Well since this is my first review I should be kind, but I not. I'm a tough food critic, mainly because I was trained as a chef and Hawaiian regional cuisine is my specialty .
As a Hawaii transplant to Kitsap county, I was surprised that their wasn't a Hawaiian Style Plate Lunch place on the peninsula, much to my delight I heard about Aloha Kitchen from my cousin.
My wife and I often lament about the lack of local- kine food in the Seattle area, we've been to L&L and a handful of other spots; but none seem to match quality that we came to expect back in the islands. To satisfy my cravings for plate lunches I would often have to stop into the Teriyaki joints that litter the strip malls on the Kitsap Peninsula
Scarred from a previous experience at a supposed "Hawaiian Plate" joint in East Bremerton, my expectations were high. My wife call me the harshest critic she knows when it comes to Hawaiian food, and I should since I once worked for Alan Wong.
We arrived at Aloha Kitchen, the Wednesday after they first opened, for lunch, The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't the Aloha Kitchen I expected ( Aloha Kitchen is a chain in Las Vegas).
Slightly disappointed but undeterred I eagerly anticipated the dining experience. We walked into the not so busy dining area and we promptly greeted and seated.
My wife commented on the decor and the ambiance of the restaurant, mostly that the music was from the early 1990's, it was eerily similar plans that we had for our restaurant one day . She also noticed that the tables and chairs didn't match, and that our particular table wobbled slightly.
Our server arrived about 5 minutes after we were seated (which was too long considering that there were 3 servers and only 6 occupied tables). And the first thing she tells us is whats not on the menu, proudly proclaiming that they been out of particular items since the day they opened. (Yikes!).
What's worse is that our server had no knowledge of Hawaiian food, or even how to pronounce many of the items on the menu, a shame if you ask me, since many people I know have no knowledge of Hawaiian Cuisine or associate it with sweet and sour or teriyaki flavors.
After giving our server a quick lesson on how to pronounce Lau-Lau and Luau and the difference between the two, my wife and I proceeded to order.
Since lau-lau wasn't available (a Hawaiian standard, if i even suspect it's the pre-made frozen variety found in many Asian food stores, it goes back to the kitchen), and the server couldn't tell me if it was made fresh daily or imported, I opted for the Kalua pork plate.
My wife ordered the bento plate, with grilled Mahi-Mahi, teriyaki chicken and Spam musubi.
Now, we have a standard to which all Hawaiian Plate Lunches are measured, the quality of the mac salad, the portions, and quality of the kalua pork/ Lau-lau.
Unfortunately our expectations fell short, the mac salad had egg (which I wished I had known beforehand, since I am allergic to eggs). The portions were small and actually I was put off by the fact they used the wrong cut of meat to make the kalau pork as it was dry and tasteless (it should have a savory/ smoky/ salty taste) . I was disappointed since it is a very simple dish that requires lots of time and patience to execute properly.
My wife was equally disappointed, her teriyaki chicken was dry, the mahi was overcooked and sickly looking, and the Spam was tiny, like half a slice of Spam, cut paper thin. Whats worse is that my wifes dish didn't come with mac salad or tartar sauce for the mahi.
The highlight of my experience was hearing my wife complain about how the food was plated. Classic! It was sad because all the food looked the same, in varying shades of brown and white. I think my wife almost cried in disappointment.
Needless to say my experience wasn't a pleasant one, The wait staff was inexperienced and disorganized, once the food was delivered she never once come to check on us, and when she did I just wanted a check, which she couldn't find.
I finally just went to the counter to pay for our meal, and when asked by the owner how the food was I didn't have to heart to say it sucked, in retrospect maybe I should have.
Next time I have the urge to have Hawaiian food I'll do it from the comfort of my own home. Useless I'm on the road then I'll hit up my usual suspects in Federal Way (Pac-Island Grill), Everett (Bobby's), and Kauai Family in Seattle. read more