Category: Dining

Good news, bad news, old news…from East Oahu:

Good news: Zippy’s Kahala will be renovating its restaurant. Last day for dining: Wednesday Feb. 25. The restaurant will shut down for a facelift, though the update in the main dining room doesn’t appear to be tattered. The take-out counter and  the on-site Japanese restaurant will be closed, too, beginning Thursday, Feb. 26. On-site wait-help will have to pitch in and tidy up the eatery…then seek shifts at other Zippy’s locations till the reopening.

Bad news: Zippy’s  Kahala will be closed until June 2026. Precise reopening date will be announced later. That means if you’ve been accustomed to chowing and chatting at Zippy’s, you may have to settle for Zippy’s Hawaii Kai take-out at Koko Marina, since the dining room has been shuttered for quite a while now. The nearest Zippy’s (without the usual dining room) is the Kaimuki restaurant, not the same as a customary dining room. You’d have to go west to either the Maikiki Zippy’s near Washington Middle School, or the earlier renovated popular site where Wisteria used to be.

Jack be nimble: Maybe Jack’s in Aina Haina will lure the breakfast trade, since its menu has ample options and the grilled biscuits, with honey butter, always hits the spot.

Worth exploring: Beastside Kitchen, in the Niu Valley Shopping Center, has imaginative breakfast options, and with options lean in the area, this restaurant might be the one to come to the rest. Tried the breakfast earlier but the offerings now are more like inventive and bountiful lunch for the morning crowd, with daily feasts from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring creative island-style dishes, ranging from loco mocos to eggs benedict, kal bi with eggs, with options with imaginative names as Da Elvis French Toast and Chee Hoo Breakfast Sandwich. Bring a big appetite and hey, your breakfast feast turn out to be lunch, too.

Unconfirmed rumor: That open space where Fat Boy’s used to be, at Koko Marina, might become a  future Popeye’s chicken restaurant.

Recent arrival: Domino’s Pizza, at the Hawaii Kai Towne Center, on the site of the former Jersey Mike’s.

Fritters: Fans of Safeway’s apple fritters are discovering that the version in the mix of doughnuts and bagels is simply OK; the current fritter is rounder than the one we all remember, and the “complexion” is lighter than the darker original which also had its own distinctive shape. 

If you’re specifically drooling for roast pork, char siu, and other Hong Kong entrée classics, Kevin’s Kitchen is the new place to go.

On a recent Sunday at high noon, the place was jammed and crammed and busy as heck. With no reservations, we (my wife Vi and our grandnephew John), opted to do takeout.

The noisy and casual crowd filled the Makiki restaurant, with folks in beach shorts looking like they might head to the beach after lunch; one table was dressier (women with jade bracelets and necklaces), perhaps eating out after Sunday church services.

For me, this was a genuine alternative to Chinatown, ZIP code 96817. Kevin’s is the solution and destination if you’re ono for  roast pork, char siu, roast duck and chicken, chow fun, and other stables of Hong Kong/Chinatown fare. The restaurant’s non-descript entry, in ZIP code 96814, is a stone’s throw opposite the main entryway of Times Super Market

So, there’s no longer the need to venture to Maunakea Street and the markets in the environs of Hotel and Beretania Streets. No need to scope for street parking to feed the meters, seek parking in the municipal lots, or deal with the few charge-card boxes stationed within the Chinatown zone.

Best of all, there’s plenty of the coveted roast pork and char siu, hanging on hooks along with roast duck and chicken, in the glass-sectional like a Chinatown vendor. I would prefer the roast park chopped in larger pieces, but Kevin’s needs to work on a crispier pork skin and perhaps  larger chunks of the pork that would elevate the pork to a two-pound serving, instead of a pound. But attention must be to beef up the pork with a crispier skin first.

Kevin’s is open from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., serving full lunches and dinners till 8:30 p.m.,  and the buzz is that the restaurant is eager to launch an earlier Chinese breakfast, too.

At lunchtime, you can order a mixed plate take-out with two or three items, or order a pound of roast park, char siu, and an order of beef broccoli.  A week after our first visit, John called in a take-out order of roast pork, roast duck and chow fun, and picked up the goodies at 4 p.m. Flexible and casual, though it might take 30 minutes to drive off with the order.

The restaurant boasts a glassed-in sector where the customary roast pork, char siu, and roast duck and chicken await to be plucked and packed for take-out orders. This elevates Kevin’s a lot, with the luxury of ordering extras to go.

This is not a dim sum haven, so you need to go elsewhere if that’s your option.

This is a tale of two Kevins, playing outside the mainstay Chinatown ZIP code of 96817.  Two Kevins can be confusing and waitstaff can’t even shout “Mr. Lee” or “Mr. Li,” to add to the confusion.

Kevin Li, is  the owner. His friend, Kevin Lee, is his partner, formerly a chef at Harbor Village at the Koko Marian Center in Hawaii Kai. Ping Li, Kevin’s father, is roast maste

The restaurant is located at 1296 S. Beretania, ZIP code 96814,  opposite the front doors of the Times Super Market, which anchors this small mall. You’ll smell it before you see it, because of the lilting aroma of chow fun, roast duck, and char siu in the air.

Word of mouth has been positive about Kevin’s, and they do the customary fare of Chinese cuisine, with soups, seafood, fowl, pork and beef. The upgrades include sizzling platters of seafood, hot pots with pork, beef, seafood and lamb, vegetarian options, and party favorites like Peking duck and  Dungeness crab. The Pecking duck is listed, in Kevin’s take-out menu, as $63.90 for a whole duck and $39.95 for half a duck; no listing of the bao that commonly accompanies the duck.

When the joint is jumping, it’s a tad chaotic. On the busy Sunday, there were isolated seats at tables of four or 10, and waitresses directed the seat-seekers to the available chairs. You probably need yelling skills to order in this environment.

Consequently, this not the climate for business meetings or office gatherings,  because you pretty much have to shout above the din to be heard.

Information: (808) 888-3680…

The Zippy’s at Kahala will be shutting down, likely by year’s end or early next year, for renovations.

The Kahala waitstaff will be diverted to other branches,  surely an inconvenience.

The closure, said one waitress, will last for about three months, which means us East Siders now may have to drive to the Makiki branch of Zippy’s for a sit-down meal and chat-chat. This one’s brighter and larger than the branch in-between Zippy’s offices on King Street and Washington Middle School.

Meanwhile, the rumors persist that Zippy’s Koko Marina take-out could be shuttered like the already closed dining room…

Red velvet ice cream

It may take me quite a spell, but I’m trying to order a different ice cream flavor at each visit to Hammond’s at the Koko Marina Center.

Latest joy: Red velvet cake, mixed with vanilla ice cream.

Always loved the red velvet dessert cake (not widely available these days), so naturally, found this choice perfect for a warm afternoon treat…

Bedbugs found at Ala Moana Center food court

Why is the Ala Moana Center food court closed, you ask?

A very good reason:  It’s shut down due to bed bug infiltration.

No reopening date yet, but they’d better thoroughly spray those antiquated seats and backboards…