It took us several months of scheduling and rescheduling more than just a few times before my friends and I were finally able to meet for dinner. We decided to visit New Chiang Mai on Kalakaua Street. We got there a little before 6 p.m. and found great parking and walked in and got a table. I had not been there in a while and noticed that the menus are now laminated which I think makes it easy for the restaurant to wipe/clean them for their customers.

One of my friends is allergic to seafood and the restaurant was really good about informing us which dishes had fish sauce or shrimp paste in them or modified the dishes to not include it. We ordered Yellow Pumpkin Curry, Eggplant and Tofu dish flash-fried with black shoyu, garlic, carrots, and Thai basil, and a Chicken Cashew dish stir-fried with carrots, zucchini, broccoli, onions, green beans, celery, mushrooms, and garlic. These dishes went well with my cold Singha in a frosted glass. I really liked the eggplant dish. Ask for some chili sauce to go with it to up the flavors.

As we drove home, we were blessed with the most beautiful sunset colors. And—while dropping my friend off at her house, her husband blessed me with freshly-caught mullet! What a great evening. Living Hilo Style.