RSS

Lunch. Local Style.

Alright, I'd like to apologize. I completely went off on a tangent with the last post. Was it relevent yes I'd say so. The issue is the post before that one was when I was in Hawaii with my better half. So why didn't I just continue posting stuff from restaurants in Maui ... great damn question. I'm just a fool. Back to Maui restaurants we go.

While we were in Maui I made a huge list of places to try but only getting about 6 days to squeeze trying new good eats, going to parks, beaches, snorkeling, parasailing, hiking, and just attempt to relaxation got a little tough. The very first day we arrived in Hawaii, I was speaking with the guys at the car rental office trying to figure out a local ma/pa eatery. They named a couple, including L&L's, but I specifically said I wanted something more local with a ma/pa feel which I can't find in the states. The two stared at each other for a good minute and both synchronized with a response: Da Kitchen Cafe.

This place wasn't very far which was even better because we were famished. Alright maybe not that drastic but we were quite hungry. The problem with me and trying out new places is I'm going to over order just so I could get a little taste of everything. My better half ordered the spare ribs and I ordered the fried (yes you're reading it right) spam masubi and the Hawaiian plate. When we placed our orders the first thing we thought was "hm, this seems a bit pricey ... hope it's good." And here's what we got:
The Kalbi Ribs. Looks good right? Hell yes it was tastey. Hell yes it was big, it was enough to serve my girlfriend, myself, then probably another person and a half (child). Very tender, very juicy. Generous portions that match the price. We obviously had leftovers. The marinate was a bit salty, but there was a good balance in the sweetness. Definitely just want to drop your fork and knife so you can eat with your hands.
The Hawaiian Plate. There was this weird cut up noodle porridge like thing and it tasted like vermicelli with some Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup. Dang it was salty. The Kalua pork was tender and juicy, but still very salty. I was diving into the massive rice scoops because of the overwhelming amount of sodium. The lomi salmon wrapped in the taro leaves ... hm ... it personally was not something I prefer to eat. I felt the salmon ended up being overcooked and was a bit tough. My dish not so great.
Fried Spam Masubi. Drizzle with some soy sauce and teriyaki sauce concoction. It was pretty dang good. A little TOO much rice but I think a lot of places have spam masubi that ends up being made in this fashion: 90% rice, 10% spam. I usually toss half of the rice away. This was good though, nothing super spectacular but the panko crust on the outside is very crisp. Yum
Some naughty food porn, courtesy of my hilarious girlfriend.

In the end, I think this place hit the spot real well. We were hungry and we got way more food than we expected. Good local Hawaiian taste with nice, caring local people serving you. Our waitress was just okay but everyone else was significantly nicer, making sure to ask if our food was okay and refilling our water. I would definitely go back because this was one of the best places we ate at during our stay. If you're in Maui or happen to be near one of Da Kitchen Cafe locations, definitely go. You'll come out stuffed. I'll be updating with more places we ate at on Maui Island.

Da Kitchen Cafe
425 Koloa St., Suite 104
Kahului, HI 96732
808-871-7782

- spam

0 comments:

Post a Comment