Ray’s Cafe Dinner UYE #8

I enjoy spending quality time with family and friends. It’s even better when you’re having great nomz with them!
That’s the main reason why I host these UYE’s. It requires planning and coordination. With my blood type A personality I do what’s required for the execution with details. During this process the stress levels rise. But this is all for awesome Yeeps so I don’t mind at all.
Once again I first would like to start off by thanking Chef Felix for closing his restaurant that evening. I arrived early shortly after 530pm to be surprised that he had already cleared his whole restaurant for our group of 30 Yeeps! No patrons. Tables were lined up in 3 rows and tables all cleared. But one problem: only 28 chairs. The solution? Chef Felix walked over next door to borrow 2 chairs from the barber shop.
In deciding this menu I chose entrées that have had great marks from previous UYE’s: roasted prime rib, grilled rack of lamb and grilled butterfish. And of course, the option to add 2-​pieces of his award winning fried chicken.
I would like to acknowledge the following who made this dinner memorable:
1) Chef Felix and his crew of 2 who dished out 30 hot plates of food.
2) Ramfis B. for those Peanut Butter Cream rolls from Ani’s Bakery, brownies from Kilani Bakery in Wahiawa and sharing «happy juice».
3) Darrell P. and Sophie P. for the very potent Jello shots in watermelon and orange rinds. They offered 3 types of Jello this time around, one that also had gummy worms!
4) Jules Y. and Fran C. for the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.
5) Brigitte S. for the box of cookies from Whole Foods.
6) Jon C. and Pam H. for the butter mochi.
7) Adrienne B. for the boxes of macarons from La Tour Café.
8) John N. for attending ALL 14 of my UYE’s that I’ve either hosted or co-​hosted at Ray’s Café and Happy Garden. Honorable mention to Cathy T. and Maka K. who pretty much attended all except for 1 or 2 UYE’s. Hosting UYE’s require a lot of effort so I really appreciate their continued support.
9) Traci R. and her +1 Jarrett Y. and Victoria M. for volunteering to pick-​up the Spanish Rolls (AKA ding-​dings) from Nanding’s Bakery. I wanted them hot and fresh to eat with our meal so I pre-​ordered them with a pick-​up time of 620pm.
It was a tight squeeze for all 30 Yeeps but in the end I saw many happy faces. Not to mention boxes and boxes of leftovers. I am amazed what a great community Unilocal Hawaii has with such great support, generosity and Aloha.
Many in attendance were all familiar faces to me but a shout out to some new faces: Traci R. and her +1 Jarrett Y., Travis D. (who soon will be moving out-​of-​country), Makanani P. and her +1 Jacob.
In closing, once again many thanks to Chef Felix and his staff, as well as all 29 Yeeps who made this in my opinion the most successful UYE to date.
NOTES:
1) Congratulations to newly engaged Unilocal couple Victoria M. and John N.
2) Thanks to Malia H. by questioning me when was Ray’s UYE #5. After extensive research, technically this was #7. Last year as I held #5 I errorneously created the event as #6.
3) My sincerest apologies to those who wanted to attend but wasn’t able to. Ray’s Café is a small restaurant with such limited seating.
4) On the very same day Chef Felix was featured in the local newspaper for Kalihi Eats!
5) Also on the very same day I received ROTD #8, where I received the ROTD for the very SAME restaurant TWICE. ROTD #7 was for Krazy Kitchen’s initial review and ROTD #8 was for Krazy Kitchen UPDATED review. How KRAZY is that??? :P

Another Ray’s UYE from Paul down in the books and boy was it a winning night! This event fills up so fast and I feel privileged any time I make it in. Paul is an amazing host and the turn out is always filled with great people & lots of laughter. This 8^th Rays experience was beyond up to par!
The menu options vary slightly every UYE but they’re always cooked to order & on point. This time the choices were grilled butterfish, rack of lamb or prime rib. Every order comes with two scoops rice and tossed or mac salad. There is also the add on option of Rays famous fried chicken which is pretty much a must. I ordered the lamb and chicken myself. The lamb is some of the most tender and perfectly cooked chops I’ve ever had and I actually like the mint jelly that comes with. Sounds old school but I am surprised every time how delicious it is on the occasional bite. The chicken has a great crispy & flavorful skin with juicy meat underneath. Some of the only fried chicken I order on island, it’s seriously that good. The crust means so much to me. And seasoning. Chef Felix is top notch!
Ani’s peanut butter stuffed rolls, ding dongs + watermelon, orange and pink lemonade Jell-​O shot fruits were passed around to start the meal. Those shots from Darrell are so dangerous and sooo good. Afterwards brownies, cupcakes, macarons, cookies, butter mochi & more shots were passed around. Thank you to everyone who contributed! It’s such a family atmosphere at these dinners, I love that we have that type of community.
I had the best time seeing everyone and enjoying lots of BYOB drinks ;) in case you missed it, find me soon for some candied bacon… Except for Ramfis! Hahaha jk.
Thank you to Paul for his phenomenal hosting and a beautiful event, Chef Felix for shutting down to stuff our 30 faces with his deliciousness and to all attendees for being the best company. Can’t wait for the next one!

