Life’s Short, Eat Dessert First.

June 15, 2015June 15, 2015Leave a comment

A quick summary of all that was tasty and delicious over the past few weeks. Including that time we had Bubbie’s ice cream before dinner.

Chili moco from Downbeat Diner

Spicy tuna with uni from Maguro Bros.

Sweet chili chicken chicken from Kaka’ako Kitchen

The “What the Pho?” sandwich from Kaka’ako Kitchen: Wagyu beef brisket, swiss cheese, sriracha aioli, on a taro hoagie with pho dipping sauce: “an ode to the Philly cheesesteak, French dip and pho.

French toast with cinnamon apples from Cafe Kaila

Took a quick hike up Diamond Head – starting with the little hikes per my sprained ankle.

And got the ritual shave ice afterward.

Lemon lime and POG shave ice with condensed milk from Waiola Shave Ice

Stuffed salmon

Steak burrito from Oahu Mexican Grill

And because we had some friends in town, we took them to drinks at House Without a Key

Green spaghetti from Goofy Cafe & Dine

Dim Sum overload at Mei Sum Dim Sum

Beer flight and mac and cheese from Honolulu Beer Works

Crab cakes eggs benedict from Cinnamon’s

Shave ice from Island Snow

The view of Kailua on our way back home

Homemade fried rice stuffed chicken and Asian noodles

What a view from Outback Steakhouse (yes, one of my favorite chains) at Hawaii Kai

Cookie butter macaron from Bubbie’s

Mochi ice cream assortment and “Multiple Orgasm” ice cream cake from Bubbie’s

The crazy delicious dinner from Mud Hen Water: yaki o pa’i’ai, grilled he’e (octopus) in luau leaves, cold ginger rabbit and puffed rice, oxtail risotto, and egg white topped kitchen cocktail.

Mochiko chicken and mochi waffles from The Nook

And with that, I am finally caught up!

I Saw a Volcano!

June 1, 2015June 1, 20152 Comments

The Big Island is. . . big.

It takes us about 2 hours to get down to the Volcano area from where we were staying, so we planned ahead, grabbed some to-go Kona coffee and cranberry macadamia nut scones and started our road trip down there.

Our first stop was Punalu’u Beach – a beautiful black sand beach which was a big mix of Asian tourists and locals camping out for the weekend. You can’t really go in the water because the ground is so rocky in the water, but it’s nice that the sand wasn’t sticky and you wouldn’t find it in weird places later (I promise it wasn’t dirt).

We also knew we wanted to stop by the farmer’s market over in Maku’u (driving passed the Volcano) which was huge and had a crazy assortment of things for sale. We grabbed $2.50 bags of lychee and rambutan (my favorite! one bag in Oahu is about double that price and you can’t even find rambutan on the mainland), a bbq smoked meat plate, corned beef and coconut milk wrapped in tea leaves, a haupia cheesecake, poi balls, and macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies. We kind of have a sweet tooth.

Poi balls

Red bean cake

Smoked Meat Plate

This looks like poop, but it’s corned beef, coconut milk, in taro leaves!

After stuffing our faces at the farmer’s market, Matt and I met up with his family who took us around the Volcano National Park. We checked out Volcano house (it was a pretty rainy and foggy day unfortunately), walked through the lava tubes (which reminded me a lot of the caves we checked out when I was in Australia), and even checked out some of the lava trees – which is a pretty interesting concept in itself if you look up what a lava tree is!

It was a pretty foggy day unfortunately =(

In front of the lava tube entrance

Inside the lava tubes

Lava tree!

Make a wish in a . . . steam vent?

I forgot what weather was under 70 degrees

Matt’s aunt and uncle own Village Teapot in the area (if you’re ever in the area, you should consider staying there!) which is just a very cool, cute, and comfortable property.

How cute is this place?!

His aunt even hides teapots and teacups throughout the property!

We snacked on some lilikoi cheesecake before dinner (cause life is short. Eat dessert first) and then headed over to the Crater Rim Cafe in the Kilauea Military Camp for dinner. Forgot to snap some pictures of this meal, but it was super delicious and was a great deal! I highly recommend if you get hungry in the Volcano area.

Lilikoi cheesecake. . . our appetizer?

After dinner, we headed up to the Jaggar Museum to finally see the volcano! It was super crowded, cold, and muggy, but we did get to catch the reflection of the lava in the sky. We didn’t stay too long because we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us, but I’m pretty proud to say that I’ve finally seen a volcano!

Very faint outline, but you can see it from afar + the reflection in the sky

Up next – eating our way through our last day in Kona!

