Wandering Palate Food Truck

I just heard about this place, and came by to eat. For a food truck, the quality of the food is unbelievable. I might start coming here every week. Hands down the best service/​food in honolulu. The food was most definitely worth the price, and when it comes to food i judge like no other. Malasadas were fresh and delicious as well. The owner said his name was Sam, and was very funny and polite to all his customers.

Outstanding food at prices you can’t beat. Chef Sam Hwang uses only the best ingredients — Sam used words like «truffles» and «demi glacé» when describing his gravy for the hamburger steak and while i don’t speak kitchenese, the proof is in the flavor.
it’s located right across the street from Diamond Head Market & Grill, a well-​established and excellent food joint in its own right. However, root for the underdog. Visit the Wandering Palate and order the Hamburger Steak Plate and you won’t be disappointed.
Full Disclosure: Chef Sam is a good friend of mine, but if his cooking sucked I would tell him. Trust me — it doesn’t suck.

Te food truck is open again! Menu’s changed a bit but you gotta try the fried shrimp & hamburger steak! Food is reasonably priced and the portion’s bug enough to fill appetites. AND the Heavenly Malasadas is back!

They’re back OPEN!!! Heavenly Malassadas yes sir!

the wandering palate’s owners have closed the food truck :(

Okay, nine dollars for chili and fourteen dollars for one (8 oz) patty of hamburger steak is a little pupule. Let me just get that out of the way. A meal at this food truck is not a good value. But… But… The quality of the food is fantastic.
I saved half of my paniolo chili plate intending to get another meal out of it but the siren call of the yukon gold potato mac salad was too strong. I don’t usually eat potato mac salad because I think it’s just chock full of empty calories, but this potato mac salad I will have dreams about. Seriously, I would cut you if you got between me and this potato mac salad. It’s creamy, a little bit tangy, and it has little pieces of spaghetti and chopped parsley interspersed with tender cubes of potato.
The chili was also good, but honestly, it’s pretty hard to screw up chili. I got it with the quinoa brown rice (good) and a hibiscus iced tea (meh). The hibiscus tea was four dollars (there’s my pocket book crying again) and most of the drinks at the truck are canned/​bottled drinks that you can get at Whole Foods.
They also have a choice of Nishiki rice (fancy) and «fried soup» (basically chow fun) as starches. My coworker got the hamburger steak with the fried soup and the potato mac salad and he was pretty happy.
This is definitely not the truck to go to when you have a rumbly in your tumbly, but if you want to eat organic/​natural foods with a local plate lunch kick then this is the place.

*Streeeeeeetch*
*Yawwwwwwwwwwwn.*
I am officially breaking out of my Unilocal hiatus to write a review for this food truck. Torn between continued hibernation of writing reviews and how freaking good the food here was, alas, fate has it that my wandering heart shall follow my wandering palate.
Okay, first off, this food truck is located on Monsarrat Ave, adjacent to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf which is right across the street from Diamond Head Grill. They don’t have a lot on the menu, but this place is like Justin Timberlake… he doesn’t do much, but he’s damn good at what he does do.
Paniolo Beef Chili: You’ll want to slap anybody for ever recommending Zippy’s chili again. This chili was so hearty and robust without being oily or creamy. They use a whole bunch of stuff that sounded organic, local, and yummy, and that was good enough for me. Must try.
Hamburger Steak: Okay, I read a previous review that said this thing was huge and felt like a sumo wrestler looking at a normal-​person-​sized patty when I got my plate. The patty’s about the size of the palm of your hand (your normal-​sized hand, not my sumo hand) and is topped with sauteed mushrooms galore and covered in a demi-​glacé sauce that adds the perfect amount of flavor. This was my favorite!
Leahi «Fried Soup” — Local style chow fun, even better with Tabasco. FYI they don’t have Tabasco there, so if you’re a hot sauce fiend, carry a bottle in your car. Confucius says always carry Tabasco in glove compartment. I swear, I’m Chinese.
Clam Chowder– Creamy, buttery, and a heavy hand on the clam. Something different about this clam chowder is that they use taro instead of potato! It sounded funny but one taste in and I was all business to the last drop.
That was a lot of food and writing, and I’m tired now. Kanack attack until the next time… *Yawn*, good night!

I had the FRESH Corned Beef Hash w/​Poached Eggs and Fried Rice it was great.
Service is fast and the owners are very friendly… just wish I could have gotten a Coke there. ;)
Will be back again soon to try some of their other items on the menu.

