mmm-yoso!!!

L & L Hawaiian Barbecue - Hillcrest

It used to be that I'd eat plate lunches at least 3-4 times a week. You could say it was the backbone of my diet back then. But having lived on the mainland for over a decade now(has it really been that long?), my diet has changed in some pretty significant ways. That would mean no more 3 squares a day featuring that carbo-licious staple, rice. It seems that a plate of protein with at least 2-3 carbs(or in the case of Chili Spaghetti-Rice with Macaroni Potato salad, 4 carbs) has kinda fallen by the wayside for me. And to make matters worse, when I had my latest Loco Moco craving, I realized that I hadn't had a plate lunch since January; over 4 months! My how things have changed.

I don't know why, but I always thought that Hillcrest was an interesting location for an L&L. And even though I work in walking distance of this location of L&L, I had never made an effort to eat there. But, suffering from severe Loco Moco withdrawals, I decided to check them out.

In addition to the standard issue L&L menu, this location also offers "Healthier" options. After all, this is Hillcrest.

One thing I did notice was that my Loco Moco was going to cost $8.29! But, since I made the effort to walk over........

  So how did this measure up? Using the "Modified Rubio Scale for Loco Mocos", originally developed by James Rubio, who does the food blog Big Island Grinds, here's how the scoring(on a scale of 1 thru 5) went.

BURGER: Standard burger was well seasoned, moist(!), and mildly beefy. Pretty good for a Hawaiian BBQ joint. - 3.0

EGGS: Could be more crisp around the edges, and not seasoned. Yolk was nice and runny. - 3.0

RICE: Kinda hard. - 2.0

GRAVY: On the light side, but nice and salty. Pretty decent. - 3.5

STUFFS: Too much mayo on the macaroni salad, which could have used a shake of salt. - 2.0

Total: 13.5 - Not bad for one of these Hawaiian BBQ joints.

This location of L&L was bit better than some of the other locations, so I may just have another meal here one day. The service was fine, the young lady manning the register was very nice, but a bit spacey.....she forgot to charge me for my drink, I had to remind her.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
3803 5th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103

You can find my "collection" of Loco Mocos here.

Marukai San Diego now open

Well, as reported by FOYs (Fred and Carol) in comments to this post, Marukai has gone forward with a "soft opening" to shake out bugs and get people trained. The signs out front still say "Opening February 1st", but as the Missus noted this past Friday in a hurried cell phone call, "the lights are on, and people look like they're shopping."

I drove by later that evening and saw people pushing shopping carts filled with grocery bags in the parking lot. This meant one of 2 things; either Marukai had gone the soft opening route(as the West Covina did years ago), or this was one heck of a training drill!

Having a full plate most of the weekend, I managed to drag my wind-burned and rain soaked self to Marukai this morning. I arrived at about 930am, to find the place empty. I grabbed a shopping basket, and started walking......

On my first lap, I just did a quick check of "what wasn't there"....fish department and prepared foods. I've always had good luck with the fish I've purchased at Marukai, and was a regular at West Covina, where I could ask the Fishmongers to cut my maguro, or hold ogo for me when we lived in LA. The meat department didn't look fully stocked either.

After looking through the Japanese offerings - 3 brands of Shiokara, anyone? Which was adequate...and the prices which are as a whole cheaper than the other 2 large Japanese markets  in San Diego. I started going through my mental lists of "Local Kine Stuffs".......

Purity and Redondo's Portuguese Sausage - check.

S & S Saimin - but no Okuhara's - but Sun's Okinawa Soba - maybe three-quarters of a check???

Frozen Zippy's stuff - check.

Frozen Okuhara Kamabuko(it doesn't taste quite the same...but it's still ok) - check.

2 Brands of Lau Lau(both of which I hate....but if it floats your boat) - check.

Coral Tuna - but only water packed, not oil packed - one-fourth of a check.

Pa'akai and another brand of Hawaiian salt - but Auwe! No moa' Alaea! (red sea salt) - kinda, sorta a check!

Aloha shoyu and other sauces - check!

Hawaiian Sun Jam and Jellies - check!

Malolo Syrup - but all lemon lime, and one lonely strawberry - a reluctant check.

Diamond Head Bakery Soda and Saloon Pilot Cracker - check.

Enough Chocolate covered Macadamian Nuts, cookies, and sweets, to keep all of San Diego's Dentists in business till the next century.

No moa Maebo's One Ton Chips which I was looking for.

