mmm-yoso!!!

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

HitH - Fast Times

After my post on revisiting Farmer's Table, I decided to do more posts on places within walking distance of our home. So, I decided to do a H(angin') i(n) t(he) 'H(ood) revisit to Fast Times. I went and looked for my original post on Fast Times and I couldn't find one. What the heck? I did eat at Fast Times when they first replaced Coastal Crave in the neighborhood, but I guess I never did that post. I remember one old timer at FT told me that the classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High was based on Clairemont High School. And according to this Mental Floss post it was. In fact, you might find this article interesting as well. Anyway, I guess I never did that post. I recall coming up with the moniker "TGI Fast Times", as the food really reminded me of stuff you'd get one of those Chain Bars. Well since I never did that post, I'm thinking I'd better catch up here 6 years down the line.

It's kind of part sports bar, neighborhood hang out, upper level dive bar, with live music a couple nights a week. There seem to be a great many regulars here.  Some very "interesting" folks!

There's a dozen brews on tap, nothing fancy or exotic mind you, but a solid selection ranging from, yep, Bud Light to stuff by Harland and Societe.

I had a .394 on this visit.

I recall that the one item I had actually thought was decent on my visits way back when were of all things, just simple Tater Tots, which by todays pricing is a bargain at 4 bucks.

Served with ketchup and ranch dressing; these were light and crisp outside with a creamy interior. Just the way they should be.

Another item I recalled from those visits of yore was the reason I called this place "TGI Fast Times" were the Potato Skins ($11). Sadly, this dish hasn't aged well.

The potatoes had been sliced down the center; I'm guessing to aid in the cooking, but it made the potatoes, which were now like large potato wedges quite dry and hard. In fact, this was really salty and dry.

I knew I should do at least one more visit, but wasn't quite sure what to get. One Saturday, I walked on over to Sprouts to do some quick shopping and noticed that Fast Times was open. The place opens at 11am on Saturdays and Sundays. I suddenly recalled seeing a certain dish on the menu for "brunch". Here it is....

 Yep, it's a Loco Moco ($12)....well make that a "loco moco" with those quotation marks. First off, it's topped with bacon, which ain't a bad thing...since of course there are some good locos that have fried rice with stuffs like Portuguese Sausage.....the bacon was a tad overcooked, but heck, at least it was crisp. The item that really threw me off was the slices of toast. This was a new one for me. Which led me to send a Tweet -" Question. Is toast a legit Mac Salad replacement on a locomoco? Methinks not!" It was just kind of odd as there was already rice.

As for the rest? Well, the burger was very lean and dry, the gravy tasted like it came from a "bottle/can", though the egg while a bit overdone was acceptable. Though I'm still fixated on the toast.

Still, I'm thinking that the majority of folks aren't coming to Fast Times for a gourmet experience; they are doing what we call "pau hana time" back home, socializing, hanging out with friends, coming for the nights when there's live music. And to be perfectly honest, I much prefer Fast Times to Farmers Table, just for the unpretentious, neighborhood vibe and the prices which are quite reasonable at this local Watering Hole-Sports Bar-Neighborhood Hang Out.  During my visits, it seems that the customer base skews a bit older, but perhaps it's because of when I've visited. There's also some interesting little things I've noticed during my visits. For instance, Fast Times has QR code coasters with menus on each table and on the bar, but they automatically give you a paper menu! I've never seen anyone (but me) who has actually used the QR codes!

You gotta love places like these!

Fast Times
3065 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs 3pm - 9pm
Friday 3pm - 11pm
Saturday 11am - 11pm
Sunday 11am - 8pm

Having a Hilo Loco at Leilani's Cafe

I recently had a morning appointment in North PB. I decided to skip my usual breakfast....I've been doing a lot of Overnight Oats recently. I skipped breakfast because I'd be close to Leilani's Cafe and it seemed like a good time to have a Hilo Loco. It was a tad past 830 in the morning, most of the morning coffee folks had gone, and the remote workers have started hitting up the coffee chops in the area, so Leilani's wasn't busy at all.

 It had been over 2 years since I'd last had a Hilo Loco from Leilani's and it was (of course) a takeout order. This time, with no one eating outdoors, I felt comfortable having my Hilo Loco at one of the (farthest) tables on the lanai. In terms of prices, the Hilo Loco had gone up a buck since October of 2020; it's now $13.75.

