This semi-new local restaurant, Wailiki Hawaiian BBQ, has sparked easily the most heated discussion amoung our immediate circle of friends & family. Apparently my sister and her husband, Mr. & Mrs. Meathead visited this place a month ago and were served nearly inedible food. The food I received was worth returning to. My co-worker EarAche wasn’t impressed with the one in Hercules, the L&L Hawaiian BBQ . Why do these two restaurants have identical menus? Why are there no vegetables? Except for the strands of cabbage under the fried food? I’ve never been to Hawaii and it took a few days to sort things out. For those of you concerned, it’s called Plate Lunch.

No matter what the restaurant’s name is, it’s called Plate Lunch. You expect a scoop of rice or two and a scoop of macky salad. After that it’s up to you how it gets filled. Amound the top seller is the Chicken Katsu, a flatted chicken patty that’s breaded then deep fried. This was quite tasty and I had absolutely no problem eating it. But remember, if you order the regular meal you’re getting enough food for two VERY hungry people. There’s a mini version available, I would highly suggest you start there. And I mean it. I’m 6’2″ and 215 lbs and the regular was clearly too much, even to stuff myself silly. All for $5.50 (sans the soda).
My sister ordered the BBQ Short Ribs and ended up leaving most if not all of it on the table. I can understand that, Beef Short Ribs are a fatty faire and if not cooked really long and really slow can be highly nasty to injest, or not as the case may be. Mr. Meathead ordered the Deep Fried Shrimp Regular meal. Again, not a happy camper and left it all there for the waitress to dispose of. I can understand it, most breaded shrimp meals are small shrimp with some breaded coating that ends up being most of your meal. This is no good, which is why I don’t order the breaded deep fried shrimp when I attend these eateries. Just something to take note of for the future, eh?
The Loco Moco sounds interesting, I may try it in the future or make it at home. It’s a homemade hamburger steak & egg with gravy, interesting. Another possibility might be the Saimin (noodle soup) or one of their breakfasts, Spam with Eggs & Rice. Hey man, don’t laugh. The Hawaiians consume the greatest amounts of spam, it can be just fine when done correctly. Do you want to try the Spam Musubi? I dunno.

I ordered the Mahi Mahi Plate Lunch today, it was ‘okay’. But I wouldn’t order it again. Big D says that is just pre-battered fish from a bag. I agree. That was a large Nope. Probably be even a larger something else later on.

Big D ordered the Teriyaki Plate Lunch. He says, “It wasn’t really bad, it wasn’t really good.” Okay, I’ll buy that. But keep in mind, he’s been to Hawaii many times and has homemade teriyaki sauce made special. He knows the full spectrum of how good it can get.
As of today the way to go would be either the Chicken Katsu Lunch Plate or the Kalua Pork Lunch Plate (a daily special). The Kalua Pork is a smoked pulled pork meat plate with a light sauce of some kind, almost can’t tell it’s on there. I’d eat it every day it’s so good. No fat or craziness going on, just full on pulled pork that smells as good as it tastes. Kersmakyumbo.
To sum it all up, these Hawaiian Plate Lunch eateries can be a mixed bag of goodies. Pay attention to what you’re ordering and remember to go home and eat a salad right away. Ask around too, since they are all not of the same franchise you could very well run across a real gem such as Zippy’s based in the Hawaiian Islands (Thank you Big D for the tip).
Xo Xo
Waikiki Hawaiian BBQ
9935 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
510-558-6928
or
Concord Location
1680 E Willow Pass Road
Concord, CA 94520
925-798-8002