I am always on the lookout for good Hawaiian food closer to home than what I currently am aware of. Aloha Hawaiian BBQ I have found to be the closest. It is pretty much like most all the other Hwaiian restaurants out here. In fact, they all start looking alike after so long. And the food is all about the same.
On this visit I ordered a Katsu 1/2 plate (one scoop of rice vs two). It came with the katsu, rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. You know, the classics. I also got another clcassic in Spam Musubi. That is kind of my basic judge of a Hawaiian Restaurant. I did not have to wait too long to receive my food. Just long enough to witness the interaction between the cashier and the next party of customers. All of them were of Asian background. Their speaking to each other sounded almost angry at times. As if they were yelling at each other. I think I even heard them arguing on price. Maybe it is a cultural thing. I don't know. It was kind of entertaining regardless.
Any how, I got my food to go and took it home to eat in peace. At leastsome of the food made it home. I took a big risk in trying to eat the musubi on the road. I did OK. The nori was tender enough that it was not a chore to bite through. This helped to hold in the Spam where in some cases it slides right out the other side on bite one. What bothered me just enough to reall is the sauce on this musubi. I am used to a more teriyaki style sauce. This was more like a hoisin with a mildly spicy kick. It was not necessarily bad just not what I had expected. As for the katsu plate when I got home, it was hit and miss. The katsu and sauce were on point. The rice was as good as sticky white rice can be. The macaroni salad was not great. Half of it was burried beneath the rice and getting warm. It was a little gross. The final impression was that the chicken was not on a bed of shredded cabbage like at L&L but rather on a bed of shredded lettuce that wilts whe in contact with hot fried chicken. Not the most appetizing of garnishes.
Aloha Hawaiian BBQ is not going to be my number one go-to but for a quick go-to close to home, it does the trick.