Da’ Kitchen

After hearing that my favorite plate lunch place in Kihei (Maui) opened a location in San Diego, I got so excited. I even planned a weekend trip to San Diego just to eat here. Perhaps it was that anticipation of eating a monstrous plate of chicken katsu, and maybe my standards were much higher after years of local kine grinds in Maui, but my gosh, DO NOT GO TO THIS LOCATION!!!
–service IS slow (not even Hawaiian time can excuse this)
–portions are smaller than maui
–katsu breading not as tasty
Perhaps that is why the current listing on Unilocal says «CLOSED». Maybe they finally realized that their best effort on the mainland fell way short of what their two maui restaurants offer.
One of the reasons that Da Kitchen Maui is so great is the taste of their Chicken Katsu breading. Whatever their secret ingredient is, i want to find it! It gives the katsu a subtle sweetness, which differentiates itself from anywhere else. L&L doesn’t even come close. Unfortunately, they didn’t ship the secret ingredient to San Diego. I am sad to say that L&L katsu is better than Da Kitchen San Diego.
Wishing this place was good enough to eat till you sleep—

YUmmmmmmmmmmmmmyyy: D

So sad… this is not Da Kitchen or the Mo’s Island Grinds that it used to be. :(
The macaroni salad… they’re using cheap mayonnaise in it. Cheap mayonnaise! That’s just wrong! The rice was okay. The portions are still huge. But man… it’s missing something vital, like its spirit.
And its hamburgers. When Joe tried to order one, he was told there wouldn’t be any hamburgers until 3PM… Not that anyone bothered to make a note of it on their wipe-​board menu.
Service was slooooooow. Is there only one cook back there? And the poor one girl working the register, plus taking food out to the customers, plus trying to tidy up the counter.
Just be forewarned: when you go, plan to spend a lot of time waiting around. And get the lettuce salad instead of macaroni.

I live less than a mile away from this place and I used to be a regular, going in several times a week, but I finally had to give up. I’m sorry to have to say this, but this place has gone really, REALLY downhill in the last few months since the change in ownership and name — it’s now Mo’s Island Grinds. Strangely enough, I don’t think it’s necessarily the new ownership that’s the direct cause, since Mo was there even when it was still Da Kitchen (yes, it used to be affiliated with THAT Da Kitchen in Hawaii, but not anymore). But Mo’s not around nearly as much as he used to be since he took ownership, and I have to say that the other cook, well, just flat-​out can’t. Cook, that is.
What doesn’t come out of the kitchen burned, ends up being the wrong order in some way. Half the time what you try to order is on the menu but not available — and you don’t hear about it from the staff until at least 10 minutes have passed. That’s not an acceptable time lag at a place where you put in your order at a counter instead of with a waitress. The girls at the front are hard-​working and cheerful, but there are fewer of them around at a time, lately, and there’s only so much they can do. The soda machine is broken and hasn’t been repaired. There’s more, but you get the idea.
Last time I was in, I was told there would be a few new things on the menu soon, but I can’t imagine trying them until the current lousy situation changes — bad food is bad food, new or old menu. Hopefully with the upcoming changes in menu, Mo will take more of an interest in the place and come in to cook more again. Or hire someone to sub for him in the kitchen that doesn’t Completely. Suck.
All I can say is, I won’t be back for a good looooong time while I give them a chance to straighten things out. In the meantime, if you’re still determined to try this place anyway, I’d recommend calling ahead to at least make sure Mo’s cooking. If he’s not — raincheck!

Being born and raised from Hawaii myself, i expect a lot when it comes to my local grinds. Da Kitchen has stepped up the competition in san diego a notch! This place is super «ONO» (delicious). Just a to list why this place is so great:
–If you go there enough, you get to know the people and become a local yourself
–the portions are so enormous that you buy a keiki plate and still can’t finish it
–you can place phone orders so that you don’t have to wait so long for your food
–last but not least, even though your wait can be a little long, it is justified by the great tasting food!
try the Kalua plate and ask for extra Kalua sauce (this isn’t how normal Kalua is, but it sure is yummy! and i suggest getting all rice with your plate lunch rather than mac or green salad! it’s ‘broke da mout!“
advisory: place is also changing it’s name to moe’s island grinds

Oh man… this place is like a step up from your regular plate lunch joint. Serious ono grindz! Everything here is really good! My fav here is the Kalua Pig. As close to the best Kalua I’ve had here on the mainland. They are a little pricier than L&L’s, DaKine’s, etc… but it’s well worth it. If you like Hawaiian food this place is a must. Definitely a front runner for Hawaiian food in SD.

