Northshore Hawaiian BBQ: A taste of the islands in the South End

Southsiders who watched Lloyd's Rocket come and (sadly) go were glad to see another restaurant take its spot. But Northshore Hawaiian BBQ may also have a tough go at this location — sandwiched between three arterials in a bare stretch between Little Saigon and Seattle University. Owned by the same folks who run Northshore Hawaiian Barbeque on North 105th Street, it specializes in inexpensive dishes from the island state and farther reaches of the Pacific Rim.

The menu: Northshore offers a variety of Hawaiian plate lunches, with two scoops of rice, a dollop of macaroni salad and your choice of entrees: huli huli chicken, kalua pork, grilled mahi-mahi and so on. For the less adventurous, there are burgers, a few salads and noodle dishes (such as ramen-like saimin and gingery chicken long rice). For the more daring diner: tripe curry and oxtail soup.

What to write home about: Of the many meats we sampled, best was the pork adobo — a Filipino dish here cooked tender, sweet and salty.

What to skip: Our server recommended the barbecue short ribs, but we found them almost impossibly tough. The macaroni salad, on the other end of the texture spectrum, was mushy — and tasteless.

The setting: Bright orange walls, surfboards and Hawaiian license plates all call out "aloha."

Summing up: Northshore Hawaiian BBQ is cheap (dinner for four came to $32), and the service is island-friendly. But can someone in the kitchen please pay more attention to the food? From all of us in the neighborhood: Mahalo.

Lynn Jacobson: 206-464-2714 or ljacobson@seattletimes.com