mmm-yoso!!!

Kalei's Kitchenette

A couple of months back I heard about a plate lunch place opening in Rancho Penasquitos named Kalei's Kitchenette. I noticed that the place opened at 10am, so I decided to take the drive on over and get there before the lunch crowds. 

The shop is quite tiny with just a few indoor and outdoor tables and counter seating.

And the menu is quite concise as well with basically six items available not including poke bowls on the weekends and specials.

One thing that quickly caught my attention were the photos and the chef's story. He's a real local boy from Maui. What really grabbed me was the photo to the right of the story. The Chef, Andy Mangiduyos graduated from the same High School as my mom (many decades later of course), Lahainaluna!

Of the menu items, four of them can be made into a mixed plate, called "Kalei's Plate" ($17).

I decided to get the Huli Huli Chicken and Garlic Chicken to start things off. You can also choose your "sides", two of them for your order. Of course I got rice and mac salad.

 The plate was quite heavy on the proteins. Personally, I liked having only one scoop rice as I will often tell the folks at turo-turo places to give me "half rice" these days. 

The rice was cooked fine. The mac salad wasn't coated evenly and was quite bland.

The Garlic Chicken was the better of the two proteins as it was crunchy, much like Taiwanese "popcorn" chicken. Though I would have liked a heavier garlic flavor, it was seasoned decently, good salt and pepper and was far from bland.

    I've yet to find decent Huli Huli Chicken outside of Hawaii and versions I've had here in San Diego have not been very good. Too much ketchup and sweetness to things. And while this version was better than what I'd had previously, it was still not my favorite. The chicken is supposedly marinated and smoked, but I really couldn't detect much smoke flavor. They tangy sourness of the sauce was a bit too much for me. The texture of the chicken was fine and the flesh was fairly moist.

That visit was back in July. I had meant to return, but the distance from work was a bit of a hinderance. Finally, I found a window of opportunity for a takeout revisit. This time I decided on the combo of the Teriyaki Beef and Kalua Pork. This felt even heftier than what I'd ordered before and upon opening.....

    The mac salad, though a bit over-mayo'd was nicely seasoned this time around. I could make out hints of vinegar which really elevated it. 

Man, look at all that beef and pork!

The teri beef was nicely marinated, though it was a thick and chewy cut. It didn't need the extra sauce on it as it had enough flavor. I used the leftovers of this to make a teri-beef sandwich for dinner!

   I liked the kalua pork, it was moist and tender, not overly salty, with a decent smokiness to it. In fact, the Missus tried the leftovers and said it tasted familiar. Hmmm....... This is probably the best version I've had in San Diego.

I do wish Kalei's was a bit closer to home. But the distance is probably better for my waistline and cholesterol, right? The young lady working on both visit was very nice. The shop is small and other folks I know have complained about the wait time during peak periods, so that should be accounted for. As for the loco moco? Well, I'm saving that for another day!

Kalei’s Kitchenette
9926-F Carmel Mountain Rd.
San Diego, CA 92129
Currnt Hours:
Tues - Sat 10am - 6pm
Closed on Sundays and Mondays

Postscript: As you all probably know, there was a tragic event that occurred between my two visits and Andy (Kalei is Andy's son) being from Lahaina coordinated the transport of donated non-perishable items flown to Maui on Alaska Air. I loved seeing the HFS truck in the video on Kalei's Instagram page. They've currently paused the donations of supplies, but different options are noted on their Instagram page.

Midweek Meanderings - Da Kine's Landing in La Mesa, Golden Chopsticks Opening in Mira Mesa, Romeo and Julieta Sold, and Panda Country (Clairemont Mesa) Closes

Here are a bunch of updates for this Wednesday.

Da Kine's Reopening in La Mesa:

**** This location is closed and Nelson is currently only doing catering

**** Da Kine's has reopened in La Mesa. A post can be found here.

I gotta hand it to all the wonderful F(riends) O(f) Y(oso) out there, you are all an amazing bunch.

I noted that Da Kine's had cleaned out their Linda Vista location back at the beginning of March.

