Launa

Rating: OK
Meal: Lunch
Price: 1500 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dishes: Meat Parfait (my name for it)
English Menu:Yes

Smoking:No (complete with guilt inducing ashtrays hung on the wall telling you that smoking kills)

Well that was a surprise.  I've been to Launa a couple of times before and was disappointed each time, making me thing we had another "Not Great" here, but I was pleasantly surprised by the dish I had so I'll give it an Ok this time.

Like every other restaurant here, Launa has a Hawaiian theme going on.  But they mostly serve an array of vaguely western food including the ubiquitous Navy Burger and Navy Curry.  In the back of the menu are some other dishes.  I recall the taco rice (an Okinawan dish) being unpleasant.  I think I was unimpressed with the burger I had the first time.  So I thought I'd try something completely different and ordered what appeared to be a bowl with a mound of meat called "yakitori off the stick" or so it seemed.

Holy cow, I ordered a Meat Parfait!  I didn't know such a thing existed, but it was funny and yummy.  Composed of a bowl of rice with lettuce piled up inside, and then flat pieces of heavily marinated and cooked meat (think Yoshida's sauce with garlic bits) carefully slathered around the lettuce to create a mountain.  Definitely chopstick food, and a bit messy as the meat starts to tumble down while you attack it, but it was a fun dish.  And a lot of food, I can already feel the food coma setting in.  A bit spendy, but you get a lot for your money.