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The Weekly Eater
TUESDAY'S fire in the Waipio area didn't deter Mililani Restaurant from its task of serving "Plate lunches and more all cooked to order." Sizing up the
menu in MililaniIn fact, with less people pouring in due to traffic tie-ups and uncertainty about what might happen to their homes, workers had a cruise night ... for once. Any other time, this place would be packed. The draw? A huge menu that hooks diners by its sheer audacity. Think of L&L and multiply its menu three or four times. You'd be starting to get the picture.
The typical human being just doesn't have enough peripheral vision to take in the menu at a glance. It takes a long time just studying the sections of the menu -- from saimin ($2.59) to various cutlets and stews, Filipino and Chinese specialties. Fish choices ($6.79) alone include an Ahi Stir-Fry, Ahi Black Bean, Grilled Ahi, Grilled Cajun Mahi, Shoyu Butterfish ($7.99). The list goes on ...
It wasn't always this crazy. Owner Bill Chan started with a tiny restaurant in Waipahu serving two specialties, Fish and Chips and Broasted Chicken. He opened a 500-square-foot shop in Mililani Shopping Center in 1979. Mililani Restaurant eventually swallowed up a bank, travel agency and jewelry store to fill 3,600 square feet.
MILILANI RESTAURANT
Food 1/2
Atmosphere Service Value
Address: Mililani Shopping Center, 95-221 Kipapa Drive
"I've been in business so long, every year we added a few items, we travel, we see things we want to try," Chan said. "Just recently I asked my chef, 'What can we take off?' But everything's a hit, we cannot take (anything) off the menu or the customers complain."
The menu is not the only thing that's big. So are the portions. An order of Deep-Fried Zucchini ($3.29) is not just oil and batter. You can rest assured you're eating a vegetable, one and a half zucchini to be exact, served in six full-length, quarter slices. Two steak fries with your two-piece Broasted Chicken Snack ($3.69) equal a whole baked potato.
I saw a couple sharing one plate of Beef Stew ($5.59), then watched the guy get verbal lickins' when he picked up a Broasted Chicken Dinner ($5.29) he had ordered without his wife's knowledge. The two could barely make a dent in plate No. 1.
Because of the volume of plates going out the door, you'll probably end up waiting for your order, but this is a function of popularity, not poor service. Employees here deserve hazard pay considering the remarkable number of orders coming at them, not only at the counter, but through catering requests and phone orders.
ANY menu this big will have its share of hits and misses. I thought the Shrimp Boat ($5.99) of tempura was weak. I didn't care for the spongy batter. And I can cook up a better Garlic Steak at home. Pluses were Chan's original Broasted Chicken, Teriyaki Pork ($5.29/ 3.99 mini) and Mochiko Chicken ($5.99 plate/$3.99 mini) served patty size instead of little chunks, and topped with a light layer of sweet teriyaki sauce.
To tell you the truth, I didn't care that some items were not as good as others. Like walking into Disneyland, I was simply awestruck.
Thinking about it all makes Chan, at 49, tired. He still wants to trim the menu. "On weekends I cannot handle. I try to make everybody happy, but I gotta think about making my workers happy. People will still have plenty to eat."
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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to nkam@starbulletin.com
