Lox of Bagels

It's easy to overlook this place. I should also add that the exterior doesn't do Lox of Bagels justice.

In most cities, a post about bagels would seem downright silly. After all, a number of well-known bagel shops, especially chains such as Einstein Bros. and Bruegger’s, are ubiquitous almost everywhere now. Here in Hawaii, however, it’s surprisingly hard to find a good bagel shop (and good pizza, but that’s another post). Most people buy them at grocery stores, and one bite will tell you immediately that no love has gone into the baking process. There are a few locally run bagel shops, but in my experience there is only one worth going to. Unfortunately, it’s a little bit out of the way from where I live, but now and then it’s worth making the fifteen-minute drive to get a nice bagel sandwich and stock up on bagels for home.

The Manhattan was unreal good. I love the fact that they're generous with

the veggies and don't slather on the cream cheese.

If you’re anywhere near downtown Honolulu, Lox of Bagels is, in my opinion, the only place to go to satisfy a bagel craving. Generous with their help, and even more so with the ingredients they pile on to an order, I just don’t see how you can go wrong with anything here. They have more than twenty varieties of homemade bagels, and that doesn’t include seasonal bagels. Their bagel prices are reasonable – at least for Hawaii – and go for $1.09 each.

While their selection of bagel sandwiches is fairly standard, they take the idea of standard and make it special. You can make your own bagel sandwich from ham, salami, roast beef, smoked turkey, tuna, pastrami, or chicken salad, or you can order a veggie ($3.99), a BLT, a Club, or a Manhattan Delight (lox, cream cheese, and capers). All sandwiches come with “the works,” a piling-on of lettuce, tomato, sprouts, onions, mayo, and mustard. You might not notice it in the photo above, but that bagel sandwich, which I’ve squeezed down to make it easier to eat, has a veritable salad inside. It is absolutely worth the $8.49 price tag. If you arrive for breakfast, you have a choice between a bagel with eggs and butter ($2.79); eggs, cheese and butter ($3.29); or eggs, cheese and butter, and ham or bacon ($4.49).

Chocolate bagel puff -- great with coffee

Another thing I like about Lox of Bagels is their bagel-based desserts. For example, they have several pretty amazing “bagel Danish” options as well as “bagel puffs,” which are innocuous-looking, dinner roll-like concoctions that are much better than a glance might suggest. The first time I tried these I worried that they’d be too dry and bready and overwhelm their individual dessert aspects. But not to worry. Good lord, they were excellent – and perfect with a hot cup of strong Vietnamese coffee (yes, another Trung Nguyen victory). Cinnamon raisin puffs, which have cream cheese inside, are only 99¢, but you may want to splurge an extra 40¢ for a specialty puff whose center is filled either with chocolate and cream cheese, peanut butter and cream cheese, or adzuki beans. I went with chocolate and cream cheese, which is delicious eaten warm, and if I didn’t feel like such a pig ordering all this (along with four bagels I’ll be freezing) I would have also ordered the adzuki bagel puff. How's that for fusion?

As with the exterior of Lox of Bagels, the interior doesn't do the place justice either

Lox of Bagels also sells homemade cream cheese spreads: plain, chive, garden vegetable, honey, strawberry, jalapeño cheddar, guava, lox, cinnamon walnut, cucumber onion dill, and spinach herb. Two-ounce containers range from $1.29 to $1.99, and eight-ounce containers will run you between $3.99 and $5.99. They also carry salads, bagel pizzas and melts, bagel dogs, and sweet and savory bagel chips.

They were short on bagels when I arrived. But more were being made in the background.

They were short on bagel puffs and bagel Danishes. But for good reason.

In the two-and-a-half years I’ve lived in Hawaii it’s been difficult to find really good bagels. Well, suffice it to say that bagels are no longer on my list of hard-to-find eats in Hawaii. Lox of Bagels is the real deal. I just wish it were closer to where I live.

A colorful variety of spreads

Lox of Bagels

111 Sand Island Access Road

Honolulu, HI 96819

(808) 845-2855

www.bagelshawaii.com

Mon - Fri: 5 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Saturday: 6 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Sunday: Closed

Catering is available.

Fifty Foods for Fifty Years: Commemorating Hawaii’s Statehood

Hawaii, nearly three thousand miles from the West Coast of the United States, became our country’s fiftieth state on August 21, 1959. Despite the intervening fifty years, much of the Islands’ culture remains unknown to mainlanders. This is particularly true of the food of Hawaii, which has absorbed the varied culinary influences of its population perhaps more than any other U.S. state.

