Plate lunch used to be the almost exclusive preserve of small family-run operations with Dad and Uncle in the kitchen, Mom and Grandma up front — self-taught, probably second- or third-generation. But peek into the kitchen of a plate-lunch place today and you are increasingly likely to encounter someone with a degree from a culinary school who could easily be wearing whites in a fine-dining kitchen.

This explains the increasing resemblance of plate lunch to the dinners served in pricier restaurants: fresh grilled fish, steaks cooked to order, gorgeous entree salads complete with housemade dressings and attractive garnishes, brown rice and vegetarian options, plus ingredients such as fresh herbs, flavored mayonnaises, fancy mushrooms, true sauces rather than from-a-base brown gravies.

The trend is explained by several factors: Many younger chefs want to go out on their own but lack the capital in these tough times to start higher-end restaurants. And there's the chefs' equally fervent desire to work weekdays only, spend more time with their young families (and in many cases, employ their family members) and control their own destinies. In some cases, too, these trained cooks are assuming control of family businesses that would otherwise close up as the elders get beyond the daily grind.

Which brings us to Koi, an out-of-the-way little storefront on Dillingham in Kalihi, where chefs Marcos Rebibis Jr. (formerly of Sansei and Brew Moon restaurants) and Eric Bond (a calabash relative who trained in New York) turn out plate lunch six days a week, stock a lunchwagon and handle the catering orders that are their true bread and butter.

Rebibis and his wife, Lendy, operated popular Pu'uwainani Lunchwagon on South Street for some years, but sold it in January 2007 and opened Koi the following June, Lendy Rebibis said. (Pu'uwainani is still open under the new owners.)

A sales rep who knows food stopped me in the Advertiser parking lot to rave about Koi's steak and portobello salad; she said she and her girlfriends were actually thinking of buying a whole catering tray of the salad and splitting it up.

Well, if it was that good, I had to try it, so I trekked out to Kalihi one weekday and encountered a delicious (and guilt-free) new favorite dish: thin-sliced grilled steak and equally meaty mushrooms on a bed of romaine with carrots, tomatoes, croutons and cheese and a housemade balsamic dressing ($7.50 for the plate; $22.50 for a half shallow tray that serves 10 to 15 people).

This, in fact, is one you could pick up in the afternoon and serve for dinner. It weathers a stint in the refrigerator nicely (dressings automatically come on the side at Koi, and you could even ask them to package the greens and the steak/portobello mix separately). The steak is sliced thinly enough so that you aren't faced with a huge chunk of meat to masticate and can even cut it with a plastic knife.

Both the steak — which won an award in June at the Flavors of Honolulu event — and the portobello mushroom are nicely charred but tender within. If it weren't for the plastic foam clamshell, you'd never think of plate lunch in connection with this salad.

Said Lendy Rebibis: "We try to keep it local but more gourmet-ish, a little kicked up but not so high as a restaurant." Bond brings Italian influence to the menu and Rebibis is an Emeril Lagasse fan, she said when I called her after several visits.

During these, I tried mainly dishes starred on the menu as "house specialties." These included garlic 'ahi, thinnish tuna steaks seasoned with garlic, grilled and drizzled with wasabi sauce and sesame seeds ($7.50, with white or brown rice, green or mac salad); the chicken and portobello plate, strips of boneless fried chicken, grilled portobello mushrooms and a creamy sauce over a bed of linguine with Parmesan cheese ($6.75); the grilled steak plate, the meat rubbed with an eight-spice blend and served with ginger sesame dipping sauce ($7); and pesto mahimahi, seared fish fillets with seasoned panko breading served on linguine tossed in pesto ($6.95).

Of these, my favorites were the steak (see salad above) and the chicken, though I must tell you it looks like the dog's dinner (the portabello sauce turns an unfortunate gray due to the grilling of the mushrooms). If you're into healthy eating, stay away from this dish; it's fat on carbs with sodium, but so delicious I had to discard my leftovers because I knew they'd be calling my name all day.

The 'ahi was nicely done, caramelized outside and still moist inside, but the wasabi sauce was unnecessarily potent, overpowering even the relatively assertive taste of tuna. Oddly, another time I ordered a daily special called spicy miso chicken, which also came with wasabi sauce ($6.50), and that didn't taste spicy at all, though it, like the chicken and portobello, was a big yum. (Bread and fry something and put sauce on it — who's not gonna be tempted?)

I'm planning to go back for a new special that Lendy raved about when I called to check details — a seared sesame 'ahi salad that chef Bond created, made with tuna loin, and white and black sesame seeds ($7.50). And I have a feeling that the steak and portabello salad is going to become a regular "gotta take something to a party but no time to cook" dish for our household.

If you don't live or work in Kalihi, Koi is a bit off the beaten path, but it takes just 25 to 30 minutes or so to get there and back from Downtown, if you fax in your order ahead of time. There's parking and a smattering of seats if you want to eat in. As you'd expect, tables fill up during the lunch rush. The order-takers are hospitable and informative.