259008 Wed Feb 02 15:10:53 -0800 2005 1 25 Elsewhere In America 0 1369941 eating large on the BIG island - pt. 2 - Kona & points south Big Island Grill. Kuakini & Henry Sts. Kona Very popular but the turnover is relatively quick. We ate dinner here twice. They really know how to grill fish! Big salad with grilled catch of the day is a winner. The pan fried butterfish was moist & flavorful. Chicken katsu is made with boneless thigh meat - juicy....and grease free. Their tempura fish is more of a batter and was crispy but probably the least interesting fish that I tried. Their mashed potatoes are very good here. The AC here is pretty pronounced - bring a shirt in with you. Banana cream pie was a thick layer of sliced bananas and maybe a bit of pastry cream topped with whipped cream & passion fruit drizzle - normal size portion. The pastry shell was brushed with chocolate - a nice touch. I like my cream pies with more pastry cream than this particular style but it was still pretty good. The Kona mudd pie was coffee ice cream with a crispy buttery cookie crust that was big enough for 2, maybe 4, people to share (after a big meal - the only kind served here) Whipped cream, fanned strawberry and a drizzle of rasberry & passionfruit topped off the mudd pie. Service is friendly - good at greeting & seating, as well as taking your order but if you make any additional requests be prepared to wait....they don’t appear to be good about following up...whether it’s a request for a few lemon slices for the fish, a container for the leftovers, a dessert to go, the check, etc...but with food this good it’s worth the inconvenience. However, it’s a shame that the service is not as good as the food. Kona Village Luau - Friday nights. the price just went up to $84. As first time tourists to Hawaii - felt like we had to do a luau and it seemed like this one was as good / or better than most but it doesn’t seem like such a good idea in retrospect. The food was not all that special and entertainment was OK. Considering that we often had good (if not simple) local meals for $8-10 a plate - our splurge cost us almost 5 days of eating out. Teshima’s Japanese Restaurant Hwy 11 near the 114 mile marker - across from kayak rental center. A low key family run Japanese restaurant that’s been around for a long time. good value. traditional preparations - on Sat & Sun they had what they called a pupu platter for $9 that was a very nice complete meal: rice, tempura, sashimi, miso soup, pickled veg. and teryaki beef. Manago Hotel. Hwy 11. Captain Cook Home of the famous pork chops - 2 nicely browned chops with several sides for $8.75. Sides consisted of a large bowl of rice, sesame flavored green beans, cellophane noodles (aka long rice?) and the best version of potato/macaroni salad that we had during our stay on the Big Island. (the potatoes and macaroni were not overcooked and the salad had more flavor ) I asked for my pork chops to be cooked pink in the center but that really didn’t happen - still tasty, tho. They are the old fashioned thin cut of chop that can be overcooked without much effort. My SO had pan fried mahi (or ono?) with garlic and lemon - good but not memorable like the fish we had at the Big Island Grill. Na’Alehu Fruit Stand We ended up getting a Hawaiian pizza: pineapple & ham - pretty nice crust and lots of cheese. SO ordered this .... Nothing else looked that thrilling to me. I tried one of the macadamia shortbread bars - very sweet and the short bread was more like a hard cookie - not as “short” and rich as I’m used to....passable if you’ve got a sweet tooth. An interesting looking scene - locals were gathered inside to watch the playoff game. the fruit on display was a bit underwhelming - maybe a slow time of year? Ba Le. Vietnamese Kona Coast shopping center had a good bahn mi, the spicy chicken, from here. bit more $$ than I'm used to paying for these but a nice change of pace. Wed Feb 02 15:10:53 -0800 2005 0 gordon wing 1 1369942 Manago Hotel pork chops, really tasty! Can't wait until my August trip to the Big Island for another visit to the Manago for lunch. Nice report too. Wed Feb 02 21:10:52 -0800 2005 1369941 0 localboy