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Sugoi Hawaii's Garlic Chicken Bento
One of Hawaii's favorite lunch items is the bento, which is the Japanese word for "box lunch". A bento usually consists of a few food items: a meat item such as teriyaki meat, fried chicken or fish, a slice of spam which is a local favorite, over a bed of rice with some furikake (dried seaweed and sesame seeds) and a pickled vegetable. There are many places that sell bento around Hawaii, but in the last few years Sugoi's has stood out as one of the best. Sugoi's got it's start back in 2000 when it opened in the City Square Building near the old Gem's and across the stream from Honolulu Community College. The word Sugoi means "awesome" in Japanese, and they indeed serve some awesome dishes at Sugoi! Their signature dish is the crunchy deep fried garlic chicken. Islanders rave about it's slightly sweet "mochiko" breading and the tender juicy chicken on the inside. The chicken is marinated in Sugoi's special garlic sauce. Beware! Sugoi's Garlic Chicken will leave you smelling like garlic for a while, but if you LOVE garlic flavor, you've just gotta try it!
When Sugoi's first opened, they had 3 different bento's to choose from: Mochiko Chicken Bento, Garlic Chicken Bento and Garlic Spicy chicken bento. All of these bento give you a choice of either white or brown rice and include a serving of teriyaki beef, hot dog, a slice of scrambled egg and a ume (japanese pickled plum) along with the entreé of your choice. The Mochiko Chicken is the base of all the chicken bento on the menu. The Garlic Chicken is the mochiko chicken with marinated in their garlic sauce, while the Garlic spicy chicken adds an extra spiciness to the garlic flavor for a real kick! While I LOVE spicy foods, I found the Garlic spicy a bit too spicy for my tastes but others swear by it!
Sugoi's also offers fish bento with fish offerings such as Mahi mahi, salmon, saba, miso butterfish and ahi. There is also the combination bento if you'd like to try two of any of the items.
While Sugoi has a wide assortment of bento, they also serve Hawaiian style plate lunches as well. Chicken Katsu, hamburger steak, pork cutlet, teri beef, and a variety of fish is served with two scoops of white or brown rice, and a choice of toss salad or macaroni salad. For those that feel that Sugoi's gives too much food, they also offer a mini plate with less rice and slightly less of the main entree.
This past weekend, my wife and I had lunch at Sugoi. She had the mini bento with salmon and I had the Garlic Chicken plate lunch with brown rice and macaroni salad. It was delicious! There was way too much garlic chicken so of course I shared it with her.
Sugoi's also does breakfast and catering as well. If you're on the island, be sure to check them out!
Sugoi Bento and Catering
City Square Bldg.
1286 Kalani St. #B-106
Honolulu, HI 96817
City Square Bldg.
1286 Kalani St. #B-106
Honolulu, HI 96817
Phone: (808) 841-7984
Monday - Saturday: 8:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M.
Sunday: Catering Only
Sunday: Catering Only
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Oooh that is one of my favorite foods! I am not living in Hawaii, and we don't get the kind of dining that you guys have on the islands.