Hawaii eats part 1- Yard House, Imanas Tei

I can’t believe I have been back for almost a week already. Hawaii seems like a dream…a sweet dream. One of the things that I was most excited about throughout the whole vacation was eating. My family was a tad bit annoyed with me when we were all eating and I would ask “So..what should we eat later?” =)

On the first night we didn’t look for a place to eat until very late in the evening (11pm). As we walked around Waikiki, I remembered that Yard House had a great late night menu.There was a variety of things and we ended up ordering a bunch to share. (All items on their late night menu was 1/2 off) Such a good deal!

Yard House California Roll

This was their rendition of a California Roll. A large slab of rice with imitation crab meat, avocado on top and seaweed sprinkled. It was very interesting indeed. I prefer a regular Cali roll since this one didn’t have much taste. For $5 well worth the try!

Ahi Tuna Sashimi

This was very good. I was very surprised because it tasted very fresh and I didn’t expect that from a bar. Especially from a late night happy menu. It was perfectly seared and the sauce was a great match. Only $7. (wanted to order another one so bad).

Spinach Dip

This dip was great. Lots of cheesiness and  so gooey. Just the way I like it. I also like how they served it with crispy pit chips. $ 6

BBQ Chicken Pizza

All the pizzas were only $5. So we had the bbq chicken and the hawaiian. Both tasted great and had a great crust.

There was definitely a few other things that I wanted to try. I heard the Nachos there are awesome. A great place for late eats in Waikiki!

Shabu Shabu @ Imanas Tei

I saw a lot of great reviews about Imanas Tei through Yelp and decided to go there for dinner the second night. The place isn’t very big and they do not take reservations past 7pm. We didn’t arrive till 8:30pm after a long day touring and beaching in the North Shore. We literally had to wait an hour for a table. ( we kept ourselves busy with funny pictures and talking to another couple from Texas). By the time we got our seats I was not hungry anymore from being too hungry..=(

We started off with sushi, sashimi and a tempera dish and finished off with Shabu Shabu with udon. All the dishes here are very traditional. They didn’t have dynamite rolls, etc. Just traditional dishes and izakaya.

The Shabu Shabu was delicious. Very beautifully assembled and everything tasted very fresh. However, a bit pricey.

Asst Sashimi

Seafood Tempura

Very unique seafood tempura. Lots of small fish with scallop and salmon.

Overall, its a good place for authentic Japanese food. It can be a bit pricey since portions are small. However, everything was fresh and delicious.