Hawai‘i’s Best

Local, hole in the wall

Places de cuisine

Souvaly

New upbeat Thai restaurant

High style but the bill won’t break your heart

            Pearl City has the first… not upscale but upbeat, contemporary Thai restaurant in Hawai‘i – picture silk accents over black and white table cloths with servers in long black aprons, candlelight, the sound of water and hostesses in Thai pha ma‘i silk dresses.

            “The concept is a nice place where you can take clients or your girlfriend with good food, good service, very clean but when you get the bill it’s not heartbreaking,” says owner Souvaly Khamphoui.

            Souvaly Thai Cuisine opened in early November.

            The menu is a combination of internationally famous Thai dishes and homegrown favorites like mother used to make, that is if you grew up in Thailand, especially in northern Thailand near the Laos border.

            Souvaly is located across from the Pearl City Shopping Center in the old Pearl City Chop Suey site next to Flamingo’s on the makai side of Kam Highway.

            It is competitively priced to other Thai restaurants and eateries in Pearl City.  But offers a touch of romance and style.

            Signature dishes include Crying Tiger, the Good Luck dish, and  Pad pu phong ka-ree or whole dungeness crab stir fried with Maui onion in yellow curry sauce and served with homemade bread.

            Crying Tiger or yum near  is a sirloin steak salad of thinly sliced beef on a bed of fresh veggies with lime dressing.  The veggies  include mint, lemon grass and sliced cucumbers, a Thai favorite.

            The Good Luck dish is called Larb.  It’s really a Laotian dish that, like the Vietnamese pho, has become legendary in its own time throughout Laos and northern Thailand.  Khamphoui is a Laotian immigrant to the US and has been here for 14 years, so it’s really food that her mother and her yai or grandmother used to make.

            Larb is prepared with lime juice, roasted rice powder, lime leaves and onions served with your choice of chicken, beef, pork or tofu.

            The desserts are international with Asian accents.  Take for example the crispy fried banana with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup or the mango sorbet or kalua New York cheesecake.

            Souvaly grew up with international tastes and has always liked to “dress up and eat out.”

            “Since I came here, I obsessed on the food channel,” she says.

            Her parents introduced her to French, Russian, Italian, Vietnamese and Chinese cooking.  Her father studied economics in France and was a businessman in Laos.  He brought the taste for cheese and wine home.  Her mother studied medicine in Russia and currently works for UNICEF traveling worldwide promoting women’s health.

            Souvaly, herself, went to Russia to study to become an interpreter in Laos.  She learned Thai food and Thai language from her Thai roommate in Russia.  She can read, speak and cook in Thai.

            After deciding she liked Hawai‘i and the US, she learned English and earned a BA from the University of Hawai‘i.  From the first, she began working in a string of family and friends restaurants, including Champa Thai Restaurant, Paesano, Assagio’s, Shogun and Phuket Thai.

            She started as a dishwasher and worked her way up through cook and waitress.

            “I’m very picky when it comes to food,” Souvaly says.  “Good food has to be a certain way.  That’s what we’ll have at Souvaly.  The servers will be friendly and informative.  The dining experience will be fun.  The taste and the stomach will be satisfied.  You’ll want to bring your mother here to show her what you found.”

            And the bill, of course, will not be heartbreaking.

            Souvaly Thai Cuisine is located at 803 Kam Highway, next to the Flamingo Restaurant.  It is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. Most entrees below $10.  Telephone 455-5888 and 455-5923.

            Grand opening specials will include a choose-your-own-combo lunch and free crispy noodles for dinner.

Pho My Lien

            This is the archtype hole in the wall family diner with 34 seats.  It’s on the second floor of a small two story gray wooden building on Ala Moana next to the Ilikai Hotel, one of the last such buildings in Waikiki.  Truly historic, if you like that sort of thing.  And I do.

            As its name suggests, Pho My Lien is a Vietnamese Restaurant.  It specializes in the Vietnamese national dish, pho, rice noodles in a secret beef broth garnished with thin slices

                       Lien Dang and Richard

of beef, heaps of bay leaves and sprouts.  You can have brisket or tripe if you want but you can’t have the secret of the broth.  Each restaurant guards its secret recipe closely.

