Have you ever walked into a place and thought it was a new discovery, only to find that they’ve been open for two years? That happened to me recently at the Tamura’s in Wailuku. Tamura’s is well known for their extensive liquor collection, but in Wailuku they’re more of a market.
Tamura’s Kitchen does breakfast, bentos, hot lunch plates and grab and go foods. I walked in looking for a special bottle of alcohol but instead found rows of all kine food stuffs, a big produce section, lots of fresh raw proteins and fish. Yes, they have a small section for wine, liquor and beer, and it’s quality. If you’re looking for an esoteric bottle, go to Kahului–otherwise, they have what you need in Wailuku.
One of the things I noticed right away is that the pricing is really reasonable at the kitchen. They have an old school okazuya style breakfast in hot chafing dishes where you choose your items a la carte. Their ahi patty is ridiculously good–just $2.50 a pop. They grind the tasty ahi poke into patties that they delicately fry. They’re tender, full of flavor and make for a flawless pescatarian breakfast treat with scrambled eggs and rice. They have both brown and white rice, too.
The breakfast also features corned beef hash patties for $1.50, as well as classic okazuya proteins like shoyu chicken, fried chicken, shrimp tempura, nishime and mushroom chicken, all ranging from $1-5 per serving. I’m especially psyched on their musubi ume–stout triangles of seasoned, steamed rice bordered with seaweed and adorned with a dark pink salty plum for $1.50. Of course, they also offer spam musubi for the same price.
Tamura’s Kitchen makes a mean hot dog, too. They have all the fixings like mustard/mayo, ketchup, chopped pickles, onions and cheese. The best one by far is the steamed bun Redondo’s red dog with everything on it for $1.25, (or with chili for $3). The ahi patty they do at breakfast can also be made into a sandwich, and they also have hamburgers, cheeseburgers, teri beef, chicken and pork sandwiches for $3.25.
The chow fun bento is $4.95 and bomb. It has roast pork, bacon, green onion, bean sprouts, carrot slivers and big fat chow fun noodles. What’s not to like? It’s simple and the serving you get for $4.95 is well worth it. Bento combos like kalbi, which is pre-chopped with bite size pieces of teri chicken, are pre-packed and ready to grab for $8.95. They come with furikake rice, daikon and ginger garnishes.
That is all just the food they sell in the morning. When 10am rolls around, the plate lunch crew gets fired up with breaded teriyaki, garlic chicken, chicken katsu and hamburger steak. The kitchen also has a whiteboard menu with several daily specials, new combos, meal deals and the Tamura’s 442 Supper Sando–a grilled roast beef, turkey and pastrami opu pleaser. But get your orders in by 2:45pm cuz it’s all pau by 3pm.
TAMURA’S EXPRESS
841 Alua St., Wailuku, HI 96793
808-249-2420
M-F 7am to 3pm
Sat & Sun 8am to 2pm
Tamura’s Breakfast Bento Menu
Tamura’s Plate Lunch Menu
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