Dining According to Karen: Review: Kit n Kitchen

I just happened to notice a small sign advertising Kit n Kitchen's Pearl City location on the back of a new-ish building near Walmart. My husband was happy to have another dining venue on the Leeward side and was eager to try it. Parking was a bit tight at the small strip mall that also houses a Starbucks. We parked at the far end of the Walmart parking lot instead and walked the short distance to Kit n Kitchen.

There used to be a Mexican bar/restaurant at this location and Kit n Kitchen kept the dark tables and dark interior. Despite this, the interior was nicely decorated including a brightly painted wall over the bar. Iced water was served in nostalgic metal cups. I haven't seen those since the 1960's. I didn't even look at the regular menu because the lunch specials seemed enticing. For $9.99, you have a choice of a half dozen dishes including Chicken Chimichurri, Spaghetti with Homemade Meatballs, or Mixed Mushrooms Spaghetti with a choice of tomato veggie soup or house salad.

My husband ordered the Chicken Chimichurri with rice (he was given a choice of rice or spaghetti). The regular price for this dish without the salad is $10.95. I had a hard time deciding between the Spaghetti with Homemade Meatballs and the Mix Mushrooms Spaghetti. I opted for the later prepared with oil and garlic instead of tomato sauce, cream sauce, or creamy pesto sauce. It was nice to have a choice of sauces for my entrée. We both opted for the house salad with Caesar dressing.

The house salad is the same salad that is served at their university location, comprised of carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, daikon sticks, and canned corn on lettuce. (Unique, for sure!) Both of our entrees were topped with toasted garlic bits, which was too strong for my husband's taste, but I loved it! I thought the chimichurri sauce was outstanding, but it was bit too spicy for my husband. I kept picking at his food to "help" him finish his dish.

My dish was a huge portion of shiitake, button, and enoki mushrooms over spaghetti. I was afraid the garlic oil would be too rich, but there was a lot of liquid from the mushrooms to dilute the oil. It would have been nice to have some Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over my pasta, but the waiter seemed to be relatively new and didn't check back until we were nearly done eating. The regular price for this dish without the salad is $11.95. Our entire bill for our two-course lunch with table service in an air conditioned restaurant was $20.83. Not bad!

The restaurant has only been open for a couple of months, but there seemed to be a steady, although light, stream of customers while we were there. The Pearl City location is open for lunch and dinner, 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily.

Kit n Kitchen
1029 Makolu Street
Pearl City, Hawaii 96782
Ph: (808) 294-5888
http://www.kitnkitchen.com/