Apartm3nt | Honolulu, Hawaii

After reading an article about Apartm3nt, my interest was piqued. So we decided to check it out for tonight's date night. The first thing we noticed when we stepped off the elevator was the absent receptionist. We felt just a little awkward because we weren't sure if it was open seating or not. I went up to the bar to ask and was told to wait by the door (it wasn't like the place was crowded or anything when we got there). Eventually, Flash, one of the owners, came up to talk to us and got us a table. After the initial weirdness, we had a really good time. The food and service were great and being happy hour, everything was very inexpensive.

Apartm3nt
1750 Kalakaua Ave., 3rd Floor
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 955-0399
Website
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As you can see it's pretty dark on the inside. Although I was armed with a slightly better camera than my iPhone (I was carrying my trusty Canon SD400), it really didn't make too much of a difference.


Here's a shot of their menu.


The eggplant appetizer was good. It was very light, not overly oily like some spreads tend to be. The flat bread made of wheat was a nice touch.


We also gave the hummus a go. It came served with the same grilled wheat flat bread. I thought it was tastier than the eggplant.


They call this dish the after school special. I call it a grilled cheese on steroids. A bit too much bread for my liking, but wifey said the soup was about the best tomato soup she's ever had.


We also ordered the veggie pizza. Lots of veggies and a crust that was more like a cracker. I'd definitely order this again.'

Last one with flat bread - the spinach artichoke dip. I thought it was good, but by the time it came out, we were way too full to enjoy it (in addition to the food above, we had a bowl of spicy edamame).

To Thai For + Little Oven | Honolulu, Hawaii

This past Friday, we had our first date night in almost a month, so we had to make it count. The evening consisted of dinner at a relatively new dig called "To Thai For", The Art Song Festival at Hawaii Public Radio, and dessert at Little Oven.

To Thai For
3571 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 734-3443

Little Oven
1467 S King St
Honolulu, HI 96814-2504
(808) 947-6836
Website

One of the great things about this small restaurant is that almost all of their dishes can be made vegetarian by substituting tofu for the meat. The staff was very friendly and went out of their way to make us feel welcomed and comfortable. We started with a green papaya salad. The dressing was amazing and the flavors were balanced perfectly - not too "peanutty" as some places tend to make it.


Wifey opted for the fried rice. The brown jasmine rice was so flavorful. She claims is was the best fried rice she's ever had. I should've asked her if it was even better than mine :\


I went for the seafood version of their house noodle soup. The broth was light and refreshing with just a small bit of heat from some chopped up chili pepper. The only thing missing were chopsticks (they said their shipment was late for the week, so we ate our entire meal with fork, knife, and spoon).


After we enjoyed the music of the Art Song Festival, we made out way over to Little Oven for some dessert. Wifey ordered the Ganache Trifle, but was a little disappointed by the lack of ganache.

This is their take on a Banana Split. A blowtorch is used to caramelize some sugar on the tops of the banana slices, which totally set this dish apart.


A nice hot mug of Irish Coffee was the perfect way to end this great evening.

A home cooked meal

I ended up cooking dinner at home this week in lieu of date night because wifey was sick :(
Dinner was a simple potato corn chowder, garnished here with some fresh thyme and Sriracha (what did I ever do without Sriracha?). I always crave some soup (usually a piping hot bowl of Phở) when I'm sick. Soups just seem to have this innate restorative property - the ability to heal the body and nourish the soul.