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Yogurstory, a closer look
 Yogurstory Facebook page! |
 Tweets from Yogurstory Honolulu! |
 Yogurstory from Yelper's! |
Great interior shots from Pastor Dan! |
Ariel Chi with great shots! |
 Yogurstory from da Non-Stop Crew! |
Aloha!
3/22/11 - For sheer "Oooh's" and "Aaaah's" upon walking into any new eatery for the very first time, few places can rival Yogurstory on Rycroft St. Actually, the address listed is 815 Keeaumoku St., but the place is, for all intents and purposes, not accessible nor even visible from Keeaumoku St! Instead, from this main drag, turn Diamond Head on Rycroft at Sorabol Korean restaurant, and only then can you turn left into the large 2-story building you see here:
Mahalo's to my good Yelp-buddy Jerry S. for informing me about this place several months ago. His GF Ariel Chi, link above, runs a great foodie website where you can check out more shots here at Yogurstory and much, much more!
While most of the "Oooh's" and "Aaah's" for this relatively new cafe are reserved for after walking in, the building itself, though quite impressive in sheer size, isn't the most design-friendly in comparison. In fact, the place looks a bit warehouse-ish, even, as the drab, tan-colored walls come with about as much personality as a Costco or Wal-Mart, the only features breaking the monotony being the logo sign and a single row of umbrella'd tables. It's all about functionality, yes?
But forget functionality once inside! Instead of using 2 whole stories of practical floor space, the top floor is gutted in place of a high, very dramic ceiling dominated by a way-cool lighting feature. The Asian/European look as a whole brings an aesthetic combining smart, modern, part-minimalist designs along with a touch of cutesiness embedded here and there.
Only problem is, I really didn't do this interior much justice. For a bunch of better angles and an over-all better look, check out any or all the above links. There's a ton of good'ns!
According to Melissa Chang and the other excellent band of reporters at Non-Stop, there's a very interesting tidbit of info regarding the unique name here - Yogurstory was actually a spelling faux pas that was detected only after it was too late to make changes! And there's a reason it sits in the Koreamoku vicinity and is popular with many Asians, as it's a Korean-owned joint and similiar to spots found throughout Asia.
Yogurstory is the name, but during my two visits, I saw not one individual step up to the self-service yogurt bar, not even to take a look-see! It's a shame, too, as it looks pretty darn good to me if you're into yogurt. There's all kinds of flavors and the counter of toppings is clean, colorful, and full of every kind of foo-foo sweet stuff you could ever hope for:
Yogurstory is popular with college folks, who love the stylish decor as well as the use of free wi-fi, which you access by a password given through anyone on staff. Jolting, awakening coffee also helps with studies, too, although I do have one word of warning - it tastes like someone extracted just the sugar out of both a Starbuck's frap and McDonald's iced latte and incorporated it into a single cup! Not saying I didn't enjoy it, though, as there was a deep, yet non-bitter, fresh-roasted kind of taste in the grinds that was excellent in every way. A few steps back on the sweet stuff, though, and I'd be coming back waaay more often.
Here's a chocolate macadamia nut, a white chocolate macadamia nut, and a passion fruit iced tea:
But this ain't no sissy joint serving only latte's, yogurt, velvet cupcakes, and designer tea's for sipping. Besides all the above, there's a rather eclectic, ambitious menu of Asian, French, and American influences, encompassing an array of salads, sandwiches, omelets, benny's, waffles, and even a fat pig fried rice featuring bacon, ham, and pork adobo! I hear the croissant sandwiches are great, with a fluffy-light, buttery breading and a mix of different stuffing options.
Omelets are a big part of the menu here, and Kumi went with one of the more healthy options:
Yep, that-there's a caprese omelet ($9.75), full of fresh basil, tomato, mozzarella cheese, roasted garlic, a dressing of balsamic vinegar, and a wrap of 3 whole eggs that were a bit on the firm, dense side.
Herbed potatoes, which come with most omelets and benny's, were probably the weakest link we've found, as they were dry and starchy inside. Small fruit and vegetable garnishes were cool, though, just for a touch of care and presentation's sake.
The man behind the menu here is a pastry chef from Wes Zane and Elmer Arcano's family of restaurants, and you can tell he's got the skills. Mom's Santa Monica Benedict ($10.95) was a thing of beauty!
