Aku Eats Oahu : a closer look : L and L Drive-Inn, a closer look

L and L Drive-Inn, a closer look

Aloha!

11/5/08 - Ya know, a lot of people ask why I don't have 4-Forks, or 5-Stars, or something or other to quickly rate restaurants. I have, in fact, put a great deal of thought into the matter, but my conclusion is that simple rating systems like those mentioned above tend to be gross over-simplifications, often flippantly tossed out, on matters that have and always will remain highly subjective. There are so many different angles to consider, so many opposing views to respect, so many contrasting passions to inflame each given opinion.

Now, if I were covering restaurants of just one specific type of food, then yes, maybe a quick set of wingdings or dingbats would be in order. However, try placing every type of restaurant, with every type of food, all into one, single, all-inclusive scale, and here's where you start running into a whole mess of problems.

For example, let's try starting at the top, with a place like Alan Wong's. Obviously, we'll give it a 5, or the highest mark possible. Well, if that's the case, you're also gonna get several Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurants in the 3 or 4-range, possibly less. With excellence in this particular class running so high, what then shall we say about mid-priced American chains, other casual restaurants, or many of the ethnically-oriented eateries out there, many of which are delicious but, as a general rule, cannot compare to the quality, ingredients, and innovation of Hawaii Regional Cuisine? Of necessity, then, most of these would start at 2 or 3 and work their way down from there. And what about hotdog stands, lunch wagons, or plate lunch houses like the one we'll visit today, which would begin even further down the totem pole? Here's where I'd say there's much more to the story than a number.

I can tell you one thing for sure, one taste of Dean's Drive-Inn, Kakaako Kitchen, or Diamond Head Market & Grill, all kicked-up plate lunch houses, and you definitely won't feel like disrespecting them with a 1 or 2 ranking, but a 3 or 4. But that would be logically impossible because, at usually under $8 per plate, you're simply never going to get the kind of over-all experience you'd find at fancier restaurants. 1 through 5 just doesn't cut it. To me, rankings are like trying to capture and appreciate all the tiny intricacies and angelic overtures of a symphony orchestra through a cheap transistor radio on the outer edges of a station's frequency range.

Better just to scrap the entire system altogether! Food is much more than fancy restaurants and haute cuisine. It's also about mom-and-pop hole-in-the-wall's, cheap local grindz, and hard-core ethnic experiences that may step on the toes and ruffle the feathers of fussy or haughty-minded critics out there. I try to look at it as an adventure more than anything else. My take on the matter is that it's much more exciting to have fun with different points of view than to pay homage to any rigid set of standards - diversity, that is, over conformity.

Though a place like L&L Drive-Inn is rich in nostalgic history, has proven wildly popular with locals, and has become the biggest chain of plate lunch houses in the State, it wouldn't fare so well in a ratings comparison next to 3660, La Mer, or Alan Wong's. And understandably so. However, giving it a score of .05 or 1 would be flat-out unfair, and not nearly enough respect for such a place. For a heaping, belt-busting plate that can be had for $6 to $8 or less, you can have yourself a pretty darn good meal. And the same goes for all the other little guys out there, whether featuring plate lunches, okazuya, hamburgers, or pizza!

L&L Drive-Inn, or, more accurately, owners Eddie Flores Jr. and Johnson Kam, certainly deserve a whole lot of credit for taking L&L into the record books, with hundreds of outlets all over the State as well as the Mainland, where they are mostly scattered throughout the West Coast. They feature all the standard plate lunch specialties, such as chicken katsu, mochiko chicken, bbq (sweet teriyaki) beef, beef stew, and fried mahimahi, but that's only scratching the surface. Don't be surprised to see a full-blown NY steak, shrimp scampi linguine, or giant beef or pork baby-back ribs. Many of the outlets in Hawaii, being Chinese-owned, also have a good deal of additional, more ethnic items like beef broccoli, cold ginger chicken, and sweet-sour Canton shrimp.

Today's closer look takes us to just one of their busy outlets, located inside the Keeaumoku St. Wal-Mart.

Not sure why, but outside of myself, our party of five wasn't very hungry, so instead of what I hoped would be pictures of five different plate lunches, there were only two. The difference was made up by a couple of different sandwiches, the first filled with thin slices of bbq, or teri-beef, which mom seemed to enjoy. I'd normally never order a bbq burger this way, mostly opting for the ground beef patty, instead, which I find more tasty, more substantial, and easier to eat - you know how it is when having to gnaw on slices of meat that are not always the most cooperative, right? This one, however, was luckily on the softer side and easily torn. Judging by the bbq beef that was on my plate, which came from the same type of meat, it must have been pretty good.

