Visiting this place today brought back my passion in food blogging, something I’ve missed for a long time. In fact, I was so excited to share with you guys about this place I couldn’t wait (even though I still have a backlist of places I still need to write about). Hawaiian Style Cafe is my new favorite place for SERIOUS GRINDZ.

Brah!!! Just look at my breakfast, “Da Tita Mok” ($8.25):

Huge thick flame-broiled hamburger patty, 2 thick slices of spam, moist and crunchy chicken cutlet, 1 egg, grilled onions, fried rice, and rich tasty brown gravy over everything.

It tasted just as good as it looked. The hamburger patty was great quality local beef and fresh. It was actually on the leaner side but still very moist and meaty. Kind of like Ken’s burger but thicker and more moist. The chicken cutlet was my favorite. So moist and crispy on the outside and perfect with the gravy, which was very rich and homemade-tasting. Fried rice was really good too… not too salty and it didn’t overpower the rest of the dish. Grilled onions was a good touch and the spam was cooked just right. My only complaint was that the egg was a little overcooked on the bottom, but it was still nice and yolky. Wow. Quantity and quality.

95%

Bev ordered two pancakes ($2.25/each pancake) but we actually shared everything.

HUGE HUGE HUGE. I liked these. Soft. Spongy. Moist. I do wish they had a bit more cake-like texture because it was a little too spongy/bouncy. I also wish that it was more crisp on the edges. I still would order these again. They were so soft and tasty.

Here’s the specials menu that was up (they even have “Stew Luau”! aka Beef Luau):

Here’s the Breakfast & Lunch Menu:

How was the service? Friendly, local-style, like walking into your favorite Aunty’s kitchen… but very slow and sometimes forgetful (they were really busy). If you are in a rush to go somewhere, don’t come here. This is somewhere to go when you have all morning to eat and digest and all afternoon to sleep. One thing we missed was that you need to sign-in to the right of the door then wait until there are free seats.

The food made it all worth it though. I can’t wait to go back! I wish they were in Hilo!

Hawaiian Style Cafe
65-1290 Kawaihae Rd, Kamuela, HI 96743 (map)
(808) 885-4295

And don’t throw away those turkey bones… I’m saving mine for some delicious turkey jook!

The Kilauea Loco here is da grindz! It uses chili instead of the usual gravy and burger. Only 4.75.

Ever since the 55th Annual County Fair, it’s been my civic duty to review the loco moco at the local county fair. I call it quality control. The loco moco at the 55th was one of the worst loco mocos ever. Impressively, they did a decent job on the 56th (last year).

Again this year, the Keaukaha Warriors were responsible for the loco mocos.

This was the double fried rice loco ($8). It looked almost exactly like last years, but once I started grinding ‘um, jus wasn’t the same.

Fried rice was undercooked — still slightly hard in the middle of the rice and mushy on the outside. Also, either the gravy or the fried rice was too salty. The patty was the same old premade frozen patty, but at least they kept it juicy. The eggs were nice and yolky.

The breakdown?

63%

• Burger: 18/30pts
• Gravy: 15/30pts
• Egg: 20/20pts
• Rice: 10/20pts

Presenting the Sumo Loco (and keiki fries). This is what you call a heavy breakfast. Can you finish one?

From the menu: 6 scoops rice, choice of spam (4), 5 oz. Lean “Home Grown” beef patty (2), or 6 oz. mahi-mahi. Gravy + 3 eggs any style.

We chose the traditional beef patties, cooked medium. If they don’t ask you how you want it cooked, let them know because otherwise, they cook it pretty well-done.

Knowing I couldn’t finish a sumo loco by myself, I brought some help. I really don’t think Bev pulled her weight though.

We tried and tried…

… and this is about how far we got (note Bev still had some left in her smaller bowl we used to share).

Ken’s fries go so well with their loco mocos… so crisp!

Definitely one of the best loco mocos in Hilo, whatever size you get.

94%

• Burger: 28/30pts (excellent quality hawaii grown beef, grilled)
• Gravy: 26/30pts
• Egg: 20/20pts
• Rice: 20/20pts

Related Post: An earlier visit to Ken’s House of Pancakes

Ken’s House of Pancakes
1730 Kamehameha Ave.
Hilo , HI 96720
(808) 538-1877
Open 24 hours.

