Back in my post on Super Mario‘s, “FOY” Elle asked if I’d been to Say Aloha, a newish local kine restaurant that opened up in Hillcrest. I had heard of the place, but the hours were really limited and it is located in Hillcrest so I hadn’t really tried to visit. During my visits to White Elephant, JJ and I took a walk around the block to see exactly where the place was.
It wasn’t open, but it seemed to be located thru that doorway to the left of AWOL Bar? Being only open from 5pm Thurs to Sunday is a hinderance; especially seeing the location and all. And yet, a couple of weeks later, the Missus and Her coworkers had a HH planned. It was in walking distance so She took JJ. I decided that the time was right for a visit. I headed on over and actually found some paid parking a few blocks away. I walked on over and peered inside that doorway. There was some event going on in Hillcrest that evening so it was kinda crazy as the bar was having drinks dispensed to folks. Anyway, he was nice enough to point out that Say Aloha was actually in Rosemary and Thyme Cafe.
So, I walked on in and was greeted by a very friendly woman, who introduced herself as Marline. I was led out the back door to a very nice covered “tropicalish” courtyard.
I was seated and handed a menu.
Because it seemed that there was this “sip and stroll” type event going on; folks kept on popping into the courtyard to take a walk around and check things out. I was the only true customer until nearly the end of my meal. It was fun to see folks so festively dressed up though.
Wanting to try several items, I decided to go with the Mix Plate; not cheap at $23.95! Ouch! Anyway, a really nice guy came out and introduced himself as Avian. He’s the chef/cook. He told me that unfortunately, the kalua pork was not ready, so would it be ok to sub chicken katsu? I was fine with this.
While waiting for my order and watching the “sideshow” of people wandering in and out; Marline came by and asked how I knew about Say Aloha. I mentioned being from the Islands and the “coconut wireless”. She laughed and said that Avian is Guamanian. She also cracked up when I said “what, no kelaguen?”
That’s my plate lunch above. Smelled quite nice. I decided to try the mac salad first. It was nicely coated, perhaps bit more than I prefer, but no complaints. This version had that nice tanginess and wasn’t overly salty.
The chicken katsu was my least favorite item. It seemed to have been over-fried, really dark in color.
Tough and dry, lacking in seasoning.
I did enjoy the Katsu Sauce though. It’s really local style, meaning more ketchup based, quite tangy.
I liked the flavors of the Teri Chicken. It had a nice balance of sweet to salty, with an interesting hint of acidity. I was later told that they use pineapple juice in the glaze.
It was nicely grilled, if a bit on the chewy side. Much better than the typical “Hawaiian BBQ” stuffs you get here.
Now, even though I’m not a fan of the typical chewy “LA Kalbi” that permeates plate lunches, this version was surprisingly tender.
A bit too sticky-sweet for my taste; but that texture was definitely king!
This was overall, a surprisingly decent version of local kine plate lunch items. Just to be clear, this is NOT Hawaiian Food, ok? It’s not the food of ethnic Hawaiians….sorry, don’t mean to beat that dead horse, but have overheard several conversations lately about L&L being “Hawaiian Food”. Yeow…..
The folks working here are very friendly and the patio lovely. Though Marline did tell me that she prefers people not bringing their dog to Say Aloha. Which is fine, though Rosemary and Thyme which operates this space on Saturday and Sundays from 830am – 130pm is.
Mahalo for the reminder for Say Aloha Elle!
Say Aloha
1475 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Thurs, Sunday 5pm – 9pm
Fri – Sat 5pm – 10pm
Closed Mon – Wed
Well, where to start? Check out the rice will you? It was very mushy.
The mac salad was best item on the plate. Unlike what I've had a few times at L&L's here, this one was the classic; simple, well coated macaroni, some carrots….I think there's a touch of onion, nicely salted, quite refreshing.
As you can see, the rice was much better this time. The mac salad had more mayo and less carrots, but was ok.
Not a bad version, but definitely not "return visit" material.
The Missus enjoyed the poi, it was nice and thick but not too sour. The lomi salmon was interesting; the Missus liked it, but I think it's because it was mostly tomatoes, there was hardly any salmon in this.
As I figured it was typical "LA Kalbi" – flanken/cross cut ribs. First thing I hit up was the mac salad. It was quite plain , with a few strands of carrots. It needed some salt and pepper and was kind of "watery" as the mayo hadn't really coated the macaroni well.
At most places, the chicken would be tenderized to an even thickness, but this was not, thus some bites were pretty thick and tough.
On this visit, it seemed like the gentleman who I believe is the owner was working the kitchen, so I was interested to see how my food would turn out. The first good sign was the mac salad, which while still in need of more salt and pepper was evenly coated and the mayo not runny like on my last visit.
The plate was quite heavy on the proteins. Personally, I liked having only one scoop rice as I will often tell the folks at turo-turo places to give me "half rice" these days. 
I've yet to find decent Huli Huli Chicken outside of Hawaii and versions I've had 
The mac salad, though a bit over-mayo'd was nicely seasoned this time around. I could make out hints of vinegar which really elevated it. 
I liked the kalua pork, it was moist and tender, not overly salty, with a decent smokiness to it. In fact, the Missus tried the leftovers and said it 
No longer would I be getting two meals out of this. Even the amount of rice was less. The sauces are provided on the side so as not to make the breading/batter soggy. The katsu was breaded nicely and still crisp, though for some reason the chicken tasted like it hadn't been seasoned and was quite bland. Even with the Hawaii style katsu sauce (ketchup based) provided.
The rice was moist and did the trick. While the mac salad wasn't quite as good as what I'd had on previous visits; a bit too much mayo and very bland. It needed more salt and maybe some black pepper as well.
