Da Kine's Plate Lunches

2400 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego, CA - (619) 581-5613

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Posted By Michael Stern on June 20, 2009 10:03 PM

Belen Ishii, who owns Da Kine’s with her husband Nelson explained to us that the name of the restaurant means “the stuff” in Hawaii’s pidgin English. Beyond that, she couldn’t really explain the logic of the name, except to say that Da Kine is a phrase that is true and pure Hawaiian.

This Hawaiian cuisine is not romanticized Polynesian; it is working-person’s plate lunch. Mrs. Ishii told us that citizens of the 50th state love to eat large portions of Kalua pig, which is a super-soft kind of steamed/barbecued pulled pork mixed with faintly pickly cabbage; they eat chicken Katsu and soy/sesame marinated ribs; and they eat Spam. Hawaiians love Spam in all forms, and you will find it on Da Kine’s menu cooked with eggs, sliced into twigs in the Saimin soup, and as a big rectangular flap of pinkness atop a tube of sticky rice that is wrapped in seaweed like a jumbo hunk of sushi. Recently, Roadfooder Malia wrote to tell us that this dish is known as Spam musubi to Hawaiians who "eat it all the time."

These truly unusual meals are served without pretense or ceremony, on paper plates with plastic utensils. Place your order at the cash register and wait for your number to be called. Meanwhile, find a table, preferably outdoors, with a view of the ocean, beyond the nearby motels, then carry your own tray of food. When finished, you can dispose of your plate in handy garbage cans situated around the patio.

There is a second location of Da Kine’s at 1635 Sweetwater Rd, Suite H, National City, CA 619-477-8494.

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