Back Home In Lahaina — Restaurant in Carson

Came here for the first time with my wife. The reviews seemed pretty positive except for one in particular. I believe me Sharlene C. must be kindred spirits. I felt the atmosphere was very lively. There was live hawaiian music. People would get up to dance hula with certain songs. It was very fun to watch and the decor made me feel like I was back home. For all of this I say job well done! Now, to the food..... Pricing wasn't cheap, but it wasn't horrible either. For an appetizer, we ordered the Back Home Sampler. This was actually pretty good for the most part. The spam musubi was good, the grilled beef sticks was tender and tasty. The Lahaina fried chicken was very good. The won ton was good, the Filipino style lumpia was good also. Now, the kalua lumpia? NOPE! No flavor at all. Big time lack of salt and smoke flavor that is essential in kalua pork. The presentation of the sampler looked great, but that's where it stopped. Thankfully, the majority of what was on that platter was good. Now on to our entrees.

My wife ordered the platter #1. This consisted of Lahaina Fried Chicken, beef teriyaki, Kalua Pork, rice, Mac salad and cabbage (almost like a slaw). My wife said the chicken was good. The beef teriyaki was bland unless you made sure there was teriyaki sauce on it and as said before, the kalua pork was lacking in flavor. At least the rice was cooked good, the salad was ok and the cabbage was very good. It had a sweetness to it. I ordered the Luau Platter. This consisted of Lau Lau, Kalua pork, lomi lomi salmon, chicken long rice, rice, Mac salad, cabbage and haupia cheesecake. Here's my breakdown. My first bite of my Lau Lau I thought it was gonna be great! It was a taste of just the greens and it was good. Once reaching the pork in the middle, I noticed there was once again no salt. Hahaha COME ON MAAAAN! The Kalua pork? Yup you guessed it, NO SALT! When making kalua pork, if you're not doing it the tradional way in the ground (I'll do mine in a crockpot) you rub the pork with hawaiian salt, few tablespoons of liquid smoke and some water. It's imperative to have a taste of the hawaiian salt and smoke flavor. It's also gotta be juicy. I'm sorry, maybe I've been spoiled over the years. Now my lomi lomi salmon.....guess what? LOL! No salt again. This is another dish where hawaiian salt is crucial. It was also dry. Usually it's very juicy because of the amount of water it sits in ( almost like a broth if you will). My Chicken Long Rice was also lacking. It wasn't terrible, but maybe I'm just used to my dad making it. The long rice here was lacking ginger and the noodles possibly being a little undercooked. The rice and Mac salad was ok. The cabbage I really enjoyed. Now the Haupia Cheescake.....DELICIOUS! All in all, the atmosphere made me happy to be here, but the food needed a lot of help. Maybe they were just out of any kind of salt or something, or the menu was a low sodium night, I don't know. Hahaha. The haupia cheesecake was worth the trip. I've heard the jello cheesecake is amazing also. Maybe we'll just come here for dessert and live music next time. I'm sad because I really wanted it to be good, but it was definitely subpar. P.S. Their bakery / giftshop section was very nice. We also bought some cookies. They have lots of different desserts / pastries to...

There is plenty of parking at this establishment. Walking in, you'll notice how big this place is. There is a separate area for takeout, which includes what seems like a gift shop. I dined in. Was seated promptly. My waitress was hasty. I'm not sure if this place was understaffed for the number of people when I came in? This was especially true as I mentioned it was my first time here. I ordered a sampler that came with two types of egg rolls, wontons, spam filled sushi looking things, beef stix, and lahaina fried chicken. All on this plate was delicious. The other server who served it to me was a young guy who didn't explain what the sauces were which I found funny because only on a game show do I want to play "whats that's sauce." Then I ordered a platter #2 subsituted fried chicken for Kalbi. The macaroni in this had a subtlety to the flavor that I truly enjoyed. All the bits of the macaroni blended perfectly. The cabbage salad was a shining star on a meat plate! The kalbi was tasty, although a bit chewy, and the chicken teriyaki were just barely overcooked, which made it a rubbery tough time to chew. The reason for a 4 star on the food is because the meat had lots and lots of little broken bones. I mean every other bite. I chewed a hard bone that could have shattered...

I ordered my food today. The food was beef and chicken. I ordered to go and came 20 minutes after I placed my phone order. The hostess working at the store, wasn’t quite rude, but very off putting and not very welcoming. My food was cold to the touch. Looking at the reviews, I expected much much more. For $19 I expected more protein on my food plate. Horrible customer service and for the price, I would like my food, at least warm.

The hostess didn’t bother to greet me when I walked in, had a bad attitude and again, my food was cold. I ordered my food 20 minutes before I came in and it seemed it was reheated and not cooked fresh.

The reviews is why I came here but it seems they may pay for reviews here because there is no way this place has above 4.5 stars on average. I get better quality of food and service from an old Asian man at Teriyaki Hawaii in Gardena. And the price is much more reasonable with better service - from an old man!

Don’t come here. Not worth it. Go to a small Filipino restaurant nearby. Better service and better food options.

I’m happy to speak with the owners about my experience. Just...