There's something about the vibe I get from Leilani's that always takes me back to the "old days", you know, when Da Kine's was in PB, Kealani's in Encinitas was still open. And whenever I do a post on Leilani's I often get too wordy. From my Leilani's Hawaiian Restaurant post, when they had a place in Serra Mesa (I believe this spot was being renovated):

"I've noticed that here on the mainland, we have been inundated with a number of "Hawaiian BBQ" joints. So it goes without saying that most people I've met think that Hawaiian BBQ is the ubiquitous "plate lunch". Nothing wrong with that, but the plate lunch is much more than the corporate Hawaiian BBQ, which when done well, is a good value(there are several L&L locations in Honolulu that I like), but when done with only the profit margin in mind(which happens often), is really lousy. If you grew up in Hawaii, you're sure to have your favorite(s), whether it's Rainbow Drive-In(my personal favorite), Masu's(RIP Masu's), Richie's, Zippy's, Cafe 100, Grace's, or any number of places, and there are many. You'd also realize that there is life beyond the BBQ Chicken, BBQ Beef, and all the generic items served in those Hawaiian BBQ places. Each one of the places mentioned above have their own versions of the "standards", each with it's own "food personality" of sorts. In addition, other "standards" like Beef Stew, Sweet Sour Pork, Chili, Mochiko Chicken, etc, are also available."

Ok, 'nuff said.

You know, I totally expected to be called to the window to pick-up my locomoco, but the really nice young lady brought it out to me.

   So, how was this? First off, the rice isn't as well coated as before, though it still has a decent spiciness and some nice chunks of Portuguese Sausage. The burger has always been lean and without filler, which makes it nice and beefy if a bit more chewy than others.

I had thought that the gravy at Leilani's tended to be on the "gloppy" side, but this was nice and smooth with a creamy tongue feel. There's some beefiness to it, though it was on the ssalty side for my taste.

The egg, well this says it all......nice and runny....just perfect.

In the end Leilani's delivered pretty much as expected. Not a perfect loco moco, but one that's comforting and for some reason always brings back memories. Hard to believe I first did a post on Leilani's back in 2006! Man, what were you doing in November of 2006? Well, maybe I don't want to know......it'll make me feel "REALLY" old!

Leilani's Cafe
5109 Cass St.
San Diego, CA 92109
Hours:
Daily 7am - 2pm

This one is for "FOY" ChrisR who went to UH Hilo and is always nice enough to let me know where he is finding (or not finding) good grindz in town! 

Kusina

Back in February of this year I noticed that Boss Bird Kitchen had completed moving from Miramar to La Mesa and there was a new sign up at that location. Whew, if you're keeping score that would make business number four in that location since 2018. And two of those defunct businesses were Filipino in concept, Sarap and Gaya Gaya. So now, I guess we were back to square one?

I waited a couple of months before visiting, until April, when Calvin was in the office and I had him come along to try out Kusina.

Man, the place looked pretty empty, which was great for Calvin and I, who both tested negative before meeting up, but perhaps not for Kusina.

The menu was full of the "usual suspects", though they were out of several items on this day.

We placed our order and in a few minutes our food started arriving.

Of course no meal in this genre is complete without rice and we went with the Garlic Rice.

Which was decently done; if a bit on the mild side in regards to garlic/pungent flavors. 

I believe I've mentioned that Calvin can't pass up trying Pancit Palabok whenever it's on the menu. His Missus doesn't eat (a lot of things) palabok so he takes this opportunity to treat himself....as he should.

This isn't my favorite version of the dish; the pancit malabon was way overcooked and mushy; there wasn't enough of the deep, savory "seafoody" deliciousness of a good palabok. The breadcrumbs added a textural contrast, but really was not much of a help overall.

Of course we got the Sisig. Which looked quite nice, arriving in a sizzling plate with that lovely egg.....

This dish looked much better than it was....much of the pork was on the burnt and tough side; the sauce lacked spice, the dish was super salty. 

The best item was the Bicol Express.

While I could have used a bit more bagoong and the pork was perhaps a bit on the "waxy" side; at least this had some zip to it, which made it go well with rice.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this meal.

Kusina calls itself "A Taste of the Pacific" and has some non-Filipino dishes on the menu. A week after my first visit, I decided to do some takeout and placed an online order....for....well... a Loco Moco. Which was ready for pick-up at the assigned time. It was a short, about 10 minute drive back to the office where I unpacked things.

   This was interesting; the gravy was mushroom based and not terrible. The egg was over-cooked; I don't think the short drive back to the office was an issue though.

The rice was perfect.

The burger was a bit chewy and mealy, but was nice and beefy in flavor; perhaps it was just too lean for my taste.

Not terrible, but definitely not a loco moco I'd be craving.

And so the photos just kinda sat. I did want to do one more visit before posting. During that period, Soo did a post on Kusina which you can read here.

