I kinda left Da WWD! Hui hanging many blogs ago wen I posted about a food review showdown on How Do You Grind?.

There were three establishments that Da Wife and I went to wea each had it's positives and negatives. They were (according to da pics on da "How Do You Grind?" blog) Moe's Southwest Grill, The Alley and Daiichi Ramen & Curry. I'll let you guess which came in second but da hands down winnah is.......

Now a word from our sponsors.






Wait..... I no mo' any sponsors and I pay for my own Shakanack reviews.

Wassup Wit Dat!






And da winnah is...................... Daiichi Ramen & Curry!







Dis was our first time evah at Daiichi. We dined in at da Aiea location and latah found out they had opened a second location in Pearl City (same complex as Starbucks, L&L and Pandas). Not sure if they still are offereing a 10% discount for take-out as a grand opening special but it doesn't hurt to ask. They also normally have coupons in the Val-Pak that comes in da mail.





Believe it or not, dis pic is missing anoddah main dish. I ordered a 2-set combo which came wit a "mini" udon (soba, saimin or udon in choice of broth) and two side dishes. Da Wife ordered a 1-set combo. Her udon couldn't fit in da pic.





Dis was my udon with tantan broth. Da broth is very hearty and "gritty". I cannot say for certain if the noodles are made in house or brought in but they were not over boiled and still "chewy" and solid as it should be.





Hea's a description of da tan tan broth which is cooked for 12 hours. Yup, TWELVE HOURS!





Da Wife had udon as well with shoyu base. Da wooden spoon was a nice touch I thought trying to give it da "ramen feel".





Part 1 of da two set combo I got a "mini" curry with rice. Da curry was tasty but on da watery side as Japanese curry tends to be. I prefer "thick" curry myself but for those who like the texture of curry from The Curry House will like the curry at Daiichi. Imho, I believe both use S&B curry but it is not confirmed nor will I say that it is, it just has similarities.





For part II of da two set combo I got da chicken katsu. Da breading on da chicken was put together nicely. It wasn't heavy or over-coated and you had a nice balance of chicken and breading. I'm not 100% surah if they used Panko but it tasted like it to keep it light. It was a little thin but I think they pounded it to make the chicken softer and it was.





Da Wife choose da 4pc gyoza for her one set combo. Gyoza is gyoza. Da main thing you no burn 'em.




So hea's da breakdown:

ATMOSPHERE

1/2

Tables are a little tight (hence da 1/2 shaka deduction) to fit as much customers as can but it's a very casual restaurant, not fine dining. It was a little warm inside but it could have been just da broth... or maybe cause we were right undah da a/c and couldn't feel da breeze.

SERVICE

Service was more than satisfactory. The restaurant was packed with people shuttling in and out quickly and the hostess/server made it a point to greet everyone or at least say hi. She even anticipated Da Baby's needs by bringing an empty bowl and extra spoon before we even asked. A nice touch dat I liked was that she thanked everyone before they left with genuine sincerity instead of just "saying it".

KANACK VALUE

For all da food we got and feeding 2 1/4 people for only $16 and change ($20 wit tip) I'd say dat would rank right up there as one of da bettah deals in town. I was more than stuffed - and I'm a big eater - so for an average eater, it's garans a take some to work for lunch kinda deal.

OVERALL

You want an onolicious, stuff your opu, quick and fairly cheap meal (for wat you're getting) then check out Daiichi Ramen & Curry. They have two locations: one in Aiea right across the Shell station below Aiea Bowl and the second in Pearl City. It really is a family, aftah a game or practice, no like cook at home kinda place.

It definitely isn't a first date..... maybe da third once you're broke from da first two.

Get your mind out of da gutter.

Now onto da blog.

I'm surah 99.9% of us love to eat - especially during the holiday season - and being da metropolitan of asian-euro-pacific-watevah kine cuisines we have a very diverse range of palettes. Can everyone be satisfied? Surah, but nevah at once.

Just a little background on WWD! Grind Reviews (sorry, have to "default" to dis wit every review).

