I’ve got a theory.  When you are dining at an authentic restaurant you pay it more respect than a chain restaurant.  You clean up after yourself, behave appropriately, and are nice to the staff.  Its not that most of us are barbarians when we go to national chains, its that we’ve been there before and in a way we feel a sense of entitlement and ownership.  There is something about authenticity that makes us respect the establishment more.

I mention this because today, when I was at C&H Hawaiian Grill, I dropped my ticket on the ground by the trash can on the way out.  Normally, I may or may not have noticed and I may or may not have picked it up.  Today, however, I picked it up quickly and I picked it up for a reason: I respected C&H and wanted to do my part to keep it clean.

I have limited experience with Hawaiian food, so I took my Guamanian co-worker with me.  What we found was a busy place that served really good food.  From their website:

Hawaii is known for its beautiful sunsets, tropical weather and friendly ” Aloha” spirit as well as its blend of multi-cultural cuisines. C & H Hawaiian Grill is dedicated to bringing you the best Hawaiian dining experience by serving a delicious selection of “plate lunch” foods and American cuisine, with exceptional service in a beautiful and comfortable atmosphere.

We believe in serving large portions of high quality food at reasonable low price. “Ono” means ” delicious in Hawaiian, and our food says it all.

The part to pay attention to is “large portions”.  If you are as hungry as I was, then head on over to C&H Hawaiian Grill.  The environment was laid back.  Your order the food at the front, and they call your number (the ticket I dropped) a few minutes later.

Phyllis ordered the LauLau plate which is “pork wrapped with taro leaves and steam cooked for several hours until tender.”  She thought the dish was excellent and only finished half, saving the rest for her husband.  Below are two pictures.  The first is the laulau unopened, and the second shows the pork on the inside of the taro leaves.

As my wife knows, one of my favorite meals is chicken (any kind of chicken) and white rice.  So I ordered Chicken Katsu, which is “Crispy breaded chicken fillets served with our ono katsu sauce.”  I really enjoyed the chicken katsu.  The sauce was fantastic and I chose to dip the chicken in the sauce.  The rice was nice and sticky and I even liked the macaroni salad, which I am not prone to do.  Below is a picture of the chicken katsu.

I also ordered two manapuas, which are steamed buns filled with pork.  I ordered these because they looked like something I used to eat in Singapore.  We called them char siew baos, and I remember a friend who ate them every day after school.  I was too full to try one, but I am looking forward to eating it when I get home today.  I also noticed they served lumpia, which I also remember fondly from Singapore.

I am definitely going to be going back to C&H multiple times in the future, and there are several other interesting items on the menu to try.  As a big fan of sashimi, I really wanted to try the Poke (raw marinated fish), but they were all out.  They also make a hamburger called a “loko moko” served with gravy and two eggs.  Below is a picture of their menu.