To commemorate Hawaii’s statehood I have compiled a list of fifty foods of Hawaii that will help the uninitiated learn what feeds this beautiful, far-off state.

Fish, of course, has always been a Hawaiian staple. Mahimahi (dolphin fish) is perhaps the most familiar fish to mainlanders. Real mahimahi has been overfished in recent years, however, and much of what appears on menus is a different variety of whitefish. Another local fish commonly found in markets and on menus is ono (wahoo), which is similar to king mackerel but more versatile in its pairings.

Fresh mahimahi (wearing the tail of another fish on its head) in Chinatown

While mainlanders have learned to love sushi, poke (cubed fish salad) remains little known. Traditional poke consists of raw fish, aleae (sea salt), inamona (kikui nuts), and limu (a seaweed and ancient seasoning). Today, poke can be made from almost anything. Ahi (yellowfin tuna) is the most popular poke, found in Island stores raw, dried, or salt-cured, and served in restaurants as a pupu (appetizer).

Poke selection at Tanioka's Seafood & Catering, in Waipahu

One of my favorite kinds of poke uses opihi (limpets), which can come from the ocean or a freshwater stream.

Opihi poke, from Tamashiro Market

Aku (skipjack tuna) is another popular poke fish, and its bones are used in stocks and can even be eaten fried.

Fresh aku in Chinatown

One also finds edible ocean plants in the local diet. Ogo, a type of limu harvested mainly on specialized farms on the island of Molokai, is the most common seaweed eaten in Hawaii, and local groceries carry it both dry and fresh.

Ogo sold in a Big Island Foodland

Sea asparagus, while not as popular as seaweed, is starting to catch on, partly due to its nutritional benefits.

Sea asparagus, from Kapiolani Farmer's Market

Shortly after Captain James Cook landed on the Islands in 1778, Hawaii served as a provisioning stop for European and American sailors. When the Hawaiians feted Cook at a luau (a traditional feast) at Kealakekua Bay, on the Big Island, he was served, among other dishes, kalua pig – salted pork slow-cooked in an imu (a pit filled with heated stones).

Kalua pork lunch plate from Keneke's in Waimanalo

But luau is also a dish made from coconut milk, long-stewed taro leaves – “luau” means “taro” in Hawaiian – and either squid, octopus, or chicken.

Luau squid from Helena's in Kalihi

Taro also features in poi, perhaps Hawaii’s best-known food. Poi is a buoyant, tangy dish in which the tube root of the taro is fermented, baked, and then pounded into a paste. If any food verges on the sacred in Hawaii, it is poi.

Another Hawaiian dish is laulau, which today is found frequently on plate lunch menus alongside rice and macaroni salad. Laulau consists of salted butterfish and either chicken, beef, or pork, all of it wrapped in taro tops and steamed in ti leaves.

And although salmon is not an endemic fish, lomilomi salmon is often served at luaus and in plate lunches. Lomi refers to an Island massage technique applied to salted salmon mixed with tomatoes.

Huli-huli is a sweetly pungent marinade used with rotisserie chicken. Huli-huli chicken is popular at large gatherings and is often sold on the weekends by streetside or parking lot vendors.

Hulihuli chicken in Haleiwa

Chili water is a common household seasoning in Hawaii. Made from hot red chili peppers, crushed garlic, salt, and vinegar, it goes well as a condiment on many dishes.

Although taro is by far the most important local tuber, the ‘uala (purple sweet potato) has long been significant to the Hawaiian diet. It also features in many ethnic recipes, particularly among Filipinos who often eat its leaves.

'uala, or purple sweet potatoes

Cook’s arrival paved the way for others, who inevitably brought with them their own foods and culinary predilections. The Chinese were the first migrant group to appear, arriving in the 1770s to work on local sugar plantations. The Japanese were next, also to become plantation workers, followed by Portuguese from the Azores islands, and then the Filipinos. These groups introduced many dishes that have long been incorporated into the local food landscape.

One of numerous Chinese contributions to local cuisine, but perhaps the most influenced by local tastes, is manapua. These baked, baseball-size Chinese buns are traditionally made with pork, but in Hawaii they come with various fillings. Long rice is another Chinese-inspired dish, though this, too, has been adapted to local tastes. Consisting of cellophane noodles, onions, and usually chicken, this is yet another luau staple.