Being Paul’s #8 UYE at Ray’s Café, everyone knows surely has heard how great the restaurant and UYE are. Paul has the planning of this event down pat. A couple weeks before the great feast, the event was posted and the list of people who made the cut and those on the waitlist were updated accordingly.
The event felt like a large family gathering. There were Jell-​O shots in orange peels and watermelon rinds, hot ding dings from Nanding’s, various alcohols being passed around for sharing.
At the event Paul had a printout of everyone’s order and as each plate came out the owner’s name was called. I ordered my prime rib medium rare. It was perfectly cooked. 1 to 1.5 inches thick. No charred areas to distort the flavor. Not overseasoned. Not undercooked in a way to make it difficult to cut. 1 inch thick. Horse radish was an afterthought. Sauce was nice and radishy, not overly creamy. In addition to my prime rib and chicken, I got to sample the lamb from Brigitte with some mint jelly and crab from Ramfis.
Thank you Paul, Chef Felix, and everyone else for letting me enjoy such a great event before I leave the island in a couple months. Also, congratulations to John and Victoria and happy belated birthday to Malia. I was a little nervous going without a +1, but as always there’s nothing to be nervous about. If you have the opportunity to experience a UYE at Ray’s Café, RSVP and make sure you order a side of chicken. You won’t regret it.
COCKADOODLEDOOOOO!

Getting into Paul’s UYE’s have become something like trying to get tickets to see Bruno Mars or Adele. Do people use bots to get in? No one knows, but those of us who do make it know the rules of this «fight club.»
The first rule of Paul’s UYE Fight Club is:
1. Wear deodorant (thanks Darrell for reminding everyone)
2. Never come empty handed. Yes there’s a menu of set food, but showing up empty handed is bad news bears. Don’t be that guy.
3. Order the fried chicken add on. You need the fried chicken.
4. Learn to eat without moving your arms.
5. Test at home how much duct tape is needed to safely secure yourself to a wall without falling.
6. Learn to parallel park.
This UYE I actually saw Paul sit down which was like seeing a unicorn so hooray for that too.
Thank you Paul for organizing, Chef Felix for the feeding and all the generous Yeeps for the extra goodies through out the night.

The Legendary Paul C’s UYE @ Ray’s Café «Dinner» EPIC!
This event that Paul C. has at Ray’s is one to always look forward to. Paul has such a great heart and works so hard to ensure that everyone is having a good time. He’s organized with his list just like Santa Clause and this Santa’s list you always want to be on it. UYE#8 was maxed out by fellow Unilocalers. You can easily tell that it’s from the wonderful family of Unilocalers because everyone was so happy to be eating and talking about the latest and greatest places to eat at.
As always owner and chef Felix did a great job of feeding all of the hungry and appreciative Unilocalers. Food is always a winner for me there. :-) Myself and Ramfis B. both got the prime rib with crab legs… How you say since it wasn’t on the menu… Ramfis has chef Felix on his speed dial and it’s pretty cool the love & respect these two have for one another. Of course most everyone upgraded with the «Fried Chicken»! Chicken came to everyone’s table HOT and crispyyyyy. I took a bite of my chicken and had my eyes rolling with joy. If you were there at this event– it wasn’t because I sat next to Ramfis and his Yuzu Sake… hahahahaha but as usual Ramfis never disappoints with his generosity of drinks and desserts. Many of my new Unilocal friends that I have finally met IRL now know who my better half is. He’s my special guy who really knows food.
Since this wasn’t my first rodeo with Paul’s UYE @ Ray’s I came prepared with my own containers for my left over food. It’s too delicious to place in a «to go» container only to drop it and then I’m out of lunch for the next two days … YIKES!!! hahahaha That just goes to prove that the portions at Ray’s Café are quite large.
Thank you Paul C. for another great UYE and all your hard work. For those of you who hasn’t been to one yet, keep your eyes open on the events calendar for Paul C.‘s next adventure. It’s worth the «stalker» badge. buwahaha

