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Choco House, a closer look
Aloha!
9/16/09 - I'm beginning to like Waikiki. I'm reeeaaally beginning to like Waikiki. I mean, sometimes, it's almost like the feeling you get walking down a side-street in Tokyo or Osaka, where at any moment, without any fanfare whatsoever, in a seemingly barren or empty-little nook or cranny in the road, a tiny restauraunt or shop you've never heard of before can pop-out of the woods at any given time. Granted, of course, it's not nearly on the scale of any large city in Japan, or Asia in general, as one can walk across the span of Waikiki in a matter of 25-30 minutes, but yet, notwithstanding, there are still plenty of secrets to be revealed when one looks hard enough!
A few months ago, I grabbed a pizza from King's Pub at the Monarch Hotel, and several months ago, in the same hotel, wifey and I also had breakfast at the Creme Pot, one of the best breakfast houses on the island. However, there's yet a third restaurant within these same grounds, one that caters mostly to Japanese visitors, but also to a smattering of in-the-know locals. Before I give you a couple of entrance shots from this spot, called Choco-House, here's a quick look at the main tower of the hotel:
This place is actually a condo-tel, and one of the most inexpensive in Waikiki, too, so there's a healthy mix of residents as well as tourists around. Such being the case, the atmosphere is a bit more budget-conscious than glitzier hotels like the Hilton, Sheraton, or Hyatt, being somewhere in the mid-range of the look-and-fell scale, perhaps, I dunno, like a '70-ish, or perhaps '80-ish, older-variety Outrigger or Aston (before some of their properties recently received their multi-million dollar renovations!). The grounds, however, are actually pretty darn large when going by Waikiki standards, so it can't be no dump struggling to get by, not by any means.
The entrance at Choco-House, for one, is certainly '70 or '80-ish, that's for sure, with tacky Waikiki props in full bloom - lava-rock walls, make-shift bamboo, Christmas lights, neon signs, and, most of all, tiki statue's!
That's quite the gen'rous offer they got-there on that banner. $6 draft? You gotta be kidding? Yeah, that's only on Tuesday's, but $12 pitchers are a pretty darn good deals in themselves, and that's not even the full story! Each and every evening, draft mugs of what looked like 12 oz. Kirin or Michelob Amber Bach's went for an incredible $2.75! And that's not Happy Hour prices, either! Likewise, regular prices on shochu, sake, wine, plum wine, and more are priced as inexpensively as I've seen anywhere, including individual pours of Kubota Senju (sake) for $8.50! Of course, it's not Kubota Manju, which is probably the smoothest, classiest sake you'll ever have, but still, very high-end and super-smooth. Talk about a great place to enjoy a few rounds! While there are seats outside, inside, and around a cool-little sushi bar, which we'll soon see, there's also a surprisingly large area for separate rooms, each divided by thin bamboo-screen walls for more privacy, making it perfect for small parties of 4-8 or so people:
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For tonight, forget about the high-maka-maka (snotty, arrogant, high-nosed, etc...) spots - this particular place is very much casual all the way around, with a hole-in-the-wall, cubby-hole type of atmosphere that's fun, festive, and happy - one that mixes old Waikiki with a touch of kawaii-cute Japanese. With pictures like these on the wall, you can probably get a good idea of what I'm talking about:
If you were wondering, like me, what kind of izakaya incorporates chocolate in their restaurant, this pic reveals that we've actually been searching in the wrong direction! I guess Choco is really a dog, and a surfing one, at that! Well, I don't know if we should read that deeply into the pic, but I know one thing for sure - every single one of the workers here, including our hostess (maybe owner?), sport bronzed-up bodies and bleached-blond hair (even though they're all Japanese!) like only a person surfing daily, or almost daily, can be! You get the feeling that the whole shop spends the entire day in the waves, then arrives at night to make sushi. Forget about ESPN - the television set plays only Japanese surf movies and videos all night long!
Here's a look at some of these Chefs in their evening element, all of whom are young, laid-back, and look perfectly contented and happy being in Hawaii, so close the the waves:
I used to be a bit intimidated sitting up-close at the sushi bar, but nowadays, I would'nt have it any other way! It's always fun to see all the action behind the counter, and if there's anything special that evening, you'll always know about it.
Here's an eye-level view from our seats. Actually, scratch that - it's more like chest-level:
The first thing we selected, after our Kirin draft, was a sashimi platter, full of your normal cast of characters, including salmon, ahi, some type of whitefish, octopus, squid, and hokkigai (surf clam), along with garnishes of shiso leaf, shredded daikon, and lemon. Conspicuous in its absence, though, was hamachi, or yellowtail.
Another fish dish they had on this particularly fabulous night was a katsuo tataki, katsuo meaning bonito and tataki deriving from a method of flash-searing the outsides of a fish or other protein, then serving it with various vegetables like shredded daikon, shiso leaf, myoga (Japanese ginger), sliced garlic (in this case slightly pickled), and green onion, along with a soy or ponzu dip. The flesh of this fish has a darker hue to it, and besides being used as the dried, aged, flaked flavoring for so many Japanese dishes, it is also a popular fish for pan-frying in other parts of the world. Served tataki-style, this was not a bad dish at all:
Check 'em mo' close:
The next two items were a bit of a disappointment, although I must say, not one we were particularly in shock and awe over, but kinda half-expecting. Wow - loaded statement, ey? What am I implying, you ask? Well... I guess there is one thing you oughta know about Choco House, and that is that, hey, this is a casual, kick-back kind of place, allright? A good uni (sea urchin) and a good ikura (salmon roe) are high-value tickets, so it's only natural that they won't always be of the best grade or quality. Nope - this is a hole-in-the-wall kind of place where you come to unwind, kick-off your shoes, and relax with a cold draft and fresh ahi, salmon, or flounder; not a place to dress-up and impress someone with cognac, truffles, and caviar.
