I’ve talked about Toshi’s Delicatessen on the blog already, here. Old school okazuya, super old school. Yes it’s pricey but you are supporting a small family business and let’s keep them open please! I don’t know their plans because the head chef is an obaasan, I really hope they can continue for years to come!
Chow Fun, Omelet, Spam, Salmon, Fried Chicken
Chow Fun, Omelet, Spam, Shoyu Chicken, Stir-fried Veggies with Spam
Oh yum yum yum. They serve what I like to call haole chow fun (sorry if that offends you), while it looks bland – it actually tastes great! I still slather it with hot sauce. How much did these two plates cost? $40…yeah kind of pricey but once again, worth it.
Okay, usually I would do a whole post for this amount of food but let me explain. We came here for a birthday lunch for my brother, he told me he wanted Chubbies Burgers and we haven’t been there since they opened their brick and mortar. Warning, they are super busy. It’s first come first sit booths, but luckily a booth opened up when our food was ready. Ordered plenty for the four of us, wanted to try it all. This came out to just over $100.
Warning for possible grossness: one of the burgers (mine of course) had a hair on top. It was just sitting right on top of the bun like it fell gingerly on top? I don’t know but it was black short and curly and like even as I type this I am grossed out. I didn’t make a big fuss, I took it back up to the counter and showed it to them and just said, just give me a new one…I not gonna make a scene. They apologized and told me I could throw it away and they would give me a new one.
Unfortunately, my appetite was kind of turned off for the rest of the day. It was just one of them days. The burgers are pretty good and fries are okay too. I don’t know if I will be returning soon, there are other smash burger places to try. Also, my tip is to order it to go even if you eat there (unless you know you gonna slam ’em). It’s just easier if you gotta take home the leftovers. They weren’t being very helpful when I was trying to pack things to go (the fries spilled all over my car cause no lid).
good to know for chubbies
Yes, get smash burgers in other places so you have choices!
Gross. And $100 for people? And fries in your car? I’ll pass. Mahalo for the review!
Gross right! I no like even think about it! You’re welcome! Try another burger place lol
I won’t rest until I go Toshi’s now 😛
Gotta! Time is precious!!!!
Yup, I used to love that old school okazuya foods. Been away from Hawaii going on 40 years now, but even back then, those old school okazuyas were fast disappearing. Some of my old favorites were Kaneda’s and Liliha Delicatessen. I used to buy food for my early morning fishing trips from Liliha since they opened at 5 am. I bought a lot of food from Kaneda’s on the weekends when I wasn’t fishing and took it up to my then girlfriend’s home (Alewa Heights) for us to eat for lunch when we were just hanging out. I really miss that old school food.
I love your stories Alan, your memory is better than mine and I live here. Do you folks get to visit Hawaii often?
Yes; we normally return to HNL at least once a year. We go to visit with friends and for me to eat the “local kine” foods that I miss. But this year we are not going home. My current wife and I decided that there really isn’t anything we want to do again in HNL so this year we are going to San Diego for our annual vacation. After our stay in San Diego I will drive up to LA to visit with my son and family who live there. I will stop at Marukai San Diego and pick up toro, hamachi, Japan tako, murugai, and kazunoko konbu. I will also get some daikon and wakame for garnishes for our sashimi platter. Of course I have to get some filet mignon and some chicken breast for my haole wife, that my son will grill for her dinner. Of course he will also cook a big pot of rice and some veggies too!
Oh no that makes me sad to hear this. But time with family is precious. Murugai is mg favorite! Sounds like you are making an awesome sashimi platter! lol only you can call your wife haole hahaha but sounds great! Sounds like the pot lucks we have here!