Hormel GÖTEBORG Kauai Label Design

Hot off the heels of the Hormel SPAM Hawaii Label Design Contest (which voting for the best one has just ended last night), I present to you my first attempt at a label design in an effort to promote Hormel’s other “Crazy Tasty” mystery meat,  their Göteborg Sausage.

“What in the heck is Göteborg Sausage?” you may ask?  If so, there’s quite a bit of information and discussion about it that both I and my wonderful readers have posted and commented about in the past, both here and here.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it once again, one of my absolute all-time favorite comments made to date on this blog has to go to “Anahola Tita”, who gave her two cents (and then some!) about Göteborg Sausage, where back in 11/09 she wrote…

“OMG Guteberg! Yummo !! I am Kaua’i girl born/raised from Anahola Hawaiian Homes … My mom used to work at Kojima Store in Kapa’a–and the meat market in the back of the store was Da Bes’ Meat Market on the island … they were, and still are known for their marinated Kal Bi — and GUTEBERG !! Already sliced in the perfect 6mm cut, plastic wrapped in foam trays –you can just walk in the store and pick it up in the meat section … along with trays of marinated kal bi … just down the road, literally, at Pono Market, you can get Guteberg Musubi–gotta go early or else sell out … whenever I go back home … those two stops are a must! And of course Hamura’s, Hanamaulu Cafe, and if I can make it to Lawai Store.

I’d like to share what I remember from either someone sharing with me or perhaps reading about, or maybe a combination of both–The History of Guteberg on Kaua’i evidently traces back to GERMANY. It is a German Sausage or Salami — similar to Italian sausage, etc. — it’s a European-style deli sausage. It was introduced to the island of Kaua’i when a German Stone Wall builder moved there back in the plantation days, and was hired to build stonewalls for the plantation owners, mostly on the West side of the island — as is evident by all the old, man-made stone walls that are strewn around the island. The story goes that he introduced the sausage to the plantation owners he was hired by … and they introduced it to the plantation workers — at lunchtime — the one thing that every culture had in common — FOOD … it became customary for all the different cultures to share food … it became sort of a fun way to get to know each other and have respect for different cultures. People couldn’t speak to each other — they all spoke different languages — so food became a universal language … and that is how they started to learn about each other. Guteberg was the “Haole” man’s “kokua” or contribution to the lunchtime pot luck.

Anyways–I live on O’ahu now…married with child. My husband is from NY and looooves Guteberg–he’s part-German…I looooove German sausage…(and Guteberg too…ahem!)–my mom lives with us now…she’s the one that used to work at Kojima’s…gotta have her saussage…so we satisfy our Guteberg urges @ Marukai Dillingham. Although we found it in other stores, she looooooves the butchers there … and they loooooove her too — she’ll grab a long thing of sausage and walk up to the butcher’s sliding glass windows and press their button … and they slide the door open with big smiles on their faces … and she’s holds the sausage up in front of her — like, facing longways towards them … and she says … “I like ‘em t’ick (thick)” … aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaha !! Crack Up!! Yah!! One Full-On Potagee Gramma asking the butchers at frickin’ Marukai if they can give her “6″ — serious !! She go, “You Can Do 6?” aaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha !! Da guys look at me and dey turn all red — dark-skinned filipinos !! you can see ‘em blushing !! aaaaaaaahahahahaha !! And they have no idea that my mother has no idea … hahlarious !! frickin’ cartoons I’m tellin’ you!! A bunch of deers with no eyes (no eye dear…no idea…never mind)…alrighty then–

btw … having a brain fart right now — wanna address the comment about the difference between UFOs and Flying Saucers …. Das Right !! ONLY ON KAUAI !! No other island has Flying Saucers … Kaua’i people know the difference … Kaua’i may be full of spacey people, but the upside of that is, they can tell the difference between UFOs and Flying Saucers … that’s what happens when you live on another planet …

kden — gotta get going — long over due for a visit to marukai…my mom was just saying she hasn’t “had it” in awhile … aaaaaaaaahahahaha!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha !! hoo boy … classic … hey–at least she’s free entertainment … toodles all !!”

