 |
 |
HK's and Pee Wee, a closer look
Aloha!
12/28/08 - Are you kidding me? Island-wide blackout!!! Pretty crazy, wasn't it! I didn't ask, but told my supervisor that I was going home to check on my wife and mom! I mean, you never know how bad things could get. Luckily, this ain't like big cities in the Mainland or elsewhere, where you'd soon find looting and general hooliganism running rampant out there! Which, by the way, impels me to give a Big shout out to all the people of Oahu, who truly showed the Aloha Spirit during this time, as I was very heartened to see everyone taking turns at stop lights, not looting, and generally, realizing that we were all in the same boat together! I loved the commentary and help by Michael W. Perry, Larry Price, Mike Buck, and all the other radio hosts that showed up at the station outside of regular hours to pitch-in and help the general public in this potentially hazardous time! They really provided a soothing voice of calm that helped out big-time! Aren't we lucky that Aloha is still alive and well in the islands?
Just wanted to brag on us for just a bit... And so... on to the eats!!!
Last time we checked out two plate lunch stops more typical of what I call Chinese-influenced (though still local) plate lunch houses. This time, we'll see two long-time plate lunch stops whose ratings on the local meter run right through the roof, resembling something you might have seen perhaps 30, maybe 40 years ago or beyond. Not just local, mind you, but local-local... full-on local... local-out, even.
Both HK's and Pee Wee Drive-Inn have long histories on the island, with faithful customers that continue coming back for good, old-fashioned tastes that remind us of establishments we've known since small-kid days, the kinds of tastes that invoke the fondest of memories - grandma's house, carnivals, fairs, lunch wagons, and even the outer islands (not the touristy parts!), right back to the days when noone locked their doors and neighbors actually knew who their neighbors were! Imagine that? Not that it's a bad thing, but I just don't get that same feel at Chinese-influenced places - they're just not the same experience. Again, I speak not one tiny bit about which side is better or worse, but only as a born-and-raised local boy reminiscing about the sometimes subtle, sometimes blaringly obvious, and sometimes debatable differences that make a certain establishment really, really local. I mean, who wouldn't hold a certain affinity, a bit of nostalgic yearning, a healthy dose of Smithsonian appreciation for these small bastions of local history? These spots are certainly becoming less and less available, a fact that makes them all the more precious to the islands, yes?
The first of these institutions, HK's, is a small, cash-only, corner shop right across S. King St. from the nursery department of Star Supermarket, near University Ave. I didn't bother asking what HK stands for, but all you need to know is that it means some pretty ono local-kine grindz!
I dunno, but if you don't find this up-stairs house/down-stairs restaurant simply charming, I have no idea what the word means. If they made a commercial during the days of Checker's and Pogo, Let's go Fishing with Bruce Carter and Harry Kojima, or even Dance Fever with Denny Terrio, this spot'd fit right in! Talk about a blast from the past - I'd venture to guess that the design of this place, aside from paint-jobs and repairs, hasn't changed one bit since its very construction, before I was even born (a long time ago, for sure!).
The eating accomodations are just as simple, with a few tables right there on the sidewalk. If you want to get completely away from the morning sun (the afternoon sun is blocked by the building) or don't want your hair getting all messed up, there's also an indoor dining area on the right side of the restaurant, where they'll bring orders to your table. A small parking lot is to the left just beyond sight, with overflow on the street.
One set of very popular items on the menu here are the fried or grilled fish plates of ahi, salmon, or snapper. I recommend the fried version, which comes in a light, crispy, golden batter that provides an ultimate soaking material for their special teriyaki sauce, which is one of three sauces you can have with your fish. The two others would be a simple tartar sauce and a ginger/shoyu sauce, but the run-away choice here has to be teriyaki. It is not overly sweet nor overly rich, two things you might expect when thinking of a teriyaki gravy, making it much easier to eat than the name automatically implies. It looks and tastes like it was diluted with some kind of broth, like a chicken stock or perhaps dashi, making it a very original product, and indeed, an appealing taste I've not quite had anywhere else.
I was a little bit dissapointed that the snapper I ordered smelt a little too much like, well... snapper, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this meal immensely, and it was certainly the first time I've found a suspect odor here (although, as you'll soon see, not the last!). I wasn't sure what kind of snapper they'd use, or if the varieties change at all day to day (sorry, such questions seem a bit too invasive sometimes), but since the name could mean low-end taape or toau snapper, as well as high-end opakapaka or onaga snapper, I just decided to give it a roll and hope for the best! I'm kinda surprised that they don't have mahimahi, which would probably be better for a light, non-fishy, white-meat taste that doesn't break the bank.
Being a take-out order, I asked for both mac and teri sauce on the side, as to not soggy-up the crispy batter of the fish and not get my mac attacked by melted mayo. Yuuuks!
