Catching up...

I got scolded today by F3 about not keeping up with my blogging... so here goes...

Spicy Pork

Yesterday, after sitting in Waikiki for a conference in the earlier part of the week, I finally got back into the lunch routine with my co-workers.  We decided on Choi's Garden for some healthy Korean food.  I guess you could say that CG has become one of our monthly lunch hang outs since the food is pretty good and the service is quick and friendly.  Parking is relatively easy since there is a valet who will take your car for you if their lot is full.

Spicy Pork and sides

One co-worker decided to eat the stone pot bi bim bap while another decided we would share a yuk ke jang and spicy bbq pork between the two of us.  I usually flip between the multigrain stone pot rice combos and the cold noodles but spicy pork sounded good so I jumped on board.  The spicy pork was excellent with just enough heat and flavor not to overpower the taste of the pork.  It was served with Korean miso, raw garlic, jalepenos and lettuce leaves to wrap the pork in.  Sadly the sizzling platter it came on wasn't hot enough to finish cooking the garlic all the way through so the garlic was semi-raw and pungent.

Still CG is one of my top 3 favorite places to eat Korean food and I'll be going back again soon.

F3 doing her thing again

Today on the other hand was a experiment in gluttony with my new favorite foodie, the incomperable Miss F3.  We headed over to Young's Fish Market in search of the elusive butterfish laulau.  This was a task in itself as Dillingham Blvd was shut down due to some sort of accident and gas leak and traffic around Youngs turned into a beast of a jam. 

F3 taking pictures of food

Once we got there we were saddened to find out that they were out of the butterfish laulau and we had to settle for pork instead.  The laulau there are fairly huge but I was pleasantly surprised to find that my luau leaves were extremely tender and the flavors from the pork had seeped in without making the leaves over salty.

I also ordered ahi poke with limu kohu and, of course, turkey tails.  The ahi poke was okay but for the price, should have been mixed to order.  It lacked salt so I put a good helping of chili pepper water to give it some extra taste.  The turkey tails were hot and fresh and not very oily which was good since that meant that I could eat more before my viens clogged over with fat. 

My Plate

The laualu plate also came with poi and lomi which was ok in flavor but the lomi was short on salmon for my liking and the poi was too fresh and on the watery side. 

For those of you who are reading my blog without knowing about me, I'll give you a little background about some of my food experience.  I worked for many years at a Hawaiian food restaurant upon moving back to Oahu 16+ years ago.  I was the fish cutter and poke maker for many years and have developed many different types of poke over the years.  I am very critical of Hawaiian food as I can make most everything myself. I have and continue to do the catering of pupus for various weddings and events, which makes me very critical of the flavors and quality of foods I eat at restaurants.

That being said, I was happy to get my fill of some good Hawaiian food with the exceptional company of Miss F3.  It's probably been over a decade since we've seen each other and I hope it won't be that long before we get together again.  BTW, as for Hawaiian food... stay tuned to this bloggosphere to see some of my cooking and possibly a recipe or two in about 3 weeks as I will be making some Hawaiian food for a viewing party during Merrie Monarch week...