Downbeat Diner | Honolulu, Hawaii

We had purchased a Groupon (affiliate link) deal and were eager to try this place since I heard that there's a vegan alternative for every item on the menu. Our first trip down there was... strange. We made the mistake of trying it out on a First Friday so it was pretty crazy. They initially sat us at a table then asked us to get up because another party had been waiting. Ok... So now what? There's no place to really wait so we just stood at the door while everyone looked at us. AWKWARD. A half hour or so later, a booth opens up and we finally sat down. Then, something even weirder happened. The waitress asked if I could get up so she can crawl over our booth to unscrew the light bulb. Yeah, apparently they project a movie on the left wall, but there's no way to turn off just half the lights, so they unscrew the ones on that side. Can you say ghetto ops? Now, normally, an experience like this would be a one-shot deal for us, but here's the thing: the food was really good. So we did what any normal couple would do. We went back. The very next week.

If you want to give this place a shot (especially if you purchased the Groupon deal like us), keep this in mind:
1) Don't go on First Friday
2) At 6:30 pm, street parking along North King Street becomes available so that's your best chance at free, relatively close parking
3) Sit on the right side of the diner

Downbeat Diner
42 N Hotel St
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 533-2328
Website
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The diner is located on Hotel street, next to Manifest and across from Bar 35. While we were waiting for a table on our first visit, there was a band playing outside and some guy dancing in the street. Gotta love the sights and sounds of Chinatown!


Inside, the decor is a modern take on a 50's or 60's era diner.


The fries are all kinds of awesome; crispy and well seasoned. We ordered a basket of cajun style, which tasted like Old Bay with a little extra salt and pepper.


Julie ordered the "American" with vegan patty and vegan cheese. She said it was really good and almost tasted like the real deal.


I got the Western Burger. No vegan patty here! It's a quarter pound of free-range Big Island beef. Oh, and bacon. Yes, REAL BACON.


As you can see, my burger was cooked to a perfect medium-rare.


On our first visit, I ordered the Ginger Brew, which is pictured on the right. It's a ginger ale that's made in-house and I highly recommend it. On the left is the vanilla milkshake, which I ordered for dessert on our second visit.


On our second visit, Julie opted for the vegan BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato).


I ordered the Loco Moco. Unlike our first visit, the patty this time was a little overdone. The gravy was light and tasty and complimented the burger nicely.


On our first visit, the waitress handed us the check without asking if we wanted any dessert. Julie and I looked at each other, "Well, I guess that's that!" On the second trip, we ordered the apple fritters. A warm, soft middle with a nice little crunch on the outside.

Z Pizza | Honolulu, Hawaii

It has been months since my last date night post. We lost our babysitters for a few weeks and battled various illnesses after that. When we finally had the chance to go out, I was craving some pizza, so we went to check out Z Pizza in Ward Center. We were really impressed with the taste and texture; we can't wait to go back and try the other options on the menu.

Z Pizza
1200 Ala Moana Blvd
Honolulu HI, 96814
(808) 596-0066
Website
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The lighting in the restaurant is very... orange. I had to adjust the color balance on every picture. When we first got there, there were no seats, so we sat in the waiting area until something opened up.


There aren't many places to sit inside and the few seats available outside looked vulnerable to rain. Luckily, a couple left just as our order was ready. Not-so-luckily, it was next to a table of excessively loud diners :\


We ordered the Pear and Gorgonzola Rustica. The gorgonzola is on the mild side, which is good for me as I'm not a huge fan of overly pungent cheese. What really made this dish was the addition of fresh thyme. It contrasted nicely with the warmer flavors of the pear and cheeses.


I also ordered a slice of Italian with pesto, mozzarella, ham, artichoke heart, tomato, and black olive. It was really tasty. In fact, it was so tasty that I devoured the whole thing before I remembered to snap a pic. I was forced to take this one of the display on our way out.

Town | Honolulu, Hawaii

Last week Thursday we had a rare and awesome opportunity when Reid (@onokinegrindz) invited us to a going away party for Gypsy (@GypsyRaven) at Town Restaurant in Kaimuki. The food was fantastic and we had a great time catching up with our friends. I really like the way Chef Ed (@edstown) incorporates local produce in his menu, which is why Julie and I stop in for lunch every now and then. We really like the idea of supporting local farmers and we feel like we are contributing toward a more sustainable food source by doing so. Here's a recap of the amazing dinner.

Town Restaurant
3435 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 735-5900
Website

We started with a little andouille on crostini. The kitchen knew ahead of time that Julie's a vegetarian so her crostini came topped with eggplant.


The bread was served with butter and olives.