No Halm's or Park's brand stuff either......

By this time the handles to the shopping basket were digging into my hands, and I got tired of shooting my photos one-handed, so I decided to call it a day.

Tonight I'm taking a trip back into time, and having something I haven't had in years:

Something simple.....it is just frozen stuff, and some pretty bland Char Siu, but for a somewhat homesick Ex-Pat Kama'aina...a little slice of heaven.

Marukai Market
8151 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

A couple of notes: Marukai is a membership market, though you can pay $1 for a one-day membership. The manager on duty said that I didn't need a membership to shop on this morning, because I wanted to renew my card. But after speaking to Cathy today, I found that they had her purchase a membership - which is $10/year(and in my mind more than worth it) so I dunno. This parking lot is going to be a horror......it is not nearly big enough for Daiso, Marukai Living, and Marukai Market...... The Manager also told me, that not everything has come in yet, so there are more items to be stocked.

Da Kine's - Liberty Station

Recently, whenever I need to make a trip to Trader Joe's, I've headed down to the new store located at Liberty Station, the former Naval Training Center in Point Loma. It never seems too crowded(except on Sundays when Church services next door let out), and there always seems to be abundant parking. So, it's only natural that I'd visit the new location of Da Kine's located in Liberty Station. Liberty Station itself is very large, and I've noticed that there is a severe lack of signs. Due to the barracks-like nature of the place, you may have some problems finding your destination. For instance, if I didn't tell you where I was headed, what would you make of this.......

The actual sign for Da Kine's is pretty small:

So don't blink...you might miss the place.

On the day of my first visit, I wasn't quite ready for a full on plate lunch. And an item on the menu, the Linguica Burger fascinated me. In Hawaii, we call Linguica "Portuguese Sausage", an island staple that is so incorporated in Island Cuisine that McDonald's serves it! In fact, there are several brands of Portuguese Sausage that "compete" for the Hawaii market share. In case you're wondering, The Tasty Island did a Portuguese Sausage Comparison, as did San Diego's own Barefoot Plumies.

Anyway, the Linguica Burger($5.00), comes with fries:

While waiting for my burger, I noticed that everyone else was getting their food before me. One of the women working, came to me and told me, that the Linguica Burger takes a bit longer than other burgers because, "it is made fresh." Perfectly fine with me, I'll take a hand made, cooked to order burger over something preformed any day of the week. The burger arrived steaming hot. I noticed the odd shape of the burger, and the flavor hinted at Portuguese sausage, a much leaner, and not as spicy version of Linguica. To me it headed more in the direction of chorizo.....the meat was moist, and overall was fine for 5 bucks. The fries were 100% processed, and just an after-thought.

The only complaint was that one edge of the burger was charred, and tasted that way.

About a week later, I found myself doing a Trader Joe's run again, and this time I was in the mood for a plate lunch. To try and check out as much as I could, I ordered the "Wop Yo Jaws"(I'm still kinda uncomfortable saying that...) which is the 3 item mixed plate($8.75):

  The first thing I noticed was that the portion size, and "look" of the plate lunch was more toward the late Pacific Beach location, than the now also defunct, Mira Mesa location. The Katsu, was the signature Da Kine's Katsu, thin sliced chicken, creating a larger breading to meat ratio. The katsu was cooked to crisp perfection.

I don't know why I ordered Kalua Pork and cabbage....I'm usually disappointed, but in this case, it wasn't too bad. There was a good amount of pork(much of it was under the katsu), it was moist, mild smokiness, perhaps a bit light on "porky sweetness", but not overly salted. I was pleasantly surprised. Also, there wasn't much cabbage in this.

The Macaroni salad was the best that I've had at  Da Kine's, the mac salad actually had a decent amount of mayo and flavor for a change. If you look at the photo to the right, you'll notice what I didn't enjoy. The teriyaki chicken was very dry, like it had been sitting for a very long time, and hardly had any marinated flavor. I almost broke my knife trying to cut it. The rice was improperly made, and I encountered several hard, indigestible grains. This lunch had started well, but ended badly.....

To me, if you can't make rice, you have no business serving plate lunches. This had to be a fluke...even though I always thought that Da' Kine's PB location always had rice on the mushy side, this was really bad. So just to be sure, I recently had another plate lunch....

