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Ray’s BYOB Kitchen

Digest Step Up to the Plate

July 12, 2015

Story By: Abby Sadoy | Photos by: Lawrence Tabudlo

A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS WEEK’S HOUSE SPECIAL: Tender Abalone with Boneless Chicken and Mushroom ($15 regularly, $5 with purchase of fish special)

In the middle of the hustle and bustle of Honolulu’s Chinatown district, you’ll find Chinese Cultural Plaza, where in Suite 113 Ray’s BYOB Kitchen serves a hot pot full of exotic flavors. This eatery hosts a healthy and scrumptious menu of Chinese cuisine, delivering traditional dishes made with a personal touch. As its name suggests, you can bring your own alcoholic beverage into the restaurant as well.

The eatery’s latest introduction is sure to amuse the senses. Tender Abalone with Boneless Chicken and Mushroom greets customers with an intoxicating aroma and a presentation satisfying to hungry eyes. The first abalone-filled bite is just as flavorful as the next, mixing sweet-and-savory flavors that dance around your taste buds. By itself, the dish is $15, but as a special offer, the restaurant is pricing it at $5 when you purchase an order of one fresh fish dish ($15; steamed or fried) from a selection of moi, uhu, yellow-tail, papio and flounder.

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The abalone is pre-sliced, pre-seasoned and pre-cooked until soft and tender. This leaves it juicy with no rubbery texture in sight.

The chicken is pan-fried until golden brown and seasoned with a kick of garlic and ginger.

Shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots are pre-seasoned with salt, pepper and oyster sauce. All ingredients are mixed together along with baby bok choy, rich chicken stock, shoyu and a touch of sugar.

Extra flavorful helpings of ginger, green onion and more are added to the mix. Then, all the ingredients are generously poured together into a hot pot.

Traditionally, this dish is only served for special occasions such as birthdays or banquets. “Customers should take this opportunity for this kind of affordable price to try it out. Everybody serves chicken, but not too many people serve abalone,” says owner Raymond Chau. You can bring your beer and enjoy each bite down at Ray’s BYOB Kitchen, where dishes are heavy in your stomach and light in your pocket.

Ray’s BYOB Kitchen

Chinese Cultural Plaza
100 N. Beretania St., Suite 113
721-2100
Daily, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Honolulu, HI 96817

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