Monarch Seafood

Once in a while, I get to meet up with my boyfriend for lunch. In addition to spending quality time together for an hour in the middle of the work day, we sometimes have the joy of trying someplace new! I had been waiting to try Kahai Street Kitchen after reading an article about them in the Honolulu Advertiser (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/Feb/29/en/hawaii802290301.html). To my disappointment, we got there too late, and they were closed for the day. But my disappointment didn't last for long, because we discovered another great lunch place nearby! Monarch Seafood is a seafood shop, offering great selections of seafood and poke. During the lunch hours (10am-2pm), they serve up a great selection of seafood plate lunches.

All plate lunches come with a choice of House Nalo Green Salad with creamy garlic dressing, tossed salad, or potato macaroni salad and white or brown rice. Choose from local dishes ($6.95 each) like kalua pig, mochiko chicken, and hamburger steak, or go for seafood dishes like Ahi Katsu with Creamy Wasabi Sauce ($7.95), Spicy Thai Calamari Steak ($6.95) or Ahi Sashimi Salad ($7.95). All plates are made fresh as you order them!



I ordered the Nori Wrapped Crabmeat Stuffed Ahi ($7.95). This was a nice piece of ahi suffed with a mixture of imitation crabmeat, spicy sauce, and mayo, rolled into a sheet of nori, breaded and deep fried. On top was a drizzle of wasabi mayonnaise. I thought it was very creative and delicious, but a little on the heavy side.



My boyfriend had the Sauteed Citrus Garlic Shrimp ($8.50), a generous portion of shrimp seasoned with fresh herbs, garlic and lemon. Finger-licking good!

After finishing up lunch, I wasn't too disappointed about missing out on trying Kahai Street Kitchen. Next time we have a chance to meet up for lunch I'll make it a point to go a little earlier so that we catch them before they close!

At Monarch Seafood, its a good idea to call in your order and drive down with two people if possible, because parking is very limited. We were lucky to find street parking, but it got very busy right after we placed our order. It was amazing how busy they were with lunch orders despite the fact that they were minutes away from ending lunch service! We all squeezed into the tiny shop as we waited for our food! We waited about 5 minutes for our food and enjoyed it at a nearby park! Next time we'll meet up earlier and check out Kahai Street Kitchen!

Monarch Seafoods, Inc
515 Kalihi St.
Honolulu, HI
(808) 841-7877