Dear friends, I never had much to boast about in my life. Maybe except the fact I met a wonderful girl who not only puts up with me but also outeats me. But that's more of Providence than anything else. But for once, I can tell the world that I, or We, the puny Singaporeans, have navigated across the entire Pacific Ocean. From the Malayan Peninsula to Southern California, San Diego. Almost 16,000km, we steamed, we braved 2 storey high waves, detoured through the Philippines to escape typhoons, encountered dolphins and watched beautiful sunsets. And the best news? We're going to have to go all the way back -_-""
A fringe benefit is that we stopped by some interesting places. In Guam, I was hoping for some authentic Guamese food but was advised that Guamese food was just a poor variant of Hawaiian cuisine. And then when we reached Hawaiian, I discovered Hawaiian cuisine was actually a mish-mash of other cuisines. One the more authentic Hawaiian foods was Kalua pork. A whole pig is cooked in an imu, a pit dug into the earth and with hot rocks placed within. A bamboo pole is inserted in which water is poured in so as to create steam - this roasting/steaming method is known as Kalua. Unfortunately. we weren't there on a holiday. Time was short and there wasn't much time to enjoy ourselves. So we opted for a safe option, considering that we would stop by Hawaii again on our return leg (then I'll go find my Kalua pork!).

Yes, cheesecake factory at Waikiki beach. I've never been the the US before this but I've heard friends waxing lyrical (PY included) about the wonders of cheesecake factory (which, incidentally, do not only serve cheesecakes and have no relation to other "cheesecake factories" outlets in Singapore). So, four of us hungry souls, waiting for a good 30mins for a table. One thing I noted was the service, in the US, service charge is tip-based which gives an incentive for waiting staff to perform to their best. So our breads, drinks, menus, bills and forks came quick. And the breads were hot and delicious, they even had cocoa loafs!
Quite possibly, the cheecake factory is something like a Jumbo seafood, Boon Tong Kee, Muthu's curry equivalent in Singapore. It is well-loved by everyone, considering the waiting list. But like good restaurants, too much franchising and branching out can have an impact on the food. Well, we were about to find out.
I had the mahi mahi, a type of deep water fish with a dorsal fine. Also known as dolphinfish although it does not belong to the dolphin family at all. I simply asked for no carbo sides, just vegetables.
The fish itself was surprisingly fresh and the flesh was meltingly tender to the cut, as if it had come straight from the tank! And I was surprised that such huge fishes could have such tender meat. Well, definitely not as tender as a live soon hock or a grouper but highly commendable e. It came encrusted with pistachios. The veggies too were cooked to perfection and nice and crunchy.
Another dish we had was the meatloaf. Mind you, if you google cheesecake factory meatloaf, you get inumerable recipe links screaming "cheesecake factory meatloaf" at you. A bit like googling kfc fried chicken.

There were more accompaniments than pictured here. There were fries and a salad. All American-sized servings. It could have a seriously fed a small family. Despite the fame of its meatloaves, the one featured here, unfortunately, was not up to scratch. I suspect it might have been overcooked a little as it was dry. I also found that the seasoning was not quite complementary and a little bit more fat could have been used. The saving grace was the caramelised onion topping, especially the gravy, a real classic brown gravy, full of body and flavour.
And of course, since life is so short....:

It would have been thoroughly sacrilegious if the cheesecakes failed like the meatloaf. But Thank Heavens! No! They were in fact marvellous. Similar to something you might find at Morten's of Chicago or Cedele in Singapore. Super rich and sinful. The one featured in the foreground is the Godiva chocolate and the one in the back is Stephanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake; alternating layers of red velvet cake and cheesecake But what was more impressive was the selections of cakes they had. I think I counted more than 30. Pretty amazing. I personally liked my Godiva chocolate since I'm a sucker for the brown stuff. But I could appreciate the red velvet cake too, sponge and cheese made a good yin-yang balance.
Overall, a good experience. Good service, great atmosphere, good for families and friends. Plus it was decently priced, considering that oyu get plenty of food (for us Asians anyway). No wonder that the cheesecake factory has built up quite a brand in the US. And we tipped plenty. Next up amigo, the real mexican cuisine in Old Town, San Diego!
Food 7.5, Service 9, Atmosphere 8, Value for Money 8.5
The Cheesecake Factory
Hawaii, Waikiki Beach