Old Friends: Fort Street Mall an unlikely home for Russian piroshki

Imagine a Chinese manapua, crossed with a slightly sweet, chewy Okinawan andagi doughnut, and deep-fried till there’s a crunchy crust.

But replace the char siu filling with an aromatic blend of beef or chicken, melting cheese, mushroom bits and secret seasonings — and you have a Russian piroshki. And to a legion of die-hard fans on Oahu, there’s only one kind that’s worth the calories, and it’s from Rada’s Piroscki in downtown Honolulu.

Granted, local fans may never have eaten a piroshki anywhere else, and some may confuse it with the pierogi, a filled Polish dumpling, which is far different. Rada’s heavenly rendition of the eastern European street food is available only at Fort Street Mall, where the beloved piroshki have been peddled from a hole-in-the-wall shop since the 1970s (using the alternate spelling of piroscki).

In the last decade, Rada’s has sold the buns from a little takeout window, in partnership with Vicky’s Filipino Fast Food, another old standby.

How did a Filipino family end up the purveyor of this Russian staple? Lorna Tampon, the operator and main cook for Vicky’s and Rada’s, said her late great-aunt, Violeta Alvarez, bought Rada’s from the founder, a Russian woman for whom she worked. Her first name was Rada but no one remembers her last name, Tampon said.

Tampon never met the original owner, as she was only 13 when she moved from California to Hawaii in the early 1990s and started helping her aunt at Rada’s after school.

The tiny deli, also known for it’s fried squid, had been around for at least 20 years before that, previously in the Pantheon building on Fort Street Mall. That’s right across the pavement from the McCorriston Building it occupies now with Vicky’s.

The Alvarez family still owns both businesses, but resides on the mainland. It’s been left up to Tampon, who started running Vicky’s and Rada’s in 2009, when Rada’s moved in with Vicky’s to save rent. Her great-aunt and old customers have told her that Rada’s also had outlets in Kalihi and Aina Haina for short stints.

Rada’s goes so far back it was difficult to find out when it actually originated, but it was at Fort Street Mall as far back as 1975, and once operated out of Lyn’s Delicatessen at Ala Moana in 1978, according to advertisements in back issues of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser. The cost of a “giant piroscki” was 87 cents in one of those ads. They’re still the size of a baseball, but now go for $1.92 a piece, still a deal.

Tampon’s mother, Lourdes Terrado, and sister Leni Barruga help out at the restaurant when they can, and there’s one full-time employee, Elderlina Samosan, who’s worked at Vicky’s since 1997. Tampon’s children, Jasmine, 13, and Zachary, 10, come after school and weekends to help make sauces and cut vegetables, “if I bribe them,” she added. Her husband, Richard Tampon, who works full time for Longs Drugs, helps her close up.

Her great-aunt bought the recipes from Rada, and Tampon — the only one who knows them — still makes the piroshki the same way. She starts at 7 a.m. daily, and makes about 140 throughout the day, frying them in batches of 20. They’re usually sold out out by 4 p.m., ahead of the 5:30 p.m. closing time.

The bestseller has a ground-beef filling, but Tampon’s favorite is the chicken. The third choice is only by special order, with beef, cabbage and tomato sauce, because it’s not nearly as popular. Mini versions are sold by the dozen, also by special order.

People love the piroshki’s chewy, slightly sweet bread, which has a nice crunch on the outside, as well as the savory fillings. “It’s good; it’s different,” Tampon said. She tried baking some for a while as a healthier option, but stopped because the fried ones were so much more popular.

Customers now living on the mainland have told Tampon that her piroshki are much better than what they’ve found elsewhere, she said with a laugh. When they visit, most order a lot and freeze them to reheat back home as needed.

On Yelp, rave reviews far outweigh complaints, and customers usually take rapturous trips down memory lane, recalling how the piroshki were relished as a special treat as far back as the ’70s and ’80s. Apparently, piroshki are best eaten hot and fresh, like french fries, and are commonly devoured right away because no one can wait to get them home.

Yelp reviewers who haven’t been there in years are overjoyed to find Rada’s still open. And for about $2 each, the prices still give them a taste of the old days.

The work is relentless, as Tampon starts making a wide variety of Filipino dishes at 5 a.m. every day before she starts the piroshki. By 5:45 a.m., customers are knocking at the door, even though the shop doesn’t open until 6:30 a.m., so they can buy lunch before heading to work.

She yearns to take longer vacations to visit family on the mainland, but Tampon, 39, says she would always return to cooking as a livelihood. “I love working with food. … Honestly, it’s like a hobby for me. I’m tired, but it feels good to see people eating your food.”

Her kids don’t seem interested in taking over, she said, but “we want to keep it going as long as we can.”

“Old Friends” catches up with longtime local food producers. It runs on the third week of each month. Email suggestions to crave@staradvertiser.com or call Pat Gee at 529-4749.