Finally, after two months, Calvin was coming into the office and wanted to meet for lunch. I called Kusina to make sure they had Crispy Pata, they did, which set us off for another visit.

There were more tables set on this visit, though only one other fellow came in to eat during our meal....and he was from our office!

On each of my visits the folks working the front of house were different and this visit was no exception.

We placed our order and like on our initial visit, the first dish out was the rice....this time Bagoong Rice.

This was unevenly stir fried and there were clumps of uncoated/unseasoned rice. The dish definitely needed more bagoong....at least for me.

Of course we got the Crispy Pata.

 The skin wasn't too bad, a bit beyond the crispness I enjoy, but not bad. The flesh was really tough and chewy....I'm thinking that this was made way ahead of time and then dumped into the deep fryer. It was also pretty darn salty so the sawsawan wasn't needed.

Last up was the Kare Kare. Look at how large everything is....what's up with not cutting ingredients these days? Talk about unwieldy and messy.....

We didn't care for the greasy mouthfeel and in spite of being really salty, that's all there was in terms of flavor. The Oxtail was cooked perfectly though and was delish.

Sadly, this place seemed like a step down from Sarap and Gaya Gaya. Though the fellow from the office told Calvin and myswelf that he comes here every week for the Adobo, so maybe???? 

Perhaps Kusina will have the staying power the last 4 tenants didn't have?

We'll see.

Kusina
7580 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours
Tues - Sun 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 8pm
Closed on Mondays

Sushi Yorimichi

**** You can find an updated post on Yorimichi here.

Sushi Yorimichi replaced Thai Papaya back in June. While I was still working from home a couple of days a week, until the Delta variant got out of control, I managed to make a couple visits between the middle of June until the middle of July.

I visited right as the place opened on all four visits and was the only customer in the place.

The interior has changed slightly from the days of Thai Papaya' the tables a bit more spread out (perhaps for more Covid "distancing"), there're seats in front of the counter.

Like "FOY" SomTommy described to me in an email, having visited soon after they opened, "there's everything on the menu from sushi to ramen to yakitori". And Junichi mentioned that the yakitori is done over on a gas grill, so I wasn't going to be ordering that for sure.

And yes indeed, the menu has everything from karaage to katsu don, to a "loco moco", sushi rolls (of course), yakitori, yakisoba, ramen (both tonkotsu and birria),  poke....... The prices though, except for one exception seem to be quite reasonable.

On my first visit, I decided to try out the Katsudon (I chose Tonkatsu - $9). The portion size was quite generous......especially in terms of rice. A good lesson as I'd order just "half rice" the next time.

   This was not bad, the egg nicely doused and tender, a bit on the salty side, but that's something to be expected. The tonkatsu was decently breaded, but over-fried and the panko really dark and starting to peel off of the slightly dry pork cutlet.

The rice was decently done, no complaints there. I've had worse....

Junichi had mentioned enjoying the Dashimaki Tamago  ($7), so I decided to get that and some other appetizers to spare me all the rice on my next visit. This version had mozzarella cheese and mentaiko (cod roe).

I did enjoy the mentaiko in this version of the Japanese Rolled omelet, it added a much needed savoriness to the tender egg, which I thought was on the bland side. I really didn't enjoy the milkiness of the cheese in this either.

I also ordered the Agedashi Tofu ($5).

 I really didn't enjoy this very much. The tentsuyu really tasted like mentsuyu.....the really salty bottled soup base. The tofu wasn't evenly fried; half of it brown, the other half pale white which fell right off the tofu. The texture of the tofu was quite "wet-mushy"....I don't think it was drained properly before making this.

The Chicken Karaage ($5), looked pretty good and it was indeed decently crunchy.

 I thought the cutting of the chicken was interesting....some small cubes, some slices where I could tell the cook was checking to see if the chicken was done. The color was dark and rich looking, but this was pretty bland. 

My favorite item of the day was the Kawa-su ($5).

While the chicken skin was on the thick side and some bites were overly chewy; the sauce was quite good; balanced soy, sweetness, and sour/acidity. There was a mild spiciness to this as well.

A few days later I decided to return and actually try some of the fish; I went and ordered the Chirashi ($22), easy on the rice.

  This was a mixed bag; not the best quality fish, the cutting was a bit on the "thicker" side, and definitely not even in the same league as even Chef Jun, not to mention other places. The rice was terrible, hard and dry, the sushi meshi very mild...perhaps as to not offend? That albacore was dry and cut much too thick, the maguro had a metallic finish, the scallops somewhat fishy. The uni was decent and the salmon standard issue.

