Lunch. Local Style.

Alright, I'd like to apologize. I completely went off on a tangent with the last post. Was it relevent yes I'd say so. The issue is the post before that one was when I was in Hawaii with my better half. So why didn't I just continue posting stuff from restaurants in Maui ... great damn question. I'm just a fool. Back to Maui restaurants we go.

While we were in Maui I made a huge list of places to try but only getting about 6 days to squeeze trying new good eats, going to parks, beaches, snorkeling, parasailing, hiking, and just attempt to relaxation got a little tough. The very first day we arrived in Hawaii, I was speaking with the guys at the car rental office trying to figure out a local ma/pa eatery. They named a couple, including L&L's, but I specifically said I wanted something more local with a ma/pa feel which I can't find in the states. The two stared at each other for a good minute and both synchronized with a response: Da Kitchen Cafe.

This place wasn't very far which was even better because we were famished. Alright maybe not that drastic but we were quite hungry. The problem with me and trying out new places is I'm going to over order just so I could get a little taste of everything. My better half ordered the spare ribs and I ordered the fried (yes you're reading it right) spam masubi and the Hawaiian plate. When we placed our orders the first thing we thought was "hm, this seems a bit pricey ... hope it's good." And here's what we got:

The Kalbi Ribs. Looks good right? Hell yes it was tastey. Hell yes it was big, it was enough to serve my girlfriend, myself, then probably another person and a half (child). Very tender, very juicy. Generous portions that match the price. We obviously had leftovers. The marinate was a bit salty, but there was a good balance in the sweetness. Definitely just want to drop your fork and knife so you can eat with your hands.

The Hawaiian Plate. There was this weird cut up noodle porridge like thing and it tasted like vermicelli with some Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup. Dang it was salty. The Kalua pork was tender and juicy, but still very salty. I was diving into the massive rice scoops because of the overwhelming amount of sodium. The lomi salmon wrapped in the taro leaves ... hm ... it personally was not something I prefer to eat. I felt the salmon ended up being overcooked and was a bit tough. My dish not so great.

Fried Spam Masubi. Drizzle with some soy sauce and teriyaki sauce concoction. It was pretty dang good. A little TOO much rice but I think a lot of places have spam masubi that ends up being made in this fashion: 90% rice, 10% spam. I usually toss half of the rice away. This was good though, nothing super spectacular but the panko crust on the outside is very crisp. Yum

Some naughty food porn, courtesy of my hilarious girlfriend.

In the end, I think this place hit the spot real well. We were hungry and we got way more food than we expected. Good local Hawaiian taste with nice, caring local people serving you. Our waitress was just okay but everyone else was significantly nicer, making sure to ask if our food was okay and refilling our water. I would definitely go back because this was one of the best places we ate at during our stay. If you're in Maui or happen to be near one of Da Kitchen Cafe locations, definitely go. You'll come out stuffed. I'll be updating with more places we ate at on Maui Island.

Da Kitchen Cafe
425 Koloa St., Suite 104
Kahului, HI 96732
808-871-7782

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Italian Wrap. Thing.

So, a Piadine. What is it exactly? Well, I never knew so the best way to describe it is a wrap that you put together yourself. Get one order of fresh baked flatbread in front of you, some fresh chopped vegetables, a bit of grilled meat, and some sauce. Once in front of you put together in a fashion that suits your eating style. For my better half and I we tried to sandwich it or make a pseudo wrap. I've never had it and recommneded the Steak Piadine and we weren't necessarily hungry at the time so to-go it was! And I regret that I did not force myself to stuff my stomach and try this concoction during that given moment after shopping in Walnut Creek.

Opened up the to go box and the contents were nicely separated. Marinated steak that ended up being a bit over done because the steam overcooked the meat and we let it go cold since we saved this for dinner. Anyway, underneath is basically a bed of lettuce, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and cucumber dressed with a bit of balsamic vinegar. Pretty much it's grilled meat on top of a small salad.

I apologize, I was too slow and trying to get a nice picture of the meat by itself so didn't get to the flatbread before getting a little bit of ranch and meat on it. But wow, it was awesome. Not as awesome as my girlfriend though. She's a wonderful girl. Haha, she put together the Steak Piadine and was feeding me while I was taking pictures!

Look at her doing all the dirty work. I should be ashamed. Here's the vegetables placed on top.

And the great wrap/sandwich/Italian thing right before getting gobbled up by us. It was very satisfying. Not something you'd usually get at an Italian place. I like it. There's a slight tang from the vegetables dressed in the balsamic vinaigrette but it's complimented by the saltiness from the steak and the smooth cream from the ranch. The flatbread was a bit chewy but that was my fault since we got it to go. This dish is a bit big so if anything just cut the flatbread in half, separate the portions and save the other half for later.