Manapua stuffed with curried chicken, from Royal Kitchen

The Japanese, too, have contributed significantly to the local diet, and bento boxes, sushi restaurants, ramen shops, and even katsudon restaurants are easily found here. Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) is a seasoning that has grabbed a foothold in Hawaii. Hawaiian shoyu lacks the alcohol that Japanese shoyu contains, and is also slightly saltier. Shoyu chicken, shoyu pork, and shoyu-based dressings are all popular in Hawaii.

Portuguese food also holds great importance in Hawaii. Laborers from the Azores brought with them a European cuisine, but their most widely consumed contribution is the malasada (deep-fried doughnut).

Malasadas from Tex Drive In, Big Island

When the first Filipino immigrants arrived, in the decade preceding World War II, they introduced a unique cuisine that was different from anything the Islands had seen. Local people embraced it, and one commonly finds adobo (stewed chicken or pork) and pork guisantes (stewed pork with peas and tomatoes) at many food outlets.

More recently, Korean cuisine has made headway into the Hawaiian food scene, especially on Oahu. Kim chee (spicy pickled vegetables made with garlic and red chili pepper) is widely available, and kalbi (thin slices of grilled beef marinated in Korean soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil) is a popular plate lunch item.

Another local favorite is musubi. Wander into any convenience store, farmer’s market, or local grocery, and you’ll find musubi. Musubi is usually a slab of Spam atop a brick of salted rice, held together with dried seaweed. Spam, however, can be replaced by hot dogs halved lengthwise, or it can be dressed up, for example, with teriyaki sauce.

At the Hilo Farmer's Market, all the Spam musubi you could dream of

Spam is also eaten in saimin, a plantation-era noodle dish that typically includes omelet shreds, chopped green onions, fish cake (oden), and char siu (Chinese barbecued pork) in a savory fish broth. Nobody is sure whether the Chinese or Japanese in Hawaii developed the dish, but its popularity is indisputable: many local McDonald’s have it on their menu.

Char siu shop, Chinatown

Loco moco is another signature local dish. Hailing from Hilo, on the Big Island, this breakfast dish is not for the weak of heart (medically speaking). Loco moco is often made from two or more hamburger patties, two or more fried eggs, scoops of white rice, macaroni salad, and topped with thick gravy.

Loco moco from Nico's Pier 38

Snacking is big in Hawaii, and a world of small bites is easily found. Pipikaula (salted, dried beef often marinated in soy sauce) has been around since the mid-1800s, and was a common hip-companion of the pañiolas (Hawaiian cowboys). Another snack, although primarily consumed by tourists, is macadamia nuts. Native to Australia, and a relatively new commercial crop in Hawaii, they are also manufactured into healthy cooking and salad oils.

Helena's famous pipikaula

And Hawaii is a paradise for sweets. From andagi (Okinawan fried doughnuts) to shave ice (flavored syrup poured over finely shaved ice), sweets are ubiquitous. Mochi is a Japanese contribution. This short-grained, glutinous rice is cooked, pounded, and made into cakes that can be enjoyed plain, flavored, or filled with sweet pastes. Then there are desserts based on the Islands’ exotic fruits. Examples include haupia (a firm coconut milk pudding) and the various forms that lilikoi (passionfruit) takes: syrups, jams, sauces, drinks, fillings, frostings, cookies, and cakes. While crack seed is not a dessert per se, these colorful dried fruits are favorites among kids.

Another fruit is the Ohelo berry. Native to Hawaii, it grows particularly well in volcanic soil at high elevations. The Big Island is home to many Ohelo berry orchards, and also to the Poha berry, which is tarter. Both are used in jams and glazes, and the latter especially in ice creams.

With all this lip-smacking food, you’ll want something to wash it down with. Hawaii’s famous Kona coffee should do the trick. The high elevations in the north and south districts of Kona, on the Big Island, are best suited for growing Kona coffee beans, and its rarity in the marketplace results in a high price.

Ripening Kona coffee beans along a Big Island highway

More than almost any other U.S. state, Hawaii’s history can be read in its food. Like the geologist who studies the substance and history of the earth, along with the processes that shape it, an open-minded eater can learn much about Hawaii’s past and those who have helped make the Islands a paradise – of abundance, of flavors, and of diversity.

Coastal Foraging: Kaena State Park

Kaena Point Trail

Last weekend, wanting a coastal hike that might yield some edible seaweed and a sea critter or two, my wife and I headed to Kaena State Park in northwest Oahu. It's a one hour drive from where we live, and the trail starts just past Yokohama Beach, which is named for the Japanese fishermen who frequented the area early last century. (Its much older, local name is Keawa'ula, which means "red harbor" in Hawaiian, referring to schools of cuttlefish whose reddish backs colored the waters long ago.)

