENTRÉE – CHOICE OF:

“VINTAGE NATURAL” 22 oz. BONE IN RIB EYE STEAK CLASSICALLY AGED FOR 28 DAYS  (NO antibiotics, NO growth hormones, All Grass & Pineapple-fed, All Natural).  Accompanied with some specialty sides

POTATO AU GRATIN - Scallop potatoes topped with Maui Onions, Nalo Thyme & baked with Parmesan Cheese

ASPARAGUS MILINANESE - Steamed Wailua Asparagus topped with an “Over Easy” local farm egg, topped with Italian Bread Crumbs and Truffle Oil

OR

KING CRAB & DILL STUFFED FRESH CATCH OF THE DAY

With roasted Kobaocha and Garlic puree, sautéed Nalo garlic Swiss Chard in a Thai Lobster Cream sauce.

DESSERT:

THE CHOCOLATE BOMB

Bittersweet Chocolate Cake, Semi-sweet Ganache & Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

COFFEE or TEA

All for $42 per person (Food Only)!

Curry Potatoes with Greek Yogurt and Dill

Diced some potatoes and onions, cooked with a little butter.  Added salt and curry powder (could have used a lot more salt, but then Umami has a bit of a salt tooth).  Mixed some dill into the yogurt and topped the potatoes.  The yogurt is a little sweet, so, definitely, more salt on the potatoes!

Cafe Europa: Napoleon

Puff pastry, frosting, confectioners sugar.  (This one was exceptionally puffy!)  Ms. D calls it "a little piece of heaven."

Cafe Europa
801 Alakea Street, Suite #101
Honolulu, HI 96813.

Umami on the Prowl: Doner Shack

Umami had seen the Doner (with an umlaut) Shack stand on Fort Street Mall before, but had never gotten around to trying it.  In fact, Dawn T tried it first and recommended it highly.   On this particular day (i.e., today), Umami was wandering about aimlessly at lunchtime when he suddenly found himself in the Doner (with an umlaut) Shack vicinity and decided, "why not?"  Let's be clear, though, it's not really a shack; it's more like a cart.

But what's a "doner?"  According to Wikipedia (which never lies), it's a middle eastern dish consisting of meat, usually lamb, roasted on a vertical spit, and sliced to order.  And, indeed, the Doner shack has two such spits, only with roast beef and chicken.  Umami opted for the BBQ Chicken Feta Doner ($6.75).  It's basically a large, Mediterranean style burrito, with roast chicken in a tortilla, with feta and BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and a yogurt garlic sauce (essentially a tzatziki sauce).   Pepperoncinis are optional (but Umami recommends them highly).  Think gyro sandwich with BBQ chicken instead of the lamb, and you have it!  

The menu has a number of other options, including a veggie wrap, a sandwich, a rice plate, and a salad.  No fish though, but that's okay.  A number of different sauces are available too (Dawn T. recommends the hot sauce too, but Umami missed that, so he'll have to go back and try it again).   Umami is curious about the other choices but like the BBQ chicken w pepperoncinis so much he might be locked in!  All told, it's a very flavorful and surprisingly filling lunch!  Umami would go (back)!

Doner Shack

Corner of Pauahi and Fort Street Mall (next to Dreamers)

Honolulu, Hawaii  96813

Umami Goes Shopping: Spam Lite Single Pack

Ms. D and Makizushi scoffed when Umami said that Spam was sold in single serving packets.  "Ridonkulous!" they said!  "Balderschnitzel!" they cried!  But, Umami does not lie, for here, in Safeway Hawaii Kai was a 3 oz. Spam Lite Single Pack!  That's right, 3 oz. of salty goodness for only $1.79 Safeway Club Member Price.  Obviously you'd be better off just buying a can, but sometimes you just want one slice!  (Umami thinks if that's the case you might as well buy a spam musubi and score some rice and nori while you're at it, but that's just him!)

Umami on the Prowl: Rosarina Pizza

(This is for Jesse, who passes by Rosarina all the time . . . )

Umami's friend, Trish, has started a new job that is conveniently located near Chinatown, which makes it a lot easier to wander around for food.  On this particular day, Umami was craving some pizza and, since Trish had never been to Rosarina, they went there instead of J.J. Dolan's.

Rosarina is a very small restaurant, near the corner of Hotel and Maunakea . . . narrow storefront, maybe five tables inside.

