Maui Mike's - Hakusan, Tokyo

Tokyo, despite its reputation of having more starred restaurants than Paris according to the Michelin guidebook series, tends to lack a few foods which are commonplace in the United States. Things like turkey, bacon that crisps when cooked, hummus, good cheese, whole grain bread, sour cream, pastrami, corned beef (not canned), Philly cheeseteaks, etc. This is not a complete list, and depending on where one might be, they might have access to these rare foods if they're willing to pay the price. I remember when I made corned beef (yes canned) hash and the recipe called for sour cream; I found it but I think it was 300 yen (~$3.00) for what might have been 1/2 a cup. Save yourself the trouble and just use plain yogurt if a recipe calls for sour cream and you're in Japan.

Another food which belongs on the list of things as rare as a Yeti riding a unicorn while holding a basket full of four leaf clovers if your'e in Tokyo would be roasted or grilled chicken. I realize how spoiled I was back in Hawaii where just about every supermarket would have rows of roasted whole chickens by the deli counter. As if that wasn't enough, it was commonplace to have grills set up in the parking lots of those supermarkets where huli-huli chicken would be on sale as well. One would think that in a place where ovens, much less ovens large enough to roast a chicken, are rare that there would be a market for pre-cooked chickens. But if there's no market for chicken, then who am I to condemn thousands of innocent chickens to die every day just for my selfish desire?

Getting to the point of this post, I was in the Hongo area running an errand and had not eaten anything since early in the morning. I knew of several good places near Hongo-Sanchome, Todaimae and Yushima stations but, I was in the mood to go somewhere I have never been before. Having seen this article which kind of skimmed over some of the more authentic non-pancake based Hawaiian restaurants in Tokyo, I decided to take the 1.5 km (less than 1 mile) walk to Hakusan to check out Maui Mike's and get some "fire roasted chicken", That was a decision which I questioned the entire time as I walked up and down the many foothills of Bunkyo ward with the rain steadily falling on me and the puddles soaking into my allegedly water-resistant Nike Lunarglide +5 Shield running shoes.

Although I have never gone to the original location of Maui Mike's located in Wahiawa on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii, I have eaten my fair share of roasted and grilled chickens in my life. It seems as if they have a pretty decent reputation on Yelp, which is probably something I should have checked BEFORE I decided to check them out. Most other Hawaiian-themed restaurants that I have seen in Tokyo are in places with more foot traffic like Shibuya (L&L BBQ, Kua Aina, Aloha Table), Harajuku (Eggs 'n Things, Cinnamon's, Cafe Kaila, Teddy's Bigger Burger), or even Akasaka (Ogo Ono Loa Hawaii) so I was puzzled as to how it was decided that Hakusan was to be the location of Maui Mike's second location. Is this to mean that Hakusan is Tokyo's Wahiawa? Even though Wahiawa is far from Honolulu, there are several other popular attractions on the North Shore (Sunset Beach, Matsumoto Shave Ice, Ted's Bakery, Dole Plantation, all those Kahuku shrimp trucks/shacks, etc.) that make it worth the drive. In all fairness to Hakusan, it had that nostalgic "real Japan" feeling as many of the shita-machi (下町, "low city", more traditional working-class neighborhoods) do even though Bunkyo ward is not a particularly cheap place to live.

It was unsurprisingly empty due to the chilly rain, which had been falling since the night before and there was not a single customer on the first floor. I later found out when I went to wash my hands that the second floor is much nicer with a coffee shop-like atmosphere. After some deliberation and exchanging several awkward glances with the very enthusiastic and friendly (or he was just restless because there were no customers?) manager, I ordered half a chicken with onion rings and an oolong tea. The chicken comes with one of 7 different dipping sauces, two if you order half a chicken, so I picked the yuzu pepper and chili.

This is what it looks like if you order half a chicken with onion rings and chili and yuzu pepper dipping sauce. The chicken was roasted well and the meat was almost "fall off the bone" tender. I know that some people in Japan like to use forks and knives to eat things like burgers and even pizza (!), but I am not that sophisticated. I just grabbed the thigh and started tearing that chicken apart with my hands. If you are the kind of person who also eats chicken like this, then this is not an ideal place for a first date. At first the sauce worked well with the chicken, but I found it to increasingly taste saltier and saltier as I continued to eat. A lot of restaurants tend to localize their menus to better suit the foreign markets they expand into, but perhaps Maui Mike's has not done that yet? Perhaps I have been in Japan so long that extremely salty food (salt stimulates appetite and thirst) which is more common in the US no longer agrees with me? Next time I go I'll try a different combination of sauces, even though I didn't really think that the chicken needed any. The onion rings were a bit of a disappointment, so I'll try the fries next time.

Bento.com's short review mentioned "a surprisingly big cocktail menu in addition to budget wines and Hawaiian beers" but I do not recall seeing a drink menu. In a country where one can get a drink practically anywhere, a restaurant not having alcohol seemed strange. It would have probably been better if there had been a Kona Brewing Company Firerock Pale Ale or Longboard lager to go with the chicken. At the very least, they had a nice mix of authentic-sounding Hawaiian music playing during the entire time I was there. If chicken sales aren't bringing in enough profits, expanding the menu to include more cafe-like offerings might help bring in more customers, especially since it's right near a train station.

Knowing nothing of how the original Maui Mike's roasted chicken tastes like and based only on the flavor of the chicken in the Tokyo location, I would have few reservations about recommending this place to anyone looking to get their chicken fix. Is it worth walking 1.5 km in the rain with a leaky umbrella and wet shoes just to eat there? Probably not, especially when there are a lot of cheaper chicken options to be had in Tokyo. If you NEED to have some rotisserie chicken, then as far as I know, this is the place.

One thing that has definitely changed from the Wahiawa location is the price. Everything seems to be around twice as much as one would pay at the Hawaii location but, fresh all-natural free range chickens must be more expensive to raise in Japan? KFC isn't that cheap in Japan and no one really knows where those chickens come from.

Maui Mike's is located 1 minute from Exit A3 of Hakusan station on the Toei Mita line. If you take the elevator, simply turn left and walk straight ahead and it will be on the left. If you take the stairs or escalator, make a right handed U-turn after going down the stairs and go straight ahead. Hon-Komagome station on the Tokyo Metro Nanboku line is also close enough to make walking from there an option. Take Exit 1, turn right onto Hongo Dori, turn right at the intersection, walk until the next intersection, take a left at the supermarket, walk straight, turn right before Hakusan station, take the first right, walk straight and it will be on the left.

Maui Mike's
Hakusan 5-32-13
Everyday: 11am-10pm
03-3830-0139

US website
Japanese website (where nothing seems to be working as of 2014.04.03)