At its longest, the hiking trail extends 9.5 miles (15.3 km), but our shortage of bottled water and the sunscreen I accidentally left in the car meant that we could only go to Kaena Point, which is more or less the trail's halfway point. It's also a great destination unto itself, as the scenery changes from worn footpaths above surf-beaten volcanic rock to gorgeous dunes covered in naupaka shrubs. And where the beach slopes down to the water, outcroppings of rock surround pools of clear blue water that remind me of outdoor hot springs in Japan. But the highlight is finding yourself in the presence of endangered monk seals and Layson albatross. Much of the indigenous plant life here, too, is rare and protected.

Exciting action photo of a monk seal racing back to the ocean

A Layson albatross flying over the dunes and shore

In Hawaiian, Kaena means heat, an apt name for this dry, almost entirely unshaded area. Kaena Point also has spiritual significance to native Hawaiians. The area is about as isolated as you can get on this island of one million people, but even in ancient times it was apparently considered no less so. Kaena Point was once believed to be the wandering place of the souls of dying people. Upon death, the souls would leap into the abyss from a large sacred rock, where their aumakua (ancestral spirit guide) would catch them and lead them to the hereafter. Along the trail one comes across volcanic rocks stretching in a long, flowing pattern, which I assume relates to Hawaiian beliefs about Kaena Point.

During the winter months, the surf from here all the way east past the North Shore can get to monstrous sizes, as the following video attests. People generally don't surf here, however, but in less remote parts where rescues are easier and the undertow isn't so dangerous. If you want to see what big wintertime surf can mean in Hawaii, check out the video below.

The trail followed along an old dirt road that fell into disuse when a portion of it slid into the ocean long ago. The remains of the road provide a perfect path for hikers, though it does get a little hairy at times. A railroad originating in Honolulu used to link the area to the former sugarcane-growing town of Haleiwa, on the North Shore, but the railroad, too, fell into disuse nearly seventy years ago.

In any case, I took my camera with me so I could photograph the plants we encountered in the hope of matching them up in field guides later to see if any were worthwhile as wild foods. (Except for the pea pods of non-native mesquite trees I came across, the ones I've identified so far are not.) I was really hoping to collect a sample or two of seaweed, since virtually every variety seems to be not only edible, but also a rich source of nutrients. Collecting seaweed proved almost impossible, however, because the shore was composed of large rocks that were being slammed by powerful waves.

We were also hoping to capture a couple crabs. These guys were all over the rocks, and they were huge. They were also incredibly fast, and I was pretty sure I heard them laughing at us as we stumbled around the shallow water like the idiotic landlubbers we are. We caught zero of the buggers. What we really needed were nets and cages.

Crabs clambering over rocks

We also came across black nerite snails, or pipipi. These were clustered on rocks and easy to pick off, but my wife has an aversion to snails and I decided to leave them in peace.

Black nerite snails (pipipi)

We even came across sea salt lying in depressions atop some of the more highly perched rocks, which had apparently been filled with seawater that evaporated long before under the hot sun.

We did find one edible, however, which is the whole reason for this post: helmut urchins or, as they're known in Hawaiian, ha'uke'uke kaupali (which means "cliff hanging"). To me, these look like ocean mangosteens, and their insides contain flesh that's nearly as delicious. How do I know? Because my wife plucked one off a rock and hammered at it with a stone until it broke open.

Helmet urchins (ha'uke'uke kaupali)

Underside of helmet urchin (ha'uke'uke kaupali)

While I'll eat sea urchin, I'm not a huge fan of its deeply briny taste and slick, somewhat lumpy texture. But these were otherwordly. The taste was of a salty, creamy custard, and the texture was more uniformly smooth than I expected. We each had two of the pieces you see in the photo below, and yes, in case you're wondering, we washed them off before eating them.

It may look unappetizing, but it overwhelmed us with its flavor

The hike was totally worth the sweat and sunburn, and it was nice having Yokohama Beach to come back to and cool off in. Although Hawaii's wintering whales are long gone, and the dolphins we've seen on previous visits didn't show themselves this time, Kaena Point is stunningly beautiful and as close as you can get to an unspoiled coastal environment on Oahu. Next time I come here, I'm going to make a point to reach the end of the trail -- toting crab traps, of course...

In Hawaii, Innovation Makes an Old Food More Ono

Poke anyone?