            Pho My Lien’s recipe comes down from Lien Dang, wife of Tommy Dang.  Her family had a restaurants in Saigon before the war.

            In addition to pho, My Lien specializes on Cac Mon Dac Biet, which is generally seafood in broth.  You can have shrimp shabu shabu, curry, hot and sour soup with catfish or a pepper simmered pot.

            The restaurant is five years old.  955-4009.  Five stars out of five on the Brudda scale.

Old style Shave Ice

Huge, tasty, made with TLC

            Would you like to eat something special made by a man who had dreamed his whole life of making this simple thing?

            Would like to taste something memorable that a man spent two years on perfecting, giving it away free, before he would charge someone to enjoy it?

            Would you like to step back into time when people took pride in their craft, took time to chat and smile, and valued you as a person and not just another number?

            If you would like this and you don’t mind sweets, you should mosey on to Shimazu Shave Ice on School Street just Diamond Head of Liliha near the McDonald’s and Foodland.

            Shimazu’s is new.  Kelvin Shimazu took the tiny shop over about a year ago.

            Shimazu remembers how special shave ice was to him and everyone else he can think of when he was a kid.

            “It was a real treat,” he says.  “I remember there was a little coffee shop next to the old Toyo Theater and it sold shave ice.”

            It was a child’s dream to one day run his own shave ice shop.

            But Shimazu grew up.  He started his real life as a truck driver and quickly was promoted to sales in the garment industry.  Next he jumped to food sales.  His specialty was introducing new lines.

            But one day, he came to a crisis.  He was asking if this was how he was going to spend the rest of his life.  His son Kendall was still in elementary school.  He didn’t like the image he saw.  He just happened to be visiting one of Honolulu’s best known shave ice stands when he thought, “I can do better than this.”

            So, with not much foresight, he began experimenting with shave ice.  He bought his own machine.  How many people do you know that buy their own shave ice machine.  He spent two years perfecting his technique. 

            “You have to know that not all ice is equal.  The best ice is specially made.  It turns out there is one company in Honolulu that knows this from the old days.

            “You have to know how to sharpen your blade, how sharp to get it.

            “You have to get your syrups right.  All the good shave ice shops make their own.

            “I didn’t want to do it wrong.  I am my own worst customer.”

            Then he spent seven years mostly doing private parties.  It was a really unique venture.  No one else was doing it.  He also tried a small concession stand in Mililani.  Then finally, he took the plunge and bought the old B&S Store on School Street.

            B&S was already famous among the real locals for good shave ice.  It was the perfect location.

            Shimazu makes humongous shave ice cones. And he pours on the syrup.  You never find naked white ice in the middle of a Shimazu cone.  He has special flavors like strawberry crème, key lime or li hing mui.  The ice is fine, just like local people like it.  Fine ice means more surface area for syrup to be carried to the tongue.

            And the ambience is old time.  If you take time, Shimazu will actually talk to you.  Reminisce about the old days.  All the shave ice shops that have closed.

            He tells the story about the lady who went to every shave ice shop on Oahu, looking for the perfect shave ice.  When she had finished, she came back to Shimazu and told him, “You win.  You have the best shave ice.”

            The sun was setting as he told us this story.  It was past closing.  A lady and child walked in the store.  The lady said, “Oh, I guess you are closed.”  The little girl said, “Mom.  I want shave ice.”

            Shimazu said, “No, we’re not closed.  The front door is still open.”  Kendall came out from back to make the shave ice.  He’s 21 now.  As he made the shave ice, Shimazu smiled. 

            “Some people, they don’t understand.  But it’s like the old days.  If we can help you, we do.”

Papa Al 2.10.07

Hole in the wall restaurant charm

            There’s a certain charm about finding little, out of the way places.  If you go looking, sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes… not.  They don’t review the hole in the wall joints.

            But now you’ve got me.

            I love hole in the wall joints.  I can tell you the best ones in Honolulu.  There aren’t that many, so we’ll dole them out slow like.  Savor the experience.

            Ethel’s Grill in Kalihi is one of those places.

            It was featured on local television on a show with some of Honolulu’s most famous chefs.  They picked Ethel’s as a favorite.  Enough recommendation for me.

            You don’t find Ethel’s easy.

