Big Island Grinds

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

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