Bruno's Forno

This is an Italian Restaurant in China Town on Maunakea Street. Meter parking is where you would park around here. There is not much seating within this small place. The price for most meals is about $8. They serve both lunch and dinner. All of there pastas are served in a mini personal pan. The salad that comes with every dish is served in a bag!! What can be more different.

I usually get the fungi pasta whenever I go here. It is a mushroom, herbs, and cheese baked pasta. A nice vegetarian choice! It is very yummy!!! Not overly creamy or saucy like most pastas. You get a nice mushroom taste (which is what I like about this pasta). Every pasta comes with salad and bread as well.

Hope you guys will try this small family run restaurant and enjoy it as much as me!!!!

Ahi & Vegtable

This is a little store in the middle of Fort St. Mall in downtown Honolulu. They serve a whole bunch of different poke bowls and a few bento combos. For the bowls you get a choice of white rice, brown rice, or sushi rice. The fish they use is also fresh!!!! Prices are all around $9-12. There are about 9 table inside. Most orders come with soup or salad as well. This is one of those places that you need to find street parking for. There is no service; just order at the counter for there or to go. The food comes out very fast.

I ussually get the spicy ahi and ikura combo. It comes with miso and salad. I like how fresh and fast it is. The tuna is not that spicy but it might just be me. I do eat a lot of spicy food. I also ussually get mine togo because I like to enjoy it in the comfort of my own home. But, if you do not live that close I recommend eating it there since it is raw fish after all.

Hope you try this place out!!! One of my favorite go to places because I don't get dissapointed and I am always full after.

Cafe Sistina

This is a more modern Italian restaurant. Located on King street on the left side, a little past tsunamis. It has a lot of tables. Prices are about $17. The have mostly wine. The food is on the creamy side as well. They carry an assortment of appetizers, a few different salads, and a lot of different pastas.

When I went here with my boyfriend we got a few different things. They automatically give you bread with garlic butter after you order your meal. Did not try any salads. We got the escargot. It was not traditional in anyway. Which is why I was disappointed. It was served in a extremely rich red sauce over polenta. It was also over cooked. Do not recommend getting this. I got the Pollo Limone as my meal. It was mushrooms, chicken, and capers served over Linguine in a white wine sauce. It was very delicious and not too heavy. My boyfriend got the Pollo Checca. Which is chicken, tomato, and basil over Penne in a garlic sauce. It was good, on the creamy side. The portions were big. We did not get dessert but got some wine. I enjoyed the red wine that we choose.

This place is good. The portions are big, prices are decent, and the wine is delicious. But, if you go here I do not recommend getting the escargot. 

Pint & Jigger

This is a Irish bar on King street. It is a little hidden but just a little before McCully. They specialize in whiskey mostly but have a decent selection on the food menu as well. The inside is made up of 3 large "share" tables, a counter top, bar, and a few regular tables. Prices for food ranges from $5-15 depending of if you want a meal or just pupus. Drinks are about $10 for cocktails, $5-10 for beers (bottled and draft), $8/9 for wine, and $7-10 for whiskey. None of the usual things that bars have (such as darts) but they have a shuffleboard table in the back. If you have any questions they will be happy to help. The staff there is very nice and friendly. But, there is a very small parking lot (lots of street parking if needed) and you need to show id before going in. 

I went for a late night dinner after work. I got the burger, that comes with fries and you can upgrade it if you want to. It was good. I also decided to go with a cocktail this time. I got the smoking gun. It smelled smokey and tasted smokey/sweet. If it is too strong for you, just wait a bit until the ice melts a bit. 

I have had most of the menu by now. FYI the food menu is changes but they usually keep the popular item on. Tried different things every time I went so this is what I thought of the food. The buffalo sandwich before. Not that good, way too much blue cheese. The scotch eggs (my favorite) are delicious. I like to put a little hot sauce on them. They are half bolded eggs, wrapped in pork, breaded and fried. Whiskey flambéed mushrooms are very good. Serving size is about 3 pieces of bread with cream cheese and mushrooms on top. The spicy beef meatball sliders

 are good. P&J fries have bbq taste to them. Chocolate stout cake is a nice twist on the usual chocolate cake if you never had a stout cake before. It also has bacon inside!!

