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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, July 18, 2001

Island Pantry
A food lover's walk down Kapahulu Avenue

By Kaui Philpotts

To say that I actually walked down Kapahulu Avenue is a bit misleading. You don't walk down the avenue at midday in the summertime. It's simply too hot!

But this busy thoroughfare that angles its way from the foot of Kaimuki to the edge of Waikiki is crammed with good, and generally inexpensive, places to eat. So I chose, instead, to drive my air-conditioned car, darting in and out of parking places and dropping quarters into meters, the entire length of the street beginning at the freeway overpass near Harding Avenue all the way to the fire station near the intersection of Ala Wai Boulevard, where Kapahulu enters Waikiki.

If ever there was a neighborhood that is "local to da max," it's Kapahulu. There's nothing fancy or haute cuisine about KC Drive Inn and its waffle dogs. (I remember years ago insisting a group of Mainland travel writers try them, along with peanut butter milk shakes. They thought I had gone around the bend).

My first stop was at Mr. Ojisan in Kilohana Square. (The shopper in me couldn't help noting that there is a sale of antiques going on at Max Davis' interiors shop, and I notice a new mix of shops including a florist, an Indian restaurant about to open and several new Asian-inspired ones.) Mr. Ojisan seem to have very savvy PR for its simple appearance. It's a comforting sort of place with what my husband thinks is very good donburi and ramen -- cozy, home food and lots of a la carte pupu-type items and specials.

Almost next door is the Wasabi Bistro at 1006 Kapahulu, which has a nice parking lot in the front and offers valet parking at night. The lot is a holdover from the days when the location was a popular drive-in. It's owner, Kumi Iseki, has two other restaurants in town, including the upscale Tokyo Tokyo in the Kahala Mandarin Hotel. When you visit Wasabi Bistro, if you're in the mood for rich flavors, try their Wasabi No. 1 Special, a blend of crabmeat, avocado and whitefish all baked in a creamed sauce (which includes mayonnaise).

On the other side of the street in the next block is the Rego family's venerable Leonard's Bakery. People dribble in all day long for their fix of hot malassadas. The other pastry makes you think you're in a time warp -- as if you woke up and it was 1950 again. Then there are the cakes, with their neon colors depicting action scenes for kids' and adults' parties. But it's the hot malassadas that are the staple. Leonard's jumped on the wagon a few years ago and began offering them filled with custard, haupia or chocolate, thereby making them an entirely different product. Still delicious, but different. You get your choice of regular or cinnamon sugar coatings. Lion Coffee and cold milk are extra.

Back in my car, I whip into the parking lot of Genki Sushi, that bastion of reasonably priced, mainline sushi that winds its way on conveyor belts past customers seated at the counter. I'm still early, and they haven't opened for the lunch crowd yet, so I hop over to JJ Diner, in the adjoining parking lot at 870 Kapahulu. Now we're in deep plate lunch territory. Three Polynesian males are waiting for theirs at the few tables at the entrance. I'm intrigued by the sign on the door advertising brown rice. Imagine, brown rice on a plate lunch! What's happening here? JJ Diner goes even further and offers a Vegetarian Tofu Stir Fry. But let's not confuse this diner with Down to Earth; they are definitely plate lunch, but with a twist. The most popular menu items are the mochiko chicken, garlic 'ahi, stuffed crab claws and the seafood plate with mussels. They even offer kalua pork with cabbage, which is hard to resist, but I move on.

Back in the car, I pass La Bamba, the Mexican restaurant that serves what a friend considers to be the best chiles rellenos in town, and Kalei Tei, a Japanese-style curry house that makes delicious coffee jelly topped with vanilla ice cream.

In the next block is that bastion of Hawaiian cooking, Ono Hawaiian Foods at 726 Kapahulu. Unless you come very early or very late, expect to sit outside on the freshly painted red benches and wait your turn. Bring cash; they don't accept checks or credit cards. Ono Hawaiian Foods serves truly traditional Hawaiian dishes. Beside the widely available laulau and kalua pig combination plates, you can order such rare specialities as na'au (innards), salt meat with luau or watercress, tripe stew and dried aku, all near and dear to the Hawaiian soul. Ono Hawaiian Foods is cool, clean and rightfully esteemed. On the walls are pictures of all the local and national celebrities who have dined there, and out front on the window are copies of newspaper reviews and a recommendation from the Zagat Guide. They even offer gift certificates.

Pyramids, serving Middle Eastern fare from hummous (chickpea dip) to baba ganoush (eggplant caviar), is almost next door. They, too, are open for lunch and dinner, and at dinner there is belly dancing. A couple of years ago, I dined there and was treated to a floor show I will not soon forget: the belly dancer twirled around with a sword wearing three-inch patent leather heels.

I drive on down the avenue as far as the fire station, and then whip around in the other direction to get to the eateries on the other side of the street. I pass Sam Choy's, known for its humongous plates of locally-inspired cuisine, and Hee Hing, known for dim sum and banquets, and spin into Rainbow Drive-In at the corner of Kapahulu and Kana'ina.

Now here is plate lunch in its purest form: lots of white rice, macaroni salad, meat and brown gravy, unsullied by anything green. It's getting late, and the lunch crowd has packed the picnic tables outside near the hot macadam of the parking lot (which is also jammed).

Everyone is eating out of paper boxes containing boneless chicken, hamburger steak, spaghetti with hot dogs and pork cutlets.

I push on to Waiola Bakery & Shave Ice. Since it opened in its new location last year, this shave ice stand has grown in popularity for its finely shaved ice and assortment of flavored syrups. The small bakery attached to it makes filled taro and milk breads, cookies and fine pastry much more sophisticated than you'd expect in the neighborhood. I drive past Irifune (of the funky interiors and superb garlic 'ahi fame) and Auntie Pasto's (where you can always get well-priced Italian food) to Dave's Ice Cream at 611 Kapahulu Ave. Dave's, too, has shave ice, but it is better known for its island-flavored ices and ice creams like lychee, green tea and poha berry.

By now it's late and really getting hot, so I head for home past the more corporate eateries like Papa John's, Starbucks, Jamba Juice and Kozo Sushi that threaten to gentrify the neighborhood. Kapahulu has been satisfying as a slice of real island life, comfortable and seemingly unchanged, in a town dedicated to change.

Kaui Philpotts writes about entertaining and island style. Her columns are published weekly in the Taste section.