Da family and I love some good grinds. We’ve been to most in the area: Island Boy Grille, L&L, Da Kines, Bamboo Hut. They had their moments and some have regressed in quality and popularity. L&L is still a heavy hitter in our book.
The wife and I went to Maui recently, we tried Aloha Mixed Plate and were a little «mixed». It was nice, great view, good food but dang… there wasn’t too much food on our plates! We like a big portioned plate lunch, something that will «broke yo mout!» Something that will definitely give you food coma and will put you to sleep.
I think we found it with Da Kitchen. LARGE portions of food here. High quality and great tasting. I tried the 5 piece kalbi ribs, they were tasty and HUGE. My sons tried the Chicken Katsu, it was too much for them to finish. My wife tried the Korean Fried Chicken, it was tasty, bountiful and very filling. One combo can almost feed a party of 3+. They ran out of Loco Moco as we’ve heard they’re the best in town.
This place is a gem in a wasteland of tasteless, franchised food establishments. It’s also conveniently located right off the I-​15 fwy on Carroll Canyon Rd. It’s a nice coincidence that Da Kitchen has a sister establishment in Maui and in the Bay Area. Hopefully, they will open up in more areas. Keep up the great work Da Kitchen!

this island fav in SD rocks. not only do they give u a shitload of food, the grubs is alll-​to-​da-​good.
whether you are a surfer from hawaii, or a stoner from los angeles… or in between (SD) you’ll be happy to grubb here.
try their pork katsu or korean bbq dishes. …
Phở shizzle.

Kirk-​san is my patron saint of lunch-​plate food blogging.
He welcomed me into the wonderfully complex web that is this community of food bloggers. And has been a great person to know over the last year. Based in San Diego, this Japanese American hails from Hawai’i and has been a business consultant in a previous life. All of which connect me to him.
We instantly could talk story about not having enryo, our families, and MS’ new job this year — in addition to the usual and obvious conversations that surround food and food blogging.
So when I was in San Diego and craving some good Hawaiian eats, Kirk knew of the perfect lunch-​plate place.
And with any patron saint, you have faith that they’ll guide you right and I knew I was in good hands. MS and I followed the directions to this small, family-​owned and casual dining spot. MS ordered the Kalbi lunch plate that came with some standard white rice and generic mac salad. Generous portions of pretty good meat at a great price! MS licked his fingers clean after eating all his shortribs.
I, on the other hand, knew exactly what I was craving — the Korean Chicken lunch plate. (Also, a favorite of Kirk’s Missus.) When Kirk met us for lunch our first trip to Da Kitchen, he raved of this restaurant special.
And it IS THAT GOOD.
The sweet marinated fried chicken reminded me of some delicious sesame chicken wings my sorority sister used to make called «J.Ito’s Chicken» — the kind that gets you going back for seconds. At Da Kitchen, it’s all in the sauce. Not sure what’s in their secret recipe, but would LOVE to get my hands on it!

Trust me on this place. Once you eat here, you’ll never eat at L&L again. Sure their prices are slightly higher than L&L, but you get an enormous amount of food. And since these are Hawaiian plate lunches, these portions are sure to be generous. When I go here I usually order the teriyaki beef, the can’t go wrong chicken katsu, or the surprisingly good and monster-​sized moco loco. They have other entrees like kalbi and fish tempura, and those are just as equally great. I always experience great service here. Sometimes the food can take a while to cook but I’ve found that most places that take their time to get the food right generally do well in my book, so call it in if you’re in a rush. You won’t be disappointed.

Probably one of the best Chicken Katsu in San Diego.
Highly recomend

Da’ Kitchen is a casual fast-​food like Hawaiian restaurant located in Mira Mesa right off Highway 15. It has a massive menu and everytime I go there, it takes me a while to pick and choose what to eat. Excellent for a quick Hawaiian joint, especially in comparison to other chains such as L&L and Ono Hawaiian. Their portions are very big and you will most likely have some leftovers. I’m not a fan of chicken katsu but I like Da’ Kitchen’s. Their chicken katsu doesn’t have too much fat and is limited in grease and oil. They have a TRIPLE layer deck of katsu. Most of their plates come with sides of salad, rice, or macaroni salad. Their barbecue and grilled items are all very good, the teriyaki chicken and beef were incredibly tender. I also tried the Loco Moco here which is a popular dish in Hawaii — a big handmade patty covered with two over easy eggs and then slathered with this awesome mushroom gravy sauce. The burger was a little overdone in my taste but it was still pretty good.
Having a meal here is pretty filling and very heavy but it’s definitely less greasy than the other Hawaiian fast food places in the area. There’s also a nice variety of canned Hawaiian nectar drinks.