Umami on the Prowl: Hole in the Wall

A couple of months ago, Umami heard that a place called Hole in the Wall did a really nice local style fried rice.  (One day we'll have to go in to the differences of the various types . . . for now, suffice to say that HitW does "local" style).  Anyway, Ms. Cathy is a huge fried rice fan, so we had to try it.  It was very good!  A mini ($4) is actually a full half of a typical styrofoam clamshell, which is way too much fried rice for a petite deity like Umami.  Or Cathy.  An extra egg is fifty cents.  So the better plan might be to get a mini fried rice with two eggs (total = $5) and split it!  If it had bacon, it would be a perfectly balanced meal that includes the four food groups:  starch group, salt group, bird group, bacon group!  Umami is swooning just thinking about it!

Anyway . . . we signed up to get the weekly specials e-mailed to us.  And this week, on Wednesday, the special was "Spanish Rice with Chorizo."  Now, maybe in Southern California or the American Southwest (or at least those parts where you have to carry ID with you everywhere), this is a common special.  But it's not that common here and Ms. D has been pointing to this special all week.  So off we went to Hole in the Wall.

For some reason Hole in the Wall has a Fort Street Mall address.  Be advised: it's not on Fort Street Mall.  Rather it's on Chaplain Lane, which runs perpendicular to Fort Street.  For the club kids:  Shop Bop and Grind goes off there every First Friday . . . you know what I'm talkin' about.  In case you go looking for it, here's some pics:

On Fort Street, there's a sign that directs you Ewa down Chaplain Lane.  You go past the parade of mopeds . . .

You go past this Korean grocery . . . (They sell homemade kim chee) . . .  

And go in to this doorway.  This is the entry to Hole in the Wall.

 

And this is the view inside.  If I understand correctly, this is or was the kitchen for Hawaii Pacific University's student union.  Suffice to say, you're in a working kitchen!

 

And (finally!) this is the Spanish Rice with Chorizo!  The lady at the counter asked if we went to public or private school, because this is almost identical to the public school lunch Spanish Rice.  Do they still serve it?  (I don't know, I finished school a couple of years ago . . . )  It's got the whole Campbell's tomato soup vibe, with onion, red (not green, like the real PS style dish), and trace amounts of ground beef.  There's also a layer of cheese on the top that's a refinement of the old recipe.  It's instantly nostalgic and we finished the plate.  Except for the mac salad, which was oddly bland.  Had to dump some shoyu on it for salt.  The chorizo was the softer style, but very tasty.  Will definitely go back when they run the special again.  Might even get it with mac salad again, because, really, you can't go toss with this stuff.

Oh, and one last item, we stopped and got some kim chee from the little grocery next door.  $3 gets you a nice little tub of authentic kim chee.  (According to Ms. D anyway, and I'm not going to argue with her!)

Hole in the Wall
1154 Fort Street Mall (Chaplain Lane)
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 532-9911

"Sidewalk" Korean Grocery (Next to Mercury Bar, which is next to Hole in the Wall)