What $10 Gets You: Ala Moana Center

It’s lunchtime and you’re hungry. What are your options?

January 17, 2020

Frolic Hawai‘i,

Frolic’s new series sent team members to all corners of Ala Moana Center. Their mission: Satisfy lunchtime hunger pangs with $10 before tax. Here’s what they got.

Thomas Obungen’s lunch

What: Tonkatsu sandwich
Where: Rokkaku Hamakatsu
Where’s that: Mall level between Genki Sushi and Victoria’s Secret
Price: $9, takeout only

What’s in it: A luxe made-to-order pork tenderloin katsu with choice of miso or original tonkatsu sauce, mustard and shredded cabbage on fluffy Japanese shokupan bread, no crust

Erika Huang’s lunch

What: Spaghetti + Chicken Joy + peach mango pie
Where: Jollibee
Where’s that: Makai Market Food Court
Price: $7.49 Chicken Joy set without drink, $2.49 pie

What’s in it: Filipino spaghetti with a piece of crispy, golden-brown Chickenjoy (choose spicy or mild). Omit the accompanying fountain drink or Jollibee’s famous pineapple juice, save $1 and use it toward a deep-fried peach mango pie

Mari Taketa’s lunch

What: Large salad
Where: Cheeseburger Factory
Where’s that: Makai Market Food Court
Price: $9.50

What’s in it: Everything you can pile onto a dine-in plate or takeout bowl from the salad bar: salad greens, watercress, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, chickpeas, kidney beans, corn, bean sprouts, hard-boiled eggs, olives, jalapenos, sunflower seeds, raisins, croutons, mac salad, spaghetti salad, jap chae noodles, mandarin oranges

Gregg Hoshida’s lunch

What: Sukiyaki bento
Where: Gourmet Plaza Japan
Where’s that: Shirokiya Japan Village Walk
Price: $8.98

What’s in it: Everything you would find in traditional sukiyaki: thin slices of beef, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, tofu, won bok, rice and accompaniments

Kelli Shiroma’s lunch

What: Poke bento + cookie
Where: Foodland Farms
Where’s that: Street level across Shirokiya Japan Village Walk
Price: $7.99 bento, $1.99 cookie

What’s in it: Your choice of brown or white rice with furikake, one piece of fried chicken and one scoop of any poke that’s $12.99 per pound or less like spicy ‘ahi, shoyu ‘ahi or shoyu ‘ahi limu. Use your Maika‘i card to get a slight discount on a cookie from the bakery case

Emma Shi’s lunch

What: Unagi-egg-Spam musubi + oden
Where: Musubi Cafe Iyasume
Where’s that: The Lanai food court
Price: $3.88 musubi, $4.74 assorted oden by the piece

What’s in it: Kabayaki-glazed unagi on top of dashimaki sweet egg on top of Spam musubi, hard-boiled egg and other oden items simmered in a light dashi broth