Soul Patrol

I had this place at the eat the street event. Man by far the worse food I have had in Hawaii. It was chicken with bacon mac and cheese. The fried chicken tasted like refried chicken. You know that look chicken gets as if it was just soaked in grease, that’s what mine looked and tasted like. The bacon mac and cheese wasn’t far from any better. It looked like yesterdays morning mac that sat out over night. I’m not picky nor am I the type to ask for a refund so I did what I had to do and gave it to the only person that would want it… the trash.

I’m sad to give this review as I had been wanting to check out soul patrol for 3 years now. Since our last visit. What a disappointment.
I grew up in Texas. This is like no soul food I’ve ever had. The fried chicken was soggy, the sauce on it was bad. I love me some honey on some good seasoned crispy fried chicken! But this was none of those things and the Mac and cheese was HORRIBLE. It was slop with no discernible noodles. I think it had chunks of cornbread in it!!! WTF? So disappointed. I took a few bites and couldn’t make myself eat it, even though it was so over priced for what it was… I had to throw the plate away and get something else. What a waste of money and ingredients.

I’m sad to put this up but I used to really like the mac and cheese dish from here. Prices have gone up slowly but the portions are always good. That being said, the recipe has changed lately and once the dish was weirdly sweet and now it is strongly sour. I suspect lots of sour cream is used and I’m not a fan of sour cream in mac and cheese, which is apparently a valid thing.

We had Soul Patrol at the Honolulu Night Market in September.
I may not be from New Orleans or from the true «down South,» but I’ve spent a good part of my life in the south, in the country, and getting acquainted with some good old soul food. This is NOT it, folks.
My experience got off on the wrong foot as it was when my order was given to the girl who ordered not one, not two, but THREE people behind me. I was standing in front of the girl who took my order the entire time, she looked at me, I reached for it, and she skipped right over me. I wasn’t happy. I had to wait an additional five minutes after they screwed up the order list.
So, as for the food… I’m not really sure what happened here. I ordered the gumbo and bacon mac and cheese. The bacon mac and cheese, to start, was ruined — it was mushy, tasted like some sugar had accidentally gotten poured into it, and then they threw 3 cups of flour in to mask their oops. Disgusting. I don’t know how you can screw up macaroni and cheese… but Soul Patrol did.
On to the gumbo part of my meal, it was terrible. Not a real gumbo by any means. There was hardly any meat in there. Where was the sausage? The flavor was ok, but the only meat I could find was the knuckle/​gristle that I bit into on my first bite… so disappointing. I left the Night Market hungry as ever, and with $ 12 less in my pocket. Bummer.

If I could give this truck zero stars, I would. The food was wretched. We had our first Eat the Streets experience and Soul Patrol was on our list to try. The food and truck appearance were just disappointing. We ate the bacon Mac n cheese topped with a piece of fried chicken. The mac was so over cooked it was just like a big scoop of mush! Then they had the nerve to use 2 – 3 different types of pasta, making it so that it didn’t cook evenly; leaving some very chewy pieces and others that just fell apart.
And who gets fried chicken wrong!!! It tasted as if they cooked it in 2 day old oil. The «sweet tea» was anything other than that. I think Soul Patrol needs to travel to the south for some inspiration because this was THE WORST food claiming to be southern that I’ve ever had.

This food was good and horrible! Stay away and don’t eat here. My wife and I had the fried chicken with bacon macaroni. As a man from the south I know chicken… and this was far below par. The syrup they placed on it was equally bad and non appetizing. For our first «Eat the Streets» within Honolulu… this left much to be desired! #eattheatreets

First time eating here at Eat the Street Kapolei 6÷14÷14. Huge portion sizes! Ordered the Gumbo Mac n Cheese. The flavors and spices were on point. The sweet tea was delicious (sweet just like southern sweet tea should be) I can’t wait to try more of the plates.

I’m addicted to Soul Patrol’s food. Especially their shrimp diabolo mac n cheese whenever they have it. I stopped by at their truck at Eat The Street and killed a bowl of Gumbo Mac n Cheese. I even thought about maybe getting a second one to go. The food has always been great and I could eat there every day. Will for sure get my fix of soul food here for sure. Mac and cheese. PS. Their sweet tea is pretty good too :)

Whenever I go to Eat the Street, I have every intention of trying something new… but I ALWAYS end up at Soul Patrol!
Price — It’s not cheap, but it’s not like I can eat like this every day, so it’s worth it.
Taste — OMG. His mac and cheese is absolutely to die for. He usually offers mac and cheese with his plates, but I’ll ask him for a plate of all mac and cheese. It’s so delicious and the fact that there’s bacon in it too, YUM! As for other things besides the mac and cheese, I’ve tried his fried chicken and it’s just so-​so for me. His collard greens and cornbread is pretty good. But just get the mac and cheese. I PROMISE you won’t be disappointed: D
Owner — The owner is always very nice at ETS. He’s always smiley and welcoming.