Sitting on the same herbed potatoes and a Mexican baguette called bolillo, it comes with ham, spinach, asparagus, poached egg, and garlic basil hollandaise. As with many versions of eggs benedict, the bread base was a bit on the hard side, prompting mom to use a knife, but it's usually better that way since it has to sufficiently stand-up to the sauce, as well as a perfectly runny egg yolk:
My personal favorite is their eggs la Jolla ($9.95). For anyone at home who loves the combination of chopped bacon and mushrooms with whatever else (particularly shrimp!), you're gonna love this dish! The same type of bolillo bread actually comes topped with your choice of all veggie, beef, ham, chicken breast, or bacon, but c'mon now - you gotta go with da pig fat!!!
It's basically a kind of rich stir-fry ladled over bread, then topped with an over-easy egg. With all these great ingredients, you just can't go wrong!
Waffles are another large part of their menu, and varieties like a red carpet (red velvet w/taro cream cheese), West Hollywood (oreo w/white chocolate mousse), sweet potato (w/coconut haupia sauce), and Belgian provide some of the fanciest waffle presentations anywhere! Our Dolce de Luche was love at first sight!
A stunner for sure, it comes topped with caramel, dolce sauce, pecan pretzel bits, whipped cream, and a caramelized half-banana. Our first impressions, however, were tempered a bit after digging in. The use of pretzels was a tiny bit cheesy compared with the other excellent ingredients, and the waffles themselves seemed to have been cooked, then left in storage for quite some time. Had the waffles been fresh, I'm sure this would have been absolutely killer!
The banana on-top was caramelized masterfully, producing a crispy-sweet finish on its flat side, while the rest was left in its own natural glory. Nice touch!
Make sure you check out the the links above if you wanna see shots of the other great waffle types and more, particularly on Yelp, where there are literally hundreds of pics!
If you want a sure chick-pleaser kind of place, Yogurstory will not fail you. The cutesy-cool atmosphere, beautifully presented dishes, that jolting buzz of caffeine - perfect for gazing into eachothers eyes and talking the day or night away! Don't think this place is only for lovers and young people, though - there is a healthy mix of students, middle ager's, and grandparents, all sharing in the benefits of such a spacious, casual, and attractive spot.
Before leaving, allow me to shift gears and quickly divulge about our evening at Indigo's the other night. What I thought was a quiet talk-story with a couple of friends somehow turned into an experience I hadn't seen in 15-20 years, and never thought I'd see again, actually!
It was couple's night out, and we had a great time over shooters, poke, sliders, deep-fried calamari, Kona Fire Rock's, and $4 martini's in the dark room at Indigo's. But what was the commotion outside? I get up to take a look on the street, and there's cops out and seemingly the entire island walking about! Whaaat???
Silly me, I'm so old, I figured since it was St. Patty's Day, maybe we could walk down to Murphy's Irish Grill or Irish-themed JJ Dolan's Pizza house later in the evening. Nothing happening. We couldn't even get near an entrance, as we'd have to fight the crowds, shoulder to shoulder, just to get there! Yep, you got it.... BLOCK PARTY!!! Dang it, I knew St. Patty's was a mad house Downtown, but for some reason, I really didn't even think about it before-hand.
And we didn't even venture into the heart of the party, on closed Bethel St, where there were live bands, leprechaun hats, lots of Guinness, and no shortage of drunken revelers at every turn!
Me, I'm not one of those guys that gets upset about people staring at their girlfriends or wives - it actually makes me feel good, like, "Dass' right, brah, she's wit' me!" Just as long as they don't start cat-calling or begin other outwardly disrespectful ooglings, of course, at which time we'd have a big problem on our hands right there. Both the pretty ladies above definitely have lots and lots of first-hand experience with gawking guys, and it was they that saw danger coming and weren't too keen on the idea of copious amounts of alcohol and an overflowing surplus of raging male hormones out there! Instead, we decide to hit Bar 35 for what I thought would be over 100 different types of beers and some of the best pizza on the island. Once again, silly me, I'm so old I didn't even realize that the long line outside and $5 cover charge meant only one thing - FULL-BLOWN NIGHTCLUB!!! Turns out, our little Latino cutie-friend is a bit of a club girl, being much younger than Kumi or I, and she gets us all in free of charge and right away! Once inside, I didn't even know what hit me. The speakers were so loud each bass note blew the hat right off of my head! It felt like an underground techno scene from Terminator or some Hollywood movie, and us guys quickly found a little corner to escape the insanity while our better halves whooped it up on the dance floor!
Yeah, it was a lot of fun, but uh... I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon!
Hey, you all have yourselves a great week, and whatever your flavor is, have fun and be safe! Take care and aloha till next time!
Aku
Yogurstory
815 Keeaumoku St.
942-0505
8am-10pm daily
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