UYE Ray’s Cafe Dinner #3

Amazing!
Delicious!
Fantastic!
These are some of the words I would use to describe this fabulous event! Paul C. and David T. did an Bang Up Job! The event was really great… especially since I was able to meet new Yeeps like Darrell P., Lisa T., Mark H., Pam H., Ramfis B., Sophie P., and Victoria A.
The restaurant is on the small side, and since everyone and their mother wanted to go to the event, it was cozy… but this made great socializing. In true Unilocal fashion, there were plenty of homemade baked goods made with love… so many desserts that I probably should have skipped dinner and just ate sweets, but hey, we were here for the food…
I ordered the mahi and chicken plate and it was amazing. I have never seen a larger piece of fish on a plate before in my life! Moist, juicy and flavorful… it fed me for like a week! The fried chicken was cooked perfectly as well. Crispy on the outside and ono on the inside… it was super good!
I got lucky and sat at the right table because Darrell P. and Ramfis B. plowed me with fantastic beverages all night long. I am not a beer and wine guy, so all the sake, liquor, and whiskey was perfect… those guys know how to party!
Ramfis B. also brought crispy gaugee and roast pork… what a way to start a dinner!
I will definitely go to another one of Paul’s and David’s events… it was Super Awesome!

If you’ve never been to a UYE before, Paul C and David T are the masters of planning and hosting UYE. Of course if the UYE happens to be at Ray’s Café, you best make your RSVP ASAP.
My very first UYE was the Ray’s Café Dinner #2. It was overwhelming with so many Unilocalers squeezed into a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant. It was a blast! So of course when I learned there would be a #3 before the year was over, I was down! I sent my RSVP and luckily scored 2 seats to the popular event. Sadly, my partner in crime could not make it due to illness so I let Paul know as soon as I found out.
Parking is always tight here, but luckily, Paul C hooked me up! I asked Li to save me a seat which I later found out was in the middle of the party table. Party table you ask? Only with the ever so cool Ramfis and Darrell/​Sophie P who are the connoisseurs of sake. I bought my bottle of Kona Longboard only to be given several samples of delicious sakes. AMAZING! I will have to learn the finer points at the next event I hope. :) I even got lucky to sample a 17 year aged whiskey. Best to have a DD after that one ;)
Ramfis brought some melt in your mouth roast pork and crispy gau gee. Yummy! The food was amazing as always. Chef Felix is amazing hooking us up with 1 POUND of mahi and 2 pieces amazing fried chicken. I had tossed salad but was lucky to sample the mac salad which I am definitely getting next time *hint hint* In addition to the ton of food (for $ 14 plus tip), there were awesome desserts made by our fellow Unilocalers! Pies, brownies, chocolate chip pies, Spanish rolls, and mochi! I finally learned my lessons, and brought home my desserts rather than try to sample everything that night. :)
Overall another awesome event brought to us by two AWESOME Unilocalers, Paul C and David T :)

Since Paul’s nickname is «Food Snob», I tend to trust his judgement in the foodie arena. I’m more on the lax side when it comes to meals because I appreciate ANYONE who cooks because it’s hard work for me. The grocery shopping, the prep, the slaving over a hot stove, the dish washing, etc is not enjoyable for me. I’d rather sleep!
So — when Paul recommends something, I take note. If he recommends a restaurant, I heed his call since he has much higher standards than most.
I rarely get a chance to have a lamb dinner — pair it with excellent company — well, it’s a no-​brainer! I was ALL IN! The early bird gets the worm, so I signed up right away when I heard about it!
The BEST part of this particular UYE was meeting IRL (in real life) fellow Yeeps, Victoria A, Christa B., & Ken B. and FINALLY making friends with Dan O., Kimo S. and Lauren! I was also happy to see Steven, Laine, and Nicholas.
The second best things are tied: The lamb and the desserts. I can’t decide. Both were excellent. The lamb was so tender and moist — not gamey at all! The desserts were fabulous — cupcakes, pies, brownies, chocolate chip cookie pie, Spanish Rolls, gau gee, Roast Pork and mochi were all «to die for».
I must thank my «little buddy», Eric, for being a pinch hitter and filling a slot at the last minute. There was a cancellation and Eric was gracious enough to skip class and join us for this noteworthy dinner. What a sacrifice!
Thanks also to my personal chauffer, Maggie, who skillfully glided through the traffic since I was a nervous wreck from other life events. She also scored the perfect parking spot right in front of the restaurant! Yipee!
Most of all, thanks to the perfect hosts: David & Paul! They have the most class and charisma ever! They work hard at bussing the tables, entertaining the guests, coordinating seats/​menus/​prices, etc. There are so many details and behind-​the-​scenes work that they do to make sure that we have a successful UYE — and they have done it time and time again! They are the FRESHEST! Mahalo nui loa!

