L&L Hawaiian Barbecue in San Francisco, CA: A Review

Hawaiian cuisine in the modern age has become an interesting mix. You have the fish-and-veggie-heavy influence of Japan, China and the Pacific island nations meeting with the native Hawaiian pork, sugar and pineapple. And then there's the mainland America influence, mostly in the form of salty, fatty, processed food products and heavy starches. All this mixes together into a jumble unlike anything else in the world.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is a chain trying to capture that general zeitgeist. Front and center on the menu is spam musubi, an island favorite that is actually much better than it sounds even if you generally can't stand Spam. The Spam is grilled, which brings out the same sort of strong flavor that you get when you fry bologna, over a bed of rice accompanied by seaweed, with barbecue sauce slathered all over. It is pretty good, but once you've tried it once for novelty, you should graduate to the Portuguese sausage musubi, which is the same thing but replaces the Spam with much tastier (and probably healthier) sausage.

On the other hand, I found the chicken katsu underwhelming, especially considering it cost over 8 bucks without a drink. The chicken was basic, but OK and the portion size was acceptable if not overwhelming for the price. The dipping sauce was a little overly sweet, however, and the sides were a scoop of rather stale-tasting steamed rice and a scoop of cold, bland macaroni salad that seemed like it had been sitting for awhile.

Loco Moco is an interesting choice if you don't mind a cholesterol overload. It's a hamburger steak covered in gravy and with a fried egg on top, on a bed of steamed rice. You can also get short ribs and BBQ chicken. Lau Lau is pork chuck wrapped up in a big ol' taro leaf with steamed rice and shredded Kalua pork on the side. There's also shrimp, salmon and mahi mahi available in fried or grilled form. Whatever you get, expect to pay from $8 to $11 when the tax is tallied, making this a bit more expensive than the usual "quick serve" meal.

The "aloha" and "mahalo" greetings are a nice part of genuine Hawaiian culture, but when you know people are saying them because they've been ordered and trained to by corporate management solely concerned with making you feel warm so you return more often and spend more money, it kinda loses the appeal somewhat. The prices on the whole are also a little high, probably more due to the FiDi rent than overcharging, and only a few of the menu items are really worth it. Those that are worth it really are pretty good, though, and it's tough to find this sort of thing even in a city like San Francisco. So give it a look sometime if you're craving some Pacific style and find yourself downtown.