Hawaii's plate lunch

Sunset, Oct, 1984

Hawaii's plate lunch

The plate was heaped to overflowing. Barbecued ribs stacked against a steaming mound of Chinese cabbage with pork, and two hillocks of rice left little room for a scoop of macaroni salad. The counter girl was coy: "Local boys don't eat till they're full,' she said, sliding over the order, "they eat till they're tired.'

King of the daily specials in Hawaii's traveling lunch wagons and hole-in-the-wall eateries, the plate lunch is a strictly local phenomenon--as popular as the hula and just as much fun to try. Often billed as the workingman's special, it is never gourmet. But at its best, the plate lunch offers a hearty sampling of homestyle Island cooking. It is also one of the state's last real bargains: a filling, hot meal for $2 to $5.

Entrees celebrate the gastronomic variety of Hawaii's many ethnic groups: from native lau lau (pork wrapped in taro leaves), Korean bulgogi (barbecued beef), and teriyaki chicken (also called teri or shoyu chicken) to eggplant Parmesan, beef curry, and butterfish tempura.

Two large scoops of rice are to Hawaii's plate lunch what French fries are to the Mainland's hamburger. Rice is accompanied nied by an equally impressive scoop of macaroni salad (you may occasionally get a different salad instead), which, along with an entree, forms the fundamental plate lunch.

Often there's more. Side dishes may include vinegared bean sprouts, kim chee, chili peppers, vegetables, or a wiggly cube of haupia (coconut pudding). Combination plates are popular. Add your own hot sauce (look for bottled chili pepper water) and shoyu (soy sauce) at the counter.

Lunchtime tradition

Usually served on paper plates or plastic foam trays, true plate lunches carry on a custom that goes back at least to World War II. Old-timers we talked to think that the bento--a cold box lunch that Japanese workers carried to the pineapple and sugar cane fields--was the inspiration for the plate lunch (many places still offer a cold bento take-out lunch).

During the war, entrepreneurs in homemade lunch wagons adapted the basic bento into a hot meal to feed round-the-clock shifts of waterfront workers.

Since then, this substantial but inexpensive fare has become a lunchtime staple of Hawaii's blue-and white-collar workers. There's a wider choice of main courses now, and most of the Japanese garnishes have disappeared, but the basics have changed little over the years.

Highly portable and wrapped to stay hot, plate lunches are especially popular with Islanders for impromptu beach or park picnics. You dig in with chopsticks or a plastic fork. Wash it all down with soda or tropical fruit juices.

Though you'll find plate lunch palaces throughout the Islands, Oahu has by far the most choices because of its large population. Ambience is summed up in the names: Cafe de Roadside, Eat To The Max, Banzai Bowl. Some of the best food we sampled was right in downtown Honolulu, from both rattletrap lunch wagons and low-tech restaurants.

Unlike the sleek catering trucks that visit many mainland industrial districts, Hawaii's lunch wagons are more pedestrian --usually old delivery vans jam-packed with a butane stove, icebox, storage bins, and room for a very small cook. You'll find them weekdays at fixed locations in town, and in parking areas at popular beaches (but not Waikiki) on most weekends, on sunny summer weekdays, and whenever the surf's up.

Restaurants have more reliable hours, but the same come-as-you-are atmosphere prevails. Some are 1950s drive-ins; others are not much more than a kitchen and counter. A few are coffee shops. Since much of the service is take-out, seating is often limited and casual--picnic benches or plastic-topped tables. Restaurants in industrial areas and most lunch wagons close up by mid-afternoon.

Oahu residents share their favorite plate lunch places with Sunset

Finding Oahu's best plate-lunch dining called for plenty of help. We got recommendations from police and fire departments, trade unions, lifeguards, newspaper food editors, and downtown office workers. Telephone company employees and tour bus drivers steered us toward several good discoveries. Altogether, some 250 residents nominated their favorites.

Here are the top-rated ones at our press time--but things can change overnight.

HONOLULU

Quality and variety of food are best in Honolulu. Most places we list are long-time family businesses with a loyal following. Hours listed are approximate.

Near Waikiki. All are handy to Kapiolani Park at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki. In Waikiki, the coffee shop at Woolworth (2224 Kalakaua Avenue) recently added plate lunches for take-out. Every Friday, Harry's Bar at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki has a Hawaiian plate for $5.

Ono Hawaiian Foods, 726 Kapahulu Avenue, 737-2275; open Monday through Saturday 10:30 to 7:30. In business 20 years, Ono's Hawaiian plates, featuring kalua pig and some of the best lau lau we've had, include lomi salmon, pipikaula (marinated beef), haupia, and a bowl of poi (boiled, mashed taro root) for $4.40.