Shaka Dog in Palm Bay
If you are looking for some traditional Hawaiian food, I would recommend you try the Shaka Dog located on Minton Road in Palm Bay. My niece Lori and her family were visiting from Virginia, so we decided to meet at the Shaka Dog at 3 PM.
My cousin Patti was the first to arrive and was sitting on a bench out front of the small restaurant. It is the last place in a small strip mall.
My niece Lori, who was born and raised in Hawaii, arrived a few minutes after me with her husband James, his mom Jackie, and their two kids Rowan and Morgan. OMG, never realized their names could be used for a Laugh-In show
I will say this early, the place has a counter where you order and they bring out the food. I am not a big fan of this type of place but I am starting to see it more often. I guess it is good to have people pay before they see the food they will receive. That would not be a worry here. The menu is not large but they did have one page of written specials and a whiteboard with the current special. We grabbed some menus and put two tables together; the server did help us do that.
Lori started with the Shaka noodle salad...
From my seat looking toward the counter and kitchen...
The place probably seats about 36-48 people.
James ordered the Ahi Tuna Poke salad which comes with an extra scoop of rice...
Morgan went with just the Ahi Tuna with white rice and sauce...
Both Rowan and I ordered a Spam Musabi, only $2 and bigger than I thought it would be...
They had something I have never seen before, Spam fries. They actually cut up a whole can of Spam and deep fry it. Served with three flavors of Aioli. My picture did not do it justice...
So I borrowed one from their Facebook page...
The plates come in two sizes, small and large. The small is plenty of food. Jackie & Patti both ordered the Kalua Pig & Cabbage with rice & macaroni salad. Jackie said the pork was "perfect" and the cabbage tender. Patti agreed with Jackie on the pork dish...
I ordered for myself the Beef plate, large, which was a mistake. It was a Loco Moco, a Hawaiian oval ground steak burger smothered in gravy then topped with a fried egg. Served with Hawaiian macaroni salad and gravy smothered white rice. The rice is actually under the burgers (yes there are two with the large as well as two eggs!) I was able to take half home for a burger and egg breakfast. It was delicious and I will get it again, but next time it will be small.
Lori's main dish was the Katsu Chicken and she said it was "yummy". The small chicken cutlets (in Japanese called katsuretsu) are deep-fried and served with a sauce and macaroni salad. Not sure if this was large or small.
I took another picture of my Loco Moco as I was halfway through the first burger...
Jackie took a picture of us in the mirror. Morgan, James, Rowan, BJ, Jackie (looking at camera), Patti and Lori...Ohana!
This is the original picture that I cropped...
It would not be a real Hawaiian place without Real Hawaiian Shave Ice. Morgan & Rowan about to dig into their fruity creations. I will use Lori's word, "Yummy".
Lori also got one to make the kids feel better I am sure...
So, a new restaurant and I was able to share the experience with family. I give the Shaka Dog a 3.5 (great to excellent) and I know I will be back. It took less than 20 minutes to get there and I was pleasantly surprised.
The staff were very nice and made sure our stay was pleasant. All that was missing was a Mai Tai!
My cousin Patti was the first to arrive and was sitting on a bench out front of the small restaurant. It is the last place in a small strip mall.
My niece Lori, who was born and raised in Hawaii, arrived a few minutes after me with her husband James, his mom Jackie, and their two kids Rowan and Morgan. OMG, never realized their names could be used for a Laugh-In show
I will say this early, the place has a counter where you order and they bring out the food. I am not a big fan of this type of place but I am starting to see it more often. I guess it is good to have people pay before they see the food they will receive. That would not be a worry here. The menu is not large but they did have one page of written specials and a whiteboard with the current special. We grabbed some menus and put two tables together; the server did help us do that.
Lori started with the Shaka noodle salad...
From my seat looking toward the counter and kitchen...
The place probably seats about 36-48 people.
James ordered the Ahi Tuna Poke salad which comes with an extra scoop of rice...
Morgan went with just the Ahi Tuna with white rice and sauce...
Both Rowan and I ordered a Spam Musabi, only $2 and bigger than I thought it would be...
They had something I have never seen before, Spam fries. They actually cut up a whole can of Spam and deep fry it. Served with three flavors of Aioli. My picture did not do it justice...
So I borrowed one from their Facebook page...
The plates come in two sizes, small and large. The small is plenty of food. Jackie & Patti both ordered the Kalua Pig & Cabbage with rice & macaroni salad. Jackie said the pork was "perfect" and the cabbage tender. Patti agreed with Jackie on the pork dish...
I ordered for myself the Beef plate, large, which was a mistake. It was a Loco Moco, a Hawaiian oval ground steak burger smothered in gravy then topped with a fried egg. Served with Hawaiian macaroni salad and gravy smothered white rice. The rice is actually under the burgers (yes there are two with the large as well as two eggs!) I was able to take half home for a burger and egg breakfast. It was delicious and I will get it again, but next time it will be small.
Lori's main dish was the Katsu Chicken and she said it was "yummy". The small chicken cutlets (in Japanese called katsuretsu) are deep-fried and served with a sauce and macaroni salad. Not sure if this was large or small.
I took another picture of my Loco Moco as I was halfway through the first burger...
Jackie took a picture of us in the mirror. Morgan, James, Rowan, BJ, Jackie (looking at camera), Patti and Lori...Ohana!
This is the original picture that I cropped...
It would not be a real Hawaiian place without Real Hawaiian Shave Ice. Morgan & Rowan about to dig into their fruity creations. I will use Lori's word, "Yummy".
Lori also got one to make the kids feel better I am sure...
So, a new restaurant and I was able to share the experience with family. I give the Shaka Dog a 3.5 (great to excellent) and I know I will be back. It took less than 20 minutes to get there and I was pleasantly surprised.
The staff were very nice and made sure our stay was pleasant. All that was missing was a Mai Tai!
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