One of La’ie’s smallest retail spaces is also one of its most popular hangouts–and home to one of its biggest hearts.

Angel’s Ice Cream, named after shop owner Angel Ho, was created when Ho noticed the tiny vacant shop space in the La’ie Shopping Center, just a few units down from her husband’s restaurant, La’ie Chop Suey.

“Nobody wanted to use it, because it was too small,” said Ho, explaining that the shop is a mere 100 square feet. “I thought, ‘it’s perfect for an ice cream shop.’”

Ho has done a lot with the space, placing mirrors along the two far walls to create the illusion of space, and plastering brightly colored renderings of her popular confections on the walls.

As a result of her efforts–and her temperament, which is as sweet as the treats she serves–I have never, ever seen this place empty. Inside, there is just enough space for ice cream displays, three small tables, and a line of people (that often reaches the doors or just outside).

The store’s signature treat is called Angel’s Halo, a 3-flavored shave ice crowned with condensed milk and topped with whipped cream:

“On the North Shore, everyone knows Matsumoto’s,” said Ho. “I thought, instead of having locals drive all the way out there and having to stand in the long line, I would make my own shop.” (It can take anywhere from half an hour to 45 minutes to get from La’ie to Hale’iwa on any given day–on a Saturday, forget it)

Indeed, Angel’s is the only ice cream parlor–not counting 7-11 or the BYUH snackbar–from Pupukea to Kane’ohe.

In addition to ice cream and shave ice, Ho is particularly proud of her smoothie selection, which boasts a healthy selection–not only in terms of flavor, but also because they are all low-fat, non-dairy, and made with 100% real fruit. No concentrate. The smoothies are delicious, if a bit pricey.

The store also sells candy, rice cake, and Chinese tea biscuits. It’s the perfect place to stop after hitting the beach, cleaning the yard, or bribing children…;)

Check it out (if you haven’t already)!

Angel’s Ice Cream
La’ie Shopping Center (between Subway and the Haircut store)
10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Mon - Thurs
10 a.m. - 11 p.m. Fri & Sat
Closed Sunday

Finally, here is the first in a series of reviews of Ko’olauloa eats. Look for Uncle Bobo’s, Shrimp trucks, Angel’s Ice Cream, and Hukilau Cafe in upcoming segments.

If you are looking for an amazing plate lunch, you need to head to the Hau’ula Kai shopping center (where Tamura’s and the Post Office are) and check out Papa Ole’s Kitchen. Like right now.

The space where the restaurant sits has been occupied by various eateries over the years, but judging by the popularity of the current occupant, we’ll be enjoying some broke da mout grinds here for years to come.

I love this place for its country feeling. Running the eatery is very much a family affair, and one of the best parts is that, unlike other hole-in-the-wall places, there is PLENTY of seating.

You can choose to eat inside and watch TV, or outside on one of eight–yes, 8!–full-sized picnic tables. There is almost always a crowd.

And did I mention that this place is also very clean? It’s apparent that a lot of pride goes into running Papa Ole’s, and that may be why people keep coming back for more.

Anyway, enough rambling about the location and amenities. What about the food?

OMG. That is all I have to say about the food (besides the fact that they give plenty!). I will even include HUGE pictures so that you get the idea. The day I visited to take pictures for this blog, we ordered two local favorites–when you come here, try these:

Pulehu Short Ribs (seasoned with Hawaiian salt and grilled), $10

Garlic Chicken Plate (my mouth is watering at the memory), $8.50

This food is GOOD. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is what we thought of our ribs and chicken:

Regular plates come with 2 scoops of rice and mac salad, but if that’s too much, you can also order mini plates. The menu consists of standard plate lunch offerings as well as a fairly extensive collection of burgers and fries.

Papa Ole’s is a great place to meet friends for lunch, satisfy that craving after a day at the beach, and run into people you know. I’ve caught a lot of community gossip standing in line or waiting for my food here.

If you haven’t tried it yet, GO. They also cater, so keep that in mind for your next baby lu’au, wedding, or graduation party.

Papa Ole’s Kitchen
54-316 Kamehameha Hwy
Hauula, HI 96717
(808) 293-2292

Every July, the La’ie Community Association hosts a month’s worth of activites that include sports tournaments, a beach day, kupuna luncheon, parade, and Food Fest. I realize that July is almost done, as are most of the activities, but Saturday is the big finale day:

Fun Run, 7 am, BYUH Administration parking lot.
La’ie Days Parade, 11 am. The route usually starts at BYUH, goes up Kulanui towards Laie School, up Hale La’a, and back up Naniloa Loop to BYU.
La’ie Days Activities, 1 pm, BYUH Fields.
La’ie Days Food Fest, 1-9 pm. BYUH Little Circle.

