Dining in Hawaii -- Part II (Kohnotori and Kaka'ako Kitchen)

Our second night in Hawaii was a true success--this rec came courtesy of Yola, and we knew it was going to be good when our drive there took us out of the touristy district and we were the only white people in the restaurant! Kohnotori is the type of place where you order different small bites off of a sushi-style menu, and practically everything is grilled by one guy on the other side of the bar. I'm a sucker for tons of small dishes, and Kohnotori did not disappoint! We ordered: watercress salad with a sesame dressing; Japanese seaweed, in a vinegary sauce;

a chicken breast skewer with a shiso leaf, Chinese hot mustard and some other sauce--kind of like a savory plum; bacon-wrapped quail eggs (these were fun and creamy, although I think the bacon overpowered the eggs a bit); beef skewer with teriyaki;

grilled asparagus (which obviously went fast, since there's only one piece left in the picture :) ); grilled rice with miso (not bad, although I'm not sure I was a fan of chewy, crunchy rice); and fried garlic.

The garlic needed a bit more sauce, but in general, everything was cooked perfectly and super tasty! We left satiated, though certainly not stuffed, and only spent $13 each! Yay for local dining.

Our final evening in Waikiki was a Monday. We had really hoped to try the Green Door Cafe, which a Malaysian restaurant with no joke like 4 tables. Sadly, it was closed, as was Indigo across the street. So, we went with Kaka'ako Kitchen, which Jenn says is where all the chefs go to eat after work. I think maybe this was a case where I went in with too-high expectations. We were expecting a casual restaurant, but this was more like a higher-end fast food place. They had your standard wraps and salads, but I decided to go with one of the local favorites--shoyu chicken, with a side of brown rice and 'Nalo greens (pictured below). Although the dressing for the greens (which were just lettuce) was not bad, the rice was totally bland and the chicken had WAY too much sugar in it. Honestly, it tasted similar to the bourbon chicken they hand out at samples at mall Chinese restaurants. Ick.

All in all, I'd say we were 1.5:4 for HI successes. A bit disappointing, but probably a reason I managed to not gain 10 lbs during our trip! (portions x-posted to yelp.com)