Last night, we went to Hanagasa Inn. We’ve been frequenting this place for a while. For a time, we were going back at least twice a month. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we stopped going for several months. Last night I was in the mood for Okinawan food.
http://www.google.com/places/us/hi/honolulu/river-st/1343/-new-hanagasa-inn-corporation?hl=en.
It looks like the sign was re-done over the previous restaurant’s name.
The kitchen mama there cooks fantastic Okinawan, Japanese, and local food. We usually order the goya (Okinawan: bitter melon) with pork and the moyashi (Okinawan: bean sprouts) with … (dramatic pause) SPAM! The kitchen mama also makes killer shoyu pork, nasubi (Okinawan: eggplant), and poke.
Prices have gone up a bit since we first started coming here. It used to be very cheap eats. The two of us could eat for less than twenty dollars. Now instead of very cheap eats, it’s just cheap eats.
On this night, we ordered goya with pork
and beef tomato.
We were very happy with both dishes. We would rate the kitchen mama’s cooking up there with any well-known chef. There’s always so much food that we end up taking home (its gotten to the point where we bring our own containers). The Cat wanted to make sure we got every last bit of gravy from the beef tomato (she even put the gravy on her rice, a rare occurrence). The Cat is not usually a beef eater but she enjoyed the beef tomato, especially all the vegetables. The kitchen mama told us sometimes when she goes out to eat at other places, there isn’t enough vegetables, so she makes sure there’s enough vegetables when she cooks. Yay!
I also like the tsukemono (Japanese pickles) here. It’s nothing fancy but there’s a almost perfect balance of the crunchy vegetables and the salty/sour pickling.
A light dusting of shichimi togarashi (Japanese: “seven flavor chili pepper”), and perfection.
After scolding us for not coming for so long, the kitchen mama told us to come back more often. We promised we would.
Because it’s primarily a bar, the sound level can get a little loud. We usually try to go early, before it gets too crowded.
The restaurant is not in the best of locations, so we always park in the parking lot in the back.
It was good to reconnect.
Enjoy.
The Mouse
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