Hawaiian Style Chili

I love everything here!!! Must try chili best I have ever tasted!!! Well everything is so Ono that Im going to say try everything! Service is great, nice local people just trying to spread aloha!

This review is based off of my experiences with them at the Mililani Tech Park Farmers Market on Wednesdays. Please don’t automatically discount my review, though — it is the same company, same food, same workers.
Writing this review actually sort of breaks my heart. If you had asked me a year ago, I would have whole-​heartedly given Hawaiian Style Chili Co. a 5 star review… but one year and probably 40-​some lunch plates later, I have finally reached my «I give up» point.
My first hang up with them is that most of their plates are $ 6.00 for a mini and $ 10.00 for a regular. The actual amount of food is no different from what I have noticed. I’ve ordered plenty of plates in both sizes and have always wound up with the same amount of food. The only difference is that a regular comes with a side salad. Not worth a $ 4.00 upcharge. (Tip — if you order a mini, you can ask for some greens and they will put them in your container. So basically, never order a large… save yourself $ 4.00!)
As far as the food goes, I used to order the roast pork ALLLLLLLL the time. OMG it used to be so good. Delicious, tender, non-​greasy pork covered in AMAZING homemade creamy shiitake mushroom sauce. This was back in November 2013 up until February 2014.
Suddenly, something changed. The pork got oilier, the gravy suddenly was switched from awesome homemade to pretty much Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup. No good. Then, the gravy went away altogether. I ordered it one week and had NO GRAVY. I asked and was told they had none. Whaaa? A few weeks later, the original amazing gravy made a triumphant return, but the pork was so far gone at this point. I don’t know if they are trying to cut costs or trying new recipes, but something is amiss.
Now, almost a year later, September 2014, I can officially say that the pork is a lost cause. I just tossed a container away because the pork is now marinated in a brown sauce and is so greasy that the gravy doesn’t even stick to it — not to mention most parts are a big chunk of fat. The gravy is not Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, but it isn’t the original shiitake mushroom gravy. Times are changin’ and my beloved roast pork got caught up in the fray. Goodbye, my dear roast pork.
During all of these changes, I tried my hand at some of Hawaiian Style Chili Co.‘s other offerings. I can say good things for the Garlic Shrimp Scampi, but that’s about it. The chili is just ok. Hamburger Steak has the same changing gravy issues that the roast pork does, so it’s also just ok. I hear the ahi is great, but I’m allergic to fish. Zippy’s has better Portuguese Bean Soup. The Braised Beef is very fatty. The Shoyu chicken is like… boiled chicken and then dipped in the sauce — unless you’re eating all of the skin with it, it’s very bland… and I’m not really a skin person unless it’s Maui Mike’s, so… yep, it’s pretty bland. The Kalua Pig omelettes are good, very stuffed and full, but kind of overloaded with cheese. If you’re into that sort of thing, then great, I try to at least be a little health conscious though so a bag of cheese isn’t really doing it for me.
Hopefully someday I can return and be surprised with delicious food once again, but until then, farewell Hawaiian Style Chili Co.

Awesome service, but the food IMO is just one step up from A-​OK. Maybe I ordered the wrong things, but I’m willing to give this place another shot or two. Don’t get me wrong, the food is good… Just IMO no «wow factor,» or maybe this just isn’t my style.
They call themselves Hawaiian Style Chili Co., so the bf and I figure the chili must be outstanding. I feel that’s a fair assumption. The chili was good… There were a bunch of stuff in there, Portuguese sausage included. But it was a tad sweet for my liking. I’d say it’s almost comparable to spaghetti sauce with extra meat and Portuguese sausage.
We also tried the Portuguese Bean Soup. It was only $ 4, so we figured, «why not?» I thought it tasted very good, but not great. There were a lot of fantastic ingredients, but it lacked something. I’m not sure what… The bf complained that it was too thin of a Portuguese Bean Soup and it should be more hearty and thick. (Everyone is a critic, I swear. Lol.) IDK. I’m sad to say it, but I like Zippy’s Portuguese Bean Soup better… (Eek, sorry for my brutal honesty.)
So… On another note…
Now for the really awesome-​sauce stuff!
— Portions are seemingly generous for the quality of ingredients and price, which is a total godsend in Expensive Hawaii. (To me, $ 10-​$ 11 plates and $ 4 soups aren’t bad when you consider portion sizes, quality, and the love put into making the food.)
— Service is super speedy, nice, and friendly.
I definitely plan on returning to try more of the dishes. The scampi looks and sounds awesome!!! And like I mentioned earlier, maybe I just ordered the wrong things… But I will update when the time comes.
3.5 stars
Unilocal 365 — #278/​365

First of all, I love the convenience of being able to walk outside my building at lunch and get some amazing lunch! The smell of all the good food comes wafting up the elevator shaft and lures me downstairs.
I got the seared ahi today for $ 11. I love the seasoning and the sauces they use on the ahi. The plate comes with a hefty serving of hapa rice, salad, and a couple of cherry tomatoes. Overall a great dish that totally filled me up. If I had to suggest one change, I’d would ask them to not cook the ahi so much. I was expecting seared but I got well done…
The service was friendly and they hustled to get our food to us quickly. I think we waited about 5 minutes.
I may not be able to come here every time since the price tag is over my usual $ 10 limit for lunch… I would be really stoked if they had this offering for $ 9.