Most of my mainland friends have never heard of poke, and when I tell them what it is, they give me bewildered looks. “It sounds Japanese,” they say. When I respond that it’s Hawaiian, they look at me askance and ask if I’m sure it’s not Japanese. “I’m sure,” I reply, knowing there’s little chance of introducing them to this signature Hawaiian dish unless they hop on a plane and fly here.

How is that sushi has made inroads into nearly every corner of the country, available in such unlikely places as rural Midwestern convenience stores, whereas poke, from a state that welcomes nearly eight million annual visitors, largely remains unknown? Poke marries with other ingredients in more varying, interesting, and successful ways than raw fish by itself ever could.

Poke, described by some as a “fish salad,” is popularly conceptualized as cubed fish mixed with Hawaiian salt, chili pepper, and limu (a crunchy, edible Hawaiian seaweed). Its origins can also be traced back centuries, and represents an important ingredient to native Hawaiian identity. In the words of Justin Tanioka, General Manager of Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering, “Poke is a continuation of the past, a continuation of a Hawaiian food tradition.” Many visitors to Hawaii compare it with sashimi (“raw fish” in Japanese), but I find the comparison off target. Poke, which can also be seared, cooked, or even made from meat and vegetables, is a completely different eating experience from sashimi.

An ingredients list for poke sometimes reads to me, a relative newcomer to Hawaii, like a field guide to the Islands. Here’s a quick rundown of some common Hawaiian words you may encounter when shopping for poke: ahi (yellowfin tuna), aku (skip jack tuna), a’u (marlin), ‘inamona (roasted, pulverized kukui nuts mixed with sea salt), limu kohu (a red, spicy seaweed), limu manauea (a red-green seaweed with a mild taste), ‘opihi (limpets), and pa’akai (sea salt used in traditional food preparation and for flavoring).

One of poke’s biggest enthusiasts is world-renowned chef Sam Choy. Choy has been instrumental in popularizing Island cuisine, and even hosts the Sam Choy Poke Contest, which attracts scores of entrants, hundreds of attendees, and publicity from all over the world. Despite his and others’ efforts, however, poke remains little known outside Hawaii.

Poke selection at Tamashiro Market

Oahu’s best-known poke seller is Tamashiro Market, which has become a local institution since moving into its current salmon-colored building (and hanging a giant, plastic red crab twenty feet above its entrance) in 1962. Located in Kalihi, a working-class, immigrant neighborhood once famed for its many fishponds, Tamashiro Market specializes in fresh fish. A counter inside offers more than thirty kinds of poke, while its owner, Guy Tamashiro, creates new ones all the time. One of his latest creations, the Ahi Seaweed Supreme, is a laboriously constructed bricolage of dehydrated limu, deep-fried wonton strips, nori (dried Japanese seaweed), and a sauce made from twenty different ingredients.

One of my all-time favorites here is Surf Clam Poke. For me, the slightly sweet sauce and three distinct crunches, from the sliced Maui onions, green and bell peppers, and firm, lightly cooked meat of the clams, make the dish. Their most surprising poke is a Tahitian-inspired dish called Oka Poke: Pacific blue marlin marinated in coconut milk, with chopped tomato, onions, and crunchy cucumber wafers.

Oka Poke

When I crave smoked, dried, or cured flavors, I head to Tanioka’s in Waipahu and jostle with multiethnic throngs of grannies and high school kids to place my order. My three favorite poke here are Pipikaula Poke (russety strips of Hawaiian salt-cured beef), Smoked Salmon Poke (fishy, oniony, and delicately smoky) and Dried Ahi Poke (luxuriously dark niblets of yellowfin tuna). These briny morsels are washed down perfectly with a tall cold one, or, as my mood sometimes dictates, chilled sake.

Pipikaula Poke

Just down the road from Tanioka’s, Poke Stop offers what could fairly be called Oahu’s most innovative poke. Owned and operated by Elmer Guzman, former executive chef at Sam Choy’s and author of The Shoreline Chef, Poke Stop expands on traditional poke recipes by applying gourmet concepts to it.

Poke selection at Tanioka's Seafood & Catering

“Poke must have certain elements,” Guzman explains. “The most basic version uses salt, kukui nuts, and ogo (limu manauea). That was all the ancients had available for their poke. Nowadays you can use anything – as long as it makes sense.” Guzman’s Blackened Ahi, Tofu, Ginger Scallion Shrimp, and Kapakahi were the most memorable poke dishes of a recent Poke Stop feast. The Kapakahi Poke won me over, though, with its sweet, marbly hunks of ahi and creamy, faintly bitter limpets.

