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Kim Chee 1, a closer look
Aloha!
12/31/09 - Over on the Windward side, in Kaneohe town, lies a humble eatery long-revered for carnivorous inclinations. A band of brothers (eeeh, thown-in a couple of sisters, in-laws, and maybe a cousin or two!) began this family of Korean bbq restaurants by giving themselves number's - Kim Chee 1, 2, 3, 9 - and so on and so forth. C'mon guys - not exactly showing a whole lotta creativity here, are we?
But then again, they must be doing something right here. I mean, for the past several decades, with their equally-creative marketing scheme called word-of-mouth, you'll not find one local bruddah growing-up on the island who's not heard of a Kim Chee restaurant. They've been able to sprout and proliferate all over Oahu, as well as with a single location out-on Kauai! Though the various restaurants do have shades of differences between them all, some in price, some in portions, some in atmosphere, and some in taste, they all at least started with the same menus. It is a family affair, after all!
Which makes me wonder... Hmmm... Any sibling rivalry involved?
Me, I'm not one to pry, so I won't draw any conclusions. All I can say is that, for as long as I've been alive, the competition has mostly been from the two oldest brothers - Kim Chee 1 and 2. Proper disclosure forces me to admit that I haven't been to all the Kim Chee restaurants yet, but I've been to both of these many times, as the two definitely appear as the dominant broods of the litter.
But focusing intently on numbah-won-son, he is located right-on the main road of Kamehameha Hwy., just Waimanalo of Pah-ke's Chinese restaurant, which sits itself a couple of short blocks Waimanalo of Windward Mall. The inside is about as stock and casual as it gets, with diner-type booths straight out of the 70's. The service is also much the same - very laid-back, very down-to-earth, and very non-presumptuous, with local sistah's that provide good, how-you? kine service without kissing your ass.
As stated earlier, like most Korean fast-food spots that resemble plate-lunch houses, (not that Kim Chee 1 is a plate lunch eatery!), the Kim Chee restaurants are most famous for bbq meats. Forget about kook soo, naeng myun, paejon, or healthy stone-pot meals - though they do have some of these items, at any Kim Chee, it's hard to deny that it's all about meaty fare like bulgogi, kalbi, meat jhun, and even a few local/Japanese additions, like chicken katsu! Even the vaunted banchan, or side dishes of mostly a vegetarian character, are kept to a minimum here, at least relative to fancier and more traditional Korean restaurants. Though most plates of meat do come with three small dollops of salted cabbage, wakame seaweed, and bean sprouts, they kinda fade into the backround as a kind of afterthought, as the impressive spreads of hot, juicy, marinated meats dwarf and overshadow the small mounds of veggies.
The single plate of banchan presented separately, before your orders arrive, is also tiny, consisting of kim chee'd cabbage, daikon strips, and daikon cubes. Not the most authentic spread, I must say, but then again, try joining Kim Chee 1 on any given day, and you'll be hard-pressed to find any Korea-Korean patrons, anyway! As you can probably see in the next shot, it's definitely more Halms than Queen's or Palama Market. But no worries - you don't come here for banchan, and besides, if I closed my eyes and pretended I was in, say a plate lunch place, just so I'd have no pre-concieved notions of what real kim chee should taste like, I'd probably love the stuff, hands-down, and just call it salted daikon, with a little heat! I mean, as long as the veggies are fresh, who needs a lot of that thick, spicy, salty red sauce all the time? It was kind of a refreshing change, actually.
A big positive Kim Chee 1 has over Kim Chee 2 is that here, you can custom-design your platters, meaning - you can pick and choose exactly what types of entree choices you want, all in one, individual meal set. Me, I just don't understand these restaurants out there, who offer only a few combinations, refusing to let you create your own! Worse yet, they often combine fried items on one plate, such as meat jhun and chicken katsu, and bbq'd items on another, such as bulgogi, kalbi, and bbq chicken! Don't you want a combination from both fried and shoyu/sugar sides?