~ Anahola Tita

LOL TO DA’ MAX! CLASSIC! I swear, I almost fell of my chair in laughter, as well as enlightenment after first reading that. So cute, you gotta’ love her!

Seriously though, note that she mentions “Flying Saucers” and “UFOs”, which (given my readers provide accurate information), come to find out “Flying Saucers” are NOT a slang name for Kauai’s beloved Göteborg Musubi, but actually a type of saucer-shaped pressed hamburger sandwich. Which another reader named “Roger” explains like this, “Well as for the flying saucer, I remember it only at Bon Dance time and some other time. Two slice of bread, ground beef with a slice of cheese inside, toasted over heat in a saucer shape. Loved those at Bon Dance time… could eat a dozen of them.”

So anyhow, as you may now have read in those links all about Göteborg Sausage, this is truly a “Kauai thang”, that’s slowly making its way across Oahu, and perhaps the other neighbor islands and beyond, thanks to the internet no doubt. I seriously think Hormel should consider boosting their marketing strategy for this otherwise obscure, yet absolutely “Crazy Tasty” sausage!

Therefore in light of their SPAM Hawaii Label Design campaign, I hereby propose to Hormel this “starter” idea for an exclusive Hawaii label design to help market and boost sales of their Goteborg Sausage. Above you see a mock-up of how it would look on the product. Here’s another pulled back view (it looks crooked, but that’s how the original label was placed, which my label design covering superimposed)…

Yes, that Göteborg Sausage measures about 17″ in length, and weighs in at an equally quantifying 3¼ pounds. Whoah! Which is about the average size, as each sausage varies just a bit in weight, hence the meat produce label from Times Supermarket which gives the specific weights and measures price.

Speaking of supermarkets, the Kaheka Don Quijote currently has Göteborg Sausage in stock at a cheaper price than that, running $5.49/lb. vs. $5.99 in this example, which I purchased a few years back from the Times Supermarket’ Kahala location.

Here’s how the current Hormel Göteborg Sausage label looks like…

As for my Göteborg Sausage exclusive Kauai/Hawaii “rough draft” label idea, I pretty much “cockaroached” (borrowed/stole) the design concept from my SPAM Hawaii label design, which once again looked like this…

With that, here’s a proof copy version of my “Kauai’s Favorite” Hormel Goteborg Sausage label design proposal…

While that comment by “Anahola Tita” was certainly playful and comical, underneath it all, it was VERY informative, and the most information I could dig up yet online about the history of Göteborg Sausage on the “Garden Isle” of Kauai.  So I took the core information from her comment and did a little “history blurbage” on my “Kauai’s Favorite” Hormel Goteborg Sausage label design. I’m going to copy and paste that “blurbage” into text form here, mainly so I can eventually quickly find it on Google…

“Goteborg Sausage is said to have been introduced to the Hawaiian
island of Kauai by a German stone wall builder, hired to do work
on the lavish estate homes of wealthy plantation owners living
primarily on the west side of the beautiful “Garden Isle”.

Upon savoring the great taste of this European Sausage delicacy,
these plantation owners then shared it with their multi-cultural
plantation workers, and the rest is history.

Similar to the iconic “SPAM® Musubi”, one of the most popular
ways Kauai folks enjoy this “Crazy Tasty” Swedish sausage is as
“Goteborg Musubi”. An East-meets-West fusion sushi type of morsel,
made simply by topping sauteed slices of Goteborg Sausage with
tightly-pressed, flattened balls of rice,
and then sprinkled with Japanese
Furikake Nori for that
flavorful finishing touch.

Enjoy with Aloha!”

That’s the “blurbage” part. As for the graphical elements, notice I made the “Hawaiian” Tapa print stand out a bit more on the yellow gradient bordering each side of the vertical label design. I also threw in the widely used and abused Lauhala mat as a background for  the Göteborg Musubi “serving suggestion” image. Most important of all though with my design is the trademark “look” of the classic SPAM label design, with the blue vertical band coming from the top, while using the “Cooper” font to spell out GÖTEBORG.

