Apr. 13—I want to start by saying I’ve never tried Hawaiian food other than having a poke bowl on a couple of occasions, a delicious meal for any fish lovers out there.
But on this trip, I headed to Kimo’s Hawaiian BBQ on Girard Boulevard, just north of Candelaria Road, to get my first authentic island fix. The restaurant sits in an unassuming metal-framed building in an industrial area also home to La Cumbre Brewing Company.
The restaurant has enough room to seat maybe a couple dozen people. The walls are decorated with all the awards won by the restaurant, including from the Duke City Foodie Fest, a local food truck festival, which leads me to mention that this restaurant also operates a food truck, according to its Facebook page.
The menu, listed above the register where you order, features about a dozen or so items, some listed under the “plate lunch” section, a nod to the Hawaiian-style meal known for offering a scoop of rice and typically a meat and macaroni salad.
On this trip, I opted for the Loco Moco ($10), a dish featuring steamed rice, gravy, a beef patty and a fried egg. It’s a rather popular dish in Hawaii, and I’ve seen it featured on the show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” hosted by Guy Fieri (I want to mention that I only watch the show when there’s nothing else interesting on TV).
I ordered the Loco Moco with the egg fried sunny-side up, which is how I typically order my eggs, as I’m a fan of the runny yolk. I also ordered Spam Musubi, a Hawaiian snack with rice and a slice of grilled Spam wrapped in dried seaweed, kind of like sushi but without fish. I also grabbed an Aloha Maid strawberry guava drink ($3) in a can.
Since I ate this meal for lunch on a Monday, I invited my colleague Noah Alcala Bach, who covers education and has also written Nibbles columns of his own. Noah ordered a Katsu Chicken Sandwich, which features a piece of chicken fried in panko bread crumbs housed between two buns, served with a dipping sauce.
The Loco Moco, which I had been wanting to try for years, had a comforting taste — something I could see myself eating at least once a week without getting tired. The gravy, which had a beefy flavor, was warm and light and paired oh so well with the scoop of steamed rice it was lathered over. The beef patty was cooked to perfection — not too dry, not undercooked — and the egg was the icing on top; the yolk and the gravy, which I will admit I was somewhat unsure of, married well together.
The Spam Musubi ($5) I was excited to try. I love sushi — my favorite part of sushi is the nori, of course — and the idea of dried seaweed and rice paired with a piece of canned meat I haven’t had since I was a small child seemed exactly like the kind of new food I was ready to put in my mouth. It didn’t disappoint. The saltiness of the Spam was diminished in some ways by the block of rice, and the taste of the nori elevated it. While the Loco Moco was the meal I was most looking forward to trying, the Spam Musubi, in my opinion, was the star of the show.
I also had a small bite of Noah’s Katsu Chicken Sandwich, which was good, although it did remind me of basically any fried chicken sandwich served anywhere. I think the next time I try this place out, I will opt for the plate lunch version, which offers the fried patty served with rice.
Last but not least, the canned Aloha Maid drink, which Google tells me is made in Hawaii, was sweet and different from other canned drinks. It wasn’t carbonated and was more of a juice, but it was great and paired well with my meal.
Since I have brain rot — a slang term for someone who spends way too much time on the internet — I am going to give Kimo’s Hawaiian BBQ five big BOOMS! Shoutout to A.J. and Big Justice, aka the Costco Guys. For those who don’t have brain rot, a boom is a good thing, and I highly recommend trying this spot out.
Nibbles is a recurring dining review by Journal staffers of restaurants across New Mexico. Matthew Narvaiz is a business editor for the Albuquerque Journal. You can reach him at mnarvaiz@abqjournal.com.