ALOHA from O'ahu
---Da Plate Lunch---
The plate lunch (Hawaiian: pa mea 'ai) is a syncretic menu item that is a quintessential part of the hawaiian cuisine. Standard plate lunches consist of two scoops of white rice, a scoop of macaroni salad, and a main entree. Many plate lunch outlets also sell "mini-plates" which come with the same entrees in smaller portions.
According to University of Hawaii professor, Jon Okamura, the plate lunch likely grew out of the Japanese bento because they "were take away kinds of eating and certainly the plate lunch continues that tradition". Although the exact origin of the Hawaiian plate lunch is disputed, it goes back to the 1880s when plantation workers were in high demand by the fruit and sugar companies. Laborers were brought from around the world, including from China, Japan, Portugal, and the Philippines, they would eat "leftover rice and a lot of things like canned meat or teriyaki or cold meat or maybe scrambled eggs or pickles, and almost no salad or vegetable," according to The Honolulu Advertiser's former food editor, Ms. Kaui Philpotts. Mayonnaise macaroni and gravy for the meat were later added.
As the days of the plantations came to an end, the plate lunches started being served by lunch wagons to construction workers and day laborers. Later, local "holes in the wall and other stand-alone plate lunch restaurants" began popping up and then franchises for the plate lunch. Eventually plate lunch franchises made their way to the mainland in the U.S. beginning with L&L Drive-Inn coming to California in 1999.
Hawaiian Plate Lunch
In many plate lunch restaurants (and especially the one this cache is located outside of), you'll find entrees of Hawaiian origin as well, like poi, kalua pork (also called "kalua pig") and lau lau. Some side dishes of Hawaiian origin include lomi salmon (also called "lomi-lomi salmon") and haupia (a coconut dessert).
You DO NOT need to enter or eat at the nearby establishment to find the cache.
~~~For the puzzle, have a look at the menu.~~~
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