Dining Scene
Hanohano turns dining into special occasion

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

A Hanohano Room customer takes advantage of the fine view of Waikiki Beach during breakfast. Outstanding service and imaginative dishes make a meal here memorable. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser Hanohano Room Sheraton Waikiki Hotel 2255 Kalakaua Ave. 922-4422 Dinner: 6-10 p.m. nightly Breakfast buffet: 6:30-10:30 a.m. weekdays Saturday radio breakfast: 7-10:30 a.m. Sunday champagne brunch: 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

The dining room is very comfortable: big cushy chairs at tables on the main floor level, spread apart for privacy. The next level up, toward the center of the room, is a tier of booths. A theater specialist must have designed the layout, because every seat works.

At one end of the dining room is a stage area where Perry & Price do their Saturday morning radio show. A piano player entertained from about 6 to 8 p.m., which was a satisfying accompaniment to our meal. At 8:30 each evening, a band begins playing soft rock and ballads. Volume-wise, the band may not be perfect to dine by, but if you've finished your meal and feel like dancing, this is the place.

Hanohano's staff couldn't be nicer or more efficient, from the hostesses who greet you to the tuxedoed career waiters. One of our ours has been working there almost 30 years, another a mere 16 years. And, boy oh boy, does it make a difference when you're in the hands of a staff so knowledgeable and smooth. They do things like re-fold your napkin when you leave your seat, replace bread plates and so many little things that makes you feel very special.

We began with the cold appetizer of seafood samplings ($16), a length of bamboo filled with 'ahi tartare, slightly seared 'ahi tataki, Kona lobster claw (over an avocado-corn relish), Pacific shrimp and a fresh oyster. Four dishes of sauce surrounded the plate; three creamy choices (a remoulade and mustard among them) and one sweet (pineapple?) vinaigrette. Seven other cold appetizers, all seafood, are on the menu.

The fired-up sauteed tiger prawns ($13) pack a spicy wallop, matched with a gutsy Kaua'i guava barbecue sauce, and served alongside a pipi kaula-basil corn bread triangle. Other hot starters include an escargot treatment ($10) and seared foie gras with Chinatown duck wonton ($14) in a Port plum sauce.

The Mauna Loa salad ($8) showcases fresh Big Island hearts of palm, Kamuela tomato slices, sweet Maui onion and tiger prawns, dressed with balsamic sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. A nice, old-fashioned treat is watching tableside preparation of the Caesar salad ($10.50 per person) or spinach salad ($10.75 per person).

Two soups that caught our attention were the Moloka'i sweet-potato crab bisque ($7), and the light fennel cream soup ($6). The bisque was sweet and thick, overshadowing any crab flavor. They should split that soup into a sweet-potato soup and a crab bisque for genuine seafood lovers. The fennel soup was truer to its main ingredient. I applaud their soup creativity, even if we weren't big fans.

I had the sesame seed fresh Island 'opakapaka ($33), the restaurant's signature fish dish. It was plated on a bed of watercress relish, framed by wasabi mashed potatoes, and drizzled with subtle lobster-miso sauce and scallion oil. Miss A had the shiitake-crusted mahimahi ($31), declaring it her new favorite fish dish. It was draped with a creamy, Pommery grain mustard sauce, and a drizzled pinot noir reduction. Garlic mashers rounded out her plate. The lobster-stuffed fresh Island chicken breast ($27) with morel sauce sounds scrumptious, as does the grilled veal rack chop ($32), served with a goat cheese fondue, and sauced with a Kona ale and liliko'i glaze.

The Hanohano classic dessert ($8) is vanilla ice cream and strawberries topped with sabayon sauce. The sabayon could have been more frothy and generous, with a more pronounced sweet taste of Marsala. Passionfruit mousse ($7.25) was better, spooned into a chocolate basket, cool and very creamy. There's an Okinawan sweet-potato spiced cheesecake ($7.25) and, of course, the pyrotechnics display desserts — banana flame and cherries jubilee ($11 per person) — prepared at your table.

A final special touch is a bubbling cauldron of "smoke" (created by pouring water over dry ice) placed on your table with chocolate-covered ice cream bonbons. Hanohano is a smart choice for a special occasion.

Send comments, questions, and suggestions to ChefMatthew@LoveLife.com