Wifey managed to handle the ikura, but the uni was just waaay not fresh enough:
But the funniest, most unusual circumstance of the evening centered around our order of huli-huli chicken. Looking kinda out-of-place on a menu chock-full of traditional and modern Japanese choices, I knew I had to try it, if, for nothing else, just out of curiosity. Turns out, it was actually delicious - but that's not the funny, nor unusual, part of the story.
Now, I could be wrong, but I swears, this was a taste I recognized from somewhere before. The fall-apart tender meat, the way the bone sections tore from eachother so easily, the thin, brittle, but highly-flavored skin - could it be... Costco/Sam's Club? Foodland, maybe? I mean, once again, I could be wrong, but judging by the way it came out so quickly, with the deep penetration of salty flavors, and simply by the nature of everything else on the menu, which was either raw or quickly-cooked by seemingly simpler methods, it made me instantly question whether or not they cooked it themselves, in their own burners.
But in the end, who cares, right? Like I said, this is a very economical, laid-back place, and with about 800 million of these rotisserie-style, whole chickens being sold across the country every year, it's gotta be a taste we know and love no matter what! Serve me this in a French or Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurant, and I'd see to it that that Chef gets thrown into prison, but here at a place like this, and at $4.50 per serving, I'm nothing but happy, happy! Supermarket-style rotisserie chicken rocks every time! Well, I guess I should say almost every time, lest I contradict my own statements above!
Another dish often coming straight out of the container is mozuku, a highly-nutritious seaweed (aren't all seaweeds highly nutritious?) most often found sitting in a vinegar-based marinade and coming in small, sealed, individual-sized cups. This thin, stringy variety of seaweed is even being touted as a potent destroyer of the E.Coli bacteria, among other things!
One of the delicacies found all over Japan and very much beloved there, but conspicuously rather absent here, is sazae, or turban. It looks like a giant snail, and is usually thrown whole and directly on a grill, then simply plucked-out and eaten with a stick or small fork. You can still find it here in the islands once in a while, and when it's available, you can be sure wifey is gonna order it. Zenshu on Kapahulu Ave. was one place that carried it, and probably had one of the more memorable presentations we've seen, arriving on an alcohol-sprinked bed of salt, pre-cut, and in full flame:
Here at Choco House, the presentation wasn't nearly as fancy, with no shell provided at all, but the taste itself was excellent, and much easier to eat, I might add! It was perfect for me, too, as this plate had not one sign of guts at all, but rather was full of abalone-like, clean shellfish meat drizzled in a ponzu sauce. Dee-lish!
As the evening progressed, that once-empty sushi bar we first encountered was no longer recognizable, as every seat there was completely taken soon afterwards. Actually, if they tore down those bamboo dividers, and you counted the tables both outside and inside, it really is quite a large area, but it's the separation of rooms that makes it feel smaller and cozier. It all made for a really festive atmosphere, like a seaside restaurant in a small, countryside fishing village or something, and I was quite surprised seeing so many good folk patronizing such a relatively unknown spot. Word-of-mouth is often powerful when you have a good thing going, yes?
As wifey and I were finishing-up our meal, a flaming tray, literally, arrived just across the sushi counter, so I took a harried snap. It was a seafood dynamite, that mayo-covered mix of seafood so well-loved in the islands. I mean, you can't go wrong with mayo, right? Makes everything taste better, as far as I'm concerned!
Aaah, so many places to try; so many precious gems to uncover! When will this quest ever end? When is enough enough?
You know, after all this time doing this site, there's yet so many styles of cuisine that I have no clue about. You can probably tell I'm familiar with the Asian side more than anything else, especially Japanese, but I guess that's the fun and great thing about it, at least for me. Any time we're learning and growing, it's always a sign of a healthy interest, and new-found knowledge and wisdom is what keeps us flexible, well-balanced, and most of all - young as a spring chicken! Forget the rocking chair and the porch, or even ESPN and the couch - I wanna touch, feel, hear, smell, see, and yes, taste everything out there, first-hand, before I shrivel-up and die without a fight!
I guess the reason I'm dwelling on my lack of experience right now is because I've had a couple of conversations in the last few days that have shed a glaring light on how little I really know on certain subjects. Not that I've ever claimed to have known so much in the first place, however, especially in regards to the subject of these two particular conversations, which was about authentic Southern food. You know, good 'ol American bbq, Cajun, stuff like that?
Without saying much more on the matter, I'll let you know what I'm talking about next time, when we visit a new Southern food specialist on the island...
And hey, sorry 'bout the interruption the other day - I've been more than happy with my web host provider, but dang, this is the third time service has been interrupted, and one of those times it happened was on the very morning of my appearance on KGMB's Sunrise Morning Show! They wanted to flash pictures of the site as we were talking, but noooo.... Talk about bad timing! No worries, hopefully there'll be more opportunities in the future, but either way, I have not a worry in the world, cuz' I'm having fun doing what I'm doing, no matter what happens!
Hope you're all having a great and wonderful week so far!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
Comments:
Georgette S (12/21/10) excellent review! I seen this car in front of me with choco house on its window, so I googled and found this review. Mahalo!
Aku (12/22/10) Thanks Georgette!
Yeah, Choco House is probably the cheapest izakaya/sushi house on the island! I love the place! A little inconsistent on the higher-ticket stuff like uni and ikura, but for the price, you can't go wrong.
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