The Cat Dish
  • Musings
  • Food
  • #CatTravels
  • #BabyFox
  • #40trails
  • Videos
  • About Me
  • Contact

The great food debate

By Catherine Toth Fox • November 22, 2010 • Food, Musings, The Daily Dish

I was having dinner at Mr. Ojisan on Kapahulu Avenue — one of my favorite Japanese restaurants, by the way — and faced a dilemma:

Should I order the chicken katsu or the tonkatsu?

It was a legitimate discussion in my head. On the one hand, the chicken version is juicy and flavorful. But tonkatsu done right is pretty hard to beat.

So I ordered both.

But it got me thinking about the choices we make when it comes to food — and what we would ultimately choose if we had to pay for it.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to pair up some foodie choices and let’s see which ones come out on top.

Here’s the list. Respond with your picks!

• Chicken katsu or pork katsu
• Malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery malassadas or Champion Malasadas
• Chunky or creamy peanut butter
• Aloha or Kikkoman shoyu
• Best Foods mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
• Thick crust or thin crust for your pizza
• Spring rolls or summer rolls
• The edges or the inside pieces of brownies
• Heinekin or Primo
• Milk chocolate or dark chocolate
• Saimin or ramen (read Mari Taketa’s post about this)
• Red curry or yellow curry
• Shiromiso (white miso) or akamiso (red miso)
• Ketchup or mustard on hot dogs
• Spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• Chocolate or vanilla ice cream
• Red or white sauce on pizza
• Sweet potatoes or yams
• Hot custard pie or cold custard pie

I’m sure there are way more choices — but let’s stick with this list for now. Part 2 could be coming soon!

***

To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected]

Subscribe to Nonstop Honolulu on YouTube »

RECENT BLOG POSTS

FUUD: Gulick Delicatessen on King Street
Should Grandma still be driving?
Cat Chat episode 2: Black Friday strategies
‘Hawaii Five-0’ vs. ‘Magnum, P.I.’
‘Spiritual’ lessons we’ve learned
FUUD: Pablo’s Cantina in Ward Centre
Introducing Cat Chat
ASK DR. DISH: Male shorage

TOP BLOG POSTS

New eats: Zaratez Mexicatessen
Introducing Cat Chat
Top 10 best memories of Europe
Top 10 first dates
36 hours of eating in Maui
North Shore Eats

chicken katsufeatured_eating_offledefood-tagfoodiegreat food debateMr. Ojisantonkatsu
Tweet
29
FUUD: Gulick Delicatessen on King Street
Too much bromance?

About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

You Might Also Like

  • Anyone Else Feeling Like You’re Failing at This?

  • It’s Hard To Say Goodbye—So I Won’t

  • Was 2020 Really That Bad?

  • Here’s What Happened To My Dog Indy

29 Comments

  • Reply Annoddah_Dave November 21, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    CAT: Pork, Champion, chunky, Aloha, Best, thin, summer, edge, Heineken, dark, ramen, yellow, white, mustard, angel, chocolate, white, yam, cold

    NSHNL or PULSE?

  • Reply Taina26 November 21, 2010 at 8:04 pm

    Chicken, Leonard’s, creamy peanut butter, Aloha shoyu, Best foods mayo, Thin crust, Summer Rolls, edge part, Heineken, Dark chocolate, Ramen, Yellow curry, white miso, mustard, Angel hair, Chocolate ice cream, red sauce, sweet potatoes, cold custard

  • Reply CodyZamboni November 21, 2010 at 8:06 pm

    Cody chooses the following :

    Chicken katsu
    • Malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery•
    creamy peanut butter•
    Kikkoman shoyu•
    Best Foods mayonnaise
    • Thick crust or thin crust for your pizza• either one I”m happy
    Spring rolls
    • The edges brownies•
    Heinekin or Primo• none of these
    Milk chocolate•
    ramen
    yellow curry•
    Shiromiso (white miso)
    Ketchup or mustard on hot dogs• either one I’m happy
    angel hair pasta•
    Chocolate ice cream
    • Red sauce on pizza•
    Sweet potatoes or yams• neither, both are horrid to Cody
    cold custard pie

