*** Nani Moku has closed
I realize that over the last couple of years, I've kinda gotten away from all da' plate lunches, and stuff like that……. Still, once in a while, I just need a plate lunch. And in spite of the many Hawaiian BBQ joints in San Diego, a good plate lunch is hard to come by. As I mentioned before, for me, all Hawaiian BBQ is a subset of plate lunch. And most Hawaiian BBQ places do not offer the variety, nor quality of food that an old school plate lunch joint would.
I wondered, what exactly would Nani Moku be….just another Hawaiian BBQ rehash, or perhaps a good solid plate lunch.
I had made a trip to Nani Moku's back in September of last year, thinking I'd be visiting Da' Kine's. I was shocked to find Da' Kine's gone, and Nani Moku in its place. But after looking at the menu, it looked just like Da' Kine's with a new name. Even the staff looked the same, as did the "daily specials….. Except for a little placard that had "Loco Moco" specials….. did you say Loco Moco specials? I was so there, tucked in the pocket of my personal, gravy laden, comfort zone. I ordered the Chicken Katsu Loco ($6.95). Which to me was basically what we call a "Chicken Cutlet" back home. In Hawaii, the term Chicken Cutlet is synonymouswith Chicken Katsu with Gravy. Which this was, except for the easy over egg…….
And I enjoyed the very runny easy over eggs. Many places nowadays are starting to hard cook their eggs, but this was wonderfully runny, if unseasoned. I'm sure the eggs could have been a bit more crisp around the edges, but that may have been asking a bit much. The cutlet was full on Da' Kine's, thin, with lots of breading. It was moist, which was nice, and the gravy was dark and seasoned. The macaroni salad was chilled, though still lacking in salt, but better than it usually is.
Can you tell that I enjoyed it? I told myself to hang in there, save the photos, and return later on. Soon enough, it was a new year, and I still hadn't returned to Nani Moku. One day, I was going through and deleting photos, when I came across the Chicken Katsu Loco….. and I knew where I'd be headed for lunch……
I returned to Nani Moku, walked up to the counter……
And no moa' Special Loco's…. and what the heck is a "Kaluha Plate?"
You may say; "you know what they mean……" To which I'd reply, "oh, like ordering some Dung Pao Chicken?" At this point, the menu was Da' Kine's recycled, which, if done well is not a bad thing.
So I ordered a Three Item Mix ($8.75) to get a taste of several menu items, which was a good amount of food:
The Chicken Katsu was a safe bet, and was fine as always, along with the ketchup based Katsu sauce:
You can tell by the photo the problem with the Kalua (not Kahula) Pork and Cabbage:
Once upon a time, this might have been half decent, with a good pork to cabbage ratio, but what I got served was the stuff scrapped from the bottom of the chafing dish…hard and dry.
The Teriyaki BBQ Chicken was moist, but lacked a nice marinated flavor.
The Mac Salad was again, nicely chilled, with a perfect amount of mayo, but lacking in salt, or a good savory flavor.
Overall, pretty much typical inconsistent Da' Kine's…except for one thing….the rice. Da' Kine's had a bad habit of serving mushy rice. On both visits to Nani Moku, the rice was good….at least that was consistent. As to whether I'd be back…. I dunno…..
Nani Moku
1635 Sweetwater Road
National City, CA 91950
Sun – Thurs: 11am – 8pm
Fri – Sat: 11am – 9pm