Modern Hawaiian food blends a little bit of a lot of different culinary traditions—Asian flavors and sushi heritage, tropical fruits, American comfort food, grilled meats, fried seafood, Korean barbecue and, yes, Spam and macaroni salad.
Aloha Express Hawaiian BBQ brings an approachable take on that mix to Murfreesboro, serving generous portions of meat, rice, vegetables and seafood from its Old Fort Parkway location.
The food is quite flavorful and portions are generous here at a Middle Tennessee location of the Aloha Express Hawaiian BBQ brand, which operates primarily on the West Coast.
The menu contains a variety of beef, pork, shrimp, fish and chicken dishes, many plates served with a volcano-sized pile of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad, the Aloha Express take on the Hawaiian plate-lunch concept.
“It’s so delicious. The pork was so tender and all the sauces they offer complemented everything so well,” said Jennifer Hoy after a great experience trying the restaurant. “My husband used to live in Hawaii and would always tell me about how good the food was there. Sadly he’s never found a place stateside that served great Hawaiian food like on the island until [Aloha Express]!”
The kalbi short rib carries a pleasant sweetness from its marinade. Three thin slices of a delicious beef short rib sit atop the rice; at first glance, it might not appear to be a huge amount of meat, in comparison to the rice. But it really is a large amount of food. It takes some time to finish the entire plate.
The coconut shrimp brings up memories of a trip to the Hawaiian islands, long ago, for another diner. In fact, this particular local diner was thinking of her wedding in Hawaii and was enjoying a Hawaiian meal, in Murfreesboro, on her 18th wedding anniversary. And in fact, I was too! Yes, Pulse founders Bracken and Sarah, who were married on the island of Oahu, had a recent anniversary celebration lunch at Aloha Express Hawaiian BBQ.
The fried rice contains a few pieces of still-crisp and fresh broccoli, and tastes a little plain on its own, but cover that stuff in some yum yum sauce and the rice becomes considerably more interesting.
Others report that they find the fried fish and the macaroni salad on the under-seasoned side, taken on their own. But the delicious teriyaki sauce, yum yum, hot sauce or soy sauce can quickly correct that to the diner’s taste.
The fish and shrimp combo plate contains a very generous amount of fried fish . . . a few more of the shrimp would have been welcome.
The Aloha Express combination plates are a great introduction to the place, allowing a diner to sample two or three different meats, with all running about $14 apiece.
There’s the Aloha BBQ Mix, complete with BBQ chicken, BBQ beef & kalbi short rib.
Makenzi Dotson said she definitely recommends this combo: “The meat was very flavorful and tender.”
Or, diners can mix fried shrimp and BBQ chicken, or chicken katsu with BBQ beef.
There are a lot of options to sample, and Aloha Express does not want to send diners away hungry.
“The amount of food was impressive,” one pleased customer posted in a review. “The fried rice was delicious, short ribs were amazing, chicken was cooked perfectly and the BBQ beef—God, the BBQ beef was amazing. Just awesome; can’t say enough good stuff about the food!”
The musubi pairs a large cake of sushi rice with a grilled slab of Spam—the imported, highly preserved canned meat that rose to immense popularity in Hawaii during World War II when the islands were a war zone and the military restricted much of the fishing activity, since becoming a beloved part of Hawaiian cuisine.
“Try the spam musubi!” suggests another diner, Ji.
The Japanese and Americans waged war in Hawaii in the 1940s. Spam musubi would bring peace and harmony to the culinary traditions of the two countries, blending Japanese sushi with American processed meat.
The crab rangoon is another popular offering at Aloha Express, and the teriyaki and katsu dishes give additional nods to the Asian side of the Pacific, while the Spam and pineapple fried rice may be about the most distinctly Hawaiian dish possible; the Spam and pineapple rice “has the perfect balance of savory and sweet,” one customer said.
And then there is the macaroni. Macaroni salad is a familiar component of Hawaiian plate lunches, and Aloha Express includes it among the sides, adding another creamy, comforting and filling element to the meal.
Local Aloha Express franchise owners Andy and Jenny are not stopping with Murfreesboro; they say they are preparing to soon open another Aloha Express location in Columbia, Tennessee.
The large portions also make Aloha Express particularly convenient for leftovers. The meals already arrive in plastic clamshell containers, so anything that doesn’t disappear during the visit is ready to be taken home.
There are also various, fantastic locally made desserts, lemon bars, strawberry shortcake and such, if a diner has room left. Or, grab one to go.
And, the place offers family packs. For $45, diners can select three meats and Aloha Express will package that up with enough rice, macaroni salad and veggies for four.
So come to the Old Fort Parkway restaurant, located in a strip mall not far from I-24 and St. Andrew’s, and explore the food of Hawaii.
Aloha Express Hawaiian BBQ really is a great little spot; it offers the familiar mainland components of fried seafood, teriyaki, rice, macaroni and barbecue-style meats with a twist found nowhere else in Murfreesboro.
Filling, flavorful and tropical.
“Love the food, love the people, love the service, love the atmosphere,” Marcus White said. “I always get the BBQ beef, hasn’t let me down yet.”
Aloha Express Hawaiian BBQ
2705 Old Fort Pkwy., Ste. O
629-345-7888
Sun.–Thurs.: 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Fri.–Sat.: 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m.
Shrimp and island fish combo: $13.95; Spam musubi (2 pieces): $5.50; Kalbi short ribs plate: $14.95; Spam and pineapple fried rice: $11.95; Grilled salmon salad: $12.50; Teriyaki chicken or chicken katsu plate: $12.50; Beef fried rice: $12.95
alohaexpresstn.com