I instantly received a couple of emails.....when I went to Bay Park Coffee that weekend Noel came out and asked if I knew about Da Kine's moving..... Man, that "coconut wireless" sure works pretty fast, huh? Noel told me he had a feeling that Nelson would move his shop closer to home...he lives in La Mesa.

Move the calendar forward a month and "FOY" DerekR emails me with the screen shot to the right.

Not five minutes later I receive another email; this one from "FOY" Kerri  who sent me an excerpt from Da Kine's Facebook page:

"Aloha Da Kine's Ohana! It's been a month since we've closed. We wanted to share an update with you.
Da Kine's has a new home! Our new location is off University Ave. in La Mesa. We're currently in the process of building the inside of the restaurant. Our expected opening will be mid to late summer 2021."

So, with Derek and Kerri already doing my work for me.....well, it's only right that I go check things out, right?

So, this past weekend I went to pick up some food for the Missus; She had something specific in mind for dinner after She got home from work.

I decided to Google some of those businesses on the sign and I headed off. Once arriving at the strip mall in question, I went ahead and opened up Da Kine's website to see if there were any clues.....and they made it easy for me with the new address.

And based on what I read....it seems that's going to be the new location.

I'm sad that they are leaving the neighborhood; but happy that they will keep the business going.

Call me a stalker or whateva', but I thought folks would be interested.

Awesome work Derek and Kerri!

Romeo and Julieta is sold:

The Missus and I were thinking about various Happy Hours we would like to go to once we're over the pandemic and Romeo and Julieta Wine Bar came to mind. I decided to check out the website and was sad to see that they had just closed, last day of business was April 11th, and the business has been sold.

Sad to see them go; but best wishes on their future endeavors.

4715 Monroe Ave
San Diego, CA 92115

Panda Country (Clairemont) Closes:

I stopped by Mister Falafel for the Missus a couple of weeks back. While waiting for my order I decided to take a stroll. I quickly noticed that the ABCDE Panda Country looked closed, so I walked over.

And sadly, the note on the door confirmed that they have closed....after 41 years. And while, like Troy's Family Restaurant down the street, Panda Country wasn't my cup of tea, it's sad to see a place that has been part of the neighborhood for so long close down. Much like the neighborhood diner, the local Chinese restaurant has always been part of the foundation of a neighborhood.

4455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

And Finally, Yes Golden Chopsticks is Coming to Mira Mesa:

*** Golden Chopsticks has finally opened - post can be found here.

And just to end this post on a high note.

After "FOYs" Elle and Sandy mentioned seeing the sign for "Golden Chopsticks" in the comment section of a recent post, well I had to go check it out. So, I dropped by during lunch yesterday.

And yes, right were I believe Payless Shoes used to be; in the mall that holds Target, Menya Ultra, Sandwich Emporium, and a host of others, was the Golden Chopsticks sign.

And soon enough, Eater San Diego confirmed that this is "that" Golden Chopsticks. So it looks like we'll finally be getting some decent Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings north of the "94". And while I'm solidly in the Royal Mandarin camp; I'll gladly partake of Salt and Pepper Chickens Wings from Golden Chopsticks.

8155 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Thanks for the heads up Elle and Sandy!

And just for old times sake, remember this blast from the past?

Have a great week everyone!

It's Raw Poke Shop

I'd been hearing about It's Raw for a while; first when they opened in various Farmer's Markets, then when there was a truck for a while. After the brick and mortar shop opened, I had thoughts about checking them out, which I mentioned in various posts. I'd heard that it was real-deal poke; not one of these mainland "chi-poke" places.

But finally, I was missing poke, even though it had been not that long since I'd been home and had poke just about every day, even a couple of time on Lana'i. Now that Zarlitos was no longer an option for poke, I decided to finally head on down to OB and It's Raw.

Of course, this would be a weekend, so traffic in and out of OB was bad and finding parking....well, that was a total horror show.

 

Finding It's Raw was interesting as well.....the address says Newport Avenue; but the "true" entrance to the shop (you can walk through the corner store to find another entrance in the back) is actually on Bacon Street.