Small Antipasto Salad

But the food is inexpensive and good.  Umami and Trish got out of there for under $20 and shared a small salad, two mini pizzas and a couple of sodas (Trish liked that they had root beer).

The small antipasto salad  ($4.75) has ham, cheese, salami, pepperoni, pickled celery, cauliflower, carrots, black olives, tomatoes, and onions.  So there lots of good stuff, and it's topped with a very good Italian dressing, more of an herbal vinaigrette.  It's used as the dressing for their sub sandwiches too.  The sub sandwiches are good deal too:  an 8" super (ham, salami, canadian bacon, pepperoni, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, onions) is only $5.45!

L:  Vegetarian Mini 8"    R:  Combination Mini 8"

The mini pizzas are perfect for one person.  Trish had the vegetarian ($5.75), with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, olives, and mushrooms.  Umami had the combination ($6.50), with sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, black olives, cheese and extra cheese (that's what the menu says!  but it doesn't see excessively cheese-y at all).

Close up of Combination Mini 8

Umami likes these pizzas because they are very generous with the toppings.  The Combination is literally piled with the stuff.  The crust is also good, it's thicker than thin crust, but it's not overly bready.  Also, try pizza with Tabasco instead of red pepper flakes.  You get heat, but also a little zip of vinegar.

Working on this post has Umami getting hungry!  Maybe will have to make a run in to Rosarina again this week, maybe for a sandwich this time!

Rosarina Pizza
1111 Maunakea Street
Honolulu, Hawaii  96817
(808)533-6634
www.rosarinapizza.com

Thrown Together Dinner

Umami is keeping tabs on the Hawaii - Nevada game (at the half, UH 17 - Nevada 0) and needs something to eat.  But there's not much in the fridge . . . must make do with the stuff at hand.

Sauteing Tofurky Italian Sausage ("with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Basil!") and some onions.

Scramble with two large eggs (and some extra egg-white-in-a-box that was in the fridge), top with cheese, and with what's left of some chipotle salsa.  Had to supplement with some enchilada sauce and some Brother Bru-Bru's African Hot Pepper Sauce ("All Natural No Added Salt!").

So odd!

Rolled it up burrito style in an Ezekiel 4:4 Sprouted Grain Tortilla. Umami really likes those tortillas!

Now fed and watered, Umami hopes that UH can put Nevada away and win the game!

Umami's Bosses' Day Lunch

Umami works in an office with the best staff in the world (and he's not just saying that because they read this blog)! For Bosses' Day, they took the attorney staff out to lunch to Hale Ikena ("House with a View"), which is a casual restaurant at Fort Shafter. It's run by the U.S. Army's Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.  For lunch, it does a pretty nice buffet . . . this is what we had:

Lunch Buffet includes Salad Bar, Soup of the day, Dinner Rolls, Baked Idaho Potato with Sour Cream, Crispy Bacon Bits, Chopped Chives or Green Onions and melted Cheddar Cheese.  Top off your buffet with Ice Cream Sundae Bar and the Chef’s selection of Fresh Fruits or Dessert

Friday 10/15/10
Taco Beef
Fajita Chicken
Spanish Rice/Refried Beans
Flour Tortilla and Taco Shell w/Condiments
Fajita Vegetables

The soup of the day was Tortilla Soup, very tasty bean and tortilla flavor.  Not too much heat, though.  For that, Umami had to go for the salads!

Clockwise from top, macaroni salad (under the bacon bits), potato salad (also under the bacon bits), a blob of sour cream (intended for the tacos . . .  it was easier to just spoon it out onto a plate than to spread it on a taco), spanish rice, jalapenos, and kim chee.  Umami was surprised that the kim chee actually had some heat!  And the jalapenos were also on the fiery side (sometimes they're almost sweet).  A happy accident also occurred when the sour cream got mixed into the potato salad and bacon; it was like a baked potato salad!

Underneath all of this lettuce are two chicken tacos, with refried beans, cheese, salsa, tomato, and onion.   It was an interesting buffet, since it everyone that goes through bottlenecks at the taco toppings.  Fortunately, our buffet captain, Lushus, let us go first, so the line was not bad at all!  It didn't look like a lot of food, but Umami was so full that he passed on dessert!

It was a fun lunch . . . good food and good company.  Only problem is:  how will we top this for Administrative Professionals' Day??

Hale Ikena

Bldg 711, Morton Drive

Fort Shafter, Hawaii 96858-5000

Telephone: (808) 438-6712