American

South Shore Grill

3114 Monsarrat Ave. (734-0229). Daily 11am-8pm. Sandwiches: $4.25-$5.75. Plates: $5.75-$7.95. Cash only.

Get fresh mahimahi in soft tacos, as an entree with the addictive Asian-style slaw or in a sandwich with chipotle-aioli sauce. The food may be fast, but it’s fresh–and all made from scratch.

Waldo’s Great Flying Pizza Co.

95-221 Kipapa Dr. Mililani (623-1923). Mon.-Thu. 11am-10pm, Fri. 11am-10pm food, 2am drinks, Sat. 11am-10:30pm, Sun. 11am-9:30pm. Pizzas: $9-$19.95 Sandwiches: $5.75-$6.50 AmEx, MC, V.

Ensconced in the cellar-like ambiance, order up an all-American pizza pie on homemade dough, slathered with traditional sauce and 17 toppings to choose from.

Young’s Fish Market LD

City Square Shopping Center, 1286 Kalani St. (841-4885). Mon.-Fri. 8am-5:30pm, Sat. 8am-4pm; Plates $6.25-$12.40; MC, V.

Let’s eat, lu’au style. Ample laulau are a perfect balance of lu’au leaves and pork. The Kalua pig, one of the best versions in town, retains traces of imu smoke and pairs perfectly with generous servings of fresh poi. There’s a lineup of other favorites, including chicken long rice and squid lu’au. An array of unadulterated poke may deflect your sweet tooth from the requisite block of haupia.

Chinese

Fook Lam Seafood Restaurant

Chinatown Cultural Plaza, 100 N. Beretania St. (523-9168). Daily 8am-3pm and 5-10pm. Dim sum from $1.90. MC, V.

The dim sum cart comes around more often than at the bigger dim sum palaces, and cheap prices mean your stomach can be as big as your eyes. Superior taro gok and shrimp gau, when hot out of the kitchen, are highlights. Augment your plate with a handful of filled look fun rolls and house specialty braised e-mein.

Legend Seafood

Chinatown Cultural Plaza, 100 N. Beretania St. at River St. (532-1868). Daily 10:30am-2pm, 5:30-10pm. Dim sum: $2.85-$3.75 per plate.

Legend is Honolulu’s gold standard for dim sum. Nearly every dish is textbook perfect in preparation and freshness. Look fun stuffed with scallops melt in the mouth and minifootballs of fried mochi stuffed with dried shrimp and pork are irresistibly crisp and sticky-soft.

Italian

Cafe Sistina

1314 S. King St. between Pi’ikoi and Ke’eaumoku Sts. (596-0061). Mon.-Fri. 11:30am-2pm, 5:30-9:30pm; Sat. & Sun. 5:30-9:30pm. Appetizers: $6-$12. Entrees: $9.25-$17.75. AmEx, MC, V.

This cornerstone of Honolulu Italian dining is the perfect place for a contemplative dinner for one. Order some hearty fresh-made pappardelle topped with venison-and-merlot ragu.

Vino

Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Diamond Head end (524-8466). Wed. & Thu. 4:30-9:30pm; Fri. 4:30-11pm; Sat. 7-11pm. Tasting plates: $7.95-$16.95. AmEx, Disc, JCB, MC, V.

In master sommelier Chuck Furuya’s domain, grapes are the main attraction, with the wine list dwarfing the abbreviated menu. Vino is a learning center, and Furuya is an enthusiastic teacher. The kitchen delivers savory dishes such as a revamped caprese salad, silky butternut squash and mushroom ravioli and rich osso buco.

Japanese & Okinawan

Tsukuneya Robata

1442 University Ave. (943-0390). Mon.-Sat. 4:30pm-midnight, Sun 4:30-11pm. Tsukune: $1.50-$2.50, AmEx, Disc, MC, V.

Tsukuneya’s name refers directly to its house specialty: tsukune, a mixture of minced chicken and yam, skewered and grilled over charcoal. The chain’s menu includes a page’s worth of variations on this dish, from a traditional, teriyaki-glazed staple to a spicy wasabi mayonnaise-drizzled variant. Don’t overlook the paitan nabe (a do-it-yourself chicken soup) and tofu offerings like natto and tofu-and-potato croquettes.

Utage

1286 Kalani St. (843-8109). Mon.-Sat. 10am-9pm. $8.25-$14.50. MC, V.

Utage is a celebration of Okinawan food. You can’t go wrong with a chanpuru dish–a brothier stir-fry with eggplant, squash or bean sprouts with a choice of pork, chicken, Spam, bacon, tuna or shoyu pork. The mother of the uchinanchu menu is the shoyu pork.

Yakiniku Toraji

949 Kapahulu Ave. at Kaimuki Ave. (732-9996). Daily 5pm-1am. Dinners for two: $49.50, $69.50, $99.50. AmEx, MC, V.

This isn’t your Ojichan’s yaki-niku. At Toraji, the vegetables are crisp, the meats well-seasoned and menu well-thought-out–spelling a first-rate experience for cook-your-own enthusiasts.

Southeast Asian & Indian

Green Door Cafe

1145 Maunakea St., entrance on Pauahi St. between Maunakea and Smith Sts. (533-0606). Tue.-Sun. 11am-3pm, 5:30-8pm. Entrees: $5.75-$7. Cash only.

Betty Pang makes her take on Malaysian staples and Nyonya cooking–the cuisine that evolved when Chinese settled in Malacca. The dishes change daily–you might have pork loin one day and fried pomfret the next. The food is fragrant with spices and seasonings like coriander, ginger and galangal. Best bet: roti canai (flat bread) dipped in the rich, chicken curry.

Mekong I

1295 S. Beretania St (591-8841). Mon.-Fri. 11am-2pm, daily 5-9:30pm. Entrees: $8.95-$13.95. AmEx, Disc, JCB, MC, V.

Dine on superior renditions of menu standards like fried calamari and spring rolls. The sublime Garlic Shrimp, cooked in a sauce of pepper, garlic and coconut milk, warrants new synonyms for ‘rich.’ Slightly sweet, tangy shrimp pad thai is a beaming poster child for the one-wok meal. Another reason to anticipate mango season: the sticky rice with mangoes dessert.

Sweet Basil

1152A Maunakea St. between Pauahi and Beretania Sts. (545-5800). Mon.-Fri. 10:30am-2pm. Starters: $4-$7.95. Entrees: $7.50-$11.95. AmEx, MC, V.

A welcome addition to pho-rich Chinatown is Thai, with a lineup of familiar dishes done well with quality ingredients. A star of the menu is the short ribs braised in massaman curry–your spoon sinks into the long-simmered meat. Neighborhood office workers pour in for the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Just opened (too new to review)

Nihon Noodles

2065 S. King St. (944-6622). Mon.-Sat. 11am-3pm, 4pm-midnight.

Taking the place of Neo Nabe, this noodle house serves dishes garnished with bean sprouts, charsiu, menma, green onions and nori. All dishes are under $8, and you can add a mini curry with rice for only $2. Try the Nihon Noodle Special for groups of 4 or more–shoyu, miso, and pork broths with three types of traditional noodle.