Da' Kitchen - Finally Good Local Kine Grindz in San Diego

*** Da' Kitchen is now Mo's Island Grinds, same great people, the food is also the same!

Every few months or so, I either hear of a new Plate Lunch or "Local"(Hawaiian) style restaurant in San Diego, either through the "coconut wireless" or Emails, that go something like this:

"I just wanted to inform you of a new Hawaiian place that my husband and I ate at that's soooooooooo good! they have the best Kalbi and loco moco I have ever had......." And while I really enjoy and appreciate the comments and recommendations (keep 'em coming folks), most of them usually end up being L & L knock-offs. Nothing wrong with L&L, but to me, a "real" plate lunch, has a certain vibe, taste, and character. While I do eat at L&L, I kind of equate them to the Starbucks of the plate lunch world. The closest we have to a plate lunch place here in San Diego, albeit mediocre, is Da' Kines, until now that is.

You see first of all the name of this place was Da' Kitchen, and years ago I ate at Da' Kitchen on Maui. So now you've really got my attention.

Getting out on the Carroll Canyon Road exit off the 15 Freeway I got to Da' Kitchen, and parked my car. First thing I noticed was just a simple sign over the entrance. Da' Kitchen had just been open 2 weeks. I looked over the grease board "menu", and the first thing that struck me were the prices. Kalbi for $9.95? Sheesh! But I went forward and placed an order. While waiting for my order, I had a nice chat with Jocelyn, one of the Owners, along with her Husband who runs the kitchen. If these plate lunches were as good as Jocelyn was nice and friendly, it was going to be a pretty good meal.

Here's the Kalbi ($9.95):

Well first off, there were 5 pieces of cross cut kalbi, 5 pieces! These were well marinated and fairly tender, which is what you want. Most times they are too tough and rubbery, or over marinated and mushy. The marinade was excellent, just slightly sweet, and the ribs were nicely grilled. The plate came with one large scoop of rice and a macaroni-potato salad, which was kind of bland, and in need of salt. Overall, a good example of "local style" Kalbi, which differs a bit from Korean style.

I also ordered the Hawaiian Plate($10.75):

As a whole this was just okay. The laulau was nice and moist with alot of luau(taro) leaf, but with very little meat. The Chicken Long Rice had too much ginger in it. The Kalua Pork on the other hand was very moist, with a mild smoked flavor, and was the best item on the plate. This plate came with rice and the macaroni-potato salad, which was put in a container of it's own.

The Fish Tempura($8.95):

Imagine five pieces of fish(I think it was Mahi Mahi??), yes the plate has five pieces of fish. What surprised me the most, was that the fish was still very crunchy and moist after the drive home. The tempura batter has  what looks like furikake(Japanese Seaweed condiment) in it that adds to the taste. I wasn't too crazy about the tartar sauce, and ended up using malt vinegar, which made it delici-yoso!!!

But the plate that brought tears to my eyes was this:

Yes, it's a Loco Moco($7.75). If you read this blog regularly, you'll know that I love "loco's". This was a good one!  As explained by Jocelyn, a 10-12 oz. homemade patty, 2 extra-large eggs easy over, brown gravy, topped with mushrooms and onions, rice, and macaroni-potato salad. A true thing of beauty! And they sneaked in an extra scoop of rice under the Burger! So I thought I'd use the infamous Modified Rubio Scoring System developed by James of Big Island Grinds.

Here's how it measured up:

BURGER: Handmade and moist, and pretty huge. Maybe a bit too much filler, but nicely seared and seasoned. 4.0

EGGS: Cooked well, easy over, and yolks still runny. Could have been more crisp around the edges. But extra large eggs means bonus points. 4.5

RICE: Perfect, not dry. And those sneaky Bugga's wen stash one scoop unda da burga la' dat! You gotta love that. 5.0

GRAVY: Very nice color and texture, velvety, deep and dark brown. The taste was mildly beefy, but could have been better flavored. 4.0

STUFFS: Not enough flavor in the salad, actually tasted better with the gravy on it. And I really didn't think the mushrooms and onions brought anything other then a bit of eye appeal to the dish.  3.0

Overall 20.5 points, the most I've ever given a Loco (so far)! How I finished it, I'll never know.

Today I though I'd try the Chicken Katsu($7.75):

This was a "triple-decker" Katsu monster, fried golden brown, moist and delicious. And best of all, real Katsu sauce, not that runny sweet sour, garbage that L&L serves up. And the macaroni-potato salad tasted better today, just a bit of salt, that brought out the potato flavor. I only made it through 1 1/2 layers. As I was leaving, Jocelyn asked me how I did, so I showed her. She gave me a smile of pitying disapproval; sort of a "you're a girly-man" sort of smile.