Kapakahi Poke

There’s a richness to poke that lingers after eating. This comes from the fat of the fish as well as the marinade, which is typically made from sesame oil. When combined with Hawaiian sea salt, the mix can render poke quite savory. The other day, my wife and I tried ten kinds of poke at Tamashiro Market. With steamed rice and some okra that we boiled at home, our poke dinner was satisfyingly filling and cost less than eighteen dollars. What’s more, we had enough leftover for lunch the next day.

“Everything has to be consistent,” Justin Tanioka said when I asked if there’s a secret to making good poke. “Obviously, the quality and freshness of your ingredients is key. Different fish also have different flavors, and even the same kind of fish doesn’t always taste the same. So you have to be aware of what you’re using and how your ingredients can complement it.”

For a nutritious, filling snack, poke is a low-fat, high-protein option. Ahi and aku, the most popular fish used in poke, are great sources of Vitamin B12, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, and Selenium, and contain omega-3 fatty acids. A four-ounce serving of either tuna variety measures in at less than 200 calories. While poke tends to be salty, salt is what draws much of the flavor onto the fish.

Ginger Scallion Poke

Poke remains inexpensive despite its popularity and the innovations that have changed how people think of it. One reason for this is that poke traditionally uses “economy” cuts of fish, minus the sinew. Back when he was a boy, Guzman most often ate poke made from akule (big-eye scad) – “poor man’s poke,” he says, “that my father made at home.” Now, by filleting it, dicing it up with shoyu, sesame oil, and chili flakes, he’s made akule a big-seller. Guzman admits that his modern take on poke didn’t work at first. “But once people understood what I was doing,” he says, “using higher-end ingredients and innovating on old ideas, they really went for it.”

Eating poke is like nibbling on the ocean itself. That's another difference between poke and sashimi: poke brings the taste of the ocean more intensely onto your plate. And the taste, as Justin Tanioka explained, is hardly uniform. The contrasts between, say, ahi onion poke, blackened ahi poke, and dried ahi poke will make you think that you’re eating completely different fish.

“For me,” Guy Tamashiro says, “one of life’s great joys is eating. I don’t ever want to lose my sense of taste. I’ve been eating poke since I was a kid and don’t want to give it up now. I just couldn’t live like that.”

When I ask why people who have never had poke should give it a try, he sighs as if he knows about my food-challenged friends. “Any food is worth trying at least once,” he says. “And you should do it for yourself because, who knows, you may discover a favorite dish. New textures, new tastes, new combinations of different ingredients. You should never be afraid to try something new. That’s what life’s all about.”

And that’s what I discover all the time in Hawaii. With such a magnificent blend of cultures, one’s food choices here are more varied than just about anywhere else in the world. Newcomers to Hawaii should not view poke as a dangerous leap into the unknown. For those who arrive with an interest in Island culture, it offers an easy and exciting entrée into what feeds it.

Where to get poke in Oahu:

Tamashiro Market: You’ll find over thirty kinds of poke here along with everything you need to make your own. Excellent quality and very affordable. 802 N. King Street. (808) 841-8047.

Poke Stop: Like the name says, a great place to stop for some of Hawaii’s best poke. A little off the beaten track, but well within reach if you find yourself at Pearl Harbor or bargain-shopping at the Waikele Outlet Mall. 94-050 Farrington Highway, Waipahu Town Center. (808) 676-8100. (www.elmerguzman.com)

Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering: Anyone in Hawaii will assure you that quantity does not take precedence over freshness and quality here. While a bit far from Honolulu, it’s just up the road from Poke Stop. 94-903 Farrington Highway, Waipahu. (808) 671-3779. (www.taniokas.com)

House Without a Key (Halekalani Hotel): Although expensive, you can get a scrumptious Island Style Ahi Poke “Martini” ($18) served on a bed of shiso (perilla) leaves and garnished with lumi, sesame seeds, chopped green onions, and radish sprouts wrapped in pickled ginger. The oceanside seating makes for a perfect place to savor your poke as the sun sets and live Hawaiian music takes the stage beneath an ancient Kiawe tree. 2199 Kalia Road, Waikiki. (808) 923-2311. (www.halekulani.com)

Island Style Ahi Poke "Martini" with taro chips

Helena's Hawaiian Foods

I’ve been eating a lot of heavy food lately, something I attribute to having had guests in town for nearly ten days, which meant eating out a lot, drinking more alcohol than I normally do, and putting an arctic freeze on my exercise regimen. (Our guests left two days ago, and it still hasn’t thawed out.) And last night, when we should have eaten something light and healthy, I decided to try out a new recipe I saw in Gourmet for a Monte Cubano sandwich. Talk about heavy. After soaking the sandwich in an egg batter, I took the remainder of the yellowy liquid, fried it up, and had an omelet later with my wife. Thank god we had a salad with it. At least that way I could feel less guilty for today’s high calorie binge.

