Richa L.
Yelp
I decided Hawaiian food would be a good idea on a rainy evening, so took a quick 12 min drive down to the Gigantic Brewery 808 Grinds location, which is closest to Portland. I ordered the 808 combo (fried chicken and kahlua pork with white rice and mac salad), a spam musubi and haupia pie after reading the reviews gloating about these items. I took a generous helping of the 808 sauce and spicy mayo, but was not terribly impressed with my food. One of the food truck guys recommended the 808 sauce to put on top of the rice...but I'm not really a sauce person, to have to douse everything in a liquid to completely overtake the flavors of the actual dish.
I was actually afraid the pork would be too salty, but it actually tasted like there was no salt added at all. Both the pork and fried chicken lacked any umami flavor and you have no choice but to drown the meat with sauce. I gave up quickly as I didn't feel like having soy sauce drenched rice, pork/chicken.
The spam musubi was a good size, but I prefer the one at Smokin Fire Fish. The nori at SFF does not completely envelope the rice, as did the 808 version. I also prefer the way the spam is fried at Smokin Fire Fish. Overall, okay.
The haupia pie was a huge disappointment. It tasted like it was commerically prepared and was given to me right out of a fridge. It was hard, cold and unappetizing. Haupia pies I've had on the past were soft with the right amount of gooeyness and baked sweet potato crust. This was just a square slab of refrigerated stuff.
The Mac salad was pretty generic, wasn't expecting much there.
While the portions are definitely HUGE (not a one person meal by any means, unless you have just run a marathon), overall I was disappointed with the hype around this place and will probably stick to Smokin Fire Fish. Though more expensive, I have not been disappointed with the flavor of any of their dishes.