Ala Moana food court takeout: Steak Teppei, L.A. Brisket, Jollibee and Poke & Box for $113.24
On 12 May 2026, the third day of a Waikiki stay, we did what we do on every Hawaii trip: ride to Ala Moana Center, buy from four counters in the food court, carry it all back to our timeshare condo in Waikiki, and eat it over several days. We do the same in Mexico with nine kitchens at Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta. This round came to $113.24.
The four, at a glance
| Counter | What we ordered | Menu price | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steak Teppei | Garlic Steak Plate, 8 oz (226 g) | $29.95 | $29.95, see below |
| L.A. Brisket Ala Moana | Honolulu Bowl | $25.00 | $26.84 |
| Jollibee Ala Moana | 10-piece Chickenjoy Bucket | $32.99 | $34.47 |
| Poke & Box | Medium PokeBox, #5 Firebomb Ahi Box | $20.99 | $21.98 |
| Total | $113.24 |
Steak Teppei’s line is the menu price; our record for that day has no receipt total.
Getting there, badly
We ride whichever free bus fits the clock: the ANA Express bus, free for 30 days after an ANA flight in, or the Waikiki Trolley Pink Line, free when you show a JCB card. The ANA bus was due to end on May 31, 2026, so we ran for one last ride, to its stop in the basement of DFS Waikiki. Shutters down. The stop, we read later on its website, had moved to the Royal Hawaiian Avenue side in January. We went back for the Pink Line just as it pulled out. The new ANA stop turned out to be a little farther from where we stay. “The Pink Line is fine,” said my wife, and for us that was the end of the ANA bus.
On the trolley we sit downstairs, out of the sun. We had forgotten which side stays shady and guessed left. Left was the sunny side. Next time, the right.
Steak Teppei: the dressing he won’t bottle
We pick the counters before leaving and go round in order. First, Steak Teppei, a garlic-steak shop that calls itself “From Tokyo to Hawaii”. We stop here on every Ala Moana run and order as usual: one 8 oz Garlic Steak Plate, $29.95, to take home and split between the two of us.
The owner is Japanese, a kind man, and he remembers us. Once we told him how much we love the creamy garlic dressing for the salad, and since then he has added extra for free. This time one of us asked why he doesn’t sell it. He had thought about it, he said, but selling it would mean additives, and those change the taste; without them it keeps only a few days, so he gave up on the idea.
The plate comes with the creamy garlic dressing plus one steak sauce of your choice. We don’t want the sauce, so one of us asked for two dressings. “Then I’ll put in a bit more,” he said, and did, free again. He says it keeps a few days. We kept using it for a week.
L.A. Brisket: the rice is the reason
Next, L.A. Brisket Ala Moana, a brand from Los Angeles County. It is not the same business as Waikiki Brisket at Royal Hawaiian Center, which opened in January 2026 under the company behind Teddy’s Bigger Burgers, per Hoodline. We always order the Honolulu Bowl, $25.00: brisket, pork and chicken on steamed garlic rice, with purple slaw and salsa verde.
The women behind the counter remember one of us, probably as the garlic rice person, and greeted us with smiles. My wife paid, nodding: “This is the one. Nothing starts without this.” The brisket is soft and juicy and very good with wine, but what we both love here, honestly, is the steamed garlic rice.
Jollibee and Poke & Box
Then Jollibee, the fried chicken from the Philippines: a 10-piece Chickenjoy Bucket, $32.99, half spicy and half original, with two Large Chickenjoy Gravy. We pick one up at Ala Moana on every Hawaii trip. Ten pieces is more than we can eat in one go, so the rest goes in the freezer.
Last, Poke & Box, our usual for poke to go: big portions, and it fills us up. A Medium PokeBox is $20.99. We try a different one each visit, and this time it was the #5 Firebomb Ahi Box, the spiciest-looking on the board, our first try. We added nanohana (Japanese rapeseed greens) and seaweed, and asked for half white rice, half brown.
These four are not our only favorites; Yummy Korean BBQ, Buffalo Wild Wings and Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp are a little farther along. The rotation: buy about four, work through them in the room, come back for different ones a few days later. For now, it was home on the Pink Line, hands full of heavy bags.
Back in the condo: steak, and a week of dressing
The steak first. The garlic smell filled the room, and for two of us the 8 oz is the right amount.
Then the dressing: on the steak and the salad, as intended, then as a dip for broccoli at $2.99 and asparagus at $3.79 from Target. We could not stop. My wife said that with this dressing she could eat vegetables forever. It went over the L.A. Brisket rice too, and that worked as well.
