Battle of the Hawaiian Take-out Joints: NYC Edition

Featured Reader: Brian outNabout shopping in Texas!

One time.....In Hawaii, when I was a freshman in college at the University of Hawaii, I lived behind an L&L Drive Inn (the one at Pucks Alley). L&L is a chain in Hawaii and California that specializes in Hawaiian plate lunches. Hawaiian plate lunches are basically what is served in restaurants and lunch wagons at lunchtime throughout Hawaii. It consists of 2 scoops rice, one scoop of macaroni salad, and some kind of protein on a bed of lettuce. The protein is often barbecue chicken or Hawaiian style beef (teriyaki). My apartment in college smelled like Teriyaki barbecue--It was heaven. My favorite plate lunches are Loco Moco (hamburger steak with eggs over rice), Chicken Katsu (breaded chicken cutlet) or Kalua Pig (Hawaiian roast pork cooked in an underground oven). I also love Huli Huli Chicken (Hawaiian rotisserie chicken) but L&L doesn't have that.

Living here in NYC, if I want Local Kine Grinds (Local Style Hawaiian food), I have to make it myself, or settle for Teriyaki Boy which comes close but not quite.

2 years ago L&L opened up! One on 37th Street and one at South street Seaport on Fulton Street. I was so happy. I ate there every day on 37th street for a month. L&L also sells my favorite soft drink: Passion Orange from Aloha Maid!

The one on 37th street didn't do well and within a year was closed. But the one at South street is still going strong servicing all the People from Hawaii who live in NYC that are homesick for Hawaiian food.. I decided to take Herbelicious to lunch there one day.

Herbelicious had a taste of Hawaiian cuisine at my luau two years ago. Robert and I cooked everything including the Spam Musubi (Spam Sushi). It was kind of exciting for me to take Herbelicious to L&L Barbecue, but also kind of embarrassing. What if he thought this food sucked? This is what we call good food in Hawaii: Plate Lunch.

The L&L Drive in at South Street Seaport is not exactly like the L&L's in Hawaii. In Hawaii, everybody knows the food and they don't have to lure you in with pictures, or Hawaiian decor. It's just a straight up take out joint. This place in NYC is decked out almost to the point of tacky with their bright yellow and red signs; pictures of the different types of plate lunches; surfboards; and Hawaiian words on the walls.

They do have beautiful photos of Hula Dancers by Kim Taylor Reese (a well known Hawaiian Photographer). One of the pictures of the girls looks like my friend Candace (who is also from Hawaii and lives in NYC) and so whenever I go to L&L, I tell people its Candace.

Despite the Tacky Decor, the food is pretty much the same as in Hawaii. I love it. I ordered the Kalua Pig plate along with Lau Lau (chicken, fish, and pork wrapped in leaves and cooked in the underground oven). I also ordered Spam Musubi.

Herbelicious went for the Kalbi Ribs (Korean Ribs) since he had them at my house several times (I have a kick-ass recipe). And of course, I just had to get my favorite drink: Passion Orange from Aloha Maid.

The food was amazing to me as usual. Herbelicious complained about all the carbs. This was all comfort food to me. Comfort food is so much nicer when you don't have to make it yourself. The L&L down at South street Seaport also has a sushi bar if you are so inclined.

So let me tell you how successful L&L can be. My friend from college, Vicky, Apparently bought into the franchise and owns three of them in California. She is living the fine life in a mansion from what I hear.

On our way home, the most funny coincidence happened to us on the train. In walked a boy with a surfboard. Where was he going surfing at? This is NYC? the Hudson and the East River is nasty. I wouldn't even put my little toe in it. Herbelicous just laughed at me as I tried to inconspicuously snap a picture of this guy for the blog.

On another day, Quinta emailed me a link with a photo of a sign: Hawaiian Island Grill. I got so excited. Another Hawaiian restaurant! Herbelicious and I decided to make it an outNabout adventure. When we got to restaurant row in Midtown East, we found the Hawaiian Island Grill closed. It was a Saturday. A lot of these places in business districts only cater to lunchtime crowds during the week. Maybe this was the case. They had no hours posted on their door. We also noticed that the same door for Hawaiian Island Grill was also for Hakata Grill (A Japanese take out place).

