Discovering The Best Food Finds At Honolulu’s Fort Street Mall

Discovering The Best Food Finds At Honolulu’s Fort Street Mall

In today’s video we are going to explore the many  different foods you can eat at Fort Street Mall   in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Originally Fort Street was  named for a fort built by Russian fur traders   who wanted to take over the island in the early  1800s. King Kamehameha The Great, found out that  

They were building a fort on the land that he  gave them and had them removed. Did you know   that there are also other Russian forts that  were built on the island of Kauai? After the   Russians were kicked out, the fort was used by  Hawaiian royalty and also the British. The fort  

Was located near the area of modern-day Fort  Street and Queen Street. Fort Street is also   known for the first Catholic church built in Hawai’i – the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. Fort   Street became the very first paved road on Oahu.  Now it is a paved pedestrian only walkway full  

Of office buildings and many small restaurants.  So let’s go explore some of them.   When everyone hears the word Marugame, they think of long lines and the location in Waikiki. Here on Fort Street   Mall you can get the same delicious food with  no line if you come early or after lunch hours.  

It is open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Marugame  is famous for their freshly made udon dishes   and you can add various tempura sides to your  main entrée. If you’re in a rush, call it in and   get takeout from the takeout window outside.

So this is my dish. Got the sweet beef here, the egg,   and some green onion and some tempura flakes.  I got some sides – a sweet potato and some shrimp tempura. The udon’s super chewy. You can see  them making it fresh in front of you right  

Before you order. You can get this hot or cold too  and the green onion I really give it a kick. I   like the taste. Right behind me is famous Tiny  Tadani and his friend Pam. She said, “Hi.” 

So they’re eating right behind me. That’s kind of  cool. What a small world right? But let’s try this beef. Very sweet and cut really thin. So  it’s really soft and when you kind of mix   the egg in there it gives it this nice  creaminess and richness. And the beef is  

Mixed with some onions. So it gives it a  nice flavor and it’s really sweet like a teriyaki. We’ll try the shrimp. Really crispy and light. Not too oily and   they make it right in front of you so  they’re constantly replenishing it. And  

Lastly let’s try the sweet potato.  It’s also tempura style. Everything’s tempura. Really good natural sweetness of the sweet   potato and super crunchy batter  in the tempura. So it’s really delicious. Fort Street Café has been a  longtime resident of Fort Street Mall. It  

Has been serving up tasty and affordable  Vietnamese, Thai, and local inspired plate   lunches to office workers, HPU students and all  who pass by here looking for a cheap and tasty   meal. They’re famous for their inexpensive  breakfasts and their very tasty garlic chicken.

Alright, so I was going to go to a park  and go eat the food from Fort Street Café and   all of a sudden it started to just pour out of  nowhere and the weather just took a turn. It’s  

Super windy outside too. So I guess I’ll eat it  in the car, which is fine. It’s quieter. It’s dry   and we can give the food a little bit more  attention. So I got the garlic chicken combo.  

It’s one of their combos. You don’t have to get  a combo. They have regular…just plates. They are   known for their garlic chicken. If you go  there in the morning it’s one of the top   sellers to have with their eggs and rice instead  of sausage. And you can get that with some rice  

And a big container of Panang curry. And it’s  really piping hot so that’s a good thing. So the   garlic chicken comes on a bed of jasmine rice. You  can smell it. It’s garlicky and you can smell the

Sweetness. I’m not sure if you can hear the crunch,  but even though I drove a little ways it’s still   crunchy. It’s almost like a typical mochiko chicken,  but it’s got you know that sweetness and a very   prominent garlic flavor in that soy marinade.   So if you are a garlic lover, you’ll definitely  

Love this chicken. The inside is not dry. It’s moist, yet they get the outside coating nice and crispy.   That garlic chicken is so good with eggs in the  morning. We used to always go to breakfast here because  

We would go to Alakea court. So me and my co-workers  always ate here and it’s so funny that they remember   me when I came today. I haven’t been there in  years. And they’re so kind and friendly. So you   know, they make really awesome food. Really nice  people. It’s a family-owned business. This is  

The Panang curry and it smells so good. This is  one of the dishes I never used to ever get.   I never tried their lunch items because we always  came early for breakfast. But it smells amazing   and I was recommended this combo dish to  try by my friend’s wife while we’re at Morio’s.  