Oh, speaking of “Ö”, in case you’re wondering what those two dots are above the letter Ö, it represents the German Umlauted form of O, which is best explained in this Wikipedia article.

Last but not least, I threw in my favorite design element from my SPAM Hawaii label design, the “SPAMWICH ISLES”. I was going to superimpose Goteborg Sausage as the islands’ background, but didn’t think “Goteborgwich Isles” had the same “ring” to it as “SPAMWICH ISLES”, so left it as that, while making reference to the widely known SPAM product in that final part of the “blurbage” (we like to use that term a lot in the advertising biz).

Anyways, that’s my design, to which of course still needs some tweaking and other ideas thrown in or tossed out. I’ll play with it more both graphically and conceptually if Hormel Foods decides to contact me on this and/or take it to the next level.

I’ll just finish this post with some photos of Goteborg Musubi that I’ve featured here on The Tasty Island in the past…

JOBO’s Goteborg Musubi from The Poke Bowl at Ward Farmers Market (on Oahu)

This is the photo I “pathed out” in Photoshop and used in my label design. Note, “The Poke Bowl” in Ward Farmers Market is no longer there, but they are indeed still around under the name “Paina Cafe”, located right across the street in Ward Warehouse. I must also note, ever since “The Poke Bowl” came around, it seems there’s been plenty of COPY CATS around town doing the same thing they introduced, which is namely as advertised, “Poke Bowls” and what we have here in the form of “Goteborg Musubi”.

Take for instance, you can now find deli-prepared Goteborg Musubi on Oahu at select Times Supermarkets, as well as even Tanioka’s in Waipahu!…

Goteborg Musubi from Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering

Notice Tanioka’s totally flipped the “Jobos” Poke Bowl Goteborg Musubi design upside down to make it “their own”. Essentially “different but da’ same”, and still mighty tasty thanks to that wonderfully savory-meets-salty, absolutely onolicious Goteborg Sausage.

Here’s a good cross-cut view…

Simplicity at its best. Still, if you ask me, I’d throw an Ume in the middle!

Speaking of which, I did one “epic” post in the past here titled the “Goteborg Musubi Project“, where I took a variety of Japanese picked vegetables and other side dish specialties called “Tsukemono” (which I LOVE) and topped them on Goteborg Musubi for the ULTIMATE sampler plate. Ch-ch-check ’em out…

Goteborg Musubi – a specialty from Kauai – with 7 varieties of toppings

From front to back, that’s Beni Shoga (the red stuff), Kim Chee, Goma Konbu (the black stuff, second row on the far left), Kyuri Zuke, Iriko/Beni Shoga, while on the back row is Ume/Nori Wrap and finally the classic Kauai classic Furikake-topped Goteborg Sausage.

In that same post, I also provided a bunch of photos of what a Goteborg Sausage looks like unwrapped…

All jokes and innuendo comments you may want to make aside, rest assured (or lest you have sleepless nights), this is indeed one HUGE honkin’ log ‘o meat!

Here it is all chopped up and ready to hit da’ frying pan (or ehem, excuse ’em wah, “Saute Pan)…

Here’s a closer look at each slice

Where there’s salty meat, gotta’ get rice!…

Fry ’em up…

A key thing to note here is how the Goteborg sausage slices naturally become concave in shape, forming a “cup” that conveniently holds the soon-to-be-added rice!

While you let the piping hot Goteborg sausage slices drain on a paper-towel-lined plate, now’s the time to make some Musubi to add to it. Do that by taking freshly cooked rice that’s been cooled to room temperature and pack it into tightly into ball-shaped form about the size (or a little larger) than the diameter of the Goteborg slices, “creatively” using your hand that’s been wet with lightly salted water (for seasoning and so the rice doesn’t stick). Then flatten the small ball of rice into a thick wafer-like shape, as a fully-spherical rice ball shape symbolizes death in Japanese custom. Just squash it and you’re good, where you’ll live a long and prosperous life. Then top your thick wafer-shaped ball of musubi rice on the inner-cup of each fried (sauteed) Goteborg Sausage slice, which should then look like this…

There’s nothing that “glues” the musubi rice to the Goteborg Sausage “cup”. It just kinda’ sits on it, yet it works, no worries.

