So, I went to Hawaii this summer...
Now, before you get all hater-y and leave mean online comments, let me finish the sentence. I went to Hawaii this summer - with kids.
Let the condolences begin.
Any parent who's traveled with young 'uns in tow will tell you, this is not a vacation. Still, we managed to have fun, and we definitely managed to eat very well. One island delicacy we couldn't resist sampling at each and every opportunity (even as a nacho topping) was kalua pork.
This is what's served at luaus - an entire pig slow-roasted for hours in an imu, a primitive underground oven that's basically a pit lined with hot rocks and banana leaves. The meat is succulent and smoky and so delicious you could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
And guess what? You can save yourself some serious g's and find that great pork right here in the desert - at Mama's Hawaiian Bar-B-Cue.
This almost 2-year-old University of Arizona-area eatery (a second location is in Sahuarita) isn't fancy. There's bench seating and paper plates. Plastic utensils are dispensed out of a gizmo that's really cool, actually. Press a lever and a single fork pops out, perfect for those of us who are skeeved out by rooting through bins for plasticware that many, many other hands have, too.
In its low-key setting, Mama's embodies the eclectic cuisine of the islands. Hawaiian food is this joyful mishmash from the many immigrants who've settled there. You'll find plenty of Japanese influence along with traditional kalua pork and poi and very retro, utilitarian American chow like Spam and macaroni salad.
Mama's brings all that authentically Hawaiian food, except for the poi, to its menu, which even includes Spam and eggs ($6.49). The Spam musubi (sushi featuring the canned meat) isn't actually on the menu but when it's made, the seaweed-wrapped bite blows out the door.
One bite of the kalua pork ($6.99) sent me right back to the sand and surf. The shredded meat was all pork-y goodness. Juicy with just the right accents of salt and smoke, the menu wasn't kidding when it described the pork as melting in your mouth. There's a reason this pork outsells all the other meat.
Read the complete review in Thursday's Caliente and online at StarNet.
