mmm-yoso, the blog, is never on vacation. Cathy is posting while Kirk and Ed are not. Primarily because Kirk is in Peru and Ed is in Yuma…they have interesting lives.
Sadly, Da has closed and now the only Hawaiian food in Santee is L&L, and at my house.
Hi. Cathy here, sort of adding onto "Plate Lunch Week"..with my own ‘White Girl From Santee’ point of view…
Yes, we have a Hawaiian Restaurant in East County…
Well, actually, one day it turned into this place
. Wherein they changed the name on the sign on the outside; all of the menu items inside still say "Shaka" and the paper to go menu is the old one with the other Shaka locations crossed out:
You can click onto any photo and it will enlarge. We will soon have another Hawaiian Restaurant!
So, Kirk is from Hawaii…I was born and Raised in Detroit and have never been to Hawaii. But I know what kind of food I like to eat…I paid attention to Kirk’s posts and asked him a few questions. This is because, before this place became "Da", it was "Shaka". The Mister and I went to Shaka in November of last year. Admittedly I was in a cast to my shoulder with my little broken wrist (I was not on any pain pills at the time, though; I got a prescription for 100 Vicodin and still have 92 in the bottle; you can check) and, well, the food from Shaka was not good. At all. I just didn’t even want to post about it….and I really did not understand what all this fuss and craving about ‘Plate Lunch’ was all about…
One day, I decided to stop and look at the signage in the window. Hmmm. Kirk was doing his "Plate Lunch Week" and I was a bit curious, so I made The Mister come here after work with me.
We got two basic things-Loco Moco ($7.99).
When we were here in November, this particular item was particularly unflavored- not bad, just…nothing. This time however, the rice was nice and sticky, the gravy rich and flavorful, the egg a nice orange yolked done over easy and the hamburger patty, although preformed, had a nice flavor. The gravy, in particular was rich and flavorful and therefore not a waste of calories.
I wanted to try the Katsu chicken and the Kahlua Pork. ($8.99)
WOW. The katsu coating was light and crispy and the chicken moist. The sauce was tangy and not sweet. It went well with the crispy coating. That Kahlua pork- oh my- such good flavor. Light smoky, deep pork flavor, not greasy. I now have cravings for it. The macaroni salad was tangy and not too sweet. I liked it. I don’t like macaroni salad usually…like never have I ever like macaroni salad…this stuff I ate up.
I went to pick up some ‘To Go’ items the other day. (There are some only listed at the cash register)The chicken curry rice plate($6) was excellent, deep flavored curry gravy and with plenty of chicken.
The carrots were fresh and not mushy as were the celery and few potatoes.
The chicken wings ($4 for the plate) were so crispy fried with garlic and a light batter.
I got the Katsu Chicken and Kahlua pork again, because I could not believe the serving size in the restaurant. But there was just as much pork in the "To Go" box as on that platter. It was great.
If you notice on the door, there is a sign about "Happy Hour" , Monday-Friday from 2-6 pm. Hawaiian beer for $3. A PuPu Platter with 2 vegetable lumpia, musubi ( a block of rice wrapped with a choice of meat (Spam, Portuguese sausage, Chicken katsu or BBQ chicken) and edamame for $7 and also the boba drinks are $3 (versus $3.50 regularly). 
I went one afternoon and just got two vegetable lumpia and a taro boba drink. My first taro boba ever. Not my last.
Taro is a root vegetable and is that beautiful light lavender color. It is a starch, is sort of nutty in flavor, et also like potato and so wonderfully fulfilling, sweet but not too much, even with the boba.
The lumpia were pretty standard. Fresh made and with a good amount of vegetables.
This sign is in the window also, and it is why I did not put the post up sooner. There is a Ukulele playing guy who used to come to the restaurant on Wednesdays, and when I went, one day, he wasn’t thee and he changed to Fridays and I haven’t been able to make it to get a photo. A lot of people come to hear him and eat some great food.
I don’t know if all this food is authentic, or if Kirk would approve, but I liked it and I think you will too.
Da Hawaiian Grindz 205 Town Center Parkway Santee (Backed up to the Costco Gas Station in same parking lot as Home Depot but next to Big Lots) 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m, 7 days