I was at the farmer’s market located @ the Blaisdell on Wednesday nights. My mom told me to try out this spot. I was a little skeptical because I was thinking– who orders Chili when they aren’t at Zippy’s?! … But I tried it out and it was awesome! I had the mini plate which was more than enough food for my entire dinner. The Chili is deffinetaly a local type Chili with portugese sausage inside of it – YUM. They also serve seared ahi and garlic shrimp (either w/​rice or fettuccini).

The Seared Ahi Steak special ($ 11) features a lovely portion of cooked tuna with a scoop of white rice and nalo greens. The ahi here was cooked all the way through, yet still juicy. Regardless, I would be hesitant to call this «seared» tuna (as that is usually reserved for tuna steaks that remain raw/​rare in the middle). Some sliced mushrooms on the tuna had a silky, buttery sensation on the tongue, pairing well with the fish. Everything was seasoned well, and the creamy aioli on the top of the fish brought the dish together.
The dressing on the greens had a sweet, tangy feel, yet remained a light guilt-​free option for people choosing to avoid a mac salad side dish. My folks wanted a slightly larger portion, but I thought the amount was quite respectable.
While I didn’t try the chili on my visit (because heck man, I wanted fish), check out Hawaiian Style Chili Company for yourself!

I found them at the Saturday KCC Farmer’s Market. I braved the heavily touristy market for Soul Patrol but got distracted by Hawaiian Style’s display of plates — specifically their Shrimp Fried Rice ($ 4) plus one egg over easy ($ 1 extra). I crave fried rice daily so decided to go for it. I also love thick chowder and the morning weather was overcast so I also got Crab & Corn Chowder ($ 4).
First, I was disappointed the over easy egg was not made to order — they already had the rice scooped in the container and the egg on top. I noticed Soul makes their food to order so I’m sure it can’t be hard for Hawaiian Style to scoop pre-​made fried rice from the warmer and fry an egg. Second complaint: the shrimp was limited and I think I would’ve preferred onions or green onions, salt and pepper, and ???
The chowder consistency was to my liking but if Crab comes first in the name of the dish, I would expect noticeable chunks of it AND more importantly it, I’d think that it would not be the imitation version. Seriously, they should rename it «crab» chowder. Boo.

I was initially making a special trip to the Merchant Street Market because I was craving the Baklava at Da Spot, but when I went, they were not there. So since Da Spot wasn’t there I didn’t want to eat too greasy, and was hungry, I was able to buy the seared ahi steak and a taste garlic shrimp from Hawaiian Style Chili Co. This event, however, are only on second and fourth tuesdays of the month:
Seared Ahi Steak 4 stars — — for $ 10, they give you a good size healthy lunch plate with two thick slabs of Ahi, topped with their special Garlic Aioli sauce and shiitake mushrooms. The Ahi was fresh and warm. Comes with a mix of white and brown rice together and tossed greens with oriental sauce. I’d definitely buy this again.
Garlic Shrimp Scampi — 4 stars -. If I wanted it on the side with my ahi, she said it would be another $ 4, so I asked if I could get a taste of it, and she agreed to give me one shrimp to taste. I can’t rate the noodles, but the shrimp itself was fresh and the sauce wasn’t your usual butter garlic sauce. It was an Alfredo sauce that was very flavorful and heavy on the cream. If I want to splurge on raising my cholesterol, I’m going to order this next time because the sauce was delicious. In fact, I used what dripping I could savor for my fish and it tasted better with it.
Service — 4 stars — The lady was friendly, and she was very accommodating with my request to taste their shrimp and take pictures of their food and stand. I tried to push it and asked if I could also sample their taro mochi balls since I didn’t want to buy the whole thing, but all she said «oh my goodness» (I wanted to try it only to rate it, but no luck, so I ended up not buying it at all, so now I can’t rate it) because I already asked for a taste of their shrimp scampi for free (what you expect from a pake with a lunch budget of $ 10?), but overall, she was a nice local woman, and at least she gave me a taste of their shrimp without charging me, which I am glad I tried because it’s something I’ll consider buying the next time I see them (though $ 11 is a little steep).