When I was 7 months pregnant with my son, my husband and I took a last vacation as a couple to Hawaii. To be perfectly honest, we weren’t all that impressed with all of the cheesy tourist-y stuff, but we did get a chance to taste some really great food. The pineapple there was so ripe and juicy and sweet (nothing like the stuff we get here in the mainland), and the things they do to pork over there is so good I’d dare call it “naughty”. When we came back home, it wasn’t long until we started really missing the food. Luckily, we live in the age of information and a quick search on the internet pointed us to a little Hawaiian place called L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. Boy am I glad that we found this little gem because they have THE BEST Kalua Pork and even my 20 month old baby loves it there (at that age, toddlers refuse to eat just about everything but this kid thinks that Kalua Pork is the best thing next to chocolate).
My local restaurant is located in an old strip mall. It’s actually funny that it’s located next to a Curves because their food isn’t exactly *ahem* figure friendly. That’s ok because it’s really good and totally worth the splurge.
The decor in this place is beyond cheesy. But, if you’ve ever been to Hawaii (Waikiki in particular) it’s not that far off base. That whole town was cheese-tastic and this restaurant reflects that perfectly. Every time I have been in this particular restaurant the floors have been very dirty and the red booths are so smooshy, you sink down so that you are nose-level with the table. The food is so good that these things are easy to ignore.
The serving sizes of the meals are simply enormous. I have a hard time eating a full serving, and that’s rare for me. Listen, I’m not one of those tiny super skinny people that tries to brush off my super skinny-ness by saying I eat a lot. I really do pound it back when I sit down to a meal. I’ve actually frightened people by how much I can eat. There’s a reason that I can’t fit into a size 2 pants, folks. And yes, that’s my son trying to dig into the food. He loves it so much that he couldn’t wait 2 seconds for me to snap a picture.
This place serves Spam Musubi. As you may or may not know, Spam is a very big thing on the islands. Under normal circumstances I don’t really care for this stuff. Maybe it’s the novelty of having what is basically a Spam sushi, but I really like this stuff. It’s salty, savory, and the dried seaweed goes perfectly with the Spam. I like it, so shoot me.
This is what my meal looked like. Smokey Kalua Pork, rice, and a delicious pasta salad. Maybe it doesn’t look all that intimidating here, but all those carbs really can weigh a person down. It’s a delicious meal, I adore every aspect of it. They serve a Kalua Pork with or without cabbage but I just don’t care for the texture of the option that comes with cabbage (and with Irish and German ancestors, I’ve had cabbage many many ways). I like my pork straight up. I’d like to think that the afterlife is fully stocked with Kalua Pork.
The first time I came to L&L, I found the side of pasta salad a little odd, but I went with it. I’m a sucker for any carb smothered in a mayonnaise sauce so the pasta salad and I made quick friends with each other. It goes oddly well with the intense smokey flavor of the Kalua Pork. It’s weird, but it works.
I urge you to please visit the website and see if there is a franchise near you. It’s still a small restuarant chain so if you are left without one of these little gems close to you, my sympathies go to you and your families. You’re missing great food in a total dive.