This is "Da Buggah".....sheesh(Two item mixed plate - $8):

The rice was fine, so the last visit must have been a fluke, but the macaroni salad was gladly, not a fluke. The Teriyaki Beef was the less sweet, more soy in flavor "local style", and in spite of being low grade meat with lots of connective tissue, it was more tender than it looked. The teriyaki chicken was better than the last time, but not much, this time it was more tender and moist. Though it was hotter than the last time, I still think that it is under marinated, and the grilling process does not lend enough flavor to the chicken. Even the extra sauce provided doesn't do much for the chicken.

I like the decor at this location of Da Kine's.....it seems to be a combo of warm woods and sports bar. There's also a simple outdoor eating area which will be pretty nice when the weather gets warmer, it already seems to be a favorite of the "lunchtime kids". One last thing, there's a Woman who works here, who is a bit older than the others, who is very nice, always checking to make sure everyone gets what they need.

After overhearing some conversations, I got the impression that Nelson Ishii doesn't have much to do with this location....and reading this on Da Kine's website, perhaps "semi-retired?" I wouldn't blame Him, Nelson is considered by many as the "Plate Lunch Pioneer" in San Diego.

Da Kine's Plate Lunches
2400 Historic Decatur Rd
San Diego, CA 92106

Check out the Doggie Parking Station at Trader Joe's:

Da Hawaiian Grinds- Plate lunch in Santee (it used to be Shaka)

mmm-yoso, the blog, is never on vacation.  Cathy is posting while Kirk and Ed are not. Primarily because Kirk is in Peru and Ed is in Yuma...they have interesting lives.

Hi. Cathy here, sort of adding onto "Plate Lunch Week"..with my own 'White Girl From Santee' point of view...
Yes, we have a Hawaiian Restaurant in East County...

Well, actually, one day it turned into this place. Wherein they changed the name on the sign on the outside; all of the menu items inside still say "Shaka" and the paper to go menu is the old one with the other Shaka locations crossed out:

You can click onto any photo and it will enlarge.  We will soon have another Hawaiian Restaurant! 

So, Kirk is from Hawaii...I was born and Raised in Detroit and have never been to Hawaii. But I know what kind of food I like to eat...I paid attention to Kirk's posts and asked him a few questions.  This is because, before this place became "Da", it was "Shaka". The Mister and I went to Shaka in November of last year. Admittedly I was in a cast to my shoulder with my little broken wrist (I was not on any pain pills at the time, though; I got a prescription for 100 Vicodin and still have 92 in the bottle; you can check) and, well, the food from Shaka was not good.  At all.  I just didn't even want to post about it....and I really did not understand what all this fuss and craving about 'Plate Lunch' was all about...

One day, I decided to stop and look at the signage in the window. Hmmm.  Kirk was doing his "Plate Lunch Week" and I was a bit curious, so I made The Mister come here after work with me.

We got two basic things-Loco Moco ($7.99).

When we were here in November, this particular item was particularly unflavored- not bad, just...nothing.  This time however, the rice was  nice and sticky, the gravy rich and flavorful, the egg a nice orange yolked done over easy and the hamburger patty, although preformed, had a nice flavor. The gravy, in particular was rich and flavorful and therefore not a waste of calories.

I wanted to try the Katsu chicken and the Kahlua Pork. ($8.99)

WOW.   The katsu coating was light and crispy and the chicken moist.  The sauce was tangy and not sweet.  It went well with the crispy coating. That Kahlua pork- oh my- such good flavor. Light smoky, deep pork flavor, not greasy.  I now have cravings for it. The macaroni salad was tangy and not too sweet.  I liked it. I don't like macaroni salad usually...like never have I ever like macaroni salad...this stuff I ate up.

I went to pick up some 'To Go' items the other day.  (There are some only listed at the cash register)The chicken curry rice plate($6) was excellent, deep flavored curry gravy and with plenty of chicken.  The carrots were fresh and not mushy as were the celery and few potatoes.

The chicken wings ($4 for the plate) were so crispy  fried with garlic and a light batter.

I got the Katsu Chicken and Kahlua pork again, because I could not believe the serving size in the restaurant.  But there was just as much pork in the "To Go" box as on that platter. It was great.

If you notice on the door, there is a sign about "Happy Hour" , Monday-Friday from 2-6 pm.  Hawaiian beer for $3. A PuPu Platter with 2 vegetable lumpia, musubi ( a block of rice wrapped with a choice of meat (Spam, Portuguese sausage, Chicken katsu or BBQ chicken) and edamame for $7 and also the boba drinks are $3 (versus $3.50 regularly).