If you enjoy whiskey and want to try some food from elsewhere you should try. Heard they have industry nights but not sure when. 

Yogur Story

This is a american fusion restaurant. They have two floors, so the restaurant has a decent about of seats. They serve brunch and dinner. They have a nice atmosphere and staff is nice. They just renovated not too long ago so the menu is a bit different from before. Prices are about $10-15. I have personally only tried the brunch and not the dinner yet. They are most well known for their waffles (in the back of the menu). The waffles are like a dessert and are rich in flavor so I recommend sharing if you are planning to get one.

I went for brunch today and shared a Eggs Benedict and Hurricane bowl with my boyfriend. They have a few different types of Eggs Benedict, we got the classic. It is served over potatoes. The Hurricane bowl is pretty much a huge Bip in Bop. Everything was delicious and we left so full. These are actually my go to items when ever I go here.

If you do try this place out, I recommend that you get one of the waffles!!!! The red velvet one is my favorite out of all the flavors.

Santouka

This is a Hokkaido ramen shop outside of Don Quijote. They have about 7 tables and counter seating. They do not allow take out or outside food in. But, when eating ramen it is best as soon as it comes out, so take out would just be a waste. Price is about $10-15 depending on if you just want the ramen or want to get a combo. They serve shio, shoyu, miso, and spicy miso. They also have a couple desserts if you want to try and the food is quick. Every thing is also made to order so you know that your food is not sitting there. As soon as the food is on the counter to be taken out someone is running it. If it is busy, you just sign your name on a wait list, just like anywhere else.

Today I got the spicy miso. My favorite there since not many places can make a good miso ramen!!!! I always can't wait to go back as soon as I leave. The ramen comes with chashu, green onions, seaweed, and bamboo shoots. The noodles are always cooked just right as well. I always get either the medium or large. There are three sizes (small, medium, or large). The gyoza here is good as well. What is the most popular is the pork check combo. I have never been disappointed coming here.  Hope you enjoy the ramen if you go as well.

The only bad thing that I have to say is that the servers are not the best at times. They do not always pay attention to things.

Cafe Taj Mahal

This is a small Indian restaurant. It has about 9 tables in total. It is a hidden gem!! Located across from City Mill, on Waialae Avenue. If you have a hard time finding them, they are next to Sabrinas, and behind Fat Greek. They serve an assortment of Indian food. If you go during lunch the food is mostly Naan bread, different types of rice, and the dishes are all different curries/stews.  Although I may say curry/stews, the dishes are not technically curry. They just seem like curry/stew to us. During dinner they have all the same dishes as lunch, as well as a few other dishes such as tikkas and kabobs. They not only cater to people who like meat but have an assortment of vegetarian dishes as well. There are combo dinners and lunches for groups but I must say that it is a lot of food if you get the combo. But, the best thing about this place is that everything is made in house!!!! That must be why this is one of the best Indian places that I have tried.

Today I went for lunch with my friend. We got a couple of Naan, Chicken Korma (the chef's specialty and one of my favorites), rice pilaf, and Lamb curry Masala.  Everything came out fresh and hot, that is why it takes a while!!! Everything was delicious. The Chicken Korma is basically chunks of chicken in this stew like liquid.  It is very flavorful. The Lamb curry Masala is chunks of lamb in a curry base. It has potatoes and sometimes carrots as well. This dish has a bit of spices which make up the flavor profile. What you do is put your serving on your plate. If you get rice you can put the dishes on the rice itself or on the side. The dishes are soupy which is why is goes so great with Naan. Just dip the Naan into the sauces and you get the main flavors that they are going for.

Hope that if you try this place you enjoy as much as I do or get a bit more insight on Indian cuisine!!