My blood type: A+
Traits of Blood Type A Individuals:
1) Presence of mind, serious, patient, calm and cool.
2) Plan everything out beforehand, and carry out tasks with seriousness and consistency.
3) Try to be fair and find the ideal outcome to any situation.
4) Coherent character, can be relied on and trusted, but stubborn.
Me stubborn? I dunno about that. You can be the judge of that…
When working on this UYE, I spoke with co-​host David T. and Chef Felix on the menu and seating. Regardless we were taking over the WHOLE restaurant, I wanted a menu where us Unilocalers wouldn’t overwhelm Felix and his crew. David and I thought of various menu combinations. When David had some out-​of-​town friends the other week he brought them here and had the FULL rack of lamb and told me how good it was. With that in mind we spoke with Felix one Sunday morning after the Swap Meet and the deal was done.
After posting my event here it took approximately 65 minutes for the initial 26 seats to fill up. The next thing I know we had a waiting list. I don’t like turning people down as I want them to come and enjoy the evening. Knowing it would be a tight squeeze, Chef Felix gave me the cap of 30 pax so I was able to squeeze in 2 more.
The night was memorable. Many showed up early and we were very patient in waiting outside until the last diners were about to leave. We then all stormed in this tiny restaurant and started to move the tables as if this were our own home.
I would like to thank all attendees that night who made this a very successful UYE. Many happy faces, laughing, tons of food, desserts and happy juice filled the evening. Many thanks to Chef Felix and his crew as they outdid themselves and catered to our needs the whole evening. To accompany our meal we picked up 2 boxes of Nanding’s Spanish Rolls (aka DING-​DING).
I would personally like to thank the following individuals:
1) Ramifis B. for brining that HUGE tray of crispy gau gee and that awesome crispy Chinese roast pork from Roast Duck Kitchen in Aiea. He also brought his prized, aged 17 year old whiskey from Japan he received as a gift several years ago, along with several other bottles of delicious SAKE.
2) Lisa T. for those incredible Margarita cupcakes. Very flavorful and who doesn’t like some alcohol in their dessert?
3) Nadine C. for bringing everyone cute aprons to wear. She brought them back from a recent trip to Las Vegas. She also spent HOURS making that decadent Oreo Delight dessert of several layers.
4) Cathy T. for those yummy Ghiradelli fudge brownies. They were so good!
5) Laine K. for that delicious custard pie from Nanding’s Bakery.
6) Adrienne B. for the 2 large chocolate chip cookie pies. Festive with colorful design and yummy!
7) Li Y. for baking the two types of mochi with fresh fruit and whipped cream on the side. The coconut lemon was my favorite and I wanted to snag that can of whipped cream from Darrell P.‘s hands and shoot some of that stuff in my mouth!
8) Darrell P. and Sophie P. for the bottles and bottles of «Japanese happy juice». Seems like he recently took part of a SAKE tasting event and they brought an array of delicious SAKE. I really enjoyed the UME (sour plum) spiked with chili pepper. Sure woke me up!
Hats off to some newbies who attended my UYE for the very first time: Christa B., Ken B., Victoria A., Nicholas H., Dan O., Steven U. and Laine K. It was an honor for you folks to join us that night.
Lastly, I would like to thank David T. for taking a chance earlier this year in co-​hosting the UYE Ray’s Café Dinner. I thought it’d be a great place to come but wasn’t sure how Unilocal Honolulu would respond to it. It has now become a series with great popularity.
The evening ended with Yeeps leaving with full tummies and many with doggy bags of their leftover dinner and desserts. Because I worry a lot, I was relieved the evening came to an end but because it was so much fun, I didn’t want it to end that soon.
Stay tuned for the next UYE. It’ll be in January 2015. May you all have a safe holiday season and SYOY!
NOTES:
1) Thank you to Cathy T. and John N. as these 2 have attended all of my 8 UYE’s I’ve either hosted or co-​hosted.
2) Mahalo to Chef Felix for:
a) special Rack of Lamb dinner at $ 20 (regular $ 23.95)
b) the fish in his combo plate is approx 10 oz but he gave us a FULL POUND of MAHIMAHI to accompany 2 LARGE pieces of his famous fried chicken for just $ 14.

