Eric's Tummy Points
Saturday, 21 November 2009
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Giovanni's Original White Shrimp Truck
83 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI 96731One of the must visits on Oahu, Hawaii is the Polynesian Culture Center. Most people staying on Oahu find a hotel around Waikiki beach. There are two ways you can drive from Waikiki Beach to the Polynesian Culture Center; either drive East along the coastline or go North and drive past the Dole plantation, which is what we did. Along the way, about 5-10 minutes drive past the Dole plantation, we saw a number of fresh fruit stands, great surfing beaches, and lots of shrimp stands. Seeing the many cars parked alongside the road, I just had to stop and see what was so good.
Giovanni's had the longest line of all the shrimp stands so, like any tourist, figured it was the best one.
12 shrimps in boiled, pan seared garlic, or spicy flavor with 2 scoops of rice was $13. You can get half of that for $6.50. Remember to bring cash as that's the only thing they take.
The outdoors seating area:
I got the garlic shrimp and they didn't skimp out on the garlic:
They weren't huge shrimps but it wasn't small either. You can use that lemon slice to estimate the size. The bottom was trenched in garlic oil. The shrimps came out hot and very fresh. The meat had a crunch to it that you get with fresh shrimp.
For about a dollar per shrimp and to have it pan seared in lots of garlic, it's a good deal. Their most popular dish is the garlic shrimp so if you like garlic then you definitely should make the trip here since you have to go to the Polynesian Culture Center if you're on Oahu. The drawback is having garlic breath for the rest of the day. As any good foodie, remember to visit some of the local eateries while on your vacation!
Tummy Points: 3.5 out of 5
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Comments (19)
This is something that I would absolutely love! I love garlic and shrimp. Forget about peeling, I think I would even eat the shell on that shrimp haha...
Awesome thanks for sharing!
That looks super good!
Having garlic breath is ok, as long as you don't need to speak to anyone. Alternatively, you can also convince that person to eat some garlic as well.. 
@osmundaregalis - the shell was a bit too thick to do that on these shrimps. But I can do it for fried unbattered shrimps
@yang1815 - your welcome
@lilniteanngel - LOL! my gf also had it so the only person who i cared about didn't mind as much. But, poor people who talked to us at the Polynesian Culture Center. I tried to keep some space between.
That's my bf's name...LOL
Shrimp is one of my favorite seafood. I remember when I was little, my parents would cook them in water real quick, then minced garlic and light soy sauce for dipping.
@rice_eric - hahahaha. nice!
@Missy_So - oh yeah i love mid-sized shrimps boiled then soy sauce for dipping. so simple but so good. lol does ur bf cook shrimps too? I'll have to visit his restaurant then
You know what's sad is over the years, the shrimp have gotten smaller and smaller. Years ago, they used huge prawns; probably U-8 or so. They also used to exclusively use the Sweet Kahuku Prawn; which is far higher in quality than the ones they serve now. The reason I know they don't use them anymore is because I know someone that used to work there; and the owners switched to a different kind of shrimp to increase profit margin.
This truck is also mired in controversy and crime. I can't remember exactly what went down, but there was some kind of scuffle between previous owners or trucks or something; and someone started shooting with a shotgun (or something like that).
Did you do the Luau or the regular food at the Polynesian Cultural Center?
@osmundaregalis - I thought you had a revulsion to the shell (and head)? I think that's what you posted on my Seafood Pasta entry. :P
I eat my shrimp head, shell and everything. I'd peel them for you though. Maybe you'll eat here someday :)
@chow@ireallylikefood - Well, if the head is still intact, then I wouldn't eat the shell, but if the head is removed then that's different. =P And ewwwww how can you eat the head! XD
@osmundaregalis - The head is the best part!! My best friend, sometimes he just orders heads and eats them. Seriously, I think the best flavor on the shrimp is in the head. I like it when places do Tempura, and leave the head on. I don't like the legs though, sometimes I peel those off.
@chow@ireallylikefood - Oh dear. I will make sure my hands fully cover my face so I don't see you eating it. And also, I will never cook with live shrimps ever again - they scare me. =/
@osmundaregalis - Aww. What's scary about Live Shrimp? I'm really curious now about what else you don't eat :)
@chow@ireallylikefood - yeah, it wasn't U-8 or Sweet Kahuku Prawn. Just a regular shrimp but it was fresh. No Luau. Didn't know there was one separate from the show until we got there. Is the food any better than Ono?
@osmundaregalis - the head has a lot of flavor. Usually you would use it in a broth but get rid of it later. I think I've done tempura with the head once but it was a long time ago. Yeah, if you don't like it, it's hard to start liking it cuz it has a very seafood taste
@rice_eric - The food is probably about the same -- they do serve something I like though... a smoked dried beef called Pipikaula. It's something like ribeye steak; which they salt and smoke to cure and left to dry so that it's semi-dried. Not quite so much like jerky, but like super concentrated flavor beef steak.
@osmundaregalis - And yeah, shrimp heads in broth are very tasty. I just made this shrimp and watercress dashi soup the other night that was excellent, especially with the extracted flavor of the shrimp heads :)
@rice_eric - @chow@ireallylikefood - I do know that shrimp heads bring out a lot of flavour in soups and such, and that's why it's good to save them and the shells. What a waste it would be to discard them, but I wouldn't eat the heads! =P
@chow@ireallylikefood - Hahah... I'll tell you about it tonight, so just remind me. I've had a horrifying experience with them.
@chow@ireallylikefood - glad I didn't miss out on anything. Is pipkaula the thing at the bottom of this picture? http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/1402/6cb3a0817f5f4e58b9d3b2b0d8b4a6f5.jpg
@rice_eric - It resembles it, but I don't think that's pipikaula. The thing about doing the Luau at the PCC is that it just adds to the whole experience. I always recommend it over the other meals. They bring out the big roasted pig on coals and everything, it's kind of cool. There's also a decently entertaining show, and it just feels more Hawaiian or something.
I have an annual pass to the place, so I go up there once in a while :)