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FUUD: Cream Pot in Waikiki

July 17th, 2009 by Cat

There aren't many places in Hawai'i that serve good crepes.

I'm talking the kind of crepes that make you feel like you're sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Paris in the middle of spring. And you're wearing a beret.

So I was couldn't-contain-myself excited when I first dined at the Cream Pot in the Hawaiian Monarch Hotel in Waikiki.

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Outside the little restaurant in the Hawaiian Monarch Hotel.

The only way I can describe the decor is charming. Honestly, it looks like a scene from a fairytale.

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The ambiance resembles something you'd see in Disneyland. In a castle somewhere.

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Don't you feel like the Keebler elves will serve your food?

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Though it seems small, the restaurant seats several dozen people.

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There are these miniature things everywhere. These were little candles in the shape of desserts.

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This took up an entire wall. The decor is definitely memorable.

Aside from the distinctive decor, the Cream Pot specializes in European-style breakfast and brunch items — with an Asian twist.

On the menu are Belgian waffles, French-rolled omelets, a variety of eggs Benedicts (including one with 'ahi carpaccio, rice cakes, avocado and shiso), and — of course — crepes.

The delicate French pancakes are served in two ways: sweet or savory. You can get banana crepes with a housemade vanilla custard cream with a dark salted caramel sauce ($9.50) or one filled with baked maple-cured bacon, potatoes and Gruyere cheese ($13.50).

Here's what we ate:

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Here's the special French-rolled omelet: Burgundy beef stew and rice ($18).

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The egg was fluffy and perfectly cooked. And the beef stew — just the right heartiness and saltiness to match the thin omelet.

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The vegetarian in our group had the vegetarian crepe ($12).

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It was more like a salad atop a crepe, with seasonal mixed greens, grapes, strawberries, blue cheese and a vinaigrette dressing.

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The banana French toast ($9.50) was another hit at breakfast.

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The Kahuku bananas topped several French baguette slices baked in a creme anglaise. You can also get it with apples, too.

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I had the classic omelet ($11.50), which came with Gruyere cheese, potatoes, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms and maple-cured bacon. (Rice pilaf and a small salad come with the meal.)

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Every bite was a different flavor, which I like. The mix of bacon, cheese, potatoes, onions and mushrooms was perfect with the egg. I could've eaten two!

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Several in our group had the waffle set with a banana shake ($14). You could get it with bananas (shown here), apples or strawberries.

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Here's the strawberry waffle set.

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Here's the one with apples.

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The set came with this banana shake, which wasn't overly banana-flavored and paired nicely with the not-so-sweet pancakes and waffles.

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The set came with pancakes and waffles. Here's a close-up of the pancakes, which weren't that sweet. They tasted more like bread than traditional pancakes.

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The waffles had more flavor than the pancakes, with that little bit of crunch. Apparently, the chef uses traditional yeast-leavened batter but lightens it up with whipped egg whites, making it crisp and light — and delicious.

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This is the salmon eggs Benedict ($12.50), which comes with a small salad.

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Two perfectly soft-poached eggs, Grey Goose vodka-cured salmon, caramelized onions and a Mornay sauce — excellent.

It's not the kind of restaurant you can eat at every day. But the Cream Pot is worth visiting at least once. If not to satisfy your craving for French-rolled omelets or traditional crepes, at least to enjoy the ambiance different than anywhere else.

Cream Pot, Hawaiian Monarch Hotel Waikiki, 444 Niu St. Hours: 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily. Validated parking in the hotel. Phone: 429-0945.

***

Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish, send her an e-mail at cat@thecatdish.com, and now watch her every Thursday at 6:45 a.m. on KHNL News 8.

Love songs that make you cry

July 16th, 2009 by Cat

(Sorry. I had posted this by accident yesterday; I wasn't done writing it! Thanks to everyone who commented, though. Don't worry, your remarks are still here!)

A couple of weeks ago, my students were talking about love songs that actually made them sad. (One of my students is newly single, so suffice to say, romance isn't her favorite genre right now.)

These are songs that either have lyrics or melodies — or both — that tug at your heart. The singer is pining for a lost love or pouring his soul to a new one.

These are songs that hurt — and we can't get enough of them.

Here's my list of love songs that make me cry, at least on the inside. (And keep in mind, I'm a child of the '80s.)

• "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain
• "Somebody" by Depeche Mode
• "Open Arms" by Journey
• "For You I Will" by Teddy Geiger
• "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt
• "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor
• "Crazy For You" by Madonna
• "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders
• "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional
• "All Cried Out" by Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam
• "Love Remains the Same" by Gavin Rossdale
• "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade
• "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by The Script


Watch "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by The Script

What are yours?

***

Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish, send her an e-mail at cat@thecatdish.com, and now watch her every Thursday at 6:45 a.m. on KHNL News 8.

ASK DR. DISH: What's cheating?