The next course was their interpretation of the Insalata Caprese, with fresh mozzarella (made in house), heirloom tomatoes, fennel, and almonds with a white balsamic vinaigrette.


Course #3 was grilled sturgeon accompanied by cucumber and boiled egg.


This was one of the highlights of the evening. It was a baby arugula salad with roasted beet and fried chickpea.


The final "appetizer" was hand cut pasta with zucchini and prosciutto, topped with chili breadcrumbs.


After the pasta, the place got really busy so we caught a little break while the kitchen filled other orders. Then our entrées started appearing and let me tell you, it was well worth the wait. Here we have my favorite of the evening: lamb with sausage, white bean, kale, and chard. The lamb was cooked to a perfect medium rare (the only way to enjoy meat, in my humble opinion). The sausage was just spicy enough to balance with the sweetness of the white bean.


Julie was served a special steamed veggie plate with bok choy, fennel, radish, and leek.


Served on the side was roasted Ulu (or breadfruit) and polenta. The polenta was very creamy. Unfortunately, my picture came out blurry so I didn't post it.


These roasted baby corn were also very popular. They were by far the tastiest baby corn I've ever had.


The final dish was opah, served with stewed tomato and fingerling potatoes. By this time, we were all too full to really enjoy the last dish, but it was very good.


Apparently, we missed out on four different desserts because we had to leave early to pick up our son. I was so full, I don't think I would have really enjoyed it. Besides, we had some of Rene's (@surfchik4jesus) Happy Hearts Mochi to take with us.

Loving Hut | Honolulu, Hawaii

Yes, that really is the name of this place. And yes, I chuckled to myself when I first read it, thinking at the time, "They named their restaurant what?!" Being that Julie is vegetarian, though, we had to give this quaint little place a fair shot.

Overall, the food isn't bad, but it isn't spectacular either. In my opinion, they try a little too hard pushing the faux meat, instead of focusing on truly amazing vegetarian fare.

Loving Hut
1614 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 373-6465
Website

The first thing we noticed when we walked in was the "Mom and Pop" feel. The two ladies behind the counter were extremely warm and cordial.


We started with the Summer Roll ($3.50). They used yam root as a shrimp substitute, which has a strikingly similar texture to actual shrimp.


I went with their "Fabulous Phở" ($7.95). The broth was oily and light on flavor. It had just about every kind of meat substitute known to mankind. Maybe this is just me, but I'm perfectly happy with Tofu and veggies in my vegetarian phở.


Julie had the Lemon Grass Hawaiiana" ($7.95). She seemed to really enjoy it, saying that it was really tasty.


The lady who took our order talked us into trying the brownie ($5.95) for dessert. It looks pretty, but we'll probably pass on it next time.

Pacific Soul | Honolulu, Hawaii

Wow, I just realized that this is my first food post in over two months. I know, I know, I'm slacking. Thing is, we haven't really gone out to eat very much recently and when we do go out, we usually fall back on one of our usual spots. Tonight, however, we were in the mood for something different. We decided to hit up a new restaurant in Kaimuki called Soul. Owner and operator Sean Priester (@pacificsoul) has created quite a buzz recently with his mobile "Soul Patrol" truck and just recently opened this establishment at the corner of Waialae Avenue and St. Louis Heights Drive. The food was tasty and the portions were very generous.

Blogger and Social Media Maven Melissa Chang (@Melissa808) happened to be dining there tonight too. She took some pictures of us and our food. We'll probably pop up in her Urban Mix Plate blog or Metromix.

Pacific Soul
3040 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 735-7585
Website

You have the option of sitting indoors or out. We opted for inside because of the air conditioning and ambiance.


I ordered the fried chicken because of the rave reviews it's been getting. I must say, it is by far the BEST fried chicken I have EVER had. The combination of spices and drizzled honey was absolutely amazing. Everything else on the plate (cornbread, cilantro coleslaw, collard greens, and black eyed peas) was exceptionally good too. The cornbread practically melts in your mouth.


My son ordered the hot dog plate with vegetarian chili. My wife ordered a salad (I forgot to take a picture), but she ended up sharing most of our food in the end because the portions were so huge.

This is why I shop at the farmers' market

Several weeks ago, I wrote this post about personal responsibility. It goes along with an earlier commitment to buy locally grown and/or organic produce whenever possible. Because we had such a successful shopping trip at Saturday's KCC Farmers' Market, I was motivated to cook dinner on Sunday night.

Here's what we ate:
1) Oven-roasted Molokai Sweet Potato
2) Braised Kale with Soy-Ginger Dressing (garnished with fresh Waimea strawberry)
3) Homemade Vegan Patty


This image was not digitally altered - the colors really were that vibrant. Wifey said it was the best meal I have EVER made for her. Wow. I wish I could say it was all me, but it really comes down to using the freshest ingredients possible.

