Category: Dining

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LATE-NIGHT NOSHING JOINTS ARE NIL

Auwe. It’s 10 p.m., you’ve just exited the movie theater, and you’re hungry for a late night snack. So where to go?

Home, probably.

The abundance of wee-hour restaurants – some 24/7, others serving till midnight – is history.

In the old days, you could hele on to Pier 7 at the Ilikai. Or a neighborhood saimin stand.

Or a pancake house, like the one on Ala Moana Boulevard (whose name I can’t recall) across the Ilikai, if you were seeking a platter of flapjacks with sides of egg and Spam.

And yes, Kau Kau Korner at Kapiolani and Kalakaua, at the entrance of Waikiki, was a shrine of sorts and a symbol of a destination for ono kau kau. After work, after movie, after doing a show in Waikiki. It was also the home of Coco’s … until the Hard Rock Café settled in there. All gone now.

Coco’s, at the entryway to Waikiki on Kalakaua Avenue, was a favorite 24/7 place.

Other sites, like Wailana, at the corner of Ala Moana and Ena Road, served us well.  It was a place where we all gathered, after the first round of going out, and finished the evening with local chow, frequently of singers and musicians we had seen earlier.

There was hope for a meal, too, if you slipped into a booth at Columbia Inn, before the midnight hour, where dinner, snack or breakfast options awaited. Maybe even at the counter-service at the Liliha Bakery, on Kuakini Street.

Wailana Coffee House was a go-to place for late-nighters.

No can do. Not anymore. Nada.

Restaurants cut back schedules even before the pandemic, but the lockdown punctuated  the disappearance of late-night dining. Maybe folks lost their thirst of night outings, and understandably, the hunger for late-night noshing, too.

Flash forward to the present times. You have to be in an eatery probably by 9:30 at the latest, to get table service. At M.A.C. 24/7 at the Hilton Waikiki Beach resort (the former Prince Kuhio Hotel) on Kuhio Avenue, business hours are 6 a.m. to midnight.

Both locations of the venerable Side Street Inn (Hopaka St., Kapahulu Ave.) have clipped hours, too, shutting down at 9 p.m.

Two former 24/7 brands also have abbreviated timetables: Anna Miller’s at Pearlridge and IHOP locations

The places that used to welcome night owls back in the day now close by 10 p.m.: 

  • Sorabol, on Keeaumoku Street.
  • Zippy’s  locations with dine-in options.

Conclusion: If you’re hungry late at night or in the wee hours, scout your fridge for leftovers or get the frying pan on the stove to whip out an omelet. Cup-a-Noodle just doesn’t cut it.

But the memories linger:  where did you go for your night noshes back in the day?

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TAKE-OUT SAIMIN? BRING YOUR OWN POT

Welcome to “Down Memory Lane,” a window of reflection. We’ll occasionally look back and remember people, places and things that made Hawaii special. We’ll welcome you to jump in periodically, too, to recall and relive another time when folks and destinations live mostly in memories.

If you’re of a certain vintage, you clearly will remember a saimin stand in your neighborhood, where you could get a bowl of noodles and broth and chit-chat, likely at picnic tables and benches, and slurp to your heart’s content.

Look around now; the mom-and-pop saimin stand is practically history.  Boulevard Saimin shuttered a few months back, and while Zippy’s and Shiro’s and even Rainbow Drive In can whip out a house specialty, the joints of the 1950s and ‘60s were pure gems.

When I was a kid, perhaps 10 or 12, living with my parents in Liliha, we were  five or six blocks away from Hall Street, off Kukui Street (don’t look, long gone), where a saimin stand flourished.

I remember eating in once, but our ritual was to do takeout. We had to bring our own stove top pot, order, then walk home with the hot pot.

There would be enough portions to serve four, with kamaboko and slivers of char siu, swimming in the broth and noodles. Chopped green onions provided a burst of green cheer. On special occasions, we might order wun ton min. I don’t recall the cost, but I remember that sticks of barbecue meat, grilled at the stand, were 5 cents apiece and we took four home as a side dish.

A few years later, a smaller saimin stand opened on Liliha at Vineyard Streets, which was closer than the trek to Hall Street. I think they had paper take-home containers; we didn’t need to bring our own pot.

Today, Hamura’s Saimin on Kauai is possibly the iconic model of the classic stand. Few seats, traditional menu, long lines before the pandemic.

Curiously, two stands have survived in Honolulu – Palace Saimin in Kalihi and Old Saimin Stand in Kapalama. Tanaka’s Saimin, or the chain of Ramen-Ya outlets, are newer

models of the old-fashioned stands … and don’t fit the template.

Do you recall a special saimin stand in your neighborhood? Or perhaps your family operated one?  Or the pot take-outs?

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IT’S ALWAYS THE PANKO CHICKEN SALAD

When you go to a particular restaurant, do you order the same thing over and over because that’s what you like, period?

Shouldn’t you forget tradition, and navigate the rest of the menu, to discover some other pleasure or treasure?

Well, at Ruscello at Nordstrom at Ala Moana Center, I’m hooked on the Crispy Panko Chicken salad. Just had it a few days ago; likely to have it again next time I go.

While I’ve tried the Market Burger, the Turkey and Swiss BLT, and the Chicken Club with Maple Bacon – hey, one of these go well with the soup of the day – I keep returning to the salad.

Crispy Panko Salad at Ruscello restaurant at Nordstrom

And remember to tell the waiter/waitress to have the chef chop up the chicken. That’s part of the secret. Trust me, you’ll mess up the chicken if you cut it yourself.

The salad is an unbeatable joy, with the chicken – in bite-sized morsels – reigning over a trove of veggies, including organic baby greens, grilled corn, petite tomatoes, plus eggs and bacon and a wedge of avocado on the side. The honey Dijon dressing is perfect,ion and with the complementary bread, it’s a fulfilling meal for $16.25.

When I add the soup, which arrives before the salad, I usually wind up taking half the salad home, which makes a dandy appetizer or salad before the beef or pork or pasta at dinnertime. Works for any entrée.

If you haven’t yet tried this salad, do so. You won’t be disappointed.