Early Mother's Day at Tiki's

My wife and I are going on our "Big Trip" on Monday morning. Being that we will not be in town next week, we took my mother out for an early Mother's Day Lunch.

Our lunch was at Tiki's Bar and Grill. We really enjoyed the view from our table overlooking Waikiki Beach. The cool breeze passing through the outdoor dining area makes this a great spot to spend an afternoon.







To start we share the Seared Ahi Salad. The Ahi was ligthly spiced seared to perfection, sashimi in the middle with a nice firm cooked crust. The soy based creamy dressing complemented the ahi and mixed green salad.



Next up was our appetizers. The specialty is the Prime Rib Poke'. Cubes of Prime Rib prepared cerviche style in Poke spices with a creamy drizzle over greens.

The deep fried calamari was awesome. Calamari coated in panko deep fried. The Calamari was tender and the creamy sauce with capers and the tomato and crab topping was decadent.



I had the Loco Moco. Awesome prime local beef cooked medium with a demiglace type sauce. It was covered with deep fried onions and of course two eggs over easy.

As always a great meal at Tiki's and of course nap time in the afternoon.

The Sake Shop

My friends Malcolm and Nadine recently opened the Sake Shop in Honolulu.




Both Nadine and Malcolm have a passion for sake'. A few years ago, they had an idea of opening a sake' specialty shop. They saw an increase in interest in sake' and saw this as an opportunity to fill a niche in the market.



Sake' has been available in Hawaii for generations. Growing up in Japanese households our impressions of sake' is mainly the warm sake' that comes out of the gallon jug served warm on New Years. Now, we realize there is more to sake' than the warm stuff. As people start exploring the world of sake' they are surprised at the different varieties of sake' available. As you get deeper into sake', you realize that each sake' is unique in flavor and has its own distinct character much like wine.






Many of us have been at a Japanese specialty store staring at the bottles of sake' on display. Quite honestly, I have a difficult time making a decision on which one to buy. Sake' is not an inexpensive indulgence. Personally, the fear of making a $40 mistake buying the a bottle of sake' is a deterrent from trying something new. Honestly, do you trust the recommendation of a clerk that will read you the label as an explanation?


The Sake' Shop provides a valuable service for the new sake' enthusiast. I can now shop for my sake' with the assurance that I can get an honest evaluation of a sake' before purchasing. I can get informed recommendations as to what type of sake' that I may enjoy.




I hope that you can visit the Sake' Shop sometime.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Dear friends, Happy 4th of July.

Picture taken at Aloha Tower fireworks show.

I know it's not Japanese or vacation oriented..., but it is a nice picture.

Countdown to Vacation

We had our trip meeting at Ojiya Restaurant in Honolulu.

We had one unidentified guest join us. He is prominently seated in the second row of the picture.

We enjoyed great food and drink. It was our "training" session before the trip.

Gobo chips were a pleasant surprise. Complements beer very well. After all they are chips.

Yakitori was also pretty tasty for Hawaii standards.

Mom, Rae, Malcolm, Tim, Chris, Lee glad you all could make it.

Rich, glad you could make it. Since you have internet, you can follow our trip from Hawaii.

Counting down the days.

End of Year, New Year and B-Day Party.

On December 29, 2007, eleven friends gathered to celebrate three birthdays, the end of the year and the upcoming new year.






We met early in the evening at our favorite Japanese restaurant, Chiba-ken in Waikiki on Ena Road. There are many things that we enjoy about this restaurant: the food; the friendly staff; the sake selection and the beer garden. Yes, this restaurant has an outdoor seating area that serves as a beer garden. This a covered area that fronts Ena Road in front of the enclosed restaurant. We enjoyed the fresh air and cool winter breezes while dining on some fine Japanese food and enjoying our favorite sake, Dassai.


The original plan was to celebrate Yumi and Rae's birthday. Which we did.
My friends surprised me with a cake to celebrate my upcoming birthday. I was pleasantly surprised. Quite honestly, I thought the cake was for Rae and Yumi. It took me a while to figure out that the cake was intended for me.


Thank you to Malcolm, Nadine, Tim, Rich (Dog), Kurt, Yumi, Rae, Mark, Ryan and Kanako for a wonderful evening.

Thanks to the staff of Chiba-ken for their hospitality and great food.



Ooooh, what does Malcolm have here? Some fine sake? Is he going to share?