Mary had a little lamb little lamb little lamb… Mary had a little lamb… Actually none of us had a little lamb, I’m actually pretty sure that those of us who partook in the lamb helped to reduce the lamb population by about 10 – 15 as I’m pretty sure we each had a whole lamb on our plates. Those who had the mahi most likely had the whole fish as well minus the head and fins.
You see the lure of these UYEs at Rays is not just the company (and in my case playing «watch me park my car» and «watch me duct tape myself to the wall and try to eat») but also the portions large enough to feed a small village in Ethiopia. And if the portions weren’t big enough, there’s no shortage of extra appetizers and enough deserts to cause a diabetic coma.
I can’t even begin to name all the goodies that I got to sample, but I do know that the next UYE I attend will require that I either bring a Tupperware or a feedbag or begin learning how to properly binge and purge in order to not feel like someone needs to roll me to my car.
It was great seeing all the usual folks and some new ones. Thank you for the laughs everyone and for the nom noms.
Paul and David never cease to amaze me with their ability to pull off these huge events more popular than a Justin Bieber concert. I remember when sign ups went up sitting at the movie theater in a row of Yeeps desperately trying to get in, like it was THE EVENT of the season. If you haven’t attended a UYE hosted by these guys you don’t understand what you’re missing. Organization to the max and fun fun.

What an epic meal!
For this UYE it was a choice of lamb or mahi mahi and fried chicken. I close the latter because I attempted to be healthy. Healthy plan failed! I ended up with a ginormous one pound slab of mahi on my plate with two healthy pieces of fried chicken (Healthy because of its size, not content).
The lamb was a no sneeze either with a whole rare rack on people’s plates. Nick H was super nice and gave me a piece. It was so delicious and I have to say it was even better than my yummy fish! The chicken was so good too!
On top of this so many desserts came around that I lost track of who brought what. Thanks so much everyone! I only remember Nadine’s dessert because I was eyeing it after seeing it in social media. Thanks Darrel for some adult refreshments! Much thanks to Paul and Dave for hosting. Thanks Cathy and Maka for saving me a seat. I even got a souvenir apron to take home from Nadine!