Mom decided upon a 3-choice combination plate of bbq chicken, bulgogi, and meat jhun, which she'd eventually make three square meals out of!
I think on a good day, I prob'ly coulda put this plate away in a single sitting, but just barely, and in no ways could I ever, ever dream of finishing-off the plate I, myself ordered. While most plates, including combinations like the one above, go for between $8 and $15, my Kim Chee special combination tallied-in at $18, easily the most expensive plate on the menu.
The order contains a giant oval of three whole thighs of bbq chicken, three giant strips of thick-cut kalbi, and several pieces of thick-cut bulgogi. That blurred-out meat jhun on the top-left was, mind you, part of the same order! You see, that's how it's done here in the islands - So BEEEG, no can fit on juss' one plate!!! And I haven't yet mentioned the also-included Korean veggies yet, nor the bowl of rice, nor the seaweed soup, if you should so prefer. Here at Kim Chee 1, they don't present soup automatically, but they will ask.
Basically, it was the same as mom's plate, except with the addition of kalbi and with everything in super-sized portions. Before I begin taking the plate apart item by item, I first gotta say - everything was absolutely delicious! I do prefer the bbq chicken at Kim Chee 2, but the version here was still top-knotch.
But what impressed me most about this particular plate was the kalbi. Not cut with the typical three oval bones on one side, these were cut in long strips with a single, larger section of bone for each piece. But the cut really didn't matter, as it was the taste that really counted. For thick-cut kalbi, it was surprisingly tender, juicy as could be, and with an incredible, only slightly-sweetened Korean marinade that combined with the meat to produce one incredibly ono, very delectable piece - and perfectly-cooked, too!
I also gotta give the slight edge to Kim Chee 1 in terms of their bulgogi, or boneless bbq beef. Both sides produce a stellar product, but you see all those tear-apart sections within the meat? Why, that looks strangely reminiscent of the choicer parts of a rib steak, although I'm not exactly sure what they actually use. Bulgogi makes no particular cut requirements, and I know places that use whatever is most available at that time, which could be anything from sirloin to chuck to New York, on any given day!
Whatever the case, another thumbs-up on this guy:
The last type of meat on a Kim Chee 1 special mix plate is meat jhun. Who gets the nod here? Once again, Kim Chee 1! Actually, I don't think either location makes a meat jhun as excellent as their bbq meats, but of the two, this one came with a more substantial egg-batter mix, and with lots of crunchy, light extensions protruding, which adds a stronger deep-fried taste. The beef itself was basically identical to the bulgogi. A good thing, I might add.
Like mom, this one dish provided a couple more meals for Kumi and I, and for any normal couple, I'm sure just a single Kim Chee 1 Special Mix plate would be enough for the two of you! And that's a fact leading us to yet another advantage Kim Chee 1 has over Kim Chee 2 - bigger portions! Yeah, it seems, over the years, that Kim Chee 2's portions have become a bit more expensive, while at the same time, they've also grown a bit smaller. Just remember, however, we need to keep things in perspective. The ratio of portions to prices at Kim Chee 2 is still tough to beat, no doubt about it, but here at Kim Chee 1, it just seems they haven't changed anything at all, serving the same large portions and delicious foods they've always served.
But all things considered, chances are - you won't be dissapointed at either spot - prices, portions, and over-all taste are all excellent. I love 'em both, believe me! And if you're particularly fond of local or Korean-style bbq meats? Aaah, heaven!!! Here's one more shot of just the bbq portion of the Special Mix plate:
Convinced yet?
Hey, hope you're closing-out the year with a bang, and entering the new year with an even bigger BANG!!! Once again, we'll be celebrating with mochiko chicken, Prime ribeye steaks, grilled shrimp, and much, much more - maybe even crab and/or lobster, who knows? If I feel like it, I'll post yet another hibachi night, but we'll see. Either way, you all be safe tonight, and don't be flying aerials towards my house! I'll come hunt you down!
Take care and Aloha till next year!
Aku
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