Looking for Hawaiian Plate Lunch in L.A.
I am from Hawaii. So please dont anyone tell me L&L, because that place is terrible. I hope nobody is judging Hawaiian food on the quality of these places. I am looking for a hole in the wall, non-franchise place where the food is made to order. If there is nothing around I guess I have to suffer, but if anyone knows of a little gem I would greatly appreciate the reccomendation. Plate lunch consists of many different options of meat or seafood along with homemade macaroni salad and rice. PLease someone come to the rescue.
chout13
May 13, 2008 06:15PM
head to bruddha's in gardena.
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Bruddah's definitely feels like some of the ancient hole-in-the-wall grinds joints you find in the older parts of the Islands. Most of the help are from there, and the food is about as close as I've had to some of the places I went to as a kid. Not exact in atmosphere as the ones off Waiakamilo Road, but of about the same vintage... and definitely stay away from King's Hawaiian (their baked goods are worthy though - lilikoi filling in their cakes jam!). What Waikiki Beach is to locals, King's is the equivalent in Island food...
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Agree about the entree's, but King's bakery is ono. Go there for the cakes.
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Agreed on the bakery - their cakes are great. I was strictly referring to their food in the restaurant - some of it is just okay but most of it is off the mark. Under-flavored (poki) or over-salted (kalua pork) on the standard dishes is an insult, given their name and lineage...
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You know it's good when you see lots of sumo sized people eating there.
Owner Earl makes everything from scratch. Great saimin, he gets the saimin noodles from Hilo. Mac salad is made with spaghetti noodles not elbow macaroni. They got the best loco moco in LA.
Waitresses are easy on the eyes too.
Closed Mondays
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it's all about the grilled butterfish
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Besides Bruddah's, check out TNT's Aloha, Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop and Aloha Teriyaki (original location). You'll find too many joints with 'teriyaki' in their name that are really just Japanese fast food.
I think the Loft at Lahaina spinoffs http://www.chow.com/places/9095 are mostly good, others will disagree.
1033 W Gardena Blvd, Gardena, CA 90247, USA
15707 S Vermont Ave, Gardena, CA 90247, USA
4834 W Rosecrans Ave, Hawthorne, CA 90250, USA
24032 Vista Montana, Torrance, CA
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In addition, there is Bob's Okazu-ya in Gardena on Vermont as well.
Bob's Okazu-ya
16814 S Vermont Ave Gardena, CA, 90247
Though, I've heard that Bob has sold the place, the quality may be in a state of flux.
But, Bruddah's is a good mainland offering, their rotating daily specials are good. Afterwards, stop by the Mexican bakery next door for some cheap goodies.
I love the Bowling alley coffee shop, definately not the type of food one normally associates with bowling. :-)
16814 S Vermont Ave Gardena, CA, 90247
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Try Rutt's Hawaiian Cafe in Culver City. I've only been there for breakfast, but they do have lunch plates.
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Ahh, Rutts. Haven't been in years. Used to go there often for breakfast ("royals" and teri tacos). Last time I went (maybe 5+ yrs ago), I noticed new staff and thought we were told the place had new ownership. True? Food the same as long ago?
On the same topic, is a "royal" (egg, meat, onion, sprouts and other stuff, cooked together and laid over a bed of rice with Teri sauce) a true Hawaiian breakfast dish or just a Westside concoction? Kenny's Cafe (long since closed), not far from Rutts, had them on the menu too. Had always thought Kenny's stole the idea from Rutts, but was never sure if it was just a standard dish.
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To answer your question, pharmnerd: No, a "royal" is not a true Hawaiian breakfast dish. However, fried rice (with meat, eggs, onions, bean sprouts, etc.) is. Perhaps the former is a way of westernizing the original? They seem to have the same ingredients (minus the teri sauce--never had that on fried rice) but in different quantities.
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Cool. Must be a MarVista/Venice/Westside thing then. Can't remember if it was on plain rice or fried rice. Either way, it's a pretty good creation. Not sure how it is now at Rutts, but had a choice of cha siu, portuguese sausage or spam. Tasty.
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Aloha Cafe in Little Tokyo.
http://www.eatatalohacafe.com/
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Wouldn't waste the effort. Went for lunch this week and had the Monday short rib special and they were tasteless.
Some reason everytime I have the chicken or beef teriyaki the sauce is too salty.
They lost their lease in Monterey Park and original owner passed away. One of the long time waitresses has the place and recipes. L&L and Ono Hawaiian BBQ is better.
