Los Chaparros Mexican Restaurant

Several weeks ago we celebrated a birthday lunch, where the birthday girl suggested Mexican, so we decided to try Los Chaparros Mexican Restaurant for the first time.

Well, without further ado, let’s get to the main course!…

Chimichango Combo Plate (single choice, with chicken filling), $8.50

The combo plates include beans and spanish rice, along with a dollop of salsa over shredded lettuce. The gal who ordered this loved it, but it was just too much for her to finish, so she gave me almost half of it to take home. Muchos gracious! As you can see, the whole thing is deep fried. Yum.

Enchilada Combo Plate (1 choice, with Chicken), $8.50

The Quesadilla was birthday girl’s dish, which she devoured every single bite, so it must have been good. You go girl!

Carnitas – Tender, bite-size pieces of slow roasted pork, seasoned to perfection, $13.00

My friend let me sample some of his Carnitas. It had a slightly spicy flavor and was tender, but I would ask to pour some Mole, red or green sauce over it on the next visit. He ate them wrapped up in the tortillas like burrito. Thumbs up from him.

The Carnitas dish above includes a side plate of (3) corn tortillas, Pico Di Gallo, sour cream and Guacamole

You can eat the Carnitas right off the plate, or wrapped up in this tortilla “kit”.

Papas Con Chorizo (my order) – a traditional plate of crispy fried potatoes sauteed with Chorizo sausage, incuding 3 tortillas, sour cream and jalapenos, $11.00

My dish was the Papas Con Chorizo. Interestingly, the Chorizo Sausage looks like they take it apart and fry it with the potatoes, sort of like a “hash”. The potatoes certainly took on that distinct Chorizo flavor. This dish also included the tortilla “kit”, but I preferred eating it on the plate, as wrapped up, the chorizo got lost in the mix. As you notice, the Spanish Rice and Beans were the same ones used on every dish. The beans were standard fare, while the rice had a slightly spiced hint to them, with a medium moist, medium dry texture. They both complimented the main item nicely. Overall, thumbs up!

Super Chaparros Burrito – Flour tortilla filled with rice, beans, shredded beef (this choice), lettuce, guacamole, pico de gallo (on top), sour cream and salsa, $10.00

The Super Chaparros Burrito is basically everything shown on the plate, all wrapped up in one HUGE burrito.. I mean, that thing is as big as your forearm. My other buddy who ordered it could only finish half. He really enjoyed it though.

Those were the entrees our party of five ordered.

Here’s the appetizers we actually started with…

Jalapeno Wontons (7 pieces) – Deep-fried wonton wrappers filled with Jalapenos and Monterey Jack Cheese, $6.00

Oh my, these were AWESOME! The combination of the crispy wonton with the “gooey” jack cheese and the bite from the Jalapeno was magical. It came with Ranch dipping sauce. I’m ordering a PLATEFUL of these things to take home next time! I’m definately making these for pupus at the next potluck.

Complimentary (bottomless!) Tortilla Chips and Salsa

The salsa was the finely chopped variety, slightly “loose” (watery) with a medium heat to it. Enough where I needed a glass of water nearby, though. lol It had a good balance of onions, cilantro and tomato. The salsa chips were light and crispy, with just a hint of salt. Perfect. You can actually stuff yourself on these things, so take it easy if you want to save room for the main course.

Restaurant main dining area (notice the large waterfountain to the left)

This is the main dining area, plus there are more private booths in the front area (not shown). The decor has a rather simple and spartan Spanish theme. You also feel a sense of cleanliness here. Tropical and mexican-themed spanish background music puts on the finish touch.

Main dining area, pan right (notice the wall-mounted spanish waterfountain)

Restaurant “front end” kitchen service area

Mario, Los Chaparros owner and really great guy!

Mario, the owner, really made our visit special. He explained the whole “traditional mexican cuisine” thing, even explaing that he “loosened” his menu just a little to cater to the local crowd, yet adhering to his roots in Mexico City. He assisted our also-very-friendly waitress, making the service factor top-notch. We arrived about 11:30am, just before the lunch rush, where the restaurant was about at 30% throughout our stay. That helped to set an easier, less hurried pace for everyone.

There’s about 8 stalls (max, I’m guessing) fronting Los Chaparros Mexican Restaurant, who is the sole occupant of the building located on S. Beretania street.

