More. Ramen.

I assume there's more ramen places popping up near the Rowland Heights area and San Gabriel Valley which is good because I do not always want to dedicate the time and drive to Little Tokyo or wherever else. What can be said about Daikokuya ...? Big name, probably around these parts.

My girlfriend being silly. She's wonderful.

Little, basic, side salad/slaw thing. I think of it as slaw. The greens in there are mostly cabbage too so it's quite textured. The dressing is the usually Thousand Island variant. Better Half did enjoy it at the time. She tends to at least take a couple bites from it but I just leave it.

Fatty slices of pork. Delicious. Juicy and tender.

Katsu-Don pretty much. The shoyu/mirin mixture had a bit too much mirin. Was a little bit sweet for my liking but the actual pork was not over fried. Small portion so it's better, more room for ramen (if you have a big appetite) but better for sharing. My better half and I aren't gluttons so a combo with side fried rice or small rice bowl of some sort will leave us content. These bowls are good portion sizes for one person (or mild sharing in this case).

The ramen. Oy, what can I honestly say about this? Not too shabby. I hate, hate, hate the overpower and overuse of the green onions. Doesn't make sense to me because the broth soaks up the flavor. You don't get a good taste of the pork. Meh, that's why I just get the green onions on the side. Daikokuya has this other option for extra fatty broth. I forgot the name but that thing is heavy. *Edit: My Better Half just informed me that the fatty broth is kotteri.* If you love your pork essence, that is the one to get. Daikokuya, this location, is a-okay. I have heard the original Little Tokyo location is hands down, way better but I'll have to go there sometime to give it a judge. I like this place. I really really enjoy their rice dishes so yeah I would go back for either ramen or other things they have to offer. Swing by for your fix.

Daikokuya
15827 Gale Ave.
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
626-968-0810
http://www.daikoku-ten.com

- spam

Not much.

My girlfriend loves nigiri. We're on an island, so I figured why not try a sushi place in Kihei? It received decent reviews by people on the Internet. But who is to say that is even correct? Hell, you don't even need to consider my reviews as anything relevant. All I know is I take all reviews with a grain of salt and just go with an open mind. The only issue is sometimes I get overly interested in the food and over order. Happens a lot and we end up with a lot of leftovers and a high bill. Haha. So we drive to the southern part of Maui to try out this place after a loooong day of driving. It's in a strip mall and it was not too busy when we arrived. However, after we sat down more and more people started coming in.

Salmon Nigiri. The girlfriends favorite. Taste was not fresh, she did not enjoy it. Tasted a bit old or frozen ...? Not sure how to describe it but dissatisfied.

Soft Shelled Crab. I usually like this and I'm not sure how old these were or where they were purchased but these small crabs were pretty much hollow. I would dip it in the sauce and surprisingly the ponzu sauce would get absorbed through the batter and into the gaps in the crab so when I bite down, I get a splash of citrus ponzu in my mouth. Overpriced and ripped off.

Ramen. I'm a fan of ramen. My better half enjoys it sometimes but does not enjoy it to the extent I do. This bowl of soupy ramen was probably the only half decent thing we ate at the restaurant. I don't know what it is but even this isn't anything great compared to ramen you could get in Southern California. The noodles tasted like it was packaged, nothing fresh made in-house nor purchased from someone who specializes in ramen. Shoyu soup base was bland, did not seem like anything was simmering for hours. Fish cake was questionable. Hollow and dry, no density in it ... what was this ... fish jerky they threw into the bowl in hopes it would suck up some of the soup-base and expand? *sigh* DO NOT even mention Daikokuya to me. I will cover that establishment at a later time.

Gyoza. Came with the little ramen set. Typical frozen bulk packaged stuff. Tastes like many of the different dumplings you could find at local Asian supermarkets.

Miso Crusted Butterfish. Yeah ... overly fatty, overcooked, lacking in seasoning/glaze.

Oh my you can't imagine how sad we were. Disappointment to the tenth degree. Cheese! So dissatisfied, I recall we ended up dropping by to try a pizza place in Lahaina, which I'll do for my next review. Seriously, this place was a waste of our money. Perhaps our palates are spoiled by the local sushi places we frequent so often or we have just grown to know what is good and fresh nigiri. What I do know: the sushi and cooked food was not very good here. Worst part: being Hawaii, quite overpriced. We lose!

Izakaya Matsu
1280 S. Kihei Rd., Suite 120
Kihei, HI 96753
808-874-0990

- spam