Big Island Grinds

When I’m bored, I often search for loco mocos on the net. It’s amazing how far this simple dish can travel!

For example, check out this loco moco from Japan! The restaurant is called “LocoMoco Hana-Dining”. They also serve beer from the Big Island too.

They even have a “loco cup” in the takeout menu. Too much fun!

Here it is, the County Fair… one of the bigger events in Hilo. We don’t get much happening around here!

Below is the entertainment tent where you can listen to live music and eat da grinds.

The main reason I went was for the food. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they have the best fried rice loco moco here. Some of my friends even said that that’s the only reason they go! I was excited to go… first stop was the food/entertainment tent, of course!

Here’s a sampling of what was offered… sorry about the blurry pics.

Spareribs, Hawaiian Plate, Manong’s Filipino Food… they even had Zippy’s curry. Eagerly we searched for the loco moco tent… until…

Way at the end of the booths, the booth was there! Along with a long line… longer than any of the other lines, by far. It had to be good, right?

Here’s the Waiakea Pirate’s loco moco/fried rice menu.

Double Loco ($5.00), Fried Rice w/Egg ($4.00), Jaycee’s Special – fried rice, 1 egg, 1 hamburger patty ($5.50), Pirate’s Special – fried rice, 2 eggs, 2 hamburger patties ($6.50).

The eggs frying…

They use a huge wok to make the fried rice…

The condiments…

So, what to choose? Since I came all the way this way for the food, I had to get the biggest thing on the menu, the Pirate’s Special!

A huge serving of fried rice, 2 hamburger patties, 2 eggs, and gravy all over.

Here’s a closeup of the patties…

The Verdict?

Well, I had high expectations for this, and I tried to judge this loco moco fairly. I’ve also tried my best to enjoy it, but honestly, this was one of the worst loco mocos I’ve had!

The thing that brought it down the most was the burger patties. They were absolutely dry and crumbly, and the taste was bland and artificial tasting. It tasted almost like dog food (and yes, I’ve tried dog food before when I was little)! Why can’t they use homemade patties? The gravy was standard brown gravy – nothing special. The fried rice was just OK – a bit bland and mushy.

My friends said that this year was bad, but in the past years, it was better… so I really hope the loco mocos shape up next year. The Fair cannot continue like this! This is Hilo… we must represent with the loco mocos.

I’m glad I had a pepsi to wash it all down. *sigh*

Bear’s Coffee is a wonderful little street-side cafe located in Downtown Hilo. They open late for breakfast and stay open for lunch too. It’s one of my favorite places to go on a slow weekend morning!

The outdoor tables add a nice touch, especially since it’s downtown Hilo. Lots of people frequent here to read a newspaper, sip some coffee, and relax.

Inside is a really cozy atmosphere with fresh orchids on every table and lots of stuffed bears on the wall. The smell of strong coffee fills the air, instantly waking me up. I couldn’t wait to order my first cup of coffee!

After a couple minutes we were served some water and given the menus. The service is really friendly here.

You can click on the menus to view a large version.

Soon later, I ordered a cup of coffee ($1.50).

The coffee here is sooo good! Brewed strong and dark with great flavor. This was a Kona blend. They often rotate their house coffee, but they also have other blends brewed, which you can request. This is some of the best coffee I’ve ever had in Hilo.

My friend ordered a cafe mocha ($3.00).

It tasted very strong and the chocolate had a nice bitter taste to it. It wasn’t too sweet either. They don’t really mess around with their espresso or chocolate.

After a few sips of coffee we ordered our food.

I ordered a waffle with papaya and apple bananas ($4.50). I usually don’t order the waffle with fruits, but since this is for you guys, I thought I’d go all out and add some color.

The waffles here are AMAZING! The outside is surprisingly crispy and the inside is very light, soft, and fluffy. It has a wonderful light malt flavor. Hands down the best waffle in Hilo. The papayas and bananas were nice and sweet. You can also order a waffle with blueberries or strawberries.

