Roll With It is Frolic’s new sequence about new foods vans we have observed out and about. We’re tracking them down and making an attempt dishes to provide you the 4-1-1.
Picture: Kelli Shiroma Braiotta
A food items truck serving up Italian fare like cacio e pepe and ravioli with house-built pastas and sauces? It sounded like all my carb desires came genuine.
Joja Hawai‘i rolled on to the Kaka‘ako scene a handful of months in the past with a daring claim: “We obtained the most effective noods in town.” I went looking for the truck 3 times—once lacking them by only 15 minutes—before ultimately scoring lunch. It was worth the various hunts.
Joja is owned by the partner-and-wife staff of Jason and Joslyn Lee, consequently its title. The Lees used to personal an Italian restaurant in the Bay area and visited O‘ahu on a yearly basis. When the pandemic strike, they had bought the cafe and have been about to indication a new lease on an more mature cafe they were renovating. The pandemic despatched them in a different direction—literally.
“We finished up coming up with a customized food truck in San Diego and experienced it shipped to O‘ahu, then we bought our property and moved listed here,” Joslyn claims. “Jason created all the noodles and sauces at the Italian restaurant, and now he’s accomplishing those exact same recipes in our meals truck.”
Following hearing that, I only have one particular detail to say: “Mangia!”
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The Menu
Photograph: Kelli Shiroma Braiotta
At a glance:
Joja has a huge pasta segment, but you can also get tiny plates, entrées with rice and desserts. Weekly specials for the duration of my visit included a cioppino designed with shrimp, smoked Kamuela tomato broth and the fish of the working day (Atlantic salmon). Moreover the gnocchi mushroom dish, Joja gets excitement for its fettucine shrimp with creamy white sauce made from garlic confit that is pureed to accomplish a nuttier, richer taste.
The truffle poke is really worth a mention: almost a fifty percent pound of ‘ahi, half a Hass avocado, scallions, ginger and sesame seeds combined with the truck’s home-created ponzu sauce. It’s a twist on sweet shoyu poke, with ginger notes and a lingering ponzu tartness.
Photo: Kelli Shiroma Braiotta
We recommend:
- Gnocchi mushroom, $16. Joja’s ideal-seller features gentle, fluffy potato gnocchi in a white mushroom sauce with portobello, infant portobello and button mushrooms, topped with balsamic reduction, basil and shaved Parmesan.
- Tiramisu, $5.
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How It Rolls
Picture: Kelli Shiroma Braiotta
- The place: 725 Kapi‘olani Blvd., Kaka‘ako (in entrance of Mari’s City Garden) Kaiser Farmers Market place Kailua Farmers Sector
- When: Wednesday to Saturday from 11:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Kaiser Farmers Market Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Kailua City Farmers Sector
- Preorders: Wander-ups only for now
- Payment: Dollars or credit score card
- Follow: @joja.hawaii