Cafe Kaila

Since I had the day off, I thought I'd treat myself to breakfast. I'd heard from a coworker about Cafe Kaila, in Market City Shopping Center, so I decided to give it a shot. It looks like it's only open for breakfast and lunch, but the only time I go to Market City is for dinner. From what I gather, it looks like Cafe Kaila's been open a little over a year.


I walked in at about 8:30 a.m., and there was only one other table occupied by a couple. At first I thought, "oh no, this place isn't going to last long!" How can a place stay open from breakfast through lunch with only one occupied table?? This thought was fleeting. By the time I had finished my meal, the place was pretty full. Granted, it's not a huge place, but I was impressed with the number of people who came in after me, as well as the number of people who came in to order coffee or take out.

My first impression as I walked in was that it's a very comfortable, friendly, and clean environment. Everything looked like it was in place, and it had a very inviting feeling about it. Nice and pleasant, but not too stuffy. As I walked in, there was a sign that said to grab a menu and find a table, which I did. Someone immediately came to greet me and left me a glass of water. I perused the breakfast menu. There was also a lunch menu, which I glanced at briefly, but I mostly focused on what I wanted to eat in the immediate future. The bulk of the breakfast menu looked like it consisted of pancakes and egg dishes. I decided that an omelet sounded good. There was a place in Downtown, Hanalei's Bread and Breakfast, that had the most awesome omelets, and I'd never found one as good. (We heard that Hanalei's had moved near Aala Park, but I'm not sure if it's still there.)

There were a number of omelets on the menu, but there was a "create your own" offering a choice of 2 veggies, 1 meat, and 1 cheese, which was perfect for my taste in omelets. My favorite omelet ingredients are spinach, mushrooms, and bacon, with cheese of course. There were quite a number of cheeses to choose from, and I selected the Monterey Jack. And they use THREE eggs in their omelets! There was a choice of rice or potatoes, and I decided on the potatoes, a choice commended by the waiter. He commented that the potatoes are red potatoes with rosemary, which sounded delicious, and unexpected for breakfast! I also had a choice of toast, and I selected the wheat. I also had a cup of coffee, which came in a clear glass cup.

This meal did not disappoint. While I loved the Hanalei omelets, they were "greasy spoon" omelets laden with butter and fat. Not that I'm complaining about the Hanalei omelets, because they were darned good! But the Cafe Kaila omelet was the omelet of royalty. Like the atmosphere of the restaurant, the food was pretty, clean, and fresh. The eggs were nice and fluffy, and all of the ingredients were very fresh. Fresh spinach, fresh mushrooms, fresh (and very crisp and tasty!) bacon. The cheese was excellent as well. The omelet was a nice size, and its contents were nicely balanced. The ingredients complemented each other, everything with its own individual taste, yet nothing overpowering another. The potatoes were also very good and tasty. Some pieces may have been a tad undercooked, but nothing to complain about. The toast was made from "good" bread, not the small cheapy type of bread.

In addition to the food being good, I found the service to be very good as well. There appeared to be a team of three people there, each having their own duties, but all helping each other out without the "that's not my job" attitude that is often found in restaurants. Another thing I noticed was that some of the people who came in after me appeared to be regulars, based on the greeting received by the waiter and their immediate knowledge of the menu. What I appreciated is while the waiter acknowledged them as returnees, I felt that he was just as pleasant to me as he was to the regulars. Why do I mention this? I've been to a few places with a regular following where I felt the waithelp were almost snobby to non-regulars like myself, and super-nice to the regulars. I can understand being a little extra-friendly with regulars (and we've been known to receive such treatment), but servers should at least have a baseline level of friendliness with non-regulars. *Stepping off the soapbox now* So, what I'm trying to say is that Cafe Kaila succeeded in making the regulars feel special, as well as making a newcomer like myself feel welcome and willing to return.

So, if you're ever looking for someplace to have a nice breakfast, try Cafe Kaila in Market City Shopping Center. Someday I'll try lunch there and will share my review with you.

2008 Travels and Other Musings

So guess where I'm going this year? I'm going to DISNEY WORLD! Woo hoo! I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel for work seminars, and this year I am attending a conference in Tampa in October. How could I go to Tampa and not take the 1 1/2 hour trip to Orlando to visit Mickey and friends??? I am also fortunate that I actually LIKE my coworkers...after all, we spend more time with each other then our loved ones at times! So the coworkers attending the conference will also be going to Disney World, some for the first time.

The unfortunate side of things is that this may be my one and only trip for the year. My significant other is being activated by the reserves and will be heading to training and then on to the Persian Gulf for a year. Yeah, it sucks. But there's nothing we can do about it, so I'm trying to maintain a positive outlook by thinking of all of the projects I have no excuses for not completing, including getting myself on a regular exercise routine, organizing all of my junks, and finally completing scrapbooks from nine years ago!

I don't mind traveling alone, and actually enjoy it sometimes since it allows me to do things at my own pace without having to consult anyone or field complaints about the choices I've made. I have contemplated going on other trips, such as going to Vegas to help with the Super Run car show, but airfares are so expensive! Try $700 - $800, for ONE person! I've also contemplated a trip to Sedona, Arizona, or Maine, which I totally fell in love with in 2003 (again, a conference trip). I want to use miles that I've earned before the airline industry totally goes down the toilet. But even if the flight is free, I would still have to pay for hotels, a rental car, food, and shopping. I decided that maybe I'll forego the additional travel this year and just focus on Disney World. After all, I only make it there every 3-4 years, so I might as well splurge! I know, I know, some of you are saying, "ONLY every 3 or 4 years? I haven't even been there once!!!" But when you are a Disney addict like me, you suffer from withdrawals. And I haven't even been to Disneyland, California, in about 3 years!