At this point,  you can either eat da’ buggah plain laddat (eat that sucker plain, just like that). Or top each Goteborg Musubi with your favorite ‘kine stuffs (types of garnishments), which as previously mentioned, may look somethin’ like this…

The Tasty Island’s Goteborg Musubi Project

Mmm, mmm, MMM! Crazy Tasty!

Alexis Jordan – Happiness
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26jKtELitQE

David Gilmour – Then I Close My Eyes (live)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD7NXzmXMqk

David Gilmour – Where We Start (Live)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGcJgdIfAX8

Hormel SPAM Hawaii Label Design Contest

Hormel Foods is currently holding a contest, asking Hawaii residents (must be a Hawaii resident) to submit a winning exclusive Hawaii label design for their SPAM 25% Less Sodium canned luncheon meat. The deadline to enter the contest ended this Friday, but online voting by the general public to choose the best design begins today!

This follows the success of the Hawaii Collector’s Edition they offered exclusively to the Hawaii market back in 2003, which looked like this…

The back of the can…

Here’s how the Hormel SPAM 25% Less Sodium can label currently looks…

Most SPAM varieties (turkey, bacon, garlic, etc.), including their competitors (like TREET) include a suggestive recipe or way to use their product on the back of the label…

Well, I hereby exclusively present to you my dear Tasty Island readers, my original submission for the Hormel SPAM 25% Less Sodium Hawaii edition 2011 label design…

A profile angle of how the can would look…

Here’s the label template that was provided by Hormel (as a PDF)…

which I imported into various art programs to fill in the blanks with my design…

Click image to enlarge. For the originally-sized (and very large due to DPI) image of the design, click here

Keep in mind that one of the rules is that “Designers can work in all white space (front and back of label), but must leave brand trade dress information on the label as is.”

Now let me explain my design. First of all, there’s COUNTLESS possibilities and ways to go about this. You could go the “Hawaiian Host scenic box” approach, and simply plug in a montage of beautiful scenic spots around the islands (beach, waterfalls, attractive hula gal and/or guy, etc.). Or you could go the gallery art “Cristopher Lassen” approach, which of course would entail hours upon of hours of work.

Then of course you could simply just show a nice shot of SPAM Musubi or other original SPAM dish that has a local spin to it on the front. Because everything has to be original and/or royalty-free, if you were to show a hula doll, tiki statue or some other typical Hawaii tourist trap stuff, it would either have to be your own, or you’d need permission from the manufacturer or person who made it. I’m not sure where Hormel got that Hula Girl Doll on the 2003 edition, but it’s certainly a great piece, so kudos to them for that design.

Whenever I create something that requires an artistic mind, such as say a masthead for a website, usually my FIRST concept is the one I find works the best. That said, the concept I propose here was the very first thing that came to mind, and I just rolled with it (or surfed it if you will).

My girlfriend highly recommended I think “outside the box” and get away from SPAM Musubi, but you know what? No matter what, there’s no denying SPAM Musubi is THE defining icon of what SPAM means to Hawaii, period. SPAM, eggs and rice? Sure. SPAM Katsu, absolutely. SPAM in Saimin and fried noodles? Most definitely. Yet, by far, SPAM Musubi tops them all, and is truly as much a top-of-mind icon to Hawaii as the North Shore and/or Kilauea, just to name a few. No matter what, the venerable SPAM Musubi continues to be a an absolute REQUIREMENT on a SPAM label that will be mass-produced to honor Hawaii.

