Steak.

Since my regular Beef Bowl place at Palama Market closed down, I've been on the look out for other alternatives to McDonalds. Even though they've got the McRib this month. According to the Blood Type Diet, potato is no good for us Type Os, so I've got to get some distance from those evil french fries.

It was a sojourn to Foodland for my grandmother's ice cream (I'm still lactose intolerant.) that caused me to park in the Foodland parking lot, get out of my car, & then walk directly into a charcoal, spice, & beef-flavored smoke.

It's like Huli Huli Chicken. Only better; it's steak.

I wasn't hugely impressed with the steak plates we used to eat in the airport area, although it was still pretty good. However, immersion in steak-enhanced smoke is a great persuader. And, it was about time for lunch anyway.

Those steaks looked about as good as they smelled. I don't get to hibachi very often, & I'd have to say that the smell of grilling steaks is one of the most festive, happy smells I can think of.

Could these guys do rare? Absolutely they could, by request. Did I remember to arrange for the rare steak? No, I forgot. The smell was just too enticing. I can't think when I'm salivating. Also, the ice cream was melting.

Not only were these boys cooking up the food I was brought up on (this & spaghetti; it's all I can remember), but they were also frying up another favorite food: shrimp!

(Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.)

Turns out these guys are a completely different company from the other steak plate stands I saw at other supermarkets. Apparently all the money changing was done inside Foodland, so I went inside to order my lunch as well as interrogate the friendly guy at the Steak Table.

Ono Hawaiian Steaks has stands at various Foodlands on various days, from 10am-6pm. Their schedule is kinda crazy:

Tuesday: Beretania
Wednesday: Mililani
Thursday: Market City & Koko Marina
Friday: Ewa Beach

A steak plate, or steak & shrimp plate, is $6.50 & comes with an ice cold can of soda (Diet Coke, my elixir of life.). You can also buy a 1 lb steak by itself.

Surf & Turf for me, please.

Steak & shrimp plate obtained, I hurried outside to enjoy the sunshine & devour my delicious-smelling food. There was a table of condiments including Tabasco shoyu, but I was starving at this point. Who cared about the ice cream. At first glance I remembered I had forgotten to request my steak rare, but quite frankly the slices of beef looked great... medium.

I can't remember the last time I ate steak medium. I think it was at Morton's, & I had ordered rare. You'd think at Morton's you could get rare.

Anyway.

Under the shade of the Foodland parking lot trees, with the scent of charcoal still on the air, I sat down on a bench with my steak & shrimp & an ice-dripping can of Diet Coke.

I've been lucking out like a madwoman lately. This was awesome steak, & believe you me, I am a steakologist. It was soft, aromatic, with just enough fat. The lack of blood wasn't an issue. I could see that the beef had been heartily seasoned, but to be honest, I couldn't identify the seasoning exactly.

But it was very, very good. I'd like to learn this seasoning mix. No, they wouldn't tell me.

I highly recommend this place. The tough part is being in the right parking lot at the right time.

See you guys at Beretania Foodland on Tuesday.

I got the ice cream home ok, btw.

You Hungry?

The mention of You Hungry brings up tasty visions of fresh corned beef & cabbage, succulent kalua pig, & steaming shoyu chicken, all in mom-style portions with big scoops of rice. I also recall it being on the corner of Atkinson & Kapiolani, where we'd wait patiently for a parking stall because the reward would be worth it.

You Hungry has since continued the tradition of good, real food under the new ownership of Joel Cabais (son of Jay Cabais, Honolulu steak plate pioneer), his brother Donovan, & cousin Jason of Ono Hawaiian Steak. Recently You Hungry went to the streets, winning Honolulu Magazine's Best Lunch Wagon for 2008. With the help of David Hayashi, they are now implementing plans for world domination.

Seriously. You gotta try their sauces.

When my brother told me he was taking me to lunch at a lunchwagon, I was a little skeptical. My experience with lunchwagons is pretty noobish. I remember visiting one by the boats near Ala Moana Beach Park perhaps 13 years ago, a lunchwagon outside Queens Physicians Office Building with my dad & I think I've gone to Tsukenjo's once. I'm a drive thru girl when it comes to lunch, mostly due to laziness.

Still, I trust my brother.

Around 12:30 (lunchtime) we found street parking on South Street practically in front of our lunch destination, in front of which there was already a line of 5-6 people, & a few others who had already ordered, or were perhaps just bathing in the enticing smell of hot food.

Lunchwagon menu boards intimidate me. I always think I want something, & then at the last minute I decide I want something else, but I'm not entirely sold on that something else & I can't really be 100% sure that's what I actually want, but I'm already at the front of the line & everyone is looking at me expectantly. So then I order what I'd decided on initially that I wanted to change my mind about. And then after I pay I figure out what it was that I actually wanted to order. But it's too late.

Maybe that's why I go to drive thrus. Anyway.

There were already a number of items already sold out on the lunchwagon menu board. Naturally, I immediately found something I'd like to eat amongst the sold out stuff (fresh corned beef!!).

We were moving ahead in line pretty fast & I had to make a decision.

My brother informed me he was going to order the Fried Ahi Poke, reassuring me he wouldn't be able to finish the whole thing.

And so there I was, & there was only one person left in front of us in line. My brother had already decided what he was going to order, but I still didn't know.

I considered the Roast Pork with gravy, but thought that might be too flagrantly unhealthy --- I'd have to come back here alone to order that. The Garlic Chicken sounded tempting, but I wasn't in a real chicken mood, & Crab Stuffed Salmon felt a little too adventurous.

