Ige’s Halawa Lunch & Catering

Ige’s in Halawa is definitely a home in the wall spot to go for lunch. All the times I have been here there is always people waiting for their good food.
They offer new menus daily in which they will typically post what they are having for the week. A tip go early as the typically will sell out of certain specials.
Don’t worry they also have a typical menu of items offered everyday such as sandwiches., burgers, and a few plate lunches like hamburger steak and beef stew.
Thy also serve great portion sizes plate lunches, be ready for a Kanack attack if you plan to eat the whole plate.
As this is a whole in the wall you won’t be going there for the nice décor and interior styling. They do have a couple of chairs if you do want to eat there. It’s typically cool but they have no AC.
All and all great value and good food I will definitely continue grabbing lunch from Iges.

Local-​taste plate lunches and meat-​and-​rice breakfasts served here! I just needed a quick sandwich! And an order of fries!
The one day I went looking for a quick bite of a yummy sandwich at Ani’s Bake Shop down the road is the one day they (Ani’s day before Thanksgiving) weren’t serving any so next stop I thought of was to come here. I really needed to eat something — anything — before. I. passed. out. O. o
The Ige’s shop is located in the industrial area of Halawa Heights. If you’ve got your GPS on, drive up the not too steep mountain about a little more than half way and it’s on the left. There are 5 – 6 parking stalls in front or you may be able to find street parking.
The store front is as industrial looking as the surrounding area. Inside is a hole-​in-​the-​wall mom-​and-​pop feel. It’s not luxurious or retro at all. More like a teeny-​tiny makeshift diner. Not a bad thing. I’m more concerned with the tastes of the food served and would rather not have to pay more just for a restaurant to look nice.
This place does a good job of serving large portions of chicken, beef, and pork — in plate lunch form — for good price. They’ve even got a catering side of their business. Like you’ll see their very low-​key buffet-​style spread helping out at funerals and party celebrations. Rest of the time, they have this shop open to help feed hungry customers. When I’m there is when I realize just how many workers from surrounding businesses frequent this place.
Not my favorite place but let me explain why. Taste of the food ranges from really good to just okay for me but it doesn’t do it for me not because of the taste but bc most of the food I eat does not contain very much, if nothing at all, beef pork or chicken. I eat according to my blood type which equates to mostly lamb, turkey, fish, and veggies. Have you heard of that book and it’s diet? But I digress lol
I reach here about 1230. There’s just one other person already at the counter and I am next in line. Yahoo! There are three or four menu items I’d eat here: Eggs, tuna sandwich, french fries, and their ahi katsu rolls plate. Today I got the tuna melt sandwich and fries. I place my order and wait on the side.
Other ppl had come in shortly after me. Their orders are fulfilled before mine. I guess it takes a while to prepare my fries which is a good thing since they’ll be cooked fresh :) Finally I am called to pick up my order from the ordering counter.
I’m actually just here for a quick pick up. I leave the shop and have my lunch elsewhere.
My tuna melt sandwich looks a lot smaller. Somehow the bread shrank :/​The tuna tastes ok but did I become a cheese snob? Lol The cheese is the packaged and sliced cheese type. Does not taste bad but doesn’t have that home cooking good flavor. Does not meld well with the tuna. The bread is soft not grilled-​toasted in any way. Perhaps bc it’s not made with any butter the way a good grilled cheese is made. Shucks. Where could I have gone for a grilled cheese.
Fries were good! Perfectly salted. Hot and fresh! I should have asked for them to be extra crispy. I eat them with a mix of ketchup and tobasco. Yum! My photos don’t quite show it but there are a good number of them. I just love that price for quantity!
The ahi (tuna) katsu plate — once a very popular item when it was «invented» back when (1990’s?) — is a great choice but I haven’t had it here in awhile.
Been a very long time since I’ve visited any of the Ige’s restaurants or lunch wagon. Now that the Aiea location is closed, I rarely eat at their establishments.
It’s not the place I’ll really look forward to bc they serve just a limited selection of what I prefer to normally eat (shucks) but I’ll come here at times when I need something to help me not pass out from hunger.
But, if you’re hankering for a tasty beef, pork, and or chicken plate lunch? This will be the place for you! :D

Iges is a good place for lunch when your really hungry. The food is good and served fast. My favorite is the tuna melt. The serve it toasted just perfectly, I get it with a side salad to add some Vegis to the meal. They serve a large drink fountain with the largest drink size possible. Iges is a great value for the money.

Try the fried rice omlette.
It’s the BOMB.
They recommended a side of toast.
Stick me with a fork, I’m done.

