Kakaako Kitchen

Plate lunches are the standard of local cuisine and usually consist of two scoops of rice, 1 scoop mac salad, and some main entrée. There are a ton of excellent plate lunch spots around Hawaii, ranging from the largest chain, L&L Hawaiian Barbeque, to the founding father of plate lunches, Rainbow Drive Inn. However, my absolute favorite plate lunch spot, and maybe my favorite place to eat on the entire island, is Kakaako Kitchen in Ward Shopping Center. Why? Kakaako Kitchen is owned by Russel Siu, the same chef who owns the pricy “3660 on the Rise" restaurant which won the Honolulu Advertiser’s Best Hawaii Restaurant award in 2009. However, Kakaako Kitchen remains at an affordable $8-11 range for plate lunches. $10 for a laid back meal with similar standards, quality, and taste as an award winning restaurant? Yes, please.

All food at Kakaako is served in the traditional plate lunch Styrofoam container, and you can eat your food in the small inside eating area or the large outside lanai (outside patio). Kakaako Kitchen is also located at prime real estate, Ward Shopping Center, which makes it a great spot to hit after shopping around or going the movies. Alright, let’s get to the food. Let me first start by saying that I have never gone wrong with anything I’ve ordered here. However, there are some standouts: sweet chili chicken is their number one seller (sweet teriyaki-chili sauce over crispy fried chicken), and beef stew is another popular plate. I love the seared ahi salad, though it is the most expensive item on the menu ($12). Above is the hamburger steak, and, though its not one of their most appetizing dishes, Kakaako does it right. Nowhere else have I found the perfectly juicy burger with a slightly charred outside. Gravy=amazing, and when coupled with the crunchy fried onions, you will go nuts.

Lastly, if you still have room, get the dessert. Banana cream pie, butter mochi, bread pudding, and lemon bars, all baked to perfection. But if you can just have one, get the coconut cream pie. It’s an explosion of tasty that is the best pie I have ever eaten. I know it seems like I am making this place sound too good to be true, but please, try it and see that I speak the truth. Sadly, I don’t have any recipes that can come close to this place, so I won’t even try to mimic it. Just make a trip down to Hawaii and see for yourself the joy that comes from a gourmet plate lunch.

Kaka'ako Kitchen
Ward Centre
1200 Ala Moana Boulevard
(808) 596-7488

Yama's Fishmarket

For my first post, I thought I might actually take a step back from “local food,” which is influenced by Hawaiian, Asian, and American culture, and talk about only about traditional Hawaiian food. A traditional Hawaiian meal could include:

• kalua pig - shredded pork steamed in an underground rock pit called an imu
• lomi salmon- cubes of salty salmon tossed with tomatoes, green onions, and white Maui onions
• poi: mashed taro made by steaming then pounding taro into a smooth paste and mixing with water
• laulau: pork and fish steamed in banana and taro leaves
• poke: raw cubes of seasoned fish
• haupia: Coconut flavored pudding/custard dessert

And, for the freshest fish and tastiest Hawaiian food, there’s no place like Yama’s Fishmarket in Honolulu, Hawaii. The picture to the right shows a typical plate from Yamas: 1 scoop rice, lomi salmon, laulau, kalua pig, and poke. A plate like this will run you 9 bucks, and poi or haupia are available for an extra dollar as a side. But, trust me, this plate will be worth every penny because everything tastes amazingly fresh.

Yama's Fish Market
2332 Young St
Honolulu HI 96826
(808) 941-9994
www.yamasfishmarket.com

In college on the mainland, these Hawaiian foods are terribly hard to come by, so we resort to making it ourselves! Of course the fish isn’t as fresh as Yama’s, but for all locals craving a decent bite of poke, I’ll share with you my favorite way to make ahi poke:

1 lb. fresh ahi steaks, cut into cubed, bite-size pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped green onions (tops included)
1/4 cup chopped Maui onion (or yellow onion)
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 chili pepper, cored, seeded and diced (optional)
Sea salt, to taste
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
2 tsp. finely chopped toasted macadamia nuts

2 tsp. finely chopped garlic

Just mix it all together in a large bowl and ENJOY!