I finally got to try this place for the first time at the strawberry moon market. Everything was…read moresooo sooo delicious. I personally think this was single-handedly the best musubi/okazuya I have ever had in a meal on this island. It is a shame that they do not pop-up as often but I was very grateful that they were able to make some more food even when the sign said they were "sold out." I guess it was fate that my taste buds were blessed by the hands of this cute Japanese family.

Food is amazing and made to order. Onigiri and side dishes are authentic and just like in Japan!!!read more

Had a smoked ahi tataki, Sumida watercress ikurazuke, sea grapes on vernacelli crisp.... "To die…read morefor". Soooo good! Colin is very personable and I'm excited to try his other offerings.

First time trying their take out at Fishcake (a rotating culinary artist incubator space). I…read moreordered "pork and lamb bolognese." Rich ingredients and taste satisfied me. Btw they cook in front of you after you place an order. You can eat in too. Thank you very much for an early dinner!

I've been hearing all the hype about Mimasa for a while now and it's on my my list to try and…read morefinally got around to it on my recent trip. Minasa offers classic and comforting Filipino dishes with an elevated modern twist. It's very cozy with minimal decor but chill homey vibes. The service is great, warm and efficient. The Kare Kare was nostalgic, and tasted authentic like home made. The Calamansi Chicken was topnotch but I wish it had more kick to it. Everything tasted great but still missing the twist. Looking forward to going back and trying other dishes.

If you haven't checked out Minasa already, you gotta put it on the top of your must-try list…read more Filipino flavors with a modern twist, it's one of my favorite Filipino restaurants on the island. You can sometimes find them at food festivals, and they always have the longest line but at their brick and mortar- you can always satisfy your Filipino cravings. One of my favorite things on their menu is the calamansi chicken wings, it's got a bit of spicy kick and it's so good. You can order just the wings or get it as a bowl with rice and pickled vegetables. The sisig is also a classic that you can get with either crispy chicken or pork belly that's chopped up into small pieces and served with an egg. I love that all of the food here has a nice balance of salt, fat, and acid. And if you're wanting to try out all their best sellers, go for the kamayan sampler with lechon fries, calamansi fried chicken with rice, and ube churros. Or their Chef's special with lechon, calamansi fried chicken, and kalbi short ribs.

Pretty good experience overall. I had made a reservation for opening for two on a Tuesday. There…read morewere about 3-4 other groups and eventually the lunch hour group trickling in from the surrounding businesses. We were promptly seated then we ordered from our phones after scanning their QR code on a sign on our table. We ordered four things: two appetizers and two mains. For our two appetizers, we got the lumpia look fun and the ilocos empanada bahn xeo. The two mains were utog burger and pancit pad see ew. The lumpia look fun tasted good, but I don't think I would get it again. I'm used to getting look fun in Chinatown and eating homemade lumpia. I didn't think the combination was profound for the price point. As for pancit pad see ew, I think I would have wanted to taste more of the "pancit" than the pad see ew. For me, it tasted too strongly of soy sauce, and I think I'm used to flavors closer to pancit or beef chow fun, so I couldn't quite enjoy or finish it. Would like it to be less salty and have more wok hey served hotter. Of the four, I enjoyed the utog burger and the ilocos empanada the most. I liked that the utog burger wasn't too salty and the bun held up. I absolutely love the garlic shoestring fries that went with it. The ilocos empanada was delicious, within my expectations of what ilocos empanada is (after trying some of the ones made in Waipahu) but in good balance with the lettuce. Definitely would like to have the utog burger or ilocos empanada again and try the other mains!

Pop up with poppin' flavors!…read more Yelp BFF and I have been eyeing out Mama Guava and after the end of the hectic holidays, we finally got a chance to visit. Things we ordered: lumpia look fun, veal pancit/pad see ew, and curry fish with roti My favs: lumpia look fun and curry fish with roti The lumpia was crispy and the look fun was nice and thin. Topped with green onions, a soy, vinegar and chili sauce. My only wish is they used a Thai sweet chili sauce instead. The veal pancit/pad see ew was saucy, but a little too salty for my taste. The curry fish with roti was perfect. Fish was flakey, curry was packed with flavor, and paired well with the crispy roti. Definitely worth a visit! Thanks for reading my reviews! Let me know what I should try next!

