Growing up in the SGV meant having friends from every corner of Hawaii — and by extension, easy access to serious Hawaiian food across Monterey Park and Alhambra. I still think about Miki-Chan’s Okazu-Ya in Montebello.
It’d been a while since a proper plate lunch, so I took my friend Matt Corboy to Aloha Food Factory.
I’ve known Matt a few years now and two things are constant: 1) he works, a lot — roles on network shows, countless commercials, and even more voiceover gigs in his impressive career, and 2) he carries Hawaii with him everywhere. Takes a lot of pride in his home state. And when both things intertwine (like booking a job back home), it takes on a whole new sense of pride and accomplishment for him.
Plate lunch basics: scoops of rice and mac salad (here a mac-potato combo). No shortcuts.
Lau lau and kalua pig for me. Char siu and loco moco for Matt. Spam musubi mandatory — you didn’t really go to a plate lunch spot if you skipped it. And a cold Hawaiian Sun on the side, non-negotiable.
He showed up straight from dealing with his car getting stolen — still in good spirits and very hungry — and we both demolished our plates. Hopefully the comfort food did its job — a brief mental reset, taking in a little piece of Hawaii in the SGV.
#ShokujiChronicles #SGVEats #HawaiianFood #PlateLunch#AlhambraEats
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