Great Bao

Lately I heard about Great Bao from my foodie friends how delicious the bao was and wanted to see what the buzz was all about.  A bao is basically a steamed bun filled with vegetables and/or meats.

My fiancé surprised me one day by bringing me a to-go box of a couple bao.  On the left of this photo is bao with roasted mushrooms, sweet soy, and daikon sprouts and the right is Pork Belly Bao with pickled mustard greens and crushed peanuts.  The left bao was supposed to be a Tofu Bao, but they had ran out of tofu that day!

A week later after trying these bao I went with my friend to Great Bao because she had never ate bao before and knew Chef Sheridan Su when he used to work at Comme Ça (what a small world!).

We were greeted by Jenny and she told us the story about Great Bao (interesting story, not just what you read on their website).  They have a $10 special of any order of three bao and a drink... I of course got that!  I made a mistake again thinking that bao are the same size of siopao (a bigger Filipino version of bao). The three bao = one siopao, so I suggest coming here is you want to have a light meal!

I got the Roasted Duck Bao with cucumber, scallion, and hoisin sauce and two orders of Tofu Bao.  The fillings were scrumptious and the bun was soft and fluffier than a typical siopao, which was awesome!

FYI: Great Bao is currently located in a spa salon, so just walk into the salon and you'll see the cafe to your left.

Hawai'i Visit # 4

I thought the more I visit Hawai'i, the less pictures I'd take... Well I was wrong, I think I took more pictures of food than all my previous visits combined!  Here's some of the pictures I took.  Its a lot of photos so prepare to drool:

Breakfast on Hawaiian Airlines

Love the sushi and musubis from 7-Eleven

In Waipahu

Seafood from Tanioka's

Poi from Tanioka's

Bento boxes from Times

Bronsen got this at the swap meet @ Aloha Stadium from a guy who had dreads.  I love this coconut/honey/peanut/macadamia nuts spread!!

Menu at the buffet at Polynesian Cultural Center

Beautiful structure

Painting of King Kamehameha

Located at Pearlridge Mall

If you ever go to North Shore area, go to a shrimp food truck like this one!

Dino waiting for food

Pulled pork brisket

Lau lau

Ahi poke

Dobash Cake from Napoleon's Bakery

Another late night at Zippy's

Napoleon's Bakery

Napple 

Treats we brought home!

If you want to check out photos from my third visit, click here.

Queen Street Cafe & Grill

Queen Street Cafe & Grill is a neighborhood cafe to go to relax and eat some local food.  I saw interesting entrees on the menu that I never had before like Kiawe Grilled Steak w/ Shrimp Tempura (steak is grilled over real Hawaiian Kiawe wood), Furikake Garlic Chicken, Guava Smoked Pork w/ Onions, and Lup Cheung Fried Rice!  It was hard to choose an entrée!  I eventually chose the Ahi Belly:

Ahi (tuna) Belly w/ Ponzu Sauce - The fattest part of the fish yum, but it didn't taste fatty... I'm glad it didn't!  The fish was very soft and it went well with the ponzu sauce.

Ahi Katsu w/ Wasabi Aioli

Korean Chicken Katsu w/ Fried Rice

Thanks Mikey for the lunch!

Kuru Kuru Sushi

When I was having my usual craving for sushi back in Hawaii, I of course wanted to eat somewhere unique since I was visiting.  I had heard that Kuru Kuru Sushi had a conveyor belt that distributed foods.  Since Las Vegas doesn't have restaurants with conveyor belts, I wanted to check this place out:

Came here during Christmas weekend

The pricing is based on the color of the plates you get

Dre called this 'fish eggs with eggs.' The white part may look like egg, but its actually ika (squid)!

Sashimi

So much to choose from!

It was a nice experience to finally go to this kind of restaurant and choosing all sorts of foods.  I wish there were restaurants like these in my hometown!

Hot N Juicy Crawfish

During my first visit to Hot N Juicy Crawfish, I was in the mood to eat a lot of crawfish!  When I told the waiter I wanted crawfish, he told me they ran out!  Apparently a customer who came in earlier before me and my party devoured the last bit of crawfish.  I was a bit disappointed, but at least there was shrimp and crab to choose from.  

Menu

A pound of shrimp seasoned Louisiana style

Snow crab legs

:)

Despite not getting to eat some crawfish, I was satisfied eating the shrimp and crab legs.  I really liked the flavors I chose for my seafood.  I also sampled my friends' foods with different seasonings and spice levels and enjoyed them (seasonings include: Louisiana Style, Juicy Cajun, Garlic Butter, Lemon Pepper, and Hot N Juicy Special)!  I can't believe I waited this long to eat at Hot N Juicy... I'll definitely be back hopefully on a day where there's crawfish!