GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - DECEMBER 2016

out container, and serve it on a real plate
along with table service. “No one was
doing that when we first started. We pioneered
the fancy plate lunch,” shared
Brown. The menu comes from the type
of food they ate when they were growing
up so they tweaked each dish to make it
unique and bring out amazing flavors.
According to Tomita, he comes up with
recipes while he is sleeping!
The Notorious BIG Moco, Kalbi Ribs,
Fried Spam Musubi, Chicken Katsu, and
Hawaiian Plate are the most popular,
representing a variety of contemporary
Hawaiian cuisine. I’m regretting not
trying their famous Fried Spam Musubi
(grilled spam on a bed of rice wrapped
in seaweed and then fried) especially
since it was featured on the Food Network’s
“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
The staff are incredibly friendly and accommodating,
certainly embodying the
“Aloha spirit.” Their extensive menu of
“Hawaiian soul food” is a collection of
Hawaiian dishes representing the fusion
of numerous ethnic groups like Japanese,
Chinese, Hawaiians, Filipinos, and
Koreans on the islands. Da Kitchen uses
fresh, local ingredients and offers gluten
free options. The owners, longtime
friends, Les Tomita and Mariah Brown,
wanted to have a restaurant that took
the typical Hawaiian plate lunch, which
was always served in a Styrofoam take
Spam gives me the heebie-jeebies but
when I saw it on my neighbors table, I
was envious. Instead, I chose the “Polynesian
Paralysis” with fish tempura,
their signature Kalua pork, fried rice,
onions, brown gravy and a fried egg
on top. I also got a side of kimchi because...digestion.
It was both flavorful
(especially that tender and juicy Kalua
pork) and plentiful! I ate it for lunch and
had my leftovers for dinner, breakfast
the next day plus an afternoon snack.
Let’s just say I visited Da Kitchen two
other times during my five days in Maui
ordering the same meal and then trying
a solid but boring ahi poke bowl. Stick
to the “Mocos” to really experience lo-