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Mitsuken, a closer look
A couple of other looks at Mitsuken Okazuya in Kalihi!
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Reid on a 2005 visit to Mitsuken! |
 Yelper's on Mitsuken Okazuya! |
Aloha!
8/12/10 - It's all about da garlic chicken, right?! Well, it seems the iconic cubby-hole in Kalihi has become just as popular for that other issue arriving on the scene a few years back, when one of the owners of Mitsuken was involved in a child sexual solicitation and bribery case. What the hell is wrong with these people? It also totally disturbs me that I know of a former coach, a former co-worker, and a former boss, all caught molesting kids - sick, sick, sick, I tell you! And I only knew after seeing them in the news, as I wasn't close to any of them, 'hope you know!
As utterly reprehensible as this sicko was, I don't really have a problem at all eating at Mitsuken these days. I believe he's already sold his share of the store, is gonna be in prison for a good, long while, and besides, I'm sure there's a lot of nice folks working there besides, including the cute and bubbly ladies serving me today. No sense throwing out the baby with the bathwater, right?
But anywayz. Nuff said about that. Good thoughts. Good thoughts...
Mitsuken is easily one of the best-known okazuya houses on the island, and perhaps the first to be so widely acclaimed as having the best garlic chicken in Hawaii! These days, of course, the competition is on steroids, with others like Sugoi's, Fort Street Cafe, The Alley, 12th Avenue Grill, and many more all contributing to the deluge. In fact, the other night I was lucky enough to sample a spicy garlic chicken take-out plate from Kiki's, a little-known buy-me-drinkie bar on Kapiolani Boulevard, and it was some of the best garlic chicken I've had anywhere! No, don't get me wrong - I've never been to one of these places in my life, and don't ever expect to, but some of the boyz' at work, well... I guess boy'z will be boy'z! They were making a lunch-break run, so I decided to throw-in my eight bucks. Good move!
But before checking out Mitsuken's famous version of garlic chicken, we'll not only see a few other menu options available, but also cover getting there, first and foremost. School Street is the place, where they are located just Diamond Head of another major street, Houghtailing:
Blink and you'll miss it, as the store is about as wide as a bedroom and not much longer! And the infamous quirkiness is just beginning, as there's only two parking spaces immediately left of the store, and I can't even tell if that's just the owners' cars parked there or not. Either way, most times you'll have to employ a get-away driver who can park somewhere along the street, car running, because he'll most likely be in an illegal spot!
From 4:30am except for Sunday, there's usually at least a small line (if you're lucky!) until an approximate closing time of 1pm, although more accurately, it's whenever they run out of food!
Okazuya's of old were once notorious for closing shop at odd hours, sometimes selling-out before 9 or 10am! These days, however, I do believe the hours are becoming more and more stable, not just here but at other okazuya's, as well. Still, no gaurantees!
Then there's the aesthetics. Or shall I say, lack of...? Don't be thinking what you see above is only half the story. It is the story! That open door pictured is not the entrance to an inner sanctum, but, as in typical okazuya fashion, a counter where you pick whatever foods you so choose through glass or plexiglass panels, then pay the server working directly behind it. For those accustomed to the large, clean, well-lit panels at Fukuya, Gulick, or even Mitsuba across the street (all classic okazuya houses), you may be in for a rude awakening, as this tiny showcase, an entire doors-width in size, may tempt you to break out a bottle of Windex or 409.
This is what you'll see when you get closer:
Not that that's all the food there is, though! There are over 30 different items here, plus lots of set combo plates that are quite the steal, such as a fried saimin w/garlic chicken bento for $5.75, a sport pack of fried chicken, hotdog, and rice for $3.50, a mixed plate of garlic chicken, meat loaf, hotdog, and potato/mac salad for $7, and a popular breakfast special which you'll soon see. Catering menus begin at $7 per person, and come with five courses that include mixed sushi, potato/mac salad, fried noodles, garlic chicken, and an assortment of fish, shrimp, and sweet potato tempura. Teriyaki meatballs can be added as a sixth course for $7.75 per person, while a 7-course menu, which adds kalua pig and Chinese chicken salad to the basic 5-course meal, comes for $8.75 per person. And they don't do any substitutions.
The super-popular breakfast special used to be $2.99 for a long time, but inflation has finally taken its toll. At $3.75, however, it's still very much worth it. Check it out:
Described as two scoops of fried rice, two eggs any way, and two strips of bacon, they must be using a pretty big spoon, as it looks like a lot more rice than that. It's a great way to fill-up cheap, but I wouldn't say I was exactly pleased with this fried rice, which was a little on the mushy, wet side and didn't carry much as far as meat or sausage bits, egg, or anything else, which is actually understandable because of the low cost.
And waddaya know - this may seem like a trivial matter, but to hard-core okazuya fans, the lowly paper plate (ok, now it's plastic, but still...) is a nostalgic slice of history. As wierd as it may sound, whenever we see a flat plate wrapped inside of a paper sheath, then secured with a rubberband, instead of the modern Styrofoam containers used everywhere these days, it's just another heart-warming reminder of the past, is all. Go figure. Mitsuken was one of the last bastions to hold-out, but unfortunately, most of their plates have switched to the modern encasements - very disappointing. Our breakfast plate was the only order that still came in the old-fashioned form, just like this:
Even a garlic chicken plate, which we'll finally get to, arrives in a Styrofoam container. And the garlic chicken reminds me of how long I haven't been here, because from what I remember, it seems the recipe has changed a bit. No?
