It is always fun to wake up to another birthday...No matter how old I get, I prefer a birthday to the alternative...so was quite pleased to wake up yesterday as a 77 year old!
As birthdays go, it was sort of low key due to several reasons, but my son made reservations at one of my most favorite restaurants in Hilo and we had friends join us.
I have to admit, that although I liked Hilo Bay Cafe well enough in the past, since their move to the new location I now consider it to be one of my favorites on the island.
I have read some of the reviews about HBC and it seems to be hit or miss with some, but so far, I've not been disappointed each time we've visited.
The ambiance is 'cleaner and more open' (and I mean cleaner not in the sense of filth, but as in more relaxed, more open spaces and lighter atmosphere) , the wait staff is friendlier and more attentive and the food...ah, the food!!!..it has always been good, but now it is great!...at least, everything I have tried, so far, each of the times I've eaten there.
The photos are not the best as we really didn't have that much room on the table to be able to photograph everything as I would have liked...
At first, everyone was going for sushi, but as we started going over the menu and each of us was wondering how this or that would taste, we ended up getting a couple of choices from the appetizer options, and a couple of choices from the sandwich options and several choices from the sushi bar.
Anthony chose the Soup du Jour, which was Roasted Red Pepper with Polenta...and absolutely delicious and an order of the Spicy Scallop Sushi...
I chose the Eggplant Parmesan Custard with roasted red peppers, tomato coulis, pesto, and rosemary bread and a Rainbow Sushi order... the ggplant custard was out of this world 'swoon' delicious...I hope they never take it off the menu!
Brenda had the Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burger Sandwich with melted provolone, arugula, tomato, pesto, on ciabatta, with garlic-salted fries. There was a pattie of blue cheese on the side that was delicious with my rosemary bread... The portobello was perfectly cooked and had a delicious smoky flavor...next time I go to HBC, I will have to order one... and ...another of the eggplant custards!
Kevan chose the Local Grass-Fed Beef Blue Burger with creamy gorgonzola cheese, and the asian-style slaw...that burger was J U I C Y !
Galyn asked for an assortment of sushi...I didn't get photos of all of them and never did get the names of the ones he ordered, but all of them were delicious.
The group 'scrunched' to get all in the pic, taken by our server, Cheri...who was awesome and took very good care of us. Galyn, Anthony, the birthday girl, Brenda and Kevan.
For dessert, two ordered the Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes with Coffee Ice Cream, one ordered the French Vanilla Ice Cream and I ordered the Tiramisu. Mine came with a little blue candle that Cheri had a hard time keeping lit due to the ceiling fans, but she managed!
It was a very fun birthday party with great food and company!