I needed to get some catering for a couple of up coming family events and heard some good things about Ige’s. I heard the food was good and the price was one of the cheapest.
When calling around I found out Ige’s is a franchise. Their r 3 or 4 different entities all independent from each other. We decided to go with the Halawa Ige’s because of how close it was to our house. I called Sunday morning to leave a message, to my surprise someone answered. The guy told me the person who does the catering was not in but should be in soon. he took down my info and told me he would have her call me back, her name was Jody. By the afternoon I had not heard from Jody so I gave them another call. The same guys answers and said she was not in yet but will have her call me when she does come.
She ended up calling me back at 3:30 pm, I had called around 9am. When I got the call I was at work and really couldn’t talk but because I knew the call was from Ige’s I had answered and told her the situation and asked if I could have someone else call in a min. She rudely agreed and hung up on me. No bye, just a click.
I called my wife and gave her the number to call and warned her she was rude. 15 min. later I get a call from my wife and sure enuff Jody was not only sassy and rude but hung up on my wife without being curteous and saying bye. Later on that night we decided to look for another caterer the next day. We would rather pay $ 1 more per person somewhere else than patron a place with this kind of customer service. The worst thing about the whole situation was, the particular menu we were asking about at that moment was a funeral menu. My wife and I, already tired from a loss in our family and all it’s aftermath, have to now deal with someone like this, unthinkable. How can someone be so uncompassionate toward another person’s loss.
The next day we visited another Ige’s in Aiea, on Hekaha Street behind best buy. To our surprise they had the same menu for $.50 cheaper than the one in Halawa. They were also much nicer. I would recommend that Ige’s, it’s in the harbor center, on the ocean side of the building behind best buy at the end.
And Jody if u end up reading this like I’m hoping, I spent almost $ 5,000 at the Hekaha Ige’s, just to let u know. And hey, your doing a great job!!! Too bad we can’t give negative stars.

So there are a bajillion Ige’s on the island and they’re all related. Of all the Ige’s that cater, we always go with Ige’s Halawa. Not to say that any of the other Ige’s aren’t as good, we just always go with Ige’s Halawa.
Now there are much fewer graduation parties in my family and much more funerals nowadays, but we’ve always stuck with these guys because of their good food and family service.

So I finally tried Ige’s food that was catered at a party. I don’ t know what the hype is for hte roast pork because I’ve had better. Yes, it’s pretty close to zippy’s/local food, but tastier:
Fried chicken thighs — 3 stars — tastes exactly like zippy’s fried chicken except juicier. I’d eat this again. Too bad didn’t have chili to go with this.
Shoyu Roast Pork — 3 stars — it was ok, but It didn’t melt in my mouth like I’ve eaten at some other restaurants. It was a little tough and dry even with all that sauce smothering it, and although the it was tasty, it was a little too salty for my palate.
Nishime — 4 stars — same type I used to buy at those japanse okazuyas in my hanabata days. I made sure I took home left overs for this.
Andagi — 3 stars — Taste similar to Da Adagi Guy that sells outside of Don Quiote, but bigger. They know how to mix and fry it just right.

If your in the area, go there on fridays for the garlic roast pork. Some of the best roast pork on the island! The corn chowder is a meal in itself. The people are super friendly and know how to make a plate lunch.
I plan my day around going there for lunch!

I can’t believe the high ratings for this place. I used to eat there everyday just because I work right across the street from it, being the closest place within walking distance. The food is okay, nothing to write home about, and way overpriced. A mini plate lunch is over 6 bucks and a regular plate is at just below 8 bucks. Ridiculous for a hole in the wall joint.
The good: Shoyu pork and roast pork. And even the roast pork can be bland at times, but the shoyu pork is consistently good. The employees are neutral, kinda friendly once you’re identified as a regular, but the greeting «what you having» kinda is irritating and rude but I guess eventually you get numb to it.
The bad: Ahi katsu. If it wasn’t for the wasabi mayo, this thing would not be edible, unless you like overcooked breaded ahi fried in old oil.
The ugly: The place just looks dirty, I would hate to do a walk around the kitchen.
I’m giving it two stars just because the shoyu pork is so good. Other than that this place sucks pretty bad with its mediocre food and high prices.

Best shoyu pork! Best andagi! Best catering menu, in my opinion.

How can you go wrong with a gigantor plate lunch and definitely Ige’s doesn’t let down. $ 7.50 will get you in trouble with the sleep monster and the 6 pack abs. It’s always crowded at lunch so go right when they open at 10:00am. The roast pork is the best and pickled onions is so ono.
If you’re from out of town, you should check it out. Take in the local flavor.

This is a real Ono place to have a quick lunch on a normal workday. The Garlic Roast Pork (Thurs Only), Korean Fried Chicken (Wednesday only), Roast Beef (Wed only) and Mahi Mahi (daily) are on the top of my list. I have seen plenty people from miles away just to come here and pick up their lunch for the day. The only thing about this restaurant is reli about their hours. They opened for lunch only– Tuesday thur Thursday and most of the time they sold out most of the items at around 12:30pm or 1pm. So drive fast, and grad your plate lunch before they go away !

As far as plate lunch goes Ige’s get’s me pumped. If I had my CDL license, hung drywall or worked stevedores, I’d be all over it. But I’m a girly girl, who try’s to watch her figure, I could get a plate and probably share it with 3 of my friends.
The Garlic Roast Pork warrants 5 stars in itself. Tender. They don’t measure, they keep piling and piling the plate till they feel like stopping. I thought since I was a chick, they’d give me less but nope, my plate weighed 5 pounds.
Check out the specials and they have a funeral menu too.