Costco Card Meals and Weekend Eats

May 18, 2015May 18, 2015Leave a comment

Costco cards are presumably for the much bigger families out there – which is why we only go about once every 2 weeks or so. And if you’ve got a membership, you know that a salmon meant for two, actually lasts about. . . 6 -8 meals.

Lemon pepper salmon on top of sauteed greens and cheese topped with an egg.

Teriyaki salmon with oyster sauce veggies and brown rice

This week’s Feast Friday we went to Lucky Belly. We went pretty early for lunch, and there was already a wait outside the door.

Lamb lumpia with roasted pepper and kochujang sauce

The Belly Bowl with sausage, belly, & bacon

Later that day, we headed over to Ward and tried out Bellini Bistro since it just opened. I had the raspberry frozen bellini and we shared an order of calamari.

And since I won that gift certificate to Kaka’ako Kitchen last week, we used it on some of the new items on their menu:

New spicy burger with curly fries

Deep fried bao buns – the meat and the buns were both deep fried!

We also stopped by Ward’s Courtyard Brunch today. The courtyard was super cute and was something out of one of my Pinterest boards. The event was very organized, and my best friend would’ve loved the yellow color scheme.

Everyone eats underneath this huge tent, and there’s plenty of places to sit.

Matt and I shared several things with the tickets we were given – Aloha mimosa, duck fried rice with a duck confit spring roll from #Morimoto, breakfast porridge rice soup with seafood, pork, lobster meat balls and egg topped with chicken cracklins from #PigandtheLady, Italian sausage strata from #EatHonolulu, and spicy tempura shrimp with bacon infused waffles from #PokeStop!

We’re off to the Big Island next weekend so my continuous blogging streak will come to an end. After living in Hawaii for over 3 months, I finally get to see my first volcano!

How I Established Feast Friday at Work

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015Leave a comment

Since I’m saving up for a couple of trips this year, I’ve established Friday as a “treat yourself” state of mind AKA creating a google spreadsheet of all the lunch places nearby and seeing how many I can cross off with my co-workers.

The spicy ahi bowl from Mama-ya downtown.

And because you can never turn down any family friend gathering and the buffet that they provide, I had my first taste of the famous coco puffs from Liliha Bakery

Most recently (since it’s been kind of rainy here in Honolulu) we visited Pho to Chau – a super delicious Pho place with the signature, authentic Chinatown experience.

Feast Friday was later followed by half-and-half pizza from JJ Dolan’s and a surprise grand prize raffle win from Civil Beat’s 5th anniversary celebration!

And of course, no weekend is complete with a little bit of staycationing.

One Day, I Will Post Regularly. . . One Day.

May 4, 2015May 4, 2015Leave a comment

Things have been a bit crazy lately, but I am trying to stay committed to updating as often as possible! Since I last blogged, there have been a lot of eatings and events (including deciding to dye my hair again!).

Well, per usual, a lot, a lot of food has been the center of basically everything I take a picture of.

Finally crossed of Marukame Udon from my bucketlist (the onion bomb and the fish cake were pretty delicious)

I also had my first try at some fried rice spam musubi

I also tried out a new zucchini boat recipe. Super easy and yummy, and I drowned it in as much cheese as possible.

The start of feast Fridays at work with this pesto chicken sandwich from OEC Cafe

Matt also had these tickets for a booze cruise that we never went on, so we spent one Saturday afternoon eating, drinking and watching the sunset.

Eh, the view was pretty nice 😉

Crazy delicious lunch at Pho My Lan in downtown Honolulu

Our friend Jason was performing at the Mission Houses Museum and they had pretty delicious, fresh food also. Check out the colors in the fresh beet and taro sides!

2weeks ago we visited Kailua, so of course we had to spend some time at my favorite beach , Lanikai.

Fresh potato gnocchi with

Bacon baked bean pork chops

Shepherd’s pie

Crab cakes

Dessert with Bailey’s affogato and homemade oreo mint ice cream

And since we took the east side way back to town, we also stopped by my favorite shave ice place – Uncle Clay’s Pure House of Aloha

And no weekend in Hawaii is complete without a gorgeous sunset

Because my best friend had friends in town, we shared a massive meal from Side Street Inn – complete with kalbi beef, pan fried island pork chops, spicy chicken, fried rice, “big ass steak,” and yaki soba.

Also got to spend another Feast Friday knocking off another restaurant from my bucketlist – here’s the Cochon de Lait Po’Boy from Scratch Kitchen & Bake Shop – Puerto Rican roasted pork, romaine, pickled trinity, creole mayo, demi baguette, and buttermilk-herb roasted potato salad.

