JeffW saw this place on the Channel 8 “Cheap Eats” segment earlier in the week, so we went there for lunch on Friday. I didn’t make the adventure down to the old Hamada Store location on Queen Street just a little ‘Ewa from Ward Avenue on the makai side. Apparently, even with the phoned-in order, my coworkers still had a half-hour wait for the food. The interior layout was apparently not set up for efficient customer or workflow, and the staff level was insufficient for the level of work subsequent to the TV spot publicity. We couldn’t even get a phone call in on Thursday!
Some web browsing beforehand earlier in the week made up my mind as far as what to order. I saw a picture of the garlic furikake chicken and that was it. Initially, the appearance of the food was good. For about $6 USD, I got a full plate lunch and a 350ml soft drink – quite a good value! The plates come with a choice of starch – white rice, mashed potatoes, or garlic mashed potatoes – and a choice of salad – macaroni or tossed. I chose rice and tossed salad. The rice was rice, and the salad greens were reasonably fresh, cut romaine lettuce. The salad dressing was self-serve from a bunch of squirt bottles after you receive the plates, so I ended up with something spicy (maybe chipotle ranch?) that may or may not have been intended to be applied to the salad. The salad greens were of acceptable quality and the dressing was fine.
The entree chicken was overall mediocre. The ingredient quality was good. The chicken was reasonably fat-free, and the pieces that had skin weren’t excessively fatty. One or two pieces had weird gristle or some gelatinous stuff, but in terms of general quality, the base chicken meat was better than similar entrees from Sugoi’s or Mitsu-ken. The preparation was essentially stock “mochiko chicken” with the addition of nori furikake in the dredging flour, and a post-frying dipping sauce that was garlic infused. This is where things sort-of fell apart. There was little discernable flavor. All the good ingredients and intentions amount to nothing if the end result doesn’t taste good. I found the chicken bland. There was no significant garlic taste. The furikake essentially was aesthetic. The outside was not crispy, but instead was soggy from oversoaking, or too low a frying temperature. The quantity was good – above average.
I’ll give them another try. Their advertising claims that they are “cook to order”, but my particular selection seemed precooked then idled too long. If I had to make a decision from this one plate, I’d give them a pass the next time around, but I’ll give them a chance because they’re a new shop, and they are currently under pressure from the media exposure. Good volume but average food quality.
About $6 USD including a canned soft drink
Two out of four grinning monkeys
Ambivalent
You should visit the cafe, read the menu and taste the specials of the day.
The furikake garlic chicken, keawe chicken and steak are offered daily along with a cook to order menu with items including pork chop + mushrooms and onions, various fried rices, tofu salad with salmon, sauteed mahi mahi, and poke bowls (try the spicy poke over brown rice…yum!)
I know this because I eat here at least 3 times a week! And I’ve noticed other cafe “regulars” including uniformed Sheriffs, HPD and Customs and the Powerhouse gang. Also the vehicles in their parking lot represent a huge range of customers: from bikes and mopeds to tow trucks, moving trucks, local news stations and car dealerships.
They have hired more help since Cheap Eats. You should give them another try. Who knows you may become one of their many regulars… You may even see me there.