She works in the downtown area and says this is  her favorite lunch combo. You can see all that   coconut milk goodness with a little bit of of  that chili oil – the redness. You can see a little  

Bit of the basil leaves floating at the top – the  Thai basil. And if you could only have smell-a-vision.   Smells amazing. And I’m going to probably do  something that is a no no, but in my mind right now  

It sounds kind of fire. I’m going to dip some of  this crispy chicken in this lovely, rich coconut sauce. Yummy. It’s already got chicken in here too.  So you got double the chicken. So plenty of meat  

To go around. A carrot here, lots of Thai basil,  which is my favorite and looks like some green   peppers. And they’re so thoughtful. They give you  a spoon too, so you can scoop up your curry. So I’m  

Going to get my rice that’s in the chicken  box. Dip some of this curry in. Get a little   bit of some Thai basil in there. Ooh yeah. So  good. If you like Thai curry they make a good

One. Very rich. A little on the salty side  if you eat it alone. So you definitely   have to eat it with rice. And when  you do mix your rice with it, it’s perfect! If you are interested in some of these spots, but do not frequent this area,  

Parking is a breeze. I suggest you park in the  Chinatown Smith Street Municipal Parking Garage.   The entrance is from the Beretania Street side.  I recommend you come from the Fort Street   extension from the Pali Highway to turn onto  Beretania instead of using Nu’uanu Avenue,  

As it gives you time to get into the left lane to  turn into the garage. They did recently renovate   their system and it is credit card only for  parking payments. However the rates are fairly   inexpensive and you won’t have to keep feeding  the parking meter. There’s always spots available  

To park in and it’s a very short walk to  Fort Street Mall and also close to Chinatown. If you walk down Fort Street  mall and cross North King Street you’ll   find Pioneer Plaza. The bottom floor is  a massive food court that houses many  

Restaurants that cater to the office workers  in Downtown. Look, there’s even another location   of Catania Restaurante Italiano that  I covered in Aiea. You can come here for   good pasta as well. Here in this food court  you can find Tonkatsu Sangi, a fairly new  

Restaurant making Japanese style tonkatsu  plate lunches and nan ban and also some ramen. Okay, I found a spot to sit down that’s  a little quiet. Hopefully it’s not too loud. A   little bit more inside it’s very loud, but  there’s a lot of chairs to eat at. Let’s  

Try the tonkatsu first so it doesn’t get soggy.  So when you get a tonkatsu plate, you   also get some miso soup and this is what  the plate looks like. I hope it’s good. Ooh   that’s nice. That’s what it looks like.  Looks very nice and crispy. So I don’t  

Know what the white stuff on there is, but  I’m going to assume that’s crushed sesame seeds. They do say it takes a little while  to make it to order, but it didn’t take that   long. I would say like 10 minutes. You can see  it’s super crispy and it’s pork so it’s not

Chicken. Very crispy and light coating and  it’s very flavorful. Interesting katsu sauce.   Almost tastes like fruity. I’m not sure, but  quite different from the other commercialized   katsu sauces. Tastes kind of homemade. I don’t  know if they grinded up some apples in there  

Or some natural pear for some natural  sweetness. You also get some dressing for…   I’m guessing your cabbage. Looks very chunky.  I love shredded cabbage with katsu or like sashimi. That’s really good. Good dressing. It’s  like a vinegarette, with a little bit of onion  

Flavor. Taste the rice, but it looks like pretty  much regular rice. And you got two pretty thick   pieces of this katsu. Like two pork chops and  it’s sliced pretty thick. I will say that was   pretty good. It was very different because the breading  almost tastes like homemade breadcrumbs and not  

Regular panko. It has a very crackery taste to it  and I don’t know how to explain it until you taste   it, but it’s very crispy, but almost like very  light and not too heavy tasting. And it’s very  

