Shakas Hawaiian Flavors
2300 Garfield Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754
323-888-2695
http://www.shakas.com/
Casual; order at the counter.
Located just north of the 60 freeway.
Parking in the strip mall and on the side street.
Second location: 101 Main St, #C, Alhambra, CA 91801
Visited: May 2010, Lunch, Take-out
Shakas is a nice casual Hawaiian fast food place. We tried just a few things, but were quite satisfied, and will definitely be back to try more menu items.
We had the Kalua Pork Tacos - two crispy tacos FILLED with kalua pig and topped with raw cabbage, cheese and pico de gallo. The kalua was smoky and rich, however, I figured out that kalua tacos are not for me. While tasty, they were waaay too rich for my blood.
We got a side order of the Mochiko Chicken. Boneless chicken pieces that have been marinated in a sweet soy sauce, and then lightly coated and deep fried. These were delicious little morsels. They identify the Mochiko Chicken as a house specialty, and they're right.
We also got an order of Spam Musubi ($1.95) which was very fresh and flavorful. I love it when there's just a little sauce on the rice, and this how they do it. It was larger than I expected - maybe 4 inches long.
They have all the other traditional Hawaiian grindz (Loco Moco, Kalbi, Katsu, Huli Huli Chicken, etc.) so we'll be back to try.
Showing posts with label kalua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kalua. Show all posts
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Aloha Food Factory, Alhambra, CA
Aloha Food Factory
2990 W. Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
626-308-0215
Located 2 blocks east of the end of the 710 freeway.
Plenty of parking in their own lot.
Casual. And Hawaiian style, they're closed on Mondays and holidays.
Visited: May 2010, Lunch, Take-out
We wanted to get a good feel for this restaurant, so we ordered several items. The kitchen is rather small, and it took a while for our order to be completed. In the meantime, the lovely lady of the house gave us each a sample Macadamia Nut Pancake. The little pancake was tasty itself, but it was really the topping and little crunchy bits of mac nut on top that were amazing. I'm not sure what the topping is - it's not syrup, or sweetened condensed milk, but it was more like a creme anglaise. Very tasty.
We ordered the Loco Moco ($7.25) which was a very large portion of rice, hamburger patty, scrambled eggs, and gravy. While fine, it was overall rather plain. Which is what we found to be the case with all of the items we ordered. Good, but plain - not highly seasoned.
For the Aloha Plate ($10.99), we chose Kalua Pig and Cha Shu (which we had heard raves about). The Plate came with steamed rice, veggies, and Mac-Potato Salad. The Kalua was light on both smoke and flavor. And the Cha Shu was tasty roasted bbq pork, but definitely not cha shu. If we had been served it without a name, we would have assigned it the title of cha shu.
And lastly, we got the Kalbi Plate ($9.75) that came with rice, veggies, and Mac-Potato Salad. The ribs were tender and had a nice char, but also very plain. As if they needed to marinate longer, or have a sauce applied during or after cooking.
A friendly little hole in the wall that also serves shave ice, but not sure that we'd be back for the things we've already tried.
2990 W. Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
626-308-0215
Located 2 blocks east of the end of the 710 freeway.
Plenty of parking in their own lot.
Casual. And Hawaiian style, they're closed on Mondays and holidays.
Visited: May 2010, Lunch, Take-out
We wanted to get a good feel for this restaurant, so we ordered several items. The kitchen is rather small, and it took a while for our order to be completed. In the meantime, the lovely lady of the house gave us each a sample Macadamia Nut Pancake. The little pancake was tasty itself, but it was really the topping and little crunchy bits of mac nut on top that were amazing. I'm not sure what the topping is - it's not syrup, or sweetened condensed milk, but it was more like a creme anglaise. Very tasty.
We ordered the Loco Moco ($7.25) which was a very large portion of rice, hamburger patty, scrambled eggs, and gravy. While fine, it was overall rather plain. Which is what we found to be the case with all of the items we ordered. Good, but plain - not highly seasoned.
