Koelsch beers are old-style beers that use top-fermenting yeasts like ales, but the yeasts are active at warmer temperatures. This variety is the regional specialty of Cologne, hence the name. Koelsch beers are very similar to altbiers in technology, manufacture, and flavor. This koelsch from Onuma Brewery in Southwest Hokkaido has a clear, light malt flavor and a moderate bitter note, typical of the variety. The bitter note is lower than the Hakodate Beer koelsch – the only other example of this variety that I’ve tried. Although the hopping has provided the bitter, it doesn’t impart any sweetness of flowery notes. The blond color and clean flavor is not unlike a light, dry lager. The initial flavor is dry and crisp, with the bitter in the middle, and a light maltiness in the finish. The carbonation is moderate. This is a very drinkable beer. Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Onuma Brewery Koelsch Jibiiru’
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Scat picked us up at Ckucke’s after the Monday Night Freeride, and we stopped by at Hide-chan restaurant in Mo’ili’ili. The word “rafute†caught the corner of my eye as I was glancing over at the menu written on sheets of paper affixed to the wall. Mmm… I hadn’t had Okinawa-style simmered pork belly in a while, so my mind was made up. Both Ckucke and I ordered the miso rafute-don. Root and Scat got the katsuo tataki teishoku. The miso rafute don for those unfamiliar with this is a donburi (large bowl of rice served with an entrée topping) topped with large, thick pork belly chunks that have been simmered in a sauce primarily flavored with shoyu and miso. A pinch of kizami beni shouga (thinly slivered pickled ginger) garnished the top. The pork was tender and appropriately fatty. I could cut the pork with chopsticks! The flavor was outstanding. Shiawase! Sides of miso soup and tsukemono (pickles, in this case radish) were included as part of the meal. If fatty pork bugs you, best steer clear of this one (the more for us who love it!). It’s not inherently unhealthy – just don’t overdo it. It is not uncommon for people to live past 100 in Okinawa, just remember that the people who live that long generally don’t have an “American†caloric intake (especially in the serving size of meat), have a diet high in vegetables, and engage in rigorous physical work daily.
I haven’t had such good rafute since having some “home-cooked†many years ago.
Highly recommended
Four out of four grinning monkeys
Around $15 USD including tax and tip
This past thursday’s dinner out with the boys was just Derek and me. Our initial phone conversations were indecisive on where we wanted to eat. After tossing some ideas around, it came down to thai or that “inexpensive izakaya place you went to before Derek.” Not having been there myself, I suggested I pick up D from UH and we could decide from there, with the izakaya as first choice. We found decent parking on street, just a short walk. Walking is good for you! Go to Japan, it’s the way to go there. People here are so lazy! Like how all the fitness buff canoe paddlers parked their cars along the road in the beach park when there was a virtually empty parking lot that the road leads to. Anyway, it’s early so we walk to newly opened Ninja Market (Nijiya Market) to check it out, we’ll blog about it sometime. Continue reading ‘Happy Bird – Kohnotori’
Earlier this week, Derek mentioned this newish place on King Street, Mana Bu’s. They do musubi/onigiri. And that’s it. Actually they do offer some salads and desert items, but the main deal is musubi. Not the mashed together refridgerated bricks of white rice, but carefully crafted triangles of good rice and grains combined with various ingredients. I popped in to check it out and try a sampling. Here’s a tip, go early. I got there at 12:30, and already most of the varieties were sold out. It seems their signature is the 10 grain musubi. Manabu-san’s got it figured out just right to somehow keep all those grains sticking together into a cohesive musubi. It’s quite interesting with the texture and slight nuttyness that the grain medley lends to the musubi, not to mention boosting the healthy factor. They also almost analretentively list the origins of almost all the ingredients. And he manages to price it at $1.50! I’m sure if some yup cali shop were to sell this, they’d upcharge it and sell it with boutique factor. I bought a 10 grain hijiki and 10 grain baked spicy poke. Both tasty. Flavors are more on the subtle side, reflecting a more Japanese palate rather than a heavy local leaning. The hijiki is on the sweet side, would go great with something salty, maybe some fried chicken/karage. Which brings me to one thing, there are no okazu here, so you’ll be doing either a lightish meal, or you’ll need to go elsewhere to find stuff to fill out your picnic. Maybe go down the street a bit to Gulick Deli.
3 out of 5 fairly healthy monkeys (I like to use a 5 monkey scale, yes I know, spank the naughty monkeys for not being consistent)
Mana Bu’s is located on King Street, just Diamond Head of the King-Punahou intersection in the little strip of shops with Baskin Robbins. Take out only, no seating for eating in shop.
