‘Morning, all!
IOKS stands for IOLANI ON KONA ST., our little boutique store located at our factory in Kaka’ako. Customers are always blown away when they first enter this little jewel because it’s such a sharp contrast to the rest of the neighborhood. Many have described IOKS as a “beautiful oasis”, and a place where they instantly felt at ease and welcomed. If you haven’t visited us yet, I’d like to personally invite you to come down and check us out – you’ll be amazed at what you’ll find!
On Tuesday night I stopped in at the original Side Street Inn for some takeout and ended up playing some stupid Texas Hold’em video game at the bar with my friend. I can’t believe how easy it was to get sucked into that game and had to constantly remind myself that it was just a machine! My friend was getting all worked up and talking about each of the players as if they were real people! (I’m sure the three glasses of red wine didn’t help either!) In any case, I ended up ordering my usual farmer’s salad and a broiled shutome (swordfish) filet to take home. The fish was awesome! In fact, it was so good that I ate the whole thing before Carla and Linda could get a bite. Oh well, you snooze you lose!
Last night we performed at The Swim over at the Hyatt Waikiki. We’re starting to see some repeat customers so it looks like the venue is slowly catching on. Like I said, the location is a little difficult to find (3rd floor) but once there it’s great … plus, parking is validated! They’re still trying to tweak it to get the right formula, but so far so good. Afterward, we stopped in at Tsukuneya for a bite to eat and I naturally ordered the mabo tofu ramen which I spoke about in my previous blog. I think I’m getting used to the thick spicy soup, but still miss the spicy shoyu ramen which they had before. The rest of the group ordered the usual – assorted tsukune (chicken dumplings on a stick) with dijon mustard, parmesan, and onion sauces, seaweed salad (delicious – really!), and of course, dessert! That pretty much finished me for the night … burp!
Aloha, “D”