All places to satisfy all your senses

Fishcake (307 Kamani St.) opened along with Ward Village’s South Shore Market in 2016 as a gallery supporting Oahu’s young artists and designers.

It has since added another category, incubator of restaurants. It started with the addition of a coffee bar to provide shoppers with refreshment if needed. Eventually, the coffee bar disappeared and in its place came a steady lineup of about 10 food purveyors operating during lunch hours until they sell out. Here’s a small taste of what you can expect.

C4 Table by Colin Hazama

I’ve never been shy about touting chef Colin Hazama as one of my favorites in Honolulu, to the point that he must feel like running in the opposite direction when he sees me, because immediately the nagging and whining begins: “When are you going to open your own restaurant?”

If he could clone himself, it would happen tomorrow. But alas, he would find himself caught between running a kitchen and dining room, as well as catering jobs, and, for him, it would be difficult to find a lieutenant who could live up to his exacting nature as he tries to fulfill all commitments.

At least for now, we have him in this intimate setting where we can enjoy his dishes at low overhead prices every Wednesday.

Recently, I was craving good spaghetti, which is extremely difficult to find at a medium price point. After a monthlong search I found it here and it was so satisfying.

So what went into this spaghetti ($16)? It was a Pono Provisions pork and lamb red wine reduction bolognese with Honshimeji mushrooms, crispy fried kale and Parmesan snow.

Also on the menu that day was Malaysian beef rendang over lemongrass rice ($19) and a bigeye ahi tostada ($17) with coconut-avocado mousse, Ho Farms pico de gallo and shaved cabbage slaw.

On other days, you might find a chirashi bowl ($20) with bigeye ahi, crab, cold- smoked hamachi, sake-cured New Zealand king salmon, ikurazuke, shibazuke and shichimi ponzu; or Pono Provisions carnitas tacos with Ewa sweet corn, black bean relish, radish cabbage slaw, blistered pico de gallo, Asian guacamole and chipotle lime crema.

There’s a lot of diversity from week to week and menus are available through the chef’s Instagram account (@c4_table).

As for liquid refreshment, his vanilla yuzu soda is so addictive, flavored with vanilla beans he’s growing in his yard.

The C4 Table pop-ups run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Wednesday, although some have learned to place advance orders because some dishes sell out by 1 p.m.

Shima-ya

Ryne Shimabukuro of Shima-ya pops up at Fishcake every Saturday, alternating between serving his housemade udon or hand-pulled Sichuan-style biang biang noodles.

He grew up with his mom’s cooking, but on the rare occasion that his family went out to eat, his restaurant of choice was always Jimbo’s, where he loved the udon noodles.

His passion for udon eventually led the former Kapiolani Community College culinary student to Japan to study the art of noodle-making.

I’ve always loved the thick, chewy texture of udon as well and Shimabukuro’s handmade noodles deliver.

You might find it topped with the Okinawan-style braised pork belly, rafute, in hot broth ($17), or fishcake in hot or cold broth ($11). You can start with a side of pickled bittermelon ($2).

If your timing is good, you may catch the chef at work creating his noodles from scratch, whether rolling out the dough, cutting into the udon, or slapping and tearing into his biang biang noodles. It’s wonderful to witness the process of food made from scratch.

Shima-ya pops up from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, or until he sells out.

Chillest

As a treat after enjoying Shima-ya noodles, Chillest, run by the owners of the former Ailana Shave Ice, sets up for dessert from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays at Fishcake.

Although they would love to find another permanent location, for now they’re happy to see old friends and meet new ones, bringing smiles with their housemade syrups.

Basic flavors like strawberry, vanilla and banana cream run $5. It’s $6 for house flavors such as strawberry milk, mango, haupia and POG, and $7 for specialty flavors such as matcha.

For added flavor, you can add a sweet snow cap of condensed milk or chocolate drizzle.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant visits are unannounced and paid for by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Follow Nadine on Instagram (@nadinekam) or on YouTube (youtube.com/nadinekam).