We were all very satisfied with our dining experience at Los Chaparros Mexican Restaurant. The food flavors, quality, value and service all exceeded our expectations. Now to ponder whether this is “true, authentic Mexican cuisine”? Just go for yourself and have a chat with Mario. He will enlighten and entertain you. Truly an officer and a gentleman.

Los Chaparros Mexican Restaurant
2140 S. Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 951+6399
www.LosChaparros.com

Tasty Island Rating:

Winnahz!

The Catered Bento Lunch Hunt

Over the years, we’ve catered casual office luncheons from numerous restaurants and caterers around Honolulu. The dish of choice has often been the “local style” bento, or “box lunch” due to its all-in-one simplicity, value and universal appeal. With that, we continually try new places in search of an excitingly new, budget-busting bento deal.

With much delight, our latest find has become one of the best we’ve tried yet. It’s the Lunch Bento from Kahai Street Kitchen…

Lunch Bento from Kahai Street Kitchen, $5.75 ($6.02 w/tax)

Kahai St. Kitchen’s bento includes (top to bottom): (1 pc.) Panko Shrimp, (2 pcs.) Spicey Fried Chicken Wings, (2 pcs.) Teriyaki Beef BBQ Short Ribs, (1 pc.) Herbed Mahimahi Dore style, (2 pcs.) Takuan, all served on a bed of shredded cabbage and white rice with a light sprinkle of Furikake. Wow!

Just looking at it, the BBQ beef looks nicely seared and moist, but how was the entire bento as a whole? Often when restaurants cater food, they need to prepare these bulk orders far in advanced of the time for actual service. The result being sometimes cold, overcooked and/or dried out food. Such was far from the case on this day’s order of over 50 bento lunches from Kahai Street Kitchen.

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Our spread of bento lunches here stand 2-deep. Pass me the chopsticks please!

EVERY item was perfectly moist, and actually retained some of the heat from their actual time being cook. Indeed the folks on the production line work fast; and more importantly, know how to COOK! Not only were the various entree items moist and still warm, but absolutely ono!

The two chicken wings had a slight hint of what seemed like geniune Buffalo wings sauce mixed into the batter, along with a slightly sweet, slightly tangy (from the sauce?) accent. Tender inside, crispy outside, with a thin, crunchy batter.

The nicely-sized shrimp tail had a thick, katsu-like Panko batter on it Again, moist and flavorful, along with a nice “GBD” finish. It tasted like they also slightly sweetened the batter on this, as it had lots of flavor on its own – no dipping sauce required.

The lightly fried SPAM was the regular sodium variety, which seemed excessively salty on its own, but add a little Furikake rice along with it, and it’s all good.. just a like a Spam Musubi!

The mahimahi’s “Dore style” reminded me of fish jun, except with herbs mixed in. Generous portion as well. Excellent.

Saving the best for last was indeed the BBQ Teriyaki Beef Shortribs. These were actually boneless and surprisingly tender. Each piece was cut about 2″x3″x1/2″ thick, char-grilled with nice “papa’a” (slightly burnt) sear marks and a medium-rare inside. It tasted sort half-Kal Bi, half Teri’ Beef. Broke da’ mout’!

Unlike a plate lunch’s standard Macaroni salad accompaniment, bento lunches come with Japanese style pickled Daikon radish called Takuan (that yellow slivered half-circle thing). This condiment helps buffer the palete for each different entree, nicely rounding out the meal.

Personally, I’d prefer there be less meat items on there, and more Tsukemono items (pickled vegetables), but this works fine to.

Next time you need to cater a casual office or family party, or even if it’s just a few of you looking for some ono local grinds, consider checking out the grinds at Kahai Street Kitchen. Their bento is up there with the best of the bunch!

Kahai Street Kitchen
237A Kalihi Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
Phone (808) 845-0320
FAx (808) 842-4273

Note: Delivery available on bulk orders.

**funny, they’re name is different than what actual street their address is. lol**

Tasty Island Rating:

Supah’ Ono!

Zippy's Chili Moco

Zippy’s has been aggresively advertising their new Chili Moco plate on TV, along with a Las Vegas Trip drawing (us Hawaii folks love LV!). So I finally got to try it. Well sort of. My friend ordered it for lunch last week and gave me a sample section (cut out like a slice of pie) to try. The concept seems like a no-brainer, but in reality, I don’t know any place on Oahu that’s offered this before. I certainly was curious how this would taste.