  • Reply M November 21, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    Chicken katsu or pork katsu• Tonkatsu
    Malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery malassadas or Champion Malasadas• Leonards
    Chunky or creamy peanut butter• Creamy
    Aloha or Kikkoman shoyu• Aloha for adding to fuud, Kikkoman for cooking
    Best Foods mayonnaise or Miracle Whip• Best Fuuds
    Thick crust or thin crust for your pizza• Thin crust
    Spring rolls or summer rolls• I’ll have both
    The edges or the inside pieces of brownies• I’ll eat the whole thing
    Heinekin or Primo• I don’t drink
    Milk chocolate or dark chocolate• Milk chocolate
    Saimin or ramen (read Mari Taketa’s post about this)• I’ll have both
    Red curry or yellow curry• I’ll have both
    Shiromiso (white miso) or akamiso (red miso)• I’ll have both
    Ketchup or mustard on hot dogs• I’ll have both on my hot dogs
    Spaghetti or angel hair pasta• Depends on what I’m have with it.
    Chocolate or vanilla ice cream• Chcolate
    Red or white sauce on pizza• Red sauce
    Sweet potatoes or yams• yams
    Hot custard pie or cold custard pie It doesn’t matter hot or cold

  • Reply WildeOscar November 21, 2010 at 9:41 pm

    Suffering from choice overload on Cat’s menu today, I can only offer that I just had to choose between a tomato and mozarella panini or a ham and swiss panini. Went with the ham and swiss because the mustard is delightful. I know that wasn’t the question. Sorry.

  • Reply matti2d November 21, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    wow…lot’s of “it depends” answers. a few easy ones, though.

    • Chicken katsu or pork katsu: if done right, can’t beat tonkatsu. to be sure of decent juicy katsu, though, go with chicken.
    • Malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery malassadas or Champion Malasadas: champions, usually, but leonard’s aint bad
    • Chunky or creamy peanut butte: chunky
    • Aloha or Kikkoman shoyu: Kikkoman
    • Best Foods mayonnaise or Miracle Whip: Best Foods
    • Thick crust or thin crust for your pizza: thick like “not thin” or thick like chicago style deep dish? deep dish is another genre altogether, and sometimes it hits the spot, but I’ll usually go ny style.
    • Spring rolls or summer rolls: again, it depends, but you can’t go wrong with deep fried.
    • The edges or the inside pieces of brownie: edges
    • Heinekin or Primo: Heinekin
    • Milk chocolate or dark chocolate: dark
    • Saimin or ramen (read Mari Taketa’s post about this): again…it depends. late night, after a few beverages, saimin. as a meal I look forward to, though, ramen
    • Red curry or yellow curry: yellow
    • Shiromiso (white miso) or akamiso (red miso): aka
    • Ketchup or mustard on hot dog: mustard. chicago style dogs rule
    • Spaghetti or angel hair pasta: depends on the sauce.
    • Chocolate or vanilla ice cream: chocolate
    • Red or white sauce on pizza: red
    • Sweet potatoes or yams: sweet potatoes…in a pie
    • Hot custard pie or cold custard pie: usually hot, but cold custard pie as a breakfast the next day is hard to beat.

  • Reply turkfontaine November 21, 2010 at 9:55 pm

    pork, Leonard’s, creamy, Kikkoman, BestFoods (Helman’s), thin (pepperoni always), spring, edges, Heinekin, dark, ramen, yello, shiromiso, mustard, spaghetti, chocolate, red, yams, cold.

    wow, i think i’m only one ephiphany away from a paradigm shift. i did not really know myself until this moment. thank you CAT.