So a “SPAM Surfer” you ask? Absolutely! Why not?! There’s actually a key subliminal message behind that. With this being the 25% Less Sodium version — having 580mg of sodium versus regular SPAM’s 790mg — the reason Hormel is using this version is simply because, while Hawaii still enjoys being the largest consumer in the nation of SPAM per capita (with Guam actually beating us, but they’re a territory, not a state), the 25% Less Sodium is a better seller here than the regular SPAM. From a marketing standpoint, this ideally reflects Hawaii residents as a whole being at least somewhat health conscious. So “SPAM Surfer”  is intended to represent an active, outdoor lifestyle on the beach in Hawaii, and surfing is certainly a healthy sport that keeps you fit. Hence, a “SPAM surfer dude”. Adding to that, the graphic of the wave splashing and barreling right underneath the “25% LESS SODIUM” ribbon banner provides an underscoring way of giving the impression that salt is being washed away … even though sea water is salt water, but you get the drift. lol

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwhvByj8YG8

I might also add, with the rebooted Hawaii Five-0 v.2.1 enjoying renewed TV network success, the barreling wave can also be associated with that (from the opening theme song). Or at least I’d like to think so.

Then of course he’s giving da’ shaka, the universal sign language gesture of Aloha.

Thrown into the design is a Hibiscus silhouette with a simple gradient blend, which as you may know is the official flower of the state of Hawaii. I actually want to redo that using an actual photo and vectorize it, which if my design were to be used, I’d certainly change that out in the final version. I also want to redo the wave illustration a little bit (simplify it more) if given the opportunity to do so.

Now the back of the label is really my favorite part! One idea was to take a block of SPAM and carve it into the shape of Diamond Head Crater, yet I took that eight steps further and “carved” the entire Hawaiian Island chain out of SPAM! Au-right! You know it! lol In Photoshop of course, by clip masking the text over a photo of a slice of fried SPAM. So if you look closely at the surface of the islands, it looks like they’re made of SPAM, which I’ve affectionately renamed in honor of Captain Cook’s “Sandwich Isles”, “DA’ SPAMWICH ISLES”. Clevah (clever) eh!

With that, my idea of a serving suggestion is: take some slices of SPAM and cut them out into the shape of the Hawaiian Islands, fry ’em up and present it on a flattened bed of rice and furikake on a plate, garnished with Teriyaki sauce and green onion to make the plating presentation complete. I bet your guests will be FLOORED! In fact, I’ll do it myself and blog it here in a post coming soon!

The first paragraph of the text copy is my own, while the rest is directly from Hormel SPAM’s history web page.

The two SPAM Musubi on the bottom left corner were (stress WERE, until I ate them both) mine, which I bought from the Kaheka Don Quijote, made by Tokyo Bento. 5 SPAM Musubi on them, as they were “Crazy Tasty” indeed! lol Believe it or not, I took the photo of that SPAM Musubi (duplicated on the label and rotated) on the dashboard of my car right before eating it at the beach. Au-right!

Finally, if you look closely, the gradient yellow and aqua blue band wrapping the top and bottom of the label has Tapa print embedded in it, sealing the “This is a Hawaii label design” deal.

So anyways, that’s my design and I’m sticking to it, Teriyaki sauce and all. Voting opens to the public today, Presidents Day, Monday, February 21 to Friday, February 25, 2011.

If you like/love/adore my design, please vote for me at www.HawaiiSPAMCan.com. My design is located seven rows up from the bottom on the far right, under the name “Pomaika’i Souza” (my real name of course). Note, when you click the vote button, the website will automatically generate and send an eMail to the address you provided, which you must open and click a link in that eMail to confirm your vote. Please make sure you do this so the vote is counted.

Mahalo!

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Kalihi Kai Eats: Monarch Seafoods

For today’s review we’re back in Kalihi, where it’s repeatedly and affectionately designated here on this blog as “The Center of Hawaii’s Food Universe”, a.k.a. “God’s Country”. This time around at yet another hole-in-the-wall gem over at Monarch Seafoods, located next door mauka (towards the Koolau mountain range) of Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory on Kalihi Street, with Bank of Hawaii’s Dillingham Boulevard branch also adjacent to them if that will help you find them.

Monarch Seafoods is a fish distributor that also offers catering services, as well as what we’re sampling here in this review from their daily takeout operation. And the place is strictly takeout with no dine-in seating.