Friends who are islanders never had anything nice to say about the place when it was in MP.
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That's too bad to hear. I've always been under the impression that this new location retained the same crew (family) as the original location on Valley in Monterey Park.
RIP Aloha Food Factory ...
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Same waitresses (one is the owner) and recipes, but the founder passed away. Nothing about the food has changed from what I experienced. I'd only been to the MP location twice and wasn't impressed. By accident I went to the Little Tokyo location because someone told me about a new Hawaiian place and when I walked in the door I realized it was the same Aloha Cafe from MP.
http://www.eatatalohacafe.com/
Is the Aloha Food Factory closed? I drive by there every now and then and can't tell. From a traffic standpoint they had a great location, but it was never busy.
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I think that you're getting mixed up. The place on Valley is called Aloha Food Factory. Aloha Cafe that is in Honda Plaza was the the Aloha Cafe that was on Atlantic Blvd and Brightwood.
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Bruddha's is the way to go.
It's kinda haoli, but I also like Back Home in Lahaina in Manhattan Beach.
916 N Sepulveda Blvd Manhattan Beach CA
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Haoli (happy), or haole (white/foreign)? ;-p
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Hauoli (happy) as in Hauoli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year) for the record. Good try.
The Back Home to Lahaina in Carson is good too. Stay away from the Loft and King's Hawaiian IMO. Kind of commercialized California cuisine. Bruddah's, TNT, or Gardena Bowl has more of that back home flavor with the local ambience you're missing. I personally don't care for the L&Ls here in LA since all of the franchises are separately owned and the food differs from one place to another.
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Back Home In Lahina is related to The Loft people in many ways.
Bruddah's, TNT and Gardena Bowl are the real things. Check out the specials board at Bruddah's and you'll see island stuff you won't see anywhere on the mainland.
The L&L in Pasadena is pretty good. The owner Dave serves up some great burgers (must be the meat-ask for med-rare) Hawaiian grilled pork chops or breaded pork chops are sometimes big and thick...not bad for $7.50 and you get two with two scoops of rice and scoop of mac salad.
Actually eveything they make at L&L is made from scratch there's no premixed stuff.
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Actually food at "Local Place" (owned by Kings Hawaiian) in Gardena isn't that bad or commercialized as it might appear.
I stay away from Kings Hawaiian in Torrance because everytime I leave there I'm still hungry.
Local Place Bakery & Cafe
18605 S Western Ave
Torrance, CA 90501
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L&L in Cerritos is nasty.
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"It's kinda happy?"...probably more like haole, like touristy or mainland...
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Oops, you're right. The latter.
The only L&L that I like is Sorrento Valley in San Diego, but that's because they once upon a time had a special lumpia on the menu that's exactly the way my mom makes it.
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Surprised no one coughed up the plate lunch link yet...
http://alohaworld.com/platelunch/
.
.
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Wow... So happy! Mahalos for all the recs. Time to put on some pounds...
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Excellent recs here. If you miss shave ice, the best I have found is at Shaka's in Alhambra. Don't know about the one in Monterey Park. Not as good as Waiola or Tropicana in Honolulu, but pretty good. Shaka's also has interesting menu items. Worth a trip.
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Although closed down, the Artesia Shaka's had great shave ice too. Real shave ice, not carnival snow cone. Didn't care for the food there though, and obviously others didn't either as was usually empty even during peak times.
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Dats right! And to da Op. Some people here talk story bout Sahkas. You go and you will like, I no lie. Da price is good and you get one big mountain of da best best bacon fried rice you ever have.
My post bout Shakas
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/401829
Shakas
http://www.shakas.com/?page=442
Latez
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New place opened April 17th by Larry Yamagata, owner of Aloha Specialties at the California Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. A very popular Hawaiian restaurant in Las Vegas for transplants and visiting islanders.
I've never been, Larry isn't the owner, but he consulted on the food.
Tom's Aloha Grill
11710 South Street, Ste. 106
Artesia, Ca. 90701
Business: 562-860-3999
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Cousin's been there, but didn't give a report. Will give it a try soon myself. Yelp reviews weren't encouraging, but they sounded kinda sketchy.
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Cousin says food wasn't worth the long wait, but partially chalked it up to new store jitters. I'm willing to give them a try though.
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Well, was ready to report I took one for the team to confirm my cousin's report onTom's Aloha Grill in Artesia. Was pleasantly surprised to find the food quite good. Ordered a couple combo plate lunches and saimin for the kids. All entrees seemed fresh made-to-order.
