Big Island Grinds

Well, I’ll be visiting Oahu today and will return on Monday night. Hopefully, I’ll end up writing about a few food adventures while over there. Please check back soon!

Today, my co-worker and I went to Island Filipino Kitchen, one of the few Filipino restaurants in Hilo. Hilo is full of Filipinos, yet there are hardly any Filipino restaurants. What’s up with that? The restaurant is a bit hard to find since it’s on the side of a warehouse, but there are big signs on the street.

Island Filipino Kitchen is a sit down or take out restaurant. During lunch, you can make a plate by choosing from the hot plates. There was a good variety with about fifteen dishes. The lady serving us was very friendly. She told us what all the dishes were. I had a hard time choosing since they all looked so masarap!

My co-worker got a 3 choice plate ($6.50) with Adobo, Squid Salad, and Pansit. I got a 2 choice plate ($5.50) with Dinuguan and Sari Sari.

Co-worker’s plate:

The Adobo was said to be tasty with lots of flavor. It wasn’t too dry either. The squid salad is a mix of squid, onions, and tomatoes. It was served at room temperature and was said that it would have been better colder and with a little more salt. The pansit was also good.

My plate:

The dinuguan was good! Most pieces were really yummy but some others were kind of dry. The blood sauce was really good, though. It tasted like the authentic Dinuguan at Filipino type parties.

The sari sari was good too, but they should give more soup. It was mostly squash, pork, and some kind of beans. The beans seemed out of place to me.

Overall, Island Filipino Kitchen was very good and I will probably go back for more in the near future. Hilo needs more Filipino restaurants, though!

What better way to start this food log off with one of Hawaii’s most famous comfort foods? The loco moco! Origins of the loco moco are still debated, but most agree that it began right here in Hilo.

What is a loco moco? It’s white rice, a hamburger patty, an egg, and gravy “all ova”. It’s delicious. It’s beautiful. It’s versatile. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. It’s usually cheap too.

Almost every drive inn and local restaurant in Hawaii serves their own version of the loco moco (I even added a Loco Moco category to this flog), but one of the best are at Blane’s Drive Inn (often mispelled Blaine’s). Also, their onion rings are sooo good. But put them both together and everything gets exponentially ono!

There are two locations for Blane’s and both are in Hilo. (Update: A new Blane’s has opened in Honoka`a) The one I went to today is in the industrial area across wal*mart. It gets crowded during the lunch hour since it’s near a lot of businesses. Lucky I went early today.

Blane’s has several different types of loco mocos (spam, korean chicken, teri beef, and pretty much any other meat that they have) and two sizes (bowl or plate).

Real loco moco lovers know the only way to go is the original hamburger loco moco. The hamburger loco bowl has rice, one burger, one egg and gravy ($3.00). The plate has lots more rice, two burgers, two eggs, gravy, mac salad, and miso soup ($6.25). I had the bowl today.

So how was it brah???

• Gravy: Thick, brown, tasty and rich… great consistency.
• Burger: Very tender. Tastes like they add other ingredients like onions and other things that make it taste yummy. Sort of like a good meatloaf flavor.
• Egg: Over-easy, soft, yolky, cooked just right. Perfect.
• Rice: Average local rice. Maybe a bit under-cooked, but not really noticable when eaten with everything else.

And the side dish:

The onion rings were crispy on the outside with a light batter, toasty brown, and very good. Nice big slices of onion inside. Perfect with the loco moco, especially when dipped in the gravy.

What a match! Blane’s loco moco and onion rings have been so good to me today.

Any other loco moco recommendations?

Industrial Location:
150 Wiwoole St Hilo 96720, Menu Hotline: (808) 969-6677, Phone: (808)935-2259

Downtown Location:
217 Waianuenue Ave Hilo 96720, Menu Hotline: (808) 969-6677, Phone: 969-9494