As a kama 'aina from beautiful Manoa Valley on Oahu, but an established resident of Arlington for the last 30 years, one of the things I missed the most about moving to the mainland was the incredible food. My husband and I tried a few places that claimed the food was island food but it was nowhere near what I grew up on.
Recently, upon the suggestion of my doctor's office, we visited Ana's, It is in a small strip mall and not as fancy as some other "hawaiian" restaurants, but we often found that these are the best places to eat - the small mom & pop eatery that offers great food.
On our first visit, we ordered the chicken katsu and kalua pork plate with a side of spam musubi. One bite and I was in heaven - taking me back to my roots in Hawaii. That week we went back to Ana's 3 more times. The portions are generous and the plate lunches come with a side of macaroni salad (to die for) and green salad. The otai is a refreshing drink made from watermelon and pineapple pulp and the best thing ever on a hot day. So ono!
My husband loves the food, and adores the spam musubi. Side note: for over 30 years of our marriage, he very politely declined to even try spam and vienna sausage, local favorites, that I made for him to try. But he absolutely LOVES the spam musubi at Ana's!
This is truly authentic food of my beloved Oahu. We noticed that many of the customers who frequent Ana's are former islanders like myself. That in itself speaks volumes as to the authenticity of the food offered. and even though we recently moved from Arlington and are now about 1 hour away, we always try to make the drive to lunch there at least once a week. Thank you to Ana's for bringing me back to the fond memories of my home...
Read moreCustomer service and online ordering. So online ordering is updated with what is actually in stock at the eatery. After placing my online order I was called as they were out of Teryaki Beef, only had about half. They asked me if I wanted something else, well no, I ordered the Teryaki Beef because I was in the mood for beef. I didn't want the combo plates the woman offered me...to make it easy I said just do what beef you have and then sub Kalua pork....well apparently its not that easy because I was informed that the meat was all pre-portioned (freshness?) in either "Bowl" or "Plate" portions, and I could only choose one of the other combination plates that they had. At that point, as they did not have what I ordered, I requested a refund...still wating on that (will call Chase in the morning to dispute the charge $59.92 order). Other places in the are that I will continue to go to, just thought I would try somehting new. Pineapple Grill and Hawaiian Bros much better customer service. Again this is related to their customer serive, food not sure about...but will be a hard pass from now on,...
Read moreA Hidden Hawaiian gem in HEB!
You have to come and try it if youve never had Hawaiian before!
My wife is from Honolulu, and I know all the best places to eat there (not in Waikiki)!
Very simple place, clean nice basic decor. 4 tables, seats 4 each. Very friendly people.
I love laulau (a protein wrapped in greens normally taste like callard or spinach and steamed a long time, slow cooked. Think potroast crockpot quality meat, fall apart tender, wrapped in greens. So good!
I order the laulau. Was excellent! Meat was juicy, flavourful, great portion size for 10.99. Serves over a bed of rice and two sides, a green iceberg salad and hawaiian favorite mac salad. Mac salad is a mayo base dressing on elbo Macaroni.
I also love musubi! Think Nigiri sushi a finger length of rice with a slice of spam cooked in a teriaki sauce on top. Great snack with some calories to last you. I had two.
Again, more than i could eat, great quality. Very clean, reasonably...
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