Fresh tasting. It doesn’t taste like they’re using  old oil or anything like that. Let’s just taste   their soup really fast just to see if it’s good.  It’s very dark, which is nice. It’s got your typical  

Seaweed in there – the kelp. Looks like some green  onion and a little piece of tofu in there floating   around. Pretty good standard miso soup. Lots of  seaweed in there and only two tofu pieces. But tastes good. Seoul Kimbap used to be located  in the Remington College building, but has since  

Relocated here in Pioneer Plaza. They specialize  in to go Korean foods such as kimbap and bibimbap bowls. Alright right next door…well not really  next door. If you just walk by this whole   place downstairs of the Pioneer Plaza it is like a big  food court. So there’s tons of places here from  

Chinese food, Vietnamese food, plate lunches to  sandwiches in front of me, which I’m not gonna   have just because it’s too common. But there’s  a new place. They’ve been around I believe on   the other side of downtown, but they’re now here  at Pioneer Plaza. It’s a kimbap (Korean sushi) place and it’s  

Called Seoul Kimbap. Unfortunately they’re out  of kimbap. They sold out so fast. It’s only 1p.m.   They close at 2, but this is their bibimbap bowl.  It’s got some takuan in there, some fresh lettuce,   some shitake mushroom, some like zucchini that’s  sautéed and some spicy bulgogi, but it’s pork. So  

Let’s dig in. Let’s try the pork. It looks quite  spicy. Good flavor. It’s pretty much the taste   of gochujang. It’s got a little bit of that Korean  sweetness to it. A little daikon. Try some shitake mushroom. And you’re supposed to mix everything up.  Trying to get this big money bite. It’s fresh, it’s  

Tasty, it’s healthy because it’s got a lot of veg  in there and I can’t complain. The ladies are   nice. The two ladies there – the ajimas are super nice  ladies. The kimbap must be awesome because it’s all sold  

Out way before closing and I’m enjoying my bibimbap. Definitely try them out. They also have   bentos with a spicy pork if you want like  a Korean bento. But there was only two left and  

That was all they had. So I got their third item.  So they have two items to sell and they’re closed.   I think everything’s seasoned really well. I like  the spicy pork. It’s sliced really thin. Easy to eat.  

It’s not tough and it’s got flavor. And mixed with  all the veggies it’s very tasty and healthy. The Lunch Spot is also located  in the Pioneer Plaza food court   and offers reasonably priced  plate lunches, desserts, and salads. So this is a mini roasted chicken  with gravy from the Lunch Spot and for  

Mini, it’s pretty huge and they also  have regular plates. So there’s a lot of   chicken in here for mini and it looks  like a mixture of white meat and dark meat. It’s seasoned well. A little bit on the salty  side, but it still has flavor. Not too overly  

Salty where I think it would be inedible. But  it’s got bones in it. So if you’re not into bones   then I don’t know what to tell you. But you know  like here. It’s got bones kind of like a  

Chinese style chicken where they chop it up in  little pieces. But it’s got gravy slathered all   over it. I see some herbs on it. Looks like some  thyme. It definitely tastes like Thanksgiving   or like a homemade, you know, roasted chicken type  of comfy cozy meal with the gravy. It’s super ono  

With the rice because it sops up all that gravy  on the bottom and then you know, when you pair it   with the rice the saltiness of the chicken kind  of matches up. You do get a choice of mac salad  

Or tossed, which as you all know I don’t really eat  mac salad too much. So I got myself a tossed salad.   It comes with ranch dressing. You don’t get to  choose your dressing. I wasn’t given a choice, but  

That’s fine. That’s one of my favorite dressings.  All in all, a pretty good meal. It’s satisfying,   it’s comforting and it’s homestyle cooking for a  reasonable price for downtown. Rada’s Piroschkis has been in the Fort Street Mall area since the 1970s. They  share the restaurant with Vicki’s Filipino Fast  