I went one afternoon and just got two vegetable lumpia and a taro boba drink.  My first taro boba ever.  Not my last. 

Taro is a root vegetable and is that beautiful light lavender color.  It is a starch, is sort of nutty in flavor, et also like potato and so wonderfully fulfilling, sweet but not too much, even with the boba.

The lumpia were pretty standard.  Fresh made and with a good amount of vegetables.

This sign is in the window also, and it is why I did not put the post up sooner.  There is a Ukulele playing guy who used to come to the restaurant on Wednesdays, and when I went, one day, he wasn't thee and he changed to Fridays and I haven't been able to make it to get a photo.  A lot of people come to hear him and eat some great food.

I don't know if all this food is authentic, or if Kirk would approve, but I liked it and I think you will too.   

Da Hawaiian Grindz 205 Town Center Parkway Santee (Backed up to the Costco Gas Station in same parking lot as Home Depot but next to Big Lots) 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m, 7 days

Plate Lunch Week: Mo's Island Grinds - Formerly Da' Kitchen

I was just about to do this post last night....when I encountered Internet connectivity problems. I was left hanging and I realized that I've become used to doing posts, and now that I was unable to post I felt kinda lost.....like "what the heck am I going to do now......"

This post is a few months late. Back in November of last year, Mo told me that they were going through with an amicable split with the Da' Kitchen franchise. Mo showed me the updated banner you see on the right. In December, Mo told me that the name change and all of the paperwork was going to be a long process. He wasn't kidding, I'd drop by every so often and Mo would smile, shake his head, and say, "I hope this is done soon...I hope."

So around April of this year all the paperwork had been completed, and viola, you have Mo's Island Grinds.

The sign on the street still says Da' Kitchen, which I'm sure will be updated soon. Of course, everything from the food, to the people, to the menu is the same.

There have been a few items added to the menu, I'm also pleased that since my first post back in December of '05, combination plates have been added.

Of course all the favorites are still available, like the Korean Chicken($7.95):

This sweet-soy-crunchy-mildly spicy, marinated, and deep fried chicken, along with the accompanying sauce is a winna'. Don't take my word for it, here's the Best of LA(aka BoLA) post. In a way, this one dish symbolizes the plate lunch as "melting pot" cuisine. It is called Korean Chicken, but the flavor is an amalgamation of traditional flavors. The batter seems to be Mochiko Flour based, and the sweet and soy sauce combination tips its hat toward a combination of Teriyaki-Soy Sauce-Bulgogi flavors. The dipping sauce here is very good, in fact the Missus will often eschew the Mac Salad, and just get extra shredded cabbage, and use the sauce as a dressing of sorts.

We've only had one not so stellar plate at Da' Kitchen/Mo's. On one Sunday, when Mo wasn't in house, I ordered the Korean Chicken.

Though the chicken was nice and crunchy, it was very light, and had not been marinated long enough. It was very bland. But of all my visits, this was the only time the Korean Chicken was not up to par.

Nowadays, I often get various combination plates. I usually can't finish them, but leftovers are a great thing, aren't they? Here's a Teri Chicken - Chicken Katsu combo plate($8.95):

I've come to the conclusion that my photos don't do the size of these plates justice. The "two scoop rice" is placed one on top of the other, and there were 4 pieces of well marinated boneless chicken thighs. The teriyaki is on the sweeter side, but I still enjoyed it. I always enjoy the  Chicken Katsu.

In the theme of the world on a plate, here's the Kalua Pork-Chicken Katsu Combo plate:

There's the Chicken Katsu(Japanese), the mildly smoky and moist Kalua Pork(Hawaiian), and don't forget the Macaroni Salad(Caucasian - aka Haole). Of course, rice is very much a necessity....to the extent that some of my friends back home love Chili-Spaghetti....on rice!

On each of my last few visits, the lines at Mo's has been fairly long, a very good sign that Jocelyn's and Mo's hard work has paid off. They've done it without advertising, mostly by word of mouth....just like "back home". I've always had very friendly service at Mo's, the food may take a while sometimes, but it is always worth the wait.

Mo's Island Grinds (Formerly Da' Kitchen)
9823 Carroll Canyon Rd.
San Diego, CA 92131

Postscript - I've had some interesting questions regarding Plate Lunches, but there is one question that keeps popping up; "Is plate lunch Hawaiian Food?"