The Honolulu Bowl, and the rice that won
We don’t eat it from the box. We put what we want on a plate and microwave it, so it is always hot and never too much, which suits slow picking. All three meats are good, but the brisket, the one in the shop’s name, comes first: moist, falling apart, seasoned neither too strong nor too light. My wife agreed: brisket first, pork and chicken a tie.
A few bites later she said: “But the rice is the best, isn’t it? As long as I have the rice, any meat would do.”
She has a point. The garlic comes through, the grains stand apart, and it works with no meat at all. One of us likes the rice best too, but still wants meat, and said so.
So we planned the next run: a $19 Brisket Bowl plus a $6 side of Steamed Garlic Rice. More rice, and still meat. At May 2026 prices that adds up to the same $25 as the Honolulu Bowl, so the point is the rice, not the money. Our receipts show we ordered exactly that on 18 May, and the total was $26.84, to the cent what the Honolulu Bowl had cost.
One warning, learned in the condo more than once: microwave this rice uncovered and it pops like popcorn all over the inside of the microwave. Put a plate or some wrap over it, or the evening stops while someone cleans.
Jollibee, and a remark one of us regrets
We opened the bucket with beer and red wine.
Crisp outside, juicy inside, richer again dipped in the gravy. But we order it every trip, and one of us let this slip: “How many times is this now? Aren’t we getting a bit tired of it?”
My wife answered without a pause: “No. Jollibee is good whenever you eat it.”
No reply to that. A quiet apology, one piece of chicken, and yes, it was good. It nearly turned into a quarrel. Lesson taken: do not slight the regular order.
Poke & Box at home: the nanohana
As the name says, it is properly spicy. Next to the mass-produced poke in Hawaii supermarkets, the cubes are bigger and they mix in your sauce right there, which feels fresh.
The find was the nanohana, which was very good. Rice, seaweed and greens each chew differently, and with the spicy tuna a small Japanese note comes through. “Nanohana in Hawaii. Not bad,” said my wife. Agreed: it goes on next time’s order. Half white, half brown is our usual, the white light and a little chewy, the brown with a rice-bran smell, and both take the edge off the Firebomb.
Why takeout, not dinner out
Before prices climbed and the yen fell, our Hawaii evenings were happy hours at Yard House and Maui Brewing Co. By May 2026, even a happy hour beer was $6, a regular one $8, and a glass of wine over $10, the price of a whole $10 bottle at Longs Drugs. Once we noticed that, the drinking moved into the room.
By our rough count, dinner for two at a restaurant easily passes $100 in one night, even at happy hour. The four counters came to $113.24 and fed us over several days, with wine and beer we already had.
Would we do it again
We already do; it is a routine. Next run: the Brisket Bowl with extra rice, nanohana on the poke, the Jollibee bucket without commentary, two creamy garlic dressings, and the right side of the trolley. And a lid on that rice.
Practical bits
- Where: all four are in the Ala Moana Center food court (Makai Market). We took everything to go; seating we didn’t check.
- Prices since: on our September and October 2026 receipts, the Honolulu Bowl, the 10-piece bucket and the Medium PokeBox cost the same as in May. The Brisket Bowl had gone to $19.95 by September 2026.
- Tax and card fees: L.A. Brisket’s receipts add 4.25% tax and a 3% card surcharge; that is how $25.00 became $26.84. Steak Teppei’s card receipt in October 2026 added 4.712% tax and the same 3%.
- Paying: Visa at L.A. Brisket, Jollibee and Poke & Box in May 2026. A Poke & Box sign, seen in September 2026, says no cash.
- Menus: Steak Teppei, L.A. Brisket and Poke & Box show theirs on screens above the counter, in English. Jollibee’s we didn’t check.
- Hours (each shop’s own page, checked August 2026): Steak Teppei 11:00 to 20:00 daily; Jollibee 10:00 to 20:00, Sundays to 19:00; Poke & Box 11:00 to 20:00, Sundays to 18:00. L.A. Brisket’s we didn’t check.
- Getting there: the Pink Line, free with a JCB card in May 2026. Fares without one we didn’t check. Walking time we didn’t check either.
- Reheating: our condo has a microwave. Cover the L.A. Brisket rice. The Jollibee lid has a QR code for reheating instructions; our leftover chicken goes in the freezer.
The thanks went to someone who could not hear it. Dipping vegetables into that dressing back at the condo, we both said it out loud: “When it runs out, we’ll come back to Steak Teppei. Thank you.”
Facts checked 2026-10-09. Prices, hours and menus are what we saw on our visit; they change. Nothing here was sponsored or comped.