For the Aloha Plate ($10.99), we chose Kalua Pig and Cha Shu (which we had heard raves about). The Plate came with steamed rice, veggies, and Mac-Potato Salad. The Kalua was light on both smoke and flavor. And the Cha Shu was tasty roasted bbq pork, but definitely not cha shu. If we had been served it without a name, we would have assigned it the title of cha shu.
And lastly, we got the Kalbi Plate ($9.75) that came with rice, veggies, and Mac-Potato Salad. The ribs were tender and had a nice char, but also very plain. As if they needed to marinate longer, or have a sauce applied during or after cooking.
A friendly little hole in the wall that also serves shave ice, but not sure that we'd be back for the things we've already tried.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Bruddah's Hawaiian, Gardena, CA
Bruddah's Hawaiian
1033 W. Gardena Blvd, Gardena, CA 90247
310-323-9112
Located between Normandie and Vermont. Usually enough street parking; can be very crowded on weekend mornings.
Casual, Hawaiian-style.
Visited: Breakfast and Lunch, Dine-in
Most recently: October 2009
Bruddah's is a real Hawaiian hole in the wall. Everything is local style including the laid back clientele. Anything with a sauce or gravy is going to be outstanding. They have the best gravy maker anywhere. Some particular favorites include:
The Beef Shortribs Stew ($8.95) is part of the Daily Specials menu and only appears on Weds, Thurs, Sat, and Sun. The meat is super tender, as are the vegetables, and the rich tomatoey-beef gravy is heavenly with the rice. Also comes with Macaroni Salad.
Really, it's about the gravy. The Roast Pork with Gravy (Plate $7.95, Side $5.60) is a heavenly portion of tender roast pork smothered in their spectacular pork gravy served with rice and Mac.
The Loco Moco ($7.95) from the Breakfast Menu (which is served all day) is a mass of two hamburger patties served with two eggs over a mound of rice covered in an amazing brown gravy (with mushrooms). The best Loco Moco on the mainland. They also have a Spam Loco Moco ($6.95).
The Kalua Pork with Cabbage (Plate $7.95, Side $5.60) is also tasty.
While their food is always good, we're just as not as big a fan of their teriyaki dishes.
1033 W. Gardena Blvd, Gardena, CA 90247
310-323-9112
Located between Normandie and Vermont. Usually enough street parking; can be very crowded on weekend mornings.
Casual, Hawaiian-style.
Visited: Breakfast and Lunch, Dine-in
Most recently: October 2009
Bruddah's is a real Hawaiian hole in the wall. Everything is local style including the laid back clientele. Anything with a sauce or gravy is going to be outstanding. They have the best gravy maker anywhere. Some particular favorites include:
The Beef Shortribs Stew ($8.95) is part of the Daily Specials menu and only appears on Weds, Thurs, Sat, and Sun. The meat is super tender, as are the vegetables, and the rich tomatoey-beef gravy is heavenly with the rice. Also comes with Macaroni Salad.
Really, it's about the gravy. The Roast Pork with Gravy (Plate $7.95, Side $5.60) is a heavenly portion of tender roast pork smothered in their spectacular pork gravy served with rice and Mac.
The Loco Moco ($7.95) from the Breakfast Menu (which is served all day) is a mass of two hamburger patties served with two eggs over a mound of rice covered in an amazing brown gravy (with mushrooms). The best Loco Moco on the mainland. They also have a Spam Loco Moco ($6.95).
The Kalua Pork with Cabbage (Plate $7.95, Side $5.60) is also tasty.
While their food is always good, we're just as not as big a fan of their teriyaki dishes.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Ono Ono Hawaiian BBQ, Tustin, CA
Ono Ono Hawaiian BBQ
17582 E. 17th Street, Tustin, CA 92780, 714-505-0750
http://onoonohawaiianbbq.com/
In a strip mall with plenty of free parking.
Casual/fast foodish. Order at the counter; your food brought to you.
[Note: This is not the same as the Ono Hawaiian BBQ restaurant chain.]
Visited: February 2009, Lunch, Dine-in
The food was hot, fresh, and fast. What a treat! It was definitely Ono Ono (ono means delicious in Hawaiian)!
It's a combination of fast food and sit down dining. You order at the counter, but they bring you your food, and you're served on real plates with plasticware. It sounds odd, but it works. The staff and decor were all very nice.