Unlike describing someone from Oregon as an Oregonian, "Locals" consider a Hawaiian to be someone of Hawaiian blood. The rest of us are "Locals". Likewise, for me Hawaiian food are items that are traditionally Hawaiian in nature, such as Poi, Lau Lau, Kalua Pig, etc.... So you can have Hawaiian food on a plate lunch, but a plate lunch is not Hawaiian food per se.

Here's an example of a local style menu.

So go get one of these......

Plate Lunch Week: Da Kine's Plate Lunches - Mira Mesa

*** As of December 2007, Da Kine's Mira Mesa has closed

I don't think it would be fair to do a plate lunch week and not include that San Diego institution Da Kine's. Nelson Ishii is pretty much the pioneer of plate lunches in San Diego, having started Da Kine's almost a decade ago. I remember seeing Nelson once at the Da' Kine's in PB when I was here for a consulting gig in the late 90's. I knew it was him because, well, everyone knew him. I said, "hey bruddah, you make a pretty good plate lunch". His response? "Uh...." as he went on his way. After we moved to San Diego in 2001, I noticed that the quality of the food had started to go downhill. And by the time I finally did a post in September of 2005, it seemed that Da Kine's had hit rock bottom. In fact, about 5 months after that post, I received an email that started with, "Wow, yoso-harsh.....". It was from the manager of the PB Da Kine's apologizing, and asking me to return. And so I put Da Kine's back on my "list". But before I had a chance to return, Da' Kine's in PB was no more. I felt I needed to keep that promise to return, so I decided on visiting Da Kine's Mira Mesa location.

It was pretty quiet on the weekend morning in May when I paid Da Kine's a visit.

In fact the Young Lady behind the counter seemed absolutely bored and going through the motions. So when she asked me what I wanted, I had no problem saying "I like Wop Yo Jaws...." She was not amused.....(BTW, "Wop Yo Jaws" doesn't meaning anything like what you may think....)

In case you didn't know, Da Kine's has named their "mixed plates" somewhat interesting names such as Da' Bugga, FOB Special, and in this case, the 3 item mixed plate is called "Wop Yo Jaws"($7.95). (You can find the real pidgin meaning here) I guess it's supposed to be funny and cute, but knowing what these phrases mean, it makes me feel strange uttering them to order a mixed plate.

This is what arrived:

I was pleasantly surprised, take a look at the photos of items I had on my previous visits and compare. It's like night and day. The Chicken Katsu at Da Kine's is pounded really thin, creating a greater batter to meat ratio, not something that I really enjoy, but it was fried to perfection. I also like the Ketchup based katsu sauce that Da Kine's uses. The Grilled Teri Chicken was hot and moist, if a bit under marinated. The Teriyaki Beef was well marinated, and fairly tender. It was a good example of "local-style" Teri Beef which is not overly sweet by nature.

I was impressed with the portion size, having been used to the ever shrinking portions at Da Kine's in PB, this was a surprise. The Macaroni Salad, as usual was pretty bland, lacking in salt, and in this case too much mayo was used, but it wasn't too bad.

Overall, this was a satisfying meal....

So still "feeling like one winnah" as I discarded my nearly cleaned plate in the trash, the indifferent young lady, asked me "how was your lunch?" I answered describing my meals at Da Kine's in PB, and how this compared, and started into a blow by blow description of what I enjoyed about the food, when I noticed the totally blank look on her face..... She really didn't, or hadn't wanted an answer to her question, it was the "question asked for which no response is desired", she had probably expected a single yes, or no answer. Yes, I am a food dork. Finally she uttered a single "uh..." As I left I thought, maybe she's related to Nelson????

Da Kine's Plate Lunches - Mira Mesa
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 586-0606

Plate Lunch Week: Mahina's

The storefront of Mahina's looks familiar, doesn't it?

It should if you've been reading mmm-yoso long enough. Mahina's used to be Shaka Hawaiian BBQ, I'm sure you'd recognize the powder blue and bright orange colors.

Same bright(well, now not so bright) orange interior as well.

Something that caught my attention immediately was that this was the exact same menu as Shakas, except that Label Maker Tape with "Mahina'"s on it was placed over "Shakas" on every menu item. If you don't believe me, here's a close-up.

So what was a "Shaka Pac" on my last visit was now a "Mahina's Pac" and so forth. All done with with a strip of label tape..... Because of this, my first impression was that Mahina's is a bare-bones operation.

