Breakfast of Champions – Oahu edition Redux: Kapiolani Coffee Shop, Harry’s Cafe, and Diner’s Waimalu

Even though my first "Breakfast of Champions" post is probably the most spammed (somehow appropriate) post on our blog, I couldn't help but do a follow-up. Here's the breakfasts I had during my last trip home.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop:

I really got a kick from the very old-school atmosphere at Kapiolani Coffee Shop during my oxtail soup stop, that I went back just to see what breakfast was like.

There were no customers when I arrived, and was directed to exactly the same table I had sat at before….funny, yeah?

I got a cup of coffee while I looked over the menu…..yep, this place is old school all right, the cup o'joe tasted like it had been sitting around since I was in high school! Man, it was like mud….the real friendly guy kept wanting to refill it, but I just kept telling him, "no need" and making up some excuse like, "my docta' said I got to cut down on da' caffiene, no good fo' my heart" and stuff like that. Yeeeesh……

I hoped that my loco moco fared better and it did.

The kitchen bouquet gravy could have used a bit more salt and the eggs were a bit past how I want my easy-over eggs to be, but this wasn't bad at all. The hamburger patty had been pressed on the griddle developing a nice char, but the gravy balanced out the possibility of a dry burger.  Not bad at all.

But what I enjoyed the most was the mac salad.

it had just the right amount of salt and mayo and was nicely chilled. I actually wanted to order more mac salad…..but how would I explain, since I supposedly had "one bad ticka'"…..no coffee because of a cardiac problem and I'm there eating like three scoops of macaroni salad??? Would have been a bit odd….so I decided just to enjoy what I had.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea, HI 96701

Harry's Cafe:

Harry's Cafe, on Waimanu street, just a block and a half from Kapiolani has a bit of a cult following. The place is a total hole-in-the-wall and very divey….the type of places that "butt crack guys"…you know, the fellows who work the trades, stop and devour a ton of calories before heading to work.

They are also famous for a 99 cent breakfast……..

I was a bit late for the special, but decided to drop by for breakfast anyway. The place was pretty busy when I arrived. Four movers were eating a massive amount of food on one table….at the bar, a pretty seedy looking couple talked toeach other real loud….the woman kept half running out of the place to get "some fresh air"….yeah, right. They ended up sharing two pancakes and one cup of coffee! Every time they spoke real loud, the movers would all turn and give them the "stink eye".

I really got a kick out of the labeling for the sugar dispenser……makes me wonder if someone once mistook this for salt ot visa-versa???

I believe that "Harry" retired a while back and sold the place to the very nice Korean woman, whose name is Christy if I recall.

I was pretty hungry and went with the Corned Beef Hash Loco Moco.

Honestly, not the best breakfast I've ever had….the yolks of the eggs had broken, the gravy was somewhat gluey, and the corned beef hash was too soft and mushy, with no caramelization. It also tasted kinda funky……after reading this post on Kat's Blog, I'm pretty sure it wasn't my canned corn beef of choice either.

But heck, it was reasonable and gave me more than enough calories for the shopping I needed to do for the Missus.

Harry's Cafe
1101 Waimanu St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Hours:
Mon-Fri 6am – 3pm
Sat  7am – 2pm
Sun  7am – 12pm

Diner's Drive In Waimalu:

**** This location of Diners has closed

On the day I was to leave for home, I left the in-laws pretty early. I still had some shopping to do and I wanted to hit up at least one place for lunch. Anyway, I wanted to check email and stuff and needed a wi-fi connection so I stopped in Waimalu at Starbuck's. As I walked to Starbuck's, I could hear Diner's calling me. It was early, I was a bit hungry so why not?

When I entered, I noticed two of the "bruddah's" each eating on a different table had two styrofoam containers open and were eating from both. It didn't register until I opened up my $6.95 breakfast.

Do they sell "small" eggs? Check out the size of the eggs compared to the three, fairly thin slices of Portuguese Sausage. No wonder those guys were eating two plates!

The woman working the counter was very nice though……not much else to say…..

Diner's Drive-In
98-1277 Kaahumanu St
Aiea, HI 96701

So there you go…….a trio of breakfasts and a ton of calories….and I still lost weight! Go figure!