Big Island Grinds

Brand new lunch shop on the corner of Kilauea and Lanikaula next to Subway. Very friendly family run place. Menu looks great with focus on fresh home style local cooking.

Pan seared ahi steaks with spicy sauce ($8.50). Really good and fresh fish and very generous portion. Great with their spicy sauce. Loved their potato mac salad with spaghetti noodles. Next time I would request the ahi cooked on the rarer side. It was cooked all the way through… a bit dry but still good.

Large bento ($7.50). This was one big bento. The highlight was the garlic chicken. So ono! Lots of good sushi too.

Mahi fish sandwich w/ fries and soup ($9.00). Yummy sandwich, just wish there was more fish!

Good beef stew ($7.95). Tender meat and seasoned well. Loved that they gave pickled onions as an option on their plates. Nothing too special about the stew though.

Oxtail soup ($10.95) on Fridays! They have different soups on Mondays and Wednesdays too. I loved this soup. Nicely balanced broth. Not too salty. Would order this again. Could use a little more oxtail.

Garlic chicken ($7.50). This plate was so amazing. It’s the same chicken in the bento but much better since it’s fresh! Four huge crispy pieces of chicken smothered on a sweet garlic sauce. On the side I got sweet potato salad and tossed greens. Could not finish this! Highly recommended.

Cousins Seafood & Bento
1-808-969-9900
Corner of Kilauea & Lanikaula St

It was 12:30pm.  A long line formed at this bright neon green lunch truck.  (photo was taken after I left)

By the time I got in line, everything was sold out except lasagna and chicken.  The guy in front of me ordered the last two servings of hamburger steak.  Their menu was even taken down.  Bummers.

“What kine chicken you get?” , I asked.  ”Katsu, Spicy Korean, Spicy BBQ, Cutlet w/gravy”, this big but friendly man replied.   I took a cutlet with gravy.  $5 bucks.

What a happy surprise when I opened my plate!  They put in a hamburger steak too!  Awesome.  The cutlet was the highlight.  Soft and juicy and very fresh and crispy outside.  Gravy was good.  Not too salty.  Hamburger steak was average… a little tough, but I wasn’t complaining.  Mac salad was really good.  It may seem like a simple thing, but it takes skill and passion to make a well balanced mac salad.

Definitely will be back.  Just a little earlier next time!

Koji’s Bento! So easy to miss… just a small hole in the wall near the Hilo Farmer’s Market. This place has been here forever… they are famous for their homestyle loco mocos, but offer all kine local comfort foods. Took a few snaps of their menus…

Here it is… Koji’s Deluxe Loco ($6.50)!

My good friend introduced this to me back in college days and it’s exactly how I remember it. 2 hamburger patties, 2 eggs, portugese sausage, kim chee, and mac salad. (btw, this was ready in less than 3 minutes… they are so fast here). Isn’t it a thing of beauty? Sure, it may not be the most gourmet loco, but judging it as a whole with the great homemade kim chee and mac salad, it truly is amazing.

Another must try… the best hangover cure ever… Koji’s Breakfast Burger:

Homestyle teri burger, egg, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions on a fresh sweet bread bun.  Super good.

Koji’s Bento Korner Inc.
52 Ponahawai St
Hilo, HI 96720

(808) 935-1417

Readers have been telling me that Maona has some mean grinds. Finally made it here! A little 2-man operated lunch counter right next to the Farmer’s Market.

Their menu is simple but looks so good! Unfortunately, they were already out of rice. They are known to have some good plate lunches so we were bummed.

We just went for some sandwiches. Blackjack burger ($6.50).

Mahi burger ($6.50).

The covers on these plates could barely stay closed. Huge burgers and huge amount of crispy homemade fries. My burger was thick and juicy with a nice spice rub. Nice grill marks. Best $6.50 I’ve spent on a burger! Bev’s mahi was super fresh and perfectly seasoned. Only thing is that it could’ve used a little more mahi.

Definitely will be back for their plate lunches!

Why is it called Maui Fried Chicken? “Dey call it Maui Fried Chicken coz Minit Stop originated in Maui”, the cashier told me as we purchased a 3 piece box ($4.99 special) and a fried chicken plate lunch (~$7.00).  

Along with the chicken they had a lot of other local style plate lunches.  Outside on the grass, there are nice peaceful benches to sit on too.  Nice stop before heading out to Waimea or Kona.

What a deal: 3 pieces of chicken, 3 huge potato wedges, and a soft dinner roll all for only $4.99! (it was on special, regular price is $5.99).  Hoooo da tasty, crispy, perfectly seasoned and super juicy!  Bev liked it because it was “not too oily and fatty and crunchy all around…. and not the hard kine crunchy where you going break your teeth… just right crunchy”.

I got da plate lunch because I felt like rice.  It was winnaz too!  I think getting the box is a better deal though.

We are definitely going back here next time we pass this side.  Some of the best fried chicken on the island and super nice workers!

Minit Stop
36-2266 Mamaloha Hwy
Laupahoehoe
(808) 962-0422

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