All of the entrees come with choice of 2 sides: white rice, brown rice, long rice noodles, Asian coleslaw, grilled veggie, potato mac, or green salad. Keep in mind that if you want rice, you have to order it as one of your sides. This threw me for a minor loop when ordering.
You can also get free soup if you eat in. I had the miso soup with tofu. Very tasty. They also had a second more traditional looking veggie soup in a reddish broth.
For appetizers we got:
Spam Musubi ($2.75) which was sliced into 4 nice slices. The rice was seasoned and tender, and the Spam was nicely fried. Overall more flavor than I've had at other restaurants.
12 pcs Fried Dumplings ($5.99). I guess I was expecting pan fried gyoza, but these were actually deep fried. They came with a soy dipping sauce. Not bad, they needed the sauce; but I wouldn't order them again.
The 3 item combos are a great way to sample their offerings, and they are sold at a great price. You get plenty of food, and may even be able to share a plate. We had:
Mix Plate ($8.95): BBQ chicken (like teri chicken), kalua pork, panko fried mahi mahi (served with tartar sauce) with sides of grilled veggie and long rice. The mahi mahi was outstanding as was the long rice. The chicken and pork were also very good, but the other items outshone them. The veggies were plain, and that suited the meal very well.
Ono Plate ($8.95): chicken katsu, BBQ spicy pork, beef kalbi with sides of white rice and potato mac. The pork was just like Korean-style spicy pork - yum! Great flavor and very tender. The kalbi was also very nice - hot and fresh with a nice char. The katsu was just fine; the others were just that much better. The potato mac was plain but tasty. It had little bits of carrots for color and texture.
There are plenty more things on the menu to try, and I'm looking forward to my next visit.
17582 E. 17th Street, Tustin, CA 92780, 714-505-0750
http://onoonohawaiianbbq.com/
In a strip mall with plenty of free parking.
Casual/fast foodish. Order at the counter; your food brought to you.
[Note: This is not the same as the Ono Hawaiian BBQ restaurant chain.]
Visited: February 2009, Lunch, Dine-in
The food was hot, fresh, and fast. What a treat! It was definitely Ono Ono (ono means delicious in Hawaiian)!
It's a combination of fast food and sit down dining. You order at the counter, but they bring you your food, and you're served on real plates with plasticware. It sounds odd, but it works. The staff and decor were all very nice.
All of the entrees come with choice of 2 sides: white rice, brown rice, long rice noodles, Asian coleslaw, grilled veggie, potato mac, or green salad. Keep in mind that if you want rice, you have to order it as one of your sides. This threw me for a minor loop when ordering.
You can also get free soup if you eat in. I had the miso soup with tofu. Very tasty. They also had a second more traditional looking veggie soup in a reddish broth.
For appetizers we got:
Spam Musubi ($2.75) which was sliced into 4 nice slices. The rice was seasoned and tender, and the Spam was nicely fried. Overall more flavor than I've had at other restaurants.
12 pcs Fried Dumplings ($5.99). I guess I was expecting pan fried gyoza, but these were actually deep fried. They came with a soy dipping sauce. Not bad, they needed the sauce; but I wouldn't order them again.
The 3 item combos are a great way to sample their offerings, and they are sold at a great price. You get plenty of food, and may even be able to share a plate. We had:
Mix Plate ($8.95): BBQ chicken (like teri chicken), kalua pork, panko fried mahi mahi (served with tartar sauce) with sides of grilled veggie and long rice. The mahi mahi was outstanding as was the long rice. The chicken and pork were also very good, but the other items outshone them. The veggies were plain, and that suited the meal very well.
Ono Plate ($8.95): chicken katsu, BBQ spicy pork, beef kalbi with sides of white rice and potato mac. The pork was just like Korean-style spicy pork - yum! Great flavor and very tender. The kalbi was also very nice - hot and fresh with a nice char. The katsu was just fine; the others were just that much better. The potato mac was plain but tasty. It had little bits of carrots for color and texture.
There are plenty more things on the menu to try, and I'm looking forward to my next visit.
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