Hey everyone. If you're new here, my name is Misty,
and I go to local restaurants on the island of Oahu to show you all what is available to eat
here on the island. So at the end of every year I have been going over the best places that I've
tried during that year. So for 2023, these are the restaurants I've tried this year that's stuck out
to me. Number 10 is Wagyukushi, and it's located outside the Kaheka Don Quijote food court.
They offer
beef sticks that are tasty and tender using wagyu beef. You can buy just the sticks or get a plate
lunch that comes with rice and a salad. The plate lunch is reasonably priced for wagyu beef and the
taste of the food was very enjoyable. Number nine is SW8 Dada Sisig and it's located in the parking
lot of the Waipahu Plantation Marketplace – otherwise known as the old Arakawa's. This little food truck
specializes in sisig plates and beef pares mami, which is a Filipino noodle soup.
The sisig is
fried fresh in their deep fryer, chopped into little pieces, and served over rice. The beef pares
mami was a delicious and flavorful beef soup with delicious noodles inside. The noodles were
chewy like saimin and the broth was a deep beef broth flavor with a slight hint of ginger. There
were generous portions of beef that topped the soup, as well as some green onions and vegetables. The food
was fabulous and the couple running the business were very friendly. They let me into the trailer to
film some of the food and you know, you can't beat it. Great food, great service. Can't go wrong. Coming in
at number eight is The Food Company and they were voted as AAA's Best Plate Lunch on Oahu in 2023 of
this year. So I had to check it out and it did not disappoint. Although it has been voted the number
one plate lunch in 2023, they've been in Kailua for a long time. They offer local plate lunches, homestyle
plate lunches such as turkey with gravy, various salads, and many homemade desserts. I've tried the
Hot-ya chicken, which is is a mochiko chicken with a Sriracha mayo type sauce, the lau lau plate, which
is available every Fridays, and the fried mahi mahi plate.
And every plate lunch I've tasted
was seasoned well and tasted amazing. From the tossed salad, the rice, to the mac salad. And everything
was enjoyable. The best thing is the parking isn't a hassle there and all the local plate lunches are
affordable at $12.95 a pop. Number seven is Monarch Poke. It started this year in the Pearl Kai Shopping
Center by the previous owner of Plantation Café, which used to be located in Kapolei. They specialize
in fresh delicious pokes, but also carried over some of their Plantation Cafe menu such as their
bagoong fried rice.
The fish in the poke was fresh and the sauce the poke was tossed in was seasoned
well. They also put creative touches to their poke and put quality ingredients like avocado inside.
The bagoong fried rice was presented beautifully and tasted amazing. And the pork it came with was tasty
with this like caramelized bark. The miso salmon I remember that plate was
also delicious with a beautiful side salad with his homemade dressing and garlic fried rice. I
really like the creativity, the presentation, and the taste that Monarch Poke had in all the dishes
that they presented. And you know you can't go wrong. I really loved Plantation Café as well.
So all the food that the chef does there is very, very impeccable. My number six pick is Max
and Lucy's, which is located in the heart of downtown Honolulu near the circuit court on Punchbowl
Street. They serve delicious breakfast starting at 6:00 a.m. and then they start serving lunch
at 10:00 a.m. They have specials of the day from Monday through Friday (sorry they're closed on
weekends) that include salmon katsu, steak plates, taco salads, to prime rib on Thursdays.
The
plate lunches are affordable, tasty, and there are many choices to choose from. You can get brown,
white or his fried rice and I believe mac salad that has tuna in it and or you can get a
fresh side salad if you don't like mac salad with your choice of dressing. And all these are
provided to you for no upcharge. My favorite is the steak plate and the steak is cooked to
your liking under a salamander broiler and it has a great simple seasoning on it. The salmon katsu
was also good and it was a massive portion of food. The desserts are amazing as well.
So definitely
go get some when you pick up a plate lunch from there. There is free parking on the side of the
building and I like the steak plate so much here I've been back three more times after filming the
first video. So what can you say? Far East Seafood comes in at number five. They were formerly Far
East Chinese food in Waipahu and it was rebranded as a seafood restaurant. They have a sushi
chef making fresh sashimi and sushi dishes, crab boil type dishes, but still has some other Chinese
dishes that Far East Chinese used to make. So whether you're craving Japanese food or Chinese
food, you can get your fix here.
