Big Island Grinds

Taking advantage of the long weekend, Bev and I went camping at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach on the south side of the Island. I hardly drive down there, so almost every time I do, I gotta stop by the Hirano store in Glenwood, which is after passing Mountain View and before Volcano. They have some mean grinds!

The people that work here are so friendly. It seems that the more remote an area is, the friendlier they get. Inside the store is all your regular stuff… drinks, chips, snacks, etc. And in one corner they have a menu offering plate lunches, sandwiches, hot dogs, and best of all their offerings… chili bowls!

Hirano Store Chili Bowl with Rice ($3.00), loaded with goodness! It’s a unique kind of style… a bit soupy, but still very hearty. The flavor and consistency sort of remind me of a Portuguese Bean Soup, but spicier with chili flavors.

It went wonderfully with their $.85 hot dog on a sweet bread bun.

Very satisfying… ready to continue driving!

• Some photos of our camping trip (flickr)

Hirano Store
Glenwood
808-968-6522

I’ve posted before about Sputnik’s wonderfully soft butter rolls and delicious buttermilk rolls, but never actually went inside until recently. They are also famous for their special burgers. Looks like a research job for Big Island Grinds!

The menu was written on a dry erase board and had a small selection of plate lunches along with “Sputnik Burgers”. There were a lot of people inside, but mostly waiting for their orders, so I didn’t have to wait long to order.

The sputnik burger selection was Teri Beef, Turkey Ham, and Tuna. We chose a Teri Beef and Turkey Ham. We also ordered a chili bowl just in case the burgers weren’t enough to fill us up.

Pretty interesting burgers huh? It looks sort of like a baked manapua, but it feels much softer and the filling is spread out more evenly rather than it being all in the center. What a clever idea! It also tasted great. I think the bread made it happen — it was so soft and had a sweet “fresh baked” taste, maybe a little like sweet bread. The fillings also complimented the bread. The teri burger had a filling of finely ground hamburger with a sweet and tangy flavor. The turkey ham one had a nice strong salty ham flavor, finely chopped. Very easy to eat, but not enough! I would need 2 or 3 of these to make a meal. Bev did fine with just one though.

I must also note that these burgers also make wonderful omiyage (gifts). You can purchase them in bulk chilled to bring on the plane.

We also shared a chili bowl. It was pretty bad actually. Way too sweet — it tasted like sweet relish mixed with meat and beans. It also had way too much rice and just a thin layer of chili. I hate it when places make the chili to rice ratio like 1 part chili 10 parts rice.

While waiting for our order, most people were ordering their plate lunches. They seemed pretty popular. I would come back again to try their plate lunches and definitely come back for more Sputnik Burgers and Butter Rolls! Be warned though, the butter rolls are only available on Friday.

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

Okazuya-style places are great if you want a nice variety of food at great prices, and Hilo Lunch Shop is one of the most popular ones in Hilo.

It was only 12:30 when we got here, and already most of the food was gone! No more sushi, and a lot of the hot plates were missing/empty. Luckily, there were still some choices left. We made it just in time. Here is what we got to share…

2 scoops rice, 4 pcs nori chicken, 2 pcs breaded Ono (Wahoo fish), nishime, mac salad, and a spring roll. All this for $7.98. Not bad for 2 people… I’m lucky Bev is a light eater.

We both thought everything was really ono. Bev especially liked the nori chicken and mac salad. They are famous for their nori chicken… very flavorful and moist inside, while being crispy on the outside. It’s so good. The mac salad was actually a potato/mac salad with cucumbers, eggs, and carrots — really yummy. Everything else was good too. The breaded Ono was nice and moist inside, the nishime was fresh and tasty. The spring roll was big and crisp, but just average tasting.

Hilo Lunch Shop serves up some onolicious food. Just make sure to get here well before noon!

Hilo Lunch Shop
421 Kalanikoa Street, Hilo, HI 96720
Phone: (808) 935-8273

After having a great steak plate from Mister D’s lunch-wagon, I had to come back to try their loco moco, so I went out today to go back. It broke my heart to see that there was another lunch-wagon in its place (MJ’s lunch wagon). I knew Mister D’s was out there, somewhere.

I drove around aimlessly around Hilo, trying to find Mister D, until I turned a corner and saw the sign “Lunch? Steak Plates $6.50″!

I was overjoyed. The lunch wagons must have some kind of rotating schedule, so if you can’t find Mister D’s near Blane’s industrial, make sure to check on the intersection of Kilauea Ave & Puinako St, across from KTA in the lot of the Kai Store.

In the same corner lot, I usually see a Poke Wagon called “Poke To Your Taste” and a stand that sells wonderful fresh sweet corn.

I have yet to try the poke here, but the corn is very delicious!

Here’s the front of Mister D’s Lunch Wagon again.

I ordered a double loco moco ($5.50) and a steak plate ($6.50) for a co-worker. He started frying my sunny side-up eggs.