My go to soul food place.
Great chicken and waffles and the sweet tea is perfect, I absolutely love how friendly they are :-)

Yum! I like to go visit them every Saturday morning at the KCC’s Saturday Farmer’s Market! They’re menu is always changing every week. Last time I went, I ordered the smothered Mac & cheese with chicken. Chicken was a bit on the dry side, but the Mac & cheese made up for it, that’s why I deducted a star. Very friendly and the chef always has a warm and inviting smile! Will definitely be back again this Saturday to try more items!

Soul Patrol seems to step its game up a notch whenever Chef Sean is around! Past visits at the State Farm Fair and KCC Farmer’s Market were so-​so, but my boyfriend and I recently indulged in their macaroni & cheese and chicken & waffles at the Blaisdell Farmer’s Market — and it was like, the soul is back! Decadent and stick-​to-​your-​ribs (and possibly arteries) good.
Since their main restaurant moved downtown, I won’t be dining in anytime soon, but the food truck allows for maximum indulgence every now and then. My only request would possibly be for some sweet tea to wash it all down!

Over priced and not very good. My friend and I ate at their truck at the Carnival/​Mardi Gras street festival. Prices seemed high but the line was long so we thought «it must be worth it.» It was not.
My friend had seafood jambalaya for $ 15 which was a rather small bowl which he said had only some fish and what might have been crab in it but very little seafood overall. I had a combo bowl of gumbo or stew with mac and cheese and it was $ 12… the gumbo was served to me cold and many of the chunks of potato in it were raw and hard. The mac and cheese was OK but about like what I make at home.
The only reason I’m giving them two stars is that the food was edible and we did basically finish it, except for the uncooked potatoes. But it was way overpriced compared to other vendors we saw later.

I used to enjoy their Waialae restaurant and lunch plate at downtown different places.
Last night plates from Soul at the Farmer’s Market was disappointing.
We had Fried Chicken not cooked well — red inside with Waffles, and Crab Mac cheesy thingy — super salty. Sorry Sean, we will not be back for a long time.

The mobile Soul Patrol continues the tradition of Soul the restaurant. You’ll find them at several farmers markets and Eat the Street festivals. One of my faves at Wednesday’s Farmers Market at the Blaisdell. Usually get the sausage & chicken gumbo soup with one piece of fried chicken for $ 12. Nice and tasty. Never thought a syrupy honey sauce would mix well with crunchy fried chicken, but it does. Reminds me a little bit of chicken and waffles. The gumbo has a nice little menage of flavors with the proteins being highlighted, and a little spicy aftertaste. It’s a little on the expensive side and probably not too good for you, but it’s a great indulgence once in a while! Might need to check their new storefront downtown (Lil’ Soul) one of these days!

Chicken gumbo yum
Corn bread with edible liquid gold
Po boys pulled pork get in my belly
Waffles yes Sean give it to me
Pecan heaven
Chili yes vegetarian yummy

Perhaps it was a bad dish to order, or maybe I was very unlucky, but here goes…
Last week Friday I went to Eat The Streets: Spicy, and I stumbled upon Soul Patrol, and what caught my eyes were the different fried chicken plates they had on display. They looked delicious, and the fat-​boy in me couldn’t resist ordering a plate. I ordered the «Smothered Chicken.» I’m a gravy lover, and seeing their «Smothered Chicken,» it had plenty of gravy! First off let me say that the Macaroni side that it came with was DELICIOUS and to my liking, however the Chicken and the Rice were rather sub-​par.
Personally, I was a bit weirded out when my food came out in less than 1 minute after the lady who was doing the cashiering called out my order (I didn’t even get to the waiting tent yet!). My friends and I found a spot to sit and started eating and guess what? The chicken was dry, the skin was obviously soaked in the gravy for awhile (Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought fried chicken was supposed to be crispy), and the rice was hard and under cooked.
Two-​stars, because I really am «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» I’ll definitely give them another try if they are at Eat the Streets again. Though my experience wasn’t great, at least they serve a large amount of food for what you pay.

(Food truck/​vendor experience)
My family and I got the BBQ spare rib plate ($ 10): baked pork ribs cooked low and slow, covered in BBQ sauce, with sides of cole slaw and cornbread.
The ribs were tender and fell off the bone without much effort. The sweet KC-​style BBQ sauce blanketed the ribs and enhanced the eating experience. The cole slaw had a slight sweetness that my dad didn’t necessarily care for — so I took it all and gobbled that down like no tomorrow. I liked the cornbread. It had the dry qualities of a traditional cornbread, but also featured some type of sweet glaze on top that again provided one of those «slap yo mama» moments. The portion I got appeared a bit smaller than the lovely sample platters on the table.
Check out Soul Patrol (either the food truck or the brick-​and-​mortar restaurant) and experience some comforting soul food!