 

I liked the look of the fish in the trays. Not too many options, which was fine with me. I just got a Poke Plate ($15) which comes with two choices of poke. I also went with one scoop rice, one scoop mac salad.

The rice was nicely made. The mac salad was actually spaghetti salad, very plain, not too much mayo, nicely chilled and seasoned.

The shoyu poke came with sauce on the side. It was super salty and lacked depth, but even thoguh the fish was a bit "dry", I couldn't gripe about the fish quality. The wasabi poke was better; well sauced, but overly salty, and fairly light in terms of wasabi. While there was some "sugi" (connective tissue) on several pieces, this was the better of the two poke.

This was solid; good fish, though not great poke in terms of flavor. I had seen kalua pig on the menu and the Missus also wanted to try the poke so I returned the following weekend....oh my, even worse traffic, and I eventually had to pay for parking in the CVS lot since none could be had. I guess I could have headed on down early; like a couple of hours before the noon opening time of It's Raw.....

Anyway; I got the "Pig and Poke" ($20), and selected the Kimchi Poke and the Furikake Poke. I got a half pound each of the kimchi and wasabi poke for the Missus....$45 for take-out.....whoa.

This time I got two scoops of rice; which was actually a good move. In terms of moisture and texture the kalua pork is better than the recent version I had at Da' Kines. It was however, much too salty and could have used more smokiness. It was not bad though.

The best item was the furikake poke; which they didn't have last time. A nice balance of salt-shoyu-a slight sweetness, along with the nutty-savoriness that furikake provides.

The kimchi poke was salty and lacking in a savory-umami-spicy kimchi flavor. The fish was even better quality this time.

That was a huge portion of kalua pork.

The Missus was not impressed by the kimchi or the wasabi poke; though She did think the furikake poke was much better. And while She also thought the fish quality was good; I don't think She'll be craving this.

As for me; well, maybe if I'm off during the week or can find myself in OB during some reasonable hour where I can actually find some parking I'll return. Or maybe they'll open a bit earlier. Still, It's Raw might be the best option for poke in San Diego right now.

 

It's Raw Poke Shop
4991 Newport Ave. (the storefront is actually on Bacon St.)
San Diego, CA 92107
Hours:
Tues - Sun 12pm - 6pm

Da Kine's Reopens in Linda Vista

**** The La Mesa location has closed and Nelson is currently only doing catering

**** Da Kine's has reopened in La Mesa. You can find a post here.

First off, before I get started on this post; I want to extend some major Mahalos to "Kerri" who sent me an email telling me Nelson Ishii and Da' Kine's is back in business. Kerri mentioned the address in the email and I instantly knew where this was; it's almost in my 'hood at the old Kona Kakes location in Linda Vista. Man, being out of town for two weekends in a row really prevented my from going "holoholo". But, once I was back in town, I quickly headed over to the strip mall on Linda Vista Road, and there it was!

Da Kine's la' dat

There's been a bit of shuffling of the configuration of the place from the time it was Kona Kakes, but the color scheme remains the same.

I placed my order and went to have a seat. And guess what? Nelson came over and started chatting with me.....the most I'd ever got out of him in the "old days", was "uh.....". It seems he's mellowed a bit over the years. While I waited we talked about what happened to Da Kine's, why he gave the restaurants to employees and went to catering, and why he's now back. Some of it seemed quite personal, so I'll leave it for folks to ask him yourself. I will say that Da Kine's was the first place I had a plate lunch at in San Diego when I was doing consulting work here in the late 90's. By the time we'd moved to San Diego in the "oughts", things seemed a bit shakey. By the time I did my post in 2005; Da Kine's had definitely slipped. So much so; like I mentioned in my Mira Mesa location post in 2007, a person identifying himself as the Manager of the PB location started his email with "Wow, yoso-harsh.....". And then all the locations started closing. The National City location became Nani Moku and the Liberty Station location closed soon after.

I ordered the Loco Moco, which hadn't done too well in my Loco Moco comparison in 2005. So, how would it fare fourteen years down the line?

Well, let's go back in time and pull out my "Modified Rubio Scale" inspired by James Rubio who used to have a wonderful food blog; Big Island Grinds. There's still a remnant of it here if you're interested.

