Forked Up

TOKUSEN TORONIKU RAMEN
HOKKAIDO RAMEN SANTOUKA
801 Kaheka St. Honolulu
Phone number (808) 941-1101
website santouka.co.jp/en/

If you’re going to come to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, it’s all about the Tokusen Toroniku Ramen, the restaurant’s signature dish. With bamboo shoots, fishcake and mushrooms, the real star of the show is the simmered pork cheek. It’s melt-in-your-mouth tender — and best of all, it’s not bogged down by fatty portions like pork sometimes can be. With so many ramen joints around town, it becomes about how well each can perfect their own takes on a similar set of ingredients. We’re not saying this is the best ramen restaurant out there — some of its broths edge on being just a tad too salty — but its meat is pretty much unparalleled. Be warned, though, pork cheek is a rare commodity, and the restaurant has only a limited amount of this dish each day.

SPROUTED LENTIL TERRINE
KAIMUKI SUPERETTE
3458 Waialae Ave. 
Kaimuki
Phone number (808) 734-7800
website themetest.kaimukisuperette.com

Another culinary venture of town restaurant’s Ed Kenney, Kaimuki Superette boasts “seasonal sandwiches and sundries.” Lunch and dinner options include salad, soup, quiche and sandwiches like the Sprouted Lentil Terrine, which is loaded with a lentil terrine and complemented with cucumber, feta yogurt and mint. It’s all between a lightly toasted focaccia loaf. Like all of Superette’s sandwiches, it comes with a salad made with MAO organic greens. It’s filling, but light enough for you to still have room to finish it off with an Olive Oil Cake or another one of Superette’s baked goods, which change daily.