At the risk of creating redundant posts, I'd like to hear about people's favorite hole in the wall places to get a great lunch. One of the toughest decisions made in the course of a work day is where to go for lunch. A friend of mine never fails to impress me with recommendations for lunch places. These eateries are within a 3 mile radius of downtown Honolulu so it's easy to jump in your car and drive to. There are also places in walking distance of Bishop Street, so if you've got a favorite, I'd like to hear about it. Now my definition of hole in the wall is a place that has character, maybe a bit funky and tends not to use white table cloth covers and have polished utensils. It's the kind of place that might take you to the underbelly of Honolulu to risk your life for a great plate lunch. I can think of a number of places where during the day, no problem but in the evening, another story. So to start this tread, I would suggest Ethel's Grill in Kalihi (right on Kalihi Street). I will post a picture later on my next drive by. My friend turned me on to this place. It's very small and probably holds about 25 people max. If you go in there with a nice Aloha shirt you won't necessarily stand out but you will smell like the grill after you leave. For something like 6 bucks you can get a full on lunch with fruit punch, chicken, rice, miso soup and salad. For Ethel regulars, she will toss in a appetizer plate of sashimi and something I have not found anywhere else, Hawaiian fern shoots. This fern sometimes called pohole on Maui and ho`i`o on O`ahu is very ono and only found in wet areas like Hana. Ethel is hard working and very personable. You can tell she puts a lot of aloha into her food. This place is high on my list and hopefully will survive the recent wave of family own eateries closing down. Kahea `ai, Burt