This being a bit on the early side of noon, I decided to go with the Shakas, ummm Mahina's Loco($7.99), I placed my order with some difficulty, the Young Lady had a hard time understanding me, and I her. After finally getting through, she relayed my order to the Young Lady in the back in Korean. I had a seat, and in a few minutes my "loco" was ready:

Looked like the typical Loco Moco, the eggs were a decently done easy-over, but the preformed hamburger patty tasted a bit "off", so I set it aside. The gravy was really bland, and had the texture of glue. The macaroni salad lacked salt and had apple in it.....which has no place on a plate lunch, it made the mac salad too sweet, and the salad wasn't dressed with enough mayo.

What made this loco moco a Shakas Mahina's Loco was the addition of Spam and Portuguese Sausage. I fished out a piece of Spam, and what I thought was another slice of Spam.

After examining both slices I noticed the color difference. The slice on the left was Spam, in all it's nitrite glory, some cynical part of me expected Treet(nothing worse than fake Spam!!!) which tastes like really bad luncheon meat, but this was the real deal. I would rather have had my slice of Spam a bit caramelized. The dark slice to the right, is supposed to be Portuguese Sausage(does it look like a slice of sausage?). It had some spice, but no real rich pork flavor, or depth of flavor, the meat had a grainy texture, and there was a distinct lack of fat. It was just plain strange.....

I'm kind of at a loss....I really don't know what to make of this meal. Could it really be this bad? I really wasn't impressed with Shakas, but this was worse.

An idea popped into my head as I typed this. Mahina's can't possibly be this bad, can it? So, if anyone has any idea of something that Mahina's does well, please let me know, and I'll make an effort to try it. So let me know what I'm missing, ok?

Mahina's Hawaiian Food
1315 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Plate Lunch Week- Leilani's Hawaiian Restaurant

I've been thinking about doing a "Plate Lunch Week" for a while now. You know, getting back to my roots (or depending on your view..."into the weeds"). So after procrastinating for a few months, I've decided to do a mmm-yoso plate lunch week...this week it'll be Monday to Friday plate lunches. Heaven for those who like "major grindz", hell for those watching their cholesterol.

I thought I'd start with Leilani's....no it's not a rehash of my post on Leilani's Cafe in PB, but the "new" Leilani's Hawaiian Restaurant, located in of all places, Serra Mesa. FOY (Friend of Yoso) Trent(now called Bruddah Trent), first informed me of Leilani's existence in an email, and a few days later, I went to check it out.

So why start with Leilani's? I've noticed that here on the mainland, we have been inundated with a number of "Hawaiian BBQ" joints. So it goes without saying that most people I've met think that Hawaiian BBQ is the ubiquitous "plate lunch". Nothing wrong with that, but the plate lunch is much more than the corporate Hawaiian BBQ, which when done well, is a good value(there are several L&L locations in Honolulu that I like), but when done with only the profit margin in mind(which happens often), is really lousy. If you grew up in Hawaii, you're sure to have your favorite(s), whether it's Rainbow Drive-In(my personal favorite), Masu's(RIP Masu's), Richie's, Zippy's, Cafe 100, Grace's, or any number of places, and there are many. You'd also realize that there is life beyond the BBQ Chicken, BBQ Beef, and all the generic items served in those Hawaiian BBQ places. Each one of the places mentioned above have their own versions of the "standards", each with it's own "food personality" of sorts. In addition, other "standards" like Beef Stew, Sweet Sour Pork, Chili, Mochiko Chicken, etc, are also available. The difference with Leilani's is that the food served feels and tastes "home made". I think that Leilani's breaks the generic Hawaiian BBQ cycle.

The interior of Leilani's is spartan, bright, and clean.

So of course I started with the Regular Loco Moco($7.50):

Not the largest loco, nor the most sophisticated. But this loco moco is the closest to what my Mom made, from the hand formed patty, to the home made beef gravy, this screams "comfort food" for me. The hamburger is very lean, so it might be a touch on the tough side for many, but that is because there is no filler. The eggs are done a perfect "medium" over. My only regret was that no Tabasco Sauce was available. I find the vinegar-spiciness of Tabasco to be the perfect foil for the eggs and gravy. Plus, that is pretty much the way I've always eaten my locos.....

Teriyaki Chicken Hawaiian Style ($7.50):

As on my previous visits to Leilani's Cafe, the teri sauce is sweet but not overly sweet. I love the little touch of teri sauce over the rice. I wish that like my previous visits the chicken was dark meat, but this was still good. I enjoy the mac salad, it has the right amount of mayo, and the carrots and celery added good flavor and texture.