July 15th, 2009 by Cat

Question: I recently broke up with my girlfriend of two years and found out last week that she had been "talking" with another guy while we were still going out. She's now openly dating that same guy. I'm wondering if "talking" with someone else is cheating...

Answer: Well, I don't know enough about your relationship or what happened between you and your ex — and that guy she's now dating — to know for sure what went out.

On the surface, no, I don't think talking with people of the opposite sex is cheating. We talk to people all the time. At the grocery store, in line at the bank, at the dog park.

But I do think there's inappropriate talking, which is what you may be referring to (since it led to the two hooking up soon after your break-up).

I think if it's something out-of-the-ordinary. Your girlfriend is text-messaging some guy you don't know in the middle of the night and hiding it from you. Or your boyfriend is sneaking outside to talk on his cell phone — in whispers — so you can't hear the conversation.

Even if there isn't that overt cheating, it's still inappropriate behavior that can lead to actual physical cheating. And even if it doesn't, it's showing that there's something amiss in the relationship. Someone's not satisfied, someone's not ready to commit. It means something.

I'm a friendly person, but I don't think my friendliness is cheating, though it's often confused with flirting. (If you know me, you know I'm friendly, not a flirt.) But feelings can get confused, and it's important to be honest and open about everything. If I meet a new guy — and I had a boyfriend — I'd introduce them, talk about them. I wouldn't hide either relationship.

It comes down to honesty and doing what's right. If you have to sneak around and lie, there's something wrong.

Got anything to add?

***

Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish, send her an e-mail at cat@thecatdish.com, and now watch her every Thursday at 6:45 a.m. on KHNL News 8.

Next stop: Rainbow's

July 14th, 2009 by Cat

There's a saying in journalism that newspaper reporters have radio faces.

Meaning, there's a reason they're not on TV.

I consider myself in that category.

Not that I'm shy in front of the camera. (Hardly.) But I tend to 1) say inappropriate things, which isn't good for TV and 2) make faces, even when I'm trying not to.

So when Metromix managing producer Diane Seo asked me to write up my Top 10 favorite dishes — and do a video, too — I was a little hesitant. (Read the story here.)

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Seo and me at Rainbow Drive-In. I had to get her to try the slush float!

I'm going to look stupid... I won't know what to say... I'd have to put on make-up...

These were the thoughts running through my head.

But then another thought popped up, the one that told me, in so many words, "But this assignment is about eating your favorite foods! And they'll pay you!"

Well, that changes everything, doesn't it?

So I thought about my favorite foods, from French fries to desserts. I looked through old food blogs and albums and found some photos that brought back great (and delicious) memories.

A first date at Roy's Restaurant with the meatloaf appetizer. A recent get-together with the Old Guys — and shoyu-style hot dogs — at Kaimuki Grill. A Christmas dinner with girlfriends where we couldn't stop eating popovers at Mariposa.

It's interesting how food can inspire and forever be linked to these moments in our lives.

So my mission: come up with 10 dishes — which was the biggest challenge — that I crave on a weekly basis.

My No. 1 choice, though, was actually pretty easy to determine.

While I love hole-in-the-walls and little take-out spots. my favorite all-around place to dine is Rainbow Drive-In — and not just because the people who work there and can snag free Diet Coke refills.

Rainbow's is that perfect blend of tasty food at a great price — and fast. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal there — and I eat there a lot. (At least once a week.)

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Me about to devour some of my favorite dishes from Rainbow's, including the Rainbow Royale, chicken cutlet with gravy all over and the chili dog plate.

Which brings me to this: I don't need to be impressed by presentation or ambiance. If the food's good and the price is right, I'll be your biggest fan. :)

***

Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish, send her an e-mail at cat@thecatdish.com, and now watch her every Thursday at 6:45 a.m. on KHNL News 8.

Embrace your (inner) geekness

July 14th, 2009 by Cat

Yesterday was Embrace Your Geekness Day. (Seriously.)

It was a day to celebrate that geek lurking inside, the one that idolizes Chris Knight from "Real Genius" and will likely wait in line tonight for the midnight premiere of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Yes, you know what a tauntaun is. Yes, you watch "MythBusters." And yes, you even know lines from "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension."

You are totally a geek.

And you're in luck: geek is chic. I know two beauty queens who call themselves certified geeks. Another, very fashion-forward girlfriend describes her look "nerd-inspired." Even Cameron Diaz considers herself a dork.

I come from a family of computer programmers and electrical engineers. They like to build motherboards, marvel at steam engines and argue that C++ should fulfill a foreign language requirement in college.

Sadly, I didn't inherit their intelligence and mechanical expertise. (Though I do have better social and cooking skills.) But growing up in that kind of household — where we all read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and knew obscure facts about "Star Wars" — had its perks, particularly the free tech support.

But it also made me appreciate geekness, mine and others.

Got any geek stories to share? You harboring an inner geek? Or are you publicly out of the geek closet?

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Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish, send her an e-mail at cat@thecatdish.com, and now watch her every Thursday at 6:45 a.m. on KHNL News 8.