Rating / 2 out of 5 stars

Pa’ina, meaning gathering, perfectly describes this cafe in the Ward Warehouse’s outdoor food court in Honolulu. Long line ups and group gatherings seem the norm for the popular cafe. We managed to grab a seat out in the beautiful weather while waiting for our meals.

(Above: Hawaiian Poke Bowl, Kalua Pig, Lomi Salmon and Tuna Poke Bowl.)

Pa’ina Cafe has an extensive menu offering a variety of salads, Paina plates, poke bowls and sandwiches. Daily specials and colourful pictures of entrees are hung up on one side of the wall.

We managed to narrow down our orders. First, a small Hawaiian Poke bowl with brown rice, shredded nori and green onions. The bowl was mostly heavy brown rice topped with our fillings: shredded Kalua Pig which was disappointingly dry; large, fresh chunks of spicy tuna and a side of Lomi Salmon. The combination was refreshingly nice in the hot breezy weather, but the flavours lacked seasoning and were extremely tame.

(Above: A gigantic, grilled Ahi Gyro.)

Next was a grilled ahi gyro loaded with tomato, red onion, romaine, cucumber and yogurt sauce. The ahi gyro was gigantic and bursting with veggies and yogurt sauce — eating it was very messy. My bites hardly put a dent in the gyro and it took a doubled effort from Tre to help tackle the wrap. The gyro, however, also suffered from a lack of seasoning, and the pita — soaked by the sauces — fell apart before we could finish it off.

Our bill including taxes and tips came to just under $22, which is a bit pricey for a lacklustre food court meal. Pa’ina is a great place to people watch, however. We noticed a couple of hipsters wearing beanies with boots and skinny jeans with sweat dripping down their foreheads in the 30 degree weather. It was the highlight of our meal, which made for a good laugh.

Perfect for: emergency mid-shopping energy boost.

The Details

Ward Warehouse
1200 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu
808.356.2829
painacafe.com

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars

Morimoto’s Waikiki restaurant fits quite comfortably in Hawaii. His personal blend of traditional and modern Japanese cuisine fused with cooking techniques from around the world reflects the very essence of what Hawaii has to offer.

(Above: Morimoto Smoked Sashimi served with five sauces. Seared toro, salmon, eel, tuna, and hamachi.)

The Iron Chef’s venue is unsurprisingly opulent with Japanese sensibilities — that is to say, both grand and restrained at the same time. The decor is minimal yet extravagant, reflective opaque whites mix with wood and punches of green. We sat down to sample a range of the menu’s offerings.

The first to arrive was the Morimoto Smoked Sashimi, an impeccably plated stack of seared toro, salmon, eel, tuna, and hamachi served with laboratory-like squeeze tubes to dispense a variety of concentrated sauces. The presentation was all very Iron Chef like. Although the flavours were nice, the temperature of the fish felt lukewarm and the texture as if manhandled from too much primping.

(Above: Half dozen raw oysters served with a number of sauces – hot sauce, jalapeno.)

Next, a half dozen oysters on a bed of ice with a variety of flavours from traditional ponzu to hot sauce. The oysters were freshly out of the ocean — the creamy, sweet texture supplanted only by the restrained tart and tangy sauces that accompanied them.

(Above: Spicy King Crab with Tobanjan Aioli, tobiko, cilantro served with a side of fries.)

Spicy King Crab arrived with a side of fries drenched in a spicy, earthy Tobanjan Aioli. The crab meat was carefully dismantled and reassembled with surgeon-like precision into their shells. This is some of the most perfectly cooked crab meat we’ve had, and the Tobanjan Aioli is an incredibly flavourful sauce that amplifies this dish.

(Above: Kakuni. 10 Hour pork belly served on congee with soy-scallion jus.)

Our final course was the Kakuni — a pork belly stewed for 10 Hours and served on a shallow bath of congee. The promise of butter tender pork, however, fell short as the jerky-like texture was heinously dry.

(Above: Morimoto’s own Soba Ale from Portland’s Rogue Ale.)

Accompanying our meal is Morimoto’s own Soba Ale brewed by Portland’s Rogue Ale — a gentle ale that pairs well with the pan Asian menu. Case had the zen-like Coco Fraiche Martini, the transparent presentation belying the harmonious blend of  Ciroc coconut Vodka, lime juice, lemongrass syrup in coconut water.

(Above: Chocolate Peanut Bombe – milk chocolate cremeaux with salted peanut ice cream.)

Our meal closed with the Chocolate Peanut Bombe, a pillowy soft milk chocolate creameux served with a side of salted peanut ice cream — the perfect way to end our Morimoto experience.

(Above: Coco Fraiche Martini – Ciroc Coconut Vodka, lime juice, lemongrass syrup and coconut water. $10)

Our dinner came to an obscene amount that befits a meal served at an Iron Chef’s restaurant. The missteps were simply tiny stumbles — picky grumblings, but overall it was an experience we wouldn’t take back.

Perfect for: Experiencing a taste of the Iron Chef, first hand.

