Name: QUEEN'S BBQ Address: 730 Queen Street, Honolulu, HI (Kakaako) Call: 596-8274 Plate Lunch Prices: $3.00 to $5.95 Hours: 6:00am to 2:30 pm Macaroni Salad Alternative?- no Specialties: Chicken Katsu, BBQ chicken (Shoyu style), BBQ meat; short rib/ pork chop combo AND I SEZ: Queen's BBQ has quite a following in the Downtown area. Located approx. 5 blks from the Downtown financial core, Queens is the place for many workers who want to get a little exercise before and after their lunchtime grinds. I know of two State workers who "religiously" go to Queens at least once a week to get their plate lunch fix. Being in their 40's, they have told me that they order the mini plates because they have to watch their weights.
The famous Queen's BBQ meat mini plate!
Like so many other plate lunch places, Queen's BBQ believes you must serve your food by the "pound". Quantity takes priority over quality. That is not to say that their food is not tasty- it's the classic plate lunch with the right balance of both. I have had the opportunity to try both their chicken katsu and BBQ chicken plates, both were very satisfying. having been warned about their large portions, I tried mini plates on both occasions. Each plate comes with one scoop rice, a scoop of mac salad , some shredded cabbage garnish (To balance off the starch? Nahhhh!) and the entree. When you enter to place your order there's usually quite a few people milling around waiting for their order. That's because they take the care to not pre-cook and nuke your entree. The entree's are basically cooked when ordered so it's not really a "fast" food plate. It always comes nice and hot to you. In marketing class I remember one of the Professors saying that an old restaurant phrase was, "don't sell the steak , sell the sizzle", this certainly applies to Queen's BBQ. While waiting , you have a chance to see, smell and hear the frying and cooking of the entree items as the cooks are right behind the cashier/order-taker. The aroma of freshly cooked Katsu is indeed a heavenly experience. What about the quantity? As you can see with the mini plates, they are indeed quite generous. Their mini entree serving is equal to many regular servings at other establishments. No one gets short changed here! The Chicken Katsu was served nice and hot, still crispy. The chicken was tender and not dry from over-cooking. The Katsu sauce was a nice complement to the Katsu, the mac salad was "ok", a shade better than Rainbows.
The Queens BBQ Chicken mini-plate
The BBQ chicken was also quite good but some of the pieces were a little dry, not any where near the dryness you find at some major "chicken outlets". Of course because of their generous quantity, you have a higher probability this happening I suppose.