We tried again for lunch on a weekday, when I had to make a Home Depot run for my boss. It was about 2 PM on a Thursday. Again it was closed. This time though, we noticed that there were people inside. Some were cleaning, and some were asleep on the floor! How odd. Maybe they were only open weekdays for lunch 11 AM to 1 PM. I wish they would post hours.

Finally, one day after work, while on our way to a bar for drinks with co-workers, we decided to stop in and check (since it was on the way). It was 5:45 PM on a Thursday. They were Open!



First off, Hakata Grill and Hawaiian Island Grill AND Gordon Chen’s Kitchen of American-Chinese food are all the SAME place. They share the same kitchen and counter space, and are run by the same people. When you walk into the Hawaiian Island Grill you will realize it is a take-out place only. There are no tables to sit at like L&L, only 2 chairs under a palm tree where you can wait for your order. Unlike L&L’s which features local style plate lunches, this place features a variety of dishes (not really plate lunches though they do have them) of Japanese, Korean, and Spanish foods. They do not have any authentic Hawaiian food like Kalua Pig or Lau Lau (though if you asked someone from Hawaii what people eat in Hawaii, they would probably say Japanese food). The most authentic they get here, is that they use Hawaiian Salt (I read that on their menu). I do like that you have a choice of sides unlike L & L which simply gives you 2 scoops rice and 1 scoop macaroni salad. Here, you can have brown rice, steamed veggies, potatoes, salads, or fries.

I decided to go for the Huli Huli chicken (huli means to turn in Hawaiian so Huli Huli chicken is rotisserie chicken Hawaiian style)—Something L&L’s doesn’t have on their menu, and I have been craving for years now. The sides I chose were brown rice (in accordance with my New Year resolutions) and steamed veggies. Herbert ordered the Hamburger Steak Honolulu Style.



As we waited, I took in the décor. The waiting area was so tiny, about as big as my cubicle at work. I love their Hawaiian decorations. No pictures of the food like L&L’s cheesy stuff. Now that I think of it, Hawaiian Island Grill’s décor was more like L&L's is in Hawaii. My favorite picture was of the beautiful woman in the taro patch (taro is what Poi is made of-- the staple of Hawaiian cuisine). Herbelicious fell in love with the black and white photo of the surfer paddling to shore.. actually he fell in love with the boy’s ass… I must admit.. it was kind of a hot picture... the surfer's ass was. I also loved the black and white photo of the surfers posing with their surfboards.


Other pictures included panoramic views of Diamond Head, The Ko’olau Mountain Range, and of Waikiki beach from the air. About the food. Though I had read on the Internet rave reviews about Hawaiian Island Grill’s food, I was not all that impressed with my Peruvian Rotisserie Huli Huli Chicken. Peruvian? I should have read the menu more carefully. The rotisserie chicken at my grocery store (Foodtown) taste better. This chicken was roasted over the fire (you could taste that), but it was like like it didn't get to marinate long enough before it was cooked. I think Hawaiian Island Grill needs to check out "Huli Huli Marinade" which you can order off the internet-- its way better. Herbelicious liked his Hamburger Steak Honolulu Style. I didn’t get to try his, and I can’t trust Herbelicious to know what good Local Kine Grinds taste like since he is not from Hawaii. I’m sure it was good but not Local Kine good.

In order for me to make a fair assessment of this place, I will have to come back again (and hope to catch them open), and maybe order something like their beef stew or Maui Onion Chili. Their prices averaged around $10 twice that of L & L's, but they did have a lunch menu that was about half that (we were there at dinner time, so the lunch prices didn't apply). I'm going to have to say that for good reliable Hawaiian Plate Lunches in NYC, go to L&L, they are always open, and the food is always ono! (Ono means delicious in Hawaiian!)

For real! Seriously!