Today we check out Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory on Pensacola Street, right outside Ala Moana Shopping Center! Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory first opened in 1942, by Wah Kam Chun, who immigrated to Hawaii from Zhong-Shan, China. The first shop was a noodle factory on Kukui Street in Chinatown, where they manufactured noodles and wrappers for various restaurants and companies. After a few decades of selling noodles and wrappers, they expanded their food line to include dimsum and manapua. Now, they sell 16 different types of manapua, as well as plate lunches and dinners.
We tried out their plate lunch, where you get to choose different starches and entrees from a wide variety of different options, for a set price. We all ordered mini-plate, which gives you a choice of two different starches and two different entrees, and the portions were huge! Check out the video where we introduce the restaurant and sample some of Chun Wah Kam's food!

This week we go right next door to Rainbow's Drive Inn to a newer and more modern plate lunch place called Hawaii's Favorite Kitchen. This restaurant consists of five different restaurant in one; Rainbow's Drive Inn, Hoku's Huli Huli Chicken, KC Waffle Dog, Poke Stop, and the newest addition, Shimazu's Shave Ice! Today we are actually stopping in to try Shimza's Shave Ice at this new location. The restaurant recently opened up two years ago in 2014 and Shimazu's just opened up last June. Shimazu's is a small mom and pop shop in Kalihi that specializes in their monster sized shaved ice for a very affordable price and a local favorite in that area. At their Kalihi shop they do offer other things too such as snacks and popcorns. But today at Kapahulu we are here to test out their second location which just specializes in shaved ice.
In comparison to Waiola's from our previous episode, Shimazu's definitely took the award for large portion size. While the price was comparable, you can get a little more bang for your buck. It is also very convenient as you can grab a waffle dog or plate lunch from one of the other vendors in store then scoot over to the shave ice counter for dessert. While not on any social media, Shimazu's was featured on the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods America. Upon arriving there was already quite a line with the outside tables full of people enjoying their cool treat. When looking at the menu, we thought it was pretty ordinary until we read closely into the flavors. The store offered options such as Milk Tea Royale, Gingerale, Tiramisu, and even Durian. The original location is supposed to have even more flavors which is shocking considering the list of over 30 flavor choices at the Kapahulu location. Check out our video to witness us tackle the monstrous shave ice!

In this week's episode, we have our first actual local meal instead of just snack food. Rainbow Drive-In, right next to Hawai'i's Favorite Kitchens, was opened in 1961 by Seiju Ifuku. Mr. Ifuku learned how to cook while serving with the famous 100th battalion in World War II. After the war, he worked at the famous Kapiolani Drive-In, now the site of Wailana Coffee Shop and Condominiums. Together with his wife Ayako, they opened a smaller version of this restaurant called Kalakaua Drive-In, currently the site of Cheeseburgers in Waikiki, at the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Kalakaua Avenue. Upon opening Rainbow's, Mr. Ifuku and his wife Ayako began by serving 50-cent chili with rice plates, $1 barbeque steak plate lunches, 25-cent hamburgers and 14-cent French fries — food that was geared to the working person and the Waikiki beach crowd. The Ifuku's philosophy was to serve plates with generous portions of hearty, simple food, with two scoops of rice and a side of macaroni salad at a reasonable price. That is the embodiment of the classic Hawaiian style plate lunch. After browsing their website, we discovered that the storefront looks almost identical to when they first opened in the 60's. They have continued serving locals and now tourists homemade recipes with Aloha.
Other additions to the venue have been made, however. They added a small shack area to sell small trinkets and souvenirs. This place is called Rainbowtiki and is located within the parking lot. It sells shirts, toys, and small local snack foods. Upon researching their website, we discovered Rainbow's also gives back to the community quite frequently. Starting with their rotating UH posters at the drive-in, the company sponsors and supports local collegiate athletics. They even post on their website about current UH sporting events and team accomplishments. Another way they give back to the people is through the Ifuku Family Foundation. Created in 2000 by the founders of Rainbow's, it is a small, board-run foundation that awards annual grants to Hawaii-based non-profit organizations and schools.The philosophy of the Foundation is to support small, discrete programs that have a direct impact on those in need and to award scholarships in the culinary arts to students. These merit based scholarships are also extended to high school students that work at or are children of the drive-in employees. We encourage visitors to come check out this little piece of Hawai'i's culture and experience something that has been a favorite spot for locals since generations ago.

In today's episode we braved the heat and went to find some sugary pastries. The fried bread, almost doughnut looking, bun Tori and I can be seen eating in the video above is called a Malasada. These confections come from the Portuguese and are balls of yeast dough deep fried in oil and covered in sugar. The origin of the Malasada comes from the need to use up all lard and sugar in the house before beginning lent. Therefore, these treats were mainly eaten around Fat Tuesday. Around the 19th century this tradition was brought to Hawai'i via plantation workers. In the United States, Malasadas can usually only be found in Hawai'i or places with high concentrations of Portuguese such as Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Traditionally, Malasadas are just large balls with no features besides sugar but today they come in many different variaties such as flavored creme filled or with different flavored sugars.
Today we visited Champions Malasadas in McCulley. Drawing more than half of their profit from selling Malasadas, the store is able to compete with the famous Leonard's Bakery. They offer not only Malasadas, but also many other pastries and even breakfast foods. The owner was born in Macao and learned the art of Malasada making before coming to Hawai'i. Prior to opening his own store, he worked for Leonard's. Due to his chinese background, many of the other pastries are recipes from Asia. One delightful discovery we made upon ordering was that each original flavored Malasada was made to order (which gave Tori some trouble in the video). The other flavors were common in Hawai'i such as Haupia, creme, and chocolate. After reading yelp reviews, we've learned that they do rotate their flavors and work on a first come first serve basis. If the specialty flavors sell out then all they will make is the original for the rest of the day. Champions was also named in Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-inns & Dives book for outstanding Malasadas, as well as receiving local awards and recognition amongst local families. If you want Malasadas but don't want to deal with crowds, don't forget to check out Champions!