The mac is pretty decent here, very straight-forward, with no extra's and coming with a distinct, but not overpowering taste of black pepper.
Having never tried the salmon here before, nor the ginger shoyu sauce, I decided to return a few days later, just before work and all by my lonesome.
What I found was a total dissapointment, to say the least, as this was probably the worst salmon I've had ever had - anywhere! These two steaks smelt and tasted like they were forgotten deep in someone's dust-covered, look-down, garage freezer, then re-discovered by kids rummaging through the area several years later! They were super-dry, smelly, and waaay over-salted (hiding the taste, perhaps?). Even the sauce was a bummer, as I kinda expected something a little more along the lines of a Chinese hot oil set-up. What I found, instead, was a tiny container with ginger and shoyu being, quite literally, the entirety of the sauce. And then, they gave me veggie salad instead of the mac I ordered! No mac? Aaargh!
Lesson of the day? Never go anywhere without wifey! Something tells me that such a disastrous turn of events would never have happened had she been there! It may look ok, or even pretty darn good from the pic, but believe you, me...
Jumping back to a more pleasant experience, one where wifey was involved, I ordered a fried noodle plate for her, take-out. These bold egg noodles were all heart 'n soul, with an old-time taste that came from simple but robust flavors of salt, shoyu, and maybe even a little bit of meat drippings and dashi (not sure about the last two, though!), along with the trinity for either local-style fried rice, saimin, or fried noodles - a sprinkling each of kamaboko (fish cake), luncheon meat (or Spam), and green onion. No messing with cabbage, carrots, or other veggies here! Old-school, all da way!!!
On top of the noodles, you also get a choice of either bbq chicken, katsu, teri beef, teri pork, or luncheon meat. As you can see, I went with the first choice, and as you can see, this bbq chicken comes with that strong, sweet teri sauce so typical of really, really local bbq meats.
Other items on the regular menu are pretty basic and standard plate lunch fare - hamburger steak, locomoco, beef stew, chili frank, saimin, sandwiches, and burgers. The daily specials offer much more variety, with rotating items that can include pork squash, chicken nishime, meat loaf, baked macaroni, roast turkey w/fixins, baked chicken, chicken hekka, and more. On Friday, there are full Hawaiian plates that include different combinations of lau lau, kalua pig, chicken long rice, lomi salmon, and either poi or rice, or all the above (Hawaiian items, that is!) in one big plate.
Despite the salmon mishap, there are plenty of other good reasons to give this place a shot, particularly when looking for a taste of yesterday. HK's reminds me quite a bit of another corner store, another local-local plate lunch house called Pee Wee Drive-Inn. It also has a relatively small regular menu, along with a daily-rotating menu that just about doubles your options when it comes to plates (entree, two scoops rice, and mac or veggie salad).
Located on the same street as HK's, Pee Wee Drive-Inn is further West, at the intersect with Punahou St. I gotta admit, despite this spot being well-entrenched in the annals of local plate lunch lore, this was the first time I'd ever been here! I heard that their fried noodles were the best, and you know how I am when I hear someone doing it right regarding the grindz! I just had to find out for myself...
I was actually pretty excited pulling into the small parking lot right next to the store, as this is one operation just about every local boy has heard of, but not necessarily experienced. It was already almost 2pm, and most of the daily-rotating specials were already sold out. Our friendly, though no-nonsense counter person seemed to have been there for quite a while, as she explained to us that this place had changed ownership three separate times, and locations once, as well. Now, under normal circumstances, I'm not sure I'd tell a person that there's a giant grain of white rice hanging between their bottom lip and chin, but here, in these super-casual surroundings, I somehow felt comfortable enough to do so, but not without wifey tactfully pulling away from the counter, unable to maintain a straight face!
A quick swipe of the finger, and her chin was free of any further embarrassment... Not that she seemed concerned at all about it, though, as wifey and I were probably more embarrassed than she! Anyhow, moving right along... she said that the teri hamburger was really popular, along with fried noodles and chicken katsu. Figuring she had the scoops, we went with all three items, and quickly found out why they were at the top of the list!
Despite the fact that the new owners were Korean and could barely speak any English (the lovely, very nice, and always-smiling owner did come out and speak with us, probably because she found it curious that I was taking all kinds of pics!), it looks like they never changed the original recipes at all, as this teri burger was as old-school local as any burger could ever get! The dark, strongly-flavored, sweet teriyaki patty was the perfect match for generous portions of onion, lettuce, tomato, and a medium-sized bun. Brings you back home for sure, this one does! Other than the burger patty and Supermarket-variety bun, I'm not sure what other attributes make this sandwich so nostalgically appealing and brings back so many memories - you'll just have to try it for yourself! I was kinda kicking myself for not also ordering the equally old-fashioned crinkle-cut fries they were tossing in the kitchen, which probably would have made a nice pic and drove the whole theme of this page even further home!
