Looking for a place to grind in Kona? Skip the resorts and anywhere on Ali’i drive and head one street up to Big Island Grill. You won’t find a loco moco like this anywhere nearby.

We got a super loco ($11.25). Choose 3 types of meat.

“Ok coming! My son loaded ‘um up.”, our waitress said with a smile. The family atmosphere in here really warmed up the place.

Isn’t it lovely? *brief pause to take it all in*

Crispy chicken katsu, juicy tender roast pork, and a nicely grilled homemade burger patty topped with 2 eggs and thick tasty gravy. I don’t think I’ve had all of my favorite things all on one plate before!

We also shared some banana pancakes ($7.25). These were light and moist. Bananas were sweet.

Come early. It was packed by 9am on a Saturday with a long wait list.

Big Island Grill
75-5702 Kuakini Hwy
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

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

… Ken’s House of Pancakes serves oxtail soup on this day!  Ken’s may be more well known for their epic Oxtail Stew served everyday, but you got to try their soup served every Friday.  It’s the best I’ve had in Hilo.  Beefy and super rich… it’s not the traditional clear type of soup, which makes it a little different.  Anise and shitake mushroom flavors are well balanced and it’s not too salty.  Oxtails are huge.  The portion size is really generous (barely could finish!).  Well worth the $13.25.

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

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

Fresh ahi poke, smoke pork w/guava jelly, Big Island beef burger, and $5 huge mugs of beer (happy hour). Meeeaan brah!

Hawaiian style Ahi poke ($9.95), more than half pound. Might be my favorite poke on the island! Perfectly seasoned and always fresh here.

Smoked pork w/guava jelly. Very addicting combination. Only $4.00 (half-off) during happy hour!

Big island beef burger on sweet bread roll. Good!

Service here is really friendly and family style. Definitely one of my fav places on the Big Island!

Pakini Grill
65-1144 Mamalahoa Hwy
Kamuela, HI 96743
(808) 885-3333
http://pakinigrill.com/

Love Island Natural’s ahi bento and poke! These guys make eating healthy taste good. Lightly breaded tender pieces of ahi over brown rice with a tasty teri sauce. The beauty is all of the little sides… juicy shitake mushroom, curry tofu salad, and even little pretty edible flowers!

The poke is from their amazing salad bar, which definitely requires a post on its own. Their produce section is also fantastic. We come here at least twice a week for lunch and their produce.

Island Naturals Hilo Market & Deli
http://www.islandnaturals.com
1221 Kilauea Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 935-5533

Last time I’ve been to the Kaikodo building was about 5 years ago when Restaurant Kaikodo was still open. The food was great and the ambiance super nice. Sadly, they ended up closing and it’s been empty for awhile, until Uncle Don’s Ohana Grill opened up just a few months ago.

Don’s Ohana Grill is taking a different approach: local, casual, affordable. So the important part… How’s the food?

First up we were given some fresh baked bread with lilikoi butter. It was dense, with an almost biscuit-like flavor… not yeasty but more like a soda bread. Not a big fan of the bread and the lilikoi butter didn’t really help either.

Humongous portion of deep fried butterfish with a sweet miso sauce (~$16). The fish itself didn’t have much flavor and the sauce was not anything special. Rice was overcooked. Veggies were cooked well, though.

This was their special: 8oz rib eye with shrimp tempura (~$24). Figured how can you mess up a ribeye steak? Easy! Serve it lukewarm, thin, and with an overly sweet bbq sauce over it. Shrimp tempura was very doughy and oily.

I was really trying to like this place since it caters more for the locals with reasonable prices but they really need to step up the quality of their food. To be fair, I’ve heard good things about this place from others, so maybe we went on a bad day. They also serve breakfast and lunch.

Would love to hear any other reviews of this new place. I wish them the best!

Uncle Don’s Ohana Grill
60 Keawe St., Hilo HI
(808) 961-5551

No matter how many times I’ve been here before, I still feel nervous ordering. You need to know what you want to order. Man, da pressure is a lot for an indecisive guy like me!

I always refer tourists here for a great lunch… you know, somewhere the real locals eat. But if even I’m intimidated ordering here, I feel bad for the uninitiated! I just hope to help a little bit. I’m not even sure if I’m doing it right myself, but so far so good.

How for order at Hilo Lunch Shop:

1. Get here early! Before 11am, or else the best stuff will be sold out.

2. Know what you like order before stepping in the door. Or at least be ready to be experimental.

3. No cut in line or else you going get mean stink eye! The line may wrap around to the right so be sure to know where the line starts. Be nice. It can get pretty crowded.

4. Once in line, check out the food and finalize your order as much as you can in your head. Listen well to the people ordering to get a feel of everything and what’s good.

5. When you get near the sushi and musubi on the left, your turn is near. You can do this! A helpful and very efficient (a.k.a. not very patient) lady will yell “Next!”. If the person in front of you already ordered, make eye contact with her and make your first choice… Quick

6. Order a musubi (or 2), or a few maki sushi. You need rice with this salty tasty cuisine. They have anykine. Most popular it seems is the spam or plain musubis and sushi. They have a great maki sushi which uses mustard cabbage instead of nori. Their cone sushi is well done. I prefer keeping it simple with a plain musubi or some sushi.

7. Order some main items. Just choose what looks good to you. Ask questions if needed but keep it short. If you will be eating this later for a picnic or want something easy to pack, you may want to choose drier items. Otherwise, anything goes. My favorite must-haves is the nori chicken and fishcake. Other amazing items are their tofu cakes, fried chicken, breaded ono, and any of their tempura. You can’t go wrong with any of these.

8. On the far right, don’t miss their choices of pickled veggies and salads. These all go great with their food. I chose some pickled mustard cabbage this time. For a real plate lunch get a scoop of mac salad.

9. Your practically done. You’ll be asked “fork or chopstick” then you pay! Cash only.

10. Now head to the beach, and grind!!!!

Hope this helps people. Follow these steps and you will not hear, “No sushi for you!!”. Feel free to add on any recommendations yourself.

posted with an iphone (including photos)

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

L-R: Coconut, lilikoi, and custard cream (there was also a rum chocolate cream, but we ate it before we could get to the camera)

Amazingly light, fresh, and the ganache was soo delicious! Not really missing Beard Papa’s anymore. So happy to have somewhere here with fresh cream puffs… and they are right down the street from our house!

Call for daily specials.

Puff City
1348 Kilauea Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
808-961-6964
www.puffcityhilo.com