So let's get on with it, eh?

BURGER: Two good sized patties with a nice char. A bit over-charred for my taste though. Moist and tender. Nicely seasoned, perhaps edging on too salty. 3.0

RICE: Back in the day; Da Kine's used to always serve rather mushy rice; but this was decent, not overly mushy, not hard. 3.0

GRAVY: Dark, but not gluey, somewhat beefy, no lumps, not overly salty. And guess what? They have Tabasco! 3.0

EGGS: Now this was weird. It's sunny side up, not over easy. It's also only slightly runny as the bottom portion is solid. Would also appreciate some crisp edges and seasoning. Also, you can tell it went from the pan on top of things because there's a pool of oil around the gravy. Still, not horrible. 2.5

STUFFS: Man, look at that bombucha scoop of mac salad. And it's not just mayo and macaroni. Perfectly chilled, well seasoned, much different than what I used to get at Da Kine's before. Did I mention the Tabasco? 3.5

Wow, that's a 15??? Pretty good, huh?

A few days later travelling between meetings I went and got take-out. I got the Chicken Katsu and an Ala Carte Kalua Pig and Cabbage.

The katsu was still fairly crisp, moist, and tender when I got to the office. Notice something missing? There was no katsu sauce.....soft opening missives I guess. Luckily, I have a bottle of Bull Dog Tonkatsu Sauce in my desk drawer....but pitty folks who got their katsu this way and don't. The mac salad was still cool when I consumed it, the rice was a bit dry.

I only had a couple of bites of the kalua pork and cabbage, which edged on almost being too salty and was really smoky. Also, it was almost three-fourth's pork. The way it should be. This was a drier version, but was not bad. In fact, I gave most of it to "AG" and Calvin, who both really enjoyed it.

This past Sunday, I went to work for a few hours, then decided to head down to Da Kine's to reward myself for lunch. I'd heard they had Laulau on Sundays. I cracked up when I saw Calvin waiting for a take-out order when I arrived. It was really good to see Lynn, his wife, and his little girl as well.

I ordered my Laulau plate and had a seat. Soon, several groups of people arrived.....many of them asking "where's Uncle Nelson?" From what I overheard, they had only made thirty laulau, and I'm sure they soon sold-out. But I did get mine.

And with some poi to boot. It's been a while since I've had poi. This was thick, smooth, innocuous. Looks like they've got the mac salad down as it was as good as the previous two times.

The laulau was moist and meaty, no salt fish though. The meat wasn't overly fatty (I do like some good chunks of fat in my laulau). I also like a good layer of luau leaf, this one only had one single layer, so there wasn't much of that bitter-sweet collard green like flavor I enjoy. I also thought the meat could have used a bit more salt.

The chicken long rice was the best version I've had in years; perfectly seasoned, great chicken flavor, the long rice wasn't mushy, and just enough ginger.

It was nice to see a couple of multi-generational families come in....I haven't seen this many people from Hawaii in one place on the Mainland in a while. "Uncle Nelson" is indeed beloved. And he's done quite a bit over the years for the Ex-pat Kama'aina community in San Diego. I actually went to that Kalapana Concert in 1999 partially sponsored by Da' Kine's. I was consulting here and stayed the weekend. Kalapana, along with C&K and Olomana defines what contemporary local music was to me when I was growing up back in the 70's. My friends brother sneaked us into Top Ada Shoppe to hear Kalapana and then later Summer play. I felt sad at that concert in 1999 because it was the year that Mackey Feary committed suicide. RIP Malani Bilyeu who passed away at the end of 2018.

It was great looking at the photos lining he walls....heck everybody now knows BJ Penn, but do you remember Mosi Tatupu?

I hope Da Kine's does well. It's fairly close to home for me; so I'll drop in once in a while for my plate lunch fix. And also to look at those photos and posters......

Da Kine's Plate Lunches
5401 Linda Vista Rd. #402
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours (as of 09/09/2019)
Tues - Sun 11am - 5pm

And thanks so much for thinking of us Kerri!