What can I say that I haven’t already said about Paul’s UYEs at Ray’s Café?!? The food is always delicious and enough for 2 meals! You can’t beat the price either! Felix is always great at handling our large dinner party! He and his staff are great!
We have the MOST generous and fun Yeeps too!!! Spanish Rolls from Nandings, orange and watermelon jello shots, peanut butter cream cheese sweet bread from Ani’s, chocolate chip cookies from whole foods, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, brownies from Kilani Bakery, butter mochi, macarons from La Tour and I can’t forget the wine, sake, whiskey, yuzu and beer that people brought to share! Did I forget anything? Thank you to everyone who brought things to share!!!
I love Paul’s events! He always has a delicious menu picked out. Prime Rib, butterfish and lamb chops were on the menu this dinner. Add 2 pieces of fried chicken for $ 3 and by special request, Felix even offered HUGE pieces of crab legs!
I missed a lot of events last year due to scheduling but I hope to get to attend more this year. I definitely started the year out right, with this as my first.
Thanks again, Paul!

Ray’s Café UYE #8 — Always comes through for good food and company! I’m glad I was able to attend this one… saw some familiar faces, and some new ones too. We had various drinks and desserts, all provided by our fellow Unilocalers, that followed the feast, but without further delay…
The Menu:
L A M B
P R I M E R I B
B U T T E R F I S H
and that’s all you need to have.
RAY’S LAMB. Still probably some of the best meat off the bone, here locally, and I’m always impressed with how it stacks up against other lamb out there… meaty tendery (yup… I said tendery) flavorful goodness! Not gamy at all.
The Prime Rib and Butterfish were things of beauty as well. I’ve had their Prime Rib, and love that equally as much as the lamb — a thick cut of tender and juicy beef that will put you to sleep (in a good way). And the butterfish, that I haven’t tried yet, looked amazing as well.
Huge thank you to Paul C. for putting on this awesome UYE — 8 and going strong! Thank you to Ray’s Café for being a fantastic host, as usual, and letting us share what little space they already don’t have. And thank you to everyone who contributed to the drink and dessert array… It’s time to go to sleep!

I want to say this is my 4^th Ray’s Café UYE. Why have I not gone to all 8??? They’re always full of good fun and great food. I don’t know how we do it, but we squeezed in 30 people and pretty comfortably too. Well unless you were in the middle section on the three tables which were quite cozy. This time the stars of the event were:
Prime Rib
Rack of Lamb
Grilled Butterfish
With tax and tip:
the prime rib dinner is $ 20
rack of lamb is $ 29
butterfish is $ 22.
You also have the option to upgrade your dinner with 2-​pieces of Felix’s award winning, famous fried chicken for $ 3.
This is the best deal in town and the portions are ginormous. Hence why Paul’s uyes are so popular and fill up so fast! Of curse that’s not the only reason why they fill up so fast!
Some lucky folks got crab I saw on the other table! That second table sure knows how to have a good time… I say since Ramfis was on that table! And there were also lots and lots of bottles of adult beverages ;)
The evening started with the tossed salad that came with the meal (unless you got mac salad). Some generous people brought Ani’s peanut butter filled rolls and ding dings! If you know, you know… Dingdings are amazing. You can’t just eat one and it’s great that you can get them so close to here so that they’re still hot!
And Darrell brought a some of his famous fruit Jell-​O shots in orange and watermelon shots. Is that what they’re called? What can I say, I guess I’m sheltered. I’ve seen photos of them at uyes but I don’t think I went to those ones. This was the first time I tried one. They’re so cute. And dangerous. They don’t taste too much like alcohol until you keep eating more and then the alcohol hits you! It’s only Monday so I just tried one.
However, I think I ate too many dingdings and couldn’t finish all my food. I got the rack of lamb which was delicious and shared a side of fried chicken with the bf. I love that crispy skin and outside layer of juicy chicken. And that’s as far as I go, the rest went to Todd. The lamb is still one of the best and most tender I’ve ever had. I boxed up half my meal and now I have dinner for tomorrow night.
And the night isn’t over without desserts. People brought so many sweet things:
butter mochi
macarons
cupcakes
Kilani bakery brownies
cookies
Thank you Paul for hosting another great uye and Felix for all your hard work and delicious food! Thank you also to everyone who generously brought adult beverages and desserts to share. It was nice to see some familiar faces I haven’t seen in awhile and have missed.
Paul knows how to bring a great group of people together and his uyes are the best because of the people and their generosity. I love all of you, especially those who bring Kilani brownies and share dingdings with everyone!
January 25, 2016

