ADDRESS : 1011 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, WA
PHONE : 425-259-1338
Buddhas' Trip to the USA: Dinner
I have to admit, I'm a fan of Food Network's Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives. Buddha Girl sometimes watches it. On this occasion there was only one place we wanted to go for dinner, Bobby's Hawaiian Restaurant. We were starving, mind you we did have a light lunch. (Sorry about the picture quality, couple friends played around with the settings on Buddha Girl's camera, then after, any indoor pictures with lights turned out poor.)
Simple place, I called this place a really nice dive, but Buddha Girl calls it a Hawaiian diner. Either way, the decor was simple and nice.
Bobby himself was sitting at a table when we walked in. We were the first dine-in customers of the night. It got busier as we left, but it appeared that they do a brisk take out service.
Me being the spam-lover, I gotta have the Spam Musubi. It was okay, I wish the meat was thicker though.
I ordered a 2-Item Combo, with Kalbi and Mochi Chicken. The kalbi ribs were good, pretty much the same as maui ribs, probably better. The mochi chicken was good, a bit sweet, but not salty. There wasn't a wow factor here but I'd order it again. This combo came with two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. There was a light teriyaki sauce that went well with the rice. It appeared that their mochi chicken's a favorite here (from what we saw others order).
Buddha Girl ordered the Hawaiian Plate. This had Lomi (salmon), Poke (tuna), Poi (taro with a pudding consistency), Kalua Pork (almost like pulled pork) and Laulau (pork wrapped in taro leaves).
Starting with the poke and the lomi, I liked the poke better while Buddha Girl liked the lomi. This worked out since we didn't have to fight over the two fish dishes. The kalua pork looked and had a texture of pulled pork, but it had a much lighter taste. Watching triple D, the pork was apparently slow cooked in between banana leaves. I'm used to smoked pulled pork and the stronger taste, so I found this a bit too light for me. And since Buddha Girl's not a big fan of smoked meat, she liked this. Now to the poi, I don't know if it's an acquired taste, but I found it okay, it's not bad, it's just not something I would order again, maybe because it wasn't meat and it leaned more on the vegetable category.
Finally, the laulau, I'd consider this a signature, it reminded me of a Chinese "zong" (粽), but without the rice. The laulau was basically pork belly pieces wrapped with taro leaves, then steamed. This' one item that both Buddha Girl and I really enjoyed. The leaves impart a nice flavour to the meat, which was very tender and juicy (probably trimmed to the right amount of fat). This was tasty, and the leaves were edible as well.
Buddha Girl had room for their Guava Cake, I don't have a sweet tooth (except for fresh Krispy Kreme donuts), but Buddha Girl really liked this. We were told that the coconut version's more popular, we'd have to try this the next time.
The service was superb! They were personable, fast, and attentive. The trip D show has brought more business, and on the day we visited, there had been 32 Canadian customers already. The prices and portions were quite good. We plan on coming back soon, afterall, they're only about 20 minutes south of Seattle Premium Outlets.
Please click on the menu for larger view.
OMG this looks soooooo delicious!!!! I never had musubi before, do you know if there are any places in vancouver that makes them?
ReplyDeleteIs that real guava on the guava cake?
darn, now i am have craving for pork belly,hehe:=)
@agingteen:
ReplyDeleteSpam Musubi, there was a place across the street from the ICBC on Kingsway that served spam musubi, but they probably shut down, it was many many years ago. The guava cake is made in house, i'm not sure if they use real guava or guava juice. The laulau is pretty good. Their teriyaki sauce is very light tasting, very nice to support the food.