Big Island Grinds

So much rain in Hilo, but what makes this photo look good?

Have you ever noticed that the restaurants with the strangest names have the best food?

1 Plus 1 Cafe is a fairly new Chinese/Vietnamese style restaurant located in the Waiakea Center Pavilion next to Walmart. The Waiakea Center Pavilion also holds a food court and Hilo Bay Cafe.

The inside is very nice and clean, and there is a large playful fish in a tank to greet you. It was about 11:30am, and there were about 5-6 other parties enjoying their food.

Most of the time I come here I order the Roast Pork Mein since they make some of the best roast pork I’ve ever had, and their broth and noodles are equally excellent. The roast duck is also so good here, so I ordered the Roast Pork & Roast Duck Mein ($7.95), the best of both worlds!

The roasted meats come in the soup yet the skin on both the duck and pork are still very crisp and crunchy. The meat and fatty portions of the roast pork are are so tender and full of flavor. The roast duck’s skin has a beautiful light crisp to it and is flavorful with very tasty tender meat. The meats help to flavor the well-balanced broth, which is great on a rainy day. The noodles are thin and have an “al dente” texture to them, which I enjoy. There are also some vegetables floating around, more at the bottom below the noodles. The portion is nice and big and it fills me up every time.

For dessert, Hilo Homemade Ice Cream is served here. You can choose from Green Tea, Chocolate, or Vanilla.

Hilo Homemade Ice Cream really deserves its own post, and I will post about them next time I visit their original location! I just couldn’t help ordering a Green Tea ice cream for dessert, though.

Unlike many other green tea ice creams, the green tea flavor in this one is very intense and like higher quality ice creams, much creamier. It was a perfect ending to a great meal.

1 Plus 1 Cafe
315 Makaala Street Suite 110
Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 961-6288