Hawaiian Delights Are In Our Back Yard

XX Hoki's Teriyaki Hut, 3624 Leary Way N.W. Hawaiian specialties. Eat in or take out. Lunch and dinner ($2 to $5; same menu) 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (closed until Monday for a Thanksgiving break). No credit cards, no alcohol, no nonsmoking area and no reservations. 634-1128.

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When Hawaii calls, and it does so in an especially seductive voice about this time of year, I bundle up and drive to Hoki's Teriyaki Hut for a bento plate lunch - one onolicious (that means good grub in Hawaiian slang) and generous bite of paradise.

The bento ($4.95) is a Polynesian version of the Japanese classic, with several foods arranged in a partitioned serving container: tender teriyaki beef strips, ginger chicken drumettes, mahi-mahi, kim chee (the Korean relish of pickled cabbage, onions, garlic and chilies made in the kitchen at Hoki's), macaroni salad and two big scoops of sticky rice sprinkled with furikake (a flavor-packed seasoning mix that includes dried seaweed, sesame seeds, fish flakes and salt).

``Bring an empty stomach when you come to Hoki's,'' says Hall Hokama, who, with his wife Cheryl, has been operating this cozy roadside attraction under the sign of crossed palm trees for the past seven years. Heed this man's advice.

A visit to Hoki's is reminiscent of family picnics when you heap your plate to the groaning point, not wanting to offend any of the potluck cooks. This picnic atmosphere is one of the reasons Hoki's is so inviting when the weather outside is blustery. Gaze at the wall poster of horseshoe-shaped Hanauma Bay as you sip a can of Aloha Maid pineapple-orange drink, and you almost can forget the cold rain pelting against the windows of this cozy (20 seat) hut.

The Hokamas use several made-in-Hawaii foods and ingredients, including noodles for the saimin and a char siu mix for marinating the barbecued pork. They moved here from Oahu in 1979. Hall cooked in a Japanese restaurant before opening Hoki's, in part so he could eat the foods he enjoyed in Hawaii, but couldn't find here. His customers are glad he got lonesome for a taste of the islands. ``At least once a day someone tells me this is just like home, or just like what they ate during their vacation,'' Hall says.

The selection is nearly as generous as the portions. All the plate lunches (served throughout the day) are priced between $2.15 and $4.95, and most are served with your choice of rice or French fries and tossed green salad or macaroni salad. You can choose from teriyaki beef, chicken or pork; hamburger; katsu chicken or pork (breaded and deep fried); chicken or pork cutlet with brown gravy; mahi-mahi, and ginger chicken.

Specials every day include: the bento; saimin ($2.15) noodles with barbecued pork, green onions and a fish broth; Hokimin ($3), a spicy blend of the saimin with the addition of teriyaki beef strips and kim chee, and for customers with appetites of lumberjacks or of Hawaiian royalty, locomoco ($2.80) a belt-busting layering of two scoops of rice, a hamburger patty, an egg fried sunnyside up and gravy. Locomoco is a popular breakfast treat in the islands, but for all but the strongest, it best would be followed by a six-hour nap under a palm tree followed by a three-hour rest in a hammock and a two-hour float in a tropical lagoon.

Also popular are the specials offered once or twice a week, all priced between $4.75 and $4.95: Monday, teriyaki black cod; Tuesday, char siu chicken or beef curry; Wednesday, kalua pig and cabbage (shredded pork that has been simmered with water and liquid smoke to resemble the flavor of pigs cooked underground for Hawaiian luaus); Thursday, sweet and sour spareribs or shoyu (soy sauce) beef shortribs, and Friday and Saturday, teriyaki salmon, laulau pork (steamed bundles of pork wrapped in spinach leaves) and kalua pig and cabbage.

The dessert comes from Roger's cheesecakes of Seattle, but with a hint of Hawaii. Macadamia nuts are used in the crusts.

The emphasis is on good, inexpensive food at this casual restaurant. A magazine rack provides reading material while you wait for your order. The place is decorated with a surfing poster, a few dried leis hanging in the windows, and an ``It's a Girl'' banner. Hall and Cheryl welcomed a second daughter to their family last month, and his mother came here from Hawaii to help in the restaurant's kitchen during Cheryl's maternity leave.

Half the business is in take-out orders, and Hoki's does some catering.

The aim of the Hokamas is to serve foods blending flavors of a variety of cuisines, just as Hawaii is a blending of people from many cultures. They're succeeding, with an eclectic mix of tastes - sweet, salty, mild and hot. And the unusual, soul-satisfying meals for less than $5 makes this restaurant, between Fremont and Ballard, a find.

If you're planning a trip to the islands and seeking the locations of some great surfing beaches or even where to get a good plate lunch, just ask anyone at Hoki's. All the employees come from Hawaii.

And now that my stomach is full, I'm looking forward to next May, when the shave ice machine at Hoki's will be activated for another sweet treat from the islands. Another taste of aloha.