Although I'm missing my children, grandchildren and friends on the mainland, life here in Hawaii soon came to the rescue. Dinner with our friends in our tai chi class had been scheduled before we left for the mainland.
It was Craig and Terry's turn to choose the restaurant this time.
They chose Hot Pot Heaven at the Pearl Kai shopping center. None of us had been there, but a coupon for "Buy 1, Get 1 BROTH FREE" lured us there.
Since one broth cost about $10, it was helpful.
I wasn't sure at all what to expect.
OK...
The instructions had us choosing our broth first. Art chose the Mushroom, while I decided to be a bit daring and chose the Seafood which is supposed to be a bit (Cajun) spicy.
Next, we chose our meat. You can do vegetarian too, of course.
Then we went to the refrigerator and chose what we wanted to put into the broth. Plates were color coded by price. The price of your dinner could go up pretty quickly if you went too crazy with the ingredients.
Then you added it to a divided cooking pot. Art liked his mushroom broth. He thought my seafood broth was too spicy. It was still good. I just borrowed some of his mushroom broth and added it to mine.
It wasn't super expensive, but even with the coupon our bill (with tax and 20% tip) was $39.08. And it was worth it. We had a fabulous evening. They never rushed us, even though the place was packed on a Thursday evening.
So yes, we're missing our mainland life, but friends sure do make the separations less painful.
They chose Hot Pot Heaven at the Pearl Kai shopping center. None of us had been there, but a coupon for "Buy 1, Get 1 BROTH FREE" lured us there.
Since one broth cost about $10, it was helpful.
I wasn't sure at all what to expect.
OK...
The instructions had us choosing our broth first. Art chose the Mushroom, while I decided to be a bit daring and chose the Seafood which is supposed to be a bit (Cajun) spicy.
Next, we chose our meat. You can do vegetarian too, of course.
Then we went to the refrigerator and chose what we wanted to put into the broth. Plates were color coded by price. The price of your dinner could go up pretty quickly if you went too crazy with the ingredients.
So yes, we're missing our mainland life, but friends sure do make the separations less painful.
It all looks wonderful but I am the persons who likes to sit down, order food to be carried to me, eat the food and leave. Well yes I would pay firsts. You even use energy when you go out to eat.
ReplyDeleteIt does look wonderful. I'd sure like a place like this to have dinner, but it's not available anywhere! :-)
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean since I travel back and forth between two places. Family and friends make either place home, but there is always that little tug on the heart for those who are someplace else.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had so much fun!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an entertaining way to eat out. I can imagine the cost could rise steeply.
ReplyDeleteIf the food was good this could be a great place to eat. But I love interesting Asian food. They are getting away from paying for wait staff and soon all restaurants will have machines waiting on us via a table-top computer.
ReplyDeleteThe menu and coolers remind me of an asian grocery store here Daisy likes to frequent. It has it's own mini-restaurant inside as well
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you get to cook your own food too? I'd try this.
ReplyDeleteThat looked like a fun experience as well as a good meal. I like the idea.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful and you are right about friends. I always think of mine as our second family.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you all had a great outing, spending time with good friends is THE BEST! Can't say that I'd want to fix my own food though, except maybe at a buffet where everything is already cooked...maybe, I think??! LOL
ReplyDeleteThat is active eating! Looks like a huge amount of food too.
ReplyDeleteI love those hot pot places! My favorite during lunch is Ichiriki because you get everything for one price. The shio pikari is spicy and tasty and my favorite.
ReplyDeleteYou will have old friends and make new friends wherever you go.
We are in Seattle now with family. Today we are going on a shopping spree. I could live here quite happily, but I'm in love with Hawaii. We do get to visit pretty often and we do have realatives on the Big Island as well as some very good friends. We don't have the great variety of places to eat out that Honolulu and Seattle do, though. That place looks really fun.
ReplyDelete