Food. The owner, who is Filipino, worked for a Russian  lady named Rada, who sold her the recipe for these   delicious piroschki. They are fried crispy meat pies.  Not to be confused with the Polish dumpling the   pierogis. Vicky’s offers pre-made Filipino dishes on  hot plates to serve the people during the lunch  

Rush. If you’re not in a rush, there are many  tables to sit down and eat at. okay so I got   Okay so I got the two choice and this is the pinakbet and  she separated the mongo beans. So I got mongo 

Beans for my second one. And they did confirm  they are now together as one company, so if   you want a piroschki you can come inside Vicky’s and pay for it. So these are mongo beans. It’s  

Very creamy and mashed together, but it’s got lechon  in there. So it’s got meat. You pair it with   rice. It’s super delicious. So if you like lechon  kawali, it’s in there. It’s very creamy and tasty.  

It’s got some kind of greens in there too. So I  don’t know if it’s marungay leaves. This is pinakbet   and it’s got all kind of veggies in there.  I love it. It’s one of my favorite dishes.

Eggplant. Got some bittermelon, tomatoes, okra, pumpkin. It’s got a little bit of pork in there too. So it’s   really tasty. My favorite part is the long beans.  You can see some of the pork in there. Super tasty   meal. Definely fast food because everything’s  prepared. If you want to eat Filipino food in a  

Hole in the wall this is the place. The auntie is so  nice too. She put it in foil, but she didn’t know   it was going to eat here. But it was to keep the  beans warm. So that was really nice of her. She’s  

Super nice. Alright let’s try the piroschki. If  you don’t know what a piroschki is, it’s a Russian   or so they say breaded, fried, kind of like  dumpling thing. But it’s bread. It’s not like a pierogi   like Polish. And it’s crispy and inside has  beef, cheese, and mushrooms. You can get cabbage  

And cheese. The bread is so good inside. Super  crispy and flaky. That’s what it looks like   inside. It’s flaky dough. Piping hot when it comes  out. Cheesy in the middle and beefy. They’re super good. And lastly the there’s the Döner Shack on  the corner of Fort Street Mall in South Pauahi  

Street. They are quite a controversial restaurant,  as the owner made the news refusing to follow   orders during Covid. But I’ve been coming here for a  long time and I don’t like to mix politics with   food. Whether you choose to patronize them or not,  they serve döner kebabs, shawarma, and salads. If you  

Don’t know what döner is, it is meat on a vertical  rotating grill, sliced thinly. If you enjoy Middle   Eastern or Greek flavors or you always wanted  to try the famous Halaal Guys in New York City,   you will definitely enjoy their food. Despite  the controversy it is one of my favorite places  

To eat. I’ve been eating here for a long time  ever since I started working my main job   in downtown. If you want to get lunch, this is the  spot to go to. Despite all the controversy, there  

Was a pretty long line when I went. And every time  I passed by – because this is the last stop I’m stopping   at – there was always a line. So they’re doing  pretty well despite what people say. Don’s  

A really friendly guy. He let me go in the back and  show some of the ways they make their food on the   rotating kebab – the döner and it’s Turkish of  origin like I said, where they just shave off all  

That nice, glistening, delicious meat. Usually it’s  a mixture of sometimes beef and sometimes lamb   and that’s how you can make it a gyro or a shwarma  in a pita. I got there like döner plate. It’s  

Pretty much just a choice of meat. They do  have I think a chicken choice if you don’t eat   you know red meat. Underneath has the rice and the  delicious vegetables. If you like Middle Eastern   food or Greek food – they’re kind of similar in  taste – you’re going to love Döner Shack. You  

Get a choice if you want if you like spicy hot  sauce and their cilantro sauce. On top, if you’re   wondering what the white stuff is, it is kind of  like a tzatziki sauce. Like a yogurt base sauce. But  

You can see all that char on there. Delicious.  The meat is flavorful. That tzatziki type sauce   just mellows it out. It’s not spicy in any way, but  it’s flavorful. It’s got different kind of spices   in there. And then you got the rice underneath  that’s fluffy and same thing the ultimate bite.  