I’m gonna have to call Paul C the Bruno Mars of UYE Events because once his UYE Events get posted, you better have itchy fingers and put your reservation in ASAP or else you’ll be crap out of luck. If you haven’t been to any of Paul C’s UYE Events at Ray’s Café, then all I can say is you snooze, you lose.
It was another typical UYE Event for the ages as the usual suspects were there with the exception of a few new ones and it’s always nice to see new faces attend these memorable outings. Chef Felix outdid himself once again as his offerings were a humankous piece of Mahi Mahi with two pieces of his famous Fried Chicken or Rack of Lamb which consist of eight Lamb Lollipops that were cooked to perfection.
And you know it never ends there with the food. I though I would make a trip out to Aiea and go to Roast Duck Kitchen and pick up some Crispy Gau Gee and Roast Pork for my Unilocal Familia to sample because I hold that place in high regard because there’s no need for me to go to Chinatown anymore because I found my favorite place for Gau Gee and Roast Pork right here in Aiea Baby.
And Paul C and David T supplied us with Spanish Ding Ding’s, oops I meant Spanish Rolls from Nanding’s Bakery as well. As for the libations, all I have to say is Darrell P is the drug lord of all alcoholic beverages. He came at us fully loaded with some killer sakes, to Peach sake, to Ume sake, to Chili Pepper Sake, to Yuzu Sake, our table was bombarded with some unreal alcohol that evening. And Pam H, brought a bottle of Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon for us to drink and supplied me with an Eisch Wine Glass to drink it in. So sassy, it was perfect with my Rack of Lamb. And Kimo S as always has these wines that I’ve never seen before and Victoria M with her cool labels of wine was a nice touch. I even brought some stuff that you could only get in Japan.
As for desserts, this is why I don’t even bring desserts anymore. It’s like going a dessert buffet after eating all that food from Ray’s Café and no place to fit in my tummy. There was an Oreo Delight made by Nadine C, Lemon Coconut and Chocolate Butter Mochi made by Li Y, Ghiradelli Brownies made by Cathy, another dessert made by Lisa T, and Custard Pie brought by Laine? Sorry I was a little loaded with Happy Juice already. My advice to everyone who attends thr next UYE Event at Ray’s Café, BRING TUPPERWARE!!!
The reason why these events run by Paul C are so memorable is because Ray’s Café is such a hole in the wall and the place is packed to the gills, Paul C and David T are like our personal servers and that’s such a nice touch trying to please thirty hungry Yeeps. There is no way my big ass okole would never get through these cracks and crevices at Ray’s without people having to stand on the tables so I can get through.
Our table at Ray’s Café is always filled with quite the characters from Mark H to Steve U to Pam H to Adrienne B to Jenn S to Li Y to Darrell and Sophie P and to Yours Truly, we always have a blast. It was also nice seeing Victoria A and M, Kimo and Lauren, and nice meeting Laine and Christa B for the first time. And as for Unilocal’s finest Maka, Malia, Cathy, John, Gary, and Todd S, it was a pleasure seeing you as well.
The highlight of the evening for me was cracking open a 17 year old Hibiki Japanese Whiskey Collector’s Edition Bottle I got a few years ago from the Ikeda Family from Japan. Now I am no Whiskey expert, but this whiskey was so smooth and sexy I have to get me a few bottles of these when I go to Japan in a few weeks because it was that memorable.
In ending, I just want to say many thanks to Chef Felix and staff for creating another dinner for the ages and to our amazing chaperone’s David T and Paul C, you once again went above and beyond to make this evening another memorable success. Thanks so much and my fingers are itching for the next UYE Event at Ray’s Café. Sorry Bruno, but I’d rather go these UYE Events than attend one of your concerts. I wouldn’t even catch a grenade from you either.

Omg! If you have not participated in Paul C and David T’s UYE Ray’s Café Dinner, it’s an absolutely must!!! Trust me, there will be another one of these in a few months again.
Thank you so much Paul and Dave for another wonderful UYE. They are the best hosts ever! They were busy greeting everyone as they arrived and squeezed the 30 Yeeps including themselves in there. Ramfis B was busy handing out Roast Pork and Crispy Gau Gee when I arrived shortly before 630p. Nadine C was handing out these cute aprons as favors that she purchased from Las Vegas just for this event. I quickly found a seat next to Eric B and started to munch on the roast pork.
As the rest of the people arrived more good eats were being passed around… Nanding’s Spanish rolls yum! Gee, I was getting full already! My apologies, I don’t know who brought them since the place was so tight I couldn’t be the social butterfly I can be to talk story lol.
Then the food started coming out! OMG! The portions were so huge! I ordered the Mahi Mahi and Fried Chicken combo. And what a deal… only $ 17 including tax and tip!!! Felix the owner gave us one whole pound of Mahi! This big gal could only eat a third of the Mahi and managed two bites of the chicken. I didn’t want to overeat because I was saving room for the desserts hahaha! Thanks to Nadine who is always prepared, she gave me one of her Tupperware containers so I could take home my left overs.
Now, I had to leave early so again I apologize if I miss anyone here… Nadine C brought the Oreo Delight, Laine K brought Custard pie, Li Y made two kinds of mochi (I had the Chocolate one), Lisa T made Margarita Cupcakes, someone made brownies (Cathy T?), and Adrienne B brought chocolate chip cookies. Everything was sooo good! I had to take it to go. Oh I can’t forget my Filipino brother Ramfis for always bringing sake (I just saw his special bottle pic posted… good thing I didn’t sit near them, else I would’ve had a lil too much drinky lol) and good eats to share and to the lovely couple Sophie and Darrell P for sharing their feel good drinks too… yuzu! Thank you all so much for bringing all the delicious desserts and drinks to share! Whilst all of this is going on, the two hosts were working non-​stop to ensure waters were filled and making sure everyone was having a fantastic time.
Most of all, the best part of this whole event is hanging out with fellow Unilocalers! I had the honor of sitting with Nadine C, Christa B and her hubby K B, Victoria A and Eric B. It was great to see familiar faces like Jennifer S, Sophie & Darrell P, Lisa T, Adrienne B, Steven U, Mark H, Maka K & Nick, Li Y, Malia H, Todd S, Victoria M, Gary N, John N, Cathy T, and Laine K. And don’t forget, these events are also great to make new friends like K B, Dan O, Kimo S and Pam H.
Thank you again to our wonderful hosts Paul C and David T for putting together this awesome event and having us all there to enjoy the great food at Ray’s Café.

