Big Island Grinds

Ever since moving to Hilo (about 9 years ago), the Hilo Farmer’s Market has always been a regular place to go on weekend mornings for cheap locally grown fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, and even ready-to-eat goodies. The farmer’s market is especially crowded on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but there are still some vendors there mostly everyday.

On the way to the farmer’s market, I always pass by this trumpet player…

There are also some interesting looking eateries neighboring the farmer’s market…

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So it’s 4am in rainy Hilo, you’re partied out, and you got major munchies. Where to go? “Ken’s!”, you may say. Others say, “Verna’s!”

I lived in Hilo all this time and only recently, with the guidance of some friends (I’m a sheltered boy), did I realize that Verna’s is open 24 hours on weekend nights. This experience really opened my eyes… finally some variety after midnight on the weekends!

Verna’s is located right across Ken’s on the other side of the street corner.

Another picture during the day:

At this hour there were a bunch of rowdy people hanging out in the parking lot, possibly eating some Verna’s food, and a few people ordering and waiting for their food.

Here are the menus posted on the front window (click to zoom). They get some real local kine grindz!

I was advised that the teri burgers are good here, which made me overjoyed since I love teri burgers. Teri burger ($1.70) it is!

I’m not sure if it was the beer, but this burger tasted simply amazing! The burger patty was nice and thick, cooked just right, very moist and tender, and the teriyaki flavor went throughout all of the meat like they marinated it. Just the right amount of mayo and one piece of lettuce was applied to the burger, which worked really well. The bun was nice and soft, soaking up all the teri-goodness. Only thing that would make this burger better was if it was flame-broiled.

I also managed to steal some fries. Hey, it’s some fries and a shaka.

Fries are to a teri burger like rice is to pork adobo. They are essential to have together! Although these fries were good, they could’ve been more crisp on the outside. I wasn’t complaining though.

After a great teri burger experience, I had to come back to Verna’s to try some of their other food…

Verna’s Loco Moco ($2.95)

I had high hopes on this one, especially since the guy in front of me ordered two loco mocos. Unfortunately, this loco moco was very bad. The burger was overcooked, and somewhat dry, with not much flavor. The gravy was very basic, too salty, and uninspiring. The egg was overcooked (the yolk was partially hardened). The rice was slightly overcooked too. Bummers.

Chicken Katsu ($5.70)

This was a different style of chicken katsu, which uses a different kind of breading, more similar to fried chicken. It tasted good, but it felt like I was eating cut up chicken patties instead. On the plus side, the chicken was moist and flavorful. The sauce was also ok - not too sweet. I don’t think I would order this again, just because I prefer panko breading.

Kamuela Special ($5.95)

The Kamuela Special consists of fried noodles with teri beef and mac salad. Nice concept, but the noodles tasted a bit bland and the teri beef was too sweet and over-flavored. The mac salad was not bad, though.

So, what’s the verdict? Ken’s or Verna’s? That’s a tough one since I have more eating experiences at Ken’s. It also depends on what you want to eat. Burgers? Verna’s. Loco Moco? Ken’s. Low on cash? Verna’s! Want real local style drive inn food? Verna’s.

I’m sure Verna’s has a lot more to offer than the dishes I’ve tried, and I will definitely go back for the teri burger and other offerings.

Verna’s Drive In
1765 Kamehameha Ave
Hilo HI 96720
Phone: 808-935-2776

You’ll find everything from Bul Go Ki to Tonkatsu Domburi…to Loco Mocos at Restaurant Osaka. I find myself coming here at least once a month for their homestyle cooking and maybe a beer or two from the lounge.

Osaka’s has two rooms: a lounge and a restaurant. Both rooms serve the same food, but one room is darker and has a more chill feel… sometimes it’s nice to eat in there. It is usually crowded with a full parking lot, and tonight was no exception.

Within a couple minutes we were served some miso soup. The waitress was very nice and friendly.

Very yummy with fresh crunchy green onions.

Since I ended up ordering a Korean dish, I was also served these sides.

The kim chi was good. Spicier and more flavorful than the average kim chi from other places. The pickled daikon was nice and crisp. On the right are strips of well cooked potatoes seasoned with sesame oil, it seemed - nice flavor.

I was originally going to order the Spicy Chicken, which I was told was really good by the waitress, but she said that she prefers the Spicy Pork since it’s more tender. So I ordered the Spicy Pork ($8.95).

The generous portion of Spicy Pork was served over a bed of vegetables on a hot metal plate shaped cutely like a cow. It smelled wonderful, and I love how it looked with the nice dark charred grill marks. The meat was very tender and juicy. The flavor of the meat was not too spicy, but I could taste that the marinade permeated through all the meat… it tasted great! The vegetables were nice to eat with the pork as well.

Also ordred was the one of the specials, Sweet Sour Spareribs (~$7).

These spareribs were very tender and tasted great. The bones were soft enough to eat. There was not too much vinegar either. It tasted just right. The mac salad was one of the better mac salads I’ve tried… it had great consistency and flavor… it tasted like half potato and half macaroni.

We were also served some hot tea later.

The food was great on this visit, and they are pretty consistent with the food quality. Unfortunately, I have not yet tried their loco moco. Also, I don’t recommend the saimin from here. Everything else I’ve tried was great, though, and the service is very pleasant!

Pure genius.

Note the layers of teriyaki sauce.

Simply amazing.

I’ve never actually been in here, but my co-worker often buys fresh butter rolls and buttermilk donuts from here and brings them to work. They are so good!

Here are the butter rolls.

These rolls are so soft, warm, and smell amazing. They just cry to be torn open and eaten. The taste is just as it smells, and it has a wonderful moist yet flakyish texture.

Here are the Buttermilk Rolls.

Very rich, dense, buttery, with a slight tang of buttermilk and covered with a thin glaze of sugar. These are great with coffee.

Judging from Sputnik’s window on the outside, it looks like they also serve plate lunches, which I hope to try out sometime later.

Sputniks
811 Laukapu St. B-10
Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 961-2066

Most fast food joints in Hawaii have local style breakfast choices like the popular combination of portuguese sausage, eggs and rice. This morning my friend somehow convinced me to go to Burger King instead of having my usual loco moco on the weekend. He said that they have really good portuguese sausage… so, I went (hey, at least I get a food blog). There’s only one Burger King in Hilo, right across Longs.

I ordered the Portuguese Sausage Platter Combo ($4.28 including a coffee).

The platter came with a generous serving of rice, eggs, and three thick slices of portuguese sausage. The sausage had a great full and spicy flavor, and it was cooked just right, a little crisp on the outside… one of the better portuguese sausages I’ve tasted. Much better texture and flavor than McDonalds. Rice was nicely cooked, and the eggs tasted like fresh eggs. Pretty impressive for a fast food place.

The coffee was kind of weak, but the cover had a cool tab that goes back and forth really easily.

…doesn’t every fast food place have its own crew of coffee drinkers?