I don’t know about the 7am Fun Run (I’m a night owl!), but the parade is always fun, and La’ie Food Fests are not to be missed. Even if you’re not from La’ie, come on by. But be forewarned: come relatively early, as the food goes fast!

Camping…on the beach, of course!

This weekend, my family is on our yearly camping trip at Kekela Beach Park in Hau’ula. YAHOO! I have many lovely memories of camping out here, including the time that I was bit on the hand by a 6-inch centipede as I flung it across the tent at 3 a.m. (after waking up to it crawling up my neck and onto my face!).

First off, I need to show you the set up. We are camping with my uncle and his family, so we set up 2 EZ Corner tarps–one for eating and sleeping, and one for socializing.

Here is the ‘kitchen’ in the back corner:

And the pantry:

Take a few steps back and you can see the entire back tent, which covers our individual tents and the kitchen area:

Under the adjoining tent, we have the ‘living room,’ where we hang out, play mah jong by lamplight, and hang all of our wet beach towels and clothing:

My dad says hi while cruising on an air mattress. We even have carpet…hmm, is this really camping, or just a really fancy, extended beach BBQ?

We set up camp on Friday and will break down early tomorrow. Because it is a State park, Kekela is closed to campers on Thursdays. It’s been great–lots of food, fun, and most especially, family:

My sisters and cousins eating dinner last night

My brother Evan playing ‘Portugese Horseshoes’ with some neighboring campers. My mom has decided that she wants a set for Christmas–basically, you toss thin metal disks into a hole cut out of the top of a box. Everyone got really into this game.

Two other exciting events took place while we camped out: my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, and my little sister Auri turned 11. Congrats!

So do you like our ‘cushy’ camping style, or do you prefer to rough it?

Ok, so I took off for Seattle this past weekend, and as a result, didn’t get to check out any of the Ko’olauloa eats that I promised last week. Bad planning on my part…oops! Anyway, to make it up to you, I wanted to tell you about my food adventures up in Edmonds, a sleepy port town about half an hour north of the city.

View of the Puget Sound from Edmonds. So pretty!

There is a ferry and docks there, and so we took out a boat and dropped ‘crab pots,’ hoping for some grinds. We were unlucky the first day, ending up with the largest, ugliest, most disgusting starfish I have ever seen:

It was so huge, all the crabs (undersized, unfortunately!) were cowering in the corners of the cage. Apparently, starfish like this one will eat any poor crustacean that gets too close…

Luck came the second day, when we pulled a couple of big, male–it’s illegal to catch undersized or female–Dungeness crabs. We boiled them for dinner that night and YUM! I was so excited to eat them, I forgot to take pictures of the final product–not to mention I had too much melted butter all over my fingers to handle a camera!

Here’s a picture of a Dungeness (right) and Red Rock Crab. We caught one of the rock crabs, but had to throw it back as it was too small. You can read more about the crabs at the Washington State dept of Fish & Wildlife site.

The Pacific Northwest version of catching crabs was a far cry from the experiences I had growing up and going ‘crabbing’ in Ko’olauloa. We’d go out at night during low tide with a bucket, a flashlight, and at least 20 energetic, screaming children. We’d all line up, and then the adult in charge would turn on the flashlight, illuminating dozens of crabs on the shore. GO TIME! Sand flew as kids sprinted and dove left and right, capturing crabs and putting them in the bucket.

Funny thing is, I don’t remember ever actually EATING the crabs we caught. I’m going to have to ask my dad what he did with that bucket–for us, the fun part was in the catching!

Fishing from a boat–with a real motor!–was also a new experience for me. Growing up, we either participated in the Hukilau (we’ll have to save that for another post!), or I went diving with my dad.

Equipment:

-mask and snorkel
-fins
-three-prong spear
-empty detergent bottle (for a float!)
-wire hanger (for stringing up the fish)
-a mesh bag (to hold squid/tako or lobster)

I love free diving, even though I’m a terrible shot with a three-prong. One day I’ll have to try a spear gun and see if that helps! My dad taught me to identify a tako hideout and pointed out the different types of fish that are good for eating: uhu, weke, kumu, aholehole, nenue…ahhh I’m getting HUNGRY right now!

Anyone have any good spearfishing stories? All I know is that I’m too scared to try night diving–too claustrophobic, not to mention you can’t see the sharks and who-knows-what-else creeping up silently behind you in the pitch blackness….