Aloha Cafe

February 10, 2010 / nomsnotbombs / 2 Comments

It was a happy, happy day when I discovered Aloha Cafe. Located in the Honda Plaza in Little Tokyo, Aloha Cafe has a great selection of local (i.e. Hawaiian) breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In terms of well-priced Hawaiian food in LA, it doesn’t get much better than this place (L&L isn’t that good in Hawaii, and it certainly won’t be any better in California!). Some dishes taste more authentic than others, but I’ve yet to be disappointed with anything I’ve ordered, and service is always wonderful. It’s a great place to visit when I need a little taste of home.

On this trip, J ordered the kalua pig weekend special. “Kalua” refers to food cooked in a traditional underground oven, which steams and slow cooks the meat and makes it very tender. Kalua pig can be very salty sometimes, but Aloha Cafe’s had the perrrrfect amount of salt. I sampled some and was in heaven!

The kalua pig plate comes with chicken long rice, and J was a big fan. I, on the other hand, have traumatic memories of being forced to eat chicken long rice in elementary school and have avoided the stuff ever since.

J, a sushi and sashimi lover, was thrilled to discover poke on his first trip to Hawaii–which instantly made my Japanese surfer/fisherman/kayaker Dad love my little haole (a.k.a. white dude). J ordered a side of Aloha Cafe’s ahi poke (one of the specials of the day) and really enjoyed it.

For my lunch, I ordered the kal-bi plate. Aloha Cafe’s kal-bi is an example of one of their dishes that differs a bit from standard plate lunch fare. Aloha Cafe marinates its shortribs in something other than just the standard shoyu and sugar combo. Their kal-bi is a little heartier and a little sweeter, and the meat’s a little more tender.

I also ordered a side of kimchi. This was crunchy and had great flavor and was not too spicy–just right for a wimp like me!

When it comes to Aloha Cafe, try anything and everything. Even if it’s not what you’re used to, it’ll still be tasty, just different. If you know nothing about Hawaiian food, you’re sure to love everything. Oh and be sure to pair your meal with a can of guava juice. Yum!

Follow Aloha Cafe on Twitter (www.twitter.com/alohacafe) for updates on their daily specials and *squeal* freebies.

Aloha Cafewww.alohacafelosangeles.com
410 E. 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 346-9930

Little Tokyo Market Place and Mikawaya

February 4, 2010April 29, 2014 / nomsnotbombs / 1 Comment

Sunday is grocery shopping day, and grocery shopping means Little Tokyo Market Place. I stumbled onto this place only a few months ago and now feel like an idiot remembering all the time I spent pining for Hawaiian Sun juice, ramen that is not Top Ramen and bentos to-go when, all along, Little Tokyo Market Place was just minutes away.

Little Tokyo Market Place carries a mix of Asian groceries and American products you’d find at Ralph’s and, although it won’t meet ALL of your shopping needs, you can bet it’ll meet a lot of them…and a few fun things you didn’t even know you needed. PLUS, there are almost always samples of things like gyoza, ramen, drinks and kimchi–especially on Sundays.

Little Tokyo Market Place has a produce section with your normal fruit and veggie fare plus some yummy Asian produce (like Korean pears) and an organic section.

Look at this crazy ramen aisle! One of my favorite sections of the store.

Check out the mini Hawaii-food section!

There’s also a pre-made bento and sushi section. I’ve bought many a tasty lunch here. My favorite is the katsu bento.

There’s also a section with assorted Japanese and Korean sidedishes such as sunomono and kimchi.

And there’s a food court! I’ve sampled their manapua, teriyaki chicken and ramen and was pleasantly surprised by all of it.

Right next to the food court is a bakery that serves up fresh pastries and cakes.

Little Tokyo Market Place also has a second floor, which has everything from Japanese bowls to an entire Hello Kitty store.

On this day, I was seriously jonesing for some mochi ice cream. Luckily, Mikawaya is right next door to Little Tokyo Market Place.

I love how cute their mochi is.

Look at all of these flavors! They have way more choices than the boxed version you can find at Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores.

I ordered mint chocolate chip, mango and raspberry cream. They got the job done, but they don’t come anywhere close to Bubbie’s in Hawaii. One had soft, mushy ice cream, one’s outer layer of mochi was strangely tough and chewy, and I’m 99% sure that the other was the boxed kind. I was a happy camper to have quelled my craving, but I’m definitely not going out of my way to come here for mochi ice cream.

Be sure to have cash on you if you head here. It’s all they accept.

Little Tokyo Market Place

www.littletokyomarketplace.com

333 S. Alameda St.

Los Angeles, CA 90013

(213) 617-0030

Mikawaya

www.mikawayausa.com

118 Japanese Village Mall

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 624-1681

Sushi Gen

January 23, 2010April 29, 2014 / nomsnotbombs / 1 Comment

Hailing from Hawai’i, I know and like (ok, love) good Japanese food. And I’m not talking about overpriced Japanese food from restaurants with TMZ permanently camped outside. I’m talking about solid places that remind me of home, and Sushi Gen is one of those places. After a long day at work, I needed a little dose of home.

Sushi Gen, located in the Honda Plaza in Little Tokyo, has a bad rap for having somewhat pricey dinners, but this fails to take into account the A) how fresh their seafood is and B) the sheer amount of food they give you if you order a dinner combination. If you visit Sushi Gen be forewarned that there will be a little bit of a wait, but take this as a good sign.

J ordered the Sushi Deluxe Combination, which came with a salmon skin salad, mazurka (a combination of sweet potato and seaweed) and a pretty big sampling of sushi.

I didn’t give this a try, but it looked good enough for someone at the next table to ask what it was!

The mazurka. I had never tried this before, and it was an interesting combination of textures and sweet and salty flavors.

For those of you who know me, I clearly ate none of this, but it looked beautiful–particularly the orange of the eggs.

I ordered the chicken teriyaki dinner combination, which includes miso soup, sunomono, pickled vegetables and tempura.

At a lesser restaurant, these dishes can be throwaways, but, here, they’re truly part of the meal. The miso’s flavor was almost perfect, and the rice noodles were a nice addition to the seaweed and the crunchy cucumber.

And then there’s tempura. Shrimp, zucchini, pumpkin and potato. There are few things sadder than soggy tempura, and this was satisfyingly crunchy.