Poke Etc Revisited

OK, so no more poke at Zarlitos, huh? I was in National City; so I decided to revisit Poke Etc to see what was up. There's been some adjustment to the menu; but I decided to grab some lunch. I also got Calvin the Haupia mix his Missus likes so much.

I got the Lau Lau Combo.

Which was ok for "mainland Lau Lau"....that would be; too lean, no salted butterfish. But man, I do miss the smokey flavor of luau leaf and I guess I got my fix in this case. It's actually better than some of the other versions I've had on the mainland over the years.

The rice was same as before; on the dry side.

I ordered the Basic Spicy Ahi; but what I got was weird, not spicy, way too much sesame oil, the fish was fairly low quality, kind of mushy.

The following weekend I needed to go into work....so, of course I headed into the opposite direction....you can call it procrastination, denial, passive-aggressive, or what have you. I needed to grab something to eat, so I decided to give Poke Etc another shot. This time I got the Poke Salad, with Ahi Limu.

The quality of the fish was much better than on previous visits. Maybe because it was something like 945 in the morning? The poke wasn't combined with the shoyu real well and the limu was mushy and all stuck together. The "salad" was a typical mixed greens, which is what I kind of expected. At least the fish was better this time around.

Not sure if I'll be back again soon though. I still need to get to It's Raw in OB. My sources tell me it's more "real", not the typical "chi-poke" kind of place....

Poke Etc
916 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950

Hope you have a great weekend!

Oahu - The Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill Revisted

We'd had a great time on Lana'i and we'll certainly be back.

When we got back to Ewa Beach; the Missus decided that we'd go out to an early dinner. There was one place She'd been wanting to revisit since we first ate there years ago; the Alley. Oxtail soup has a long history in Hawai'i, especially in bowling alleys. And the Missus really enjoyed the version at the Alley ; it was one place She really wanted to revisit. So we headed on down for an early dinner.

The place was fairly empty when we arrived; right before 5pm; but quickly filled up.

The Missus's "leaning tower of plates" soon arrived.

Served with minced ginger and cilantro; ponzu, brown rice, with one empty bowl for da' bones.

Man; this was good ono! The wonderful beefy-ginger-anise flavors; peanuts; that really delicious shiitake mushroom.

It's "rich and delish"! Oh yeah, the tender oxtails, cooked perfectly, not falling to pieces, but still spoon tender, was great. We still haven't found a real use case for that ponzu....

Good until the last drop......

I went with the Tasty Chicken...bowl. The plate would be just too much for me....though I did see one aunty whack the entire plate herself! I; of my own free will actually ordered this with brown rice. No tell anybody; but I like the way the Alley makes their brown rice. And when they asked me if it was mac salad or greens....the Missus, ahem, answered for me....

Oh, and I got the sauce on the side; it's a bit too much with the chicken glazed in it. But a light dip....the chicken is nicely seasoned on its own; light, crisp, moist; like a good karaage. It's best with just a touch of sauce as the flavor of the chicken and spices come through. And it goes strangely well with the brown rice.

This was such a satisfying meal. The service was very friendly. Man, we can't wait to return next time I'm back "home".

The Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill
in Aiea Bowl
99-115 Aiea Heights Dr, Ste 310
Aiea, HI 96701

Honolulu - It's Back to Fresh Catch

After a wonderful dinner at Kinjiro (and karaage at Karayama) we awoke early to catch our shuttle to LAX at 520am. I actually slept better on the flight than at the hotel.

And breakfast was adequate and held us for quite a while. After getting about 2 hours of shut-eye, I awoke, freshened up, and soon enough, we were landing at "home".

My In-laws picked met us and of course the first thing we wanted was.....poke, of course! The Missus's Mom and Dad live in Ewa Beach, so the natural stop was Tanioka's. But man, the line was crazy....folks standing outside, with a security guard letting folks into the shop one-by-one. We decided to just drive "home" and unpack.

And then....well, we just needed to get some poke. Ono Seafood is closed on Sunday (and Monday), so after mulling some options, we headed off to my "neck of the woods" and Fresh Catch. Funny thing; I'd actually packed the Fresh Catch insulated bag to keep stuffs cold for this trip. So I guess it was just fate?

