Big Island 'lab'

Joan Namkkong's piece in today's Star-Bulletin is riveting. Rocky Mountain oyster sashimi? Gross. But her info on fig farming and more cool stuff happening on the Big Island are great reads.

Pho South King: Anniversary special

Menu is 20% off at Pho South King for three more days. The special, which commemorates the restaurant's 10th anniversary, is from July 1-7. I didn't know this when I phoned in my order of pho with beef balls. I picked it up and learned that I got a nice cut from the regular $6.50 (or so) price down to just over $5.

What a deal. I already like their pho as is and consider it underpriced.

They're usually closed on Sundays, but it's only 5:50 p.m. Saturday, a couple more hours before closing time...

Buffalo Boys Hoagies now online

Alert! Buffalo Boys Hoagies has a website now: just click here.

How Buffaloish are they? They have a Bills link on the page. That's hard core.

The food? Love it. The chicken wings are forking awesome and the Fresh Shroom Hoagie is succulent. I like mushrooms a lot, but the wings are addictive, and with the blue cheese dip, totally fattening.

I'm on a quest to get in shape, lost 18 pounds so far, so I've been avoiding BBH for awhile. I do believe in rewarding myself for hard work, though. Chee, I'm salivating right now. Self control, self control, self control...

Wish list

Never really made one before, but here goes.

>> Tacos & More (Waianae). I rarely stop in Waianae to eat with the exceptions of Waianae Store (custom-made poke) and Waianae Drive In (aka Tasty Freeze). Next time I'll be out there is probably a month from now when football preseason kicks off. Hmmmm... Here's a video clip.

>> Fresh Catch (Kaimuki). Poke buffet? Are you kidding?

>> Manganaro's (New York City). Why? It's basic, old school and authentic. No fusion, no fancy ambience. Just good food that has remained generally the same for a century. Of course, I gotta get to the Big Apple first.

>> Katz's Deli (New York City). Great sandwiches. I also love When Harry Met Sally and Katz's had a hilarious scene in it. "Yes. Yes! Yes!!"

>> Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop (New York City). Gotta try the Egg Creme soda.

Diego's Tacos: $5 burritos are great deal

Diego's Tacos makes great stuff. I've been there three or four times -- not quite enough considering the quality of their food. Located right next to the Old Stadium Park, they've offered $5 burritos, which include rice and beans. I had the pork burrito last week, so freaking excellent. Did you know they eat more pork than beef in Mexico? Yeah, a lot more. The whole beef thing is more about American tastes. Anyway, the other day, I had the chicken burrito, $5 special, plus guacamole for just 62 cents more. Man, that guacamole was the best.

Oceans808: ahi poke is awesome

I didn't expect to have ahi poke and nacho chips with spinach/artichoke dip that night. Turns out surprises can be tasty. And awesome. Next time I have some pupus at Oceans808 (Restaurant Row), it'll be during happy hour, when prices are almost 50% off. This combo (below) was less than $20 and worth every penny at the end of a long, busy week.

Chinpei: miso ramen

Another spot introduced by Mr. Hornet. Chinpei has some very good miso ramen -- red miso, it seems. The roasted garlic is nice, too. This is a place that's old-fashioned -- check out the hand-written items and prices on the wall -- and yet air-conditioned and contemporary. Yeah, that's KUMU rocking on the radio. Not so much rocking, actually. The green tea was a nice touch. Prices are real good and is the service.

If Chinpei was a block away, I'd be there 3-4 times a month.

Young's Cafe

Mr. Hornet, aka Mr. Baseball, led me to Young's Cafe, located on the corner of Pensacola and Young. Hole in the wall, very clean, and very simple menu. I've been there a couple of times, and the food rocks. Below, a mixed plate of steak and mahi. Yeah, that's right, they give you a lot of tossed salad. The price is right, too.

Photos from June 1.

Best meat jun? Maybe Gina's

This is overdue. I took this photo back on January 17 of this year. Meat jun plate from Gina's (Market City). Is it the best meat jun in town? Maybe. I just know it's really good. I prefer it with kochujang sauce (paste?).

