Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Buho Cocina y Cantina - 2 year anniversary of the Nacho Blog AND International Day of the Nachos

Although technically the anniversary of the Nacho Blog is on October 17th, we decided to wait about a week and celebrate it on the 21st which just happens to be International Day of the Nachos.  We went to the new happening place in Waikiki, Buho Cocina y Cantina, on the roof above Victoria Secret's.  The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous, open air and beautifully designed.  At first we had an awesome corner section outside, under the stars.  And then the rain came. Boo on you rain!  We tried to wait it out, but it just kept coming so we moved inside.  Not too long after we moved in, it stopped.  But we decided to just stay put where we were.  The chairs were super comfy, albeit it was a little humid. We live in Hawaii so you should be used to that.  Our server got slammed and in between moving the large parties in (there was another party of 17 as well) and getting all our orders got a little in the weeds.  The staff was all helpful with everyone running around to help out.  And even though you could see she was running around like crazy, she was still very friendly and you wouldn't know by her body language or words that she was as busy as she was.  Being an ex-server, I felt for her.  Everyone kinda paired up and ordered nachos to share and they turned out to be larger portions than we had imagined. All of the food we saw go by looked amazing and the things others did try were all super ono.  Definitely want to come back and try some more of their dishes and specialty drinks.

BIG MAHALO TO ALL YOU NACHO FRIENDS FOR TWO YEARS OF NACHO FUN!  I love you guys and love getting together to eat nachos with you.  No matter how good or how bad, we always have a good time.  Only like 60 more places on the to-do list, so we should be at it for a while.  ALOHA!

Nacho ladies TRIFECTA!  The original ladies who started the nacho blog two years ago at Cha Cha Cha's


Nacho Friends!


Amanda (4) Nachos looked well rounded with toppings. RAD: The guac was rad and so were all the veggies.  LAME: The meat was pretty lame, too much sour cream. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, good amount of empty chips on the bottom, but the toppings were enough that you still had enough.  I would totally come back for the veggie nachos, they were awesome.



Didio (4) Nice presentation, lots of toppings. RAD: Veggies!  Onions! LAME: Meat wasn't great, not very spicy. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4.  Awesome party for International Day of the Nachos.



Camaroondo (4) Visually perfect looking nachos.  Everything there as it should be. RAD: Chips so krispy with a 'K' LAME: Chips underneath had no toppings.  They need to layer that shit. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 5, every topping was a healthy portion.  Cheese was melted just so.  Cool place, kinda fancy, trendy.



Amy (3) Good size, nice presentation. RAD: Love the meat, lots of spice.  Fabulous homemade chips.  They stayed crispy and did not get soggy. LAME: Definitely not enough sour cream. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 2, not enough topping, too much melted cheese on the plate and not on the chips.  Tasty but need more toppings.  Love the atmosphere.  Service is a bit slow but super friendly.



Danielle (4.5) Decent size, good array of toppings. RAD: Delicious guac, chips are delish, tasty toppings, I'm digging the grilled onions, lovely salsa. LAME: Toppings are not layered, had to order side of guac and salsa to dip naked chips. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3.75, because not all chips covered, would order again.  Love the atmosphere!  Service doesn't seem prepared to accommodate a large group, but friendly.



Nacho Libra (4) Bigger than expected!  Real cheese and sour cream and guac all look promising. RAD: International Day of the Nacho!!!  Love the crunchy chips.  VEGGIE:  variety of veggie toppings!  BEEF:  Meat is flavorful, love the real cheese.  Black beans tasty. LAME: Many empty chips.  Big spot of melted cheese on plate, but not on nearby chips. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, good variety but lots of empty chips.  Toppings were yummy!  Wish there'd been more.  Sorta pricey, needs side of salsa, but delicious.  Friendly and accomodating service, but slow for a large party.  I think they needed 2 servers for us.  Love the rooftop on a clear day. 



La Sexxxy (3.5) Presentation okay…nothing special. RAD: Chips are crunchy and thick, they do not get soggy. LAME: Not quite enough toppings for the amount of chips. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 2, there were some chips that didn’t have toppings.  Atmosphere was nice and I like the lanai area.  Service was slow. 



