Two patties, two eggs: North Shore’s loco mocoLoco Moco is a classic local Hawaiian fast food dish. And like most Hawaiian local grind, it’s a rib-stickin’ carb-tastic overload: a bowl of rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, all smothered in brown gravy. It’s a straightforward dish that’s as comforting as it is non-photogenic (as evidenced by the photos in this post). The story is that loco moco was born in 1949 at the Lincoln Grill in Hilo, Hawaii when a group of teenage football players requested the combination of ingredients as a cheap alternative to a hamburger steak entree. The owner, Nancy Inouye, charged them just 25 cents for the dish. One of the first boys to eat this concoction was nicknamed Loco (“crazy” in Portuguese and Hawaiian pidgin) because of his playing style on the football field. Moco was added on just because it rhymed. The rest is history. These days loco moco is so popular that you’ll find it everywhere throughout Hawaii, and any mainland Hawaiian restaurant worth its salt will have it on its menu. This week, Versus stuffs its face with gravy and rice from Georgetown’s Kauai Family Restaurant and North Shore Hawaiian BBQ in the ID. The centerpiece of Kauai Family Restaurant’s loco moco ($5.50) is a beauteous thick hand-formed hamburger patty – flavorful, salty-sweet and just a bit smoky with perfect grill marks. It sits atop a mountain of white rice and underneath a firm fried egg whose runny yolk melds perfectly with the sea of brown gravy to bind all the elements together. A few shakes of Kauai’s tangy and fiery homemade chili water adds a welcome bite to all the richness and prevents from realizing just how heavy this bowl of food is…until you stand up and feel your stomach drop to the floor. The good news at North Shore is that loco moco gets you get two hamburger patties and two fried eggs on top of two scoops of rice. But the bad news is that both hamburger patties are thin and dry from too much time on the griddle. And while they’ve got decent peppery flavor to them, there’s a few too many gristly bits standing in the way of actual enjoyment. The eggs are overcooked so that their yolks are solid, leaving you deprived of that glorious golden liquid to stir into the rice. The gravy? Entirely forgettable. One big patty: Kauai’s loco mocoVerdict: Loco moco started as a humble, cheap dish. And though it’s nothing fancy and inexpensive, Kaui’s version is strikingly tasty and satisfying. Meanwhile, North Shore’s loco moco feels a little ho-hum and cheap, a little too close to its bargain beginnings. Kauai for the win.