Cafe & Deli

Bert’s Cafe

939 McCully St. (941-2810). Mon.-Sat. 7:20am-1pm. $1.25-$5. Cash only.

This McCully cafe is a monetary bargain that serves up an endangered old-time neighborhood charm that money can’t buy. A complete breakfast is cheap, and the saimin and hamburgers aren’t fancy but are just what they should be: deliciously satisfying and familiar.

Coffeeline Campus

1820 University Ave. (next to the Atherton YMCA) 778-7909, Mon.-Fri. 7am-3:30pm; Sat., Sun. & holidays 9am-noon, $2-$7. Cash only.

Serving up strong, tasty coffee to wash down his made-with-care soups, salads, waffles, omelets, sandwiches and bagels. Coffeeline, with its open roof and art displays, is a peaceful retreat with plenny good reading material: The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Interview, The Utne Reader.

Kalapawai Cafe and Deli

750 Kailua Rd. (262-3354) Daily 6:30am-9pm, tapas after 5:30pm, $5-$14.95. Amex, MC, V.

It’s a cute, charming and quaint surprise–part country cafe, part saloon-style eatery–that serves up solid picnic basket fare, from Tuscan white bean salad to hot pastrami on rye. Also on the evening menu: local fish with an ethnic flare.

Chinese

Legend Seafood

Chinatown Cultural Plaza, 100 N. Beretania St. at River St. (532-1868). Daily 10:30am-2pm, 5:30-10pm. Dim sum: $2.85-$3.75 per plate.

Legend is Honolulu’s gold standard for dim sum. Nearly every dish is textbook perfect in preparation and freshness. Look fun stuffed with scallops melt in the mouth and mini-footballs of fried mochi stuffed with dried shrimp and pork are irresistibly crisp and sticky-soft.

Shanghai Bistro

Discovery Bay Center, 1778 Ala Moana Blvd. at Hobron Ln. (955-8668). Sun.-Thu. 11:30am-10pm; Fri. & Sat. 11am-1am. Starters $3-$10. Entrees: $8-$50. AmEx, DC, Disc, JCB, MC, V.

Shanghai Bistro is wall-to-wall teak–everything, from the high-backed slatted chairs to the long bar is imported from Taiwan. The restaurant aspires to fusion fare (Peking duck burger, flash-fried ahi rolls) but generally the menu yields well-done Chinese classics (kung pao chicken, whole fried sea bass).

Korean

Choon Chun Chicken B.B.Q.

1269 King St. at Birch St. (593-4499). Daily 11am-2am daily. Entrees: $8.95-$32.95. AmEx, MC, V.

The restaurant wants to turn you on to dak kalbi, a Korean stir fry originally from the Choon Chun area of Seoul. It’s a cook-at-the-table one-pot dish that can feed four. What you get is a mountain of raw chicken, carrots, onion, cabbage, sesame leaves, sweet potato, chili paste and rice cakes. The gas is turned on and the server tosses the ingredients together. Also tops is the spicy buckwheat noodle salad.

Mary Jane’s Kitchen

1694C Kalakaua Ave. at Fern St. (943-2109). Mon.-Fri., Sun. 9am-9pm. Entrees: $6-$12.50. Cash only.

You get unadulterated Korean home cooking at this humble fluorescent-lit box on Kalakaua’s budding K-strip. Jane Shim creates MSG-free, flavorful food and her daughter Ellen is your ebullient host. A must-order is the dol sot bi bim bap, an earthily savory DIY fried rice.

Mexican

BC Burrito

3607 Wai’alae Ave. (737-4700). Sun.-Thu. 10am-9pm, Fri. & Sat. 10am-10pm. Burritos starting at $4.99. MC, V.

BC Burrito is no-frills fast food with plenty of choices and speedy service. Your choice of a flavored tortilla (flour, whole wheat, spinach and tomato chile) is placed in a steam press along with the cheese. Then your toppings–choice of chicken mole, chicken bay leaf, pork, beef, chile verde or veggies–are spooned on with beans, guacamole and sour cream.

Carnaval Las Palmas

Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd. (533-0129). Mon.-Fri. 10:30am-3pm, 5-9pm, Sat. & Sun. 5-9pm. Appetizers: $3-$8.95. Entrees: $7.50-$15.95. AmEx, Disc, MC, V.

Besides tacos and enchiladas, it has what-is-that dishes like carne de pernin (baked pork butt, FYI). The dishes are all well done, with fresh ingredients and lots of cilantro.

El Palenque

177 Kamehameha Hwy., Wahiawa (622-5829). Mon.-Sat. 11am-2pm & 5-9pm, Sun 11am-3pm. Entrees: $6.95-$10.50. V, MC.

El Palenque serves up aromatic platters of Northern Mexican cuisine with old family recipes from Ciudad Juarez. From chimichangas to tamales to chile relleno, most every Mexican specialty is covered. The piquantly spiced mole is particularly enjoyable. El Palenque’s dark, thick version is championed by an imported Mexican chocolate and homemade chicken stock.

Southeast Asian & Indian

Bac Nam

1117 S. King St. between Pensacola and Pi’ikoi Sts. (597-8201). Daily 10:30am-9:30pm. Appetizers: $2-$8.95. Entrees: $5.75-$14.75. Payment: MC, V.

Husband-and-wife team Tam and Kimmy Huyng run a family affair, and the food is home-cooking-good in this bright new utilitarian eatery. Pho is memorably peppery and lemony, but the menu goes beyond the usuals with dishes like stuffed baby squid and a pungent lamb curry. The salt-and-pepper shrimp are addictive.

Hale’iwa Eats

66-079 Kamehameha Hwy., Hale’iwa (637-4247). Mon.-Fri. noon-9pm; Sat. & Sun. noon-9:30pm. Starters: $3.95. Entrees: $7.95-$13.95. AmEx, MC, V.

The ginger salad is a refreshing, textural treat and tamarind duck is marinated for hours before its boiled then fried to a delicious crisp. Sit inside the casual white-tile cafe or watch traffic roll by from the front porch.

Paradise Grill

Puck’s Alley, 2600 S. King St. (949-5158). Tue.-Sat. 11am-10pm; Sun 5pm-10pm. $5.95-$15.95. Cash only for now.

Paradise Grill takes you on a journey down the Mekong River as it weaves from Laos to Thailand to Cambodia to Vietnam. The stars on the menu are the pungent lahb, a traditional salad of minced beef or chicken mixed served with a side of sliced cucumbers and fresh cabbage (use the cabbage leaves as wrappers) and the Cambodian amok, a basa fillet marinated in coconut milk and steamed in banana leaves.

Spices

2761 S. King St., Diamond Head of University Ave. (949-2679). Tue.-Sun. 5:30-10pm. Starters: $4.75. Curries: $9.45-$11.45. JCB, MC, V.

You can get dillweed-flavored Laotian curry and Burmese khao soi noodles at this casual Pan-Southeast Asian restaurant. Chef Pony Norindr brings veteran restaurant expertise to working-class food. He uses no substitutes–the Laotian curry is packed with Lao eggplant and makheng, a pea-size eggplant cousin. The menu’s pice de resistance: housemade ice cream in flavors like lemongrass-chili and green apple-curry.