Although my grandma was Hawaiian, I've never been to the islands and I don't have any sort of understanding of the culture or the food. Because there is a massive Hawaiian population in Vegas, there are some "Hawaiian" restaurants around town, most of which focus on the traditional plate lunch.The plate lunch is the perfect explanation for why so many islanders are giant people. It includes large portions of meat (fried chicken, fish or shrimp, teriyaki-style beef or beef shortribs, or slow-cooked pork, among others), rice, and macaroni salad. It is a super protein and carb load, and it hurts later on. But it's delicious and worth the punishment, like any good comfort food.
My introduction to this type of food -- other than a vague memory of grandma making lau lau and learning from my mother to cook simple stewed chicken and spinach with coconut milk -- came at Aloha Kitchen. This place was opened 10 years ago by a UNLV graduate and now has three locations, and it's perhaps the best known Vegas Hawaiian restaurant. The menu is a little bigger than other Hawaiian joints. Aloha Kitchen's "Local Plate" has teriyaki chicken and beef and adds two Spam musubi.
Although I don't eat here as often as I'd like, I love Aloha Kitchen because they do a combo plate with my two favorites, chicken katsu (chickens fried in crispy panko breadcrumbs) and kalua pig (moist pork butt, shredded and wondrous). At other places, I have to work around their combinations to make this baby up. Aloha Kitchen also does a mean Loco Moco, homemade hamburger patties over rice with fried eggs and gravy on top. I think "mean" is actually the best way to describe this dish. It seems angry. And delicious.
Lately I'm getting my plate lunch from L&L, which is reliably adequate. Kalua pig is good here, too. Ordering lau lau, pork chuck steamed in taro leaves, is tempting but remember that real lau lau, as far as grandma was concerned, contained pork and fish. Just fatty piggy here.
Another option for plate lunch is Maui Rose, which has two locations in Vegas and also serves a little sushi and some other Japanese and Korean eats. Eat in here and get your plate lunch with a little salad and a cup of miso soup, and then regret getting a plate lunch instead of some tasty looking noodle dishes. Not so great here.
The newest contender for best Vegas plate lunch is Aloha A Go Go, which has two Vegas locations opened by the guys behind China A Go Go, a successful local Chinese franchise. The portions here seem extra big, and the plate lunches come with some vegetables, too, which are nice because then you can totally pretend like you're not eating one of the least healthy meals in existence.
