New restaurants offer promising vegetarian options

Ask and ye shall receive. I've long bemoaned the dearth of vegetarian restaurants in Honolulu. All of a sudden we have two new options, both opened over summer.

Good for the Soul

I think a lot of people were surprised when Sean Priester left his long-standing, lofty perch at The Top of Waikiki to roll out his lunchwagon Soul Patrol.

Burger master is key ingredient

By the time I stopped into Honolulu Burger Co. a few days after its opening, another food writer about town was on her second visit and, being mostly on the same page about food, I found she'd come to the same conclusion as me, proclaiming a "New No. 1" burger in town.

Sightless dining challenges tastebuds

It's said that if you lose one sense, other senses make up for it. That turned out to be true at Formaggio Grill in ways expected and unexpected. The restaurant has been testing a fun monthly series called Dining in the Dark, which has proved to be a hit with culinary adventurers willing to put their tastebuds to the test by eating dinner blindfolded for a very sensual, multisensory experience.

Gaan gets back to sushi's origins

You're going to have to work to find Gaan Sushi, but for sushi purists, it's worth the expedition.

Anger is good for the menu at Ah-Lang

The last thing I wanted to do was rile the owner of Ah-Lang Korean restaurant, but there I was, at the end of dinner, with no means of paying. Not only had I forgotten my wallet at home and, therefore, all cash, credit and bank cards, but so had my dinner guest.

Benefits of branding

The corner of Keeaumoku and King streets would seem to be prime real estate, but there has been little on the mauka side to persuade pau hana commuters to stop continuing on their merry way.

Seafood a second thought at Tairyo

To glance upon Izakaya Tairyo is to come close to witnessing an ukiyo-e print spring to life in 3-D. The art form's Golden Age was from 1603 to 1868, when Edo, a small fishing village chosen to be the capital of the Tokugawa shogunate, grew into a city bustling with culture, arts and commerce.

Exotic excursion

One measure of a restaurant's appeal is the distance people are willing to travel to be there. Restaurateurs from Hawaii Kai to Kailua will proudly proclaim that people drive in from as far away as Waianae and Pearl City to eat at their establishments.

Mexican flair returns

In the hospital immediately following his second daughter's birth, Luis Silva was calling me, not to announce, "It's a girl," but to gush about his other baby, Luibueno's Mexican & Seafood Restaurant.