Da reviews itself are a bit off (obviously). Personally, I appreciate a balance of quantity and quality but in da same token prefer to pay a little more if either da grindz is out of dis world ono or simply, get choke fo' eat. I don't expect outstanding service, just da basic, but one of da most important factors I consider wen going out to eat is da bang for da buck. Wit dat said, you can obviously conclude I'm not a "gourmet" fan but if it's in front of me, garans bombarans I going grind 'em.

So on wit da show.

Let me first start by saying dat I was working on an earlier grindz review then had a WWD! moment, then thought of anoddah grindz review because of it and now da result, a grindz showdown... of sorts.

Which of these three is a deal? Which of these three is tastiest? Which of these three would you choose?

Each of these three is missing something else as well... do you know wat it is?

Stay tuned for da breakdown of each and of course da winnah of da showdown.




btw, anybody do any Cyber-Monday shopping?

No, not da blog..... for now.

Braddah Gregory Yamamoto (THA photog/videographer) had an idea three years ago about doing a "local" whacked out version of da Car Show and while only my name came up as to da only one who was crazy enough to do it - I gotta admit it's been fun evah since.

But little do people know dat I nevah evah know if/wen we are going to film it or not. Da first time was like a day and a half warning then da second time was like da day before, dis time..... about an eight hour warning.     

It's nevah scripted. It's not "planned out". All we do is get there, do a quick walk around and make sh...stuff up. Ok, there's usually da "ending prop" but besides dat we just wing it. It's nerve-racking trying to tink of interesting things to say and you really gotta tip your hat off to da people who do dat for a living.

Big props goes out Braddah Greg though cause aftah we've both worked a full day, relax a bit, we head down to shoot film for about two hours and pau at 9pm - fortunately my part is done - but not for him.  He has to go through all da clips and edit a ton of footage in just a few short hours aftah getting into work da next day so dat da video will be ready.... all for an eight minute clip.

Muchos Mahalos Greg!

Click hea to see da Wassap Wit Dat! CAR SHOW VIDEO.

For those who didn't get a chance to check out da 2010 First Hawaiian Bank International Auto Show, hea's a few pics.

Started off da night wit some dinnah - Hamburgah steak for Da Wife

Pork Cutlet for me...... Can anyone guess wea dis is from?

Thought da sign was pretty funny asking for change.... I guess da ATM's were pretty busy dispensing 20's all night

Da Wife and I got there about 8ish and it was still pretty packed

Some of da "finer" cars in da show... or should I say cars dat we couldn't afford    

Dis Benz was pretty sweet....

And da new 'Vettes weren't too shabby themselves

BMW joined da diesel movement as well as actually shaping their cars to be very aerodynamic as well

Dis Bentley was a real eye catcher.............

But da price tag made your eyeballs pop out

Ford's push to rejuvenate da Mustang

Dis was a very impressive truck

Toyota Sienna is da only minivan to offah an automatic seat "loader & unloader" for anyone dat needs help. It's called da "auto access seat" which is sorta "hand-van" like wea da ENTIRE seat will lower out of da van.

I can't understand why Da Wife said no     

Some classic club car action............

There was even da City's Rail informational booth out.... at da "car show"

Two weeks ago today, I got a peculiar email towards the end of the day. It wasn't an email that I readily recognized and I usually just throw it into the spam folder and delete but the subject intrigued me, it said "Steak".  

After a quick check to make sure the email address wasn't "funky", I opened it and lo and behold it was from a Kwonic, Makiki.

He was in town for a few days (lives in Illinois) and wondered if Da Wife and I wanted to join him for dinner at Wolfgang's Steakhouse. He's read the DK's reviews and remembered that many of Da Hui had suggested Wolfgang's to compare DK's dry aged steaks to.

Before we get into it, let me first say that I took choke pictures and I swear I transferred it all to my hard drive but now they are nowhere to be found.... and I already reformatted my memory card!     So while this may be a food review, unfortunately there are no pics. 

