Apr 21 2006
Known Good
Lately, I’ve been feeling the need to reward myself for surviving the work week. As a result, weekends are for celebrating and dining out. Tonight, I decided to take Hubby to Shokudo Japanese since he has never been.
For starters…
Yukari Fries
Spinach Salad
I can be persnickety about quite a few things. Food is one of them. It’s one of the few things that I’ve grown to be somewhat snobbish about over the years, but I truly believe that eating bad food is simply a waste of time — and calories. Especially since I’m watching my weight (go up), every calorie counts. My thought is that food better be one of two things: really healthy or really tasty. Both would be good, but honestly, I rarely find that combination outside of home cooking. When dining out, I at least expect the latter.
Diced Beef Steak
In Hubby’s ever-present quest for protein, we ordered the Diced Beef Steak, medium-rare. It arrived slightly undercooked, I suspect since they expected the steak to cook while sitting on the hot plate — but since the hot plate was only warm, it ended up leaning more rare than medium. I popped a piece into my mouth and immediately discovered that I got a morsel of fat and muscle. One of my culinary peeves is muscular meat. (I like muscles on my man, but not in my steak.) Since childhood, I’ve had a secret phobia about choking to death on my food. As a result, I cut my food into bite-sized pieces. Muscles in meat have always been particularly problematic for me because of the difficulty in breaking it down in a reasonable amount of time before swallowing.
“Hmm… muscle,” Hubby said in between chews.
I furrowed my brow, gnawed a bit, and decided that choking to death in the middle of Shokudo would pretty much ruin the evening so, as discreetly as possible, spit it into my napkin.
Hubby was tasked with finishing the remainder of the dish, which was basically all of it, sans the half-chewed piece in my napkin. Luckily, Hubby isn’t as picky as I am and will eat darn near anything; except that half-chewed piece in my napkin, that is.
I make mental notes of dishes that work and those that don’t. I’m all about falling back to the “known good” and steering away from the “known not-so-good.” The Diced Beef Steak has made the not-so-good shortlist:
* Mochi Cheese Gratin at Shokudo - Pretty tasty, but the mochi turns rubbery when it cools and becomes a choking hazard. I told you I had a phobia.
* Maguro Oroshi Ponzu at Shokudo (not on current menu) - Too fishy. I commented on that on a past entry on my old site.
* Gyuu Tan (beef tongue) at Okonomi Kai Cuisine - Sliced too thick, as a result, not as tender as I would prefer it. (Imanas-Tei prepares it the way I like it. Tender and thinly sliced.)
* Diced Beef Steak at Shokudo - Too much muscle.
Smallfish and Seaweed Rice
Now, on to something that is definitely on the long list of “known goods”: Smallfish and Seaweed Rice (also, “Hijiki Ishiyaki”). A word of advice: Don’t rush to eat this as soon as it arrives at your table. After your server mixes it, let it cook in the stone bowl for a few minutes. The crispy rice is one of life’s simple pleasures.
Since I shared my shortlist, let me give you my long list of “known goods”:
* Bacon & Mochi Cheese Okonomiyaki at Okonomiyaki Chibo Restaurant
* Hamburger Steak with Wafu Sauce lunch special at Okonomiyaki Chibo Restaurant
* Seafood Dynamite at Imanas-Tei
* Smallfish and Seaweed Rice at Shokudo
* Renkon Cheese Yaki at Okonomi Kai Cuisine
* Bi Bim Bap at Yakiniku Million
* Kal-Bi and Fried Rice at Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room
* Waldo’s Choice Salad at Waldo’s Pizza in Mililani
* Eggplant Parmesan at Romano’s Macaroni Grill
* Artichoke, Spinach and Garlic Pizza at Auntie Pasto’s
* Gorgonzola Bread at Auntie Pasto’s (only available at the downtown location)
* Roast Pork Loco at Blane’s Drive-Inn in Hilo
* Garlic Balls at Bravo
Every story needs a happy ending: Dessert.
Green Tea Cheesecake
Cinnamon Honey Toast
Hungry yet? See more food photos on my Flickr “Ono Kine Grinds” photo set.
I’m still recovering from the kanak attack. Have a great weekend!
A 30-something Christian girl, blissfully wedded to her perfect match (the yang to her yin) of 14 years. Living life in Hawaii, less than 5 miles from her hometown, a slave to her mortgage payment, but seeking balance in her pursuit of family, faith, recreation, and rest.
Eating out at Shokudo was a well-deserved reward. I could go for rewards like that!…especially, the happy ending…green tea cheesecake and cinnamon honey toast…yum! yum!
hi donna,
well deserved reward is right! it must be in the air with stress at work … it seems many, including my ‘biological daughter’& me are soooo stressssed at work.
what a great entry with awesome photos. i like the fries, rice dishes and desserts. btw, i think the fries are ‘yukari’.
k-den … i always wait for your new entries! i know when there is none for awhile, there is a lot of streeessss in the air.
luv, da udda mama
Thanks, Susan and Lindy for your comments!
Oooopsie, yes, it’s yukari fries… I corrected it on my entry. Thanks, Lindy!
wow - all of the food looked so tasty, even if not all of it was up to par.
i also agree with you - life is too short to waste your time and energy and enjoyment on low quality food. Either healthy or tasty - or preferably both!!
i have learned over time (and due to kris’ wonderful cooking) that home cooked food is still the best way to marry healthy and tasty food together. but have to find the right recipe….
Did you order all the food you mentioned above in one setting? I’m thinking either they give small portions or you really wanted to taste the whole menu. How expensive is the restaurant?
Ladybug: Yes, home cooking can’t be beat. You have complete control over the process and I hear that restaurants will happily sacrifice health over taste and you will end up taking in a LOT more calories eating out than if you had stayed in for dinner.
John: Yes, we ordered all the food pictured in one sitting — but that’s shared between my husband and I. Being that it’s an “izakaya” style restaurant, the idea is to order many different dishes from the menu and share with everyone in your party. The more people you have, the better variety you can get. The restaurant is pretty decently priced. For all that stuff, including tip was about $68. (That includes the 1 tall bottle of Sapporo beer.)
re: the last comment… i think it’s kind of a catch-22 as far as the restaurant thing goes. to stay in business, you pretty much have to serve up what customers want - and often the stuff that tastes the best isn’t really the best for our health. many people eat out at restaurants to celebrate special occasions, so will indulge in rich foods they don’t eat everyday. many restaurants in hawaii do have some health-conscious items available on their menus and the recent trend celebrating island produce (waimanalo greens, hau’ula tomatoes, etc.)is a step in the right direction.
but yah, i do like having total & complete control over what i eat (& how it’s prepared - i make sure my knives, cutting boards & work surfaces are clean, produce washed, ingredients are fresh & stored properly, etc. which is more than i can say for the majority of my coworkers), so i often cook for myself. working in a commercial kitchen scared me from eating out for months!
one alternative to restaurants (for those that don’t have the time or inclination to cook) is hiring a personal chef or subscribing to a home-delivery meal service. places like kokua market & ‘umeke market and to some extent, diamond head market & grill, have healthy meals to go…