Happy Fourth of July, bra'!
(I am sure that I have used a EweToob link of this Brudda Iz song before, but I like it and think it goes perfectly with the holiday theme. If you have a problem with that, start your own stupid breakfast 'blog.)
Well, I have never been to Hawai'i, but I kinda like the music, Mr. Hutton. (I really have never been to Hawai'i. I have been to Spain, though; and I have been to all of the other 48 States, except for Hawai'i and North Dakota. Someday I hope to visit Hawai'i.) I am not familiar with Hawai'ian cuisine either, but this morning I had to check out ONO GRINDZ [1]. This is a newly-opened, somewhat small, husband-wife run restaurant in the Richmond on Clement Street. They have been open now since the beginning of May in the space that used to house the vegetarian restaurant Golden Buddha, right across the street from Pizza Orgasmica. There are nine tables that seat four, and four tables for two. ONO GRINDZ is only open for breakfast and lunch.
You know it's a good sign when there are too many good (and interesting) things from which to choose on the menu: Kimchi Fried Rice Omelette, Hawaiian French Toast, Apple Banana Pancakes, to name just a few, but I decided on Kalua[2] Benedict ~ toasted Portuguese sweet bread, Kālua pork, taro leaves, 2 poached eggs, tarragon hollandaise, and plantation potatoes. I also had a very good cuppa coffee from Bicycle Coffee Co. (a local roastery, where they actually deliver the coffee to their customers on bicycles).
http://www.bicyclecoffeeco.com/
Now the main reason I ordered this particular meal (sans the dead, decaying Kālua piggy flesh, of course) was that it brought up many interesting epicurean questions: Tarragon Hollandaise? Portuguese sweet bread? Taro leaves? ~ I am glad to report that all of the answers were positive.
The Tarragon Hollandaise sauce was very good; fresh, with a nice touch of tarragon to it, not overpowering. Tarragon is not an herb with which most 'mericans usually are familiar. I like it, and there is even a Russian soda that I sometimes get that is tarragon-flavoured.
The Portuguese sweet bread actually made for a very nice base (and a welcome change from the same ol', boring English muffin) for the Benedict. I had completely forgotten that this was included and was wondering why the English muffin tasted "funny", then it dawned on me… D'oh! But it all worked great together with the tarragon-favoured Hollandaise sauce.
My biggest question was "What the heck are taro leaves?". I have had taro root[3] before in several Asian dishes (and also as a tasty ice cream), but this was the first time I have ever had the leaves. According to the owner, she explained to me that a taro leaf is very large, about the size of my table (I would assume about the size of a banana leaf). This was very good, too; it had somewhat a lighter flavour than that of spinach and was very similar in texture when cooked.
Another pleasant surprise (especially if you are a tubular fan like me, Mr. Oldfield) was their Plantation Potatoes. These were made with lots of onions, bell peppers, and celery mixed in with roasted potatoes.
ONO GRINDZ offers as condimentary supplementation just Tabasco® (the standard red); however, they do have their very own home-made/restaurant-made Hawai'ian Ketchup and it came with the meal in a small tin on the side. This is basically a fresh-made Katsu sauce with a nice bit of heat to it. Not that it really needed it any, but I also used just a few drops of my own Cherry Republic® KaBob's Kick'en Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy!) on top of one of the eggs only; their Tarragon Hollandaise was very tasty on its own and I probably should have skipped this today.
I am very happy to have found another great breakfastary option in my neighborhood. I will definitely have to go back again and try something different soon. I have a feeling that come next Season, I may just have a new addition to my Breakfast Line-up, Mr. Victorino. (But just who gets DFA'd? Maybe it's time for the completely unconventional Six-man Rotation?)
Aloha[4], Louie!
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Kalua Benedict ~ 7.4 (which is very à propos for today's date; I was thinking about rating it a [17]7.6, but am reserving that for my next trip back); Bicycle Coffee Co. coffee ~ 6.7
[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number one:
"da ono grindz" is Hawai'ian (slang) for "the delicious food/eats".
[2] Stupid useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, part two:
"Kālua" (not to be confused with the similar-sounding Mexican coffee liqueur Kahlúa®) is Hawai'ian for "Go home, white Devil!". Nah, actually it literally means "to cook in an underground oven".
[3] This is actually designated a "corm" or "tuber", but who the heck knows what "corm" means? Taro root is the main ingredient in poi, which was mysteriously absent from any dishes on the menu; however, they do have that other Hawai'ian National Dish staple Spam® represented in several dishes, Mr. Chapman.
[4] Stupid useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, part the third:
"Aloha" in Hawai'ian actually means "affection", "peace", "compassion", and/or "mercy".
According to our friendly friends at Wikipedia:
The word "aloha" derives from the Proto-Polynesian root "*qarofa", and ultimately from Proto-Polynesian. It has cognates in other Polynesian languages, such as Samoan "alofa" and Maori "aroha", also meaning "love".
A folk etymology claims that it derives from a compound of the Hawai'ian words "alo" meaning "presence", "front", "face", or "share"; and "hā", meaning "breath of life" or "essence of life". Although "alo" does indeed mean "presence" etc., the word for breath is spelled with a macron or "kahakoo" over the "a (hā)", whereas the word "aloha" does not have a long "a".
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