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Kakaako Kitchen, a closer look
Aloha!
7/9/09 - Was good to see Marcy Uyehara the other day - only, I'm not sure if it's Uyehara anymore, as she's now happily married to none other than Chef Russel Siu, of 3660 on the Rise! Haven't seen much of her since high school, but we still remember eachother well, and she's definitely still the same friendly, warm-hearted, and super-positive gal I always knew, and looks even better now than she did at 18! I just ran into her brother, Paul, also, who is the President of Aloha Tofu Co. Too bad I was on the clock, doing some grunt-work at the hotel, so I didn't have much time, as he was attending some kind of function that big-wig's like him are always attending. Mom always told me I shoulda kept hanging out with guys like him! She'll never stop reminding me of our close-knit group, with Paul, Kevin Mizuno, Kenny May, and other really smart guys, all of whom are engineers, exec's, and yes, President's of large tofu companies by now! I guess mom's hopes all came crashing down in the fifth grade, when I started hanging out with a, shall we say, more kolohe crowd? Had I stuck with these guys, who knows what woulda happened? But then again, we'll never know...
But then I digress. The reason I saw Marcy was that we were having lunch at Kakaako Kitchen, on the street level of Ward Center, which happens to be the very economical version of Chef Russel Siu's fine, cutting-edge cuisine. Day-time, Marcy is often there manning the store and helping out.
Though Styrofoam plates are ordered at the counter (after which you take a number stand to your table and they bring food out), and you'll find the familiar set-up of rice, mac salad, and entree, don't ever think this is a typical plate lunch eatery, no, not by a long-shot! I guess that's why I believe Kakaako Kitchen is probably the finest of the finest, at least in the group that I've labeled Kicked-up Plate Lunch, under the Local Grindz section. I mean, with items like a bubu arare-crusted wild salmon w/yuzu butter sauce and kabayaki drizzle, a five spice Chinese shoyu chicken, a blackened ahi wrap, or daily specials like a Tuesday-only eggplant parmesan, a Thursday-only home-style pot roast, and a Friday-only three-cheese tortellini, it doesn't sound much like plate lunch domain, to me! Still, prices are mostly under $10, with a few dishes going just past that.
The surroundings are relaxed and casual, with a large menu board, self-service fountain drinks, a refrigerated dessert case, and lots of free water to go around - after all, there is a kind of healthy bent to this place, with lots of healthy options, like brown rice and all kinds of salads and wraps.
Inside, there are several tables available, but the majority of the dining room is outside, with the breezy Hawaiian trades keepin' everything nice and cool. It's kinda surprising how busy this area gets (it's still early down-below), even in this tough economy - I guess when you're good, you're good, ey?
Wifey and I started with a Chinese char siu chicken salad, which doesn't quite have the bright-red coloring of normal char siu, but that's only because they don't bother adding food coloring, like everyone else! The base is a sturdy mix of chopped iceberg lettuce, cucumber, won bok, soba noodles, crispy won ton strips, carrot and daikon garnishes, and an Oriental hoisin dressing that was delicious, but on the thick side, which made it different from most Oriental chicken salads that are are usually much thinner. It all worked out just fine...
There are several sandwiches on the menu, with names like grilled tofu and vegetable, triple-decker club, tempura mahi, and Rueben, but what caught Wifey's attention was a shrimp hoagie. This plus-sized, sub-shaped sandwich was definitely not skimpy on filling's, that's for sure, with generous portions of panko-crusted shrimp, lots of chipotle slaw, and a house-made whole wheat hoagie. A hearty, full, great meal, and yeah, with a little bit of healthy angles, too, considering the whole wheat bun and raw cabbage.
All sandwiches and wraps come with your choice of mac salad, Nalo greens (60 cents more), or fries. With a sandwich? Gotta go with the latter...
I, myself, went with an opakapaka dore plate, which is an opakapaka cooked in a seasoned egg batter until golden-brown, then topped with an almond butter sauce. Wow. As soon as this plate arrived, after taking a peek under the hood, I debated whether this place shoulda been listed under the Hawaii Regional Cuisine section, instead! I mean, check this thing out! At $12.75, it was the most expensive plate on the menu, along with their seafood platter, which you'll see shortly, but even then, does this not look like something that could possibly arrive on fine China, without skipping a beat?
