Nando's and Zippy's

     In this week alone, I have eaten at a Nando’s restaurant 3 times, twice in Soho and once in Hammersmith. Now, I’m not obsessed with this food chain, but just like the fish and chips, I was advised to eat here. Past study abroad students from my home university often raved about Nando’s being the best chicken they have ever had. This being my last week in England, I thought that it was best to eat at Nando’s as much as possible (also I don’t have anything in my fridge or cupboards) since Hawai’i, or even America for that matter, has a Nando’s. Against all popular opinions of this restaurant’s chicken, I have had better.

Nando's 

     There is no Nando’s chain in Hawai’i, and there is no Zippy’s in the continental United States. What is Zippy’s? Zippy’s is a Hawai’i restaurant chain that focuses on many local favorites like their famous chili (trust me it’s a local favorite) to saimin. If there is one thing to know about Hawai’i, it is that we like to grind (Hawaiian Pidgin English: to eat). I would often find myself calling my best friend in the middle of the night so I could pick her up just to make a quick stop at Zippy’s. If you were to go there in the middle of the night or early in the morning, you could find the most interesting characters, from the most-likely-still-drunk-from-the-club to the respectable businessman, Zippy’s is the go to restaurant.

Zippy's Zip Pack

     Founded in the 1960’s by Francis and Charles Higa, Zippy’s pulls from the multitude of cultures that reside within Hawai’i. During Hawai’i’s plantation days, many of the workers had emigrated from different Asian countries, the first of whom were Chinese, then Japanese, Koreans, and Filipinos. Their cultures converged, as they had to learn to coexist with one another, they created a new ways of communicated, Hawaiian Pidgin English, and shared cultural dishes. Zippy’s houses most of these cultures with Korean Chicken, Fish Tempura, Spam and rice, all within a single plate known as the Zip Pack.While Nando's pulls from Portuguese influences, Zippy's has bragging rights of being better because it is able to unite so many different cultures in one place, and still be really, really, really good.