Not to say that Fresh Catch wasn't busy....they were.

The woman behind the counter was very efficient....but the pressure was on to have your order ready by the time you hit the counter. Decisions....decisions.....

In the end; it was a half pound each of the Hawaiian Blend, Spicy Ahi Shoyu, and Smoked Tako.

The Hawaiian Blend was the favorite hands down; just enough salt, but not enough ogo...still, the onion was sweet, there was a hint of spice.....the fish was good quality...well, in comparison to the poke in San Diego.....well; let's not go there.

The Spicy Ahi Shoyu was too sweet and salty.

I'd have liked more onions...need that pungency to cut the saltiness. Still the fish was good quality.

The smoked tako had too much mayo; but a nice smokiness.

Enjoyed the tobiko, which added a bit of texture; but the octopus was hard instead of being chewy.

Still, this was a nice start to our trip.

Fresh Catch
3109 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816 

Ah, it was good to be "home". It had been too long.

And it was hard to beat our "dining room"...…

The Missus's mission was now to have poke every day.

Island Style Hawaii BBQ & Local Food

***** Island Style has closed

Island Style Hawaii is a favorite of one of my "customers" and after finding out that I'm originally from Hawaii she had asked me what I thought of the place. I told her that I'd had had my fill of these Hawaiian BBQ type of places and really hadn't been motivated to visit. But one day at work I got a call. She had a meeting in the same building and decided to drop of "some lunch" for me......from Island Style. How sweet.

So I suddenly had mini-plates of Garlic Chicken and Mochiko Chicken on my hands.

Now, I didn't expect Sugoi's or Mitsu-ken, and this was pretty mediocre. Even though she had picked this up on the way to our offices, it hadn't held up well and was more gummy than crisp. I expected more garlic flavor, but what I mostly got was burnt bitterness. Sugoi and Mitsu-ken have both garlic flavor in the seasoning for the chicken as well as a sauce; it reminds me a bit of karaage. This was basically fried chicken.

It's the Mochiko Chicken that had the sauce.

While I thought the batter on this was a bit better; the sauce was pretty one-dimensional. This style of chicken isn't really hard to make.

I gotta say, for a mini-plate, the portion sizes were quite hefty. Compre the $6.99 mini-plate with the $11 food truck plate lunch.

The rice was fine, but I really didn't care for the potato "mac" salad. The quotes on the "mac" is because this was like chopped spaghetti noodles. It also just tasted of plain mayonnaise with no other seasoning. The young lady really wanted to know what I thought, so I told her. Man, if I were a millionaire, I'd love to buy her a ticket to HNL, so she could actually have the real deal.

Anyway, this got the ball rolling so I decided to drop by the place. It's in Pacific Beach, near the corner of Cass and Garnet. I can honestly say, I don't get down here very often.

Wasn't this a location of Rakadeka in a previous life? So, it was a Saturday morning and I'd read that the place opens at 11; so I got there at 1105.....no Bueno. Must've been on Hawaiian Time. So I took a walk around the block. I returned at 1120 and the open sign was on; but the door was still locked....go figure. Eventually, I did get in.

The menu had all the usual suspects. Since this was a weekend and I could definitely just roll back home and take a nap, I decided to add another one to my Loco Moco collection. I ordered a regular sized Loco Moco ($9.29).

This was a passable Hawaiian BBQ/Chain style loco moco. The beef patty was cooked to death and tough. The rice was strange, some of it was dry and hard and the rest really mushy. The eggs were nice and runny, though I enjoy a bit of crispness around the edges for a textural contrast and these weren't seasoned, thus in dire need of some salt. The gravy was on the thinner side, but other than having a bit too much black pepper was fine.

During this visit, I noticed an "Aloha Friday Special" ($13.99) on the menu. So, with the Missus at work, I returned on my way home that Friday.

Man, this was a hefty plate. First things first. I noticed a lot of liquid that smelled like laulau at the bottom of the package. I opened the container up to see all the liquid from the laulau on the bottom. It hadn't been drained well.