Tiramisu. I love this dessert and insist on trying it wherever I go. I personally do not think their tiramisu is anything too special. I prefer mine with enough rum to tease the taste buds and not soak the finger lady cake. Tomatina's tiramisu is heavy on the cream, heavy on the rum and leaves the lady finger cakes soaked. Not much marscapone cheese from what I could taste. I can't say I'd recommend this unless you're really craving it or if this is the type of tiramisu you enjoy ... to each his/her own right?

Tomatina is pretty neat. It's like a better Olive Garden. I think it's a bit better than Pasta Pomodoro too but Pasta Pomodoro and Tomatina are both strict Northern California restaurants. If you're shopping there's plenty of options but considering Italian places usually have big portions, get one entree and share. I think it's worth it.

Tomatina
1325 N. Main St.
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925-930-9999

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Soft. Shaved. Yum.

Yeah, I know what your filthy funny mind thought of when you read that title. Haha, well too bad because I'm going to be talking about shaved ice from Ululani's. Great stuff I must say. It's not the typical shaved ice at the carnival or from the ice cream man/woman that's all tough and filled with loads of artifical syrup. Well, there's plenty of those around so those are not appetizing at all. Actually the night we tried Ululani's my better half and I tried one of those crummy places just down the street. I coerced my Sweet'um to trash it and not waste stomach space of such mediocre treats. I'll be honest, I do not recall the name of the store that we grabbed it from. All I remember was that shaved ice was something I wanted to try on Maui.

Sunset Beach. Yes, please, let's stay there all night far from a camp fire so we can have some more alone time. It was delicious. My better half and I fell in love with this flavor and Ululani's. The best parts: the ice was shaved super super fine, almost snow like (but not quite there) and the flavors they drizzle over the ice isn't just normal concentrate, it's fruit puree. This is such a wonderful treat. Get the large if you're sharing. The shaved ice was great, the employees who helped us were great. Love this treat. Must find a Ululani's if you happen to be close to one. Many happy thumbs up!

I have one quick note to add. The first night we had it was the best, the reason for this is my better half and I don't like the excessive puree poured onto the shaved ice. The guy who helped us our first night almost knew exactly the puree to ice ratio so there weren't spoonfuls that were lacking flavor nor too sweet. But still a great place to go, so if you don't like anything too sweet, just ask them to go easy on the flavoring. If you don't eat it quick enough it'll look like the first picture. Second picture is what it looks like fresh out of their hands. Yum.


Ululani's Shaved Ice
815 Front St.
Lahaina, HI 96761
360-609-5678

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French. In A Wall.

Alright ... so Gregoire in Berkeley. Under Yelp it is categorized as French & Gourmet Ghetto. I am definitely unsure of what Gourmet Ghetto would be besides perhaps being a nicer cramped small crappy looking place. Gregoire is nicely decorated. Cute boxes. Super small but lots of places in Berkeley do not have the luxury to be spacious. Staff is quite friendly, because when I came here I had no idea what to order and the cashier just suggested things that were good and what was most popular. Besides his suggestions, Yelpers seemed to rave about the potato puffs so definitely needed to try those. So onto the food:

Garlic Fries. Of course we had to try them. My better half is a fried food (especially potatoes) fanatic and what's not to enjoy about the intoxicating scent of garlic on fresh fries out of the fryer? Only problem? Fries were either too old or a bad batch. Over cooked potatoes are usually just really crunchy. This batch we got some crunchy, some hollowed out, some hollowed out with oil floating in it. Either way, the nice smell was superceded by the horribly disappointing quality of the fries and lack of any attention going into the batch of fries in the fryer. We ended up throwing it away after maybe 1/4 of the fries because we picked out all the edible ones. My significant other did not want to waste it but I just snatched it passed it to the trash can.

Potato Puffs. I don't let hype get to me too much so I had a good idea of what this would be like. I just thought it would be fried a little more but geez, this puff is literally a scoop of mashed potatoes thrown into the fryer to lightly crisp the outside. Taste is nothing special, actually quite bland, and makes me want to just eat a serving of mashed potatoes with gravy.

Steak Sandwich. Keep in mind that Gregoire changes the menu every couple months so I went about, 4 months ago. Anyway, the bread was nicely toasted, meat was tender, and nice tasty roasted peppers. I did enjoy this sandwich. Is it something I would go out of my way for? Not really because this place is really small and pretty busy most of the time. My better half said it was fine but didn't stand out to her either. There's more options considering this is only a block from a small little "food court" and Cheese Board Collective. There's other options nearby. If you're curious to try the potato puffs go for it but to us, it was not something special that makes you smile and want to throw a puff then hope it magically lands in someone's mouth so they can experience a sense of happiness.

Gregoire
2109 Cedar St.
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-883-1893

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