North Shore Hawaiian BBQ Delivers!

While driving home one day this week, Dan noticed that North Shore Hawaiian BBQ (in the odd triangular spot where Boren, 12th, and E Yesler converge) now has outdoor seating and a big Kona Brewing Co. sign.

That led him to checking out their web site, which is minimalist - but revealed that they deliver!



With so few delivery options in our neighborhood (Chinese, or Chinese, or Pizza, or Pizza) we were very excited to find a new delivery option for those nights we don't want to cook and can't be bothered to walk or drive anywhere. And it surely comes as no surprise that a Hawaiian delivery option was reason for serious celebrating at our house.



The menu is extensive, with a wide range of Local Food favorites from Hawai`i, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Portuguese dishes that have become part of the Hawaiian culinary landscape in the past century. We decided that we'd order a couple plates of food, and split everything so we could both try a lot of things - in the spirit of the plate lunch.

Dan got the Chicken Katsu (breaded fried chicken - $7.59) which came with 2 scoops of white rice and a scoop of mac salad. I ordered the ONO Special Plate with Pork Lau Lau (pork wrapped in taro leaves and steamed), with also came with 2 scoops of white rice and a scoop of mac salad, plus a small cup of lomi lomi salmon (diced salted salmon with tomato and onion), a small cup of poi (pounded taro root), and haupia (a jello-like coconut pudding) for dessert ($11.99). To push us over the mandatory $22 price point for delivery, we tossed on another order of haupia for $2.59.

Everything was pretty tasty, and it was nice to have some flavors of the islands after nearly a week away. The katsu was a little cold and tough, but still flavorful, and the poi had unfortunately become hot during the transport, so we popped it in the fridge for later.



I just began reading The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage by Rachel Laudan, which is an in-depth exploration of the history of local food in Hawai`i, starting with the current state of multi-cultural food (epitomized by the plate lunch) and moving back in time to cover the foods introduced by each of the many cultures that have found a home on the island, including the original Marquesan & later Tahitian mariners who settled the islands, the European & American influences that began arriving in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and the foods introduced by the waves of plantation workers that moved to the islands from Asia and Europe (primarily) starting around 1850.

I'm excited to learn even more about the history of the islands through their culinary traditions, and explore some of the foods I've yet to try via the recipes included - like bitsu-bitsu and squid luau (which I've shockingly never tried, let alone cooked).

Once I finish this book, I plan to dive into a thick, textbook style study of the Arts And Crafts Of Hawai`i, including the food traditions of the ancient Hawaiians.