Korean Fried Chicken Mini-Plate from Zippy's
Thank you to L---, one my Facebook "like-ers" to get me pondering plate lunches. She said, "I've always wondered about the scoops of rice and mac salad. Seems like overkill." After 2 weeks at home on O'ahu eating a variety of plate lunches, I (grudgingly) agree, but only to a point. 2 scoops of rice is overkill. Mac salad is a necessity.
This got me thinking--what defines a plate lunch, why does an otherwise nutritionally-conscious, ex-pat Hawaii girl make a beeline for it as soon as her feet touch Hawaiian soil, and why on earth are there no vegetables? Heck, even President Obama has Rainbow's when he goes home to Hawaii! I've made a living doing market research, so I Googled away. Then I asked my Dad.
Here is the anecdotal history. For the entree part, Hawaiian Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese and Korean plantation workers all shared their various lunches, with not a sandwich to be found. A recent New York Times article concurs.
This got me thinking--what defines a plate lunch, why does an otherwise nutritionally-conscious, ex-pat Hawaii girl make a beeline for it as soon as her feet touch Hawaiian soil, and why on earth are there no vegetables? Heck, even President Obama has Rainbow's when he goes home to Hawaii! I've made a living doing market research, so I Googled away. Then I asked my Dad.
Here is the anecdotal history. For the entree part, Hawaiian Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese and Korean plantation workers all shared their various lunches, with not a sandwich to be found. A recent New York Times article concurs.
Choices, just in Korean food
For the rice part, according to my ever-wise and pragmatic Dad, "They used the leftover rice, but the vegetables were eaten the night before. You know, rice is cheaper than meat, so more rice and sometimes noodles makes the meat go farther." Says the man who lived through the Depression, Pearl Harbor, gas masks with his lunch pail at school, and has graduated to great-grandpoppa-dom. Lots of starch stretches out home-cooking.
The macaroni salad kicked in later, with refrigeration I suppose. It also incorporates the concept of using the left-over dinner food. I've had mac salads with carrots, peas, leftover shrimp, crab, chicken, cucumbers, tsukemono, and of course, gobs of mayonnaise. And let's face it, it just tastes good with gravy or teriyaki.
So in marketing-speak, what is the plate lunch's value proposition?
1) It offers ridiculous, best-of-breed variety. You can choose from kal-bi, tonkatsu, garlic ahi, lau-lau, pork adobo, hamburger steak, oxtail soup...the list goes on. Even more, Zippy's has daily *and* weekly specials. And at the Korean plate lunch places, you can actually pick vegetable sides, along with your macaroni salad and chop chae (see above).
The macaroni salad kicked in later, with refrigeration I suppose. It also incorporates the concept of using the left-over dinner food. I've had mac salads with carrots, peas, leftover shrimp, crab, chicken, cucumbers, tsukemono, and of course, gobs of mayonnaise. And let's face it, it just tastes good with gravy or teriyaki.
So in marketing-speak, what is the plate lunch's value proposition?
1) It offers ridiculous, best-of-breed variety. You can choose from kal-bi, tonkatsu, garlic ahi, lau-lau, pork adobo, hamburger steak, oxtail soup...the list goes on. Even more, Zippy's has daily *and* weekly specials. And at the Korean plate lunch places, you can actually pick vegetable sides, along with your macaroni salad and chop chae (see above).
Boneless Chicken w/Sloppy Gravy from Rainbow's
2) It's a good value: Spend $5-$10 for a complete meal. $5 is a complete meal (OK, likely without vegetables) and a $10 plate lunch can usually feed at least 2 people. What can $5 buy at Starbucks? Rainbow's says it best, "generous portions of hearty, simple food with two scoops of rice and a side of macaroni salad at a reasonable price." The boneless chicken plate lunch (left), is only $6.50(!), includes two full sides of chicken, and put both my husband and me into a blissful afternoon food coma.
3) It's accessible to everyone. Served with plastic utensils on a flimsy paper plate, plate lunches are not pretentious, and you can always find whatever you're in the mood to eat. There's no right way to eat one and everyone has their favorite place to get one. Lawyers, surfers, and lawyers who surf all eat plate lunches.
Really, it's just a brilliant product--an awesome food value, consumable to ensure repeat business, marketed virally, and with a target customer base of anyone who eats. Now I'm hungry!
3) It's accessible to everyone. Served with plastic utensils on a flimsy paper plate, plate lunches are not pretentious, and you can always find whatever you're in the mood to eat. There's no right way to eat one and everyone has their favorite place to get one. Lawyers, surfers, and lawyers who surf all eat plate lunches.
Really, it's just a brilliant product--an awesome food value, consumable to ensure repeat business, marketed virally, and with a target customer base of anyone who eats. Now I'm hungry!