Put some meat on there, a little bit of the veg  with that vinegrette dressing and the rice. I really   like those thinly shaved onions with the meat. It’s  just almost like a deconstructed pita sandwich   or a gyro. Put some of that cilantro sauce on  there. Actually I’ve never had the cilantro  

Sauce. I always get the hot sauce. So I’m curious  to taste it because I like cilantro. It’s interesting.   It’s almost like a vinegrette. So that was good,  but I prefer the hot sauce. I think it’s really  

Good on there. Gives it a little bit of a kick  and I will say their hot sauce is pretty spicy.   So if you like spice you’re going to like it.  And the vegetables just give it a freshness.   That sliced cabbage, the thinly sliced onions,  with some refreshing cubed cucumber in here and  

The lettuce. You can’t go wrong. It is a great meal  if you like these kind of flavors. And actually   Middle Eastern food and Greek type food is one of  my favorite foods. I really like the cuisine and  

It’s great to see it in Fort Street Mall. They’ve  been there for a long time and probably will be   for a long while more. So thank you for joining  me if you stayed this far for my Fort Street  

Mall adventure and finding all the great eats on  Fort Street Mall. If you go a little further, I’m   sure there’s more to eat, but it is a long strip  and it goes all the way makai to the ocean towards  

Nimitz (actually Ala Moana Blvd.) So very long street. Starts right by the Catholic church near Beretania Street and goes all   the way down to the sea. But that was the main  area where everybody likes to go and eat that  

Works in the downtown area or just frequents that  area. I know there are many other restaurants that   I skipped, but there is just way too many choices  out there. I hope I covered most of the main ones. 

Especially the ones that have been there from the  very beginning and have stuck there through time.   They’re kind of the OG restaurants that are there.  And I hope if you’ve never heard of them that you   go and take the time to try them. They’re all  very delicious, whichever one you pick, and I’m  

Sure you’ll find something that you’ll enjoy  on Fort Street Mall to eat. So until next time,   I’ll see you next week, and I hope you have a great  weekend. Take care everybody. If you like this press  

The like button, subscribe if you’re new, and I’ll  see you again on another food adventure. Peace out.🤙✌🌺🌈

This video is about some of the great restaurants making great lunch items in the Fort Street Mall area. There are many restaurants on this pedestrian walk way, so I couldn’t possibly hit them all. But I tried to include the main restaurants and the ones that have been there for a long time.

Marugame Udon
1104 Fort Street Mall
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 545-3000

Downtown Honolulu

Open Monday – Saturday 10:00am -7:00pm
Sundays 10:00am – 4:00pm

Fort Street Café
1152 Fort St Mall
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 536-0455
Open M-F 7:30am – 7:00pm
Saturdays 8:30am -3:00pm

Tonkatsu Sangi
900 Fort Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 840-9700
https://www.tonkatsusangi.com/
Open M-F 10:30am – 2:00pm

Seoul Kimbap
900 Fort Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
No phone number
Open M-F 10:30am – 2:00pm

The Lunch Spot
900 Fort Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 762-7967
Open M-F 7:00am -9:00am and 11:00am -2:30pm
http://thelunchspothi.com/

Rada’s Piroscki
1113 Fort St Mall
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 533-2388
Open – M-F 6:30am -5:00pm
Saturdays 7:00am -3:00pm

Vicky’s Fillipino Fast Food
1113 Fort St Mall
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 526-3950
Open M-F 7:00am – 5:30pm

Döner Shack
79 South Pauahi St
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 744-4784
http://donorshackhi.com/
Open M-F 10:00am – 5:00pm
Saturdays 11:00am -3:00pm

0:00 Intro
0:57 Marugame Udon
3:05 Fort Street Café
7:37 Parking Tips
8:28 Tonkatsu Sangi
12:03 Seoul Kimbap
14:29 The Lunch Spot
16:19 Rada’s Piroscki and Vicky’s
18:54 Döner Shack
22:43 Conclusion

Hey, I’m Misty, and thank you for stopping by my channel. I feature local restaurants to show case what food and menu items that they have to offer. If any of them interest you, please stop by and show them your support. Support local businesses to keep them going!

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