While at the Cal State Long Beach campus, I got a recommendation to try LB Hawaiian Barbecue which is located in the same shopping center as the Target on the corner of Bellflower and 7th street. I was also told that LB was similar to Hawaiian chain L&L barbecue as this location used to belong to L&L. With these expectations in mind, I felt inclined to try it out. Given this place is a quick service restaurant, I decided getting takeout would be the best course of action. To try as many items as I could in one dish, I chose to order the barbecue mix which cost 14 dollars before tax.
The menu listed beef short ribs, barbecue beef, barbecue chicken, rice, and macaroni salad as the contents of the dish. Opening up the box, I was a little disappointed. Though the chicken was of good size, there were only one thin piece of short rib and one medium-sized piece of beef. Comparing to other Hawaiian Barbecue places, I'd expect there to be one or two pieces more. Because of this shortage, I'd argue the price to portion ratio was not justified for this particular dish.
The flavors of the dish weren't very superb either. To start on a high note, the macaroni salad was pretty good with a good amount of mayonnaise on the the macaroni. This allowed there to be a good balance of sweetness and savory flavor that did not overpower the rest of the dish. Moving on, I feel the chicken was on the right path as it had a smoky flavor. However, it lacked moisture that I would usually expect from a dish such as this. The chicken needed the moisture from the rice to make it easier to eat. The chicken also lacked seasoning which made the flavors mediocre. The beef was average too, tasting like a simple teriyaki sauce. The piece of beef was also more dry than a piece of beef should usually be, which made eating it alone hard on the tongue without water or rice. Finally, the short rib was quite....short. The piece had a good sweet flavor. But because the piece was so thin, it tasted more like a piece of thin brisket. The texture was also not very moist either. Flavor-wise, it was just okay. There are many areas that I feel could be improved in components across the board.
LB Hawaiian Barbecue is only getting 2 stars from me as for a holistic dish, the barbecue mix failed to capture really any special aspects of the restaurant. The price was heavily overinflated for the amount food given. On top of that, the food tasted pretty lackluster. I will say though that if you're looking for food with less sauce and more of the general charred flavor, this is probably for you! If you're near the Cal State Long Beach campus or are a student there, this is one of the only options directly around the campus. I'm not saying LB Hawaiian is terrible...but just know that you can get better food for better price elsewhere. read more