I left somewhat disappointed. I guess this place is really just for rolls......

I really wanted to find something that I'd really enjoy here; so I went with one last try......I was somewhat fascinated with the Yorimichi Style Loco Moco ($9)....and you know me and Loco Mocos. I guess Justin Young is right, "You can take the boy from the island, but not the island from the boy". I'd had my eye on that from the first time I opened the menu, so I finally went ahead and ordered it.

   This was an interesting dish. The rice, while still a bit on the dry side, was better in texture than what I'd had previously. The egg was decently cooked, still somewhat runny, with no off flavors. The burger had less filler than I expected, but was moist, tender, and mildly beefy. The menu claimed that the burger was topped with Hayashi Sauce, which makes me expect sort of a demi-glace beefiness, along with earthy mushroom-onion flavors, with perhaps a tangy tomato-ness. This was like across between Hayashi style sauce and Japanese Hamburg style sauce, both are similar in many ways. I believe I detected a hint of Worcestershire in this. This wasn't too bad and wasn't overly sweet. Totally Yoshoku.

In the end, I think of Yorimichi to be kind of a "diner" of sorts. There's still ramen/curry/teriyaki/etc on the menu. The prices are quite reasonable, the service efficient. I tend toward the "specialists" when it comes to Japanese cuisine, with a few exceptions. I'm not quite ready to make that exception for Yorimichi yet......

Sushi Yorimichi
2405 Ulric St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Daily 11am - 830pm

The Hilo Loco from Leilani's Cafe

A few weekends ago, I had to head into the office for a few hours to finish some things up.....call me weird in these times; but I find I'm much more focused and productive in an office or a non-home environment. I'm also all for the separation of work from personal life as well......more on that in a future post. Anyway, not needing to go in at 530am on weekends is a plus; though I just wake up when the Missus left for work at 6 anyway. Got my act together; took Frankie for a quick morning walk before things got too hot, headed over to work and decided to call it a day at around 930am.....on some weekends; the Missus will request Her own personal version of "Goober Eats" and ask that I drop off a poke bowl from HFS for Her....but NOT before I have to add kimchi, radish and cilantro sprouts, and avocado. But I'd already done that the day before; so I was free and clear on this day.

I really wanted to treat myself to some "comfort food"....which in this case meant, well......you know me.....a Loco Moco of course. Of course, my first choice would be Island Style Café, which would be open at this time had they sadly, not closed down in August (hope you reopen soon ISC). Da Kine's which is a few miles from home would be the natural second choice; but they wouldn't open until 11.....I wanted to be in a loco moco fueled hibernation by then. So.... it became rather clear after doing a Google search...….Leilani's Café opens at 7am on Sunday. And yet, even though I've been expanding my "roaming range" a little at a time over the last couple of weeks....this one; out in PB was maybe not where I really wanted to be......but then again; we weren't talking about Happy Hour on Garnet Avenue here....this was usually less busy Cass Street. So, I decided to call in an order for the Hilo Loco ($12.75). And headed off from the office.

Of course, I'd forgotten about the somewhat hit-and-miss parking situation in the area; but I did find parking on a quiet street two blocks away.

There were quite a few people eating al fresco when I arrived; but they were nicely distanced and no one was waiting either at the order window (up front) or the pick-up window (to the side). My order was waiting when I arrived and I was out of there in less than five minutes.

The Hilo Loco was in good shape when I got home.....even after I let Frankie out to do "his thing" in the backyard and got my portable table out....

This might be the best loco moco I've had for takeout in a while. The egg was still nice and runny, the rice piping hot....large chunks of Portuguese Sausage in the fried rice; which might have been a tad too mushy for me; but that's splitting hairs. The gravy had a more beefy flavor than I recalled; though was still a bit on the "gloppy" side. That burger was thick, hand formed, moist, with a nice beefiness to it.

And the one big plus? Leilani's stopped having Tabasco available a few years back....when eating this at home; well, I could bust out my own Tabasco.

Leilani’s Cafe
5109 Cass St
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 361-1280
Current Hours:
Daily 7am - 2pm

So in this case; it was worth stretching my "range" a bit. I didn't run into a single person walking to and from my car and my only contact was thru screen and plexiglass with the chipper young lady at Leilani's.

All was well in the world......

Unitl I ran into this "sign of the times".

Which instantly jarred me back to 2020.

Oh well; I'd rather just think about this......