Here’s the actual take-out plate, revealed in layers…

The layers of the dish from bottom to top:
Plate (for take-out): 8″ diameter x 1-1/2″ depth black plastic (with clear plastic lid)
1st Layer: White Rice
2nd Layer: Mayo’-based “Secret Mac Salad Sauce”
3rd Layer: (1) Hamburger Patty
4th Layer: Zippy’s Chili (classic only)
5th Layer: (2) Eggs

Interestingly, you cannot substitute the type of Chili (bean, no bean, vegetarian), but you CAN order your eggs how you want it (sunny side, over easy, omelette or scrambled).

The most interesting component has to be the “Secret Mac Salad Sauce” (I made that name up), which is basically their Mac Salad without the Macaroni. It’s shown as a close-up in the bottom-right photo. That may sound gross, but you know what? It really adds dimension and punches out the flavor of the nicely-grilled burger patty right above it. A standard Loco Moco doesn’t employ this, so whoever thought of putting that in this dish is a plate lunch genius! lol

My friend opted for an omelette on top, but personally I’d have chosen two sunnyside-up eggs. Let that liquid, golden yolk drip all over. Yum.

I was thoroughly pleased with the combination of flavors. Enough that I just may order one the next time I head to Zippy’s. At $5.45, the portions and value is just right. That’s actually cheaper than most other plate lunches on Zippy’s regular menu.

Supposedly the Chili Moco is only available for a limited time, but I’m guessing this will eventually join the regular menu list.

Tasty Island Rating:

Supah’ Ono!

Squid Luau Challenge

Ask those in-the-know where to get the best Hawaiian food on Oahu, and chances are the names that pop-up will be Helena’s (Kalihi), Haili’s (Kaka’ako), Ono’s (Kapahulu), Highway Inn (Waipahu) and what we have here at Young’s Fish Market.

Young’s Fish Market is located in City Square Center on Dillingham boulevard in the Kapalama area of Kalihi.

Sidetracking just a bit, also in City Square Center is this hotel furniture liquidator warehouse…

Arcade Shoppes – former home of Grocery Outlet and future home of Chuck E Cheese

This business will soon be replaced by Chuck E Cheese, who will be relocating from their original location in Aina Haina Shopping Center to this larger, high-ceiling space. The Honolulu City & County’s main DMV office is located on the side of this front portion of the center, hence the name “City Square”.

Adjacent to here in the main parking lot are a stretch of non-restaurant type businesses in this section…

There’s Kalihi Pet Center on this end, and to my surprise, a Koolau Farmers garden shop on the opposite end. They’ve been a fixture in Kaneohe (across Windward City Shopping Center) ever since I was a kid! Is this a second location for them? They have a rather spacious live plant area on the side of the store, in an area between their building and the back building (where the restaurants are).

That building on the far end with the CITY FINANCIAL blue sign on the side is where all the restaurants – including Young’s – are located. Those restaurants include Sugoi Bento, Chong’s (Korean) Bar-B-Q, Utage (Okinawan), Young’s Fish Market, and where Kapiolani Coffee Shop (famous Oxtail Soup) moved out, this new Vietnamese restaurant named HA LONG NOODLE HOUSE…

I took a peak inside and also got a take-out menu, which the owner was so friendly and welcoming, I almost changed my mind and ate there! Check out this super cool art deco wall prop of a bowl of Pho…

The restaurant was decorated beautifully as well, carrying that contemporary art deco theme throughout. The menu is very similar to Bac Nam. That being the case (as well as the friendly owner), I am DEFINITELY coming here ASAP!

OK, enough sidetracking, we stay hungry ar’ready. Time fo’ hit Young’s!…

I was going to ask Alan Young (da’ ownah) if I could take pictures inside the place, but he was really busy and the timing didn’t seem right. Next time (and there will be, believe me!).

So what you wen’ o’dah?

First of all, Diner A went “rebel” on us (see, he likes to be “different” lol) and ordered Korean from Chong’s (which is a whole nother story), so his dish isn’t going to be included in this write-up.