On my most recent visit, I got a good taste of the "Aloha" that exists at Leilani's. During my meals, during slower periods Leilani would appear from the kitchen and chat. During one of those conversations, I mentioned my lament at the lack of Tabasco Sauce. On this visit I walked in, and Leilani goes, "Hi Kirk, you know, when I went shopping, I remembered how you and a bunch of other people wanted Tabasco. So guess what?"

Now that's service.....I'm surprised she even remembered who I was......

I ordered the Hilo Style Loco($8.95):

I've detailed it all here. I was also given a little dish of extra gravy, which was a nice touch.

Leilani's is not the most inexpensive, nor are the portions huge, and it is not everyone's cup of tea. But the food is made with care, as if you are eating at your Tutu's(Aunty's).

For those regulars of Leilani's in PB, I did manage to ask a few questions...

Why Serra Mesa? Leilani was looking for a larger kitchen for her catering jobs, and it just so happen that this property became available. She is able to run both a restaurant and do catering from this location.

What about PB? The PB location is (hopefully) temporarily closed. In order to bring the property up to code, a commercial kitchen, among other renovations need to be done.

In news that warmed my heart, Leilani told me that since the customer focus seems to be more on "grindz" in Serra Mesa, she's thinking of having weekly specials, with stuff like Beef Stew and such.

Sad thing for me, is that after this post, I'm sure that word will get to Leilani and my cover will be blown...but that's okay, I'll keep eating there.

Leilani's Hawaiian Restaurant
3232 Greyling Drive
San Diego, CA 92123
858-565-4637

Open Mon-Sat 11am - 9pm
Closed on Sundays

A few years ago during an interview with Honolulu Weekly, Eddie Flores Jr, the founder of  L & L, mentioned his vision:

"L&L doesn’t use the term “plate lunch” in its mainland restaurants. Instead the cuisine is called “Hawaiian barbecue.” Flores says that with about 80 L&L restaurants on the mainland today and more than 100 set to open by the end of the year—along with 50 or 60 copycat restaurants with names like Waikiki Hawaiian Barbecue and L&K Hawaiian Barbecue—the words “plate lunch” are on their way out."

“In five to 10 years, we won’t call it plate lunch but Hawaiian barbecue,” he says. “Only old-timers will remember the plate lunch.”

This "old-timer" hopes not......I still love my "world on a plate"... Chicken Katsu-Sweet Sour Pork mix with extra Kim Chee!

One little bit of silliness. My favorite intersection in San Diego is located in Serra Mesa, and on my way home from Leilani's I finally managed a photo:

The question? Unida place?

The answer? Haveteur Way.....

Who says that city planners have no sense of humor???

Maui Maui Hawaiian BBQ

A few months back I noticed that the little Japanese Restaurant in one of the many strip malls on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard was gone. And a few weeks later, a Hawaiian BBQ restaurant called Maui Maui had taken it's place.

Yikes, another Hawaiian BBQ? Seems like they're everywhere nowadays, but this is the first one in this area. So on a recent weekend, I decided to check it out.

I like the interior, very bright and clean. The menu is typical Hawaiian BBQ in nature....BBQ Chicken, BBQ Short Ribs, blah, blah, blah...... a typical L&L knockoff menu, I wish I could get some other plate lunch fare....like Beef Stew, and other stuff, but it looks like these Hawaiian BBQ places all want to serve the exact same food.

Maui Maui does offer Combination Plates, mixing items like Lau Lau, Kalua Pork, and Seafood, with BBQ Beef, Chicken, Short Ribs, or Chicken Katsu.

So I decided to try the Lau Lau and BBQ Chicken combination($7.95):

The plate came with the typical 2 scoops rice, 1 scoop macaroni salad, 1 small piece BBQ chicken thigh, and a Lau Lau. The mac salad was not bad...good ratio of mayo to macaroni, perhaps just a bit short on salt.

The chicken was well marinated in a sauce with a higher soy sauce to sugar ratio, almost like what my Mom made, and thus was more on the salty side. The thigh had good flavor, but was on the dry side.

The Lau Lau was interesting, it was served super piping hot, which was a good start, but the luau leaf wrapping was very mild, and didn't have the nice smoky-rich-green flavor I enjoy. As I tore the Lau Lau open I made one observation that I expected, and one that I did not....

