Shrimp trucks in Kahuku
I will be in the North shore area soon and would appreciate opinions on the shrimp trucks in Kahuku, Giovanni's vs Romy's (or any other you feel is better). I've also read that Mackey's in Hale'iwa is pretty good, too. I would probably get the spicy version and therefore would like your thoughts on how it is prepared at each place you rate. Thanks in advance.
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Thanks to fatstern's recommendation (which was greatly appreciated), we stopped at Fumi's (the stand, not the truck) on Wednesday and had the lemon pepper and the spicy garlic shrimp. Both tasted absolutely fresh. For those of you who like spicy food--and I mean spicy!--the latter is for you. It is also the best shrimp dish I've had in a long time and worth the trip from the mainland to eat it. Not only is it cooked with liberal amounts of butter and sliced garlic but also sriracha sauce and red pepper flakes that impart the fantastic chili flavor and intense heat. I wasn't going to eat all the rice (two mounds of it), but the buttery chili sauce slathered over them was heaven, or hell, on earth. When I talked to the cashier about the sauce, he said they experimented with vegetable oil for the fat, but decided it was nearly as tasty as butter, a decision with which I happily agree. The next time we're in Oahu, we'll definitely go back for more.
By the way, we also had the chocolate haupia pie at Ted's and the shave ice at Matsumoto's. Great!
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re: chazuke
KaimukiMan
Feb 16, 2009 09:51 AM
The "two scoops rice" is a must have item on any kind of plate lunch in Hawaii. Thanks for the comments on Fumi's. Sounds good!
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giovanni's has a hot sauce you can put on whatever, but i dont particularly care for it mostly bc i dont think its a good match with the scampi style...but giovanni's is the goods, no 2 ways about it. sometimes they overcook the shrimp which upsets me....also grab some li hing mui pineapple at the fruit/smoothie stand next door (if yer at the one in kahuku), i think a few bucks for half a pineapple.
if you want a good garlic spicy version, try FUMI's, just north of Romy's along the shrimp farms. i found their garlic treatment to be very similar in quality to giavanni's and they have a fantastic spicy garlic version. also the only ones who do a coconut fried shrimp....seemingly the only ones that also sell fresh live shrimp...
skip the garlic at Romy's, i've had it twice and i dont really get what they;re going for besides something different from the "wet" scampi style of the others around them. its lighter on the butter with browned-to-burned garlic bits...i DO enjoy Romy's sweet and spicy, which is more or less a corn syrupy-chili flake concoction, not amazing but it works for me. the thing about romy's is they're the ones that own the farms behind them, so the quality of the shrimp is invariably better/fresher than giovannis, which is the major plus here. Romy's has a couple other preps that look good (whole shrimp fried wrapped in eggroll wraps, also a raw prep etc), has both fresh shrimp and prawns, and also farms sun fish (tilapia) so you can get a whole fresh fried fish there as well...and delicious kahuku corn. and li hing mui pineapple....
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re: fatstern
Fatstern, thanks a million for your comments, which I found very helpful! I'd never heard of Fumi's, but based on your summary, it might be worth a try. If Giovanni's has a long line, I'd be encouraged to move on somewhere else. The li hing mui pineapple sounds terrific. Thanks again.
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KaimukiMan
Jan 31, 2009 02:20 AM
here is a fairly recent and extensive thread on the shrimp trucks
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re: chazuke
KaimukiMan
Jan 31, 2009 12:33 PM
I like the spicy, but for various reasons I usually get the garlic preparation, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help. I've always been partial to Giovanni's, but thats mostly because its the oldest and where I have always gone.
Good luck Chazuke, looking forward to your report.
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