Deluxe Cheeseburger – Shave Ice Waikiki

Jump to info on...

Restaurant Info

Burger Breakdown

The Visit

The food truck scene in Waikiki is fantastic. There are food trucks hidden in back alleys, side streets, and small corner lots from the Honolulu Zoo on the south-east side to Hilton Hawaiian Village on the north-west end. These food trucks are cooking up some amazing dishes; from poke, to empanadas, to ramen, to (and yes) cheeseburgers. And what makes these food trucks even more special is that their pricing is much lower than what you would find in the tourist-trap restaurants found along Kalakaua Ave.

I discovered Shave Ice Waikiki in the early evening; about 6pm. I was hungry because my stomach was still on mainland time; 9pm.

Lucky I did, because Shave Ice knew what they were doing with buns and beef mince.

The food trucks are a nice feature in Waikiki because you can find one, step up to the window while only wearing flip-flops and a swimsuit and be eating a meal while basking in the island sun.

The food truck are counter service and no reservations are needed (or available).

Depending up on the time of day and the popularity of the food truck, there could be a bit of a wait. There isn’t much wait ordering, but there could be a wait getting the food from the window. But, these people hustle. The max wait I’ve experienced is about 5 minutes. And that all depends on where you are ordering from and what you ordered.

At Shave Ice Waikiki, the layout is a little food court; 4 food trucks/trailers and a small building arranged in a “U” shape. Picnic benches are in the middle. The whole setup faces Kuhio Ave. You can enjoy your meal while watching the locals and the tourists walking along Kuhio Ave. Or, you can get your food to go and head to Kuhio Beach which is only a block and a half away (300 yards).

So...tell me about your burgers.

Shave Ice Waikiki has four burger choices, Really, it is only two choices. You can choose from a Burger, Cheeseburger, Burger Deluxe or a Cheeseburger Deluxe. In my mind that is only two choices: burger or cheeseburger. For this tasting, I went with the Cheeseburger Deluxe. It is well worth the premium for the additional condiments. The Cheeseburger Deluxe comes with mayo, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, and onion. All are standard toppings you would come to expect on a cheeseburger. Not sure why they would call it a “deluxe.” Cost of the “deluxe” seemed to be a bit steep at $14.50. However, we are in Waikiki and it is a tourist town.

Let's See What We Have Here

Being a food truck, the order can as takeout. The server shouts your number and you go get it. Find a place at a picnic bench or head to the beach to eat. The cheeseburger comes in a nice close-to-white paper composite container – perfect for recycling. No silver serving platter here – it would be sorely out of place.

Have you tried the bread?

The Deluxe Cheeseburger comes on a nice, fresh, and toasted potato roll. – super tender and delicious. This chef knew what he was doing. The bun had a phenomenal toast on the inside and an added toast on the outside of the bun. Adding a little more butter and a little more flavor to the outside never hurt a cheeseburger. Pro move! Compliments to the chef.

Overall quality of the bun – Exceptional!

Let's look under the hood of this baby.

This cheeseburger comes fully assembled and ready to eat. No need to add ketchup or mustard. Everything you need is on the cheeseburger already.

Mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup are already on the cheeseburger. Perfect amount too. Not over sauced. Just enough to give it some flavor and moisture.

Produce consisted of lettuce, tomato and onion. They used romaine lettuce. I’m not a fan of romaine lettuce on my cheeseburgers, but I understand why many restaurants use romaine; it lasts a little bit longer than iceberg. It did add a nice crunch and held up to the heat well. The onions were nice and crisp. The tomato was sweet and juicy.

A nice slice of American cheese rested on top of the burger patty helping tie the condiments to the burger patty.

Burger patty was excellent! It smelled so good that I could hardly wait. The meat had a nice grind and a good lean-to-fat ratio. I don’t remember if I was asked on how I wanted it cooked, but it came perfectly cooked – medium! The beef tasted great and it was well seasoned. Nice heavy hand on the salt/seasoning. Juicy too. Needed a few extra napkins for this one.

Oh. Important. The burger patty was huge. Not a chintzy quarter pounder. I didn’t have a scale, but I’m guessing that this was around 6-7 oz. Don’t quote me on that.

So, who are your your friends here?

Sides are extra. I ordered this burger solo and we were heading to other food truck courts in the area. We actually had empanadas from a food truck located a few blocks away (Mami’s Empanadas).

It's a Wrap