Plumeria Beach Cafe has sumptuous buffets, sunsets
By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
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| The Plumeria Beach Cafe at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii offers great food and a beautiful setting. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser Plumeria Beach Cafe At the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii 5000 Kahala Ave. Breakfast: 6:30-11:30 a.m. Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner: 5:30-10:30 p.m. 739-8760
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Sit outside, beneath an umbrella-topped table, or, if you prefer, inside the large open dining room, steps away from the waves. I've taken friends to the hotel to watch the dolphins in the man-made lagoon, to sit on the gorgeous beach, and then down to the Plumeria for a snack or meal, a guava nectar ($5.25), a cup of superb coffee ($3.25), or perhaps a cocktail.
The menu sports a wonderful variety of á la carte items that truly captures the "something for everyone" approach. Be it an 'ahi steak sandwich ($15.50) with wasabi aioli, a steaming bowl of saimin ($13.75) with shrimp and char siu, a cool bowl of gazpacho, or a traditional Caesar salad ($9.75), you'll be able to find something satisfying to eat.
I caught a glimpse of the prime New York steak ($28.75 for a 10-ounce cut), as well as the aromatic herb-roasted chicken ($18), flavored with fresh thyme, rosemary and Hawaiian salt. There's fresh island catch ($20) that can be grilled, sautéed or steamed, and St. Louis ribs with a poha-berry barbecue sauce.
If you're in the mood for pasta, order the very rich three-cheese penne ($16.75) with chorizo, parmesan, goat cheese, blue cheese and roasted garlic. That's merely a tiny and tasty tease of some of what is served here.
If you're still not quite sure what you want, the buffets are all top quality, sumptuous affairs. The breakfast buffet ($20 for adults, $10 for children) includes all of the usual suspects — eggs prepared the way you want, bacon, sausage, fruit, juices, cereal, breads, rolls, and other bakery items.
At lunchtime the buffet is $26.50 and includes salads, sushi and sashimi, soup, meats, cheeses, changing entrées such as pork loin, fresh catch, roasted chicken, rice, mashed potatoes and a great selection of desserts.
The dinner buffet special Mondays through Wednesdays, and Saturdays, costs $31.50 and is more elaborate than the lunch buffet.
Thursday nights bring a barbecue buffet, Fridays the seafood buffet, and Sundays the Asian buffet (each $38.75). The Sunday brunch buffet ($34.50 for adults, $17.25 for kids 5-12) includes a well-stocked salad bar with items such as tomato-mozzarella, seafood salad, Caesar, Chinese chicken salad, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and more. There's fresh fruit, cold meat (Parma ham was available recently), smoked salmon, an omelet station, a carving station, a great selection of entrées (usually fish, fowl, various meats such as pork, beef and duck, au gratin dishes, noodles, etc.), freshly baked breads, and of course, the dessert buffet.
An excellent value is the twilight dinner special ($23; 5:30-6:30 p.m. daily) that offers Maui onion soup or Waimanalo greens salad, choice of grilled New York steak, fresh fish of the day, or grilled garlic-herb chicken breast. Rice or potato, veggies and the dessert buffet accompany that.
While I'm at it, I may as well discuss that little piece of heaven, the dessert buffet. For just $9.75 (including coffee or tea), you can enjoy your choice from a dozen delectable goodies. There's a warm bread pudding with silky creme anglaise, tiramisu, tarts, linzer torte, custards, brownies, chewies, creamies, crunchies, and lots more!
If you arrive early enough, you can parlay all this sweet wondrousness with a gorgeous sunset. Some folks skip dinner altogether in favor of this decadent treat.
The Plumeria Beach Cafe offers high quality food, friendly service, but it's the incredible ambience that will make you proud to live (and eat!) in Hawai'i.
Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com with your comments, questions and suggestions.
