By Joan Namkoong
Advertiser Food Editor
At Mitsu-Ken Okazu and Catering, only one person at a time can stand inside the front door to order food. There’s barely a sign to find it, much less parking along busy North School Street. There are only two plastic tables in the hot sun, and rarely is there a printed menu, much less a price list. They close as soon as food runs out or by 1 p.m., whichever is earlier.
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| Donovan Dela Cruz and Jodi Endo Chai try out Nicky BBQ & Okazu.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser |
But every day at 4:30 a.m., there’s a line on the sidewalk, waiting to step inside for a breakfast special or the popular garlic chicken, sweet potato tempura and andagi. At room temperature, of course.
Defying the conventions of operating a restaurant, okazuya like Mitsu-Ken make their own rules and have survived in the competitive restaurant world.
"Everyone knows the rules, and they live by it," said Donovan Dela Cruz with a smile as we scouted okazuya, three of them within a few blocks of each other on North School Street. "They were here before plate lunches and before McDonald’s. They wrote the rules."
Dela Cruz is the co-author of "The Okazu Guide (Oh, Cause You Hungry): The Inside Scoop on O‘ahu Local-Style Deli," just released by Watermark Publishing ($8.95). Leilehua High School classmate Jodi Endo Chai is Dela Cruz’s co-author and enthusiastic eating companion. Both grew up eating at several okazuya in Wahiawa.
"Okazu" means side dish (in Japan the word "sozai" is more commonly used) and "ya" means shop. In Hawai‘i, it is the unique "Japanese delicatessen" where an assortment of dishes — not all Japanese — are displayed, and the customer picks and chooses what he wants.
It could be said that okazuya were the first Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine restaurants, incorporating locally grown products into dishes, reflecting the ethnic mix of the Islands. They were an outgrowth of the plantation lifestyle, in which single male plantation workers paid women in the camps to cook for them. Foods was shared in the fields at lunchtime.
Matter of choice
After several disappointing lunchtime adventures in search of okazuya two and a half years ago, Dela Cruz and Chai began to compile their guide. They set up criteria for these folksy restaurants to be included:
 First, the rice had to have shape or form like made into sushi or musubi. If it was "two scoops rice," it was considered a plate lunch joint, not an okazuya.
Second, the establishment had to offer buffet-style selections, not prepacked bentos. People had to be able to choose what went onto their plates.
"At okazuya, you eat with your eyes," explained Dela Cruz. "It’s different from a plate lunch, because you don’t just order."
The energetic authors, both of whom work in the public relations field — he’s with public relations firm Stryker Weiner Yokota and she’s with the Hawai‘i Government Employees Association — dropped off questionnaires to more than 40 okazuya on O‘ahu.
"We asked customers at okazuya about other places they liked, too," said Dela Cruz.
The questionnaires asked for basic information: hours of operation, when the business started and what the popular dishes were. They settled on 44 places but two refused to be included in the book.
"Some owners don’t understand public relations and marketing," said Dela Cruz. A few owners thought the pair was selling advertising.
Others shied away from any mention in any publication.
"One owner said ‘That’s OK, I don’t want the publicity; I don’t want my customers to wait in long lines,’ " said Dela Cruz. "We had to personally establish a relationship, face to face, and we had to order food."
In the name of research and pursuit of accuracy, the pair ate their way through all 40-plus okazuya listed in the book, culling out the specialties of each. And in the process, they talked to owners and learned that okazuya is more than just a place for food but a food tradition and a lifestyle shared by a dwindling number of hard-working folks.
Many okazuya owners are just a husband-and-wife team and maybe members of the family.
"They’re the cooks, servers, cashiers, busboys (if there are any tables), dishwashers, janitors and food shoppers; they do everything," explained Dela Cruz. "Owners rarely take longer than a week or two of vacation, closing down their business completely. They can’t call in sick. It’s a lifestyle."
Quite a history
Some establishments are decades old: Sagara in Waialua dates back to 1922; Sekiya in Kaimuki dates to 1935 and Fukuya in Mo‘ili‘ili to 1941.
"Many of the okazuya owners are older. Many are now being run by second-, third- and fourth-generation family members," said Dela Cruz.
"It’s hard work; some folks start at midnight and prep in the evening for the next day. One guy, when I asked him if he had advice to give about opening an okazuya, said ‘Go to college.’ "
Of the 42 okazuya in their book, nine are in the Kalihi area. "There are no okazuya in newer areas like Hawai‘i Kai and Kapolei. Okazuya are in the plantation towns."
A paper plate wrapped in butcher paper, held together with a rubber band in which a napkin and pair of wooden chopsticks are tucked is the traditional marking of an okazuya. Or, for a larger plate of selections, a simple, folded, flat cardboard pastry box can hold the many side dishes.
"Many folks have gone to Styrofoam," said Chai, pointing to a stack of folded cardboard boxes at Toshi’s Delicatessen and Restaurant. "Labor (to fold the boxes) and space (to store the boxes) have given way to Styrofoam."
Everyone has their favorites by which they judge an okazuya.
"Corned beef hash is my favorite," said Chai. "Fried chicken and musubi, too."
For Dela Cruz, it’s cone sushi and teri burgers. Both agree there are a lot of creative dishes that have and are evolving at okazuya.
"There’s the hot dog sushi at Mitsuba," Dela Cruz pointed out. "Split hot dog with mustard, pickle, takuan (pickled daikon), rolled in rice and nori."
Spam, of course
Other notable specialties include Caryn’s Spam-stuffed eggplant; Nu‘uanu Deli’s fish cake with crab and hot dog mixed in; Kitchen Delight’s fried chicken skin chips; Mitsuba’s sweet potato crumbles; Gulick’s shrimp sushi; Mitsu Ken’s garlic chicken and Yuki’s crab (surimi) stuffed mahimahi with a cream sauce, stuffed shrimp, chicken stuffed with gobo and prime rib katsu.
It’s all enough to perk up an appetite, then grind.
"Sometimes you just have to have okazuya," said Chai. "When we go to the beach, we can’t eat a sandwich. It may not be the healthiest food, but you gotta have it."
"Hands down, the best okazuya is Gulick’s," she added. "They also make the best hash."
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The Great Index to Fun
"The Okazu Guide (Oh, Cause You Hungry): The Inside Scoop on O‘ahu Local-Style Deli" by Donovan Dela Cruz and Jodi Endo Chai, Watermark Publishing ($8.95). Available at all Island bookstores beginning today.