I have been dieting so hard lately which make meals like these extra delicious! Chef Felix prepared a full pound of prime rib with rice and salad for my order and it was so good. He even gave me extra au jus sauce without me even having to ask! He is a really nice person.
Much thanks to Darrell and Sophie for bringing those yummy jello shots! Also, thanks so much for all of the desserts and alcohol that a bunch of people brought. There were so much food and drink everywhere!
Thanks Paul for your 8^th UYE here! You’re such a good host and organizer. It was really nice seeing everyone again.

This is Paul C.‘s 8^th event… and all I can say about Paul is… UDAMAN!!!
Thank you so much Paul for hosting this wonderful event! You sure know how to run a smooth & fun UYE!
I also have to thank da gf — Jules Y. (as I have to admit) I am the worst violator as far as checking any Unilocal events… most times when I actually take the time to look for an event on Unilocal,it’s already booked up!
Thanks to my gf — Jules Y. for taking care of me, & letting me be her +1, otherwise I would never get into this Ray’s Café Dinner UYE #8 event!
See da benefits of having a wonderful gf???
Okay den’ to da grindages —
Chef Felix kept the menu simple tonight (I like that), but what he served today was basically «GOLD» on a plate my friends!!!
Chef Felix offered the following items today —
1. Prime Rib ($ 20.00)
2. Butterfish ($ 22.00)
3. Rack of Lamb ($ 29.00)
4. Fried Chicken Upgrade ($ 3.00 — for 2 pieces of Frrrrried Chicken! To be added to your meal)
For you folks that already know me… I had the Frrrrrried Chicken (upgrade) with my Butterfish ($ 25.00), and da gf got da Rack of Lamb ($ 29.00).
What can I say about da grindages? Well gang… I think when I went home, I had to change my underwear cuz I had a FOODGASM!!!
Man that Frrrrried Chicken was sooooooooooooo goooooooood! Crispy juicy goodness I tell you! The Frrrrried Chicken would easily give Zippy’s, or Popeye’s a run for their money!
As for the Butterfish… it was HUGE! The Butterfish was done perfectly! It was all so soft & buttery! Ummmmmmmmm!
Jules Y. got the Rack of Lamb, and she gave me some to try… the lamb meat was all so soft too! D-​E-​L-​I-​C-​I-​O-​U-​S!!!
Also, I wanna give thanks to bruddah Darrell & Sophie for the Watermelon, & Orange jello shots! Da Orange Peel shots were super POTENT my bruddah!!! Lol!
To bruddah Ramfis! Mahalo for the sake or was that soju? It was delicious & very smooth! You are one crazeeeeeeee bruddah, and you still my idol! You sure know how fo’ party my bruddah! Lol!
Thanks to the rest of the gang for sharing your booze, & desserts! Sorry I could not follow everyone on who brought what, but many thanks & appreciation to you…
Last of all, it was really great to see a lot of familiar Yeeps from the Hawaii Community! I feel very honored to sit & break bread with all of you folks!
Until next time… I know Paul is a busy man, but hopefully Ray’s Café Dinner UYE #9? (No pressure Paul! Lol!)

