Island cuisine in the Sacramento Region is one phrase doing the work of four traditions, and the first real decision is which one of them you are hungry for. It covers Hawaiian plate lunches, Jamaican jerk and oxtail, Filipino adobo and lumpia, and a Cuban sandwich that people will happily argue about. Those are separate kitchens with separate traditions, not variations on one menu.
The second thing is distance. These kitchens run from Natomas out to Camino, so the one nearest you may still be across the county. The useful question is not which is best. It is which tradition you are actually hungry for, because a poke counter is not going to solve a craving for curry goat.
FOUR TRADITIONS, AND WHAT TO ORDER FROM EACH
Island food gets used as a single category, and the dishes underneath it have almost nothing in common beyond rice, spice and fruit that grows somewhere warm. Know which one you are walking into and most of the ordering decision is already made.
- Hawaii. Poke, Spam musubi, loco moco, kalua pig.
- Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. Jerk chicken, oxtail stew, rice and peas.
- The Philippines. Adobo, lumpia, lechon kawali, sinangag, which is garlic fried rice.
- Cuba. The Cubano, ropa vieja, tostones.
START IN THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO
Most of these kitchens sit inside the city, which makes an evening here an errand rather than a trip. Five of them, in the order I would hand them to somebody who has never been.
- Bodega Kitchen and Cocktails, in Greenhaven. Caribbean leaning, with a Cubano built the long way and plates of rice and peas under jerk chicken, roasted pork or guava barbecue shrimp.
- Kau Kau, in East Sacramento. Hawaiian, and a step more polished than most island counters. Huli huli chicken and kalua pork, plus an island brunch that runs to a macadamia nut waffle and French toast on taro bread with pineapple and ginger.
- Dubplate Kitchen and Jamaican Cuisine, in Arden Arcade. Brown stew chicken, curry goat, jerk shrimp, and a real set of meatless plates, including ital stew built on coconut milk and root vegetables.
- Cafe Connection, downtown. Oxtail stew, goat curry and jerk chicken, served over rice or wrapped into a burrito or a taco, with house made roti alongside.
- Spoon and Fork, on Broadway. The Filipino half of the list, run by the same team behind The Lumpia Truck: sinigang wings dusted with tamarind, crispy lechon kawali, pork sisig with a fried egg, and several kinds of lumpia.
NORTH OF THE CITY, THEN EAST ALONG HIGHWAY 50
Four more sit outside the city limits in a line that runs north and then east, which is convenient if you are already out that way for something else.
- Kellz Kitchen Jamaican Cuisine, in Natomas. Jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtail, and ackee and saltfish, which is Jamaica’s national dish and worth ordering once even if you are not sure about it.
- Sol Cubano, in North Highlands. Lechon asado, ropa vieja and oxtail stewed with Cuban herbs, with tostones on the side.
- Big Island Hawaiian BBQ, in Folsom. Counter service, with plates of kalua pork, island white fish, or barbecued chicken and beef over rice, cabbage and macaroni salad, plus Spam musubi if you want the appetizer version.
- Tropics Island Grill and Ale House, in Camino. Spam musubi, a kalua pork sandwich and ahi tacos, with a passion fruit cider and a pineapple, orange and guava mimosa if you are staying for the drink list.
WEST TO DAVIS, AND UP THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR
The last three are the ones I would build a Saturday around rather than a weeknight.
- Zumapoke and Lush Ice, in Davis. Build your own poke, or take a Hawaiian plate with kalua pork or luau barbecue chicken over rice with macaroni salad. Shave ice and island sodas are the part the kids will remember.
- iFish Poke and Hawaiian BBQ, in Roseville. Hawaiian plates of short ribs, chicken or shrimp beside a build your own poke bowl, and a macaron ice cream sandwich if you still have room.
- Kultura Cafe, in Rocklin. Filipino cooking and a long milk tea list, with lumpia, chicken adobo and Filipino sausage with sinangag, the garlic fried rice.
THE COMPARISON I REACH FOR, AND WHERE IT STOPS WORKING
The closest ordinary thing I can think of is a potluck. You walk in, you take a little from several tables, and the combination is the meal rather than any single dish.
That gets the instinct right, which is that island food here is a set of traditions you move across over a month rather than one cuisine you learn in an evening. It stops working at the plate. A potluck is several cooks contributing to one meal, and each kitchen here is one tradition done by one kitchen. Nobody is serving adobo beside curry goat beside a Cubano. Order as though they are and you get a table of food that never quite resolves.
WHAT I WOULD TELL YOU TO WEIGH
- The traditions are not interchangeable. Decide whether you want jerk, kalua pork or adobo first, then pick the kitchen. A poke counter will not help you if the answer was oxtail.
- Distance is the real variable. The map runs from Natomas to Camino, and the nearest one to you may sit well outside your usual loop.
- Several are counter service. If you want a table, a server and a drink list, check which kind of place you are driving to before you go.
- Call ahead on a weeknight. Small kitchens keep small hours, and a locked door after a long drive is the worst version of this list.
- This is not a ranking. I have not eaten at every kitchen on it, so treat it as a starting point rather than a verdict.
Where you live decides which of these is a normal Tuesday and which is a planned trip. If a particular town is why you are reading, the neighborhoods hub collects the guides by area, and the buying process page walks through what buying here involves.
Question for you: if you had one plate to convert somebody who has never tried island cooking, which dish would you hand them, and why that one?
Adapted from Where to Find Island Cuisine in the Sacramento Region, originally published by Windermere Signature Properties at windermerecalocal.com.
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