Offal may not be for the faint of heart but it is considered a delicacy in most Asian cuisines. For me, I love the different textures of each organ and their savoury flavour. In Hong Kong, Beef Offal noodles is a classic street dish. Whenever The Hubby visited his grandparents in Hong Kong, they brought him to eat at Hop Hing Noodle Ka in Kwun Tong.

Since The Hubby’s last visit, Hop Hing Noodle Ka had moved from their original street location to a larger, cleaner space. The original hole-in-the-wall restaurant spilled out into the street and diners slurped up hot noodles in the Hong Kong heat. The new space was still cramped with tables and mismatched stools but there was air conditioning, a major upgrade.

The Hubby and I both ordered the beef offal noodles while his parents ordered a bowl of just the offal. Our bowls came with lung, tripe, spleen, and miscellaneous other organs (o_o), in a savoury beef broth with fat rice noodles. Each piece of meat was savoury, unique and a great chewy but soft consistency. I was also amazed with the portions. Usually in Toronto, an order of offal at dim sum was a small bowl, with no guarantee of what would be scooped up. Hop Hing Noodle Ka layered on the pieces. For those less adventurous, Hop Hing Noodle Ka also offers up beef brisket, wonton and fish ball noodles. I would still highly recommend trying offal, or at least splitting a bowl, paired with a plate of Ong Choy (Kong Xin Cai, 空心菜 or water spinach) covered in a sauce of fermented tofu.

Prior to my trip to Maui, I did a lot of food research and found out about Hawaiian’s love for plate lunches and spam musubis. Local Food serves up the best of both. Of all the spam musubis I had during my 10 days in Maui, this first one set the bar high and nothing beat it.

After a morning of exploring Lahaina and booking activities, we set out to find Local Food. Based on the address, I knew where it was supposed to be, but all we saw was a parking lot. The Fiance was convinced I was getting us lost until I noticed the wooden shed and hand painted sign hiding underneath an awning between two parked cars. Local Food was not the easiest to find. Stay on the East side of the street and south of the gas station.

We ordered a Hawaiian plate lunch with Kalua Pork ($7) and two spam musubis ($1.50 each). $10 bought plenty of food to feed the two of us. The plate lunch came with two generous scoops of rice and a large romaine salad. On top of the generous portions, the food was also delicious. There was no skimping on the natural flavour from the pork fat and the dish was perfectly salted. Both spam musubis were still warm, had a thick slice of spam and were full of sauce. The sauce was what made these special, and the best spam musubis I had in Maui.

Great value, local fare and perfect for lunch. Local Food is a must visit if you’re in the Lahaina area.