Kona Kitchen (Lynnwood)

Not trying to be overly complicated for our dinner plans, we merely made our way to the Lynnwood location of Kona Kitchen for some Hawaiian eats.  For those who not familiar, Hawaiian cuisine is highly influenced by the different nationalities that have moved there.  These include Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese and many others.  Hence, there is a mish mash of things and they even have plates of mixed cuisine since workers would share their lunches with each other.

We started with the classic Spam Musubi where the influences were definitely Japanese with American injection of Spam.  Normally, the Spam would be seared with some sweet soy glaze to cut some of the saltiness.  Then it would be placed on a fairly thick block of sushi rice and then crispy nori wrapped around it.  Such a simple concoction, but ultimately super delicious.  The sushi rice is critical as it cuts the Spam's saltiness.  This particular version had a balance amount of components, but I wished there was more glaze on the Spam to cut the saltiness.  The rice was quite good being chewy yet still moist.

Viv went big with the Waimea Plate with thinly-sliced teriyaki beef, katsu pork, spring rolls, mac salad and 2 scoops of rice.  Loved the beef as it was full-flavored and tender.  Katsu was a bit thin and hence not as moist as it could've been.  Panko coating was crispy and not greasy.  Spring rolls were crunchy and some would call them lumpia (Filipino influence).  Mac salad was a bit too soft for me, but the amount of mayo was right and the seasoning was on point.

I went for the Hamburger Steak complete with gravy, grilled onions, 2 scoops of rice and mac salad.  Yes, this has elements of the Japanese Hamburg steak which itself is already a fusion dish of a Salisbury steak.  This one was excellent with large and thin rectangular patty.  It was moist and juicy while completely seared on both sides.  Gravy had a nice viscosity and was plenty savoury while being influenced by the sweetness of the onions.

I ended up adding a small Saimin to go with my main dish and it really did bring back memories of having it at Hamura on the island of Kauai.  This simple bowl of chewy thin noodles fuses mainly Chinese and Japanese cuisine together that features a clean dashi, half a hard-boiled egg and char siu.  Nothing mind-blowing, but comforting and satisfying.  This particular version was exactly that but I wished the char siu was less dry.  Overall, Kona Kitchen did do the trick and satisfied our Hawaiian food cravings.

The Good:

- Fairly generous portions

- Decent eats

- Good service

The Bad:

- Although it did the job, I was wanting a bit more with some items