Jaron's food doesn't live up to menu's billing
By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
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| From left, Joy Yonemura of Nu'uanu and Jodi and Shannon Belin of Kailua chat while waiting for their meal at Jaron's. The restaurant has a pleasing decor and a tempting menu that doesn't quite deliver.
Eugene Tanner• The Honolulu Advertiser Jaron's 201 A Hamakua Drive, Kailua 261-4600 Lunch 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and dinner 4-10 p.m., Mondays-Saturdays. Brunch 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and dinner 4-9 p.m. on Sundays
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During a recent visit, the blackened 'ahi appetizer ($9.95 at lunch; $10.95 at dinner) arrived drowning in a salty and gloppy honey-mustard-shoyu sauce. Although the 'ahi was acceptable, the sauce ruined it. The stuffed mushrooms ($6.95) are filled with a minced version of unidentifiable "seafood stuffing" topped with a Mornay sauce and baked; I found them tasteless.
On another visit, the crab nachos ($7.75 and $9.95) were cheesy, to be sure, but the crab was undetectable. The steamed clams ($11.95) were better than the rest of the appetizers, but not as fragrant and flavorful as they could have been. Neither bread nor service plates were brought to our table with the appetizers until I requested them, and then my request was met with what looked like disbelief.
A few nice-sounding salads are offered, such as the Cobb ($10.95, with chicken, bacon, hard-boiled egg, avocado, tomato, cheese, and olives); blackened 'ahi Caesar ($11.95); and the bay shrimp Louie ($8.95). Unfortunately, the dressings are either too tart/sour (blue cheese, creamy tarragon) or too sweet (ginger-guava, Thousand Island).
The lunch menu offerings include an array of sandwiches (french dip, Reuben, mac nut-encrusted mahi-mahi and smoked turkey, $8.95 each), along with burgers ($6.95-$9.95) with various topping choices.
The full portion of crab cakes ($15.95 for two) was served with a good wheatberry rice pilaf, and sauteed zucchini and carrots. The cakes themselves are short on crab flavor and are soft on the outside —not crisp — and too wet and creamy on the interior, served over a bland basil cream sauce, with a red-pepper aioli on top.
The stuffed mahi ($15.95) with lobster cream sauce had the same seafood filling as the stuffed mushroom appetizer. It, too, came with the wheatberry rice pilaf and sauteed zucchini and carrots. I think mahi is a bit too firm a fish to stuff; a better choice would have been sole or snapper.
Hamakua Chicken ($14.98) consists of a chicken breast, topped once again with seafood stuffing and draped with lobster cream sauce.
The best thing I tasted in our visits to Jaron's was grilled swordfish (with the ubiquitous lobster cream sauce, this time spiked with a touch of Sambuca). This was the daily fresh fish special ($12.95) at lunchtime and came with garlic mashed potatoes (with whole roasted garlic cloves) and veggies. The swordfish was perfectly cooked, smoky and tender, needing no sauce accompaniment whatsoever.
Overall, the menu at Jaron's reads well, but the finished dishes and the service don't quite measure up.
Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.