Dotchi isn't just about food

No. It's also about specialists. Perfectionist specialists. I started watching Dotchi quite late -- only within the past year or two. But I've been recording the show on my DVR lately and I'm fully addicted. The whole banter and competition between celebrities and foods are OK.

What I really like is the background footage the show gives us about specific ingredients. The whole notion of perfection is interesting. Sometimes it goes too far, of course, but on Dotchi, it's really cool seeing where the best sesame seeds for paste comes from. Sesame paste! Never heard of it but as a fan of sesame seeds and sesame oil, I'm intrigued.

Maybe my vacation should be a food tour.

Back to Buffalo: Wings from heaven?

Does food always taste better at 2:35 a.m.?

Maybe it's just the GOOD food that tastes so much like a trek into nirvana. Last night, I couldn't resist stopping in at Buffalo Boys Hoagies. Again. (I tried the Shroom Hoagie the night before.) Just had to try another item from the menu: Buffalo Wings.

First, the fries: tender, delicate, lightly salted, slightly crispy on the outside. I should remind you that I am a fan of those old-school fries with ridges, not shoestring or wedge potatoes. But these are an exception for the reasons I described. For you wing purists, yes, I used ketchup with my fries. So what.

These fries are good. I know they are because I wish I had a double order.

Wings: Juicy. Succulent. Oh man. I got the mild-heat wings, thinking that I can always try the medium or hot versions another time. (There's also plain and BBQ flavors.) But this set of wings was a revelation. I will be having these again soon. Fyi, BBH uses Frank's Redhot Sauce. There are gallon jugs standing like trophies in the corner behind the counter, a sea of massive red heat. You fear or you embrace.

Comes with the blue cheese dip. Quite a few clumps of actual blue cheese in there. Awesome.

The 10-piece wings is $7.99, pretty fair deal. I couldn't finish for some reason. But wings for breakfast is a nice start to the morning.

BBH is located at 2671 S. King St., makai side between Spices restaurant and Kokua Market, open 10:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. except some holidays. Like Easter.

From Buffalo to Mo'ili'ili

I don't know how or why Buffalo-style hoagies are in my neighborhood. I just know they're damn good.

Not much to say here. It was late, I was on my way home, food on my passenger seat. But if you've driven through Mo'ili'ili lately on South King Street, you may have noticed a new hole-in-the-wall spot, Buffalo Boys Hoagies. For me, it was beyond novelty. Who in his or her right mind opens a business in this economic climate? Nuts. Suicidal. Death wish? Hmmmmmmmm...

So I'm en route home early in the morning -- dinner time by my time zone -- and I notice the lights on as I pass BBH. Then I notice people are in there, one of them mopping the floor at 2:30 a.m. Holy crap. I turn around. They are open. Three guys and whoever else in the kitchen, wide awake. Tables put away, cleaning up, but still open. They advise me. The first item on the menu is the Steak Hoagie, but I go for the second, which includes mushrooms.

A few minutes later, I'm out the door. That chicken curry on rice in my car can wait (and become my breakfast). The verdict? The Fresh Shroom Hoagie ($7.29) -- steak with fried onions and fresh mushrooms, melted American cheese and secret sauce -- is hard to put down once you open the paper wrapping up. After the second bite -- it's so consistently good -- I realized this is something you may crave later. One of those foods you dream of in that cliche scenario of being lost on a deserted island.

They do have hot subs. The difference between a hoagie and a hot sub, I'm told, is that the meat in a hoagie isn't chopped all the way through. What I want to try next time is their Buffalo Wings. Has to be good, right? I recommend that they play my all-time favorite Buffalo film, Buffalo 66, on the in-house TV. That's another classic that would fit well with the hoagies.

If you love local food ...

Especially Hawaiian food, you gotta read this.

Jackie Young explores a few local mainstays: People's Cafe (never been there), Highway Inn (awesome) and Young's Fish Market (nope).

