The Ripple of Smiles - what a cute name for a restaurant. One cannot help but smile when you see the name. It's one of the newer Vietnamese restaurant to hit Oahu's dining scene. Located on the corner of St. Louis Drive and Waialae Avenue, it's a challenging location. There have been a number of restaurants who have tried to make it in this spot, and they have all come and gone - Rai Rai (which is now in Kailua), The Fat Greek, Franky Fresh .. they were all excellent eateries, but for some reason, could not make it here. I am hoping The Ripple of Smiles will have better luck.
The three of us decided to go family-style, so that we could try different dishes. First up - the crab spring rolls. Nadine Kam had raved about these in her review in the Star Advertiser, so I new before I came here that I wanted to try this dish. It was hands down my favorite dish of our meal.
It's quite different from normal spring rolls - a different style of rice wrapper is used, and it's in the shape of triangle instead of a tube. Each piece had a generous amount of crab meat and veggies.
The fried chicken wings were also a winner - I loved the sauce they were soaked in. The sauce took away the crispiness, but that didn't matter to me.
Vietnamese restaurants are known for grilled pork, so we ordered a plate of grilled pork with rice. These bone-in pork chops were thin and moist.
We were all impressed with the food and the fact that the owner came by and asked what we thought of our meal. I plan to return to try the bo luc lac (sauteed beef) .. anyone care to join me?
The Ripple of Smiles
3040 Waialae Ave
(808) 354-2572
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