Scenes from Ethel’s Grill, Honolulu

Ethel’s Grill does steady business all day but things really pick up at lunchtime. Locals crowd the Honolulu, Hawaii restaurant for Japanese comfort food like Japanese hamburger steak and ahi tataki. Here are scenes from their lunch rush, originally from the iPad edition of Special Issue #165: A Day of Cooking

11:16 A.M. Robert Urquidi, son-in-law of Ethel’s Grill owners Ryoko and Yoichii Ishii, ladles miso soup into a bowl at the restaurant.

11:22 A.M. The Japanese hamburger steak at Ethel’s Grill features a pork and beef patty topped with grated daikon, daikon sprouts, and tangy ponzu sauce.

11:52 A.M. A customer sits down to a soup of bok choy and pigs' feet and ahi tataki, seared tuna drizzled in a garlic and shoyu sauce.

12 P.M. A table for two laden with a lunch of ahi tataki (center); goya champuru, an Okinawan stir-fry of bitter melon, tofu, eggs, onion, and Spam; and sides of miso soup, rice, and a salad with homemade Dijon-parsley dressing.

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12:07 P.M. Ryoko Ishii, co-owner and one of the cooks at Ethel’s Grill, delivers a plate of deep-fried pork chops in a sweet garlic sauce during the lunch rush.