B & D Island Twist Cafe

I went back for my second attempt at the taco salad only to be surprised that they shut down the made to order and local counter side of the business. Now its just Thai. Oh well, no more taco salad.

In the clutter of downtown Honolulu, everything can be mushed up and complex at the same time, to varying shades of rain, sunshine, and everything in the middle. Sometimes, finding a new place for weekday breakfast options can seem just that, considering that’s how my life tends to be lately: on the go and in a hurry to get there. I’ve always past by this place, but at times, just proceeded to my go to places of: Jamba Juice, 7-​Eleven, McDonald’s, and Starbucks while waiting for my ride to work in Kalihi. This time around, I wanted to see what this place had to offer.
I had miss the take out place atmosphere while commuting in the morning, unless I hit up Mitsuba on North School Street. Time to try new things and mix things up. Located on Hotel Street and Bishop Street, it’s a corner place you could really miss if you are not paying much attention. On the window, a large sign displays the breakfast menu. The prices for breakfast was reasonable, especially with the breakfast staple of rice, eggs, and choice of meat. There are other items for sale, like loco moco, among other things, but the staple worked best. Almost like the breakfast platter at McDonald’s but better.
The place was small, just like your neighborhood delicatessen, but like how downtown Honolulu is. Like a tone down, homespun version of L&L BBQ and other hole in the wall establishments. Definitely would call this place a hole in the wall and it was great that I stepped in here. The service was good and just the entire ambiance was nice too. Quick in and out on a weekday morning commute. It was one of those rare occasions that I was carrying enough cash on me, so I did not bother asking if they took credit card payments also.
Ultimately, I got the breakfast platter with homemade corn beef hash 2x and it was $ 4.50 each time + tax. The portions were ok to generous, so it felt like there was value attached to it. Everything was good here. Nothing bad to say, but praise for this place. I may just come back here on a periodic basis just to stir some kind of difference and change, rather than the same ol same ol with McDonalds and Starbucks. Maybe I should try their omelets sometime, but for now, this place is a great mainstay.
Parking can be a headache sometime, since you are in the downtown corridor. Not much in the way of street parking since they are taken up early in the morning. Best bet would be to take public transit to get here. Open from 5:30am to closing at 5pm, there is something here for everyone. They also serve Himalayan and Hawaiian food too. I still haven’t tried Himalayan yet, but I aim to come here for lunch sometime soon. Overall, this place rocks and is recommended. Supporting local hasn’t tasted so good recently!
Support local!
A+

This place gets 5 stars because their ribeye steak with burgundy wine sauce is amazing. I got that and a bottle of water for $ 10 flat. Awesome! The steak was buttery and the sauce is good, too! Their salad has just the right amount of dressing and comes with won ton chips, tomatoes, and cucumbers; they also don’t charge extra for brown rice which bumps them up, too! Definitely give them a try if you’re in the area.

I went in and thought I’d try the plate lunch that all good lunch places are judged on; The Hamburger Steak. And I have to say it was pretty good, the patties were not tough at all, and while I prefer a little thicker gravy, this one was good, more like a Demi-​Glacé. I also tried their breakfast, very good too, made fresh (of course), but cooked well. Omelets are also a good barometer of the skill of a chef and these guys passed. The green salad that came with the plate lunch was more than your usual Bag-​O-​Green with pink dressing; they put some care into it. It seems that they keep and eye on the details and they have an interesting albeit far flung menu. Overall a nice place to get a slightly upgraded plate lunch.

I love this new addition to downtown eating!
The lau lau is really really good… small, but delicious. I don’t think I could ever order the plates with just 1 lau lau.
I’ve also had the taco salad, which was really really good. Topped with jalepenos, green onions, sour cream, seasoned beef, salsa, lettuce and cheese, and the tortilla was freshly fried and cripy. Very yummy.
One time I ordered an Indian shrimp dish and my only complaint is that not all of the shrimp was deveined… some of them were, but some of them were not… kind of an ick factor but the flavor was good. However, I probably won’t order shrimp there anymore.
A little more expensive than some other plate lunch places, but I think the quality of the food is so worth it and it all tastes very fresh.

I’ve had 3 dishes at B & D Island Twist Café, so I’m ready to write my review.
My first dish, I enjoyed the fried boneless pork chop, and especially the portuguese sausage stuffing underneath. I’m a sucker for stuffing. Heck, I even like Stovetop. I’m weird li’ dat. The sweet potato mac salad was certainly a new twist on the plate lunch staple, but I think you notice the color more than the actual flavor the sweet potato adds or imparts. It’s more of a «wow, that’s kinda neat» versus a «wow, that tastes incredible!» effect. But overall, it was certainly a nice twist on pork chop.
On a different occasion I tried the nachos. Unless your benchmark for nachos is 7 – 11, then run, don’t walk. With La Taqueria Ricardo (formerly La Taqueria De Ramiro) just a scant walk in the HPU vicinity, you should be going there to satisfy your nacho cravings. Island Twists’s take isn’t bad, but nachos covered with cheese sauce and ground beef just seems wrong.
I also tried the pork BBQ sliders with french fries. I really was hoping for a new «twist» on this bar food item, but no such luck. You get two dinner rolls stuffed with pulled pork, and seasoned fries. (Yay for seasoned fries, by the way). The pork sliders are dressed with a BBQ sauce and the pork is nicely seasoned. Unfortunately, the bottom half of the dinner roll gets on the soggy side. Mine was packed to go, and the walk back to the office was about 10 minutes, so perhaps eating right away would have mitigated this problem.
B & D’s Island Twist Café is worthy of a visit at least once, and I would certainly recommend the fried boneless pork chop as your first foray into their menu (but beware the kanak attack to follow). My next visit will have me trying the New York peppercorn steak.

I visited B & D Island Twist Café the other day because my girlfriend was raving about it. She told me about the food they’ve been enjoying for lunch and I really wanted to try it. I walked in and was greeted by them and I already knew what I wanted to try. The Panko Crusted Boneless Pork Chops with Portuguese Sausage Stuffing with Homemade Gravy with Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms… with Brown Rice… and their Okinawan Sweet Potato Macaroni Salad. Doesn’t that just sound good already? For $ 8.25, it was a hefty plate lunch. The pork chops were sliced in katsu style portions and covered with their tasty gravy. After eating this plate you may want to lie back for a while and enjoy the heaviness of your eyelids or actually feel tempted to run around the block. You decide… Everything on their menu looks good and B & D were both very personable people. That’s always a PLUS with the locals… I’m glad I made the stop to try this place. Thanks Sweetie for giving me the recommendation. I will be posting their menus and will definitely be back again to try more of their food. If you’re working in the downtown area, it’s a definite «must-​try».