Actually, truth be told, I don’t feel guilty at all. I’m pretty pleased with myself, in fact. Today I went to Helena’s Hawaiian Foods for lunch and ordered well beyond all good dietary sense. Let me begin by saying that Helena’s menu doesn’t list a single vegetable, not unless you count the small amount of watercress that comes with two of their dishes. No, wait – I take that back. Kalua pig comes with cabbage…


In any case, Helena’s is a small restaurant of about a dozen tables, with very little parking in front, very little to recommend it from outside, but some of the greatest Hawaiian food you can get anywhere on Oahu – and some of the friendliest service, too. And I’m hardly the only one who knows this. In 2000, Helena’s was recognized as a “Regional Classic” by the James Beard Foundation, an award that’s part of what Time magazine calls “the Oscars of the food world.” It’s located in Kalihi, a working class, immigrant neighborhood that’s probably my favorite food community on the island. The restaurant has been around since 1946, when Helen Chock opened it. She passed away in 2007, but her grandson, Craig Katsuyoshi, now runs the place. The restaurant displays original Jean Charlot lithographs on its walls, as well as paintings and photographs by other well-known local artists.


I got to Helena’s early for lunch, at about eleven a.m. Even then, five of the tables inside were taken, and two other parties followed me through the door. I had a long look at the menu, and one of the women working there convinced me to order what she said were their three signature dishes: fried butterfish collar, short ribs (pipikaula style), and luau squid.

As soon as I got home, I placed all of my food on one plate and took photos. I was too hungry to realize that the photos came out blurry, but at the time this didn’t seem worth checking on.


I was most intrigued by the luau squid, which looked a lot like creamed spinach, or saag paneer, or possibly old moss skimmed from the surface of a swamp. It was a dark olive green, thick as mud, with an almost fibrous element to it when scooped out of the container I was given. Mixed in with it were small, chewy pieces of squid. Most surprisingly, however, was the almost overpoweringly sweet, fragrant smell of coconut milk. What made for the swampy green color? Cooked down luau (taro) leaves, which are mixed in with other ingredients and simmered for a long time. Despite the sweet aroma of the squid luau, I was still a little wary of it. But my first bite dispelled my wariness, and I had one of those revelatory moments that happens sometimes when your initial taste of a new food, particularly when it looks like something you could make sturdy pottery from, completely wins you over. It was absolutely delicious, though also quite rich. The coconut flavor was subtler than my first smell of the dish led me to believe, and the squid mixed in was tender – I only wish there had been more.


As for the pipikaula short ribs, which are prepared by marinating and smoking the meat, they were quite good as well. They had a fair bit of fat in them, and I really had to use my front teeth to cut the pieces, which were a satisfying half-inch thick, down to size. The outer part was cooked well enough to be slightly crunchy, almost like a casing, and the flavor came out fully in the meat and juices.


I ate the fried butterfish collar like I might eat fried chicken: with my hands. It had a deliciously crispy skin, and the meat, though buttery with fat, was appetizingly white and melted in my mouth. There were about three bites in each of the three pieces in my order, with much nibbling of the bones and skin afterward. The fried butterfish collar went great with the other dishes, though I should have eaten this and the pipikaula short ribs with poi, for dipping. Ah…next time.


Helena’s offers four different set menus, combining two or three main dishes with poi or rice, but I ordered a la carte. Other delectable items include kalua pig (cooked in an imu), laulau, tripe or beef stew, beef with watercress, chicken or squid luau, long rice chicken, pipikaula short ribs, lomi salmon, lomi or poke (ahi), opihi (limpets), fried butterfish collar, boiled butterfish collar, fried ahi, and, for dessert, haupia (firm coconut pudding). It’s all quite affordable, too – the a la carte items all sell for between $3.05 (kalua pig) and $5.50 (boiled butterfish collar with watercress).

It’s a shame that Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern never had a chance to come to Helena’s when they taped their food and travel shows on Oahu. I get the feeling that the family who owns and runs the restaurant isn’t the least bit bothered, but Helena’s feels more authentic than Ono’s, more down-home…and to me, at least, the food is better, too.

Helena’s is open from Tuesday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. You can order ahead for takeout at (808) 845-8044. Their address is 1240 N. School St.