The pieces don't come in the largest portions, but hey, what can you expect for something so valuable? Tender, moist, clean, flavorful - everything a good piece of opakapaka should be, is what this plate was. I don't care what way you prepare this particular fish - steamed, fried, baked, sauteed, or even nitsuke - cook it right, and you just can't go wrong! But to make matters even more enticing, the loads of ever-so-thinly-sliced almonds gave it such a nice crunch and texture, while that delicate, very sophisticated butter sauce sealed the deal, throwing this plate over the top as impressively as Brian Clay besting a 17-foot high bar!
As stated, the only other plate equal in price was a seafood platter, which mom thoroughly enjoyed on a separate visit. This one was like a giant, deluxed-version of a fish 'n chips plate, everything deep-fried, with a nice variety of seafood choices like tempura mahimahi, crispy calamari, and four pieces of panko-crusted shrimp, along with those delicious curly fries.
The only thing on this next plate that didn't taste like it was fresh from the fryer was the calamari, although it was still very tender and waaay above the plate lunch bar - the tempura mahi was, as every other fish I've had here, outstanding, and the shrimp katsu? Phenomenal! And I do mean that emphatically! To tell you the truth, the shrimp pieces on the hoagie weren't nearly as perfectly nor freshly-cooked as these were, as these burst-open with the sweet taste of shrimp and a panko breading so lightly and delicately done that it seemed as light as tempura!
As good as everything else was, my absolute-favorite menu item so far was the furikake tempura catfish with ponzu (although I haven't yet tried the bubu arare-crusted salmon, which is definitely calling out to me!):
If you're not impressed by this plate, there's something really wrong with you. Mom has catfish-phobia and refuses to even touch it, whether on a plate or in a blue tray, completely raw, at Costco, but like so many, she declines at a great loss to herself! The meat was so tender, so moist, and yes, so clean, even! I know you don't expect that from such an ugly-looking bottom feeder, but it's true - don't know if these are farmed or wild, but as long as they keep tasting this good, I really don't care!
The tempura coating was also darn-near flawless - light, crispy, airy, and just right for a delicate piece of fish like this. As you can see, portions are much larger than the opakapaka, understandably, so you get to fill up quicker and better, and all for a measy $8.95! Check it out:
And what better to top-off a stellar meal than with one of their fine, signature desserts? There's double-chocolate brownies, lemon bars, coconut mochi, banana poi bread, and, of course, their awesome bread pudding, which has been an island favorite for quite some time.
It's not really wet like like some bread pudding versions out there, as this one is more like a regular bread cake, with the only liquid, or kinda-sorta liquid, coming from the house-made, sweet-but-not-too-sweet vanilla bean sauce. Mom grew up on bread pudding, and thought this one was delicious.
Well, I hope you do get to stop by and check out Kakaako Kitchen yourself one fine day. As you can tell, I fell in love with the fish dishes here, as they aren't overcooked and obviously from the freezer like at most regular plate lunch houses, not that this should be considered a regular plate lunch house! Say hello to Marcy, and also Chef Russel Siu, who was also there discussing business with a couple of other important-looking people.
And hey, did ya see Aku Eats on television this morning? I can hardly believe it myself! But I'm glad I did a whole lot better than the first taping, even with the added pressure of being live! The guys down there at KGMB are really cool about everything, and they make you feel right at home - Steve Uyehara, Taizo Braden, Grace Lee, Malika Dudley - all cool! And it was also nice to meet Lesa Griffith, of Eatizen Jane, the new foodie blog on the block, only Lesa is no newbie - she's been writing professionally for the Advertiser, Honolulu Magazine, and all kinds of places for a long time now. Lesa seems like a really nice person, so best wishes to her new site and foodie adventures! And of course, thanks also to Alyson Helwagen at Leichic.com, who does the Thursday morning show with Grace and was the one responsible for finding my site in the first place.
I'll put up the video on the next Closer Look, in case you're wondering about it.
Hey, you all have yourselves a great and wonderful day, and always keep expanding, in food, in life, in everything! Except maybe the belt line, that is!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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Comments:
Anne C. (7/12/09) - We were there from Ohio in June and loved the corn bread. Could I have the recipe? Thanks much.
Aku (7/12/09) - Thanks so much for writing! I'm sorry, but my system doesn't have an automatic comment response attached to each page, so I'm not sure which restaurant you are referring to. I'm thinking Kakaako Kitchen, but can you please lemme know? Hope you enjoyed your stay in the islands! I can imagine the food is waaay different here, yes? Take care, and hope the site's been helpful in your foodie adventures here!
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