Uncle's Hawaiian Grindz

I've always had a fascination with Hawaii, probably because as a child I spent many hours watching Hawaii 5-0 with my grandmother. And while traveling to Hawaii still remains one of those bucket list items, I was excited to find out that a new Hawaiian restaurant called Uncle's Hawaiian Grindz had opened in Fallston. Oahu native Kaiman Chee, grand prize winner on Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen, is the chef/owner of this casual dining restaurant. Along with his partner, Fallston native Kosmas “Tommie” Koukoulis, Chef Chee is bringing the flavors of Hawaii to Maryland while sourcing his ingredients locally.

Recently, The Minx and I decked ourselves out in Hawaiian shirts and visited the restaurant to see what Hawaiian cuisine was all about.

Since poke (pronounced poe-kay) is becoming a trend in this part of the country, we started off with the poke boat, featuring four different styles of poke. Both the Queen Street Tuna and Walu Poke had bright, fresh flavors thanks to elements like lime, ginger, and avocado. The Minx does not like raw salmon, but she enjoyed the salt-cured Lomi Salmon, which was enhanced by the addition of tomato, scallion, onion, and "firecracker" aioli. The biggest surprise, however, was the deep fried tofu poke which uses tofu sourced from the Eastern Shore. The tofu is tossed in red pepper flakes and citrus shoyu before being battered and deep fried. Anyone who says they don't like tofu will be converted by this dish.

Since WWII, Spam has been beloved in Hawaii, and a sushi-like dish called musubi is a staple on the Islands. Uncle's Spam Musubi is teriyaki-marinated Spam wrapped in rice and nori, served atop a combination of kabayaki glaze and Uncle's secret sauce. Although I ate Spam regularly as a kid, I could not stand the saltiness as an adult. However, this Spam was surprisingly mild and the overall texture of the musubi was quite pleasant.

One of that evening's specials was a pineapple corn fritter, which was both unusual and delicious. The pineapple flavor was subtle, and somehow lent a bit of lightness to the fried dough ball.

Kalua pig is a Hawaiian preparation in which a whole pig is wrapped in ti or banana leaves and buried in the ground where it is slow cooked. To simulate this preparation, the restaurant invested in a special $17,000 oven that somewhat approximates the conditions of a traditional underground oven, or imu, producing moist, succulent pork. The Kalua Pig Lumpia appetizer mixes the smoke-braised pork with carrot and cabbage and stuffs it inside a spring roll wrapper before frying. The delicate, crunchy wrapper is the perfect vehicle for the sweet pork and veggie mix. There's additional sweet sauce on the side if you like it extra sweet, but we didn't find it necessary.

For our entrees, we thought we should try one of the mixed plates so that we could experience several menu items at once, and also select one of the sandwich offerings. We went with the Uncle's Mixed Plate which had Huli Huli Chicken, Shrimp Shack Skewer, and Beef Teriyaki, along with an Asian stir fry of mixed vegetables. We also added the Kalua Pork to the plate so we could try the meat on its own. Unlike the full entree version of the Huli Huli Chicken, which is a full half chicken, the sample on our plate was a shredded pile of flavorfully brined meat. The pork and beef were also boldly seasoned, and the grilled shrimp had that wonderful briny flavor that we love so much. It was a delight to sample each type of protein in a rotation and get a different bite with every forkful.

Macaroni salad is a big thing in Hawaii, so it is served family style, along with white rice, for the entrees. The macaroni salad was creamy and mild, and surprisingly not as sweet as typical picnic-style mac salad.

Sandwiched within a large King's Hawaiian sweet bread bun, the Chicken Katsu-wich features a crispy fried chicken breast topped with bacon lardons, baby swiss, and shredded cabbage. Firecracker aioli oozes from this spicy, unctuous sandwich that is at once exotic and familiar. The sweet potato fries were a great accompaniment, but you can get regular fries if you prefer.

Uncle's Hawaiian Grindz has a varied list of tempting Hawaiian-inspired desserts, but after all the food we had already eaten, we didn't think we could indulge any more. Tommie Koukoulis insisted that we at least partake of one of their lighter desserts, the Whipped Otai. Fresh mango, pineapple, and shaved coconut are mixed into a whipped coconut cream, then topped with crushed macadamia nuts and fresh mint. Light and refreshing, and very fragrant, it's a perfect dessert for a hot summer evening (or any time really).

Before we went to Uncle's Hawaiian Grindz, I wanted to find out what the word "grindz" meant. As I discovered, it simply means "good food." In that case, the restaurant certainly lives up to its name.