Also ordered were the souffled eggs ($3.25) with cheddar cheese (+$0.65) and ham (+$1.00). It also comes with a choice of english muffin, multi-grain, russian rye, or raisin toast.

The menu says that the eggs are “steamed light and fluffy on our espresso machine”. The eggs were very light and fluffy, but they tasted just a little dry, perhaps because they were steamed? The cheddar cheese and ham was really good, though, and there are a wide range of other toppings which you can add on.

With the great food, nice service, and great prices, I always enjoy it here at Bears, and after one more coffee refill, I was completely satisfied!

Bear’s Coffee
106 Keawe
Hilo, HI 96720
Tel. (808) 935-0708
Cash or Personal Checks only

Even though this is a food blog, I’ve decided to share a couple pictures I took at Richardson’s beach recently.

It was another rainy morning in Hilo and I had a load of laundry which needed to be dried. Since we no more dryer, I went to the nearby laundromat conveniently located next to 7-11.

Even though it was crowded, I was greeted with a friendly hello. The workers here are almost always very nice. I walked around deciding what to get, finally stopping in front of the musibis and dim sum steamer.

I picked up a Deluxe Spam Musibi ($1.45).

I also got 2 pork hash for a dollar.

I ate happily while waiting for my clothes to dry. It was good!

7-Eleven Hawaii Inc – Hilo
895 Kinoole Street, Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 961-6446

Oahu Food Adventures, July 2005 (part 2 of 5)

This is part two of a 5-part post from my recent visit to Oahu in July featuring the following places: Curry House, Angelo Pietro, Kaka`ako Kitchen, Elena’s, Yotteko-ya, and Popeye’s.

I’ve passed by this place many times whenever I visit Oahu since all the stores/movie theaters are nearby. It always looked appealing to try this place… a local plate lunch place sitting on high priced real estate? The food gotta be good there, I thought. I’ve also heard some good things about this place. I was able to try this place out for a late breakfast/early lunch this past July.

There was a good amount of people considering it was before 11am, but we found that we just missed breakfast. We were sad because we wanted to try the loco moco, and they consider the loco moco a breakfast food(!), so they wouldn’t serve us a loco moco.

C’mon now, what kind of place only serves loco mocos for breakfast? Who says a loco moco is just breakfast food anyway? They had hamburger steak — how much harder would it be to make a loco moco? Depriving a Hilo boy of his loco moco is a very bad idea!

Other than the loco moco inconvenience, the place was really nice (I only have food pics, sorry). Everything looked really clean and there was a nice open sunny vibe about the place. The people were actually nice besides the loco moco thing. If you are eating in, you place your order at the counter, then they give you a number. When your food is ready, they bring the food to your table, which is nice.

After a lot of thinking, I ordered the Beef Stew ($6.25) with brown rice and mac salad.

What a perfect breakfast, right? The beef stew was good and satisfying, but not really good. It tasted like regular homemade type of beef stew, but without the love… not as good as da one gramma or aunty [insert name here] makes. There was too much vegetables for my taste and I prefer more bigger fatty pieces of beef. The mac salad was not bad. Gotta have tabasco, right?

Bev ordered the hamburger steak ($6.25), the closest thing to a loco moco.

Bev thought the hamburger steak was just ok. It was good at first, but it got tiring to eat after a while. The consistency of the burger was very mushy like a soft meatloaf, but without the yummy meatloaf flavor. The outside of the burger was also burnt. I like slightly charred burgers, but there is a difference between a nicely charred burger and a burger burned by frying it too much.

The gravy was good, though, and the onions on top made for a nice texture combination. Overall, it was acceptable, but like the beef stew, it wasn’t that great.

We might’ve just ordered the wrong things. I’m willing to give this place another chance, but I’m not too excited to come back here.

Kaka`ako Kitchen
Ward Centre
1200 Ala Moana Boulevard
Telephone: 808-596-7488