Some recent food notes..

I haven't had time for any real writeups, but in the past couple of months I've had a Taco Bell taco with bacon on it(gross), ribs(not great, but edible) and "breakfast shots"(ok except for the cheese sauce. excellent packaging) at Burger King and other fast food disasters, but at the moment, I would like to mention a couple of local-to-Lafayette eateries.

First and foremost, I'd like to publicly state how much of a ripoff the Great Wall Chinese buffet near SR52 and Union is. I've only eaten there 2 times. The first was pretty good, and it was a little expensive, but within the realm of reality - around 8 bucks. I went last night, and had some decent, but standard chinese buffet food, but got a bill for $19 something. When I asked, I was informed that the buffet was $18 and the rest was the cost of a drink. I don't know how exactly this happened, but I can't imagine they would be as busy as they were if it was 18 bucks for a buffet. especially when En Lai has a better one and it's only $5. Either way, never going back there again.

Second, I've had some good sushi experiences lately. Unfortunately, the Bluefin Grill ended their all you can eat lunch sushi deal, but as a result, I found myself going to Ah-Z at Chauncey hill a lot. Ah-Z totally sucked the first time I ate there, but has improved vastly. The rolls are big, the rice is not to dry and the price is reasonable. They've also got a pretty good chicken katsu bento that comes with a salad, soup, and a couple pieces of tempura.

I also finally had a chance to stop in Maru sushi recently. It wasn't super upscale, but it's a nice place. I had an avocado and cucumber roll and a couple pieces of maguro. It was very fresh, and I got some soup and a couple of sides with it. The staff were super nice and the sushi menu was one of the larger ones I've seen. Definitely headed back there soon.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the Green Sprout. It's a cool little pan-asian bakery / eatery right across the street from Maru. I've been there several times and really like it. Of primary interest is their Baru sushi, which is kind of like a sushi salad served in a bowl. It's got rice at the bottom with sushi components like cucumber, imitation crab, fried egg, nori, etc piled up on top of it. It also comes with optional spicy mayo, wasabi sauce and a sweet soy sauce. It was altogether pretty awesome, and much to my pleasure they also have kimchi! They have a lot of other dishes I'm anxious to try.

Food review - Hawaiian Hut

I'm not sure if it's got something to do with the economy or other factors, but I just haven't been seeing many interesting developments in the world of fast food. As such, the fast food portion of my blog is shifting more towards the intermediate, sit-down, but still fast restaurants that seem to be popping up around here lately.

So today I am reviewing the Hawaiian Hut. Located at the River Road and State street intersection between Green Leaf and Kibu cafe, The Hawaiian Hut is as the name suggests, Hawaiian cuisine.. apparently. I say apparently because I don't really know what Hawaiian food is like. The menu seems to be mostly made up of a meat item served with rice and fruit. There are also a few salads, barbecue ribs and grilled salmon, etc. It seems like this is the only restaurant of the chain, but they have a franchise link on their site, so maybe more will come.

I was unsure what to get so I took the cashiers advice and hat the Teri Hamburger Steak in the smaller size. It consisted of two small hamburger patties cooked in a very weak teriyaki sauce with a pineapple ring on each. The burgers were served on a bed of diced avocado, mango and tomato with a side of rice and some raw pineapple slices. Everything was about as one would expect. In fact I think I was a little let down that it wasn't any weirder than it was. It was all tasty though. I think the avocado and mango were the best part for me.



The bottom line is that Hawaiian Hut has some pretty good food, but the value (nine dollars and change for a small meal and drink) is not really there. I think the bright simulated cabana decor might be a draw for the place, especially on a cold day like this, but the price tag still seems a little off when you consider that I can totally pig out next door at Kibu for less. Still, definitely worth a try, and could be a nice place for dates, etc.

Hawaiian Hut Teri Hamburger Steak - 7/10 stars

Unlimited sushi rolls?

I am somewhat apologetic that my food bloggings have drifted towards the local lately, but I must admit that not much in the realm of fast food chains has really interested me much lately.

So anyway, another local item of interest - the Bluefin Bistro in downtown Lafayette has been doing unlimited sushi rolls for lunch the past couple of weeks. At a $7.95 buy-in, I had to give it a shot. I'll save an overall review for another time after I've had a regular meal there, but for the purposes of this post, I will say that the place is still pretty nice, albeit pretty empty. The wait staff was helpful and not annoying, and the food was more than I'd expect for $8 all you can eat.

That said, the sushi wasn't _awesome_; merely good. I suspect the lunch special changes things a little, but overall, the rice was a little more dry than I prefer, and the rolls contents were a little skimpy. The special menu consisted of pretty much the standards, with the biggest outlier being the Bistro roll which was asparagus tempura. The rest of the regular menu was somewhat adventurous.

Regardless of the quality, the value is pretty darned good. I recommend checking it out, and I'll definitely be going back to try their full menu.

Bluefin Bistro Lunch Special - 8/10