I also got a plate of the Korean Chicken($7.75) to go:

These are pieces of chicken marinated in a sweet soy mixture, then battered and fried. It comes with a mildly spicy and sweet soy sauce concoction. Sweet, salty, crunchy, and slightly spicy, a nice combination of taste and texture(think almost mochiko); this is the Missus's favorite by far. In fact, I think I'll get the dipping sauce for the Fish Tempura next time!

The restaurant, though sparse, gives off a laid-back vibe. And I get the feeling that no matter how crowded it might be here, it would still feel very relaxing.

As you can tell, Da' Kitchen has been added to our rotation. So bring your appetite and give them a try!

By the way Jo, they have a branch in Mountain View!

Da' Kitchen
9823 Carroll Canyon Rd.
San Diego, CA 92131

Open Mon-Sat 10am - 8pm

Comments

[Carol]

Hey Kirk, I stopped by Da Kitchen this weekend and had the Korean Combo. It was great and it really did provide 2 meals. The Oriental salad dressing was very good, although they drowned the the salad. No problem cuz I just mixed up more lettuce and had a larger salad!

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - I'm glad that your visit to Da' Kitchen was a success. I really wasn't kidding when I said it was enough for 2 meals! BTW, here's something funny...instead of salad, the Missus will order shredded cabbage and extra Korean Chicken sauce, and make her own salad/coleslaw thing!

[jay-q]

i have to second the ribeye steak.... you get a huge steak with good flavor, great value....

the entree that is most unique to me is the korean chicken..... it is great..... try it, it's almost like chicken with a fried pork skin taste, interesting texture..... see if you can figure out the batter to the korean chicken, its a stumper

[Kirk]

Hey jay-g - Did you see the photo on the bottom? It's the Korean Chicken....

[Brian Bautista]

Wow, I just got back from this place during my lunch break and had their lunch special 2-combo plate. I thought the price was kinda steep but when the tray arrived, WOW! The portions were enormous! I had to take home the other half for dinner!

[Kirk]

Hi Brian - The food at Da Kitchen is perfect for what we call a "kanak attack"...that would be, eating till you sleep!

[Carol]

Kanak attack is right! I've taken 4 friends so far to Da Kitchen and they all gave big shakkas. One friend is a huge loco moco freak and he said their loco moco was the best! Guess he won't be going back to Tiki Hut anymore!

I tried the kimchee finally (with kalbi of course) and it was pretty good. You really get a lot for $1! Might have to try that with the saimen next time.

[Carol]

Kanak attack is right! I've taken 4 friends so far to Da Kitchen and they all gave big shakkas. One friend is a huge loco moco freak and he said their loco moco was the best! Guess he won't be going back to Tiki Hut anymore!

I tried the kimchee finally (with kalbi of course) and it was pretty good. You really get a lot for $1! Might have to try that with the saimen next time.

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - Jocelyn told me that there's one individual who comes by weekly for a loco moco! Now there may be another one? I still haven't been able to finish one in a single sitting.

[The Office Goat]

I just went there last night and noticed the name has changed. It's no longer "Da Kitchen" -- It's called "Mo's Island Grindz" ... I think. Definitely "Mo's" though. The menu wall looks unchanged, and the food still tasted good and was served in massive portions. We had the Korean combo (ribs & chicken) and the fried fish. Mmmmmmm!

[Kirk]

Hi TOG - I remember Mo telling me that they were changing the name of the restaurant to Mo's Island Grindz back in January, but he didn't know when the name change was going into effect. Thanks for letting me know!

[Pheth]

Before setting out for "Da Kitchen" last night, we (hubby & I) should have read *ALL* the comments...esp the last 2. The name change thing kind of threw us ...right address...wrong name...hmmmmmm...should we still go in??? Why the heck not! We were only looking for a snack anyway...since we'd already eaten dinner. So no big loss if the food wasn't that great. We decided on the teriyaki beef & chicken katsu combo to share. Man oh man...that was good stuff!! Can't wait to go back to try the Korean combo...moco loco....

[Kirk]

Hi Pheth - I know, I need to do an updated post....I'll hopefully get that done soon. The Korean Chicken is the real winna' here. I hope you had enough to eat! (that was a joke, BTW....)

[Yvonne]

The name has changed but not the food or owner. They even have new items on their menu too like the mahi mahi (SO YUMMY). Really good stuff. The loco moco and kalbi are always a favorite! I'm always craving this place.

[Kirk]

Hi Yvonne - You are 100% correct. I recall speaking to Mo and Jocelyn last year, they told me about the name change....but I think all of the paperwork took a bit of time!

[Yvonne]

here's their website:
http://www.mosislandgrinds.com/

[Kirk]

Hi Yvonne - Thanks for the info. I have an updated post on Mo's coming up!