Side Street Inn, Honolulu, HI

Side Street Inn
1225 Hopaka
Honolulu, O'ahu, HI 96814
808-591-0253
http://www.sidestreetinn.com/
Open daily, 2pm-2am.
It's on a small side street not far from the Ala Moana Center.
Very little side street parking available. There's a pay parking structure across the street - park in the upper levels. Valet available in the evenings.

Visited: August 2010, Dinnner, Dine-in

Side Street Inn is a large casual bar that serves great food. There are a ton of TVs around, and all in all, it seems like folks are having a good time. Chef/owner Colin Nishida has created a great menu of local flavors with a few high end touches thrown in here and there. Side Street Inn is supposed to be a favorite of locals and chefs alike, and I can see why.

Everything is served small plate or pupu style. Yes, everything is served to share, like a pupu or appetizer, however there is nothing small plate about it. The portions are very large. We wish we knew how large before we set to ordering.

We had the 12 ounce New York Steak (market price) which came on a sizzling black plate atop onions and mushrooms. The steak itself was rather plain, but very tender and tasty on its own. The mushrooms were heavenly! They continued to sizzle away in some type of non-visible buttery garlicky goodness, so it was quite a surprise to get so much flavor bursting forth.

We tried one of the specials, a combo of pork buns. Chinese BBQ Pork / Cha Siu and Chinese Roast Pork served with steamed white buns. Except for the mustard drizzled over the cha siu, these were delicious. The buns were a tender texture, however we could have used more buns. The roast pork with its crisp skin and touch of plum sauce was the perfect analog for Peking duck.

We had their Side Street Works Fried Rice ($15.00) which was loaded with quite the assortment of pork - cha siu, lop cheng, bacon, Portuguese sausage, and possibly more. It was a very good fried rice, however, with so many goodies, it soon became hard to distinguish all of the yummies. I think I would have preferred a simpler bacon fried rice, or a cha siu fried rice, for example, to really be able to savor it properly.

And lastly we had the Fried Saimin which was also a very large portion. It had a great flavor and was loaded with egg, kamaboko, Portuguese sausage and spamelope.

All in all, we enjoyed our meal, we just ordered waaay too much food. Their Pan Fried Island Pork Chops and Baby Back Ribs are also supposed to be delicious - so we'll try those next time.

Pitfire Artisan Pizza, Culver City, CA

Pitfire Artisan Pizza
12924 Washington Blvd
Los Angeles / Culver City, CA 90066
424-835-4088
http://www.pitfirepizza.com/
Small parking lot that is very crowded on Friday and Saturday nights.
Warehouse environment that can get quite loud when crowded. Outdoor seating available.
Order at the counter, and food is brought to your table (self seating). Additional drinks and dessert may be ordered from your server.
3 more locations around LA in North Hollywood, downtown LA, and West LA.

Visited: September 2010, Dinner, Dine-in


Overall, we enjoyed our meal, however we wouldn't go out of our way to eat at Pitfire.

All food is brought at the same time, so even if you order an appetizer or soup, it will come as the same time as your pizza and pasta.

We 'started' from the Pantry or appetizer section with Meatballs ($6) which was 3 of their large Hand-Crafted Chicken Meatballs served with their tomato sauce and topped with some grated Grana. The menu says it's served with grilled bread, and well, we got one slice of grilled bread. This seemed rather odd - one slice of bread served with three meatballs? Regardless, the meatballs and the sauce were very very tasty. The meatballs had a nice texture and a very interesting spice mix - it had something sweet that almost hinted of a Middle Eastern spice. The tomato sauce had a great fresh yet rich flavor. I would definitely order the Meatballs again, or try them with the Spaghetti and Meatballs ($9.25).



We tried a couple pizzas. They use a thin crust that is cooked very well, and has a nice char. The pizzas are sliced into quarters, and I noticed some folks eating their slices New York style - folded in half. One problem is that there is quite a bit of untopped crust at the edges, and it's rather lacking (and too charred). If you have sauce leftover from the meatballs, that makes a nice dip. We noticed that folks at other tables were leaving crust edges behind, too.

First was the Pitfire Sausage ($9.95) topped with their very tasty tomato sauce, fontina and mozz, large and small chunks of their sweet fennel sausage (very mild flavored), and crunchy flavorless red onions. While overall, this is a pleasant pizza, it seemed lacking in sausage particularly when compared to the Pepperoni that we also ordered.



The Pepperoni ($9.75) was covered in slices of nitrate-free pepperoni slices which had a nice flavor - herby and with a little snap. A very good pepperoni that wasn't greasy. The pizza was also topped with their tomato sauce, fresh mozz and fresh basil. A very good pizza (except for the crust edge issue).



The Roasted Vegetable Panini ($8.95) was a disappointment. The crusty bread was quite lovely, however it didn't make up for the bland contents. Roasted vegetables should have a caramelization that provide their own seasoning, but alas, no. It was a large sandwich with olive mayo (the only tasty thing), pesto (which seemed nonexistent), roasted eggplant, roasted zucchini, roasted bell peppers (almost tasteless - how is that possible?), those flavorless red onions, melted fresh mozz (added a nice texture), and some lovely, but too plentiful, lettuce. The sandwich was also served with a very large side house salad of mixed greens, shaved Asiago, vinaigrette and homemade croutons. The salad was quite tasty.



They also have a nice collection of bottled sodas. Coke and Coca Light from Mexico so they're made with sugar. And a selection of Boylan sodas - regular and diet. I had the Ginger Ale, which was a nice treat. Interesting bottled and draught beers, and wine were also available.

I'd go back and try more items on the menu, but only if I were in the area.