Dalu Hawaiian BBQ

It's not very often that I read about a plate lunch place opening in Eater, but back in June I noticed an entry for a place named Dalu. So, doing the Google Maps thing, I noticed it was located in Rancho San Diego; man that's over a 20 mile drive for me. And yet, I was intrigued. I also noticed that the place opened at 10am, which fit fairly well into my weekend schedule. So, I decided to head on over. 

I arrived at the CottonWood Plaza right past ten am. I guess I shouldn't have been worried since there was basically only one other car in the part of lot where Dalu is located.

It's quite a large space. The place has a full on, almost kitschy, stereotypical Hawaiian theme. A bit over-the-top.

There's even a sort of tiki-ish bar in the place as well.

The young lady working the counter was very nice and friendly. I inquired about the ownership, to see if it has roots "back home", but was not given a straight answer, so I'm figuring not? The two guys working the kitchen were conversing in Spanish. But what the heck, I was here, right? I decided to try a mix plate, to get a taste of more than one item and I selected the Katsu Mix ($18.25).

I as kindly given a cup some H2O and passed this quite different teriyaki sauce warmer thingy????

I had a seat and the young lady actually brought my order to the table. I had totally thought I'd have my name called and would pick up my plate at the counter. Very nice. Not so nice, I noticed there was no katsu sauce. I waked on over and asked if they had katsu sauce and was given some. So, please note; if you get the katsu here, I think you might have to ask for the sauce. I don't think it would be fun doing takeout and finding no sauce with your katsu.

As for the plate; well, it was good sized.

   As I figured it was typical "LA Kalbi" - flanken/cross cut ribs. First thing I hit up was the mac salad. It was quite plain , with a few strands of carrots. It needed some salt and pepper and was kind of "watery" as the mayo hadn't really coated the macaroni well.

The rice was moist and fluffy.

The breading on the katsu had adhered well to the chicken, which was fairly moist, but on the tough side and in need of seasoning.

  At most places, the chicken would be tenderized to an even thickness, but this was not, thus some bites were pretty thick and tough.

As for the "katsu sauce"; sigh. Just take a look. This was weird, like ketchup watered down with vinegar.

A for the rest of the proteins; well the Ribs were teriyaki style, not kalbi, so the sauce for both that and the teri beef were the same. A thicker glaze and on the really sweet side.

The teri beef, though on the thicker side and not coated thoroughly actually handled the sweet soy better.  The ribs were really tough and chewy.

Hmmm......not quite what I expected. Nice folks though. After this meal, I contemplated doing a post or perhaps not doing one at all. After some thought, I decided that in cases like my maiden voyage to Dalu, and because prices were not crazy, it would be better to do a second visit, in spite of the distance. I guess if I had enjoyed this visit, I would have had no problem with a post. I know.....I'm kinda weird.

Anyway, a couple of weekends later, I drove back east, arriving again right after the ten am opening time.

There was a different young lady working this time; but she was just a nice and friendly. As to what to order? Hmmm.....it had been a while since I'd had a decent loco moco and Dalu's made a "mini loco" which was priced nicely at $11.25; yep over ten bucks, but considering that I'd recently had an avocado toast for $12, this seemed a bargain.

Of course I ordered my egg easy-over. Again the young lady delivered my plate to the table. She asked me if I wanted some teriyaki sauce....what???? I asked for Tabasco, but was told they didn't have any.

    On this visit, it seemed like the gentleman who I believe is the owner was working the kitchen, so I was interested to see how my food would turn out. The first good sign was the mac salad, which while still in need of more salt and pepper was evenly coated and the mayo not runny like on my last visit.

And as I was about to "dig in", the young lady returned to my table, handing me a bottle of Tabasco! She told me; "I asked and they had a bottle in the back". So nice, yeah?

And a thought came to me as I prepared to dig in. I hadn't used the Modified Rubio scale in ages. For those who don't recall, it's a scale originally developed by James Rubio who had the now defunct Big Island Grinds blog that I modified and have used many times in the past. Funny thing, I haven't used the scale since 2019...another thing that Covid seems to have derailed!

To quote that post of long ago:

"The original Rubio Scale measured each item on the Loco, I decided to take the "base" items, the Burger, Gravy, Egg, and Rice. To this I added "Stuffs", that include macaroni salad, Spam, or any other item that comes with the Loco. All items are graded on a scale between 1 through 5, with 2.5 being average."

Anyways, here goes:

BURGER: Thin, lean with no filler, on the tougher side, but not bad. 2.5

EGGS: Nice and runny. Would have been perfect with more crisp edges and if the eggs were seasoned. No "off" flavors. 3.5

RICE: Decently cooked, fragrant, you could make out every grain. 2.5

GRAVY: Thick, rich, on the gluey end of the scale and quite salty. 2.0

STUFF: The Mac Salad was better this time around, but man, I wish it was seasoned better. 2.0

The total? 12.5, perfectly average.

I also had an interesting chat with a customer who sat on a nearby table. Apparently, this used to be a taco shop named David's Fresh Mexican. But a few months back, the owner, his name is Luis switched it over to Hawaiian BBQ. So, I'm guessing a minimum connection with the islands? 

Overall, the gals working were really nice; the food better than L&L, but below what I expect from Island Style Cafe, Homestyle Hawaiian, Leilani's, etc. I had fun visiting and getting out of my typical "range", but the drive is really not worth it for an average plate lunch. 

If you check them out, let me know what you think!

Dalu Hawaiian BBQ
2451 Jamacha Rd.
El Cajon, CA 92019
Current Hours:
Daily 10am - 9pm

Comments

[kat]

at least it was average and not totally disappointing

[Sandy]

Rancho San Diego is pretty far out of the way for me, so I'm not likely to try Dalu anytime soon.

[Som Tommy]

That’s a far drive for a locomoco it better be good

[Peter]

That's a really odd location for a Hawaiian place -- mostly Mexican and Middle Eastern places out that way. There used to be a Hawaiian restaurant on the main drag in Lakeside (Homestyle??) that was really good at first but then declined in quality until it disappeared altogether. Hopefully Dalu will find it's place in El Cajon and thrive.

[Soo]

That's too bad the meats are tough. It's a long drive for me as well.

[Jack]

My parents live not too far away from here and tried it a couple of times. I had the same experience as you, really pleasant and helpful staff but a very average plate lunch spot. Big plus is that they serve draft beer. I am happy that when I'm in the mood for protein and rice there is a spot nearby....not that it happens much these days!

[Kirk]

Yes, a bit better than L&L Kat!

Yeah, I don't think it's worth more than a 5 minute drive Sandy!

So true ST!

There's a Middle Eastern place in the same strip mall Peter. And the other customer said that the owner used to have a taco shop here, so I guess they're changing concepts.

Yes, a bit too long for average plate lunch Soo.

Really nice folks Jack! Not bad if you live close by.....

[Mar]

Teriyaki sauce on a loco moco? Yeah I'm definitely skipping lol.

[Kirk]

Yeah, that caught me off guard Mar!