Here is the double loco moco:

I’ll use my loco moco rating system again, testing out a new points based system. Maximum points add up to 100, and the burger and gravy have higher weight than the eggs and rice, since I think those are the two most equally important items in a loco moco.

Burger: Pre-made, mushy texture, bland tasting mystery meat which hardly tasted like hamburger (9 out of 35pts)
Gravy: Average tasting regular brown gravy, but a little saltier than normal. There wasn’t enough flavor to balance out the saltiness, though. (20 out of 35pts)
Egg: Good buttery tasting egg, cooked well, but maybe a little too fast. (13 out of 15pts)
Rice: Good rice, cooked just right. (14 out of 15pts)

56%

Sad to say, the burger really brought this one down. I believe that the burger was the same one I had in the loco moco at the County Fair.

Stick with the steak plates here!

I usually see a lunch wagon parked on the side of the highway in the Hilo industrial area during lunch on workdays, and I always tell myself to try one of them one day, but I always put it off.

Today there was Mister D’s Ono Steaks. I think I’ve seen some other kinds of lunch wagons here before, too. The two words “Ono Steaks” made my tummy rumble. That was it! I drove off the highway and parked next to the wagon.

A few other people were there, ordering both the regular steak plates and teriyaki steak plates. A girl in front of me ordered a bunch of regular steak plates and a loco moco. He started to fry the egg in a small pan (glad they have a grill this time!), and fry the patty on a flat grill. Now I was torn: loco moco or steak plate? It looked like it was turning into a decent loco moco, too.

Well, I’m glad that their menu was simple.

I stuck to the plan and ordered a regular steak plate ($6.50, no tax). Along with the steak plates and loco mocos, they also had “pork tonino”, which I don’t think I’ve ever had. A co-worker tells me that its basically pork bbq with a vinegary-onion sauce. It sounded good.

Soon after ordering I heard a loud searing noise. ~4 minutes later, my plate was ready. That was fast. On the side they have a bunch of condiments and salad dressings for the salad included with the steak.

A very generous serving of medium-rare steak already cut up, tossed green salad, and two scoops of rice. I wasn’t asked how I wanted the steak cooked, so if you want it cooked differently, make sure to let Mister D know.

The steak was nicely seared, mostly tender & juicy, and seasoned well with a lot of pepper, giving it a nice spicy kick. I’m not sure what kind of cut it was (chuck maybe?), but some parts were a little chewy. Still, for $6.50, this was not a bad deal.

I think I might come back if I have the cravings for a freshly cooked steak again, and next time I’ll be sure to investigate their loco moco!

From the outside, Itsu’s looks like a quaint old house that sells fishing supplies. But upon walking in, especially during lunchtime, it looks and smells more like a take-out restaurant.

The actual fishing supplies are all the way in the back. I just hope Itsu’s keep this “cover” going because they are already very popular among the locals, and the lines don’t need to get any longer! Hrmmm… blogging this won’t help either, huh?

I used to come here a while ago for their ice shave, but I’ve never tried their lunches before. I’ve just kept on hearing about how good they were, so I decided to pay a visit today for some lunch.

Inside you’ll notice two lines: one for shave ice, and one for food. Luckily, the food line wasn’t too long and it was moving fast.

Itsu’s offers different local-style daily specials which you choose from the hot plates. They also offer hot dogs, a variety of burgers (including their famous kim chi and gravy burgers), chili, and loco mocos. So many choices and not enough stomach space! I’ll be coming back here to feature more stuff again.

I figured I’ll get a two choice plate ($5.95 tax incl.) with beef stew and mahi mahi.

Now this is how to do a plate lunch! Not only were the portions generous, but the taste was outstanding. This was one of the best plate lunches I’ve ever had!

Here’s a close-up of the beef stew.

This beef stew was so tasty and hearty. The gravy was thick and full of flavor, and the meat was very tender, and slightly fatty. The vegetables were perfectly cooked. I often add some shoyu or tabasco to help out the flavor, but this one didn’t need anything at all!

Mahi Mahi close-up…

The two people ahead of me ordered the Mahi Mahi, so that’s why I ordered this. Plus, this is a fishing supply store, so the must do their fish right, right? Well, they sure did. The Mahi Mahi was perfect: lightly fried with nice searing marks and a very moist center. The fish tasted very fresh, was seasoned really well, and came with a mayo/mustard tasting sauce. It was a great combination. The cut was nice and thick too.

Also, the mac salad was really good (full of flavor and just enough mayo). The rice was good too. I wouldn’t have changed a thing!

Oh, and here’s a photo of their fishing supplies.

Well, I really hope to come back here soon to try their other foods, so check back again. Reid, now I know why you come here every time you visit Hilo!

Itsu’s Fishing Supplies Inc
810 Piilani St Hilo
(808) 935-8082