The next sandwich came with mahimahi, deep-fried in a light, golden batter and served with mayo, lettuce, tomato, and a sesame seed bun. A small, simple meal which my brother-in-law rather enjoyed. Old-fashioned, crinkle-cut fries made the perfect companion, especially when dipped in that perfect mix of ketchup, tobasco, and loads of black pepper!

Wifey couldn't really make up her mind as to what to order, so she just left it up to me. Don't you just love it when they do that? No, she's a pretty good sport when dropping decisions squarely into my lap, no matter how bad I do afterwards.

Ever come across one of these?:

"What do you feel like eating, honey?"

"Oh, anything, dear..."

"Chinese?"

"No..."

"Korean?"

"Naah..."

"Hungry for burgers or pizza?"

"Not really..."

I just wish these people would elaborate more on the term "anything!"

But, like I said, Wifey is pretty good about it. I got her a relatively safe choice - a mini garlic mahimahi plate. Mahimahi is one of the more mellower cuts of fish, and you just can't go wrong with garlic. Unless, that is, you don't use enough. From the looks of this next pic, it seems like there was a sufficient amount, but I do wish they used more, and that the taste would have permeated the fish a bit deeper. Other than that, it was a bit over-cooked, but nothing too serious.

Sis ordered a mini chicken cutlet w/gravy plate. Normal variations of chicken cutlet, at least at most plate lunch houses, usually come with a batter or American-style bread crumb coating, but this particular one came as your standard chicken katsu, which is instead covered with a Japanese-style panko outside. As thin as she is, sis loves her gravies, bacon, manapua, Portuguese sausage, and other such heavy-hitting offenders.

Though it wasn't quite the bread crumb-coated, boneless chicken plate from Rainbow's, which she absolutely has to have on her frequent visits to the island, she was quite impressed and happy with her meal, nonetheless.

My plate was a standard mixed bbq plate, consisting of three different varietes of Hawaiian-style bbq. First was a thin-sliced beef, as in mom's burger, the second, boneless chicken, and third, on top and in the forefront of the picture, kalbi.

One thing about L&L is that they are, like any large chain or franchise, pretty consistent with their staple dishes, all coming with the slightly sweeter teriyaki sauce marinades, but not nearly as sweet as a few other island-favorite spots, such as Bob's BBQ and Kiawe Grill. The chicken, in particular, has a marinade that is very much on the lighter side (possibly because sauces don't soak into chicken as quickly as beef or pork), which might be a good thing for those not wanting to overload on thick, almost syrupy caramelizations surrounding their meats. For a couple of great insights on local-style bbq, or teriyaki, check out a couple of short stories from Uncle Ken's Corner Table. One is called Various meat tenderizers for ono-kine cookouts, and the other, Why is local-style teriyaki sweeter than Japanese-style teriyaki?.

Just out of curiosity's sake, I happened to see a few musubi choices that I haven't seen before. Musubi is a japanese riceball wrapped in nori and often, but not always, coming with a little surprise on top of or inside the rice. Here at L&L, it could be spam, Portuguese sausage, chicken katsu, or bbq chicken, which is what I ordered. It came not as a rice ball, but as a rice log, actually, like the popular spam musubi's you see at 7-Eleven and other quickie stores. The amount of rice was quite substantial, and I can see a couple of these making a pretty good meal without needing a fork or spoon.

From just about any neighborhood on the island, you'll likely come across at least one L&L outlet before getting too far. These guys seem hell-bent on expansion, with the term Hawaiian BBQ gaining a fair share of traction in large swaths of the Mainland because it happens to be one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country! Imagine that?

I wouldn't say that L&L is the absolute best of plate lunch spots, but they are worthwhile, and sure do have the system down pat! Service is usually very quick, and the right combination of ono local grindz, convenience, and low prices make for a great combination.

And that's about it on this very fine day! Hope you get the chance to try L&L, or any of the other plate lunch stops on the island if you happen to be just visiting. For the price, they are hard to beat!

You all take care and mahalo till next time, which will be very soon!

Aku

Back to A Closer Look

Back to Plate Lunch, page 1

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? No e-mails will be posted without consent! Hope to hear from you all!