Updated 2/00
Plate Lunch Rambling
CH says, "And this is the mini plate?!"
Gastronomical Feats
Curry House (Coco Bon Ichibanya) is a Japanese Franchise type restaurant with several locations in Honolulu. They serve a mild or regular (hot) curry sauce over rice with a choice of toppings for an additional cost. Toppings include chicken katsu, fried tofu, spam katsu, bananas, cheese to name a few.
What makes this restaurant interesting is that they have what is called a "curry challenge". If you are able to eat one topping (your choice), four times the normal serving of regular curry, over approx 3 lbs of rice in less than 20 minutes, it's free! Otherwise you pay around $15.00 (depending on the topping you chose). In 1999 at the Kapiolani location there were 350 people who tried but only 55 were able to finish in under 20 minutes. If you succeed they even take you picture and put it on a wall of fame (or shame).
A school buddy, Lee took the challange last summer and won.
That white spot on the plate is all rice
And then to top it off Lee went to Zippys to eat a napple ala mode. Not bad for a fory something, yeah?
Y2K observations: Like night and day, good and bad, hot and cold it's funny how individual tastes and recommendations can be either consistently great or awful. Take CH and RK- two friends who constantly pepper me with "can't misses". Trouble is, CH is 1 for 10 ( the one good recommendation being Ethel's Grill) the rest of the places he's mentioned will not be written up for fear of reprisals. CH believes in cheap prices and lots of food. Doesn't have to taste real good as long as it's cheap and plenty.
RK on the other hand believes in the golden triad of plate lunches: cheap prices, good quantity and tasty food. So far every place RK has mentioned has turned out to at least acceptable, usually better.
Don't get me wrong, both RK and CH are nice guys, just different and opposite results regarding plate lunches. If RK is, "the glass is half full", CH is, " the glass is half empty". If this were Star Wars we'd have:
Jedi Knight RK 
vs
Darth CH ..........
1/00- Fresh mahimahi is in short supply so many plate lunch places are offering other fish such as Opakapaka, Akule or Ono. Check before you order.
3/99- Just got an email from a fellow plate lunch fanatic in Washington DC- he will be doing a guest critique on Lehuas, the plate lunch capitol of the east coast- stay tuned!
This humble website was featured in a travel article in the Washington Post Sunday Travel Section on, what else?! Plate Lunches! (3/7/99) You might be able to still catch it online at www.washingtonpost.com.
1/99- The "new" Zippy's located at the old Jolly Roger
Site has been open for a few months now- there's even a Japanese sushi bar/restaurant
located next to the main food area. Zippys has been seving frest fish which
is turning out to be a winner.
2/98- Kelly's Restaurant (Nimitz airport area), one of the mainstay
24 hour coffee shops of the 60's is going to close it's doors 3/31/98. Their
pancakes, sweetbread french toast and fried rice are tops. Visit an old
friend before it closes.
Nostalgia Question #2- This one I have an answer to: at the site
of the old Jolly Roger in Kahala, what was the name of the drive-in that
preceeded it?
Plate Lunch Historical Perspectives
Bishop Museum in 1997 had an exhibit called " Bento to Mixed Plate"
which gave information about the origins of the present day plate lunch.
Below are some photos from the exhibit.
The original plate lunch container- the Bento Bako
This was used by Japanese plantation workers
Exhibit showing the origins of typical plate lunch entrees