I love clam chowder! I could not find a good clam chowder on oahu until now. WP CC is thick, buttery, creamy and full of big chunks of everything that makes a great chowder. I couldn’t be more pleased.
I also had the chili. At first I thought the chili was just average. This was because I was full from the chowder. I heated it up again today and finished it off. It really was good. Thick, with big chunks of beef. It was not too heavy on the beans (and they were small beans), which I like. Next time I’m gonna put a dollop of sour cream in my chili… MMMMM.
The reason I cant give them 5 stars yet is their limited menu. They literally only have 4 main items on their menu. Im hoping they expand their menu soon. Its great that the items they do have, they do it right and are delicious.
They do accept credit cards, so thats a big plus for a food truck. Looking forward to many more visits to WP as they are on my way home from work.

The Wandering Palate is located next to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Monsarrat, and it’s a perfect addition to Kapahulu’s spiffy food scene.
Clam Chowder — SUPERB. THIS WILL NOT DISAPPOINT. The chowder is the best that I’ve had in a while, and the taro chunks add a really nice touch and sort of brings it all together. It’s $ 4.50 for a decent-​sized bowl and comes with a little bread roll, which is enough for a light lunch.
Hamburger Steak — This thing is HUGE! I only ate about a third of it, and my boyfriend and I shared the leftovers for dinner. It isn’t super moist and juicy, but it’s pretty darn tasty, not greasy at all, and the demi-​glacé sauce is fantastic. This is probably the healthiest hamburger steak I’ve had, if that makes any sense. It’s probably because Big Island grass-​fed ground beef is awesome and doesn’t need to be slathered in butter and oil. The plate comes with a scoop of Yukon Gold Potato Mac Salad (good) and some Leahi «Fried Soup» (a little salty, but good).
Beef Chili — Yum! I like that this chili contains nice chunks of shortribs rather than ground beef kibbles, and it doesn’t taste like they use lots of canned, processed stuff. Like the hamburger steak, this chili isn’t greasy and it feels very fresh and healthy. Kudos for that! I also love that they add a bit of cilantro, which gives it a nice edge.
Corned Beef Hash — This is the first time I’ve had fresh corned beef hash, and it was great! Like everything else at The Wandering Palate, the corned beef hash isn’t greasy, and It comes with organic poached eggs. They forgot the fried rice, so when I mentioned it, the chef brought us a heaping bowl of fried rice (yummy) and also gave us free orange juice for the inconvenience. Awesome customer service is always a plus!
I haven’t tried the malasadas, but I kind of don’t want to because the last thing I need is a fried pastry addiction.
There are about six parking stalls in The Wandering Palate’s lot, and they also have a couple of tables and seats under a tent next to the truck. This truck is very green as well, with eco-​friendly containers/​plates/​utensils, which I think is cool. What I like most about The Wandering Palate is the use of fresh local organic ingredients, which definitely makes a difference in taste. Sure, it’s kind of pricey, but I don’t mind spending a little more for quality food, which sets The Wandering Palate apart from other plate lunch joints.

Good, good, good, and… did I say…“good”!
For lunch, made the trek to Diamond Head to see what all the buzz was about. Had the signature «Paniolo Beef Chili» made with «Big Island grass-​fed boneless shortrib, Portuguese sausage,…coconut oil, Kaiulani Kona coffee spices, Hawaiian wild honey, assorted chilies…» What a bold, distinguished signature it was. Or in local parlance — «broke da mout!» Tender bits of meat in a sophisticated sauce (i.e. deep, rich flavor) with a bit of heat.
Had the «Leahi Fried Soup» for my starch (vs. steamed Nishiki rice or quinoa-​brown rice), and Yukon Gold potato-​mac salad. The fried soup is not your typical Chinese-​food joint chow funn stir-​fry. Wandering Palate’s is infused with pork hash and tonkotsu ju flavor. Good! The potato-​mac salad was thoughtfully done with 2 kinds of mac (I think one was actually cut soba noodles) and a careful hand with the mayonnaise. The Yukon Gold nuggets gave the salad body, contrasting (to the soft mac) texture, and beautiful color accents. Tastefully, texturally, and visually, it works!
Work compadres had the «Monsarrat Street Side Hamburger Steak», and «Oahu Clam Chowder». Ms. Hamburger Steak eagerly volunteered «I would go back», and Ms. Clam Chowder rated her chowder and konbu musubi 4 stars.
We also had the malasadas. Good! More dense than Brand X down the street with comparable taste = greater value.
That the chef (s) list (s) the ingredients of every dish on their menu indicates to me he/​they really respect the ingredients he/​they use to give each its due. That the chef (s) cook (s) with a lot of thought, skill, and love is clear. The proof is in the pudding… er…chili.
Check ‘em out.