Without further ado, here’s their most current menu as of this writing…

Upon entering, you’ll find the customer service area is rather small, where as little as 10 people waiting in line for their order can already make it feel crowded. Yet that’s how it is at most hole-in-the-wall gems. Here’s the front end service counter, made up mostly of a refrigerated display case filled with a goldmine of ono kine grindz…

Being a seafood purveyor — with nearby Honolulu’s fish auction block right down the street, mind you — naturally there’s no shortage of fresh fish and prepared Poke to be had here…

Of course they also have prepared bento lunches ready to go…

Next time I visit here, I definitely need to try “Pop’s Homemade Banana Cream Pie”, as that’s one of my favorite kinds of pie…

So on this first-time visit, Diner A decided to go “Surf ‘n Turf” and chose a mixed plate of Monarch’s Deep Fried Poke and Hamburger Steak with Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions…

Mixed Plate of Monarch’s Deep Fried Poke and Hamburger Steak with Sauteed Mushrooms ‘n Onions and House Nalo (as in Waimanalo) Greens. $8.45

A closer look…

OMG, Monarch’s Deep Fried Poke is da bomb!…

Seemingly simple, yet easy to mess up if done the wrong way. Yet Monarch NAILS this, as the thoroughly cooked-through Ahi cube is seasoned with just the right amount of what tastes like a shoyu-based marinade (because you know, it’s Poke), while the Panko crust is offers a wonderful “GBD” taste and texture contrast to the delightfully tender and moist Ahi meat. Superb indeed. In fact, , just drop a bunch of these absolutely scrumptiously onolicious Deep Fried Poke bites in a big bowl along with a case or two of ice cold Heinekens amongst a bunch of you and your best friends, and you’ve got one heck of a great paina (party)!

They provide a chili Aioli sauce for the Deep Fried Poke, but both Diner A and I agree what REALLY makes this OUTRAGEOUSLY OFF THE CHARTS is their AMAZING House Salad Dressing…

Chili Aioli Sauce (left) and Monarch’s signature House Salad Dressing (right)

I swear, you could dip your car bumper in Monarch’s salad dressing and it’d taste awesome. Seriously, if you ever visit this place, ASK FOR EXTRA DRESSING. Trust me, you’ll thank me (and them for giving you an extra cup) for that tip.  It goes great with, well, EVERYTHING.

To explain it, it’s got a sweet ‘n sour-meets-creamy flavor profile goin’ on, with a subtle hint of garlic. It sort of reminds me of Costco’s Parisian Dressing that comes with that salad kit they sell. But this one BLOWS that and is by far one of the BEST salad dressings I’ve ever tasted in recent memory.

As for the Hamburger Steak, the gravy is solid (tasting that is), also sporting garlic undertones, with plenty of depth and “beefy-ness”, while having perfect thickness and body. The single hamburger patty was on the small side, yet according to Diner A it was seasoned nicely and had all the right fillers that make a hamburger steak taste like it should.

Overall, Diner A gives Monarch’s Deep Fried Poke and Hamburger Steak mixed plate a super solid 4 SPAM Musubi.

Next up is yours truly, where I just had to go with what everyone on Yelp raves about, which is Monarch’s ever-popular Nori-wrapped Crab-stuffed Ahi…

Monarch Seafoods – Nori-wrapped Crab-stuffed Ahi with Nalo Greens and Brown Rice. $8.95

A closer look…

What nobody on Yelp mentions nor probably haven’t tried experimenting with, is dipping the Nori-wrapped Crab-stuffed Ahi roll in their AMAZING House Dressing!…

Oh man, I tell ya’, that dressing takes what is already an awesome dish to levels unknown to mankind. Bam! You can see they drizzle the Nori-Wrapped Crab-stuffed Ahi with Wasabi, which is great. Then you add the creamy, sort of garlic-ee, sweet ‘n sour element from the dressing and, I swear, it  just makes you wanna’ roll your eyeballs backwards in your noggin. lol Seriously, so ono!