About 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, there was already a line of people placing their order for fresh…read morepulled noodles. We were told that the first batch would be served about 11 a.m. so we quickly put our order in. The first thing that caught my attention, was the savory aroma of their 5-spice ground pork being cooked. You can add this as a topping to the noodle dish. The second thing that caught my attention, was the labor of love going in to each order of fresh pulled noodles. You can watch him stretch the dough ball and slap it on the counter before he boils each batch with careful preparation. The third thing that caught my attention, was their adorable mother, helping to slice the cucumbers and top each dish with crushed iso peanuts. Do not forget to order the side of pickled bittermelon....so good!! From beginning to end, this was an incredible experience of all my senses! To see and hear them at work and then to taste the delicious sesame sauce on the fresh pulled noodles....WOW! The soft noodles, the crisp bittermelon, and the savory sauce....super delish! Seriously, go early to place your order. The wait is totally worth it :) Will come back next time to try other menu items.

Shima Dreams of Noodles is a pop-up, located at Fishcake -…read more This place supposedly has a huge following, and people anticipate for the changing menu of various noodle dishes. When we went, the menu focused on udon: +Hot Yamakake Udon with Quail Egg (a special) +Cold Yamakake Udon (a special) +Hot Udon +Cold Udon The special udon dishes are servied with tororo (grated mountain yam), housemade tsukudani (seaweed braised in a sweet Japanese sauce), crispy nori, green onions, and an option to add wasabi. We went for both the hot and cold udon specials - I think it was a consensus that we would have liked to have more noodles in the dish. This is definitely a sweeter dish, with the tororo and the tsukudani. The place already had a long line, and the best way to enjoy would be to dine-in. Note that if you do order a carry-out, the quail egg would not be included. +ordering online is available +changing menu of noodle dishes +popup at Fishcake

My friends and I came here for dinner because of the Passport collaboration with Kohana Distillery…read more I'm really happy for this collaboration or else I may have never eaten at this wonderful restaurant. Located in China town, you have the normal issues of finding parking. The location is not large and is split into indoor and outdoor seating areas. We got seated right away and the staff was very friendly. The food is an Italian - Asian fusion. We started with the Hokkaido milk rolls and prosciutto san daniele. The bread was good but that black garlic butter made it even better. But for me the prosciutto was the highlight and should not be skipped. Mixed with the pickles in that sesame shell, it was so delicious. For mains we got the gnocchi and capellini. The beef cheek in the gnocchi was so flavorful and soft. And we finished up with the carrot cake. Everything we ate was good. I definitely want to come back again.

Think I may have just found a new favorite restaurant! It's hard to do fusion in my opinion, but…read moreGiovedi gets it right. - Onion dip: AMAZINGGGG NO NOTES HOLY get this!! - Capellini: 10/10 amazing. The noodles are like vermicelli-style egg noodles which surprised me at first but was very interesting and I grew to really like it. The Dungeness crab sauce was very light and delicious - Kampachi: 7/10, the fish was nice but sauce was too rich and a bit salty. Another downside is that it is the portion size is pretty small. With one shared appetizer and the main, I was still a bit hungry at the end of the night. For the price, I did expect there to be bigger portions.

There were only about 4-5 food trucks when I visited, and it felt small. Around 6 PM, the area had…read morevery few people. There was some live music, but it seemed more like a quick stop for tourists rather than a real night market. I didn't try any food because the atmosphere wasn't appealing, so I left quickly.

Came here when it was less crowded the seating area is big wide open with chairs, tables, and a…read moregreen luscious outdoor view. There were only a few vendors like maybe 4 trucks at the time we got a plate from a vendor called "Wasabi Express by Tiger" the white woman who most likely also works with the main chef randomly approached us recommends it for my partner and I says it's going to taste great it's made fresh daily,, said why not we came for a trip but honestly it was mid and this is why I don't listen to people but realistically I should've just dogged it in my opinion; understand it's Hawaii we are in a touristy spot, but too overpriced for something that tastes like yoshinoya meat and rice that tastes just like fried rice from a regular Chinese takeout