Libby Manapua Shop

Pork Manapua, Halfmoon (both split in half), Porkhash and White Rice Cake, with Coleman’s mustard & Shoyu dipping sauce

When it comes to Manapua, several famous Oahu institutions (yes, these are indeed institutions) immediately come to mind: Char Hung Sut, Chun Wah Kam and Libby’s. Of these three, Libby’s is the “back-to-basics” winner, in my opinion.

Libby Manapua Shop – 410 Kalihi St. (just a few blocks mauka of Nimitz Hwy.)

Located in lower Kalihi’s industrial corridor just off of Nimitz, make a turn mauka (towards the mountain) on Kalihi st. and drive a few blocks up. On the ewa corner at address 410 you’ll find one of Oahu’s truly hidden gems.

If you’re a visitor to Oahu, this is the perfect last stop to make on your way to the airport to buy a wonderful fresh food gift for folks back home, or simply to enjoy while you wait for your flight to depart.

Libby’s famous pink box

Don’t be surprised if you find a line coming out the door. A limited amount of parking space is available in back. The entrance is on the street corner. Upon entering, you’ll find a customer counter in a somewhat cramped space with one person doing cashier duty, several ladies taking orders and folks in back quickly serving it up. The full menu board spans the back wall, along with multiple stacks empty pink boxes of various sizes. Behind is a hot mustard dispenser, plastic containers, shoyu packets and napkins to complete your dim sum take-out.

Charsiu Pork Manapua, 1 dozen

Now don’t go looking for baked manapua or fancy fillings at Libby’s . They stick with the basic, yet with that they do it right! Choose either Charsiu Pork, Chicken or Blacksugar in steamed white bun. That’s it. No more, no less. In my opinion, Charsiu Pork is THE Manapua for all others to honor. As you can see in the photo above, that’s ALL I chose for our luncheon on this order. With that, Libby’s Charsiu Pork Manapua is PERFECT. The steamed bun is soft and supple, not soggy, overbaked, or dry. It has just enough pliability to allow the sometimes conservative, sometimes generous Charsiu Pork filling. Speaking of which, the filling has a nice balance of Charsiu flavor, without being too sweet, under/over-powering or “unfamiliar”, as I’ve tasted in others. It’s shredded texture and moisture level is also just right. At 95¢ each, this meal-in-itself is indeed one of Hawaii’s perfect comfort foods.

(clockwise from left) White Rice Cake – 45¢ ea., Halfmoon- 45¢ ea. & Porkhash – 45¢ ea.

Reiterating once again, Libby’s is all about the basics, and with that, my Manapua orders always also include a side of Porkhash, Halfmoon and White Rice Cake. There are a few other items to choose as you’ll see in the menu below, but the selections here are what I’d recommend. To be honest, I could actually just order 2 dozen Porkhash, along with a few containers of mustard and shoyu dipping sauce, wolf that all down and call it a day. I love this stuff! lol. Sometimes we also like to order a side of Chow Fun noodles, which gives the meal a little more body. Otherwise, this dim sum spread works just perfectly.

Gotta’ love their hand-drawn logo… classic

For your convenience, I’ll provide you the full menu here, which is current as of this posting:

Libby Manapua Shop
410 Kalihi St., Honolulu, HI
(808)841-2253

MENU (all take-out)
Charsiu pork manapua – 95¢
Blacksugar manapua – 90¢
Chicken manapua – $1.00
Porkhash – 45¢
Halfmoon – 45¢
Pepeyau – 45¢
Rice cake (white or brown layered) – 45¢
Cookies (almond or tea) – 50¢
Coconut custard mochi – 75¢
Coconut custard mochi w/ chocolate chips – 80¢
Spring rolls (vegetarian) – 65¢
Spring rolls (shrimp paste w/curry sauce) – 60¢
Pot Stickers – 55¢
Pillows (like a turnover or pocket) – $1.20
-Azuki bean, chicken curry, chicken teriyaki, sesame chicken, hamburger curry, pizza or bbq hamburger
Chow fun, large (quart size) – $3.90
Chow fun, small (pint size) – $2.85
Gon lau mein, large (quart size) – $4.00
– small (pint size) – $2.90

Things To Do
Honolulu

Honoring Hawaii's SPAM Musubi

SPAM Musubi Gift Pack – Hawaii 2006

Leading the nation in SPAM consumption, it’s no wonder Hormel Foods has once again released a limited edition item for the Hawaii market in honor of our very own SPAM Musubi! This time it’s a SPAM Musubi Gift Pack. Very very cool. What I found a bit disappointing though was that they didn’t include the “Hawaii Collector’s Edition” label on the cans that was introduced 3 years ago.

Here’s what that tin looked like…

SPAM Hawaii Collector’s Edition – Hawaii 2003.  Photos courtesy of Selva’s Flickr photo stream.

See that Hula Girl Figurine? Well, they didn’t forget about that, including it on the top of the box label for this year’s Gift Pack…

SPAM Musubi Gift Pack – Hawaii 2006

Now take a look at the back label of that 2003 tin…

SPAM Hawaii Collector’s Edition – Hawaii 2003.   Photos courtesy of Selva’s Flickr photo stream.

Then take a look at the back of this year’s Gift Pack…

SPAM Musubi Gift Pack – Hawaii 2006

Hmmm. Now that looks familiar. O.K., the equation part is cool, but who came up with the term “= CRAZY TASTY”? Common, this is Hawaii! You’re supposed to say “= ONO!”. Or at least give its partial Japanese roots some honor by saying “= OISHII!”.

