Located on the top floor of the Ala Moana Macy's, this is Chef Wong's sorta budget restaurant compared to his flagship Alan Wong's Restaurant. Mom was hankering to have lunch here primarily for their famous Loco Moco. Sitting atop a mound of fried rice and covered in veal jus (versus the standard brown gravy), the large (at least 1/2 pound) Maui Cattle Co hamburger patty was grilled to your liking (Mom had it hockey puck style - extremely well done - while the Mrs had it perfect medium rare). The patty had a pronounced smoky flavor (almost like Kiawe Grill) but to the point that the meat's flavor was quite muted. The veal jus was rich but not salty and a perfect complement to the fried rice.
After much discussion on the merits of Loco Moco (and who made the best), I personally still gave the edge to Ruby Tuesday due to cost and a pronounced beefy flavor of their USDA prime patty (only wished that they would cook the eggs sunny-side up instead of over-easy). Rokkaku at Ala Moana actually had the best Loco Moco I've tried but since it was a special (the patty was made with Wagyu beef) and not always available, RTs still gets the nod.
We also tried the Red Wine Braised Pork with Miso and Shoyu. Kinda like haimakamaka Miso Shoyu Pork. Fork tender and delicious with garlic mash and a glass of Turley Zinfandel but you end up downing copious amounts of H2O for the rest of the day due to the miso and shoyu.
Sis had the Calamari Salad which looked good but she needs to train her stomach to expand like the rest of the Tatsumoto Clan for copious consumption.
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