First off, having had my share of Lau Lau on the mainland, I pretty much knew that there wasn't going to be any salted fish in the Lau Lau, and expected that. But I quickly noticed that there wasn't even a piece of fatty pork in the Lau Lau, this really made the Lau Lau fall short in flavor, and made it kind of dry. It was probably the healthiest Lau Lau I've ever had, in relative terms of course..... But still, even though I thought this was a bit over-priced, it was not bad.

So you know what that means right? Another visit! One this visit, I decided just to grab a "Mini" Chicken Katsu($4.75), all rice(that means another scoop of rice, to replace the mac salad). I got home and opened the styrofoam container up:

Where's the Katsu sauce? Oh well, I had a bottle in the frig, and it's usually much better than the really bad, runny, sweet-sour stuff that most of these Hawaiian BBQ places serve. The Katsu was barely okay, dry, and the breading on the soggy side......

Since my first lunch was decent, not really good, but okay, I thought I'd give Maui Maui one more visit, and get.....what else? A Loco Moco, one of my favorites. I suddenly realized that the last Loco Moco I had was on Maui........ I ordered a "Mini" Loco Moco($4.95). So check out this "loco" and tell me what's wrong with it?

Yep, it's pretty obvious...WHERE'S MY GRAVY? Talk about a gravy malfunction.......sigh! After the Katsu Sauce malfunction on my previous visit, I shoulda known to check my food before I left.... Bummer! The mac salad was also pretty bad on this visit...really runny, and the macaroni was mushy. The patty as I expected was preformed, though the egg was okay....I ate 2 bites, and gave the rest to Da' Boyz.

Man talk about disappointing. Just in case Maui Maui served some kinda really weird Loco Moco(it would still be heresy!), I checked out the take out menu:

It does say "brown gravy" right? And notice the "salted butterfish" under Lau Lau(it's "Ti" leaves, not "Tea" leaves, BTW)? Hmmmmm..... I thought about taking it back, but I wasn't going to drive all the way back to Maui Maui, I tried calling but no one picked up.....

Maui Maui Hawaiian BBQ
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Big Kahuna's

Located in Pacific Beach on Ingraham Street is Big Kahuna's:

Part pizza joint/sports bar, part plate lunch restaurant, I've been told that the owner of Big Kahuna's is the Grandson of the original owner of Da Big Kahuna's Pizza on Puuloa Road in Honolulu.

Of course with a name like Big Kahuna, you'd have to go with a beach-surfer-tropical theme.

Though Big Kahuna back "home" is known for the pizza and sandwiches, I thought I'd try out the plate lunches. If you're wondering what the pizza at the original Big Kahuna looks like you can find a post on where else, but Ono Kine Grindz, it even has a photo of, ahem, the Big Kahuna "Balls".

For lunch one afternoon I ordered the Beef Teriyaki Plate($8.95):

In a few minutes a very large plate arrived, three scoops of rice, even! I enjoyed the macaroni salad, with just the right amount of mayo.

The teriyaki was indeed "local-style", on the sweeter side with the flavor of ginger. The sauce was more of a glaze, than a sauce.

Though I love good pineapple(my Dad is from Lana'i), I hate it as a topping for food, so I scraped it off. The meat was a very tough sirloin, and I mean very tough, and in spite of the sauce quite dry.

One evening I found myself in the area, and decided to try out the Lau Lau Plate($8.95):

Again three scoops of rice, and quite a large Lau Lau, which smelled promising.

The luau leaf tasted bit on the bland side, not the usual flavor of "greens" that I enjoy so much. There was a nice chunk of fat in the Laulau, but no salted fish, and the pork was on the dry side. To be perfectly frank, this is a typical Mainland Laulau, so I wasn't very disappointed.

While I was waiting for my Laulau the very nice Waitress mentioned a breakfast menu, and was kind enough to bring me one to check out.

And there it was....a Loco Moco. I was told that Big Kahuna's serves breakfast on weekends, so I made a mental note.....

And made an appearance at 1030am on a Saturday morning. I walked in, and it seemed that everyone was still sleeping....so I grabbed a table, and eventually managed to order my Loco Moco($7.50):

After a short wait, my Loco Moco made it's way to my table in slooooowww moootion. First thing I noticed was that the burger was crumbled and stir fried with onions and a gravy. For some reason the thought, "I think this is last night's burger", kept playing over and over in my head....

The eggs(3) were okay, easy over, the yolks slightly runny, though I would have enjoyed crisp, crunchy edges on my eggs, but that's being nit-picky.

The grav