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Friday, June 14, 2013

Ono Ono Hawaiian BBQ

17582 17th St
Ste 104

Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 505-0750

General:

Not to be confused with Ono Hawaiian BBQ chain.

It is am independent Korean-initiated Hawaiian BBQ place as evident by some of their offerings (The current owner doesn't look like Korean, maybe the business changed hands). However, this place has more island inspirations than such joints as also evident by their more specific island-flavored offerings such as Kalua Pork, Beef Palai, Meat Jun, and Ahi Poke.  

Unlike other places, Ono Ono doesn't force you to get rice.  You pick 2 sides from the list: white rice, brown rice, noodle, potato mac, salad, grilled veggies, or Asian slaw.  

Having said that, if quality over quantity is your mantra, then this place has the competition across the town beat. Ono Ono is a 4- stars in my book, better than their average competitions and quite a high score I'd give to a Hawaiian BBQ joint.  It is now my favorite Hawaiian BBQ place on this side of OC.


Details:

Ono Platter, with Noodle and Potato Mac sides: the plate comes with Chicken Katsu, Galbi, and Spicy Pork.  Overall, it was a very solid offering.  The proteins were of good quality, lean, and got a lot of attention in cooking as shown by nice and even temperature, char, and sauce caramelization. However, the sides were less impressive and could use more re-conceptualization. 

Chicken Katsu: quite impressive for what it was as it was white meat.  It had the right amount of crunchy breading and mild saltiness.  The sauce had an extra vinegary kick a bit more than usual.  4- stars.

Spicy Pork: leaner cut. Sweet and spicy gochujang-based sauce.  Nice and even char and caramelization.  Quite good coming from a fast food place.  4 stars.

Galbi: medium sweet and salty teriyaki and soy sauce with a hint of ginger. Again nice and even char and caramelization.  4- stars.



Luau Platter, with Rice and Potato Mac sides: Kaukau Pork, Kalua Pork, Poke Tuna. In the interest of breadth and depth, I also ordered this more exotic offering.  My praises as this was also good, even better than the Ono Plate.

Kaukau Pork: menu says roasted but it was more like a stewed pork with blended spinach and coconut milk.  Medium salty with coconut milk body undertone and spinach overtone.  Texture was tender and juicy. Delicious 4+ stars.

Kalua Pork: shredded pork.  Roasted and very smoky.  A bit on the salty side for my palate.  Herbaceous undertone.  4 stars.

Poke Tuna: sushi-grade fresh cubed tuna.  Julienned cucumber.  Green onion and sesame seed garnishes.  Soy sauce, sesame, and salt marinade.  Mild saltiness.  No spiciness.  3.5 stars as it was.  However, my package came with a soy sauce, vinegar, ginger sauce.  With this sauce the tuna got the acidity that I think it needed (although poke stylistically doesn't need acidity).  4 stars with sauce.



The sides:

Noodle: turned out to be Chap Jae.  So, they are not shy of their Korean heritage, either.  Good.  However, it was a lesser impressive Chap Jae I have ever tasted.  Dark in color.  Intense soy sauce and pepper gave to a rather salty with a strong peppery palate and nose. Sugar was added in attempt to counter-balance the saltiness although it was less successful.  Again, I have got better as this needed to be "fixed" with their complementary gochujang-based sauce. It also came with some steam veggies. 2.5 stars

Potato Mac: al dente elbow pasta dominated by very creamy sweet mayonnaise. In fact, it overpowered everything else such that the mashed potato was barely tasted and was more like starch paste. Chopped carrot was added for extra texture. 3 stars.

Ono Platter


Luau Platter


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