The Best Shave Ice

For many that live in areas where season's actually change, you have snow cones in hot weather. For us locals in Hawaii, where it's summer all year round, we have shave ice. Unlike snow cones, shave ice has very soft ice. It also retains the flavored syrup better than snow cones. Ultimately, snow cones are no competition to shave ice.

Many tourists go to the historical North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii to get the "best" shave ice. There's usually long lines of locals and a majority of tourists waiting to get a taste of the infamous Hawaiian snow cone. You'll see many of them hanging out outside the shave ice stores with their colorful array of flavored ice. Because I was born and raised on the island, I've had the opportunity to visit close to all of the shave ice vendors. I, too, traveled to the North Shore to get what I thought was the best shave ice.

(Here's my top 2 places, if you wanna skip the rest of the reading: 1st choice- Shimazu, on N. School Street in Honolulu; 2nd choice- Ewa Seed Shop at the Ewa Shopping Center in Ewa Beach.)

Twenty plus years later, I stumbled upon a "hole-in-the-wall" type of joint in Honolulu that had a "Shave Ice" sign outside. It was another hot day, and we were quite a long ways from the North Shore. I thought, "What the heck. Shave ice is shave ice. They're all the same." Let me tell you, I was blown away. First thing I noticed, they had a lot more flavors to choose from. Secondly, the small size was bigger than the large size that I remember getting from anywhere else. Yet, the price of a small was still the price of a small. And the taste! The ice was much much softer than any from the popular North Shore vendors. And somehow, it takes longer for the ice to melt and for the juice to fall to the bottom. The flavors were also better by far! I introduced the place to my coworkers. They were hooked as well. Shimazu (the name of the place) is on N. School street, on the right side of the one-way street. You'll see a sign that reads "shave ice" and has a picture of it. The place and parking can be inconvenient. But, definitely worth it. Seems only the locals know about this little "secret."

Flavors I recommend at Shimazu: strawberry cream, melona, peaches and cream, banana cream, any other cream flavor, green milk tea royale (my fave).

The next place I recommend for awesome shave ice is in Ewa at the Ewa Shopping Center, called Ewa Seed Shop. It's another very small shop located towards he back of Foodland. Their ice is also one of the softest I've had.

This weekend, my family and I decided to take a drive to the North Shore for some shrimp and shave ice. We visited one of the busy famous shave ice shops. Boy, does that place get a lot of business! Anyway, it was a long line. But, we only waited 15 minutes. I was bit disappointed because the flavor choices weren't as great as Shimazu. I figured it doesn't matter since this is "the best shave ice" on the island. So, we sat to enjoy our treat. Mind you, the portion sizes were much smaller than we usually get at our "secret" spot. Our 4 year old, who usually eats close to all of a small size, barely ate or drank half. The rest of us couldn't finish either. We were quite disappointed at the quality of the flavors and the ice. None of us enjoyed the flavors we got. The ice was rougher than we're used to. And, the syrup all sunk to the bottom. So, after only a few minutes, we'd have chunks of unflavored ice.

The BEST Real Crab Cakes

I've tried a plethora of crab cake recipes from different eateries and restaurants. From all over Hawaii, to California, and even the East Coast. Some were "alright." But, I'd probably never order them again. Some were definitely on my "do not eat" list. A handful of them were actually pretty good. Yet, overpriced for the taste. These recipes seem to have a couple big flaws to me. First of all, not much of the patty is real crab meat. Seems it's usually 70% breading and fillers. Or, 60% breading and fillers and 30-40% IMITATION crab. Anyhow, no matter what the ingredients, they've never seemed to taste much like crab to me.

I do love crab. But, I'd almost given up hope finding crab cakes to really satisfy my taste. Heck, if I want to taste crab, I'll just eat crab. Must I travel far and beyond to find "crab cakes" that truly are "crab" cakes?

I finally found the BEST crab cakes in Timbuktu. Yes, Timbuktu. It's a seemingly "out-of-place" restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland. If I remember correctly, it's near or around Coca-Cola (Avenue or Drive). It's right off the freeway. It does not look very enticing from the outside. You look at it ass you pass. If you're like myself, and the group I was with, you'd kinda chuckle about it. "Timbuktu... hahahaha...."

We stayed at an inn close by. Every trip to and from the inn we passed the place. We finally decided that this place had such an interesting name. Therefore, we need to eat there at some point. Based on what this place looked like from the outside, we weren't expecting much. It looked like a roadhouse or warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. Of course with a sign outside that read "Timbuktu," and a camel as it's logo, I guess. Interestingly, the place had a dress code- no tank tops or t-shirts, and closed footwear is all I remember. We look at the menu while we wait. Pretty pricey choices. We thought, "What? for this dump? Looks like a casual joint to me" We go to be seated, and whoa! After you pass the waiting area, it's not so casual.

Anyway, each of the 6 of us order different entrees. Again, we're expecting the food will be overpriced. Man, everything was extraordinary! The prices definitely were worth the taste! And those crab cakes, I tell you. You cut a piece and you see the REAL crab meat. Not much of anything else in the patty. I swear it must've been 90% real crab meat. It was the best crab cake any of us have ever had. Better than crab alone, as well. To this day we reminisce to that moment 2 years ago about how great the food was. Timbuktu's crab cakes have become our standard for any other one we taste. Since then, we still have not found anything that's even half as good.

I highly recommend that if you're within driving distance (even 2 hours away) visit Timbuktu in Baltimore. Find it on MSN yellow pages. Check out the links I've provided. Make reservations if possible. The place does get busy. Don't ever visit Maryland without making this stop. I promise, you'll thank yourself.

Here are a couple of links. CAUTION! Get a napkin, your mouth may water:
http://www.timbuktucrabcakes.com/
http://www.timbukturestaurant.com/