Best of 2003: Best Hawaiian-Style Pork

Kailani's
137 West D Street, Encinitas
760-942-5642

"Livin' the Aloha Spirit" next door to a 7-Eleven just off Highway 101, Kailani's offers "plate lunch" for breakfast, lunch, and early dinner. You get two scoops of short-grain rice, one scoop of mild, soft, house-made macaroni salad, and your choice of "grines." The greatest grine is the "Kailua pig," zesty, smoky shreds of imu-style roast pork, resembling a moister version of Southern "pulled pork." No question, Kailani's cooks the best version on the mainland. While you're waiting for it, have a giggle -- under the glass tabletops are jocose lessons in Hawaiian vocabulary and customs, illustrated by droll cartoons in the style of the Merde series of French slang-books.