And since it was the last Friday of the month last week, we went to the Filipino-themed Eat the Street! Here’s the pork adobo french fries topped with crispy chicharones.

Bisteak pizza

Oh, and if you were paying attention to the beginning of this post, I actually did dye my hair! Thanks Tabby Magic.

Okay, okay, I promise to update this on a regular basis – just so my mom doesn’t go crazy when she’s trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life from 5,000 miles away 😉

Staycation Weekends.

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015Leave a comment

One day I’ll run out of weekend adventures on this island. . . .nah. 🙂

The Kaiwi Shoreline Trail leading up to the Makapu’u Tidepools

Makapu’u Tidepools

My favorite shave ice place and favorite reward after hiking – Uncle Clay’s Pure House of Aloha

Date night noms – oxtail poutine, lazy luau dip, ahi poke cupcakes, haupia bread pudding, and sweet potato crunch from Off the Wall Craft Kitchen

If you ever find yourself on the last Friday of the month of Honolulu, check out Eat the Street for a bit! Tons of food and lots of options, but get there early to try and avoid as many long lines as possible.

Lobster mac and cheese and spinach and artichoke poppers, avocado toast, sushi sliders, deconstructed musubis, and butter mochi kona coffee sundaes.

Double rainbows over the city

At the end of the Waimano Falls Trail

Rope swing at the end of the Waimano Falls Trail

Sauteed shrimp from Papa Ole‘s on the North Shore

Delicious peanut butter rolls from Papa Ole’s

Sunset Beach

Post-beach chocolate haupia pie from Ted’s Bakery

Saturday mornings at the KCC Farmer’s Market – King Kong Dog for lunch

Lagoon 1 at Ko’Olina

Beach bums

Caramel macadamia nut iand Hawaiian mud pie ice cream from Two Scoops

Easter Brunch from Sweet E’s

I need to keep up with this better, but more eats and exploring to come!

Kailua Weekends and More Hawaii Eats (You Know, the Usual)

March 15, 2015March 15, 2015Leave a comment

I think I’m finally getting into a normal schedule after moving to Hawaii fa month ago. I’ve reinstated treat yourself Fridays (AKA my excuse to only buy lunch on Fridays to save the $$$), and have made sure to take advantage of the Jessicalohakitchen as much as possible (name still pending).

Lunch bentos with an assortment of sushi, poke, and black rice from Ahi Lovers in Downtown.

This past weekend we visited Kailua – just a bus ride away if you’re coming from town. We usual go to Cinnamon’s for their guava chiffon pancakes, but this time we tried somewhere new:

Lilikoi pancakes from Moke’s Bread and Breakfast

After Moke’s, we walked around Kailua for a bit and decided to stop by Island Snow (Obama’s favorite shave ice place) for a quick snack before we visited the beach.

(It was very cold, and we did not go swimming. I just did this for the gram haha).

The Jessicalohakitchen and my eating adventures around the island have been very busy though! I made this “healthy” burrito bowl alternatives (because there is no Chipotle here on the island :() while we watched Chef last Sunday night.

Cauliflower fried rice, soy garlic chicken and beef, lettuce from the Big Island, roasted chick peas, avocado, greek yogurt, and a dash of sriracha mayo.

Speaking of Chef, I immediately had a Cuban sandwich craving afterward, so we went and got Cuban sandwiches during our lunch breaks this week.

And because we didn’t get a chance to use our Groupon for Sarento’s the last time I was here, we used them this past Thursday. A definite must-go if you want some awesome views of the city with some delicious food (you must get the escargot!)

View from the glass elevator at Sarento’s

The delicious cheesy, buttery, escargot

Australian rack of lamb, fig caponata, roasted fennel jus, & cocoa raisin glaze.

Sarento’s signature #ossobuco with braised veal shank, saffron risotto, & citrus gremolata.

And because I saw we had these cans of tuna lying around in our cupboards that I thought we should make edible, I grabbed an egg, breadcrumbs, some shrimp, and cheese and made some tuna and shrimp lettuce burgers with fresh homemade guacamole, greek yogurt, mushrooms, and sriracha mayo with a side of baked zucchini fries.

And, because it’s still Sunday funday here in Honolulu, we grabbed an acai bowl from my favorite place Diamond Head Health Cove Bar before we went to the coffee shop this morning.

Eating My Way Through My Last 2 Weeks in NYC.

February 11, 2015February 11, 2015Leave a comment

I’ve learned a few things about deciding to pick up your life and moving halfway around the world, but this is probably the most prevalent one: everyone who wants to catch up with you wants to eat with you.