Of course in true WWD! fashion, we were running just a tad late so I asked Da Wife to call him and let him know we were minutes away. Oh wait. The number I had on my phone was a land line and I didn't save his cell number on my phone.      Such a lolo yeah?

We finally enter The Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center garage and for a Sunday night, it was sure busy! We parked at nearly the top floor - which I've never done - then get off on the wrong floor and finally checked the digital map for Wolfgang's. If you were facing the screen and saw the location on the left side of the map... which way would you go?

*The pic I took of the map would have gone here perfectly*

I naturally headed left although Da Wife said she thinks we should go right. After walking for a short bit not seeing it, I put aside the "man compass" and asked a nearby hostess. She pointed in the opposite direction.  

Wassap Wit Dat!

We finally get there and meet Makiki for the very first time. Later, he admits he was out of his comfort zone meeting "strangers" - believe it or not, us too - but it seemed like everytime there was a Triad Pah-tay, he'd just miss it when he was in town. Makiki travels a lot so he said having company for dinner was pretty cool.

We happily obliged.  

Wolfgang's menu is fairly simple. It's only one page. 

(Insert pic here)

We started off with a seafood platter (special of the night) for three which included lobster, jumbo (and it was da most hugemangeous I've evah seen/had) shrimp, crab legs and shelled crab meat. It was a seafood lover's smorgesborg.

(Insert pic here)

I also had a Bikini Blonde and a Kona Wave which were pretty good in itself. 

(Insert pic here)

Makiki suggested the Wolfgang Salad and the sizzling Canadian bacon the next time we get a chance to go back. Duly noted. 

Well enough of dat, we want meat! Da Wife had the filet mignon while Makiki and I had da ribeye. The side dishes are served family style so we all shared German potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and......... rice.

(Insert multiple pics here)

Our waiter was telling us a little mo'olelo dat wen Wolfgang's first opened, they didn't have rice on da menu. They quickly added it a week later after recognizing the "demand" from Hawaii peeps. 

Back to da steak.

Both steaks were very onolicious! Their steaks are dry aged for 25 days and it makes a - imho - tremendous difference between a 21 day or a 31 day dry aged steak. I still would have preferred a 31 day dry age but it still broke da mouth nonetheless.  

Naturally, we were all really full so no dessert for us.

Hea's my Shaka-nack breakdown on Wolfgang's Steakhouse:

ATMOSPHERE

Tables are a little tight (hence da 4 shaka-nack rating) but the lighting is right, the music relaxing and the table settings very neat

SERVICE

Service was fantastic in the beginning but as the night went on and it got busier, service started to slow down and the "personal attention" was toned down quite a bit. We had to flag down our server and ask for our bill wen we wanted to go home.

KANACK VALUE

Dis is not a buffet but trust and believe, a steak and a side will have you unbuckling your pant button in a good way. Quality of da meat is second to none and da size doesn't hurt either.    Quantity/quality has it's price so it'll set you back a few and arguably worth every penny but definitely not something to splurge on frequently..... unless you can afford it.

OVERALL

FOUR SHAKAS and an AU'RITE!

Wolfgang's is onolicious and if you're in da mood for a nice hearty, tasty steak then dis da place for you.
Check out their website:  http://wolfgangssteakhouse.com

Muchos Mahalos to Makiki for treating Da Wife and I to a fantastic dinner! It wasn't necessary but extremely kind of you to do so. We're just glad we didn't disappoint you (right?) because an ono dinner with fun company made everything dat much more enjoyable! It was great meeting you and remembah, da next time you're in town and you're in da mood for Korean yakinku, give us a holler!  

(Insert picture here)

SHOUT OUT:
An occasional poster but Kwonic nonetheless, D, wanted everyone to know that Manoa School is having a white elephant sale tomorrow (Saturday). There are over 30 kids going to Japan in November. They will visit their sister school in Osaka and spend just over a week learning about the Japanese culture. Manoa School is also hosting the Manoa Jaycees' craft fair as well so if you guys are looking for something to do dis weekend, check out Manoa School!