I love this concept! Fresh, local, organic, quality ingredients. Farm to table. Made with love and aloha!
We had the hamburger steak and fried soup. Very rich, strong flavors. The fried soup kind of reminds me of dim sum soup dumplings (the kind with soup inside the dumpling) in a way. Its chow fun noodles with pork hash and other great stuff inside (tonkotsu ju!)…soup deconstructed — reconstructed… very good. It was a little too salty, but still very good, and very creative (i was so thirsty after tho).
The hamburger steak was also wonderful. I liked it slightly better than the fried soup. Love the mushrooms on top. We also had the green tea iced tea. I thought it had too much ginger flavor at first, but when i drank it with the food it matched very well.
The prices are very reasonable. I don’t know why anyone would ever go to diamond head grill ever again, when they can get way better food here. I can’t wait to try their malasadas, musubis, chowder, and chili! If any of those blow me away, then i’ll bump my rating up to 5 stars (i wasn’t totally blown away, but it was very good).

This is the SHIZ yo! I’ll get right to the point. Get the hamburger steak and the chili. Or one of each!
It’s on Monsarrat, next to Coffee Bean, and yes, it’s a food truck. There are about 8 parking stalls in the lot that this truck is parked in.
Brilliant thinking with the nice patio furniture (8 chairs) and tents to shield customers from the heat while we eat or wait for food.

I just got back from the Big Island and I was convinced those Big-​Island cows were on diets because I didn’t find one burger/​beef dish I liked over there. (Why does everyone make a big deal about Big Isle grass fed beef anyway? Don’t all cows eat grass?) The beef used in these gourmet plate lunches were plain awesome.
PANIOLO BEEF CHILI $ 9 — «Big Island Grass Fed shortrib… portuguese sausage… Kaiulani’s Kona coffee spices…» OMG. Small chunks of soft SHORT RIBS swimming in a nice blend of spices were delicious, even on a hot scorching summer day.
MONSARRAT STREET SIDE HAMBURGER STEAK $ 11.50 — «Big Island Grass Fed ground beef» topped with some special mushrooms and demi-​glacé sauce! I don’t usually like hamburger steak because it gets rubbery and dry at most places. I got this because all the other pictures looked yummy, and the pictures don’t lie. Cross section mmmmmmmmmmm so moist
CLAM CHOWDER $ 7.50/16oz — so they throw in taro and other stuff and the clams don’t taste so «clammy». Very tasty. Don’t get the 8oz size ($ 4.50) because you’ll be sorry it’s gone when you get to the bottom. Order the 16oz and have some for breakfast the next day.
MUSUBI $ 2.25 — don’t look for spam musubi here. The kombu musubi was excellent, especially when dipped in the chili!!!
MALASADA $ 1.20 — my kids said this is better than the red truck ones.
Bonus points for: quinoa in the brown rice and 100% compostable containers. (You must eat the chili quickly or the containers get soggy). My worms are lovin’ it. Everyone is happy.
You better not go wandering anywhere, Wandering Palate Food Truck, or I won’t know how to find you. Stay right where you are. I’ll be back soon. xoxoxo

The Wandering Palate truck is the newest food truck in the Hawaii market, and it’s a hot hit! Located on Monsarrat next to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, they even have tables and chairs set up so you can sit down and enjoy your meal in the shade.
The clam chowder is to-​die-​for and the paniolo beef chili has chunks of tender short ribs in it that just melts in your mouth.
Chef Andy also makes his own musubis. The salmon and tuna ones are delicious!
If you are unsure of what to order, they offer generous samples. They also told me everyday they are going to add to the menu, and the soup will change up.
The portions are huge! More people you go with the better so you can try a bunch of stuff and share! Can’t wait to go back to try more stuff!

Loving this new food truck! Located next to coffee bean and tea leaf and across the aloha gas station on Monsarrat. I had the hamburger steak plate — AMAZING! It was a huge piece of hamburger also topped with mushrooms and smothered in their homemade Demi glaze sauce with grilled onions! I chose their chow funn as my starch. So ono! There were chunks of pork hash along with bean sprouts, carrots and onion. Not greasy at all, which is always a plus. Will definitely choose that as my starch again, or even as my main course! Their mac salad is tasty and they use spaghetti noodles instead of macaroni. Delicious! One of my new favorite places to eat, and super convenient too. Two thumbs up on this up and coming eatery!

There is a new kid on the food truck block, The Wandering Palate on Monsarrat. Onolicious food. I was maxed after the paniolo beef chili made with shortribs-​deep flavors, tasty mac/​potato salad, and rice. I’ll be back. 11 – 6, closed Monday. Support local business, this is a good one. Sorry no photo, I remembered after I was almost done, it was that good.