Happy Valley Pasta & Pizza

My first impression of Happy Valley Pasta & Pizza was, "Tourist place huh?"  Being along Monsarrat Ave, where Diamond Head Crater Park is and if you happen to be at K.C.C for the farmer's market, I wouldn't be surprised if the tour bus told them to stop by for lunch.  Regardless of the tourists, I'm glad to say that locals (not only me!) come to this quaint establishment to get their fill of Italian food with a splash of Japanese flavor.  I love that!!

My other half and I frequent this place when we are craving pizza that is NOT Boston's and the drive to Ward to The Old Spaghetti Factory wasn't ideal, especially if it's past 6:00pm.  By reading some reviews on Yelp!, not a lot of people have given it high marks due to service being awful and the food "could be better".  In my opinion, if I like the food, I will come back.  If it sucked, good try but no thanks.  If I was treated like a minority that they totally forgotten to refill my glass of water, then yes, I would complain and never go back.  But on both occasions, my other half and I have been treated well where the server actually deserved the $5 for tip.  As long as we get fed and have a half glass of water, we are all good.

Please forgive on the picture quality on this review.  I love Android, but the Gingerbread OS is pissing me off.... so again, I'M SORRY! 

My other half orders his usual, Happy's Margherita Pizza which cost $10.98.  The basic of all basic pizza; Mozzarella Cheese, Tomato Sauce and a Homemade Basil Pesto.  I remember when he first ordered it, his eyes grew large on how huge the pizza was.  The swirl of pesto gives it a unique look and you get a taste of the pesto with each slice you eat.  Simplicity at it's best.

 
I decided that time to try something different from the menu.  I asked for the Basil Pesto Cream Sauce & Sausage which cost $12.98.  I also took the advantage when the server asked if I had any questions about the menu, and asked what kind of sausage they used.  "Portuguese sausage."  I'M SOLD!  With every pasta dish you have a choice of either spaghetti or penne and I chose spaghetti.  Same simple basil pesto mixed well with an awesome cream sauce, and the Portuguese sausage just balanced everything out.  To add more texture to the dish, they added broccoli and mushrooms.  Le sigh, if The Old Spaghetti Factory would make this.  Again, please forgive me on the picture quality.

We had ordered 2 small Caesar Salads which cost $4.98 each, but I was so hungry that I had FAILED to take a picture.  But it was the usual Caesar Salad; romaine lettuce, Parmesan cheese, and croutons.  Which got me laughing was, the server brings both plates of salads and asks us if we wanted fresh ground pepper.  I hesitated but then said yes and got pepper on my salad.  After the server left, I glanced at the side of our table and saw a pepper mill and a salt mill.  Hrmm...  You have pepper and salt mills, but you still walk out of the kitchen with a bigger pepper mill?  Is there a difference?  Are the peppercorns in the bigger mill better than the smaller one?  Who knows, but I had to laugh at the situation while I added more pepper on my salad.  The server would have been there for a while turning the mill till I had a mound of pepper on my food.

Good food and good company means good price right?  So, THIS COST HOW MUCH?

We both got waters and since it was Happy Hour, my other half got a Long Board for $3.00 and I got the Iced Oolong Tea for $1.98.  With tax the bill came out to $40.73. 

It is always a pleasure to go to Happy Valley Pasta & Pizza because I know that I will get good food for a good price with leftovers to take home.  Who cares if other people don't like, so what!  And yes, the server did earn the 5 bucks, but we added another dollar according to my trusty tip card.  We may come back here so I can do a review on my favorite dish, the Karaage Chicken & Basil Pesto. 

(Eaten on Feb. 6, 2013)