Fresh Garden Deli

Fresh Garden Deli is located in the indoor alleyway between Merchant and King Street in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii.

Located adjacent to TheDeli (which I reviewed about a month ago) and Kai Coffee, Fresh Garden Deli is run by two women.

Fresh Garden Deli is only open for lunch four days a week (Tuesday to Friday). Each of those days has a rotating special. Coworkers have raved about the Apple Tuna Salad (Wednesdays), the Greek Platter (Thursdays), and the black bean burrito (Fridays).

Going on a Friday, I got the burrito special with shoyu pork belly inside ($12), opting for no sour cream and adding jalapenos. Extra salsa to go cost a little more. In the past, they would wrap the burrito, but now it sits neatly, still opened, in a container. It makes for a more colorful presentation.

The burrito has black beans, rice, cheese, protein, and guacamole and salsa on top. It's a fairly big burrito, maybe close to 1.5 to 2 pounds. Don't quote me on it, though; I'm a pretty bad judge of food weights.

I loved the pork belly. Tender, flavorful, and delicious (savory-sweet experience). The salsa brought a ton of fresh flavors to the dish. As for the salsa by itself, I would like more salt on the salsa to make it pop more.

All the ingredients there are prepped ahead of time, and assembly takes less than a couple minutes. Very easy for them to move on to the next person's order. While it wasn't crowded at the time I went (11 AM), it's usually pretty busy at peak lunch time.

Check out Fresh Garden Deli if you're in the area! 8.25/10