Food Selection

The Cat went into the office to finish some paperwork which left The Mouse to wander around. I haven’t here for a while. The upstairs area used to be a mix of food vendors, tables, and groceries and merchandise. They’ve taken out the groceries and merchandise and replaced it with more food vendors and tables.

New Food Court Area

More Tables

Sign

I tried to get pictures of the vendors and food selections but they kept telling me no pictures. Sigh.

Since I was there, I had to try something (it’s a universal law). There were so many vendors and so many choices, I was more than a bit overwhelmed.

A Little Something Something

Clockwise from top left: fried rice, simmered burdock root salad, nishime (more burdock root, shiitake mushrooms, turnip, carrot), and teriyaki eggplant.

The rice used for the fried rice was short grained so a bit on the sticky side. More “Japanese” tasting than “Chinese” tasting (there were slices of Chinese sausage though). The burdock root is both selections were soft (a good thing).

Overall, not bad. Just be careful, everything is priced ala carte. A meal could become very pricey.

Enjoy.

The Mouse

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Getting Schooled

Yesterday, I attended a Bytemarks lunch at Kapiolani Community College cafeteria.

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School was out so I thought the selection was a bit limited (the short order station was closed). I got the plate lunch (two selections, rice, and vegetables).

Brown Rice, Stir Fried Vegetables, Pork with Eggplant, and Peas and Carrots

Overall, the lunch was okay (kept my socks on). I don’t know if it was because school was out, or what but the school is supposed to have an outstanding culinary program. Maybe it was an off day. Still cheap eats is cheap eats ($6.75 for the whole plate). Or maybe I had high expectations.

I was curious attending this meeting because one of the topics was to see if there was any interest in organizing a seminar/conference for WordPress users (big YES!). I’m excited.

Something I thought was utterly hilarious, everyone (but me) were exchanging contact information on their smartphones (and probably posting simultaneously on whatever social network they are on). Me, I had my Moleskine notebook and Parker pen out (Sigh). Afterwards, I thought, “to represent  what was, someone has”. And so it is. 🙂

Enjoy.

The Mouse

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Curry Still On The Brain

Still got curry on the brain. I was at our nearby mall the other day, stopped in here for lunch.

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The other side of the door has the ramen sign (see here for a complete picture).

Fried eggplant curry caught my eye.

Fried Eggplant Curry

First the good news. The eggplant was almost perfectly cooked (deep-fried, they were a tiny bit oily), there were about six large pieces of eggplant. Now the not so good news. The “curry” was more like gravy. I like bits (small or large, doesn’t matter) of vegetables and sometimes meat in my Japanese curry, this one had none. The flavor was a little bland for me. Good thing the chili oil paste and pickled ginger (turnips?) were part of the condiments on the table.

Chili Oil Paste

Pickled Red Stuff

I think I used about a fourth of the chili oil paste and a third (or more) of the pickled stuff. I guess it was more about the eggplant than the curry.

Still, for the price, an okay lunch.

Enjoy.

The Mouse

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Of Ramen and Curry

We ended up here for dinner over the weekend.

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I’ve written about this place before. It was The Cat’s first time. The last time I was here, it was decent (socks stayed on).

The Cat wanted something light.

Chicken Vegetable Ramen

Croquette Curry Ramen Combo

I think I had something similar the last time.

Gyoza

With any meal purchase, you can order four pieces of gyoza for a dollar. A no brainer.

Hot Oil Paste

I’m not sure I posted about their hot oil paste before but this is the bomb. I’m not that experienced with all of the ramen shops in town but I really like this hot paste. Almost snuck the container out (heh heh).

May not be the greatest, but very decent, the price is also decent and fair (read cheap eats).

Looking back, the theme of the weekend was cheap eats.

Enjoy.

The Mouse

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The Cat’s Find

Usually, The Mouse scouts for new and interesting places to eat. This time around, in an unusual twist, The Cat discovered this place.

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She hasn’t been this excited about an eating place for awhile.

Last week, The Cat had a business lunch and had to find a place that was also cheap eats. Because the reviews were mixed, she didn’t want the venue to be a disaster. The day before the meeting, she  had lunch there as a test. The place met her expectations, both in acceptable food and price. For lunch, the price includes a salad bar (one trip), soup bar, and dessert bar (mini). Prices run between nine and twelve dollars.

So the next day, she had lunch there again (for the meeting). The people she met with were also pleasantly surprised.

She wanted to share the experience with me so we went for lunch over the weekend (in less than a week, The Cat frequented this one place three times).

The place used to be the location for this chain. When the chain moved out, they left the large station wagon over the bar. It looks like when the new owners took over, they did not redecorate too much, if at all.

Interior

On to the food.

Salad Bar

The Mouse's Plate of Salad

When you’re limited to one pass, you have to get creative with the food placement. It’s less about aesthetics and more about stacking balance. 😉

The Cat's Plate of Salad

The Cat is usually not this stacked, you gotta do what you gotta do. 🙂

There are about five soup selections. One the day we were there, the selections were miso with clams, tomato bisque, cream of mushroom, beef vegetable, and odenwith fishcake.

Oden with Fishcake

Tomato Bisque

Beef Vegetable

Miso with Clams

The Cat said you have to go early for the miso with clams. After the clams run out, the restaurant refills the warmer with only miso soup.

She also tried the cream of mushroom soup, too thick.

Pasta with Shrimp in Creamy Tomato Sauce

This was The Cat’s order. Along with shrimp, there were also scallops. The Cat said the shrimp and scallops were fresh. Taste-wise, nothing to write home about, but decent.

Curry with Chicken Katsu

My order. Again, nothing to write home about, but decent quantity and decent price. We’re not saying that the food was so bad, just not exciting.

For The Cat, shrimp, scallops, and clams (all fresh), equals happy cat. 🙂  =^..^= (happy cat)

The dessert selection is limited, but adequate (just a little something something).

Dessert Selection

The Cat's Desserts

If we consider price, service, quantity, quality, and value, I would say overall a decent experience. The Cat recommends to try.

Enjoy.

The Mouse

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