A marriage between two cuisines is preferable to a marriage between two clones of Sylvester Stallone, a process that eventually results in a baby reared on raw egg and meat punching bags. Savor a simpler fusion with today's Groupon: for $7, you get $15 worth of Hawaiian-infused fare and drinks at Da ~ Kine's Cafe, located on Northeast Ninety-Fifth Street.

After relocating from Hawaii's Oahu island to the Pacific Northwest, the Carpio family opened Da ~ Kine's Cafe to help reconcile their cravings for homeland Hawaiian fare with their newly acquired taste for traditional American eats. The tropical restaurant menu features island cuisine such as Kalua pig, Katsu chicken, and banana pancakes next to more classic stateside fare such as salads, sandwiches, burgers, and deep-fried baseball. The paninis menu offers the Malibu, a turkey and cranberry sauce option, as well as the Makaha topped with Black Forest ham and Oregon's tillamook cheddar. Like all the best sacrifices to Pele, dinners include Kalbi ribs and coconut shrimp and come served with a Hawaiian roll, coconut butter, salad, rice, and a traditional coconut-milk-based Hawaiian dessert called Haupia.

Reviews

Citysearchers named Da ~ Kine's Cafe the best place for breakfast and dessert in the Best of Citysearch and give the restaurant a perfect five-star rating. The Columbian praised the banana pancakes at Da ~ Kine's:

• A combination of warm, cooked bananas and the fresh ones on top gave the pancakes a contrast of textures — buttery and firm — which was delightful to savor. – Christy Lochrie, Columbian
• I could go on for the entire review just raving about the warm-hearted folks who run this place, especially at night when things slow down a bit. Genuine, kind, friendly, attentive, and appreciative are some words that come to mind. – toptencoach, Citysearch