Altbiers are old-style beers that use top-fermenting yeasts like ales, but the yeasts are active at warmer temperatures. This altbier from Onuma Brewery in Southwest Hokkaido has a light malt flavor, and a bitter note, typical of the variety. There is not much of a sweet/fruity/flowery flavor from the hops – only the bitter. The color and flavor is rather similar to a pale ale, like Niseko Beer’s Canadian Ale. The initial flavor is dry and bright, with the bitter in the middle, and the maltiness in the finish. The carbonation is low. Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Onuma Brewery Alt’
Dropped by after the Monday night bike ride last week. I tried the signature Kotteri ramen this time around. The chicken (and pork?) based broth was thick and flavorful, almost gravy-like in consistency. The noodles were cooked a little firmer this time around, which was to my liking. The basic toppings were the same, with menma, finely sliced green onion, and a slice of charsiu. This time, the charsiu piece was a bit more substantial than last time, being around twice the size as I remember it being previously. Root tried ordering the spicy menma last time, but they were out, so I asked if they had it. They did, so I got it as a side. The spicy menma was julienned instead of sliced into slabs as is more common for a ramen topping, and is marinated in a sesame-based chili oil. There are some whole black sesame seeds also. The spicy menma is very good. All in all, I give them a better rating than last time at a B+. Value is still an issue, as my ramen was around $8 USD, and the menma $1.50 USD, for a total of around $11.50 after tax and tip.
Ckucke and I got what seemed to be “the MSG-wheeze” afterwards when we went to watch Root break his car. Scat was phlegmy, but whether that was from his recent surgery or the food is undetermined. We all got a touch of cottonmouth from the post-ramen elevated sodium levels, so we had to stop and get some drinks on the way back to town.
Recommended.
Three grinning monkeys out of four
After the conclusion of this year’s Okinawa Festival, I was quite roasted having spent pretty much the entire days there out in the sun. I felt in dire need of some beerage, and air conditioning. Fabio and I started going over options for the Kaimuki area. Bulging forehead vein burgers at Big City came up. Food options there didn’t appeal this evening, and if anything, the a/c is TOO much there for shorts and t-shirts. Fabio mentioned the place Koh no Tori next to Imanas Tei by Pucks Alley. The description perked my interest, well priced izakayaish tidbits. Then thought of Tokkuri Tei. Tokkuri Tei is one of the places that for years I’ve been saying should try. I heard good things about it, but never got around to going there. Continue reading ‘Tokkuri Tei’
I’ve seen some other iterations of this glove design sold by other vendors before, but those have shiny carbon-patterned armor plates instead of the Kevlar-look cloth laminated plates that the Dakine Defenders have. Since I’ve been unable to find armored, box-fingered motocross gloves, when I saw these hanging in the back of McBike, I thought that they might be a possibility. There were only tiny sizes, so I waited a month until the backorder came in and Jarrel left a note on my toolbox that they had arrived! I snapped up a large pair that day. I tried on the XL’s, but the fingers were too long. Initially, the large felt tight for some reason. This was odd, since there was enough space at the knuckles as I could move the armor plates even while making a fist. The fingers weren’t too small in girth, since I could pinch the fabric. Odd. Maybe it was the way the fabric folded when the fingers were bent. In any case, the tight sensation went away after wearing them for a half hour, and it didn’t come back on subsequent wearings. Continue reading ‘Dakine Defender MTB Gloves’
This is simply the best bicycle frame bottle available. Period.
It doesn’t make your water taste funny, nor is it currently known to leach weird chemicals into the water causing man-boobs, cancer, or whatnot. The cap screws on easily and doesn’t leak. My original one is around two years old, and it is still working fine, even though it is looking pretty beat-up cosmetically. Jarrel got some in at McBike, so I picked up a new one. The cap is a little different on the new one. I’ll see how it fares over time, but I imagine it will be as bulletproof as the original one. The cap threads are the same as Nalgene “standardâ€, so stuff like aftermarket caps or water purifiers that attach directly to bottles will be compatible. It seems that the hardness of the material would make printing on this bottle impractical (the ink/paint would just scrape off), so don’t expect to see it as a logo bottle. Just buy the advertising-free original!
Four out or four skulls
Highly recommended
About $5 USD
I got one of these as a gift many, many years ago. I remember “back in the dayâ€, the King ti cage commanded serious mojo, as it still does today. It cost all the money and was amazingly light at an advertised 28 grams. Supposedly, it didn’t mark up polyethylene bottles and make them all black, since ti was inert and oxide free. This cage had no place on the Freeride rig, and the XC bike had a wonderful (but now discontinued) metal-matrix Blackburn Chicane MTN cage, so appropriately, the retro King cage found its way onto the Bridgestone MB-1. Continue reading ‘King Titanium Bottle Cage’