My last week on the east coast was booked with old friends that wanted to catch up. . . and EAT. Here’s a delicious play-by-play of some of the delicious eats that I had during my last week in New York.

Ramenrittos from Press Tea in the West Village with my team members from work

Chocolate chip pancakes and Nutella milkshake from Tops Diner in Newark, NJ with my favorite sister (joke, I only have one)

Parmesan tortellini from Terra in Tribeca with my first boss ever and forever mentor

Chicken and Rice from the Halal Guys – 53rd & 3rd location with some co-workers

Fried chicken and waffles, chicken biscuit, mac and cheese, grits, and bourbon pecan pie from Pies and Thighs in the Lower East Side with my “little” from back in college

Omakase form Sushi Nakazawa in the West Village with my very good friend Victor

BBQ brisket, broccoli salad, and sweet potato pecan side from Mighty Quinn’s – downtown location at Hudson Eats

guacamole with ruby grapefruit salsa and warm crunchy tortillas

charred octopus, smoked paprika creme fraiche and guajillo vinaigrette

baby calamari stuﬀed with chorizo, celery root, chickpeas and basil

peekytoe crab fritters, chipotle mayosmall plates

spiced ground beef and celery root empanadas with tomato salsa

roasted turkey cuban sandwich, ﬂying pigs ham, dairyere cheese and pickles

salted caramel ‘impossible’ ﬂan

arroz con pollo, crackling skin and lemon zest

A smorgasburg of tapas from ABC Cocina (the charred octopus, arroz con pollo, and empanadas were my favorite!)

We also went to Dough afterwards and I definitely couldn’t fit anymore inside my stomach (let alone a doughnut), but how delicious did this spread look?

I still have many a things to eat next time I’m back in NYC, but I highly recommend all of the above!

Food Runs Everything About Me, FREAM (Can We Make FREAM Happen?)

October 27, 2014October 27, 2014Leave a comment

Since being back to the tri-state area, I had some catching up to do with friends & family – which is always a great excuse to eat really delicious food.

The Juicy Lucy from Whitman’s

Sushi assortment from Sushi Palace

Tacos from Otto’s Tacos

Pumpkin Chai Cronuts from Dominique Ansel Bakery

The feast from my lola’s 72nd birthday dinner

Korean Fried Chicken and Beer Towers in Korea Town.

South by Southwest Benedict from Queens Comfort

Peruvian Food from Pio Pio

Everything But the Kitchen Sink from The Meatball Shop

Shave Ice from Snow Days NYC

Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

We also celebrated one of my friend’s birthdays yesterday and was OVERWHELMED by the incredible pre-fixe menu from Birds & Bubbles.

It was just an INCREDIBLE meal with great service and great food. I highly recommend it if you haven’t been yet!

I am currently procrastinating a work out after writing this super indulgent post, but hope your eyes are now full from reading 🙂

Cruising in the Caribbean Part 3 – Grand Turk + The Cruise Perks!

October 24, 2014October 24, 20143 Comments

After spending our first few ports on really great and exciting excursions, my friends and I decided to take it easy during our last port – Turks & Caicos.

The view as soon as you get off of the ship.

Just hanging around 🙂

This friendly gentelman selling fresh coconuts.

Coconut trees

Sippin’ fresh coconut juice.

Despite promising ourselves a chill day, we did manage to do something crazy (aka my first speed boat ride).

After the Grand Turk (and a crazy pool party with a swim up bar) we did have one more day at sea – which I will now dedicate to some of my favorite parts of the cruise!

1. The food – When we weren’t eating at the buffet (and believe me, we ate at the buffet A LOT #24hourpizza), the ship had a great sit down restaurant, where we eventually made friends with the waiters and had our favorite table by the end of the trip.

From left to right: tofu steak, tuna tartar, fried chicken (I was craving it), and their delicious chocolate melt cake (which we had almost every dinner)

L to R: Stuffed oysters, huevos rancheros with a side of corned beef hash, frog legs, and a special order of adobo!

2. The towel animals – I’m a sucker for cute things, and these towel animals were no exception. We had a new animal in our room everyday and it was a nice surprise to see which animal would be next.

3. The view – despite hurricane season, the cruise had perfect weather. You could watch the lightning storms every night, but we’d always miss the rain and every afternoon was spent looking like this:

So that’s it! My first cruise under my belt and 4 new countries crossed off of the bucket list. So, I’m a fan! Thoughts on where the next cruise should be?

Stay tuned! I ate A LOT when I got back – and even had my first “yolo” last-minute vacation!