4 Kings | Honolulu, Hawaii

Our babysitter (aka my mom) has been sick, so last week's "date night" was a family outing to 4 Kings restaurant on Waialae Ave. Those of you familiar with the Kaimuki area would probably remember the space as being previously occupied by Green Papaya. It feels very homey, with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Overall, we enjoyed the food at this family-friendly establishment.

4 Kings
3579 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-8820

In addition to Green Papaya's location, 4 Kings has also retained some of their menu items. You'll find lots of vegetarian-friendly options here, which is a big plus for wifey.


There aren't very many places to sit, but we went early enough that we sat down right away. It began to fill up by the time we left, though.


Our son wasn't very hungry so they made him a special rice-only temaki.


I ordered the "spicy Thai noodle soup," which I'm presuming is their version of Tom Yum. The soup was very flavorful without being overly spicy.


Wifey got vegetable tempura and the veggie roll. Yes, I realize now that I should have turned the veggie roll around before taking the picture.

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.