This started out as a roundup of places that make pasteles.

My premise was this: Pasteles used to be a local potluck staple, but in recent years, they've sort of faded from the food scape. My plan was to do a thorough inventory of places where pasteles are still on the menu.

Turns out, I was right (even more right than I wanted to be) about pasteles being a sort of lost food, because finding them at places other than at The Pastele Shop in Kalihi and Jackie's Diner in 'Aiea (both of which make truly 'ono pastele, and always have; The Pastele Shop also has pastele turnovers and lumpia) was even more difficult than I thought it would be.

What I did find were two new takeout joints that serve pastele, and that's what this turned out to be: a quick look at a couple of new places that happen to have pastele on their menus.

A caveat: Both places keep pretty spotty hours. I've visited both during their posted business hours only to find them inexplicably closed, which I suppose only adds to the ever-elusive nature of the pastele. There's just no guarantee you'll get them when you want them.

My advice is to call a day ahead of your craving and tell them to expect you.

MARIO'S COCINA

Rating: Three forks out of five (Good)

1989 Pauoa Road

384-6839

10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays

Parking: There is a small parking lot behind the restaurant's building.

Mario's Puerto Rican, and it shows in his cooking.

Holed away in a tiny space on the ground floor of an apartment building in Pauoa, Mario stands in his cocina (that's "kitchen") and turns out delicious plates of Puerto Rican specialties such as chuletas de guisada (pork chops), corned beef gesada and, of course, pasteles.

These pasteles ($6 for a plate with gandule rice and salad) are more meaty than their local counterparts tend to be. The masa surrounds big chunks of shredded pork or chicken that is seasoned to be spicy enough to kick-start that slow burn that gets you right in the back of the throat.

That's not to say that the spice is overwhelming. It isn't. All of the flavors are subtle and well-balanced, even the heat.

Here, the gandule rice is stickier — but not mushy! — than we locals are used to, giving the dish a good, hearty bite. And the dish goes beyond just pigeon peas and rice — it also includes big chunks of chicken, which makes it a meal in itself. (Though the dish traditionally includes meat, here in the Islands we tend to stick to just rice and pigeon peas.)

And don't leave without ordering the pastele stew, a local dish that uses the pastele filling to make a thick, hearty stew. Though pastele stew is specific to Hawai'i, Mario is not above making what the people want, and his version of the stew is spicy, meaty and chunky — and better than most.

DA HAWAIIAN STOP

Rating: Two and a half forks out of five (Mediocre to good)

1146 Fort Street Mall

354-0630

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays

Parking: There isn't any. Your best bet is to find street parking on Pauahi or Bethel streets, or to park in the municipal lot on Beretania and Smith streets and make the short walk to Fort Street Mall.

In the hole in the wall (quite literally) that was home to Rada's Piroscki for more than three decades is something quite different. Gone are the hand-held footballs of fried meat and dough. Instead, you'll find local-style grinds that include everything from traditional Hawaiian fare like squid lu'au, laulau and kalua pig — and all on one plate, if that's how you like it — to Mexican faves like enchiladas and nachos, to Puerto Rican specialties, like pasteles, gandule rice and the local-Puerto Rican hybrid dish, pastele stew.

Here, the pasteles are the kind you remember buying from the back of a truck en route to the North Shore. They're about the size of a small burrito, with the filling — pork and olives — packed in masa that's a bit saltier than most, and that glistens with chili pepper oil.

These pasteles ($3.50 each, or $5.50 with a scoop of gandule rice) aren't as spicy as they probably should be, but they are full of flavor and they're fairly easy to get to during a lunch break.