  • Reply CourtneyBiggs November 21, 2010 at 11:37 pm

    This is quite the list!

    • pork katsu
    • Leonard’s
    • Chunky peanut butter
    • either shoyu
    • neither Best Foods mayonnaise nor Miracle Whip — homemade aioli
    • thin crust pizza
    • summer rolls
    • inside pieces of brownies
    • neither Heinekin nor Primo
    • milk chocolate
    • ramen
    • yellow curry
    • shiromiso
    • mustard
    • either spaghetti or angel hair pasta — spaghetti for heartier dishes, and angel hair pasta for lighter ones
    • vanilla ice cream
    • either red or white sauce on pizza
    • either sweet potatoes or yams
    • cold custard pie

  • Reply hawaii2000 November 22, 2010 at 12:02 am

    pork katsu
    Tex Drive-In malasadas
    chunky peanut butter
    Aloha shoyu
    Best Foods mayo
    Thick crust pizza
    Spring rolls
    Edge piece brownies
    Heineken
    dark chocolate
    saimin
    yellow curry
    mustard on hot dogs (ketchup?!?!)
    spaghetti
    chocolate ice cream
    red sauce
    yams
    cold custard pie

    • Reply Cat November 23, 2010 at 11:52 am

      @hawaii2000 You cheated with Tex Drive-In!

    • Reply hawaii2000 November 23, 2010 at 10:54 pm

      @Cat Maybe so but . . . I win! Besides, anyone from Honokaa knows it’s a Portagee town so how could they NOT make the best malasadas?? (I Portagee myself so nobody give me heat!)

  • Reply hnlmark November 22, 2010 at 12:11 am

    Chicken katsu, creamy, Aloha shoyu, Best Foods, thin crust, spring rolls, brownie edges, dark chocolate, ramen, red curry, shiro miso, mustard, angel hair, chocolate ice cream, red sauce, sweet potatoes, cold custard; here’s my cornucopia, or should I say calabash bowl, of pairing preferences in the great debate over island-style foods.

  • Reply Maxcat November 22, 2010 at 1:38 am

    pork katsu, Leonard’s, Chunky, Kikkoman, Best Foods, thin crust, summer rolls, inside pieces, Primo, dark chocolate, ramen, yellow curry, akamiso, Ketchup and mustard on hot dogs, Chocolate, Red, yams, cold custard pie … but there are way too many bees that are some much better than Heine and Primo.

  • Reply matti2d November 22, 2010 at 1:50 am

    is it too late to vote for Punahou Carnival malasadas?

  • Reply nonstopMari November 22, 2010 at 2:26 am

    a worthy foodie post. do not ever tell me again that u’re not a foodie :>

    • Reply Maxcat November 22, 2010 at 3:38 am

      @nonstopMari Mari, Cat actually said she’s not a foodie?! That is just wrong on so many levels.

    • Reply Cat November 23, 2010 at 11:52 am

      @Maxcat @nonstopmari I don’t feel like I’m a foodie. I just like to eat. Mari’s a foodie. You have to not only like food but understand it.

  • Reply 808marv November 22, 2010 at 6:10 am

    Chicken katsu or pork katsu — push, depends on who makes it
    Malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery malassadas or Champion Malasadas — Leonard’s
    Chunky or creamy peanut butter — creamy, though I like chunky too
    Aloha or Kikkoman shoyu — Kikkoman
    Best Foods mayonnaise or Miracle Whip — Best foods
    Thick crust or thin crust for your pizza — thick crust, but depends on the maker as well
    Spring rolls or summer rolls — Spring rolls
    The edges or the inside pieces of brownies — edge
    Heinekin or Primo — N/A
    Milk chocolate or dark chocolate — Milk
    Saimin or ramen (read Mari Taketa’s post about this) — push, depends on who makes it
    Red curry or yellow curry — yellow
    Shiromiso (white miso) or akamiso (red miso) — don’t care
    Ketchup or mustard on hot dogs — both
    Spaghetti or angel hair pasta — spaghetti, but depends
    Chocolate or vanilla ice cream — chocolate
    Red or white sauce on pizza — red sauce
    Sweet potatoes or yams — sweet potatoes
    Hot custard pie or cold custard pie — cold