My order was a mini chicken katsu, figuring I may as well go with at least one staple of any plate lunch house anywhere. I wasn't really expecting much, but boy, was I surprised! It was perfectly cooked, moist and very tender on the inside, with a crispy panko coating that tasted more like a Japanese Restaurant katsu than a plate lunch katsu! As you may know, most plate lunch houses bread their chicken first, then refrigerate, or worse yet, freeze them for use at a later time, which leaves you with a thick, oftentimes soggy coating. I can spot these guys after one bite, and sometimes after one look. Edible, yes, pretty good, sometimes even, but when made fresh, by virtue of being breaded and cooked at the same time? And then not overcooked at all? Aaah, heavenly! (note - 2/10/09 up-date - had a trusted foodie friend try the katsu, and he said it was horrible! Don't know if the norm is my experience or his, or perhaps my Chef or his?)
Furthermore, the tonkatsu sauce was also impressive, coming with a slight zest of either wasabi or horseradish, and also a touch of sweetness, instead of just the brutish tonkatsu sauce/ketchup mix often used. It just shows a bit of extra care and diligence, one that, in the end, makes such a huge difference. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the attention to such little details, something you may not always expect from such inexpensive, casual haunts. The only downside for me was the macaroni salad, which I'm guessing was changed to reflect the new Korean ownership. As when elaborating on Chinese-influenced plate lunch houses, this fact doesn't, by any means, signify better or worse to a general audience, just differences of opinion and up-bringing, is all. Many may like this style of mac salad better, but personally, I just don't care for the taste of Korean-style macaroni salad, which always seems runny and carries a certain taste that I actually should ask about one day, because I have no idea where it comes from. Most times, the macaroni also comes super-soft and overcooked, but this this one bucked the trend in this regard, being perfectly al dente.
As with HK's, Pee Wee Drive-Inn also carries a mean fried noodle, here called fried saimin, instead. Aside from the flavoring, they were actually almost indistinguishable, both coming with thick egg noodles and the simple, but perfect trinity of kamaboko, luncheon meat (or Spam), and green onion. You really don't need anything else, and most of all, if you really wanna go local, forget about round onion, cabbage, carrots, and the rest of the other veggies! Pee Wee's noodle differs sharply from HK's in that the taste here is not as full-flavored and less oily. It also comes with a tiny cup of dashi broth, which is meant to be poured all over the noodle.
By the way, in case you were wondering, I know Spam gets all the attention these days, but luncheon meat is a very similiar product found in many old-time restaurants and eateries. People these days aren't so familiar with it, but it does provide a slightly different taste. It is a bit sweeter and carries a texture that is much firmer and, for lack of a better word, more bouncy to the touch.
In wrapping up these really, really local, old-school plate lunch houses, the differences may not be so apparent for the uninitiated, but for those growing up in the islands and aware of these differences, the over-all effects can be huge! The sweeter teri sauce, bolder flavors, supermarket-variety items, simple ingredients, old-time recipes and combinations, even the older-model buildings they are housed in - it all adds up to something really special, a mix that cannot be learned or duplicated without first understanding and being adequately immersed into the culture itself for a time, which is quite naturally a delicate endeavor that, by merit of a kind of Darwinian process, is most often left exclusively to those truly from the culture, instead. The people that know, know. I guess that's why true authenticity of any kind, from whatever culture and whatever skill or proffession, is so precious and worthy of perpetuating.
Yes, there is always much to say about cutting-edge fusion, innovation, and new-wave cooking, of course, but once in a while, in quiet nooks and crannies of old-time neighborhoods and by-ways anywhere in this wide, wonderful world, don't forget about the mom-and-pop's; places that endeavor not to create something new, but to hold fast to that which is already proven, oftentimes in respect and adherence to recipes and traditions passed down by their fore-fathers, going back many generations. Many of them, it seems, would rather pack up and shut down the whole operation before dishonoring their ancestors by changing their methods one bit in order to suit a newer generation! They truly do inspire a whole different set of emotions and experiences, the sum total of which inspire a sense of authenticity, a sense of being, and a sense of satisfaction and respect that cannot be replicated anywhere else on the planet. Pretty special, me thinks it is!
Till we meet again,
Aku
Post a Comment or just say hello! Don't worry about leaving REAL names if you don't want to! Changing to Code names are fine, but just stay consistent with your code names, allright? Heck, you can even punch-in a fake email if you wanna stay completely anonymous (no e-mails will be posted without consent, either way)! Hope to hear from you all!
