A couple of years ago my husband Gene and I spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Oahu and had a great time. One of the things I enjoyed the most, besides the beautiful ocean, was the amazing island food. I discovered what they called plate lunches, and they were so wonderful. They are found all over the island, and most likely on all of them.
However, one of the places we enjoyed a lot was called Zippy’s because there were quite a few locations around the island. They had a great Teriyaki Beef plate, but I also enjoyed their Katsu Chicken plate.
It was very tasty, and I liked the sauce that came with it. One interesting note about Zippy’s is that they had just celebrated their 50th anniversary. The owners, Francis and Charles Higa founded Zippy’s Restaurants on October 17, 1966. I am giving away my age, but I also turned 50 the same day! Crazy, lol
Attached is an example of a typical Katsu Chicken lunch plate we had while on Oahu December of 2016. They may be served a little differently depending on where you go, but they are pretty much all the same. My husband Gene and I have had some fun.
I tried to recreate some of these plates since we’ve been home. They were not quite the same, but were still enjoyable. I look forward to visiting again one day. If you have tried Zippy’s before, please comment and let me know how you enjoyed it.
Happy travels!
I googled “plate lunch” to learn more & Wikipedia has an entry that explains it all. I even learned there’s a chain of Hawaiian restaurants with locations not that far from me. One of these days . . .
On our one trip to Hawaii, we ate in a few top-shelf listed-in-food-mags places, but in the end, my only real culinary memories of Hawaii are all the plate lunches and one incredible loco moco in Hilo…
Thanks for bringing back pleasant memories!