Tom (5) Wow, these look yummy!  Ingredients look fresh. RAD: Delcious drinks, good chips, great guacamole. LAME: Slow drink service.  A few empty chips.  Needs more jalapenos. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, I'm impressed.  Our waitress has a BADASS tattoo! 


kulana beef picadillo nachos ($14.95) - picadillo, black bean puree, pickled jalapenos, queso fresco, diced tomoatoes, sour cream, homemade guacamole

nachos vegetalies (12.95) - tomatoes, calabaza, grilled red onion, rajas, black bean puree, diced tomatoes, queso fresco, sour cream homemade guacamole


Zac (4) Presentation to match the ambiance. RAD: They moved us indoors when it started to rain so that was rad.  Meat was good.  LAME: Poppers took a while….I want the poppers in my belly. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, toppings were great but I just want more.  Great nacho night!



Carey (4) Nice layering, sour cream and guac.  Enough for 2 people. RAD: Black beans and corn awesome!  OMG the fish tacos! LAME: Rain. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4.5, layering almost perfect, almost no need to dip.  Open air is rad unless there is rain.  Cadilac margarita is sweet.




Sad empty chips


Theresa (3) Ordered meat and veggie nachos, presented well. RAD: VEGGIE: onions.  Amount of sour cream was well appreciated.  LAME: The sauce marinade of the meat was too mole. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4.5, the toppings had plenty, although you had plain chips on the bottom you couls still utilize the excessive topping leftover.  Warm, however walked 30 blocks.  Service was ok.



Shananigans (4) Fresh ingredients and large portion. RAD: Fresh guac, meat concoction was tasty, having the original 3 ladies who did the first nacho blog together again was super radical. LAME: Needs more heat, not enough cheese but I am a cheese addict so is there really ever enough?  Chips were almost too crunchy for me. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3.5, empty chips on the bottom.  Since we got moved inside near the kitchen, we got to see all the food come out and man did it look tasty.  Huge ass burritos and all kinds of yumminess.  Definitely need to come back and try more dishes here.  Our waitress, Ryan, got slammed and was in the weeds the whole time we were there.  She kept a smile on her face and pushed through it.  Also tried the jalapeno poppers which were stuffed with pork and wrapped in prociutto.  Fuck yes…pork stuffed pork wrapped peppers…get in my belly (could have used more cheese).



Pascuale (4) Sexy, yum, dark. RAD: Smokey flavor and crispy chips. LAME: Twigs of some sort in nachos, thyme twig?  Whatever maybe?  Meat was cooked with thyme? TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4.  Service was spotty, atmosphere is amazing, and very sexy. 



Tequila Cat (2.4) Too flat, need more of a mountain motif.  Great flavor. RAD: 1. smoking Cadillac cocktail. 2. tiny pineapple ball in my cocktail. 3. did i mention muh cocktail. 4. just kidding, there's my queso. (Not so good). LAME: 1. the rain storm. 2. long wait for tecate. 3. where is my queso? 4. don't fill up people's waters when other need beer!  Priorities.   TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: More cheese please.  Good company. 



Don Frijoles (3.5) Where's the cheese?  Where's the beef? RAD: Flavors are great.  Fresh chips, spicy guac. LAME: Where's the salsa? hot sauce? jalapenos? TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, needs more cheese.  Flavors are good but priced a bit high.  Fun place except for the twigs. 
 


Katia (3.5) beautiful presentation! RAD: Cloth napkins (not paper, save trees) LAME: Needs more cheese! TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 2.5, need mo!  Beatiful atmosphere.  Server overwhelmed, felt bad.



Nacho Granny (3) Always happy when I spy a big mound of sour cream. RAD: Friends!  And ordering my drink early…so me!   LAME: Dropping chip pocket cheese recepticles. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, not a lot of naked chips.  Well with the multiple rain storms…Tecate or not, I like it here.  But I am picky so only a 3.  Service is awesome.  They moved us inside when the rain crashed the party. 














prosciutto-wrapped jalapeno poppers - prosciutto, shinsato farm pork carnitas, cream cheese cilantro mix, borracho salsa

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