  • Reply maxmaxmax November 22, 2010 at 6:51 am

    • Chicken katsu
    • Malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery
    • Chunky peanut butter
    • Aloha or Kikkoman shoyu (take yer pick)
    • Best Foods mayonnaise or Miracle Whip (Is this a choice between Best FOods and Kraft, or mayo or Miracle Whip? ’cause only Kraft makes Miracle Whip). I choose Kraft Mayonaise over all–fat free of course!
    • Thick crust or thin crust for your pizza (depends on from where? Papa John’s Thin curst, but Pizza Hut’s thick)
    • Spring rolls
    • the inside pieces of brownies
    • Heinekin
    • Milk chocolate
    • Saimin
    • yellow curry
    • Shiromiso (white miso) or akamiso (red miso)–ICK!!! Me no like Miso
    • Ketchup or mustard on hot dogs–BOTH!!!
    • Spaghetti
    • Chocolate ice cream
    • Red sauce on pizza
    • Sweet potatoes
    • cold custard pie

  • Reply dbjack November 22, 2010 at 7:09 am

    pork katsu
    Malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery
    Chunky peanut butter
    Aloha shoyu
    No like mayonnaise
    Thick crust pizza
    Spring rolls
    Everything about brownies
    Qingdao or Singha
    Dark chocolate
    ramen
    Red curry or yellow curry served at Radisson Panwa Beach
    Shiromiso
    Chili rice hot dogs
    Angel hair pasta
    Blue Bunny Pistachio ice cream or B&J Chunky Monkey
    Red sauce on pizza
    No like sweet potatoes or yams
    Hot custard pie or cold custard pie, no matter
    pulled pork sandwiches

    And life isn’t complete without hot pot served in Chongqing, PRC.

  • Reply M November 22, 2010 at 8:39 am

    In Japan I ate Tonkatsu from this restaurant and it was so tender it just melted in my mouth and it was so tasty I didn’t use any sauce because it would have ruined it.

    • Reply nonstopMari November 22, 2010 at 8:58 am

      @M that sounds exactly like a description for excellent sushi!

  • Reply Masako November 22, 2010 at 9:55 am

    .• Chicken katsu •
    Champion Malasadas •
    Chunky peanut butter
    • Aloha shoyu •
    Best Foods mayonnaise
    thin crust for your pizza •
    Spring rolls •
    The edges of brownies •
    Heinekin
    • Milk chocolate
    Saimin•
    yellow curry •
    Shiromiso (white miso)
    Ketchup on hot dogs •
    angel hair pasta •
    vanilla ice cream •
    Red sauce on pizza •
    Sweet potatoes •
    Hot custard pie

  • Reply NeilYamamoto November 22, 2010 at 10:19 am

    pork katsu- it has more flavor and tends to have less fat
    Leonards- It’s what I grew up with
    Aloha Shoyu-has a sweeter, less salty taste than Kikkoman
    Mayonaise-Miracle Whip tastes too “chemical-like”
    thin crust on most pizzas, but thicker the better if it’s Chicago-Style
    Summer Rolls-it’s more refreshing to me…
    Brownie edges-I like the chewier parts.
    Primo-don’t much like Heineken, unless it’s Heineken Dark
    Dark Chocolate-more chocolate flavor, less sugariness.
    Ramen-more stuff, and you can’t go wrong w/ Ramen and Gyoza.
    Yellow Curry if I had to choose, but Japanese Curry is the BEST
    Akamiso-saltier and more flavorful
    neither, I eat my hotdogs plain
    Angel Hair w/ browned butter and mizithra cheese please!
    chocolate ice cream (Gelato if possible)
    Red Sauce on pizza
    Sweet Potato Fries FTW
    Cold Custard Pie

