Jo Y.
Yelp
Gourmet food in plate lunches? You bet! Thank you, Kahai Street Kitchen!
Opened in the summer of 2006 as a catering company in the industrial area of Kalihi Street off of Kahai Street, this takeout restaurant gave a taste of its menu offerings from catered events at Kualoa Ranch, HI Polo Club, and many wedding venue locations. Owners were Naohisa Iwata, who had spent his entire life in the food and beverage industry, and Chef David Yamamoto, who has 30+ years of culinary experience. In this restaurant, Nao helps to prepare meals and keeps tract of its daily operations, and David comes up with his unique creations of its menu offerings. Locally owned and operated, diners enjoyed the take of its unique and restaurant quality foods that are consistent and offered at reasonable plate lunch prices.
Note that while the restaurant was named for its original location on Kahai Street, the word "Kahai" means to tell a story. So, it's no accident that the focus of this restaurant is about talking story about food and expressing itself through the chef's culinary creations. Kahai Street Kitchen moved to the corner of Coolidge and South King streets in the McCully area in 2016.
The restaurant offers an extensive regular menu of: soft shell tacos; combo plates; local style fried rice; local favorites (braised boneless beef shortribs, boneless kalbi, guava bbq beef brisket, hamburger steak, steaks, teri beef, chicken); loco moco; fish; and value menu. In addition, it offers a rotating daily menu of specials, such as: prime rib, Chinese style steamed opakapaka, baked mozzarella chicken breast, pulehu bone-in pork chops, eggplant parmesan pasta, duos, patty melt smash burger, and many others. Normally, your choice of two sides accompany the plate lunches: steamed white, brown or hapa rice; steamed broccoli or carrots, sautéed corn; toss green or potato mac salad. And on Saturdays, there is a breakfast menu (meat/eggs/rice or potatoes), beef brisket hash patties, steak and eggs, fish and eggs, breakfast scramblers, omelets, eggs benedict, loco moco) that is served all day. The menus can be accessed on its website.
I've had the following:
* Mini hamburger steak. Just love their tender, homemade, and thick charred two freshly ground hamburger patties that were so tasty with their flavorful homemade gravy which enhanced the white rice. Also enjoyed the enoki/regular mushrooms and sautéed/crispy fried onions topping the hamburger steak, which set the bar as compared to other places. The fresh spring mix salad went well with their house made vinaigrette dressing.
* Crispy baby back ribs with garlic sauce. These unique delicious ribs (three huge ones with lots of meat) on the special menu had its meat fall off the bones and fried crispy with a light batter, with its tasty garlic sauce giving the white rice a nice taste! As with the hamburger steak, enjoyed the spring mix with the vinaigrette dressing.
There is always a line of people putting in their orders, which shows how popular they are. As all orders are made to order, they may take some time, but staff is efficient in preparing its orders consistently with a friendly smile. It's best to pre-order by phone to avoid waiting for your order. And despite how busy they may be, they will answer their phone to take your order (not like other restaurants who may take their phone off the hook or not even answer their calls). Appreciate the professionalism shown by its staff!
Should you wish to eat there, you can dine inside the restaurant, which is air conditioned. There are also four covered picnic tables right outside the restaurant.
There is a credit card surcharge, so best to pay by cash to avoid paying the fee.
Hours of operation are: Mon 10:30a to 2p, Tues to Fri 10:30a to 7p, Sat 7:30a to 2p, Sun closed. Located next to First Hawaiian Bank, limited free parking of about 3 spaces behind the restaurant building; otherwise, free street parking on Coolidge St., and metered parking on So. King St. You can park at the bank when the bank is closed.
This is certainly my go-to restaurant when I'm looking for an upscale meal that doesn't break the bank. Good to know that it's high on quality with delicious flavors and getting a meal of value with a good quantity. And good to know that they continue to do catering. Support local!