Category Archive

Brandi’s Lunch Wagon - Hamburger Steak Plate (click on image to enlarge)

Here’s another filler post, digging deep into the archives of the past.

Actually, “filling” may be an understatement! Because of the outrageous size of the two burger patties on this Hamburger Steak plate lunch, we nicknamed this lunch wagon properly known as Brandi’s, “Hockey Pucks”.

Just look at the scale of those gravy-smothered ground beef delights in comparison to those standard-sized scoops of rice. Outrageous! And they were thick like hockey pucks as well. Both of ‘em. How about adding a fried egg or two on it? Then we’d have to name it the “Godzilloco Moco”. Or, “The Angioplasty Plate”.

You’re probably going to either say “That’s so wrong”, or “Bring it on!”

Going back in memory, I remember all their plates practically required two hands to carry, which easily had to have weighed in over a pound each. Choke, CHOKE grindz. IIRC, they were also good enough in flavor that we returned for an encore or two. So gladly they didn’t get smacked across the ice (or sand on the beach in this case) like a hockey puck.

Brandi’s Lunch Wagon used to be located on an access road behind Office Max in Kaka’ako. This was perhaps approximately 8 years ago. If you know of this lunch wagon, leave a comment on their whereabouts, either past or present.

Imagine the impending “Kanakattack” after “pounding” this poundage of a Hamburger Steak plate. ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ

Once upon a time there was Kanda “Kewalo” lunch wagon. And then there was Tsukenjo’s. Wait, what? Tsukenjo’s Lunch Wagon is still there, right? No it’s not my friends. Tsukenjo Lunch Wagon is all pau.

We were going to make a trip to Kaka’ako yesterday for lunch, so I called Tsukenjo Lunch House to ask if the lunch wagon was open, but was sadly informed by Doris, the owner that the lunch wagon is no longer in operation. It was shut down this past November of 2007, and the wagon itself was sold.

The family business began as a saimin stand in 1959, with the lunch wagon coming into service in 1970.

Tsukenjo’s famous red lunch wagon, paint weathered from years of active duty in the hot Hawaiian sun, has been at that same location in Kaka’ako at the corner of Ward and Queen Street, in front of what is now Z-Interiors, for decades, serving up meat loaf, roast pork, shoyu chicken and many other plate lunch favorites to generations of locals and tourists alike.

Thankfully, Tsukenjo Lunch House continues business as usual on Cooke street, so you can still get your fix there.

I hope whoever bought that famous faded red lunch wagon preserves it “as is” as a possible future museum piece on “Hawaii’s Culinary History”. Seriously.

With that, I wish the entire Tsukenjo family a very happy new year and big, big, big mahalo for all the years of hard work and dedication in establishing what has become a household name in Hawaii with Tsukenjo Lunch Wagon. 37 years is a long run, yet surely an “onolicious” ride! Aloha Oe.

Tani’s Roast Pork with Mushroom Gravy, $6.00

Surprisingly, although The Tasty Island has been online for just over a year now, the humble, yet oh-so-ono local style lunch wagon grinds hasn’t been covered here yet. Well, we’ll start it off in high gear with Tani’s Lunchwagon!

According to their menu, they were voted #2 in KHNL’s Cheap Eats Lunchwagon battle, so they gotta’ be good!

I ordered the highly recommended Roast Pork with Mushroom Gravy shown above. Excellent choice! Folks, if you remember how delicious the roast pork was at the former Kanda’s “Kewalo” Lunch Wagon, Tani’s does them proud! Fork-tender, very flavorful with that hearty and comforting brown mushroom gravy. The gravy itself has just the right thickness to adhere and coat the tender slices of pork, and salted just right - something that can often be a hit-or-miss. This they nailed.

Fork-tender roast pork… doesn’t get any better than this.

Luckily, my friend doesn’t eat onions, so he gave me the (very sweet!) sauteed onions from his Teriyaki Hamburger steak plate, which went quite nicely with my roast pork plate.

Teri Hamburger Steak, $6.00

My buddy ordered the Teri Hamburger Steak plate shown above, which was one of their Friday specials. The hand-made patties were generous in portion, though not flavored with anything that stood out. They did have a nice char on them. Otherwise, they were mostly dependent on the Teriyaki gravy that covered them, which had a sort of hybrid brown-meets-teri’ zip to it. Again, good viscosity, and not too sweet or salty.

What initially stood out as soon as we opened our plate was how honkin’ HUGE the two scoops of rice were. We’re talkin’ BASEBALL huge. They’re not using the average rice scooper here. They’re obviously out to please the hungry working man. lol I could barely finish just one scoop.

Their macaroni salad was very good. It had this crispness to it, versus the usual creamy type, but otherwise retained that neutrality that we like in mac’ salad. No “5th wheel stuff” like tuna or peas. Just the mac’ and a some grated carrots. Nuff.

Tani’s daily menu includes Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy, Teri Meatloaf, BBQ Chicken, Roast Pork with Mushroom Gravy and Teri Roast Pork.

It gets really interesting with their daily specials, which includes everything from Garlic Mahi with Ginger Soy Cream to Roasted Rosemary Chicken to Kim Chee Fried Rice with Seafood Croquettes. Or how about Baked Macaroni with Sausage & Peppers, Cajun Chicken with Guava BBQ Sauce or Furikake Salmon with Wasabi Aioli. Oh my…must try!

The gourmet influence comes from the son’s side of this mother and son team, where Tyler honed his craft working at Mariposa restaurant (Neiman Marcus Ala Moana) and other fine dining establishments.

According to my lead, Tani’s Lunch Wagon is a big hit with the lunch hour crowd in the industrial Kalihi area. They’re located right in front of Eki Cyclery on Dillingham blvd.. You can’t miss ‘em.

We’ll certainly return to try more daily specials as well as that excellent roast pork!

Tani’s Lunchwagon
1603 Dillingham Blvd. (front of Eki Cyclery)
Monday - Friday 11:00am to 1:00pm
Phone orders welcome: 285-5255
Catering available
Monthly menu available by email request to:
tanislunchwagon@hotmail.com

Tasty Island rating:

Supah’ Ono!