FORKED UP

Metro-061016-ForkedUp-UncleClays

CHOCOCOCO PARADISE

UNCLE CLAY’S HOUSE OF PURE ALOHA
820 W. Hind Drive #116, Aina Haina
Phone number (808) 373-5111
website houseofpurealoha.com

OK, so going to a shave ice place and getting the only non-fruit flavor is kind of a weird thing to do. We know. But if you’re going to do it, do it at Uncle Clay’s — the chocolate-haupia syrup was creamy and malty; the ice was as fine as snow. The scoop of chocolate ice cream lurking under the ice mountain was massive but not overpowering. The chocolate chips even added much-needed texture. It was, in short, the best chocolate shave ice we’ve ever had. We’d eat it again … maybe after we try the Strawberry Dream?

Metro-061016-ForkedUp-Ichiriki

USDA CHOICE RIBEYE CHANKO
ICHIRIKI JAPANESE NABE RESTAURANT
510 Piikoi St., Honolulu (and other locations)
Phone number (808) 589-2299
website ichirikinabe.com

There are a lot of options at Japanese hot pot eatery Ichiriki. The good news is that, in our experience, you can’t really go wrong. So we kept things pretty simple, opting for the USDA Choice Ribeye Chanko set, which is identified on the menu as the employee favorite. It’s stocked with sausage, tofu, salmon, shrimp, various mushrooms, cabbage, Ichiriki’s signature chicken meatballs and more, alongside thinly sliced ribeye. We threw it all into our choice of broth, the shoyu-based Ichiriki. Finish it off with your choice of ramen, udon or rice. It’s a lot of food — like a feel-full-for-hours amount — but you won’t regret a second of your subsequent food coma.