My brother-in-law was visiting from Japan and we enjoy having dinner together and catching up. Since it was a busy day with a Hilo High versus Waiakea High soccer game in the afternoon, I decided that I wouldn’t worry about cooking and would just get takeout. Since Happy Valley is a family style restaurant, it is so easy to get shareable takeout. We decided on ordering the following:

• Salt and Pepper String beans
• Garlic Snow Peas
• Black Bean Basa
• Salt and Pepper Shrimp
• Schezuan Eggplant with Pork
• House Fried Rice
• Orange Chicken
• Cold Ginger Chicken

As you can tell, I am a fan of their salt and pepper dishes. I like simple flavors that accentuate the ingredients I’m eating. Even though I planned and thought through the menu, I forgot to check whether they were open and they were closed that evening. So, we drove towards downtown and found that New China Restaurant was open. We put in our order and had to modify the menu since the options were different. This is what we ended up ordering:

• Crispy Skin Roast Chicken
• House Fried Rice
• Beef Broccoli Cake Noodle
• Tofu with Vegetables
• Lemon Chicken
• Black Bean Eggplant
• Cold Ginger Chicken

No matter where we got our food from or what we ordered, the best part of the evening was spending time together with loved ones. Living Hilo Style.