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Big feast, small change

Right about now you must be feeling strapped for cash. I know because restaurants I expect to find full up are more than half empty. I'm even finding it easier to find parking at the top of the hill in Kaimuki, though that may change as people wrap up their Christmas shopping this week and return to their usual dining rituals.

It won't last. About midway through January the bills will come due and you'll see another retreat. Thanks to the availability of plate lunches, cheap eats beyond the standard fast-food burger, fries and soda combo are abundant here, but there's much to be said for variety. When times are tough, here are a few places you can sit down and dine on the cheap without feeling like such a pauper:

» Buk Chang Dong Soon Do Bu: Brush up on your Korean. This little eatery opened last month and offers the perfect meal for chilly nights, in the form of soondobu, or tofu soup with vegetables and one piece each of shrimp, mussel and clam. For $9.95, you get the usual array of panchan (six appetizers of marinated vegetables), the spicy tofu soup, rice and a choice of fried corvina, barbecue beef, or barbecue or spicy chicken. It's a short walk from Ala Moana Center, across from Tower Records if you've got any cash left. At 1518 Makaloa St. B, 953-2299. Cash only.

» Chez Sovan Express: This small eatery at Restaurant Row offers a quick introduction to Cambodian fare, which combines elements of Chinese and Vietnamese cooking. For $5.99, you can get a plate that includes a large scoop of rice and two choices off the menu, including the Cambodian version of pork adobo (soy sauce and sugar instead of the more familiar vinegary Filipino dish), chicken curry, eggplant tofu, spicy chicken or an herb-marinated barbecue stick featuring your choice of pork, beef or chicken. At Restaurant Row. Call 599-8812.

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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Chiyo's Japanese Restaurant serves a holiday special of Tai Nitsuke for $9.95 with miso soup, tsukemono and rice. For $1 more, add sashimi or tempura

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» Chiyo's: If you're planning to go, a bento of chicken teriyaki plus a single choice of fried ahi, ahi teriyaki, chicken karaage, pork teriyaki, salmon shioyaki or salmon teriyaki runs a mere $3.99. If you're eating in, teishoku prices of about $6.95 to $12.95 for the likes of beef teriyaki, tonkatsu and unagi may seem typical. But for that you get miso soup, rice and here comes the good part -- for $1 more you have a choice of sashimi (usually ahi) or two pieces of shrimp tempura plus a few pieces of vegetable tempura. Granted, the tempura is more batter than shrimp, and some entrees are better than others (chicken karaage, $7.95, served with chili sauce easily trumps overly firm butterfish misoyaki), but, a full local-style Japanese meal for under $10? A rarity indeed. At 256 S. Beretania St. at Aala, across from the skate park. Open 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. daily. Call 526-3700. Cash only.

» Phó #1: Phó is always affordable, but if you're not in the mood for soup and not averse to sharing food, two light eaters could leave sated for about $10 by choosing the Vermicelli Roll-up, a platterful of mint and basil, bean sprouts, cucumbers, daikon and your choice of meats such as grilled pork ($9.95) or pounded shrimp (sweetened shrimp cakes wrapped around a stick of sugar cane like a seafood Popsicle, $10.75). Dip accompanying rice paper rounds in a bowl of warm water to soften them and wrap up your choice of any of the ingredients set before you. Bonus: It's healthy too. At 1505 Kapiolani Boulevard. Open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Park in back. Call 955-3438

» Taqueria la Michoacana: Oahu's first SoCal-style taqueria opened quietly in October, but is much more visible since the opening of Palama Supermarket on Makaloa. Basic tacos filled with ground beef, chicken or potato in a corn tortilla run a mere $2 apiece, but a $1 more will get you a flour tortilla filled with about 3 ounces of your choice of special fillings: al pastor (garlic pork), pork chile verde, pork chile Colorado, carne asada (spicy beef), barbacoa (lamb) and fish. Yes, they're small, but that allows you to mix and match a trio of tacos for less than $10. Ole! At 1666 Kalauokalani Way, open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, and closed Sundays. Call 955-8799.