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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 19, 2008

Grinds at Don Quijote? Who would've thought?

By Mari Taketa
Metromix

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

The Don Quijote on Kaheka Street offers an assortment of eats and eateries to choose from including mochiko chicken from Sushi Robot.

Metromix

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser
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METROMIX HONOLULU

Find out about rest of the goodies at Don Quijote at www.honolulu.metromix.com.

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Char siu from U-Choice In.

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Garlic shrimp found in-store at Don Quijote.

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Salmon 'ahi poke found in-store at Don Quijote.

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Salmon ikura bowl found in-store at Don Quijote.

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We thought we knew Don Quijote. After all, we're townies, we're local, we're not put off by headless chicken carcasses hanging in a window. At room temperature even.

But our latest assignment — to scout the place for the best eats— made us look at DQ with fresh eyes, and we realized a few things:

  • This is Asia central, baby! You can do a pretty decent job eating your way around the continent here, but if you're looking for out-of-Asia eats, keep looking (unless you're into chain chicken or dried-out lamb).

  • The poke counter inside has to be the freshest in town. That was a revelation. Even the sashimi in DQ's house-made bento melted in our mouth. It's 10:42 at night and the memory is making us salivate.

  • Surprise! Only four places, including the Filipino mochi counter inside, will satisfy a sweet tooth, but the big news flash is that two of them are in wow territory.

    All this came to us at the Don Quijote on Kaheka, where we braved holiday traffic, the decrepit parking garage across the street and pau-hana crowds for a prime shot at the pickings. Here's some of what we found (go to www.honolulu.metromix.com to find out about the rest):

    CHAR SIU

    This is what people come in for a pound of. Why? What do you do with a pound of char siu? We bought just enough for a snack, popped the first freshly hacked piece into our mouth and went "Yum!" The fact that it was piled in gnarly red mounds under the hanging chickens just added to the cachet.

    Where: U-Choice In

    Cost: $6.55 a pound

    GARLIC SHRIMP

    Now we're talking! All that roasty, melty garlic! Shell-on, too — which means you get maximum goodness by sticking the whole thing in your mouth, cracking the shell with your teeth and sucking off the tasty bits.

    Where: Hot foods counter inside

    Cost: $4.32 for a small tray

    SALMON 'AHI POKE

    Our first conversation at the poke counter:

    Us: What's good here?

    Fish guy: I don't know. I don't eat seafood.

    O-K. Somehow, that made it all the more credible when he recommended this as very fresh. Gave us our choice of shoyu flavors, and we chose wasabi.

    The salmon way outshines the 'ahi. It's clean, buttery —and the fish guy was right.

    Where: Poke counter inside

    Cost: $3.20 for just over a quarter pound

    Tip: If, like us, you love your salmon belly, you gotta try the smoked salmon belly. So buttery, the oil is pooling at the bottom of the bin. Like a nice, aged Gouda — and you'll want that beer or glass of dry white in your hand for the occasion.

    MOCHIKO CHICKEN

    This, according to the baby-faced owner of Sushi Robot, is the best-seller (along with the butterfish bento). Confession No. 1: We're not supposed to eat deep-fried stuff. Especially deep-fried stuff with skin. Confession No. 2: We couldn't stop popping this in our mouth. We especially couldn't stop popping the tiny bits, the deep-fried skin-only bits, which tasted at times like fried sweet potato chips and other times like Southwestern Doritos.

    We're convinced we've done something bad. But we'd do it again.

    Where: Sushi Robot

    Cost: $4.50 a pack

    SALMON IKURA BOWL

    We're discovering something about ourselves and salmon. It took three runs on DQ, loading up on eats to taste and judge, before we detected this pattern. Unlike the salmon belly bento, you're not going overboard on the (good) fats with this combo of flaked cooked salmon and roe — which, by the way, are very good brain foods.

    Where: Sushi bin inside

    Cost: $4.39 for a small bowl