Next week, I plan to try something a little different by picking up a CSA box from Ma'o Organic Farm (@maoorganicfarms). Stay tuned for posts from that adventure!

Here's the veggie patty recipe I came up with for those who are interested:
• 1 can black bean (pureed in blender)
• 1C cooked Oatmeal
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1/2 package panko
• 1/4 cup soy-based mozzarella
• 2T egg replacement
• 2T shoyu
• 1T garlic
• 1T ginger
• 1t curry powder

Mix all the above in a bowl and form into patties. Brown in a frying pan with extra virgin olive oil.

V Lounge + Town | Honolulu, Hawaii

I have wanted to try the pizza at V Lounge for months, ever since reading this  Urban Mix Plate blot entry by Melissa Chang (@Meslissa808). Last night seemed like a good a night as any so we headed down there for some of their famous kiawe wood-fired pizza.

Afterwards, we had a craving for something yummy from Little Oven (@liloven), but as it turns out, they were only serving a limited selection of KC Drive-Inn waffle dogs and shakes, so we ended up at Town in Kaimuki for dessert. Overall, the food was excellent at both places, but the ambiance was very different. V Lounge had a relaxed, laid back feel; a stark contrast to the boisterous atmosphere at Town.

Believe it or not, I actually remembered to bring my trusty SD400, but the battery was dead! ARGH! You know what that means... yup, iPhone pics once again :\

V Lounge
1344 Kona Street
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 953-0007
Website
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Town
3435 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 735-5900
Website

Walking down Kona street at night can be rather intimidating and finding V Lounge can be a tad tricky. There's a sign above a little doorway. If you blink, you'll miss it.


There were very few people around when we first walked in. It started to fill up by the time we were finished, but never felt overly crowded.


We decided split a pizza and came up with a custom concoction of buffalo mozzarella, Hamakua oyster mushrooms, sweet onion, arugula, basil, and truffle oil, which is basically everything on the menu that isn't meat. It turned out amazing! The dough was soft and chewy, while the toppings were fresh and flavorful.


I've been to Town twice this week. We had lunch there on Thursday and decided to go for dessert last night. In the past when I've eaten there, I found the service to be extremely poor. On these two occasions, however, I was really impressed. The staff was friendly, helpful, and cordial and we didn't have to wait forever to get our food. Since we were only there for dessert, we sat at the bar. Turns out, that was probably a mistake because a bunch of weirdos camped out next to us. One guy was practically leaning on me the whole time.


Wifey got the pana cotta, which came drizzled with honey and served with pomegranate. It must have been really good because I didn't get any :(


I ordered the almond financier. The tart marmalade offered a nice contrast to the sweet cake.

Imanas Tei + A Latta Gelata | Honolulu, Hawaii

Imanas Tei is a tiny restaurant located near the corner of South King and University. Since it's not on the main road, it's difficult to see as you're driving. We ended up parking in the paid lot next door because the tiny one in front of the restaurant was full of craziness. The food was a little on the salty side, which is usually the case with Japanese cuisine, so we grabbed some gelato at Whole Foods for dessert. This was another camera fail event, so iPhone pictures it is!

Imanas Tei Restaurant
2626 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 941-2626

A Latta Gelata (inside Whole Foods Market)
4211 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816

We sat at a huge table that takes up most of the dining room floor space. It was as if we were having dinner with 5 other couples, none of whom we had ever met. Yes, it felt like we were dining with strangers, and yes, it was weird.


As strange as this sounds, the potato salad was one of the best I've had. In my opinion, Japanese restaurants in general make the best potato salads. Must be that special Japanese mayo...


We also ordered Kabocha, since it's one of wifey's favorite foods. It was good, but nothing really special.


Wifey also ordered their mushroom miso soup.


This is their version of the cucumber roll. Most places just place a single cucumber spear in the middle, but Imanas uses lots of thinly cut cucumber ribbons. An intesting take on what is usually a pedestrian piece of sushi.


In addition to the cucumber, we ordered takuan and yamaimo rolls.


I love shishamo, especially when grilled like this. When I was done with this plate, all that was left was a leaf.


This is their seaweed salad. Looks fancy, but we were a little disappointed with the taste. The dish could have used some ogo or other texture, in my opinion.


For dessert, we went to Whole Foods for some gelato. The company that makes the gelato (A Latta Gelata) used to have a store in Kings Village, but that closed some time ago.


I went with a scoop of Strawberry + a scoop of Guava. It was the perfect ending to the meal.