It’s Saturday afternoon and its been a long day. T-ball, voice lessons, and a trip to the mall made the kids quite hungry. Lou Lou wanted mac n’ cheese, “but not the mac n’ cheese from Chili’s, mom”. Ok, I got it. So we drove around for another 1/2 hour before I remembered there was a new “Southern” restaurant that opened up in Aiea, near the Aiea post office. I heard it has some tasty mac n’ cheese so we decided to check it out.
Tucked away within the Aiea Shopping Plaza is Hughley’s Southern Restaurant. It was empty when we arrived, but the smell of fried chicken made my stomach growl. It has a very simple layout with a walk up counter to order. We decided to order 2 mini plates; a Ken Nae’s catfish for Jaf and fried chicken wings for Lou Lou with a side of mac and a side of coleslaw.
My kids are mac n’ cheese connoisseurs, in that they eat mac n’ cheese all the time. They’ve ordered it from almost every restaurant in Hawaii and takes every opportunity to let me know whether its bad or not (I don’t understand it really, but hey – I go with it). So far, they’re favorite is from Outback Steakhouse, the Mac A’ Roo. I was keen to see what they thought of Southern mac n’ cheese since I’ve had it before from the Soul Patrol lunch truck at Eat the Street, its so different from what you get from a franchised restaurant.
Our food arrived within 10 minutes and the first thing Lou Lou noticed was the mac and cheese missing. That was my fault, I totally forgot to order that as her side. I asked the server if we could change it and they did immediately, no questions. The catfish was the best I’ve ever eaten in my life and my daughter ate that all up in minutes. But the mac n’ cheese…. it was really incredible. My kids loved it!
We’ve eaten mac n’ cheese from every restaurant here on Oahu, but none can compare to Hughley’s, it had just the right amount of cheese. Jaf licked his fingers after each bite and even ate the order I had on my plate, skipping the fried chicken completely. The owner, I believe, came up to us to see how things were, Jaf said “it’s the best mac n’ cheese in the world”!
I tend to agree.
We left Hughley’s full, with enough leftovers for 2 days. This homestyle Southern restaurant really delivers with taste and quality. We ordered another side of mac n’ cheese to go, because they wanted it for lunch tomorrow. Let’s see if mom can keep her hands off it though…. 🙂
Kid Friendly, Accepts Credit Cards, Good for Groups, Casual
Hughley’s Southern Cuisine
99-080 Kauhale Street, #C4
Aiea, Hawaii 96701
Telephone: (808) 380-4200