Royal Kitchen

Wandering around Chinatown this morning, I soon found myself on River Street with my stomach loudly growling. I spotted a Chinese man in the doorway of his shop, grabbed his lapels, and hungrily shook him.

“Who sells the best manapua around here?” I said, still shaking him.

“The best?” His head lolled around as he thought about it. “Kevin’s makes the best. Try six or seven doors down.”

I paused. Something about his recommendation didn’t quite jive: whereas manapua is a Chinese-inspired dish, "Kevin" didn't sound like any Chinese name I knew.

I stopped shaking him, then thanked him and said goodbye. After several passes down River Street, there was no sign of Kevin’s anywhere. But there was a Kent’s, so I went inside to see if they sold manapua.

“Royal Kitchen sells manapua, not us. Go next door.”

I couldn’t help flashing back to that Seinfeld episode when the maitre d’ at a Chinese restaurant calls out Cartwright instead of Costanza, even though he knows George’s last name. Next door, I immediately spotted Royal Kitchen’s display rack with nine different types of manapua and guessed, though I was still unsure, that this was indeed where I wanted to be.

Manapua rack

Royal Kitchen is tiny. With four customers in the ordering area, it quickly became hard to move around and see the food behind the counter. Although I’d come for manapua, I noticed a few snack-sized items I wanted to try. I chose two manapuas—one Portuguese sausage and one curried chicken—and asked the counter woman about two other items: their “Half Moon” and “Look Fun.”

When I asked about the latter, which looked like a miniature, multicolored hose (how else to describe it?), a well-dressed man behind me said, “They named it that because when you come and see a Look Fun, you think, Oh, that looks fun to eat.”

The people here were very friendly, and they seemed keen on helping me learn about Chinese food. The woman behind the counter even slipped me an extra Look Fun for free (though I'd really only wanted a taste).

Of the two manapuas I ordered, I preferred the Portuguese Sausage. The buns reminded me of hot dog buns, but these were baked and slightly sweet. The sausage was firm, with a crunchy casing, and had enough black pepper to give it a decent bite. The curry chicken manapua was a bit disappointing. The spoonful of filling offered such a mild curry flavor that it tasted more like chicken salad. (Had they billed it as chicken salad I might well be raving about it now; then again, I probably wouldn’t have ordered it.) Despite this, the chicken was properly cooked and I appreciated the crunchy onion and celery mixed in.

Curry chicken manapua

The Half Moon was basically a jiaozi dumpling—a half-moon of rice dough, which is in itself rather tasteless, enveloping barbecue pork and bits of onion. I was surprised by the dumpling’s nutty, smoky flavor, which was a little intense, but I adjusted to it quickly. It was rather greasy, too, and after finishing it my fingers sparkled like somebody had been sucking on them without my being aware.

Half Moon

The Look Fun was less fun than weird to look at, and my first idea was that they should rename it Look Weird. The Look Fun is a kind of “rice roll-up” sprinkled with chives, char siu, and dried shrimp, and tastes like you’d probably expect—overwhelmingly of rice with some salty bits thrown in. But with the sweetly pungent soy and wasabi sauce it came with, eating the Look Fun became something of an ordeal. The doughy rice absorbed the sauce so much that I was left to parry a strong and relentless assault of wasabi. I couldn’t finish the first Look Fun, much less the one I got for free.

Look Fun

The Half Moon and Look Fun aren’t bad choices if you’re in the mood to satisfy your curiosity, but if you’re there because you’re actually hungry then I’d opt for their savory plate lunches, which include chow mein, chow fun, fried rice, chicken or beef broccoli mein, won ton mein, and saimin. These dishes range in price from $2.25 (small saimin) to $7.50 (a three entree combo)—excellent value for what you get.

I doubt I’ll return to Royal Kitchen anytime soon, but that has less to do with the shop itself than the fact that Chinatown offers so many interesting options. If I find myself along that intriguing part of River Street again, where the bougainvillea frames the canal so beautifully and groups of elderly Chinese men gather around tables to play mahjong, I could easily see myself stopping by for a quick manapua to go.

Royal Kitchen is located at 100 N. Beretania Street, #175, near the Chinatown Cultural Plaza. For take-out orders call (808) 524-2843. Parking is tight around here, though there are usually plenty of curbside metered spaces available and also local garages nearby. Royal Kitchen offers parking validation with purchase.

Hours:

Monday-Friday: 5:30 a.m - 4:30 p.m.

Saturday: 6:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Sunday: 6:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.