15, perhaps 20 years ago, I swears, this is not how the garlic chicken was! The essential issue here is - to dip or not to dip?
Nowadays, garlic chicken is always dipped into a sweet soy/garlic sauce only after frying. I've always maintained that Mitsuken's version wasn't dipped into a sauce like today's versions actually are, but instead marinated into the sauce, then simply fried with flour or cornstarch. But who knows. Maybe I'm just wrong. Maybe I was confused because Mitsuken's garlic chicken is obviously also marinated before frying, as well. Hmmm... I talk about this very matter in the main pages, so I'm gonna have to do some changes either way, as there's definitely some post-fry dipping going-on now. If anyone out there can inform me on the matter, please let me know!
Whatever the case, Mitsuken's garlic chicken is still a winner! It's not quite as heavily flavored as other famous versions out there, with a lighter, slightly sweet sauce that doesn't exude much garlic at all. As in most okazuya's, there's a tendency for the chicken itself to be a bit dryer and less tender due to the fact that it is usually left sitting under hot lights for a while instead of being made to order, but even so, we locals still find the taste irresistable. We're not gonna compare quality issues at an okazuya with an expensive restaurant, after all!
The plate also came with two scoops of rice and one scoop of mac salad, which was eeeh, ah-ite. I broke my own personal rule of always asking for mac salad on the side when going take-out, so, as you can see, the mayo was quite runny after being enclosed with hot items on the drive home.
Understandably, just about all the combo plates here come with garlic chicken somewhere, including another popular choice, the Mitsuken bento, at $6. It comes with the feature dish, plus teri beef, Spam, hotdog, a rolled, sliced omelet, and a furikake-sprinkled white rice:
Aaah, nothing like a deep-fried chicken, Spam, hotdog (especially shoyu hotdog, which, unfortunately, this wasn't!), and rice, lemme tell ya! It's a real take-me-to-the-drive-in-theatre or beach park type of thing, using cheap but tasty ingredaments that go a long way! The only thing I didn't care for was the teri beef, which was dry and old-school-strong on the shoyu'ee side.
Oops, forgot one more thing - can't leave out the rolled egg! A staple at any okazuya and a side mom used to pack for my field trip lunches in grade school, an egg is simply rolled on the frying pan until it forms a large log, after which it is sliced into irregular ovals. If you wanna get fancy, you can add things like green onion and bits of pink-colored fishcake, as Mitsuken does, but I don't think they bring anything beneficial to the table except for their pretty colors. Me, I prefer straight egg!
Our final plate was a mix done in traditional okazuya-style, which is the style that most often gets us in trouble! That's because chances are, you're super-hungry by the time you arrive, and when a counter-load of ono kine grindz are sitting directly in front of you, and you're left to pick each item individually, costs can add-up real quick! Just as an example, here's a sample of a few items you may decide to choose, along with the costs for each piece:
fried saimin - $1.25
fried ahi - $1.75
shoyu chicken - $2
kalbi - $2
potato/mac salad - $1
musubi (nori-wrapped rice balls) - 50 cents
kinpira gobo (burdock root) - $1.50
That's a typical assortment of choices. With two musubi and a single piece or order of everything else, it'll run you a cool $10.50, not bad on a restaurant scale, but a bit high on the cheap eats scale, and much more expensive than any of the set lunches shown above.
My build-a-plate went like this:
one order kinpira gobo ($1.50)
two pieces of shrimp tempura (actually, katsu - $1.25 each)
one chicken yakitori stick ($1.75)
one piece fried chicken thigh ($2)
one vegetable tempura (75 cents)
one ume musubi (50 cents)
one inari, or cone musubi (80 cents)
Grand total? $9.80. Once again, not bad on a restaurant scale, but a bit high on the cheap eats scale. Everyone's choices will be different, but just remember to be careful if you're on a budget, and you'll be fine. Here's another shot at the plate:
One item I really advise against is their shrimp tempura, which look exactly like the ones you see pre-made (but uncooked) in the freezer section of your local Asian supermarket and are about as sad a shrimp as I've seen anywhere. One thing I advise for is the vegetable tempura, which comes with a decent amount of mixed vegetables and a slightly sweet, delicious, old-school dough that is a bit on the harder, firmer side yet still with very much of a crispy crunch, no matter if left sitting for a while.
Everything on the plate was typical okazuya fare - big flavors, everything room temperature, and not exactly keen on sophistication and detail. The fact that everything is made in big batches and left to sit ensures a hardier, more rustic product, after all. Basically, it's home-style cooking, a style that local boys like me have grown up with.
Quite honestly, though, if it weren't for their garlic chicken, and perhaps their cheap set meals, I don't think Mitsuken would be nearly as popular as they have been for generations now. But then again, that's like saying Drew Brees wouldn't be nearly as popular if he didn't have that throwing arm - you just can't say that! I mean, Mitsuken is garlic chicken, and you can never separate the two, right? Sorry for the possible mistake I made regarding this anchor product, though - I kinda have a sinking feeling I've been wrong on the matter all these years! Like I said, if anyone remembers for sure how it was 15-20 years ago, and if it's changed at all since then, please let me know!
Coming soon, a popular gourmet burger joint found only in the islands, and also the much-hyped Maui transplant everyone's been talking about, Da Kitchen. Can't say which order it'll be in, though.
Until then, you all be good!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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