Construction-wise, it appears they take a thinly-sliced slab of ahi and top it with minced imitation crab that’s mixed with other ingredients I couldn’t quite pinpoint, although I’m sure there’s at least some mayonnaise in it. They take that and roll it up all wrapped up in several multiple layers of nori maki, then it gets a quick dredge in tempura batter then deep fried. You know, the kinda’ thing Kahai Street Kitchen right down the street would probably do.

The end result is Ahi that’s super moist and imparted with plenty of “Umami” thanks to the Nori and (imitation) crab meat surrounding both sides of it, while you get that “decadent crunch” factor from the lightly crispy tempura coating it’s encased in. Genius.

As for the Nalo Greens, they were super fresh ‘n crispy, and incredibly packed into the left corner pocket of my plate. Where after I finished the Ahi, I was able to fill the entire main entree section with my salad!…

I tell ya’, it was like having a refreshing appetizer salad after the main dish!

Summing it up, 4 SPAM Musubi for Monarch’s Nori-Wrapped Crab-stuffed Ahi. Use real crab meat and I’d give it 5. Trade out the crab for lobster and I’d probably give it a TEN! Bu-Ya!

We enjoyed our lunch from Monarch Seafoods so much, that we made a hana hou (encore) visit just a week later! This time around with Diner EY (different guy than Diner E) in tow, where he decided to give their Garlic Roast Pork plate a spin…

Monarch Seafoods – Roast Pork with Gravy. $7.95

I got a taste of the gravy, and can cofirm it’s certainly “garlic-ee”, yet not obnoxiously so. In words of Rap Replinger’s “Aunty Marialani”, it’s “jussssssss right”. Go check ’em now, check ’em now, go. lol  Diner EY also gave a thumbs-up of approval for the roast pork, saying it was fork tender and packed with flavor. 4 SPAM Musubi.

This time around, Diner A decided to try Monarch’s Crab Cake, Mochiko Chicken and Fried Poke Bento…

Monarch Seafoods – Bento: Crab Cake, Mochiko Chicken and Fried Poke. $7.95

The crab cake…

How was it? 3 SPAM Musubi.

Finally, yours truly laid it down this time with Monarch’s Garlic Butter Sauteed Tiger Prawns with Zucchini and Mushrooms over Linguine pasta…

Monarch Seafoods – Garlic Butter Sauteed Tiger Prawns with Zucchini and Mushrooms over Linguine. $8.95

A closer look…

How was it? Eh, it’s OK but nothing really worth writing home or here about. It wasn’t drenched in garlic butter as much as I would have liked, while the tails were on the verge of being overcooked and rubbery. They also weren’t as sweet as I was expecting it to be. As for the pasta, the linguine was cooked perfectly al dente, but the “cream” sauce just did not work. It literally tasted like somewhat thickened canned cream, while having barely any seasoning or flavor, whatsoever. Someone please pass me some butter and fresh grated parm’ please. I gotta say though, there were generous slices of zucchini and sauteed white mushrooms in it, yet even then, the really lame, plain Jane cream sauce didn’t lend them a helping hand in flavor ‘tat all.

Summing it up, I give Monarch’s Garlic Butter Tiger Prawns 1 SPAM Musubi, which I’m being generous at even that. Thankfully, again, I had their awesome House Salad Dressing to save the day and make a lame plate at least decent enough to eat.

Regardless,

Leave it use to take advantage of a scale when we see one, where here we weighed my Nori Wrapped, Crab-stuffed Ahi plate on our first visit, which clocked in at 1.065 pounds…

So if they charged us $11.95 per pound (the average price of their fresh raw ahi), this plate would have totaled out at $12.73. Thankfully that plate is just $8.95, which is truly a bargain for a truly inspirational and creative seafood dish you’d easily pay 3 or more times that in a finer dining restaurant.  Gotta’ love Kalihi for that.

Monarch Seafoods
515 Kalihi St
Honolulu, Hawaii  96819

Tel. (808) 841-7877

Monarch Seafoods & Catering menu (71k 2-page PDF document download; current as of 1.11)

The Tasty Island rating:

(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!

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