Another EPIC UYE put on by Paul C and David T
I can only describe this place as EPIC because the portions we get at this UYE are huge. My order was for Mahimahi with 2 pieces of chicken and tossed salad. I knew that when the tossed salad came I better start eating. Why??? When fellow Unilocalers do a byob and it’s always excellent choices, hence the plural. Darrell P and Sophie P had an array of Sake to drink which included Malia H’s favorite Yuzu. Ramfis B. as usual had some outstanding Sake and a Japanese whisky — Collectors Edition of Hibiki 17. He even made a stop over to Roast Duck Kitchen in Aiea and had us laughing at the table explaining his order over the phone which the owner kept repeating to Ramfis «You NO come in 5 minutes, you come 6 O’Clock!» And it was because he ordered 60 crispy gau gee and roast pork for everyone. That box must have been heavy…
Once the very hot Mahimahi plate came– my eyes was already evaluating how I was going to deconstruct this 1 pound fish because there’s no way that I’ll eat it all. Not to mention the 2 crispy fried chicken. The fish was really delicious and moist. Growing up as a child Mahimahi was always my favorite. Felix and his staff really know how to make a meal at a bargain price. I did get to taste the lamb. Ramfis was kind enough to let me taste it and to my surprise it wasn’t gamy. It actually was quite juicy and the meat to fat ratio was so good.
Many many thanks go out to those who took the time to make dessert for everyone. I so appreciated a home made dessert and the few bought desserts were yummy too. Nadine C., you are so appreciated for making those Oreo desserts! They came out great and I saved mines to share with my better half since he dropped me off and picked me up.
Felix your food @ Ray’s Café is amazing, thank you for allowing us to have another great UYE at your place.
I’ll be cyber stalking Paul C in the event he and David T put on UYE#4! :-)

A UYE at Ray’s Café is like going home. It’s where you go to get delicious comfort food, the company of good friends and fun memories. It’ll never disappoint. Like all of Paul and David’s other UYE’s, this one filled up in about an hour!!! Felix is going to need a bigger restaurant!
Felix was awesome enough to close his restaurant to us so to be courteous to patrons who were dining, we waited outside patiently until just before the start of the UYE. A small gathering of YEEPS waited outside and greeted each other with smiles and hugs to go around. Many were carrying coolers and curious containers filled with home baked goods.
We went in a little before 6:30 and started to rearrange tables so we could sit in large groups. I had the pleasure of sitting with Sophie P, Darrell P, Li Y, Ramfis B, Steven U, Mark H, Adrienne B, Pam H and Lisa T. We were a quiet and shy bunch. NOT!!! I think we went through 2 bottles of wine and 3 bottles/​containers of sake/​yuzu before we were even served the tossed salad!
Ramfis is über generous and thoughtful! He bought a large tray of crispy gau gee from roast duck kitchen in aiea and a container of roast duck too. OMG! So Yummy!!! Paul even brought those delicious Spanish rolls from Nandings, which is around the corner.
Then came the tossed salad and Ramfis shared his mac salad with us and it was delicious too. Tonight’s entrees were your choice of a mahimahi/​fried chicken combo or rack of lamb. Not only did Felix give us a great price for our entrees but he even gave us larger portions! My mahi was HUGE!!! AND it came with 2 pieces of fried chicken. I couldn’t believe the amount of food that was on my plate. Everyone enjoyed their dinner selections.
YEEPS are awesome people! Thanks to Darrell, Sophie and Ramfis for all of the sake, yuzu and wine that flowed at our table. Darrell brought so much, including a few seasonal sakes from a sake tasting he and Sophie had gone to last week. Ramfis brought a 17 year old whiskey from Japan in a beautiful bottle. It was so smooth. Then there were the desserts! Nadine made a heavenly cupcake (I want to request those for my birthday next year! LOL), Lisa brought a margarita cupcake, Li made lemon and chocolate mochi and brought whip cream and fruit toppings, there was custard pie from Laine, cookie pies from Adrienne and brownies from Cathy. The experienced Ray UYE YEEPS brought their Tupperware containers to take home their extra food and desserts! I hope I didn’t miss anyone that brought something. Thank you to everyone!
What a fun night! I can’t wait until the 4^th installment of the Ray’s Café UYE! See you there!!!

