I am a Hawaiian food junkie. If there's a Hawaiian restaurant nearby, I will be there, even if it's just a local Aloha Cafe or L&L BBQ. And at the top of the list of items I order: Kahlua pork and loco moco. Very few restaurants can make a good Kahlua pork, and fewer places can make a good loco moco (I've only had two good loco moco's that weren't homemade).
So imagine how happy I was to discover that Gardena is a home to quite a large Japanese-American population that likes Hawaiian restaurants! In addition to the standard L&L BBQ restaurants, I'm happy to have been introduced to Cherrystones and Gardena Bowl.
Cherrystones is a small restaurant in the middle of an industrial district that cooks AMAZING Kahlua pork. Not only is every single bite of the pork tender and soft (without necessarily being fatty), the flavor actually complements the cabbage. I very rarely eat the cabbage, since it always drowns the taste of the pork. In this case, though, the cabbage was cooked al dente, which left it very flavorful for a cabbage. The side salads were even good, but of course I never even touch that until I finish with the pork. So far, probably the best Kahlua pork I've ever had outside of Hawaii itself (at the luau, straight from the underground oven).
The Gardena Bowl is a bowling alley. A bowling alley with a small restaurant not unlike your resident greasy spoon. If there was such thing as a Japanese greasy spoon, this would be it, only the dishes were authentically Japanese and still relatively healthy as the item allows. I, of course, didn't opt for health, satisfying my craving for a loco moco. I figured, if this place is the way it looks, it should make a damn good loco moco. And boy, did it! This loco moco topped a plate of rice with grilled onions, a still-tender and moist ground beef patty, an egg made-to-order (mine was sunny side up), and GRAVY all over the whole thing. Since they were generous on the gravy and tender with the meat, it seemed to make all the difference in the world. This is one of the very few loco moco's I can enjoy without having to cook myself, and I'm so glad it's only a block away from Cherrystones and a couple blocks from where I work! Added perks: apparently Anthony Bourdain visited this episode in a Gardena/Hawthorne episode! Immediate props!
Cherrystones
15501 South Vermont Avenue, Gardena, CA 90247-4100 - (310) 329-8200
http://www.cherrystones.org/
Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop
15707 South Vermont, Gardena, CA 90247 - (310) 324-1244
http://www.gardenabowl.com/
So imagine how happy I was to discover that Gardena is a home to quite a large Japanese-American population that likes Hawaiian restaurants! In addition to the standard L&L BBQ restaurants, I'm happy to have been introduced to Cherrystones and Gardena Bowl.
Cherrystones is a small restaurant in the middle of an industrial district that cooks AMAZING Kahlua pork. Not only is every single bite of the pork tender and soft (without necessarily being fatty), the flavor actually complements the cabbage. I very rarely eat the cabbage, since it always drowns the taste of the pork. In this case, though, the cabbage was cooked al dente, which left it very flavorful for a cabbage. The side salads were even good, but of course I never even touch that until I finish with the pork. So far, probably the best Kahlua pork I've ever had outside of Hawaii itself (at the luau, straight from the underground oven).The Gardena Bowl is a bowling alley. A bowling alley with a small restaurant not unlike your resident greasy spoon. If there was such thing as a Japanese greasy spoon, this would be it, only the dishes were authentically Japanese and still relatively healthy as the item allows. I, of course, didn't opt for health, satisfying my craving for a loco moco. I figured, if this place is the way it looks, it should make a damn good loco moco. And boy, did it! This loco moco topped a plate of rice with grilled onions, a still-tender and moist ground beef patty, an egg made-to-order (mine was sunny side up), and GRAVY all over the whole thing. Since they were generous on the gravy and tender with the meat, it seemed to make all the difference in the world. This is one of the very few loco moco's I can enjoy without having to cook myself, and I'm so glad it's only a block away from Cherrystones and a couple blocks from where I work! Added perks: apparently Anthony Bourdain visited this episode in a Gardena/Hawthorne episode! Immediate props!
Cherrystones
15501 South Vermont Avenue, Gardena, CA 90247-4100 - (310) 329-8200
http://www.cherrystones.org/
Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop
15707 South Vermont, Gardena, CA 90247 - (310) 324-1244
http://www.gardenabowl.com/
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