Plate Lunch Week: Mahina's

*** Mahina's has closed

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

Comments

[Keoki323]

Ex-patriot from Kona, Hawaii here, living in Hollywood since '94. I would like to thank you for your excellent food coverage of San Diego. My desire to become a home owner has recently lead to a condo purchase in El Cajon. Over the past couple weeks, I've rehashed many doubts about my decision. With your blog to guide me, I've been reassured that I'll eat well in San Diego. If I can only manage a run to Marukai every 1 - 2 months, I'll be set. Aloha!

[Jim]

We went when it was Shakas and then again in the new name...we were not impressed with either.

However, I am hook on the Hilo Style Loco Moco at Leilani's Cafe. The spicy rice does the trick!

Is there any Loco Moco that can top that one??? Let me know so I can check it out!

[Kathy]

If that's portuguese sausage, it's the oddest shaped slice I've ever seen! Only spam is allow to be that shape, hehe :)

[thess]

oh oh..it looks to me that the darker piece on the right has been fried 2x, reheated?

wasted moolah :(

[howie]

It's funny, I just went here on Sunday. I had the BBQ mix plate, and I thought it was a mixed bag. All the meats were well marinated and tender. But they were all kind of soggy -- almost like they had braised rather than BBQ'd. The rice was good :-) I've had better and worse at L&L.

Still haven't made it to Leilani's. Hopefully they'll reopen the PB location soon.

[Janfrederick]

Well, at least it was on a "plate" ;)

[The Guilty Carnivore]

That's scary.

[Lara]

Used to go there when it was Shaka's. Was much better then. Went once when it changed to Mahina's and don't plan on going back. By the way, your blog is fun reading. Sounds like you guys like the same stuffs me and my mister do. Moved here from Honolulu 7 months ago and can't even tell you how much we miss the ono grindz! Need any new eating buddies?? :)

[Kirk]

Hey Keoki - Mahalos for the kind words, and congratulations on your purchase of your condo. We basically go to Marukai as often as possible, sometimes 2-3 times a month, though it has been about 2 months since our last visit. Costa Mesa isn't that far!

Hi Jim - Check out the loco moco at Mo's Island Grinds - used to be Da Kitchen....if you can pull yourself away from the Korean Chicken.

Hi Kathy - LOL! Couldn't agree with you more.....

Hi Thess - That's actually a piece of portuguese sausage...or is it Faux-tu-guese???

Hi Howie - It'll be a while for Leilani's to reopen in PB, sounds like they have a ton of work to do.

Hi Jan - ....and the rice was fine!

Hi GC - You need to taste that weird sausage.

Hi Lara - Welcome to San Diego! And mahalo for the kind words. There's some good grinds out there, but you need to hunt them down!

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Hey Kirk,
The Portuguese sausage at the L&L in La Verne is just like that too. Shaped like Spam, thinner, darker. Tasted like a sausage-y Spam to me. But I've never had Portuguese sausage anywhere else before so I didn't know it's supposed to be different. :P

[Passionate Eater]

What the heck?!?! Treet?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Treet is more like a curse than a "treat!" Even if everything else was perfect (which it wasn't), that place does not deserve to continue in business. By substituting Treet for Spam they have violated the 11th Commandment.

[Kirk]

Hi WC - Oh my......I'll have to remind myself to get you some portuguese sausage!

Hi PE - In this case it was Spam, not the fake stuff..... But I feel the same way!

[Captain Jack]

Classic,
They are too cheap to order new plastic menu sheets for the display. Not a good sign.

[elmomonster]

I'm just catching up to this series. I did a double take on what you said about fake Spam...WHY OH GOD is there fake Spam in the world. Thank goodness you didn't have any on your plate.

[Kirk]

Hi CJ - A truly budget operation going on....

Hi Elmo - You've never heard of Treet? It's more like luncheon meat, and you can really tell the difference.

[Klug]

This is the funniest thing ever; my wife and I were looking for Hawaiian barbecue about a month ago and we ended up at that exact Mahina's. Yeah, it wasn't so great, but we've never really had HI BBQ. I think I had the Lau Lau; it was okay.

Our bad sign was that the counterperson couldn't tell us what was good.

[Kirk]

Hi Klug - That is funny!

[Rachel]

ACK !! there is somthing even more fake than spam??? I like spam ! but it is at the very edge of fake meat I can take... I thought it was the final frontier!

[Carol]

Oooo, just the thought of Shaka's make my stomach woosy. And I've got an iron stomach. Only ate there once and by your review, Kirk, doubt I'd have the stomach to try Mahina's.

I've been looking for Portuguese sausage in SD but can't find good ones. My mother-in-law found one at Trader Joe's once (cuz all she hears is my raving about P-sausage with fried rice and over-easy eggs for breakfast). Well, it was nasty. She didn't like it and gave it to me to try. Ick. Straight into the garbage.

Well, if someone can come up with something better than the rice at Mahina's, maybe (and that's a small maybe) I'll give it a shot. What can I say, I'm a plate lunch snob.

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - You got me there..... ;o)

Hi Carol - You're not a plate lunch snob...you just enjoy good grindz! I hope you find your portuguese sausage at Orient Bowl!