The Daily Dish| The Daily Dish blog, Catherine E. Toth | staradvertiser.com

FUUD: Hapa Grill in Kapolei

June 11th, 2010
By Cat

(Sorry, I published this before it was even done!)

The other day some unemployed Advertiser employees decided to meet up for lunch.

And they chose a restaurant owned and operated by another former Advertiser staffer who got out of the newspaper industry and decided to follow in her parents' footsteps. With her own pair of designer shoes.

Shannon Tangonan Putnam, who spent more years than she'd like on the Mainland, came home several years ago and took over the family's lunchwagon business. (The Tangonans ran Sassy Kassy Lunchwagon in Campbell Industrial Park.)

Except she took that lunchwagon menu, applied it to a sit-down restaurant in Kapolei and changed the name from Sassy Kassy to Hapa Grill.

Outside the restaurant in the old Jurison's Westside Cafe in Kapolei.

Inside the dining area. I've never been here when it wasn't packed.

The bustling restaurant features an Island-style menu with items like macadamia nut-topped mahi mahi, pulehu-style ribeye steak, 'ahi poke roll, hamburger steak with grilled onions and the “I Love You Like a Mango” salad with diced mangoes, olives and cherry tomatoes tossed in a mango vinaigrette and topped with shoestring potatoes.

Oh, yeah.

So when my former coworkers asked me to ditch work for a couple of hours to dine all the way out in Kapolei, I didn't hesitate. I could already taste the teriyaki beef.

Here's what we ate:

Sassy Kassy' signature dish was the teri beef — and it's still a top seller at Hapa Grill, too. It can be served on beef ($9.95), chicken ($9.50), salmon ($12.50) or tofu ($8.75).

According to the restaurant's Web site, the sauce blends shoyu, sugar, ginger and garlic in a recipe that has been perfected for years. I'd have to agree!

I got the teri beef sandwich ($9.25) on a white bun with french fries.

The fries were stellar.

You can also get combination plates ($12.50) like this one with teriyaki beef and local-style pork chops. (You can also pick mochiko chicken, chicken katsu, hamburger steak, teriyaki chicken or roasted pork.)

The pork chops can be ordered on its own ($9.75). The seasoned sliced pork steak strips are paired with grilled onions and smothered in old fashioned brown gravy.

Another guy ordered the fried noodles and teri beef plate ($10).

The fried noodles looked so delicious. The saimin noodles came topped with kamaboko, luncheon meat (not Spam), green onions and scrambled egg. Very local style.

Here's the chicken katsu plate ($9.95) with brown rice. (You can order either brown or white).

You can also choose from french fries, potato-macaroni salad or tossed salad.

The chicken katsu was nicely done, lightly breaded and deep-fried to golden loveliness.

I had heard great things about the fried ice cream ($6.75), so naturally I had to try it.

I got the vanilla bean ice cream stuffed into this pastry shell, then deep-fried and topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sliced strawberries. Delicious.

Nom, nom.

The thing about Hapa Grill is that I want to try everything on the menu. But I keep eating the same thing: teriyaki beef. Which isn't a bad thing. Maybe I'll just need to mix up my desserts next time!

Hapa Grill, Marketplace at Kapolei, 590 Farrington Hwy. Hours: Breakfast, lunch, dinner daily: 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Mondays; 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Phone: 808.674.8400.

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Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at cat@thecatdish.com.

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FUUD: Hapa Grill in Kapolei

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