I thought the lunch prices for both the sushi and the crab boil
were reasonably priced compared to other similar restaurants. The food was fresh and exceptionally
tasty and I especially like the crab boil. That dish was awesome especially for the lunch special. It
came with real fresh corn that was super sweet, a good amount of snow crab, shrimp, and potatoes
filled you up. And the restaurant is remodeled and clean and the service was nice and fast. At
number four it's Sweet Corner Café, which is a brand new cafe specializing in Macau inspired cuisine.
They're located in the industrial area of Halawa. The waitress Chelsea is warm and friendly and
she's the daughter of the owners and the cooks of the restaurant.
And although they're tucked away
in a industrial area, they are open early in the morning to the late evening hours up to 8:00
p.m. And they're serving delicious savory dishes, pastries, homemade desserts and drinks. The drinks
are creative from their pink lemonade, their lattes, to their butterfly pea tea lemonade. And the fried
rice they had was amazing in flavor and one of the rare fried rices you'll find with real bacon
in it.
And the ribs that we had were fall apart good, the chicken and waffles were sweet and savory
made with an Asian bubble type waffle instead of the traditional type waffle, and the croissant was
probably my favorite. With its chocolatey coating, cocoa powder, and the crisp crunchy outside and the
soft inside. And don't forget to try their Macau egg tarts. It's a cross between a Hong Kong style egg
tart and a Portuguese egg tart. They serve other dishes such as homemade noodles, gyoza and poke
as well. The dishes are creatively put together in my opinion and everything I tasted there was
seasoned well and tasted great. The environment was welcoming and the service was amazing. My number
three pick is Fujiyama Texas and I've been to Fujiyama Texas for their kushikatsu, but I never
tried their breakfast items. And Fujiyama Texas recently opened a breakfast menu and also a lunch
menu later this year and they serve traditional Japanese breakfast items. And although the dishes
seem simple, everything I tasted was superb.
The curry noodle dish was flavorful and the noodles
had a nice chew to it. The curry wasn't too strong. It was just perfect and just right. The
traditional breakfast of misoyaki butterfish was the star of the show. The flaky tender pieces of
fish were seasoned with a slightly sweet miso sauce and it just hits the spot with warm rice.
And it is also served with pieces of egg omelet and gobo, nori, and some pickled vegetables. And
don't forget to add the tonjiru, which is a pork and tofu soup.
This is what blew me away. Although
it's simple and unassuming looking, this pork and tofu soup came with a punch of flavor. Earthy miso
flavors, natural sweetness with what appeared to be stewed daikon in it, and the silky tofu pieces
in it and meaty slices of pork, this dish is one of the best tasting dishes I've eaten this
year. Paired with rice and this was the breakfast of champs for sure. Although there are differing
opinions about this place, Rigo Hawaii made my number two on my list for this year. After
filming this restaurant, I went back two more times because I enjoyed the food that much. It is
on the expensive side, but I'm willing to spend my money on a restaurant that presents quality food
and great service. This restaurant specializes in Spanish typee tapas dishes, as well as pastas and
pizzas, but with a Japanese twist. Most of the appetizers I tried were tasty and creatively put
together and had just the right amount of, you know, portion size to finish and you're still able to
try another dish without getting full.
If you're on a budget, try coming here for pau hana for just pupus
and drinks to just sample some of the food without committing to a full entrée. My favorite drink
here was the sangria. I also like their pastas and off camera I tried their pizza, which was also
amazing. The crust is thin and was cooked in a wood fire oven. The star of the restaurant here was
the paella though. It's a Spanish rice dish topped with lots of seafood. And the bottom of the rice
crusted in the pan and that was the best part. If you love seafood you'll love Rigo Hawaii. And my
number one restaurant that I tried, in my opinion, of all the ones I tried while filming for the
year of 2023 was even a surprise to me. I had no expectations coming to this restaurant. I just went
there because it, you know, opened up and everybody was talking about it. And it is…I hope I'm saying
it right again – Yi Xin Café and that's located in the Market City Shopping Center next to the
Walgreens and between the Foodland.
The owners also own Sing Ma Tei in the Ala Moana Makai food court.
Yi Xin Café specializes in Hong Kong style food and also Singaporean dishes and Malaysian
dishes. The reason I picked this restaurant to be number one on my list is that I thought every dish
we ordered had dynamic flavors that were pleasant to the mouth. And I think they would please most
any palette or local palette anyway. The flavors exploded in your mouth, but not in an unfamiliar
way. It's the way you'd want a fried rice to taste and your other entrees to taste. Yet it's kind of
new and has a little touch to it that makes it exciting.