Here’s an easy way to make a quick and yummy loco moco, the classic Hawaiian soulfood consisting of 4 components: hamburger patty, rice, egg, and brown gravy.

Ingredients for 2 big servings:

• Hamburger Patties
  • 1lb Hamburger (not lean)
  • 1/4 cup grated onions (optional)
  • salt/pepper to taste
• Gravy
  • 1 can good beef broth
  • flour for thickening
  • 1 tb butter
  • couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 4 eggs
• hot cooked white rice

Burgers:
1. Gently mix the hamburger, grated onions and salt/pepper. Form either 2 big patties or 4 smaller size patties.
2. Heat frying pan until very hot.
3. Place hamburger patties on the pan/grill and let sear just until juices start appearing on the top. Flip over and cook for a couple more minutes. You will want the burger slightly charred but still tender on the inside.
4. Place burgers on the side.

Gravy:
1. Pour a little broth into the same pan and incorporate the yumyums, then pour in the rest of the broth.
2. Bring to a boil and let reduce for about 3-5 minutes or so, depending on taste, for a more potent gravy.
3. Turn down heat to a simmer.
4. Add couple dashes of worcestershire sauce.
5. In a seperate bowl, mix flour with some water.
6. Using a whisk, slowly whisk in the flour/water mixture until gravy is nicely thick & smooth.
7. Turn off heat and mix in the butter until well blended.

Eggs:
Traditionally, the eggs should be sunny-side up. The secret to a good fried egg is to fry the egg slowly on low heat until it’s cooked… just don’t overcook it! It also helps to have the eggs thawed to room temperature before cooking them.

Rice:
Use regular medium grain white rice… like 3 scoops worth per plate.

Assembly (bottom -> top):
Rice -> Burger -> Egg -> Gravy all over

Optional condiments:
Shoyu, ketchup, tabasco

Enjoy!

Wooohooo, the fair is in town! Glad to say, the loco mocos were much better than last year (which isn’t saying much, since last year was really bad). I’m just glad that someone else was doing the loco mocos. Good reppin’ Keaukaha!

The prices, though, were a lot steeper… still worth the better loco moco.

We ordered and shared the “midget special” — ironic no? 2 hamburger patties, 2 eggs, 1 big bowl of fried rice, and gravy ($8). It was pretty huge, and it filled us both up. The fried rice was killaz! Nice pieces of ham and bacon and seasoned well. The next best thing were the eggs… they were so fresh and rich that the yolk was almost orange. Only thing about this loco moco were the burgers. They were premade, but they were tender and tasted ok. The gravy was standard brown gravy… tasted like the one Freddy’s uses. Even the burger tasted like the one Freddy’s uses. Anyway, we were happy and cleaned off the plate.

80%

• Burger: 18/30pts
• Gravy: 20/30pts
• Egg: 20/20pts
• Rice: 22/20pts (bonus points)

I just had to take a photo of this boy attacking a bento of korean chicken from Blane’s!

There were other vendors too. There was even a poke truck. Nani Mau was also there offering this yummy looking prime rib plates for $9, which looked like a great deal. Great looking crepes making them fresh in front of you. Blane’s bentos. Kalbi plates for $6.

I didn’t even get to go on a ride. I spend all my money on food nowadays… *sigh*

We decided to picnic at Wailoa State Park, just one block away from Freddy’s. This beautiful park is full of green grass, calm waters, funky bridges, and kids running around with bread feeding all the ducks that hang out here.

There are lots of nice shady places to picnic here, and we found a perfect spot under a big tree, near the ducks!

Unforunately, the ducks didn’t seem to care for the taste of our loco mocos. :/ But we thought they were pretty good.

Here’s the current breakdown (UPDATED!):

• Burger: 30% (instead of 35%)
• Gravy: 30% (instead of 35%)
• Egg: 20% (instead of 15%)
• Rice: 20% (instead of 15%)

Adding up to a maximum:

100%

I’ve had one say that the egg should have heavier weight, which sounds fair, but I’m curious of what you all think. Please let me know your thoughts!