Mac salad was ok, about what I'm used to at Hawaiian places (i.e. very mayo-ey). Beef ribeye teri beef was a bit fatty, but tasty, not overly doused w/ teri sauce. Fried chicken (boneless skin-on cutlet) was great, lightly salted and not at all greasy like the Loft's Island Fried Chicken. Teri chicken was decent. Best of all, was the bone-on Kalbi short ribs. Lightly marinated and not overly tenderized. Can't comment on the Saimin (except that it came boiling hot) since the kids gobbled it up.
Overall, maybe a 3.5 or 4 out of 5 (on my Hawaiian plate lunch scale), with The Loft a 3 and L&L 1. I particularly liked how everything seemed fresh, cooked to order, not swimming in cornstarchy teri sauce. From eavesdropping, several customers were Hawaii transplants, but couldn't quite get their take on the place. Definitely gonna come back.
BTW, no shave ice at Tom's.
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Is Aloha Specialties really as good as it's rep? Don't get me wrong, I've eaten there countless times and love the place, but I'm usually too drunk, tired or excited to really rate the food. How do the eats compare to other joints?
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It's been there 23 years-so they must have a good rep. Only thing I eat there is the saimin...which is one of the best you'll have on the mainland. Once I had the loco moco which was good and occasional snack of spam musubi. The place is full of local Hawaiians and islanders, so it must be adequate. Hawaiian friends have taken me to other Hawaiian places in LV and I think they're just so so, but there are many.
Actually some of the Hawaiin food they have at the casino restaurant the Market Street Cafe (open 24 hours) is good...like the butterfish, oxtail soup, oxtail stew, lau lau, loco moco and they got Zippy's chili. They also have great macaroni salad....also at the Cal Club (snack bar near the front door).
Hawaiians consider Las Vegas the 9th island.
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Thanks. 777 Bar & Grill (in adjacent Main Street Station next to Cal) used to have great fish & chips (may be back on menu, I don't know).
Zippys chili. Made some from their frozen packs once (from Marukai???). It was good, but was highly GERD-inducing.
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That 777 Brew Pub is the favorite downtown hang out for local people who work in the casino biz....so they got to have some decent chow.
When order a loco moco there I ask for Zippys chili and green onions on top instead of gravy.
Awaiting your report Tom's Aloha Grill, I saw some pics somewhere on the internet and didn't look like the portions were big enough for me.
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Someone mentions Aloha Food Factory in Alhambra, don't bother. Only thing that I'd consider decent are the burgers. Run by husband and wife- they mean well, but pales in comparison to places like Bruddah's.
Aloha Food Factory
2990 West Valley Boulevard (near 710 Freeway)
Alhambra, CA 91803. Phone: (626)308-0215
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Found a fairly new place on the Monterey Park-San Gabriel border called "Bachan's" which is a child's term for "grandma" in Japanese. Decent Hawaiian type food with a few unique items all at moderate prices. Don't know the exact address. It's located in a strip mall next door to the Tozai Japanese market on Potrero. Agree with most posters that L & L is pretty sad. I don't understand how many like Shaka's. I've never been to the Alhambra location but I think the MP location serves amateurish, pedestrian food at inflated prices.
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Bachan's has been there about a year. I went when it first opened because its owned by a son of someone I know. Maybe new opening jitters...menu was limited and it was on the high side for what you could get at L&L or Ono's Hawaiian BBQ....more food for less (really isn't much you can do to mess up or improve on stuff like teriyaki chicken or katsu, rice or mac salad).
Agree on Shaka's..."amateurish" is a good description. First one was MP. Opened by 3 local Japanese American (not Hawaiian born) college friend's who were SGV locals. They opened one in Artesia a few years ago, but its closed now.
Inevitably someone will mention B-Man's in Pasadena on Huntington Drive...nothing worse than the taste of burnt teriyaki. They chop up the chicken then grill it on flame and it has burnt ends.
Think the OP is looking for real homestyle coooking and variety Bruddah's has.
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We finally made it down to Bruddah's today for lunch--as lots of others said, it was top-notch. We had a combo with laulau pork, lomi salmon, and chicken long rice, a plate of ahi poke, inihaw manok (very good Filipino BBQ chicken in vinegar-soy sauce, which could have been a little more sour for my tastes), and a saimin special with lots of fishcake (which always makes PayOrPlayJr. happy). Everything was top notch, and the very diverse and happy crowd on a Sunday afternoon added to the authentic vibe.