Aside of some of the tackiness, it’s still really cool. When I first laid eyes on this stacked on a pallet in Costco, I knew this was something special. Locals I witnessed passing by in the store looked at it and laughed, probably thinking how silly it is. Something taken for granted when SPAM Musubi is something you find at every gas station convenience store around town. But when you’re on the mainland, you begin to realized just how much this simple, yet delicious snack and meal-in-itself identifies Hawaii’s blended culture.

You go ANYWHERE on this planet, if you see a SPAM Musubi, I can almost guarantee its origins were from Hawaii. Not Japan or New York, but HAWAII.

This is why I use it as an icon for taste ratings here. It’s so synonymous with our islands that once you see it, you know you’re home.

So here we have this Gift Pack, which I give Hormel an “A” for effort. Maika’i (well done). Included in it are FOUR 12 oz. cans of SPAM Classic, FOUR 12 cans of SPAM 25% Less Sodium and ONE exclusive SPAM Musubi maker (the blue thing). The back of the package also includes recipes for making a classic SPAM Musubi and several other dishes.

The 9-compartment cardboard display box with cool Hawaiiana floral print and Hula Girl is a gem. Then you have that Musubi Maker, which alone might be worth some collector buck$ in the future when it’s out of production. It even has the official SPAM logo embossed on it. Wow! While it probably can’t compete with some of the higher quality clear acrylic molds made and sold locally, it’s the licensed NAME BRAND on it that really matters.

I purchased a few of these SPAM Musubi Gift Packs just for the novelty of having it. I don’t want to open it. I’ll just proudly display it at home, then perhaps later I’ll put ’em up on eBay. lol

Photo courtesy of Lindilindi’s Flickr photo stream.

Tasty Island Rating:

Big Breakfasts at Big City Diner

Famous BIG Breakfast: 3 sunny-side up eggs, Portuguese Sausage & Paniolo Potatoes ~ $6.75

Some friends visiting from California were vacationing in Kailua, so we decided to meet over breakfast at the neighborhood Big City Diner. It was a first for all of us at this Kailua location and also my first time eating at any BCD for breakfast. I must admit, our visit here was mostly in interest to talk with each other than to “eat”, but a good breakfast was also in order, and thus this entry is presented.

BCD’s breakfast menu is rather short on selection, but big on value. If you’ve got a big appetite for breakfast, you will not be disappointed here.

I’ll get to the point with my order, which was the “Famous BIG Breakfast” as pictured above. Being the only one of 4 people on our table to order this, it was certainly the heavy hitter of all the dishes ordered. My guests all looked at me like “can you eat all that?”. Of course I couldn’t, but I came close! My eggs were perfect sunny-side up, and the portuguese sausage slices were thick ‘n tasty. The Paniolo Potatoes were made with skin-on potato cubes that tasted like they were roasted, then finished by being sauteed with onions and peppers. It arrived on my plate a bit dried out, like it had been sitting under a warmer for an hour or more, but it still worked with the entire dish. A little catchup on it and it was fine. The color contrast of th pineapple wedge and Ti leaf garnish surely improved the visual flavor aspect. Ultimately, this was one HUGE plate of breakfast basics that could have easily been shared among two adults. Out the door at just under $7, it was executed well and overall a very good value.

Ani’s Awesome Cinnamon Bread French Toast ~ $5.50

Jim and Angie ordered Ani’s Awesome Cinnamon Bread French Toast. I didn’t ask, but I’m going to assume here that the bread in this dish is made by Ani’s Bakery, known for their Portuguese Sweet Bread and exotic pies. With a good soaking of Maple syrup, both of them made good work of this dish, finishing their entire plate. Koko, Jim’s lovely fiance had a short stack of Old Fashioned Pancakes. I didn’t snap a photo, but they were simply a as advertised. Koko doesn’t like syrup on her pancakes, which none of us can figure out, but hey, to each their own. She finished the plate so it must’ve been good.

Of course some folks reading this are asking “brah, why you nevah’ sample da’ Really Loco, Loco Moco, Uncle Danny’s Fried Rice or Granda’s Kim Chee Fried Rice?!”. Well, neither I nor the others at this sitting were in the mood for it at the time. We just went with the basics. Next time for sure though!

It kinda’ would’ve been nice if the lunch menu were also available, as some of us might have preferred a salad, burger or other entree during the brunch-time hours that we were there. But really that would come down to us just being picky.

The service was excellent – our waitress was very friendly, water and bottomless coffee always topped, the finished plates immediately cleared. Although a steady, somewhat busy morning, it never reached a point where folks were waiting out the door for tables that we might have felt hurried or even asked to leave. A nice n’ easy pace that afforded us over 2 hours to spend there over good conversation, breakfast and coffee.

Big City Diner’s Kailua restaurant is located on the far left corner of the shopping mall space that houses the Foodland anchor store. It looks to be just a tad smaller than the Ward location, with a bit more a family feel to it, such as color crayon drawings put up by keiki patrons. There’s also an open bar with outside seating overlooking the marshland hill on the left-side of the main entrance. I suppose this area fills up as the sun sets.

Like Zippy’s, Big City Diner knows the formula to success in Hawaii’s competitive restaurant industry… offer an easy-going atmosphere, good food with a flare for local flavors at a reasonable price, with an emphasis on consistency and friendly service. It’s all there, served up BIG at BCD.

Big City Diner
Locations: Kaimuki (the original), Kailua, Ward Entertainment Center (Honolulu) and Waipio
Cuisine: American and local/ethnic favorites
Serving: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Ambience/clientele: Casual/entire family (sports bar in designated areas)
Price range: Affordable

Tasty Island Rating: