Monday, July 30, 2012

The Girls Who Bake Next Door Truck

There's a new truck on the block. This one serves up delicious baked goods. You can find their location on twitter and facebook. They are usually in downtown from 1:00pm - 3:00pm parked in front of the Alexander & Baldwin building on Bishop Street. My favorites so far are the cookies and cream cupcake, chocolate toffee peanut butter cupcake, and poi mochi. Some of the items are a little pricey and they only accept cash.

@girlswhobake
(808) 983-9989

Cookies and Cream, Chocolate Toffee Peanut Butter, Red Velvet

Poi Mochi

Butter Mochi

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Restaurant Epic - CLOSED

If you're looking for some new flavors for your taste buds, I recommend trying this place. The kebabs had some interesting Asian spices and it was paired with a tzatziki dipping sauce. The pork chops came with a sweet potato marshmallow puree. The dish played off the savory and sweet thing which worked really well. I enjoyed the sweet potato marshmallow puree. The molten cake is their signature dessert but it takes 20 minutes to prepare and I was in a rush. I ended up getting the bacon chocolate chip cookies. I'm not a fan of having bacon in my dessert so I didn't like it. But, the rest of my friends on the table seemed to like those bacon bits inside the cookie. If you don't want to try all these new things, you can always just go with the epic burger.

Their dishes are pricey but you get a decent amount of food. They have happy hour on weekdays from 4:30pm - 6:30pm. The food on that menu ranges from $4 - $7. If you plan to have lunch or dinner here, I recommend making a reservation. Unfortunately, they don't have a parking lot so you'll have to find space on the street or park at Mark's garage.

For more information about Restaurant Epic, please visit http://www.restaurantepichawaii.com.

1131 Nuuanu Ave
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 587-7877

Mongolian Kebabs

Epic Classic

Buttermilk Fried Pork Chops

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Nisshodo Candy Store

This place is a bit of a hole in the wall. It took me awhile to find them because they're not on Dillingham Blvd. You turn into the parking lot where you see Mix Plate Cafe and you drive straight to the back. 2 shops to the end, you'll see Nisshodo on your left. They have 3 compact parking spaces.

The store itself is very small but I'm sure if you go to the back, they probably have a big kitchen. All the mochi and goodies are inside the display case. It's really colorful. I got the azuki bean and coconut mochi because the staff recommended it. I also picked up half dozen chi chi dango. Their chi chi dango is a little sweeter than ones I tried from other places but I liked it. As for the mochi, the azuki bean was alright. I'm not a big fan of shredded coconut but I enjoyed their coconut mochi. I would definitely get that one again.

For more information about Nisshido Candy store, please visit http://nisshodomochicandy.com.

1095 Dillingham Blvd
Ste 15
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 847-1244

Coconut Mochi, Azuki Bean Mochi, Chi Chi Dango

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Lucky Belly

There is finally a place in downtown that serves ramen. They are located at the corner of Hotel and Smith Street, next to Downbeat Diner. If you're coming here for lunch on a weekday, I recommend coming at 11AM. If you come after 12PM, expect to wait 20-30 minutes for a table because this restaurant gets really busy. Another option is you can come in 2's and you'll get seated much faster. They have a row of tables in the back that's set up for two.

Their menu is still small but I'm sure when they receive their liquor license, they'll have a full menu. I wanted to try the duck lumpia but they were sold out so I got the pork belly bao. I thought the bao was okay. It didn't "wow" me. The shrimp gyoza was good and it's worth trying. If you're craving ramen, you should get the belly bowl because the pork belly and smoked bacon is cooked in-house and it's very good. I'm planning on making another trip down here someday and hopefully they'll have the duck lumpia.

50 N. Hotel St
Honolulu, HI 96817
Shrimp Gyoza

Pork Belly Bao

Lucky Bowl

Belly Bowl

Jasmine Limeade

Duck Lumpia

BLT

Shrimp Tempura Mushu