I know the new "fusion" cuisine movement has merit, and I'm totally in favor of sampling those creative dishes. But deep down, all I want every now and then is laulau, poi, lomi salmon, ahi (or aku) poke and kalua pig. Haupia optional.

Lucky thing I don't live next door to Highway Inn. I'd be 300 pounds by now.

Review: Jerry's Batch No. 7

It's been a few months since Jerry sent a new brew my way. Never had anything but good stuff for me, and I, the willing consumer, am always happy to oblige. His stuff is great. It's not surprising, since Jerry is A) a perfectionist, and B) passionate about home brewing.

Jerry's Makakilo Moons beer, Batch No. 7*
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 3.0
Flavor: 3.5
Texture: 3.5
Drinkability: 4.0

Overall score: 17.5 / 20.0

* Seventh batch according to my count, but surely not official.











Summary: This is probably the least viscous of the brews Jerry's brewed. It looks much like passion-orange juice syrup, but has a very thin consistency. It tastes smooth and almost like a beverage best had after a workout.

The flavor is slightly sweet, goes down quickly and makes me want drink the whole bottle at once rather than savor it.

Not much for carbonation, which is unusual in my experience. I've had a spectrum of flavors in Jerry's beers, including one that was chili-pepper HOT and tasty. This one may well be his best looking brew, but its lightness and sweet appearance might be more appealing to female drinkers. No aftertaste. What you smell and taste are what you get from drop 1 to the final sip.

This is a beer world of commercialized lagers -- not that I don't like Heineken or Steinlager -- so I don't know how many men would go for a brew that's so simple. I like this, though, with or without food. In this case, I had #7 with Portuguese sausage and Sriracha chili sauce. Those go better with a slightly bitter lager, but they go fine with #7, too.

There's no limit to what Jerry will produce next. He's a mad scientist in the lab. I'm ready for the next batch.

Review: Burl's Star-Bulletin Whale of an Ale

Sometimes, just sometimes, the wait is well worth it. For a few days, I put off sampling the gorgeous looking beers generously gifted to me by two co-workers. See, it's not that I dislike or despise beer. A good beer is something to be enjoyed, not rushed, and since my personal policy is to drink only 1) at home, and 2) before bedtime (all the better to completely eliminate the risk of drinking and driving), sometimes beer sits in my fridge patiently waiting their turns.

Tonight was the night. Work is done. Going nowhere after this. And there's some leftover chili and bread to devour. The time was right for Burl Burlingame's homemade Star-Bulletin beer, as proclaimed on the sharp-looking label.

I won't pull punches, nor will I sugarcoat anything. I will take into account that this is a homemade beer -- an amazing feat in itself, particularly in the warm, humid climate of our islands.

So I tell you this...

Burl's Star-Bulletin Whale of an Ale
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 3.5
Flavor: 4.0
Texture: 4.0
Drinkability: 4.0

Overall score: 19.0 / 20.0











Summary: This beer is a winner. It's not what everyone likes, maybe, but I do prefer my beers rich and fizzy. Porter-ish. Yeah. A tad bit heavy, a nice fizz going down. So what if that's not what beer connoisseurs say are the "standards" of good beer. It's my mouth, my taste buds and my belly that matter most to me when it comes to brews.

At first, I didn't detect it. By the time I was halfway through my glass mug, I realized that there's a little kick in this brew and I gradually noticed it with more gulps. There's no aftertaste other than the flavor of alcohol -- not really strong, but enough to wake me up. Pretty nice.

Having this with a bowl of chili was interesting. Though the dark, coffee-sweet flavor would seem incompatible with the kind of food I like, the flavor isn't overwhelming, and the carbonation really goes well. (I learned awhile back that carbonated drinks help with digestion -- better to release the "gases" upward than downward, right?)

Would I pay for this beer? Definitely. It's as good and better than most of the beer in the markets. That's saying something since all of the current local breweries are turning out top-notch brews, for the most part. Sure, it's a little unfair to knock breweries when individual home brewers don't have to work in volume. But there's no knocking here. I'll welcome another of Burl's brews any time, and yes, even pay for it.