  • Reply UncleBullet November 22, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    • Chicken katsu – even though I like tonkatsu, pork is off my diet
    • Champion Malasadas
    • Chunky peanut butter
    • Aloha – local is good
    • Best Foods mayonnaise – Miracle Whip – yuck!
    • thin crust for your pizza- too much carb not good for me.
    • summer rolls – gotta avoid fried
    • The edges brownies- I like the crunch
    • Heinekin – don’t drink beer but when I did, I didn’t care for Primo
    • dark chocolate – either is good but I guess dark is better for the health
    • Saimin – if it’s fresh
    • yellow curry – no preference but yellow if I have to make a choice
    • Shiromiso (white miso) – think I like the milder taste
    • mustard on hot dogs – ketchup has sugar – bad for me
    • angel hair pasta – I like thin
    • Chocolate – I’m a chocoholic
    • white sauce on pizza- I don’t care for the tomato sauce in my older years
    • Sweet potatoes – but yams at thanksgiving
    • cold custard pie – hot is too mushy

  • Reply RamEngr November 23, 2010 at 7:03 am

    Thing I like…
    pork katsu
    Champion Malasadas
    Chunky peanut butter
    Kikkoman
    Thick crust
    Spring rolls
    The edges
    Heinekin
    dark chocolate
    Saimin
    yellow curry
    akamiso (red miso)
    mustard on hot dogs
    angel hair pasta
    Chocolate cream
    white sauce on pizza
    Sweet potatoes
    Hot custard pie
    These fun blogs.

  • Reply Cat November 23, 2010 at 11:56 am

    I gotta say, this wasn’t easy! And more than that, I’m surprised at how split everyone is on the answers!

    So here are my picks: (I can’t believe I didn’t include them earlier!)

    • Pork katsu
    • I’m going to pick malassadas from Leonard’s Bakery though Champion is probably more consistently good.
    • Chunky
    • Aloha
    • Best Foods mayonnaise
    • Thin crust
    • Spring rolls
    • The edges of brownies
    • Heinekin or Primo: NEITHER
    • Dark chocolate
    • Ramen
    • Yellow curry
    • Shiromiso (white miso)
    • Ketchup (and relish) on hot dogs
    • Angel hair pasta
    • Chocolate ice cream
    • Red sauce on pizza
    • Sweet potatoes
    • Cold custard pie

    Now I’m hungry!

  • Reply Chef_Jay November 24, 2010 at 10:31 pm

    Pork Katsu
    Leonard’s Bakery – it’s what I grew up on…
    Chunky
    Aloha – unless we’re talking Kikkoman Gold
    Best Foods mayonnaise
    Thick crust – only from Zachary’s or Gino’s East, otherwise Thin crust
    Spring rolls
    The edges of brownies
    Heinekin – it’s what I grew up on…I mean…ahhh…
    Milk chocolate
    Saimin – if in Hawaii, if not Ramen
    Curry – NEITHER
    Shiromiso (white miso)
    Mustard on hot dogs – Bertman Ballpark Mustard
    Angel hair pasta
    Chocolate ice cream
    Red sauce on pizza
    Sweet potatoes
    Cold custard pie

    I must sound like a friggin’ commercial…

  • Reply markdotentest01 December 6, 2010 at 10:31 pm

    this is a test comment, will delete

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

Latest Posts

  • Anyone Else Feeling Like You’re Failing at This?

    March 8, 2022
  • It’s Hard To Say Goodbye—So I Won’t

    January 29, 2021
  • Was 2020 Really That Bad?

    December 31, 2020
  • Here’s What Happened To My Dog Indy

    December 10, 2020
  • I Did Noom For a Month and Here’s What Happened

    October 7, 2020

Made with in Seattle

© 2013 Solo Pine Designs, Inc. All rights reserved.