Island Style Cafe Closing on 08/16

**** Island Style Cafe has reopened in Santee.

I've always maintained that I have a wonderful group of "FOYs" (Friends of Yoso), my own "coconut wireless" that keep me informed of what's going, or even share their stories and experiences with me via comments and emails. I always love hearing from them all. Though it's not always "butterflies and puppy dog tails"..... I recently received an email from "FOY" KarenM who informed me that a favorite of mine Island Style Café was closing! I know; it's hard to believe, it seems I was just there for Covid-19 takeout. Karen was nice enough to provide me with this Nextdoor post.

Man, what a bumma'......I've been going to Island Style Cafe for 12 years! Since I needed to pick up my dry cleaning in Tierrasanta anyway, I called in my order and wen hele over to Island Style Café.

Terri wasn't working the front counter, but the nice young lady did confirm that ISC was closing on the 16th.....I was told that this came on quite suddenly.

Sad, I took my LocoMoco home. I found that my usual favorite; the Kaloko Loco doesn't hold up too well for takeout, so I went with the "standard" Loco ($10.50). And of course, it was more than enough for me.

I enjoyed it as I always do....but of course it was bittersweet. It's always sad when a favorite you've been going to for over a decade closes.

On the bright side; the young lady informed me that they will start looking for a new location after taking a short break. I hope so.

I'm going to try to get another fix in before ISC closes. And, if you enjoy Island Style Café, make sure you visit by August 16th.

Mahalo for all the good meals Island Style Café, a hui hou mākou.

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124
(858) 541-7002
Current Hours (according to their website)
Tues - Fri 9am - 2pm, 430pm - 730pm
Saturday   7am - 8pm
Sunday     7am - 2pm

And thanks so much for letting me know KarenM…..so I had the opportunity to have a Loco Moco from ISC at least one more time!

Covid-19 Takeout - Da Kine's

**** 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.

While working one weekend back at the beginning of April, I was wondering what I could pick up on the way home that wouldn't be too far out of the way.

Which got me thinking about Da Kine's which just reopened in September.

So, I decided to call....I think this was just after Da Kine's reopened for take-out. Anyway, Nelson answered...…..and a very typical conversation ensued.

Me: "Can I get one loco moco to go?"

Nelson: "Ok, mac or tossed salad...."

Me (sounding a bit offended): "What? Mac salad of course!"

Nelson (laughing): "Ok, mac salad....when are you picking up....."

Me: "I'm heading on down right now...."

Nelson: "Whoa, wait...….give us at least fifteen, twenty minutes!"

Me: "Oh, sorry, I'm heading down from UTC...."

Nelson (sounding a bit relieved): "Oh....good....I thought you was across the street or something."

And so, about 20 minutes and change later; I picked up my loco moco, and took it home.

Egg a bit overcooked for my liking and oil had gathered at the edges of the plate...probably dripped down from the eggs, but I wasn't complaining....because that mac salad, still nicely chilled, hit the spot, the burger nicely charred, beefy, for some reason I don't mind the filler in this burger, the gravy not overly salty, the rice nicely done.

A little bit of comfort at a time when things seemed so out of whack. And yet, who knew how, but two months later....things are even more messed up.

Perhaps I need another trip back to Da Kine's…...

Da Kine's Plate Lunches
5401 Linda Vista Rd. #402
San Diego, CA 92110

Currently Open Tues - Sun 11am - 5pm

Covid-19 Takeout - Island Style Cafe

**** Island Style Cafe has reopened in Santee

My dry cleaning lady sold her business back at the beginning of the year and decided to just do alterations at a dry cleaners in Tierrasanta….and you know how I am about loyalty and stuff; so of course my dry cleaning is now done there. I decided to run away during a lunch time and pick up my dry cleaning, but the place was closed. So, in order to have some consolation and not waste the trip I went to Rite Aid to pick up some necessities and also made a call....to Island Style Café; it was too early for the Homestyle Hawaiian location in the area and heck, with all that's going on; I wanted some comfort food. I headed to Island Style Café right after Rite Aid.

They had the "Covid set-up" going, my lunch was ready when I got there....in and out in less than 5 minutes. The Owner "Terri" was so nice and told me "Mahalo for giving us business during this difficult time". So nice.....

Of course I got the Kaloko Loco.....

And while the crepe didn't travel real well...perhaps I should have ordered a regular loco......everything else was good; from the not massed produced, beefy hamburger patty, to the fried rice, to the egg that was still nice and runny.

No complaints.....though I wish they had Tabasco....and I didn't have any back at the office; so I had to make due with Cholula. That's ok, it worked out fine.

And while my appetite these days isn't what it used to be.....I polished it off. How did that old commercial go? You know, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing".

A little bit of comfort goes a long way these days.

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124
(858) 541-7002

Be safe, be good to others, and take care!

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!