Armed with large appetites and an urge to try out a few of their items, I opted for Combo Set A ($8.25) while my girlfriend got the shrimp fried rice ($7.50).  Now for $8.25, my combo was supposed to include a mini ramen, mini fried rice, and 4 pieces of gyoza (pan-fried pork and vegetable dumplings).  I certainly wasn’t expecting much, especially for the price, and started to wonder how small “mini” sizes actually were.  To my surprise, the “mini” items were actually fairly sized!

My ramen was an entire bowl with noodles, a slice of roast pork, fishcake, and green onions.  Nothing out of the ordinary for ramen, but bowls this size normally go for at least $6.00 elsewhere.  It also included very hot and tasty chicken fried rice, which included a variety of toppings, such as eggs, green onions, chicken, and vegetables.  Again, it was a pretty sizable portion, and it was definitely enough to eat for lunch by itself.  To top it off, I also received 4 pieces of gyoza, which, on it’s own was already a $2.25 side order option.  Mostly filled with cabbage and a little bit of pork, the gyoza was pretty good with a slightly crispy but chewy exterior.

The shrimp fried rice was ENORMOUS!  I just couldn’t believe the size of this dish.  It was just like the mini fried rice, but around 3-4 times its size.  The shrimp was actually pretty good and was crunchy without being chewy.  The shrimp gave the fried rice a less saltier taste compared to my pork fried rice, but was good nonetheless.  My girlfriend was only able to finish 1/4 of this dish and was stuffed.  When we asked for a to-go box, it filled up so quickly, it seriously looked like we ordered take-out and none of it was eaten.

The service was actually so-so.  The staff was generally very nice, but they didn’t really come around to serve you nor fill your water.  It would be more understandable if the restaurant was completely packed, but with it around 70% full, I was only able to get my water filled once.  It was also generally difficult to grab their attention to fill my water…maybe they were understaffed?

In addition, when they seated us, they didn’t give us any menus, and I had to walk to the counter to pick them up myself.  And when the bill finally came, we weren’t sure whether to pay up front or wait for them to pick up our bill.  Fortunately, they were all kind and apologetic, so I attributed these oversights since they were new to Hawaii Kai.  I would definitely return to Ramen-Ya, especially if I want large portions of tasty food at bargain prices!

House Without a Key is located very near to Orchids, and has seating that is open to the ocean, capturing both the rolling waters and the nice breeze.  Eating here definitely doesn’t make me want to return to work!

First of all, service was great.  The hostess promptly seated us, and the staff was courteous as ever.  They also promptly take your order with a smile.  They also give you a basket of dinner rolls and lavosh.  The dinner rolls were pretty basic, but the lavosh was delicious!  Some were thin and others were thick, but the crispiness of the lavosh and a dash of salt kept me yearning back for more!  The only drawback from the service is that they take quite a while to notice and refill your drinks, whether it was water, soda, or iced tea.  A couple of times, we had to call the waiter/waitress over to refill our drinks.

Other than that, the food was absolutely delicious.  My girlfriend ordered the arugula and Big Island goat cheese salad.  Being a huge fan of goat cheese from our trips to Maui, she definitely looked forward to this salad.  The salad came with a maui onion marmalade, sherry vinaigrette, and deep fried goat cheese.  Though on the smaller side, this $14 salad definitely tasted fresh, and the goat cheese really made this salad worthwhile.

She had also tried the vegetable panini, and for $17, the panini consisted of tomato, mozzarella, roasted vegetable, arugula on ciabatta bread.  She got it with a side of salad instead of fries of chips, but they were nice enough to give us a basket of chips for free.

I opted for the panini, which consisted of salami, prosciutto, provolone cheese, arugula, ciabatta bread with a side salad, which also cost $17.  The panini was pretty good, but the prosciutto was a bit on the tougher end.  Though the taste of the salami and prosciutto was nice and salty, and mixed with the pressed ciabatta bread, it was definitely a delight.  My girlfriend liked the vegetable panini and noted that it was better than the panini at Nordstrom Cafe.  Though a bit more expensive, the side salad and service definitely made up for the difference in price.

I also had tried their House Without a Key burger.  For $19, you get a burger with angus beef, bacon, avocado, provolone cheese on a parmesan bun.  This burger was absolutely delicious!  I would definitely come back and have their burger, but all the food was so good, that I plan on trying their other menu items!

“Did you see that?” was one tentative response and another was “Let’s get out there.” My gut instinct was to get out there. The swell was on the decline from yesterdays reading 10ft @ 18 seconds, the wind was light, and judging by that set, there was still a chance to catch a bomb.

The first 20 minutes was filled with a long lull and then things slowly got going. Hawaiian charger Keali’i Mamala was putting his 12 ft SUP to work and catching anything that came through. He managed to sneak into a barrel on the corner. Natty Graham from NYsea Productions captured the following footage from a jet ski in the channel.

Will and Cliff Skudin from team NYsea were having a good exchange and enjoying the glassy morning conditions.

The wind picked up mid morning and so did the bombs. Trevor Carlson got a few out the back as well as on the head and was stoked to be wearing a tow vest.

Nathan Fletcher came out right as the swell began to pulse again and he found this gem.

Jeremy Flores caught one of the biggest waves of the day and went right, showing his big wave positioning knowledge, and why he has a spot in The Eddie.

Jamile Qureshi, shaping and riding his own boards, pulled off this sick drop.

I managed to find a rhythm and got into some nice ones. The wave of my session was a nice drop followed by a bottom turn, and I saw the wave standing up on the inside. I set my line and pulled in from deep. The view inside the cavern was mental. I soaked it in and then hit the eject button as the exit started to clamp.

Barrels were made, leashes were broke, cleanup sets came through and hold downs were experienced all in a beautiful morning at an Outer Reef on the North Shore of Oahu.