If you have have a series of UYE’s then you know you have something good going on. Especially if you’re on UYE #8! Must be a good venue with awesome food. No wonder this UYE books up moments after it’s posted and there is a constant wait list. Luckily I got in this time and got to share this popular UYE with fellow Yeeps. It was great seeing some old faces but exciting meeting some new people as well.
For all of you who didn’t make the list, don’t worry! I also checked on Events too late and missed several of his famous Ray’s UYE. Once you make it to this UYE, you will try to not want to miss any future ones. Tonight Chef Felix did it again! We got to choose from Prime Rib, Rack of Lamb and Butterfish. All of us got the option to add his delicious fried chicken to our meal for only $ 3 more. Everyone looked like they enjoyed on the menu.
Special thanks to everyone who brought something extra to the event to share with everyone. That really makes this UYE special. There are so many people who were so generous in bringing items that I wanted to say thanks as a group so I wouldn’t miss anyone. Hope we all make it to Ray’s UYE #9 :)

Dear Paul and Ray’s Café, YOU NAILED IT! This UYE was the highlight of my day, and that says a lot since I only worked half a day! I was mentally prepared for a tight, warm, cozy meal amongst other fabulous Unilocalers. I was prepared for a parking nightmare. BUUUUTTT everything fell into place and it was PERFECT! It was nice and breezy and not once did I feel hot or sweaty!
I came early and got street parking maybe a block from Ray’s Café. Super close :) Score! Then of course, I got to see all the lovely faces including Malia H., Daniel C., Victoria M., Cathy T, Maka K, Jacob N, Jennifer S, Brigitte S, Paul C, Travis D, Jules Y, Fran C, wow there’s just too many! Let’s not forget I FINALLY met Ramfis B. and Pam H. in person!!! Whooooohooooooo!!! I brought along my friend Jarrett Y. to his first UYE! Eek, hope he liked it! I got to «re-​meet» John N. and Oliver G. as apparently I’ve met them 4 – 5 times but have horrible, horrible memory. I am oh so very sorry! I promise I won’t forget this time!
Prime rib was my choice this evening, and it didn’t disappoint. I was a little skeptical as I’m not much a prime rib eater and would prefer seafood. However, the prime rib was cooked perfectly (medium well) and was oh so very tender and juicy :) Did I mention it was about 1″ to 1.5″ thick?! It came with two small scoops of white rice and a bowl of tossed salad. There’s my veggies for the day! All for $ 20? Say whaaaaaaa? The lamb, butterfish, and fried chicken looked onolicious too! Everyone seemed to really enjoy their meals!
There were so many conversations going at once that it was hard to keep track, but I loved it! The atmosphere was incredible, I tell you! Everyone was so friendly, maybe the alcohol contributed to that: P Let’s not forget that we ended the UYE with desserts galore! I mean Nanding spanish rolls, Ani’s PB cream rolls, butter mochi, Kilani Bakery brownies, Watermelon Jello «Shots,» Whole Foods cookies, cupcakes, La Tour Café macarons, and just so much sugar! Seriously a great end to an already fabulous meal. :)
I have no idea what else to say. I could ramble on and on but this was SUCH A FUN EVENT! Sooooo glad to have been a part of it! I can’t believe I missed the other ones! Chef Felix and Paul, you guys really did it tonight. Does that mean I don’t have to work tomorrow? Pretty please? :D

Tonite is Paul C.‘s 8^th UYE here boy was I excited to be here for my baaaaaaa lamb!
Alright!
Last couple times I was here on my own in groups, they ran out of lamb each time and I never had a chance to call to reserve.
Enter Paul’s UYE!
Now for sure I’m getting my Ray’s lamb fix: D
So, my honey-​Fran C. chose the butterfish and a side of chicken!
If you haven’t yet gone to one, periodically check out the Unilocal events page! Paul schedules them every so often! I was lucky to get in by my teeth! Aack!
Tonite’s offerings are prime rib, rack of lamb, or grilled butterfish! One could order a side order of king crab legs and their yummy 2/​$ 3 pcs of fried chicken!
LOVED it! My lamb was sooooo soft! Fran C. enjoyed his finger lickin’ chicken and his butterfish was huge and so moist!
It was such excitement and a real pleasure to see/​meet up with fellow Yeeps: Fran C., Paul C., Travis D., Traci R., Ramfis B., Cathy T., Darrell P. and Sophie P., and I’m gonna finish this list soon! Teehee!
Thank you to Paul C. for coordinating a FuN event and for Chef Felix and crew for working to make it a successful UYE event
Such positive vibes all in one room makes me a Unilocal-​happy, wealthy, and wise Yeep!
Thank you to everyone who brought goodies for before and after our fun event: Paul C. for Nanding’s buns; Darrell P. and Sophie P. for amazing watermelon, lemon, and orange infused goodnesses! Hahaha!; Ramfis B. for Ani’s peanut butter buns; Adrienne B. for macarons., Fran C. for cupcakes; and uh oh there were others that I’ll post here soon too!