I learned a couple of new things about a UYE (especially one that is hosted by Paul C. and David T.):
1) YOU WILL NOT LEAVE HUNGRY!
In real estate they say that LOCATION is everything. In this case, FOOD is everything! Dunno about you, I couldn’t slay the one pound of Mahi-​Mahi perfection on my plate! Thank you Paul C. and Chef Felix in accommodating my no-​chicken preference. I obviously did not know that the food here was that good! Everything was DELICIOUS!!! Thank you Ramfis for the roast pork and gau gee! And to whoever brought Nanding’s Spanish rolls — thank you!!!
2) YOU WILL HAVE A DESSERT STOMACH!
Boy Unilocalers sure do know how to eat! From Nadine’s oreo cupcakes, Adrienne’s cookie pies, Lisa’s cupcakes to the custard pie, brownies and two differently flavored mochi — UnilocalERS know good food! My apologies if I missed who made which dessert. If you didn’t already have one, you WILL develop a dessert stomach just so you can devour these goodies.
3) YOU WILL GO SOMEPLACE THAT YOU WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF TO GO BY YOURSELF.
In my case, I felt safe knowing there were 30 other people there with me)! Our gracious host was waiting at the front of Ray’s Café on King Street directing us where to park (who does that? PAUL C. does!).
4) THERE WILL BE ALCOHOL!
Again Mahalo Ramfis and Darrell for the drinks! MABUHAY from table in the corner (Eric B., Maggie T., Nadine, Ken B. and Christa B.)!!
5) BRING YOUR OWN TUPPERWARE!
(As demonstrated by Auntie Nadine and Maggie T.)! There will be leftovers unless you can eat like a hungry Hawaiian /​Samoan.
6) YOU WILL PERSONALLY MEET PEOPLE YOU’VE ONLY KNOWN ON Unilocal.
This ranks up there with the quality and quantity of food at Paul’s UYEs. I got to meet John N., Mark H., Nadine, Darrell P. and his beautiful wife, finally got to see Lisa T. and Li Y! Prior to this event, they were just names with awesome, informative, humorous reviews.
Yes, I got schooled in how to host a UYE and what to expect! Mahalo Paul C. and David T. If you didn’t get to go this time around, stalk the event page and I’m sure you will find the next posting for their next UYE. You’re gonna want to get on that list of people going to their upcoming UYE. **Paul C., I’m RSVPing to your next UYE with a plus 3 please!

What other reason would I venture down to the scary part of town other than for one of Paul’s UYE’s at Ray’s Café.
30 amazing people. Super small space. A lot of alcohol. Amazing food.
Thank you Ramfis for the delicious pupus form Roast Duck to start us off.
This time there were two options, rack of lamb with mint jelly or mahimahi with two pieces of chicken. My boyfriend and I got one of each. We started with a tossed salad. Then we had a pound of mahimahi that was super moist and two pieces of fried chicken that was fried crispy outside and very moist inside. The lamb was tender, not gamey or tough. It was cooked perfectly. It was by far, the best lamb I have ever had, hands down.
And the homemade desserts… custard pie, cupcakes, cookies, chocolate mochi, etc.
Thank you Paul and Dave for putting on a great event. Thank you Felix for the amazing food… you get me to eat chicken on the bone… a rare occasion. Thank you everyone who made the delicious desserts and everyone who shared their libations… wine, chili sake, 17 year old Japanese whiskey and one of my favorites, yuzu sake.
Full but happy. Malia had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Malia had a little lamb whose rack was yummy oh.
November 17, 2014