The laulau itself wasn't very good. This being "mainland laulau" I expected no salted fish, but the pork was really dry and stringy, and the luau leaves weren't cooked enough for my taste and were hard. Even here in the laulau wasteland that is San Diego, I thought Poke, Etc was better.

I'm still not a fan of the potato mac salad; though I did find a couple of small cubes of potato in this. It really needs a bit more seasoning.

The kalua pork was not bad. On the dry side, the trick I learned when I worked drive-in kitchens back home was to mix the fat and liquid that drained off the pork back into it when shredding. It did have enough salt and smoke flavor though.

I didn't expect much of the lomi salmon and it was just that. Really in need of seasoning; the tomatoes not ripe enough, too watery, quite bland.

Island Style has a very nice location, close to the beach and all that. If you enjoy quantity over quality this might do it for you.

The service very laid back. The young lady at the front likes to spend her time on the iPad. Not sure if I'll return and if I do, what I would get....the katsu perhaps? Saimin? I dunno.

Here's a to Soo's visits to Island Style.

Island Style Hawaii BBQ & Local Food
4508 Cass St
San Diego, CA 92109
Hours:
Mon - Wed 11am - 10pm
Thurs - Sat 11am - 2am
Sun 11am - 8pm

Hana Hou To Go Food Truck

**** This truck is no longer in business

A couple of guys in the office like this food truck that comes by every couple of weeks.

It named "Hana Hou to go". Hana Hou means "one more time" in Hawaiian. While I'm not fully sold on the Food Truck explosion; I grew up eating from lunchwagons, so local kine food from a truck makes sense to me. So I decided to give it a try. Though I gotta say' this ain't lunchwagon prices.

I ordered the Chicken Katsu Plate ($11).

To be perfectly frank; the item I enjoyed the most was the katsu sauce; which was rather thick, but had a nice tanginess to it. It seemed between the typical Japanese style (like steak sauce) and the "local kine" (ketchup based). The chicken was fairly moist, even for white meat; though it was quite bland and cold and the breading was past the point of having very much crunch.

The kimchi was the typical "quick kimchi"; crisp, slightly spicy, but lacking in fermented flavor. I just wasn't a big fan of the macaroni salad; which was really dry; with some hard pieces, and quite bland overall. The rice? Well, that was well done, not too mushy, no hard bits. Only "one scoop" though. Which, these days is enough for me.

This was ok overall. So, thinking that perhaps it wasn't the best strategy to get something basically fried from the food truck (though Tsukenjo's made a mean mochiko chicken and Grace's started serving their chicken katsu from a lunchwagon), I decided to give them another chance. Daniel from Georgia told me to get the "Kalua Cabbage Plate" ($11), which we call Kalua Pork and Cabbage back home.

The pork was rather chewy and stringy; and there was quite a bit of cabbage. Perhaps I was being too picky since I often make this at home. I'm glad it wasn't too salty and the rice was again quite good. I kimchi had more flavor this time around, though I'm still not a fan of that mac salad. Too each his own.....

Overall, okay lunches if I have no other choices. If this was a brick and mortar shop, I'd pass.

The Hana Hou to Go Food Truck

Poke Etc.

A few weeks ago; I was in National City and decided to check out what was going on with Point Point Joint. When I drove into the parking lot I was shocked to see PPJ was gone! Wow, first Conching's and now Point Point Joint! I guess I really don't get down here near enough these days. The other thing I was surprised to see; though I probably shouldn't have been, was a place name Poke Etc had taken PPJ's place.

I was just going to get into my car and as we say back home; "hele" to somewhere else. But I decided to take a peek inside; which was kind of interesting. The lay-out seemed very much PPJ; in spite of the freshening up, it still looked a bit worn.

I really wasn't interested in the poke....more interested in the "etc".....stuff like Shoyu Chicken, Lau Lau, Kalua Pork, Teriyaki Chicken....I'm not sure when I last had Ilocano Longanisa. My friends growing up were Ilocano, so I was kind of used to the vinegary; garlicky longanisa. The first time I had Longsilog in San Diego I was rather shocked at how sweet it was. But over the years I've come to enjoy it.