I thought the Hong Kong milk tea with the bear
was a very cute presentation and it was not only cute it was very flavorful. The tea was milky
with a pleasant sweetness and I actually wished I had free refills. I mean I liked it that much, but
unfortunately you can only get one cup with your price. The chicken wings with the shrimp paste
were crunchy and flavorful. You didn't taste any shrimp or you know stinky fish type taste.
It just elevates the flavors of the seasoning just like fish sauce does.
So if you're not into
seafood you wouldn't even know that there was seafood or shrimp paste in that dish. It was an
amazing, amazing type of chicken wing. The Thai style pork cheek had amazing flavors of lemongrass
and all the flavors you'd expect from a Thai dish. However you know, even though it had the
bold flavors of Thai flavors, the pork cheek was tender and it just fell part in your mouth. And I
liked the sides of the chili so you could add that if you wanted. So it had a like a small kick of
spice that it gave, but at the same time if you're not into spice you don't need to add it. And the
sizzling beef had a delicious sauce paired with it and you know, comes on a big sizzling platter.
Very enjoyable to watch it come to your table. And the beef was sliced in a way that was so thin that
it made it easy to eat and it was very tender.
And everything just went well with rice. So you should
have rice with your dish – your entree. We got fried rice in instead of plain rice and
it was the most flavorful fried rice I've had in a while. It had the wok hei flavors, you know, from that very
high heat point and just really delicious. I'm sure they put fish sauce in it too or something
different than a regular typical Chinese style fried rice because it was very, very flavorful. And the
side of green beans, even though it looked boring, it's simple looking but it also tasted fabulous
as well. Like every dish we had was just so flavor packed and I just was impressed with everything
we ordered with no expectations going in.
The whole meal was amazing. I enjoyed every dish that came
to our table. The service was quick and friendly and the prices weren't so bad. You can walk
in there with shorts it's not somewhere fancy where it's uppity and you feel uncomfortable. You
can just go there just dressed in jeans, shorts, slippers, whatever and you're treated well. And it's
all good.
They now serve crab dishes after a couple of months of being open that we were not
able to get because they weren't serving it when we went. But go check it out if you like crab.
You know I looked at the pictures and some video of the new crab dishes that are Singaporean crab
and Malaysian style crab. So definitely check it out if you enjoy seafood and if you haven't been
there you know it's just really delicious food. I would highly recommend going there and any of
the ones that I mentioned on this list and all the other ones I've videoed as well.
You
know, just support your local businesses and restaurants out there. They all make really good
food and they work really hard to provide us with good meals. So I hope you enjoyed my list.
That is just my opinion and of course it's not the list of every restaurant on Oahu. It's just the
ones I filmed for this year of 2023. The list keeps growing longer my stomach's only so big. So I hope
I can reach more of them in this coming new year of 2024. For all the ones who have subscribed or
watched and commented on my videos from the very beginning, thank you so much. I really appreciate
all of you – each and every one of you, for supporting this channel. It has grown so big to
more than I ever expected.
You know, when I started, I think I put it in my question and answer a long
time ago, I didn't even think I would hit 100 you know subscribers. But we're almost at 10,000.
That is just amazing. So I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year with many blessings and
good fortune to all of you. And you know I hope you stick around and see some of the adventures
I have planned for 2024 – not just on Oahu, but off of Oahu. And always keep an open mind. That's
always my motto for those who watch.
And not just stick to local food. There's so many different
cultures moving here to Oahu and they show you all your…you know all kinds of stuff and their
culture. So definitely just be open-minded. Try it. You might actually find something that you might
fall in love with. And you know spread the word so other people can taste their food. So with that
I'll leave you with that until next year.
I'll see you next year for another food adventure.
I'll see you then. So enjoy your New Year's and New Year's Eve. If you like this press the like
button, subscribe if you're new, and if you're not new and I know it's a lot of you know I can
see analytics, a lot of people continue watching but they don't press the subscribe button. So
subscribe if you haven't. Maybe you forgot or you don't do those, but that'll help me out a lot.
And
I'll see you again next year. Peace out take care. 🤙🌺🌈✌.
Sell your Home for a $5000 flat Fee Full service Soldier to Soldier