So what am I going to do in Disney World? Well, part of it depends on my coworkers. Since I have already been there, my list of "must dos" is relatively short. And I'll have a couple of days on my own, so I can use those days to do things that they might not be interested in or may not be a priority to them. For instance, the spa. In 2002, I went to Disney World with another coworker, and we booked facials at the Grand Floridian Spa. Boy, was it wonderful! I'm thinking of booking a massage or some kind of treatment there again. And I'm also considering booking Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridan, perhaps after my spa treatment. So many things to do!

Anyway, I will keep you posted as my Disney World plans firm up. All I know for now is that I'm booked for 8 nights at the Pop Century Resort, a "value" Disney resort. I also know that the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival will be going on at that time and that I will definitely be partaking in some of the food and wine offerings!

Nordstrom's Marketplace Cafe

My new favorite place to eat is the Marketplace Cafe in Nordstrom at Ala Moana. I heard and read a lot about it when it first opened, but Catherine Toth's review of it in her "Daily Dish" blog is what really pushed me to go there. Read Cat's review here.

I first went there about a month ago, and upon entering, it was a little overwhelming. There was a sign saying to grab a tray, which we did, then we just stood there in awe. Fortunately, the staff is prepared to handle people standing there with their mouths open and suffering from temporary paralysis. She explained that we could look around, then order through the staff.

There are several different sections or stations. The first is primarily sandwiches and soups, and some entrees. I ordered a cup of tomato basil soup, per Cat's review, from this station. The next station consisted of pizza, pasta, and salads. Again, per Cat's review, I ordered the bleu cheese and pear salad, while my dining partner ordered the mushroom and pepperoni pizza. Then, a golden ray of light led us to spot some of the freshest fish we'd ever seen sitting on the counter behind the salads. We noticed that one of the dishes displayed with the salads was poke. We HAD to order it. The last station was a dessert counter. The desserts looked awesome, but we were too preoccupied with the other food and skipped it. Finally, we approached the cashier who will also provide glasses for drinks.

Let me step back a moment...one of the great things about the Nordstrom Cafe is they use REAL food displays, so you'll see almost exactly what you'll be getting. The other thing you should know is that they'll make what they can for you as soon as you order it, like soups and salads (including the poke). For other items that require more preparation time, they will provide you with a "ticket," which will be rung up at the register. The third thing is that the standard beverages are actually pretty cheap here! At about $1.95, it's cheaper than most other places we frequent, including Chili's. And yes, refills are included.

After you pay, you head into the dining room and find a seat. I've been there four times so far, and we've never had a problem finding a seat right away. You can eat outside too, but at Ala Moana, that doesn't appeal to me. I just picture myself choking on the bus exhaust fumes while trying to enjoy my dinner. If all goes well, a server should show up shortly after you seat yourself, and they will take the ticket from you and place the order for anything that you weren't immediately given.

As for the food, everything I've tried has been awesome! I am totally in love with the tomato basil soup and the artery-clogging crostini that comes with it! The blue cheese and pear salad also proved very worthy, as did the pepperoni and mushroom pizza (which is a pretty nice size for a one-person meal). But the poke...I heard angels sing as I bit into the poke and the unusual chips that came with it. The poke is tossed with a shoyu-based sauce and spread on a bed of an Asian slaw that is also tossed in a light dressing. But the best part of this dish is the won ton chips served with it. These are no ordinary won ton chips. They have furikake and who knows what other addictive substance sprinkled all over them. We figured out that this dish was probably meant to be eaten together by putting a little bit of the slaw and the poke on the chip. Heavenly!

It's been hard for me to stray from the above dishes, which I've eaten more than once. I have also tried the mushroom ravioli, which was excellent, and a special French dip sandwich served with seasoned fries. The French dip was good, but our service experience on that visit slightly marred the taste for me. Without going into all of the gory details, there were three of us and our food came out at drastically different times, leaving me waiting a good 20 minutes or so for my sandwich. By the time it came, my two friends had just about finished their food. However, I must say that our waiter handled the situation well and even offered me a soup while I waited.

This restaurant is a cross between cafeteria-style and table-service. It's nice that the servers refill your drinks for you (or they should) and come and check on you periodically to see if you need anything. On our first visit, we weren't sure how to handle the tipping. Surprisingly, a number of people left without leaving a tip! We don't leave as much as we would at a table-service restaurant, but we do leave something since they do bring out food, provide refills, bring you take-out containers if you need them, and periodically check to see how you're doing. On my last two visits, we noticed that they started leaving bill trays, except that since the food is already paid for, the trays have a card with the servers name and chocolate mints (which are REALLY good -- do not leave those behind!), presumably to encourage tips.

While some people think it's ridiculous to pay $10 for a sandwich, this is not your everyday sandwich place. And overall, the prices are very reasonable, with most items being in the $10-$12 range and having fairly generous portions. We have eaten meals here for less than some meals at Chili's. And even Zippy's prices are creeping up there. Besides, the quality of food here is excellent. Dishes are prepared to order, and for the most part, they are quite efficient and it's speedier than eating at a table-service restaurant. We feel the food and service are worth it, and it is definitely someplace I will frequent. Give it a try!