There a collection of "stuffs", an almost random collection most of which you can get from Marukai, and a reach in fridge with Hawaiian Sun, haupia, mac salad, Portuguese sausage (sorry not "my" brand")...you know, etc....

I'd had enough "Mainland poke" for a while so just went with the Lau Lau Combo ($9.95)......not really expecting much.

You know; the lau lau wasn't bad....I mean, it wasn't "really" lau lau if you know what I mean; it was missing the very important salted butterfish, which adds an awesome salty-savory touch to lau lau and is all important. The difference between this and what I typically get here on the mainland is; and it pretty much holds true for most frozen lau lau, is that it was moist, not too salty, it had quite a bit of luau leaf, but I love the steamed taro leaves, which have a smoky, flavor. Again, not really lau lau, but the pork shoulder was moist, tender, and not too stringy. What really put a damper on things is the lack of "chili pepper water"....bummer. The rice was on the dry side foe my taste; especially when eating local kine food.....

I hadn't read the menu very closely; instead of the usual mac salad, this came with a scoop of poke. Oh-oh....... There's basically 8 different poke, already made; over ice, just like home. I'm a purist, so I decided on the Ahi Limu and was pleasantly surprised.

First off, the fish was decent quality; think basically Safeway or Foodland on Oahu. The limu was actually the fine Limu Kohu.......not the hard branches. Some not so great pieces, but mixed and coated evenly, not too salty; a bit of shoyu; this wasn't bad at all.

So I returned and decided to see how the loco moco ($8.95) was. I should have probably just gone with maybe some poke and rice.....

Doesn't the loco moco look like some Edvard Munch inspired, food emoji basically saying "don't eat me"?

This wasn't good eats, from the very gluey, tasteless gravy; which had the same viscosity as the egg yolk. They just kind of oozed into one another. To the burger which was pretty darn tough, to the rice which was again on the dry side. I just didn't care for this.

The onions might have added to the dish; in this state they added some flavor; but just think if they'd been caramelized a bit more; it would have added some depth.

So, I decided to come in and just get a poke bowl......I got the "Create your own bowl" which was reasonably priced at $8.95. Of course I hot the Ahi Limu and this time added the Kimchi Poke.

On this day the Ahi Limu wasn't right; the fish wasn't coated well, there were too many pieces with tough connective tissue; and in spite of the Limu Kohu, this seemed off. The fish in the Kimchi Poke was slightly better, but not by much. Not a big fan of the flavors which was more salty than spicy. It just wasn't very interesting. To make matters worse, the rice was even more dry than before.

I mean, it's ok to have some pieces with "sugi" in them; but not so many......

Poke Etc was starting to be a bit of enigma; I just couldn't put my finger on what this place did consistently well. I decided to pay one more visit. I was going to order the Shoyu Chicken; but it didn't come with poke and I wanted to give that one more shot. So I decided on the Island Bento ($11.95) to go. The menu states Teriyaki Chicken, Tonkatsu, and Poke. This is what I got.

I have no idea what this was supposed to be, but I don't think it's what I ordered. That tonkatsu was pounded very thin, breaded, then fried to a dry, stringy place that can only be described as death. What's up with the bland sautéed onions and the frozen peas and carrots? Kind of sad because the Ginger Ahi was nicely flavored, not too much ginger, good soy, not too salty, the fish was nicely mixed and coated well, and there were only a few pieces with too much connective tissue. I'd easily have that again.

After this....four visits in the can; I decided that I need to give the place a rest. I'm still not quite sure if they can put out a consistent product; though I do like the "old school" style poke....when it's on. If one of those "Chi-Poke" places (i.e. San Diego Poke Company, etc....) could get it right, it would be great. The woman who works here is really nice and friendly....and heck, I saw boiled peanuts for sale; I need to bring my own chili pepper water though, and there's still that Ilocano Longanisa I have to try one of these days........one of these days.

Interesting to note that Poke Etc is a chain of (currently) four shops, two in Long Beach and one in Carson. I'm sure we'll see more pop-up here in San Diego.

Poke Etc
916 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950