The Details

1775 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu
808.943.5900
morimotowaikiki.com

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Ha Long Pho Noodle House in Honolulu is a small, contemporary, family run restaurant located in the Chinatown area on Kalani Street. It’s hidden in a small industrial looking plaza near the middle of nowhere next to a few random store fronts.

Inside, the bright green colours with pops of black provide a strangely serene backdrop to the waiting meal. We suggest signing in with your license plate number at the front to prevent your car from being towed while slurping down your noodles.

(Above: The old standby Pho, rare beef with rice noodles in soup.)

We ordered two beef noodle soups, a plate of summer rolls to share and two iced coffees. For Tre, a beef noodle combination comprising rare steak, beef balls, well done brisket, tendon and tripe. The tender beef parts were swimming in a sizable bowl with a large heaping amount of noodles in a subtle light coloured broth.

(Above: Iced Vietnamese Coffee — Cafe Sua Da — really hits the spot on a hot day.)

I had beef tripe with noodle soup, which arrived with a good amount of tripe — enough to put a happy smile on my face. My noodles, however, were a bit over cooked for my liking. The summer rolls were less exciting: standard shrimp and pork wrapped in rice paper with vermicelli, mint, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts and served with peanut sauce. It all looked very refreshing, but instead tasted bland. We hoped the peanut sauce could rescue the rolls, but unfortunately it also suffered from a similar blandness. The iced coffees with condensed milk, however, were nice and strong and gave us a good buzz for the rest of the day.

(Above: Shrimp and pork salad rolls, christened the Summer roll at Ha Long.)

Our bill including taxes and tips came to just under $35. Which isn’t cheap, but seems to be on par for Pho in Hawaii. The meals were okay. We wouldn’t go out of our way for a return visit. But if you’re in the area looking for a nice quiet place for lunch or dinner, Ha Long just might just hit the spot.

Perfect for: Hot noodles and iced coffee in paradise.

The Details

Suite B107 – 1286 Kalani Street, Honolulu
808.845.3687
halongnoodle.com

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Fresh Catch is a fish market in Honolulu’s University district that also doubles as a restaurant and take out joint. The unassuming shop sporting a smiling octopus and smokey windows appears dodgy from the outside, but the food inside is fresh, simple and tasty.

(Above: Fresh Tuna Poke with two scoops of rice.)

Inside, Fresh Catch indeed resembles more a fish market than restaurant — the front fridge filled with buckets of seafood for the picking overseen by a creepy Captain Highliner-like figure. All the patrons passing through opted for takeout rather than the nautical picnic setup in the dining area.

Everything on the menu looks like picnic-ready grub, from the meaty plate lunches to the sauteed shrimp and seafood sandwiches. We sampled the fried tuna poke. Which, instead of the traditional raw fish, features lightly seared chunks of tuna swimming in Fresh Catch’s own soy, sesame oil, chili and onion soaked poke sauce and served with two scoops of rice.

(Above: Old man captain highliner keeps watch over his fishy friends.)

Our poke was accompanied by a crab sandwich: generous shreds of fresh crab meat tossed in mayo in a super soft hoagie topped with lettuce and tomatoes. The crab salad tasted a bit under seasoned, but the the sandwich was a delight to eat as each pillowy bite was rewarded with a meaty chunk of fresh crab.

(Above: Big crab salad sandwich on a soft hoagie topped with lettuce and tomatoes.)

Our meal came to under $17 with taxes and tips — good value for fresh, simply prepared food on the go.

Perfect for: seaside picnic on the go.

The Details

3109 Waialae Avenue, Honolulu
808.735.7653
freshcatch808.com

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

We stumbled upon Ward’s Farmer’s Market by accident in Honolulu. Their big green Farmers Market sign caught our attention while driving by. The market is located across the street from Ward Centers in a parking lot with a mish mash of a kiosks serving cooked food, a jewellery stand and Lin’s Hawaiian snacks.

(Above: Rows upon rows of dried fruit snacks at Lin’s at the Farmer’s Market.)

People were sparse when we arrived at the market and it felt disorganized. A two person band was strumming some beats and singing while unconcerned shoppers walked by paying little attention. We occupied most of our time under the tent of Lin’s Hawaiian snacks. He had tables and tables of rows of baskets of neatly assorted preserved goodies such as fruits, nuts, seafood and special sea salts.

(Above: crispy, dried green beans from Lin’s at the Ward Center Farmer’s Market.)

We walked away with a bags of goodies: macadamia popcorn, hot cuttle fish, two bags of Hawaiian sea salt, dried green beans, and spicy Marlin teriyaki–a fish jerky. Most of the snacks were decent and familiar, but I found the Marlin weird and tough to chew. The flavour and texture was surprisingly similar to Chinese beef jerky, but ten times harder to chew with a bit of a fishy after taste.

(Above: Macadamia Popcorn — tastes like regular candied popcorn.)

Our snacks including two bags of Hawaiian sea salts came to just under $35. Not the cheapest considering the amount in each bag we got, but a fun experience nonetheless. If you’re in the area, the parking lot of Ward’s Market is worth the visit. You never know what you might find.

Perfect for: dried snack goodies.

The Details

Ward Centers Parking Lot
Auahi Street & Kamakee Street, Honolulu
Every Tuesday, 9am to 1pm