Last weekend my girlfriend and I hit-up Ross on Koreamoku street looking for accent throw pillows for our new sectional sofa (which they didn’t have anything we were interested in), where afterwards we conveniently drove across Kanunu street to have lunch at Like Like Drive Inn. It’s been a while since I’ve been here, and I heard some good and some not-so-good impressions of the place. My late father used to come here often, giving praise about their breakfast dishes. While my girlfriend and her gang visited here on several occasions recently and were far less than impressed with their late night, graveyard shift grubs. Which possibly could have been a blunder on their late night, graveyard shift cook running the kitchen at this 24-hour diner.
Well, we shall find find out today during this late afternoon lunch whether they live up to all the hype and old school heritage that is Like Like Drive Inn.
As always, first lets check out the place…
Like Like Drive Inn is located on the corner of Kanunu and Keeaumoku street, or what the locals like to call “Koreamoku Street” due to many Korean bars and Korean-owned businesses along this busy corridor near Ala Moana Center. One of their neighbors is Soribol, a popular Korean Yakiniku restaurant, which by the way, occupies the original Honolulu Shakey’s Pizza. Soribol recently painted the exterior of their restaurant this hideous lime green color, but that’s another story for another day. Another notable neighbor would be Walmart and Sam’s Club right across the street.
While Like Like Drive Inn may appear tiny and unassuming from the outside of the strip mall they’re in, upon entering you’ll find a clean, updated, quite expansive space with multiple dining rooms to sit at…
Where is everyone? Here…
That’s a lot of seats! You could throw a huge party here, no problem. Spock da’ green river and fruit punch machine behind the counter. Classic diner fare right there. Also notice da’ “aunty” waitress. All the waitresses have that stereotypical “aunty” look. Someone you think of as your own mom. I love that!
Here’s the wife and husband founders of Like Like Drive Inn, Alice and James Nako…
Sorry about that blurry photo, but as you can kinda’ see, the original Like Like Drive Inn used the same neon sign they still have up today. Classic to da’ max! While the original building looked more like a residential wooden home structure. Apparently the restaurant biz’ is in the blood, as, come to find out, Alice Nako is the older sister of Agnes Asato, the founder of the now-gone KC Drive Inn, famous for the waffle dog and chocolate-peanut butter “Ono Ono Shake”.
Let’s check out their menu, which to note as confirmed by our server, is effective 24 hours of the day and night…
Wow, that’s a lot to think about, and a lot for the kitchen to prep’ for, 24 hours a day on top of that!
A telling tale of any restaurant is the array of condiments they have stationed at each table, where here you can clearly see it’s a local style diner…
You did notice on that classic neon Like Like Drive Inn sign out front that it proudly advertises ‘SAIMIN’ on it, right? Well, that’s exactly what I ordered…
Like Like Drive Inn “Local Favorites” -- Saimin. $6.10
The best thing I could find that would go good with my saimin was a side of fries (yeah, I know, very creative)…
Like Like Drive Inn side order -- French Fries. $3.35
My girlfriend also kept it simple, opting for their Hot Roast Beef Sandwich…
Like Like Drive Inn “Special Sandwiches” -- Hot Roast Beef Sandwich. $9.00
For the life of me, I don’t know why I missed her requesting to substitute mashed potatoes — which this was supposed to come with — for fries. Had I caught that, I wouldn’t have ordered a side of fries myself and got something else. Now we have too much fries. Oh well, at least we’re gauranteed to walk out with a full stomach. lol
My first question is, “how is the gravy?”…
Da’ buggah is “tick” (thick). It tastes somewhat “meaty”, while also having a hint of sage and thyme in its flavor profile. Very nice. I could see this making one fantastic Loco Moco, which is another of their “Local Favorites” dishes. It also works out great as a gravy dip for fries…
Let’s have a taste of that Hot Roast Beef Sandwich…
Now here’s where they dropped the ball twice. First of all, my girlfriend explicitly requested that they TOAST the bread, where as you can see, it arrived NOT toasted. Secondly, the menu clearly says Hot Roast Beef Sandwich. How did it arrive at the table? Not hot, but more like room temp’. What the? Not being the type to complain, she just went with it as is. Personally I would have sent it back. Fortunately that excellent gravy made up for the mistakes and it turned out being a 3 SPAM Musubi meal for her, noting that the roast beef was flavorful and tender, while the accompanying thick-cut fries were deep-fried to perfection and salted just right.
Now my song and dance with this bowl of saimin, starting with a mindful observation of it, along with a deep thought of the meaning of life, then an initial sip of the broth…
Right off the bat, it’s very “shrimpy”. That’s almost all I taste is shrimp, and not much in the form of dashinomoto. I’m guessing they make this with just shrimp heads and perhaps some kombu, with maybe a dash of shoyu and that’s it. It’s not intense either, but rather mild, where more shoyu and perhaps pepper would certainly help it out.
Let’s try the saimin noodles…
As usual, the ever great Sun Noodle Factory is the source of these wiggly wonders, and I must say, it was cooked perfectly al dente. They were also very “starchy”, which is actually how saimin noodles should taste, regardless of my bias for the flavor of the more “egg-like” Japanese Ramen noodles. Very good saimin noodles here.
Let’s sample the Charsiu now…
Very good, being tender and very “charsiu-ee” and “pork-ee” in flavor and not bland at all. Wow, lot’s of “ee” emphasizing going on here. lol.
Only one slice of Kamaboko (fish cake), yet at least they cut da’ buggah “tick” (thick)…
And it wasn’t soggy or slimy either, but firm and fresh-tasting. Sometimes I take a whole roll (or block or whatever you call it) of Kamaboko, slice it thinly and eat it “sashimi style” on a bed of cabbage with choke wasabi and shoyu dipping sauce. I call that my “poor man’s sashimi”. I tell you, it hits da’ spot!
Speaking of dipping sauce, like all good saimin shops do, Like Like Drive Inn serves theirs with a side dish of Coleman’s mustard, where you mix with shoyu and dip your noodles and saimin topping in for an extra kick of flavor…
Mix ‘n dip..
Oh yeah, now there’s the money right there, baby. The Coleman’s Mustard and Shoyu sauce gave this saimin the life it needed, as the broth alone wasn’t enough at least for my palate. The dipping sauce is what makes it complete, and with that I give Like Like Drive Inn’s Saimin 2 SPAM Musubi, which is “good”. While the noodles were cooked perfectly and the charsiu was as good as it gets, the all-important saimin BROTH from Like Like didn’t meet my expectations. As of this writing, I still stand by Zippy’s Zip Min as being the best Saimin in town I’ve had yet in recent memory.
For dessert, my girlfriend made room for some Banana Pie…
Like Like Drive Inn dessert -- Banana Pie. $3.30
What’s interesting is this tasted exactly like an apple pie, except instead of apples, it has sweet and tender chunks of bananas in it. It has that same gelatinous, cinnamon-flavored glaze the fruit is carried in, while I must note, the nicely-browned, buttery and crispy, flaky crust is KILL-ER.
Excellent, excellent crust on this pie, and in my book, when they ace the crust, they aced the cake… or pie that is, and with that, I give Like Like Drive Inn’s Banana Pie a solid 4 SPAM Musubi. A scoop of vanilla ice cream would have really hit the spot with this, but it was absolutely scrumptious as is. Yum!
Like Like Drive Inn
745 Keeaumoku Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
Tel. (808) 941-2515
Business hours: Open 24 hours daily
The Tasty Island rating:
(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)
Related links:
• Like Like Drive -- Yelp user reviews
P.S., Here’s a fun video to dance to…
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