Island Cafe Hawaiian Breakfast & BBQ at 19th Ave & Taraval

[Anya L]

I was passing by 19th Ave & Taraval today and noticed that the corner coffee shop (I believe it used to be Zim's a long time ago, and I think was JT's most recently) is now Island Cafe Hawaiian Breakfast & BBQ. Yet another Hawaiian BBQ place! However, this one is open 24 hours, so if you have a hankering for loco moco at 3 am, this would be the place. I haven't tried it, though, so no idea if it's any good. I do like the grass awning around the outside - very kitchy.

[shnigglebob]

Oh gosh.. this place is awful. I went there with a friend after we got back from Oahu due to a craving for some great plate lunch... EEK! The Kalua pork was way over salted (even for Kalua pork!) and the saimin was flavorless. Can't say that I've gone back to try any of their other plates (plus it's pretty difficult to mess up Loco Moco). But for my record, it was just a diner trying to do poor renditions of Hawaiian local plates. I would try elsewhere...

[Berus]

What can I say? I live one block away. The Hamburger is decent. The breakfast is passable. This is absolutely the best Hawaiian food cooked by mexicans available in the Sunset...

I think.

[anna]

It's a rainy day and I wanted some hearty food. So, we decided on something closed by, Island Cafe. I had the Loco Moco - 3 burger patties with gravy, 2 fried eggs, 2 small scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. Hubby had the Kalua pork burrito w/ rice, cheese and sour cream, chips and salsa on the side. The Loco Moco was better than expected. Though the patties weren't juicy, they were moist for well done. Eggs were done right, gravy was tasty, macaroni salad was the only disappointment. I tasted the Kalua pork and it had a nice smokey flavor.
The two entrees and two coffee costed ~$23 (tips not included). Not exactly cheap, but can't say it's expensive. If you're in the neighborhood and want Hawaiian food, give this place a try.

[Civil Bear]

>>"I tasted the Kalua pork and it had a nice smokey flavor."

Is Kalua Pig supposed to have a smoky flavor? I thought the authentic stuff was cooked with hot rocks.

[ML8000]

Few restaurants or individuals have a imu pit and lava rocks to do a kalua pig...except in Hawaii. Even there most places use oven smokers or liquid smoke.

[wineguy7]

Mrs. Wineguy and I went for breakfast on Sunday the 2nd. 10:30 AM and it was maybe 1/3 full. Mrs. Wineguy had Portuguese Sausage and Eggs. It was a rectangular sausage that looked about the shape of Spam. Pretty tasty, eggs done perfectly (sunny) and it came with some scoops of white rice. I had Chicken Loco Moco. Chicken was crispy and eggs were done perfectly (over easy). It came with two scoops of rice and a scoop of Macaroni Salad. The coffee was fresh and hot and claimed to be a French Roast/Kona blend. I would go back.