Uncle's Hawaiian Grindz
2315 Belair Rd Suite 2B
Fallston, MD 21047
(443) 966-3999



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Roy's Eat Creative Media Dinner

It's no secret that Mr Minx and I are big fans of Roy's and have been semi-regular patrons of the Baltimore branch since it opened 13 years ago. And while we're very happy to pay for our food at Roy's, it's even more fun to go when the food is on the house, as it was during a recent media dinner. The occasion for the dinner was to celebrate the launch of Roy's renewed culinary focus called Eat Creative, which showcases the very best of Pacific Rim cuisine.

Pacific Rim Cosmotini
(photo credit: Roy's)

We started the party at the bar with a round of Pacific Rim cosmotinis, a combination of blood orange, passion fruit, and ginger flavors with vodka. Once at our table, we were presented with a couple of the restaurant's new appetizers, including the misoyaki butterfish lettuce wraps, a twist on both traditional chicken lettuce wraps and the restaurant's famed misoyaki butterfish entree. We also got a taste of the new ebi roll, which adds coconut and cream cheese to the familiar tempura shrimp and avocado maki. It's served with dabs of habanero aioli and nitsume (eel sauce). We also sampled two items from Roy's bar menu, starting with the crispy pork belly buns, tender steamed Chinese bao containing crispy bits of pork belly, green apple slaw, and the sweet bbq-like Red Dragon sauce. While I think the buns themselves were a bit too large, the flavors and textures were appealing. Finally, we had bites of Roy's new Wagyu burger. A simple affair of juicy meat, caramelized onions, truffled mushrooms, a fried egg, and togarashi aioli, this burger is a contender for the Best in Town crown. Perhaps truffled mushrooms and eggs don't seem particularly simple to you, but none of the burger's toppings stood in the way of the main event: the meat itself. The accompanying onion rings, however, were, in a word, meh.

Misoyaki Butterfish Lettuce Wraps (photo credit: Roy's)

Close-up of Ebi Roll (photo credit: Roy's)

As an intermission, we each received our own Maui Wowie salad, a classic Roy's dish that was created at the Baltimore restaurant and served chain-wise.

Full-sized Lobster Pot Pie (see slide show for size we received) (photo credit: Roy's)

Alaea Salt-Crusted Bone-In Ribeye (photo credit: Roy's)

We then received an embarrassment of riches in the form of entrees: the 14-oz Alaea salt-crusted bone-in ribeye with peppercorn shoyu brandy sauce; a Maine lobster pot pie with potatoes, peas, honshimeji mushrooms, and pearl onions; and a tempura-battered whole snapper with a sweet chili sauce. And there were sides, too: truffled bacon mac & cheese with Thai basil bread crumbs; spicy Korean chili fried rice with scallions, cilantro, sesame, and egg; and a selection of over-sized tempura vegetables that included asparagus, broccolini, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms. The steak was a beautiful thing, pink, juicy and perfectly rested, with great flavor. I've always said that Roy's does land-based proteins as well as (or better than) the seafood for which they are most famous, and I stand by that. The lobster pot pie had a decidedly Thai twist with its coconut milk-based "gravy," and the proportion of lobster to everything else was generous. Also generous was the portion size, which we were surprised to find was a mere fraction of the normal portion size of this dish. In fact, all three of the entrees were on the huge side, which makes them particularly good for eating family-style with one's own ohana. The sides, also sized for sharing, were uniformly good. The mac and cheese was not the overly-decadent cream-fest that so many highfalutin' versions of this dish can be, and while I couldn't see the bacon, I could taste it. The tempura was light and crisp, and broccolini was a nice change from the usual common broccoli. My favorite was the Korean fried rice, which would have made a lovely entree on its own if topped with a fried egg.

Finally, dessert, which we wanted in theory but not in practice - we were so full! The classic melting chocolate souffle and pineapple upside down cake were as delicious as ever, and always a fine way to end a meal at Roy's.

During the evening, we also had the opportunity to meet the new Chef Partner at Baltimore's Roys, Matt Ellis, who comes to us from various Roy's in Florida. He's stepped into the big shoes of Opie Crooks and Rey Eugenio and seems to be filling them well. We also had a chat with Managing Partner Bryson Keens. He revealed something big that I think we all wish we had known earlier: Roy's offers shuttle service from your home to the restaurant and back. For locals as well as tourists! This means no worrying about parking or driving home after having too many Hawaiian martinis or Mai Tais!

The photos in this post are not ours, sadly, but the work of a professional photographer. The lighting wasn't the best that night (Roy's is on the dark side) so our photos aren't of the best quality. But you can check 'em out in the slideshow below.

Posted on Minxeats.com.