Diner E went for his regular Young’s favorites, getting a Charsiu Pork and Roasted Turkey Tails plate…

Young’s Fish Market – Turkey Tails, Charsiu, Mac’ Salad & Rice plate, $9.75

Diner E gave his plate a solid 3-SPAM musubi rating, also noting his seal of approval for the Mac’ Salad. AwW-RIGHT! I tried a piece of the Charsiu… winnahz. Nice, sweet glaze on it. Perfect fo’ throw in one bowl saimin!

Diner C just wanted to try one of their Pasteles…

Young’s Fish Market – Pork Pasteles (Puerto Rican), $3.25 each

When you order it ala carte, it comes steam-heated, still wrapped in foil, with a Ti leaf under it…

Here you can see the pork filling inside of the grated banana “masa” casing…

Diner C LOVED it, giving it a solid 5-SPAM Musubi rating with no hesitation! I tried a bite and concur. Up there with the best. I didn’t get a chance to ask if theirs are house-made or supplied from elsewhere, so I’ll guess it’s the former. Only thing, Young’s doesn’t have Gandules Rice and Bacalau Salad to go along with it for that “complete Puerto Rican experience”, with just white rice and mac if you want a complete meal. But ‘das minahz, just buy two of these… ‘nuff!

As you see, Young’s serves up fantastic Chinese (the name ‘Young’ is Chinese after all!) and Puerto Rican dishes, but really, the heart of Young’s Fish Market is Hawaiian.

That said, Diner P (yours truly) went with the Laulau Plate. Unfortunately, for some darned reason the photos I took of the whole plate somehow vanished off my camera’s memory card. I took like 3 shots of it, yet POOF. Gone. Zero. Zip. Nodda. Nottin’. I couldn’t believe it. Ack!

Good thing I took additional shots of each individual items on the plate, so I’ll start with the star of the show, the Laulau!…

Young’s Fish Market – Butterfish Laulau

Young’s Laulau is certainly a competitor for best Laulau on Oahu. It’s up there with Ono Hawaiian Food, going neck-and-neck for first place, IMO.

Here’s a cross-cut view inside…

Wow, that’s a lotta’ butterfish! You can see it just tender, moist and falling off the bones. OMG, just awesome! The luau leaves were also steamed just right, being fork tender, yet not down to mush. It still had some bite to it, which I like. Otherwise, might as well just eat squid luau. lol Oh man, this butterfish laulau is da’ bestestest! Throw little Hawaiian salt on top, whack ‘em, den whack some poi fo’ chase ‘em.. hooo, broke da’ mout’!

Da’ Lomi Salmon…

Young’s Fish Market – Lomi Salmon

I dig how all all the “wet stuff” are packed in separate covered containers. Maikai.

How is it? Ever heard the term “Lomi Tomato”? That’s a joke used when you go to a luau where the caterer skimps and doesn’t give much salted salmon, making the dish mostly diced tomato in a salty brine. This was kinda’ the case here, and the only reason I didn’t give my plate overall a solid 5-SPAM Musubi rating. While it was still ono, and there were evident small bits of shredded salt salmon in it, it was predominantly tomato, along with chopped white and green onions.

Here, try look..

Where’s the beef!? …err… salmon?!

If I didn’t tell what that was, you might just guess it’s Salsa from New York City. lol

Nah but, da’ salty lomi salmon flavah was there, so still, she go. Especially along with everything else.

Da’ Sweet Potato…

Young’s Fish Market – Sweet Potato

The starchy, sweet flavor of the sweet potato compliments beautifully with the savory laulau, pipikaula and salty lomi salmon. The perfect accompaniment with the plate.

Speaking of Pipikaula, here it is…

Young’s Fish Market – Pipikaula

This added the “turf” to go along with the “surf” in the butterfish laulau. Pipikaula is a Hawaiian style cured beef, similar to beef jerky, but not quite as dehydrated and tough as that. In Young’s version, it’s marinated heavily with a Teriyaki (shoyu/sugar) sauce. Another winnah!

Of course the Hawaiian in me opted for Poi (instead of rice)…

Young’s Fish Market – Poi

I’m pretty sure this was Taro Brand, as that’s the brand they also had bags for sale of on the counter. It tasted like Taro brand as well. Fresh too. Also quite generous container size. Enough to accompany that massive laulau and other items on the plate. To me, if you don’t eat Hawaiian food with Poi, poho (waste). Gotta’ be with Poi, or nothing else!