We probably should have stayed and had some haupia (their only dessert item), but, hankering shave ice as always, we went to try Teri Hawaii on Artesia Blvd, which has been repeatedly mentioned as one of the better shave[d] ices in the South Bay. Pluses: they have li hing mui syrup and it was pretty good (no li hing mui powder, though, which seems to be *really* hard to find in L.A.), and they have a display case of Hawaiian CD's to look at while you wait. Minuses: the ice was more crunchy than snowy and it froze pretty hard on the outside (suggesting the syrup wasn't applied as carefully as it could be); all of our cups were lopsided when served and one of them collapsed very quickly; other than the li hing mui the other syrups weren't all that flavorful. Two of us didn't even finish. It wasn't terrible but I doubt that we'd go back. Do I correctly gather that TNT is the next South Bay shave ice to try?
Based on today Bruddah's moved to the top of my Hawaiian local hierarchy. We'd put Shaka's (the downtown Alhambra branch) in second place. Not eveyone likes it but we did. Their shave ice is clearly the best one we've found in L.A. so far. We also go to Rutts fairly often--it's more convenient to us westsiders than the others, and it's pretty good overall, although their shave ice is way too snow-cone-crunchy to contend.
12114 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
101 W Main St Alhambra CA
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Shave ice is another subject. One of the first things is those electric shave ice machines that they put cubes into are always going to serve "crunchy" snow cones. They chop and grind the ice....not shave it. TNT has that kind of electric machine.
Only way to get the snowy kind of ice you're seeking is the place uses a machine that "shaves" the ice and they have to have enough turnover where the ice block has been left out to "temper" near where its almost melting. The ice is soft and not right out of a freezer. That means the place has to almost specialize in shave ice and serving it all the time. Only places I see around here that have that kind of machine are at Japanese American or Hawaiian festivals. Its a machine that spins a block of ice and knife type blade that shaves the ice off the top.
Only other place I've seen this method are these Mexican push cart vendors. They're pushing a cart around with a block of ice and using a tool like a plane to "shave" the ice off the block of ice. Since the ice isn't stored in a freezer its tempered. I've never tried one, but its going to be the texture you're looking for.
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"..the ice block has been left out to "temper" near where its almost melting." Dat is so island like. I love it.
Shakas for da real machine.
http://www.shakas.com/?
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You sure Shakas got da real machine?
Years ago when I went there for a shave ice they had da kine dat chops and grindz da ice.
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I think it has less to do with the machine (although that does make a difference) than with the water hardness between the mainland and the islands.
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You remember this?.....http://www.chowhound.com/topics/83051
Don't think it has anything to do with the water. Its the method.
#1 I've spoken with a guy here in LA--his daughter bought those machines they use in Hawaii and teaches classes on how to make it (and syrups) and says its about the "tempering" of the ice.
#2 Go to those Japanese American or Hawaiian festivals around town and they will have it like you get it on the islands.
Next big one is Ho'olaule'a - the third weekend in July - at Alondra Park in the city of Lawndale. They'll have traditional shave ice there.
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I beg to differ.
I haven't had Shave Ice here in CA that resembles what's sold on the Northshore of Oahu.
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http://www.chow.com/digest/387
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Agreed, ipsedixit. So sad. Although, I've always been partial to Island Snow (in Kailua, not on the North Shore.)
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I've had the shave ice at Shaka's in Alhambra recently. I've been back to Hawaii recently and had my fix at Waiola and Tropicana, plus a new fave on Kauai: JoJo's. All better than Matsumoto's, IMHO. Shaka's is not as good as those places, but the best I've had in LA.
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In January, I go Matsumoto’s shave ice on da North Shore (Oahu) and it woz junk. Not good like before but crunchy. Next day I go down waimea town (Kauai) and get da best best shave ice at jo jo's. Only two things make it good. One, both places have da right shave ice machine, dat ice block rotates over da blade, but hey, only jo jo’s machine had da sharp blade and adjusted it mo betta. Wen da blade is dull, da ice will be shaved too thick and den you got chunks (like snow cone style) and it wont suck up da syrup. Wen da blade is sharp, but not adjusted, da ice can be too thin, and den melt wen da syrup (room temperature) gets poured, or maybe too thick and be like wen da blade is dull --got chunks again. Second, da syrup gotta be good. Flavor is up to you but da mo betta dat syrup can be absorbed into da shaved ice da mo yo