Dining Scene: Lunch Break
Two ways to enjoy a delicious workday lunch

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Time.

While the takeout service is popular, quick and convenient, luncheon upstairs in the Fort Street Bar & Grill offers a quiet respite from the workaday bustle of downtown Honolulu. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Luckily, the owners figured that out, offering a takeout service downstairs from the dine-in restaurant open only during lunch rush hours. The takeout's menu changes weekly; popular dishes include baked spaghetti, mushroom pork, beef curry, and corned beef and cabbage. Plates are $5.25 to $6; minis are $4.25; somen or Chinese chicken salad are $4.75.

But if you've got time, go upstairs.

Fort Street Bar & Grill, whose owners also run the famous Side Street Inn, offers a quiet break from the downtown bustle. A popular pau-hana stop, the restaurant serves up its signature pupu: pork chops ($12), fried rice ($6.25), spicy chicken wings ($8) and furikake-crusted 'ahi ($9.50).

The atmosphere, a strange mix of Hawaiian-style casual with a karaoke-room feel, seems to make people whisper during lunchtime conversations. Then the food arrives, and whispers turn into exclamations of approval.

We tried the kalua pork sandwich ($7.25) and chicken katsu plate ($8.50). The sandwich, with spicy steak fries and cole slaw, was packed with pork and tasty. The chicken katsu was right on target; generous portions of perfectly fried, breaded chicken satisfied my craving for local-style comfort food.

Lunch upstairs, on the pricey side, is more a luxury than a daily occurrence. But a personal reward, nonetheless.

Takeout hours: 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays. Lunch upstairs: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays. Bar stays open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m.-10 p.m Fridays. Kitchen closes at 2 p.m and reopens at 4 p.m. for pupu 'til closing. Happy hour: 2-7 p.m. Mondays: free pupu from 5:30 p.m. 'til they run out. 523-1500.