            It’s three blocks off Nimitz closer to the airport than Waikiki in the light industrial area full of small warehouses, tiny, two story circa 40’s wood frame homes, plumbing shops, painters, machinists, a few auto repair places.

            It’s a warren back there like Beijing’s hutongs.  Dirt and grit sit heavy on walls and ledges.  You’ll miss it if you blink.  Ethel’s doesn’t even have one of those signs that run perpendicular to the street so that you can see it coming from a distance, even a small distance.

            No, Ethel’s is a tiny shop that has its name painted on the window and you have to be about ten feet in front of it to see it.

            Then there’s parking.  Good luck.  Just keep in mind that the food and experience is worth it.  And how far can you walk, it’s an island, for goodness sake.

            I’ll give you more explicit directions.  If you’re coming from Waikiki, get on Ala Moana past the great, monument of a shopping center and the park, past downtown, winding through the harbor, just past Young Brother’s barge on Pier 40 on your left, I would say 3 miles, some smidgen more from the airport end of Waikiki.  Take a left on Kalihi Street, the first traffic light after Young Brothers.  Down about four blocks.  I don’t remember.  Park anywhere you see something.  Don’t be afraid to go around the block, maybe two blocks.

            What awaits you is a local style menu with flair.

            Their Japanese hamburger steak is a hand made patty with grated daikon, sprouts and a ponzu-like sauce.  This place, by the way, is loaded with pictures of the Japanese sumo wrestler named Konishiki.  He was, if you don’t know, a 500 lb. giant who was born in Hawaii and rose to the second highest rank in the centuries old Japanese sport.

            You can imagine the servings aren’t your $35 fufu plates with frilly vegetables sticking out.

            The Friday special is Hawaiian lau lau plate.  This is better than paying big bucks to get a Hawaiian luau.  The food is authentic, and you can meet Ethel, who’s in a class by herself.  She’s had Ethel’s for 30 years.  If she likes you, she’ll give you a plate of sashimi or raw fish, free.

            I’ll give you a tip.  Be nice.

            There’s kim chee ‘ahi don which is slightly seared raw ‘ahi or yellow fin tuna with the Korean spicy pickled vegetable called kim chee, nori, which is Japanese dried seaweek, sprouts and Ethel’s secret sauce.

            Need I go on?

            Soda comes in a can.  The menu also includes standards like donburi, katsu, tofu, teriyaki, ox tail, saimin and of course spam.  Spam is Hawaii’s official canned food.  If you want to be local, you have got to try fried spam.

            And I’ll give you one last tip, go early.  But not too late.  Ethel’s closes at 2 p.m.  Monday-Saturday.  232 Kalihi Street, Honolulu 96819.  No reservations, I think? 847-6467.

Yotteko-Ya Kyoto Ramen

            This is not just your ordinary ramen.  It is Kyoto style ramen.  Actually, it is a very thick, tasty broth simmered for over 10 hours to get its full flavored effect.  The ten secret ingredients give it a uniquely thick collagen rich stock with is supposed to prevent aging of skin and joints.

            But if you don’t believe that, at least try accepting this.  Tastes more than good.  Tastes great!

                                      Mitsuyo peleiholani

           Yotteko-Ya is located on the second floor of the McCully Shopping Center on the corner of Kapiolani and McCully, just mountain side over the bridge of the Ala Wai Canal.

            It features one of three soup styles, shoyu based, Hawaiian salt based, and Kakuni Ramen, which is cooked even longer than 10 hours and which is made only once a day.   It sells for a premium $9.45 per bowl and only 20 bowls per day are sold.

            Yotteko-Ya is part of a chain in Japan.  The McCully store is the first and only franchise in Hawai‘i.  It’s owned by Kimihiko and Kayoko Sano.  Sano was a frequent visitor to Hawai‘i and sold auto parts in Osaka.  He looked for a way to move to Hawai‘i and found the Yotteko-Ya chain.

            “In Japan, many of the outlets get their soup from a central kitchen, but I have to make my own,” Sano says.  He was trained by the creator of the chain personally.

            Yotteko-Ya is a interesting place.  The theme is red with Cho Chin lanterns, sliding doors, and black enameled chairs.  All the ramen are garnished with an interesting black fungus.

