Entries Tagged as 'katsu'

Curry House

June 21st, 2009 · No Comments

curry_house

For lunch we went to one of our favorite quick spots, CoCo Ichibanya Curry House. They have several locations on Oahu. Last time we were in Hawaii we took Dallas’s grandma out for curry there. This time we hit up another location, but it was as good as last.

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The Curry House menu is huge. You get to choose how much rice you want, how spicy you want your curry, what kind of meat (chicken, beef, pork, etc) and what toppings or sides you want.

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I decided to have chicken katsu with cheese.

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Dallas had pork katsu with kimchi.

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I think Dallas was psyched because almost every store and restaurant in Hawaii stocks his favorite Japanese green tea.

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Last Day in Hawaii

March 31st, 2007 · No Comments

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Spa Olakino, Waikiki, Honolulu

The last day of our trip I got a massage at the spa in our hotel, Spa Olakino. It was a nice spa and everything, but I enjoyed my first massage at Luxe Salon much more. At Spa Olakino, my massage therapist was just doing it too hard and I had to keep telling her lighter and then I felt like a wuss, but the rest of the time I just kept thinking “ow! ow! ow! ow!” and couldn’t relax that much.

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Leonard’s Bakery

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Leonard’s Bakery Malasadas

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Leonard’s Bakery Malasada

Our main focus for the rest of the day was spending time with Dallas’ grandma and family before leaving. We checked out of the hotel, stopped to get malasadas at Leonard’s (the best!), and then drove up to Dallas’ aunt & uncle’s house. Dallas’ grandma said she hadn’t had malasadas for a very long time, so I was glad we stopped for them, although we couldn’t resist digging into them in the car when they were super-hot and fresh. We hung out at the house for a while, then went out for lunch at CoCo Ishibanya Curry House. Dallas cousin, Kala, needed to be dropped off for her basketball game, so Dallas took the opportunity to drive through his old school, Kamehameha, to show me what the campus looks like before going to lunch.

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CoCo Ishibanya Curry House, University Ave, Honolulu

CoCo Ishibanya Curry House is a national chain in Japan and has 5 locations on Oahu. It was strange, because their menu was in English, but there were certain things still only in Japanese. And there were posters on the wall that were all in Japanese too. Because Dallas’ grandma is Japanese, we asked her what they said, but the only word she could make out for sure was “curry.” Great help grandma! She’s so cute.

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Chicken Cutlet Curry With Cheese, CoCo Ishibanya Curry House, University Ave, Honolulu

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Grandma & Dallas, CoCo Ishibanya Curry House, University Ave, Honolulu

Ordering is pretty easy. I remember there were a lot of photos on the menu so you could see what you were getting. Basically, all they have is curry. An you can choose whether you want it hot or mild. Then you pick what sort of curry you want – pork cutlet, seafood, ahi cutlet, chicken cutlet, beef, etc. (photo of the menu here). Finally, choose if you want any add-ins. Gyoza, kimchi, and other meats and vegetables were some of the add-ins available.

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Quincy, Jessica, Grandma, Dallas :: Alewa Heights, Honolulu

After lunch we went back to the house and hung out for a while with Dallas’ cousin Quincy and his girlfriend, his grandma, and his aunt’s father who lives there too. And his cousin Jessica dropped by, so we had to take a photo together with their grandma. When we left, we stopped to do a bit of shopping at Ala Moana and then headed off to the airport.

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Mitsuwa

March 20th, 2006 · 13 Comments

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Tuna Sashimi :: Mitsuwa, Arlington Heights, IL

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Octopus Sashimi :: Mitsuwa, Arlington Heights, IL

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Daikon :: Mitsuwa, Arlington Heights, IL

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Cute Packaging :: Mitsuwa, Arlington Heights, IL

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Open Up :: Mitsuwa, Arlington Heights, IL

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Crunky :: Mitsuwa, Arlington Heights, IL

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The Motherload, East Ukrainian Village, Chicago

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Katsu Pork, Roscoe Village, Chicago

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Sukiyaki, Roscoe Village, Chicago

Yesterday I tagged along with Danny and Lori to go to the Japanese store that I kept hearing Dallas’ family talk about, Mitsuwa. It’s in Arlington Heights, which makes it impossible for us to get to, but Danny & Lori have a car so, problem solved.

Mitsuwa is a huge Japanese supermarket. Then there are a few seperate shops around the outside, but under the same roof: A bakery, a liquor store, a place that sells pottery, and a big food court. The produce, meat and seafood all looked great. I was wondering where people were buying their daikon! The snacks and confections are the section of any Asian supermarket that I love, though. The packaging is always so irresistable and cute. .. and in New York I used to always buy strange candies and then take them home and try them to see if they were any good. I used to always send it to my niece, too.

Dallas wanted me to pick up some norimaki for him. . the kind with the nori (seaweed) on the outside. I don’t really like it and it makes your breath smell like ass, but Mitsuwa had about 20 different kinds to choose from. I prefer my rice crackers not to have a lot of nori. Yum. I was also looking for some ume (asian plum) candy for him. I got all confused trying to figure it out and picked the wrong candy. Hey, don’t send a white girl from Wisconsin to the Japanese supermarket to do your grocery shopping unless you’re looking for some new things to experiment with! I did a pretty good job, though. I was also looking for some lychee. I remember buying it on the street in New York, but I didn’t find any in the produce department at Mitsuwa. Oh well. Re: the chocolate candybar called “Crunky”: Either Lil John has a new product he’s endorsing or they meant to say “Crunchy.” One last thing, we were surpised that Mitsuwa had Kaua’i Kookies since the only place we’ve ever seen them is on kaua’i. There were only 2 flavors there, but still …

Later that night we all went to Danny & Lori’s where the boys cooked katsu pork and sukiyaki for us. Then along with that we had maki, inari, bao, and sashimi that I bought earlier. So good.. so much food! It was the first time I had sukiyaki but if Danny ever says he’s making it again, I’m stopping whatever I’m doing and hailing a cab to their place. So delicious.

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