Feel like a scrooge. Wanted to like this food, but just couldn’t.
Ate at the Soul Patrol truck during the food truck ralley. Had the shrimp and grits, ribs, chili, and fried chicken.
Shrimp and grits were good. Liked the sundried tomato, as it added depth to the dish. But I can make as good or better.
Ribs were tender, but tasteless.
Fried chicken was good. But you just don’t get enough of it.
And the chili. Took one taste and just about leapt out of my chair yelling WTF? Black eyed peas? Moreover, crunchy black eyed peas? You’ve got to be kidding? Not in anything I’ve ever heard called chili before. If you are going to go off the map on a recipe like that, it better be good. This wasn’t. Even my dog wouldn’t eat it. Yuck.
Sorry Sean, you’re a really nice guy, but this just didn’t do it for me. I’m honestly happy for you that you have lines aound the block and plenty of fans, but it ain’t gonna be me.

On recommendation from Metromix and Emi H. here on Unilocal,we grabbed lunch from ‘The Soul Patrol’ lunchwagon yesterday.
We all ordered the same plate, which is the Soul Patrol «Southern Sampler with 1 Piece Buttermilk Fried Chicken». For $ 8, the «Southern Sampler» includes 1 piece Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Vegetarian Chili with Black Eyed Peas, Organic Collard Greens, Honey-​Cilantro Coleslaw and «Sweet Corn» Cornbread.
Sweet deal! Great plate! AWESOME PLATE! Out of ten restaurants around Honolulu, Metromix awarded ‘The Soul Patrol’ as having «The Best Fried Chicken» in town. While I haven’t had the time or luxury of trying all the places they compared it to, I’m confident if I had, The Soul Patrol’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken would come out with the win.
While not fried to order, the Buttermilk Chicken is still very moist and tender upon service, thanks in part to the buttermilk soak they get. There’s also some complex herbs and spices in there that are surely as secretly held by Chef Priester as they were by Colonel Sanders. The battered skin is really crispy, while the chicken meat under it permeates with CHOKE FLAVAH! It really stands out as a different fried chicken than any you’ve had before. Hard to describe. You just have to try it for yourself.
Their sides were all mostly AWESOME as well. The cornbread is buttery and sweet, but not too sweet. Actually a little savory. It also has this wonderful big ‘n grainy, «cornmeal-​ee» texture. Eat some of that with the Vegetarian Chili and it’s SUCH AN ONO COMBO!
One of the most unique aspects is that their Vegetarian Chili has (perfectly al dente) Black Eyed Peas in it, while the flavor profile leans more half-​n-​half tomato/​chili, but not intensely on the chili side. Very nice dish. Excellent «side» (even though it’s a major component) when paired with the buttermilk fried chicken and the cornbread!
The Organic Collard Greens have some pork (or bacon) mixed in it, but flavorwise, you predominantly taste the perfectly cooked (not killed) Collard Greens. Another winner.
Finally, their Honey-​Cilantro Coleslaw is one of those «duh, why didn’t I think of that» dishes. The cilantro somehow marries really well with the slaw, giving it this extra boost of snap and freshness to it. And it’s not too «mayo-​ee». A little runny if anything, but to be expected being that it’s served out of a lunchwagon where temperatures aren’t always ideal.
It really is the sum of its parts that makes The Soul Patrol’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken «sampler plate» a marriage made in heaven. As simple as it may seem, everything on the plate compliments each other just beautifully.
If you haven’t had southern «Soul» food for a while (or at all), do yourself a favor and run, don’t walk to ‘The Soul Patrol’ Lunchwagon and get the Soul Patrol «Sampler» plate. I almost guarantee you’ll come back to Unilocal raving about it.
I’m raving about it. 5 SPAM Musubi! Err, I mean 5 Stars!
See photo section for the Soul Patrol «sampler plate» I’m talking about, as well as their menu board.
The Soul Patrol Lunchwagon currently operates (as of ³⁄₁₀) on Kawaiahao Street between Cooke and South streets (Kaka’ako area), Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Chef Priester (formerly the Executive Chef of Top of Waikiki) also operates as Pacific Soul Cuisine at Manoa Marketplace on Sundays from 8 a.m.-1 p. m, Blaisdell Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays, 4 – 7 p.m. and Kapiolani Community College and Kailua farmers’ markets once a month.
Reach Chef Sean Priester at 808−542−8749 or follow him on Twitter at: PacificSoul