Chingu Hawaii brings a bit of L.A.’s Koreatown to the islands — that means you get fried chicken, cheese and kochujang with flavors that are bold, fatty and assertive, and feature audacious combinations of ingredients. This is a Korean-style bar on steroids. Read more
Local brewer Brian Paisley opened Paisley Meadery in 2015 and recently began offering lunch and dinner service to help introduce diners to the idea of swapping out wine for pairing mead with food. Read more
We have sushi and poke bars, but an all-encompassing, comprehensive and high-quality seafood restaurant is a rare entity, at least on Oahu. Read more
Sometimes when that sushi craving hits, you want it fast and that often means hitting up a convenience or grocery store for something ready-made, quick and inexpensive. Read more
Diners are obsessed with “best of” lists, but how often can people follow those leads? For most people, dining choices are more a matter of cost and convenience. Read more
Today there are plenty of brunch options for early birds. The morning market is still nowhere near as saturated as the evening market for dinner, but the fuller scene calls for more creativity to lure diners that crucial first time. Read more
Move over, ramen, there’s a new kind of noodle shop in town, poised to win hearts if diners are willing to give it a try. Like sister restaurant Chengdu Taste, Mian is quickly becoming known for its Sichuan-accented fare. Read more
Beyond the scenery, beyond the Hawaiian plates, you’ll find an only-in-Hawaii dessert at the Waiahole Poi Factory in Windward Oahu. Read more
Essentially, there are two kinds of Italian restaurants on Oahu, neither involving Italians in the kitchen. Read more
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Until recently, Kakaako was mostly known as a work hub, home to auto shops, warehouses, small businesses and the cheap-eats restaurants that serve this community. Since being designated the coolest work-live community in Honolulu, that is changing. Read more
Burgers and beer have always had a happy marriage, but such couples can grow apart when one keeps evolving and the other stays the same. A craft brew needs a partner who can keep up, and at Square Barrels, that means the introduction of a couple of new artisan burgers. Read more
I typically write 1,000 words about a restaurant, carefully weighing the pros and cons of every encounter to back up my ratings. Without burden of responsibility, my friends can be much more succinct in expressing their opinions with a few simple words. Read more
Having built up the Le Crepe Cafe brand successfully once, you’d think it would have been relatively easy for Soufiane Bouharkat to reboot his business after spending just a year away, trying to establish a similar business in California. But after leaving Hawaii for a year, he became viewed as a risk to landlords and lenders. Read more
Yoshinobu Misawa, former sushi chef at the popular and highly rated Sushi Izakaya Gaku, has branched out on his own to open Izakaya Uosan in the Blackfield Building on Kapiolani Boulevard, in the space formerly occupied by Shabu Shabu House. Read more
Thirty years later, I’m still writing my column and it just may be because of Roy Yamaguchi, who helped create a state full of foodies. Read more
Pho My Duyen is at the west end of North King Street, where anyone without business in the area is just passing through en route to the freeway from Middle Street. Read more
Quick Cuisine is a locally owned and operated delivery service that accepts orders via app and website but still takes old-fashioned phone calls, just as it did when Alex Hendry launched the service from his home in Wahiawa in 2006. Read more
The main difference between today’s delivery services and yesterday’s simple pizza delivery is accountability. With today’s services, restaurants and drivers are unaffiliated; add customer error and traffic, and you have a four-part equation with plenty of room for error. Read more
Technology has ushered in a new era in home delivery, with everything from ramen to couscous available via a few clicks on your computer or phone to services such as Bite Squad, Postmates and Uber Eats. Read more
Outside the ‘Alohilani Resort at Waikiki Beach it looks like a construction zone, but inside visitors and kamaaina are getting a taste of things to come as, one by one, dining concepts spring to life, ahead of the resort’s grand opening celebration slated for March. Read more
Part of the reason the pseudo poke operations have been so successful across the country is that they are more cost-effective than the local way, which is to have rows of dozens of different kinds of ready-made fresh-catch poke available every day. It’s a highly perishable product, and if one doesn’t sell, it can be a big loss. Read more
