GREAT EATS HAWAII: June 2015

Monday, June 29, 2015

CELEBRATING 750,000 PAGE VIEWS

CELEBRATING 750,000 PAGE VIEWS

www.greateatshawaii.blogspotcom

CHEERS FROM THE ISLAND OF KAUAI

Mahalo for visiting this little food blog from Hawaii.

More food, travel and golf adventures coming soon!

Sunday, June 28, 2015

BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP COMPANY

BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP COMPANY
ALA MOANA SHOPPING CENTER
1450 ALA MOANA BLVD, #3253
HONOLULU, HI 96814
808-949-4867
HOURS: Monday thru Thursday/Sunday 10:30 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday and Saturday 10:30 AM - 11:00 PM
www.bubbagump.com

After a disappointing loss on the court, I took four of the 9th grade girls basketball team players to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for lunch. As most of my blog readers know, I am not into large chain restaurants and don't frequent them very often. The past few months I have broken this rule and visited a Chili's and now Bubba Gump. Bubba Gump has a few positives. One is the location and view at Ala Moana Shopping Center. The other is the service and another is the abundance of movie memorabilia inside the restaurant. The food presentations here are also quite impressive. The food - ok but just a little too much fried stuff for me. As we entered Bubba Gump we were greeted by everyone who works there. No less than three employees welcomed us and asked if this was our first visit to the restaurant and where we were from. This staff is trained well and they really deliver. During our lunch service several employees stopped by the table to make sure we had everything we needed. They do not rely on one waiter to take care of your table, rather if anyone walks by they will help out. This was really great service. One waiter was knowledgeable about the movie Forrest Gump and he engaged diners with questions about various scenes. The restaurant itself is a museum of Forrest Gump the Movie with everything from costumes to scripts plastered all over the walls and in display cases. This is a must visit place for any Forrest Gump fan. The girls started by ordering Speckled Strawberry Lemonade ($3.99). While that is a bit high priced to me it did include unlimited refills which were offered up repeatedly. For appetizers we went with the Popcorn Shrimp ($9.49). Small shrimp with lots of breading. I really could not taste much more than the breading and then just drenched these bad boys in hot sauce. The Net Catch Shrimp ($13.99) came to the table with a bucket for the shells and the shrimp poured out on newspaper. Looked great. The Shrimp were small and did not seem fresh. Again I covered mine with hot sauce and ate on. All of the girls ordered the Shrimp Mac n' Cheese ($10.29). Basic Mac n' Cheese with a few Shrimp tossed in for ten bucks.

The girls also enjoyed the Shrimper's Heaven ($21.99) which is a combination of Coconut Shrimp, Grilled Shrimp and Shrimp Tempura. I tasted one of each and the Grilled Shrimp was by far my favorite. The Grilled Fish Tacos ($11.99) were fresh and pretty good. This was a nice portion for the price with three tacos on the plate. I ordered the Shrimp Po' Boy ($12.99). This is a large sandwich filled with the fried Popcorn Shrimp. I did not want French Fries and asked for an alternative. The waiter said he could do Cole Slaw so I went for it. They served me a large plate of Cole Slaw with the Po' Boy and it was good. The Po' Boy was ok but the bread was way too hard and the Shrimp just fell all over the place. I ate half and threw in the towel. All in all the teenagers liked their meal at Bubba Gump while the adults said they would not come back because of all the fried foods. There are non fried foods on the menu and they look great. Problem is once you get to a place like this and see all that fried goodness you can't help yourself.

BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP COMPANY

BROUGHT PART OF THE GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM TO BUBBA GUMP IN
ALA MOANA SHOPPING CENTER

INDOOR AND OPEN AIR DINING AREAS WITH OCEAN VIEWS

EVERYTHING FROM THE MOVIE IS ON DISPLAY AT BUBBA GUMP

BUBBA GUMP IS A LARGE RESTAURANT WITH MANY DIFFERENT SEATING AREAS

NICE BAR WITH VIEWS OF THE MARINA AND OCEAN

BUBBA LOVES OAHU AND SO DO I

THE WALLS AT BUBBA GUMP ARE FILLED WITH MEMORABILIA FROM THE MOVIE

YOU CAN LEARN ALL ABOUT THE MOVIE AT BUBBA GUMP

EVERY DETAIL OF THE MOVIE IS ON DISPLAY

YOU CAN READ PAGES OF THE SCRIPT

WATCH THE MOVIE RIGHT HERE AT THE RESTAURANT

GO RIGHT - LEFT OR STRAIGHT AND YOU WILL FIND DIFFERENT SEATING AREAS

ONE SEATING AREA LEADS TO ANOTHER

OUR TABLE HAD A GREAT VIEW

DRINK MENU IS ATTACHED TO A PING PONG PADDLE

BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP CO. MENU

APPETIZERS

SANDWICHES, SOUPS AND SALADS

YOU REALLY GOTTA LIKE SHRIMP TO DINE HERE

SHRIMP AND SEAFOOD ARE THE STARS AT BUBBA GUMP

SOME NON FRIED OPTIONS

FISH, STEAKS, RIBS AND EVEN JAMBALAYA

SOME GREAT LOOKING DESSERTS

EXTRA TOWELS, KETCHUP AND HOT SAUCE IN THE BUCKET

SHOW THIS LICENSE PLATE IF YOU WANT SERVICE

SHOW THIS ONE IF YOU ARE IN EATING MODE AND DO NOT WANT TO BE DISTURBED

ALL THE GIRLS ENJOYED THE SPECKLED STRAWBERRY LEMONADE

BEST EVER POPCORN SHIRMP

2/3 POUND NET CATCH SHRIMP WITH GARLIC

I LIKED THE BUBBA GUMP HOT SAUCE AND PUT IT ON EVERYTHING

SHRIMP MAC N' CHEESE

GRILLED FISH TACOS

SHRIMP PO' BOY

SIDE OF COLE SLAW IN PLACE OF FRENCH FRIES

SHRIMPER'S HEAVEN

SHRIMPER'S HEAVEN SERVED WITH COCKTAIL SAUCE, TEMPURA SAUCE
AND SWEET CHILE SAUCE

LARGE GIFT SHOP SELLS EVERYTHING BUBBA GUMP

BREAD + BUTTER

1585 KAPIOLANI BLVD

HONOLULU, HI 96814

808-949-3430

HOURS: Daily 7:00 AM - 9:00 PM

www.alohabreadbutter.com

The owners of the longtime successful Shokudo Restaurant on Kapiolani have designed a beautiful little restaurant and bar right next to Shokudo. Bread + Butter is their new venture and to tell you the truth, I do not know what to make of this place as it is a bit confusing. When you walk in there is no reception desk and it has kind of a coffee house feel. There is a bar, tables, Deli Counter, Take Out Counter and another counter near the kitchen. We walked around and did not know whether we should take a seat. Some of the staff smiled but nobody greeted us or told us what the concept was here. We finally realized that you order at the counter near the kitchen. Menus were on clip boards on the counter so we picked one up. We ordered the Margherita Pizza ($12.95). This was a very cheesy Margherita Pizza. So much cheese in fact it was all you could taste. I ate one slice and did not go back for a second. The Lobster Bisque Mac n' Cheese ($9.95) came out in a bubbling hot skillet and was a bit brown. The dish was super greasy and cheesy. There were some pieces of Lobster in the dish and you could really taste the Bisque. My Daughter enjoyed it. The Ham + Salami + Cheese Sandwich ($12) surprised me with its nice size. The taste however missed on all marks. First off they use a very soft sweet bread that does not go with the Italian meats. This sandwich needs to be on a Hoagie Roll or Baguette. The sandwich also needs some kind of dressing, sauce or condiment like mustard to add some flavor and maybe some lettuce for texture. Probably one of the blandest sandwiches I have ever tasted. I ate 1/4 of the sandwich and threw in the towel on this one. The salad served with the sandwich had so much dressing that the lettuce was actually soaked and limp. The Chicken Liver Pate +Truffle Oil ($7) was disgusting and non eatable. Again they used a soft bread. Pate needs a harder bread or even a cracker would be better. The taste of the Pate was fowl. It had an overpowering aftertaste that I am still trying to shake off. I think Bread + Butter has some good things on the menu and I would like to find them. The Wine Bar looks interesting and I may go back in the evening to enjoy a glass here. This place needs an identity. Seems like great location as the place was pretty filled at lunchtime. Good looking younger crowd.