I looked again, forlornly, at the bottom of the menu board where "Fresh Corned Beef w/ Cabbage" sported a little note saying "OUT." I thought of a few reasons why I didn't need to have Corned Beef for lunch today.

And then we were at the front of the line & the guy in the lunchwagon was looking at me.

My brother had ordered his Fried Ahi Poke, & was looking at me.

My mind went completely blank. I didn't know what I felt like eating. Everything sounded good. They were out of fresh corned beef. Ooh, Pork Adobo.

"I'll have the Hamburger Steak please," I said. "All rice. Brown rice. Thank you." Sheesh, I'm such a dork. I didn't even let him tell me I could have toss, but if I'd been a lunchwagon connoisseur I'd have known that tossed greens is a common plate lunch option.

Well, I handled that well.

Our plates came & we set up on the picnic table next to the wagon.

My brother had gotten me a small sample of You Hungry's secret recipe Sweet Wasabi sauce. Whoa.

I've had wasabi/mayo dressings that went well on burgers & wasabi/miso dips that added color to seafood, but this sauce was pure happiness just by itself. As I've said in other blogs, I'm not the huge sauce person; I like my food plain with minimal seasoning.

But this sauce tasted winz just on the tip of my finger. I was too busy enjoying the bright, expansive flavors to even try to deconstruct what I was tasting.

You could put this stuff on anything. Ok, maybe not ice cream. Worth a try anyway, though. It was good.

My brother's Fried Ahi Poke looked & smelled so good that I immediately felt like a loser. The chunks of ahi were soft & perfectly cooked, seasoned with some enchanting citrus flavor. If only I could order this by the bucket & take it to the bar!

Obviously my brother had been here before!

Resignedly I turned to my panic-ordered hamburger steak.

As I lifted the condensation-drenched lid I was greeted with the smell of rich, homemade brown gravy & beef. My hamburger steak was tender, meaty, & swimming in delicious gravy. I'm proud to say that I didn't make it through the rice. But that hamburger steak disappeared in its entirety.

That was really good. I made a good choice after all.

Either that, or there are no bad choices.

Monday thru Friday, 10am-1:30pm
Two locations: South & Halekauila, Alakea & Beretania.

Food Review: Chez David

Once upon a time I was having dinner with my brother at Kincaid's, which is a wonderful option if you are looking for good, affordably-priced prime rib. Occasionally they have a very hot mama singing in the lounge area as well.

Add to that their ability to provide prime rib at the requested temperature. That earns like 300 points in my book. The correct temperature is huge. Huge.

"I'd like the prime rib," I told our server. "Rare. Like bloody rare. Like swimming in blood. If I can't get that, let me know & I'll order a steak." I'm generally pretty clear about how I like my beef.

"Same," my brother said.

When our dinners came, they were both just what I had asked for. It was just barely warm. I was greatly pleased, & our server was smug. My brother was actually a little nauseated.

There's only one thing, however, that is better than a bloody rare roast. And that would be a bloody rare roast with nuggets of raw garlic & a pothead's supply of butter sauteed mushrooms.

Now that's what I'm talking about.

I've had my brother David's chili, & it's probably the best chili I've ever tasted. Eye widening flavor & just a little too spicy. Now that's good chili. It's gotta hurt a little, like a good Anejo.

So when Audrey & I showed up for our table at Chez David, I was thinking about chili. But as soon as we got in the door I knew I was very, very wrong. But in a good way.

Fee, fi, fo, fum. I smell beef.

Yum.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

The chef was cooking a healthy portion of heaven in an impressive-looking rotisserie oven. The instructions had said 15 minutes per pound, so he was cooking it 10 minutes per pound, he said. Or something like that. Heavy salivation affects my hearing.

"It's probably ready already," I said. Hey, once the outside looks brown that's good. I mean, you wouldn't want to burn it, right?
David promptly removed the roast & started carving it up. I guess the smell was getting to him too.

As you can see, it was perfect. I've left this photo large simply because it's too pretty to size down any more.

Entertainment while we dined consisted of the much-bloodier-than-the-theater-version director's cut of Troy (hell yes). Between the excellent meal & Brad Pitt as Achilles, it was a deeply fulfilling feast of... well, meat.

I'd have to give this experience five stars.

We'll definitely be coming back. David has a copy of 300.

My Favorite Cheese.

Hurray for 2am grocery shopping.

The green Cracker Barrel cheese, in a jumbo size no less, sat there on the Hawaii Kai Safeway shelf like Wilson Flannery, that blue-eyed sweetie who gave me his milk carton seedling at the end of the school day in 1st grade at Case Elementary, the closest thing to a long-stemmed rose I would ever receive for many years. Only Wilson would be 37 years old now. I might not recognize him.

That Cracker Barrel looked just the same, though. A little stouter; 20 oz instead of the usual 10 oz, but join the club, eh?

During college days this was my absolute favorite cheese. A block of Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp White Cheddar & a fresh baguette from the Patisserie; this is what I sat down to at lunch time. At Silke's house we would boil pasta & mulch the entire 10 ounces on the jumbo grater. And in my sunlit dorm room, I would read my Oscar Wilde (I did read some of the assignments, you know) with a plate containing 2 slices of Healthnut bread & a third of a block of cheese. Or a plateful of the best crackers ever, Stoned Wheat Thins.

The red & yellow Cracker Barrels were found on most dairy shelves, but the green one could only be gotten at Star Kahala, & sometimes Times Kahala.

And then it disappeared. I'd look in vain at every cheese display at ever grocery store I went to, without hope. Red & yellow, no green. I visited the Kraft website to find that no one in Hawaii sold it. Until now. God bless you, Hawaii Kai Safeway.

My week just got brighter.