So that Laulau combo plate I just showed you included one (massive) Butterfish Laulau (you can also order Pork and Chicken or Beef for a bit less $), Lomi Salmon, Pipikaula, Sweet Potato and Poi, coming out to $12.62 with tax. That’s actually not bad considering the portions and quality in preparation, also taking into consideration the high cost of the ingredients; the poi being especially market-sensitive in that regard.

That was so much food, I only could eat half, saving the rest for a snack later. Winnah-winnah-laulau-dinnah (actually lunch)!

Finally, for dessert Diner AC bought us some Kauai Kulolo…

Young’s Fish Market – Kauai Kulolo, $6.80 ($8.50/pound)

Kulolo is like a “Hawaiian Mochi”. with a similar profile to it, being glutenous, but not with that much “pull” like mochi. More starchy. Here’s how it looks unwrapped…

Here’s a cross-cut view..

Id say it tastes like sweetened poi with coconut milk mixed in it, except instead of being paste-like, it’s in a more hardened form, with a lightly grainy texture to it.

This Kauai Kulolo is AWESOME! Broke ‘da mout’! Ono! Solid 5-SPAM Musubi from me. The only way it could be better is if you got it fresh out of the oven.

Well, that wraps up our grinds from Young’s on this particular visit today.

For your convenience, here’s a PDF download of Young’s Fish Market current menu (current as of 9/25/08)…

Young’s Fish Market menu (2-page PDF document)

The cover says “Prices current as of March 1997”, but don’t mind that. I took the cover from the old menu (that’s how long we’ve been going here!) and scanned it along with the current take-out menu given to us today. If you print it, just cross that out and put “September 2008” in there manually. Hawaiian ohana (family) style.

Young’s Fish Market
1210 Dillingham Blvd.
Tel. 841-4885

Business hours:
8am-5:30pm Mon-Fri
8am-4pm Sat
Closed on Sun

Related links:
• Kapalama City Square Grindz – The Tasty Island
• Young’s Fish Market Adapts to Stay Afloat – The Honolulu Advertiser
• Young’s Fish Market – Yelp user reviews

8/25/09 post edit: My girlfriend picked up a Laulau Plate from Young’s yesterday…

Young’s Fish Market – Laulau Plate, $12.05

The Laulau plate includes their famous Laulau, Lomi Salmon, Pipikaula, Sweet Potato and Poi or Rice

Here’s a closer look inside the Laulau…

This laulau was steam-cooked to perfection, not leaving any unwelcome itching in the throat, while also not being too soggy either. It was also seasoned with Hawaiian Salt just right, while the pork and butterfish inside was so tender and ONO! The Lomi Salmon was also perfect. Their Pipikaula is pretty good, although a little too sweet for my liking.

All in all a solid 4-SPAM Musubi Laulau plate.

Mango Season '07: Let Us Pray

Mango season in Hawaii typically takes place during the early summer months. June and July is usually when ours are at their peak ripeness and size. Yet as early as February, our trees begin growing the flowers that eventually, with nature permitting, become mangoes.

This year we have an exceptionally impressive amount of flowers on our trees. Certainly more than in recent years’ past. Yet the strong winds these past few days has me thinking of how poor our harvest was due to the “40 days of rain” last year from February thru April. The rain, along with the gusting winds not only blow the delicate flowers off the tree, but trees also don’t like excessive rain, prefering more dry, arid climates. They’re seem very sensitive to any type of weather changes.

For those who haven’t seen what a mango looks like before they become actual fruit, here are the flowers…

Look at all those flowers! If nature didn’t have its way with them (they’re very delicate and blow off easily), just imagine how many mangoes we’d have. Wow.

On the Shibata flower, you can actually see little shibata “bulbs” growing out. Interestingly, if you “smoosh” the flowers in your hand, you can smell the fragrance of mango (unlike the leaves and branches).

These are the “first born” off this tree this year…

The small 3-3/4″ long Pirie (shown inset with ruler) actually fell from the top yesterday, so it bruised on one side, but I still ate it. A bit over-ripe, but man, these Pirie are SOO-WEEET! Such a treat to have one in February! Later when get “choke” mangoes, we end up not appreciating them as much and give most of ’em away.

The Shibata are more fibrous and tangy, best suited for Pickled or Shoyu Mango. They’re good when fully ripe, but I much prefer the Pirie.

So let us pray that the late winter weather will be kind to those precious mango flowers so that we’ll have a productively sweet and tasty 2007 mango season!