Dinner at Pinky's

Hubby scheduled a doctor appointment on the windward side. He invited the kids and me along, so we could try Pinky's for dinner. The windward side of the island is the most green and lush. It is also the most windy and rainy. Some say it is the most beautiful.

Hubby picked us up at home, before driving to the windward side. We caught the H-3 from the center of the island out to the East shore. The H-3 is 15 miles long, with just 4 exits before the freeway ends. The speed limit on H-3, and just one other freeway stretch on the island, is 60mph. Every other freeway speed is 55mph or less. We are the slowest state in the nation!!

Ask anyone on the island and they will tell you the H-3 is one of the most beautiful drives on Oahu. The freeway extends through the center of the Ko'olau Mountain Range. It's actually not a traditional mountain range. The "mountains" are leftovers from a single side of Ko'olau Volcano. The absolutely amazing mountains are the western half of the original volcano. The eastern half slid into the Pacific Ocean during an eruption, and is scattered across 100 miles of ocean floor. Ko'olau is the Hawaiian word for windward. These "mountains" form the windward coast.
I did not take this picture!! In the foreground you can see the mountains, 2,000 feet high. The freeway hugs them. You stare straight up at them when driving H-3. Where you pop out through a short tunnel is the view that just grabs us every time. Son1 can identify even from this distance where we take pontoon boats out on the sandbar at Kane'ohe Bay, in the middle of that crystal blue water. Each time we come to the windward side he hopes we are going to get on a boat.

We exited in Kailua, and parked for Hubby's appointment. He found the medical building, and the kids and I peeked in a new victorian tea room and wandered through a thrift store before he called to say he was finished. We walked back in the light rain to the car, settled every one in, and made the short drive to Pinky's.

We had never been to Pinky's Pupu Bar and Grill. Many people rave about it's family friendliness. Pupu is pronounced Poo-Poo. The word means heavy appetizer, or finger food. (It does not mean going #2! That is called DOO DOO on the island!) Pinky's serves local Hawaiian food. It's decorated like a lively beach house with a splash of retro Hawaiian.

The kids were starving, so we ordered them each their own kids' plates. (Do little girls polish off entire kids plates like my boys, at 3 1/2 and 16 months?) Meantime Hubby and I split the Pinky's Aloha Plate. it included kalua pig, lau lau, mac nut crusted fish, lomi salmon, mac salad, and veggies. I have explained some of this food before, but here is a quick rundown in case you forgot. Kalua pig is any pork shoulder butt, salted, wrapped in ti leaves, and slow smoked. That's the shredded meat below. The green stuff is chicken lau lau. Lau lau is a method of cooking. This chicken was salted and then steamed, while wrapped in taro leaves. Our fish was crusted in macadamia nuts, or mac nut for short. Lomi is the Hawaiian word for massage, as in lomi lomi massage. Sound familiar? Well, lomi salmon is prepared by massage. No, I am not kidding. The salted salmon is diced by hand, and other ingredients are mixed in a massage like manner. These include tomatoes and Maui sweet onions.
I didn't have the mac salad, as in macaroni salad. I gave that to Hubby because that is a big no no on the South Beach. Now you must know that Hawaiian mac salad is strictly different than mainland mac salad. The noodles are overcooked, big, and soft, on purpose. Sometimes the mayonnaise is homemade, or liberal amounts of store bought mayonnaise are used. I mean by the shovel fulls!! Most people assume Hawaiian mac salad originated from the plantation workers several years back, as a potato salad adaptation. Since potatoes were costly, macaroni was substituted for potatoes. Supposedly this was the birth of mac salad. I can't bring myself to eat too much. But Hubby really enjoys it, like almost everyone on the island.
It was family night at Pinky's. This meant our favorite Adventure Balloons artists were making balloons for all of the keiki. We had an amazing experience with them at a beach baby luau. The little puppy dog was for Son2, who is my die hard animal lover. Son1 requested a Blue Angels fighter jet.We were sitting in the the third window from my left, behind. The windows faced a canal that leads to the ocean. Son1 tried to befriend the ducks that swam in the canal after dinner, like at my parent's house. They didn't really go for that.

This is the view at the canal, if you look up. Now I did take this picture!
We liked that Pinky's was loud. Our children behave well at loud establishments! An open treasure box was available to keiki. Some children took more than one treasure, and no one was monitoring the treasure box. This fit well with Pinky's relaxed atmosphere. The children's plates were large, included an ice cream dessert and were priced well. Balloon night was a major winner with the boys. Hmmm...we wouldn't make a special trip to Kailua just for Pinky's, but our night was pleasurable and amusing.