            We give it five stars out of five on the Brudda scale.  If you think, they never give less than four stars, you’re right.  We don’t review those restaurants.  946-2900

Taiyo Noodle Shop

Customer Ron and owner Sun Lee

            This simple, clean 30 seat shop recently moved from a prime location on Kapiolani near Keeaumoku Street to the little strip mall at the edge of Ala Moana Center next to Blockbuster.  The address is 451 Piikoi St, Suite 105.

            Affectionados of I Love Country Cafe will find it next door.

            My friend loves this place.  He especially loves the young, cute waitress and the mini chicken curry, which is a bargain at $3.95 and plenty enough for someone watching their waist.

            He has plenty of company.  Lots of locals ferret out the shop’s new location.

            Owners Chae and Sun Lee have had the restaurant for about 12 years.  He was formerly a cook with the small chain of ramen shops called Ezogiku.

            Their most popular disk is chicken katsu curry rice.  And they serve a small dish of free kim chee at every table.

            The ramen they serve is Sapporo style.  They have all the standard tastes including miso, shoyu, shio and curry ramen.  Gyoza is $3.25, a good price for regular people.  Most noodle dishes are $6-7.

            Four stars out of five on the Brudda scale.  943-2123

Hawaii Grand Dame of Restaurants

Helena’s Hawaiian Food

            Really, some people like 5 star restaurants.  They like waiters hovering in black, fufu portions and break your heart entrees.  Ambience with a French accent.

            Me, I like hole in the walls.

            I like daily specials in marker pens and pictures of the owner with movie stars.  I like to see a little grit in the kitchen and a bottle of hot sauce on the table.  Mostly, I like good home style cooking, and usually, plenty of it.

            If you like that too, you must try Helena’s Hawaiian Food in Kalihi, Honolulu’s low rent district.  I mean “must.”

            Helena’s is not only a great hole in the wall restaurant, it has credentials to prove it.  It’s been written up more times than most restaurants see in years.  Of course, Helena’s has been around for a few years.  They started in 1946 just after the big war.

            It used to be a hole in the wall on King Street, one of the main drags through Honolulu.  Only locals went to it.  Locals, generally, are the only ones who like pounded boiled taro roots that look like gray paste and which generally have no taste.

            Locals are the only ones that like little bits of octopus in a boiled mess of spinach greens.

            Or you need to have a taste for nice sweet round onions dipped in ocean salt to really have a hankering for Helena’s.

            How about chopped up salted salmon in a salsa like combination of tomatoes and onions?

            Local writers generally praise Helena’s handling of these delicacies with great delight.  They like her creativity with jerkied beef short ribs, butterfish steaks, fake pig that is supposed to have been buried in dirt, and Hawaiian style tomato beef stew.

            If you don’t speak Hawaiian food, by these I mean poi, squid luau, Maui onions and salt, lomi salmon, pipikaula short ribs, butterfish, kalua pig and beef stew.

            All very good at Helena’s.

            And you can order ala carte or by special combo number.

            If you’re one of the few tourists to wander in because you saw it on the Zagat Survey, don’t be put off.  If you like authentic experiences, this is way better than a hotel luau.

            If you’re from out of town, but your parents or grandparents were from Hawaii, don’t worry, those taste buds for chicken long rice are in your genes.

            Of course, you could just trust the James Beard Foundation, one of the most prestigious food and cooking organizations in the world.  It annually gives awards known as the Oscars of the food world.

            In 2000, Helen Chock, founder of Helena’s was given the James Beard Regional Classics Restaurant Award. 

            The foundation says a Regional Classics winner should be "beloved in its region for quality food that reflects the history and character of its community."

            Only two other Hawaii restauranteurs can lay claim to a James Beard award of any kind, the world famous Roy Yamaguchi and the quietly reknown Alan Wong.

            At first, Chock refused to go.  All the way to New York.  Who would serve her customers?

            Helena's is one of a handful of family-owned restaurants in the state serving a menu of traditional Hawaiian foods. It is a simple place of formica tabletops and wooden stools, but a favorite of many local celebrities.

            In July, 2007, Helen Chock passed away.

            Her restaurant on School street continues with her daughter  Elaine Katsuyoshi and grandson Craig Katsuyoshi.