Honolulu - Fort Ruger Market a Quarter Century Later

The Missus and I were looking at some of my old photo albums and flipped the page to my third grade class photo. I started cracking up and the Missus gave me a quizzical look. I then pointed something out to Her. All the boys were wearing long pants (no shorts were allowed in those days), Aloha Shirts (after all, it as class photo day), the girls Mumu's, but.......most of us were barefoot! I explained to the Missus that until the fifth grade, many of us actually did walk to school barefoot (though not uphill both ways). I mean this was the late 60's, early 70's, and things were different then. Plus, as I mentioned in my post on my "old neighborhood", Ali'iolani Elementary was just a block away from where we lived.

And this kinda brings me forward to this post. On our last trip back "home", the Missus asked me when I first remember having poke. We had just finished doing some stuffs at Ala Moana and I decided to show Her. Way back, when I was in the 5th or 6th grade, my Mom had an appointment in the Fort Ruger area. I was raised by a single parent and my Mom never ever drove, so we had to catch the Ruger bus and I waited while my Mom did her thing. After the appointment, we walked over to Ruger Market, and that's where I first remember having poke I really liked, over 50 years ago! I'd probably had it before; of course during the holidays there was sashimi and stuff, but I remembered the poke from Ruger Market clearly. Later, when I was older, my friends and I would drive on over after going to Cromwell's (I can't believe the cove is still around, though maybe not for long) and grab some poke, then go for a drive around Diamond Head Road and eat at the lookout or hele on over to Kapiolani Park or Paki Park and grind there.

So, we drove on over....and heck, I hadn't been to Ruger Market since before I left the islands; which would be over 25 years, but the place looks pretty much the same.

Though it's more of a seafood- Filipino/Hawaiian restaurant these days. When I was growing up, this was the neighborhood grocery for the area.

Different grades of Ahi is available, you can get poke made with  pre-frozen Ahi (nah) or with fresh Ahi, what is called "Auction Fresh Ahi" on the sign.

You know what we got, right?

We'd already had some small stuffs to eat at Foodland Farms and this was a kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, so we didn't go too crazy. We got one poke bowl, with brown rice, the chicharrons looked really good, so we got that, and also some boiled peanuts.

And then we headed off.....just like those hanabuddah days, I drove around Diamond Head Road to the lookout.

You can find the Amelia Earhart Plaque here as well.

As well as the "best seat in the house"....at least on this day.

And the local "security detail".

We headed on down and found parking and a table at Kapiolani Park and proceeded to dig in.

I was surprised to find that the kimchi was decent; not overly fermented, but still quite refreshing. The brown rice added a nice nuttiness to the bowl. The quality of the fish was good; tender and buttery in texture without connective tissue. We preferred the restrained, classic, soy-saltiness, with a hint of oceany sweetness of the Local Style Ahi. The Spicy Shoyu wasn't very spicy and was a bit on the salty side. Still, the quality and prep was way above anything here in San Diego.

The Chicharron was as good as it looked.

Crisp, with a slight crunch; porky and savory, which just enough salt. Talk about a guilty pleasure.

As for the boiled peanuts, well, the Missus was saving them for later. Though this little fella tried to make a move on the legume.

The Missus loves Her boiled peanuts, so he didn't stand a chance!

It was good to know that Ruger Market still makes decent poke.

The older I get, the more I treasure and appreciate those times and the chances I get to reflect on them. And it was wonderful to share a bowl of memories with the Missus.

Fort Ruger Market
3585 Alohea Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

And I also want to thank you for sharing in those memories with me! Thanks for stopping by!

Comments

[kat]

great memory and glad they didn’t disappoint

[Alan]

Great posting. Brings back many fond memories. I too used to frequent Ruger Market in the old days to eat poke, roast pork, and char siu. If you went to Aliolani Elementary School, you might have known my auntie who was a long-time cafeteria lady there -- Clara Kadaooka. Boy, do I miss the old days!

[Kirk]

It was fun Kat!

I kind of recognize the name Alan! Forgot about the char siu at Ruger Market...man, we used to love that! Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Peter]

Great story, Kirk -- thanks for telling it! Back in your youth, did they offer rice with the poke? My wife and I have made many trips to Hawaii starting in the '80s -- almost always with a stop at a Foodland or some other market to get poke, but never with rice. The poke bowl thing seems like a more recent phenomenon -- curious what your experience was.

[Kirk]

Hi Peter - Poke "bowls" are kind of a new thing. Also, you have to remember that places that used to traditionally sell poke, i.e. Tanioka's, Tamashiro, and even Foodland were markets, not restaurants. So, these days at a proper poke place, you have a choice of by the pound or with rice.

[Junichi]

Nice that your childhood spot is still going strong. I miss Woo Chee Chong and Hiro Shoten in Chula Vista.

[Mar]

Love this and thank you for sharing! Your post led me to try to remember the first time I had poke and I honestly can't remember where it came from. I recall it was ahi limu and it was served to me out of that one-pound container. I'm guessing it was most likely purchased at Foodland or Tamura's.

On another note, and this is a bit of a tangent, I'm curious about the origin of the popularity of "poke bowls" (and the Chipotle-style service with toppings) here on the West Coast. When I first moved to California, I mainly saw poke only on the appetizer menu at high-end restaurants, served on won ton chips like how Roy's does it, or stacked on avocado puree (I think that plating was Alan Wong's creation). But where did the proliferation of this California-style poke bowl come from? The Bay Area? Can it be attributed to a specific chef? I'm curious because in 2012/2013, no one really knew what poke was, and then in 2014 or so, it seemed these poke bowl places were opening everywhere.

[Kirk]

I've lost quite a few too Junichi! It has taught me to appreciate those that are still here.

Foodland; especially Market City near to where I live was a staple stop for many Mar! And I had been wondering when the poke bowl started getting popular here. I recall having poke in Vegas in 2013 and here about 2015. It might be an interesting rabbit hole to go down.
Here are a couple of articles I came across:

https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/how-the-hawaiian-poke-bowl-became-the-worlds-new-fast-food/

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/tn-wknd-et-0828-poke-takes-oc-20160827-story.html

[Peter]

I found a blog post that asserts Pa'ina Cafe invented the poke bowl back in 2008. Pretty sure I had my very first poke bowl at PokiNometry in the big shopping mall at Hollywood and Highland in LA. They opened there in 2015, though they had a spot in Anaheim starting in 2014 that my wife and I also checked out. Here's the blog post on Pa'ina's claim to poke fame... https://eatinhawaii.blogspot.com/2015/07/who-named-poke-bowl.html

[Soo]

I miss seeing the chickens everywhere.

[Kirk]

Love Nadine Kam Peter! Thanks for sharing! Was so sad when she passed away.

You don't mess with them Soo! ;o)