Local favorite goes beyond Italian standbys

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Dining Critic

Jeffrey Do is manager of Verbano Italiano Ristorante on King Street, and part of a family that has run the three-restaurant chain since 1993. He's displaying the restaurant's signature dish: Polla alla Puttanesca, a roasted chicken with onion, potatoes, anchovies, capers and garlic. There also are Verbanos in Kaimuki and at Pearlridge. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser Verbano 1451 S. King St. 941-9168 Open Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch, 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner; dinner only on Saturdays and Sundays Good

Jeffrey Do's family, along with chef Kubo Luu, worked under fiery New York chef Nick Marino in the 1980s. They learned his style of

Italian-American cookery, then worked for longtime restaurateur Cass Castagnola.

Do was anxious to right one common misperception: "Everybody thinks we are Vietnamese, but we are not ... We are a Chinese family," he said.

Appetizers include all the usual suspects. The antipasto plate ($5.90 for two, $8.90 for four) includes meats, cheese, olives, chickpeas and peppers, a pretty good carpaccio ($6.90 either cold or hot), prosciutto and honeydew melon, and calamari fritti ($7.90).

You'd probably do better trying the stuffed Melanzane di Mare ($6.90), an ambitious appetizer. Breaded eggplant is prepared with mushrooms, ricotta cheese, bay shrimp and mozzarella cheese, served in a wine and butter sauce.

Another good choice is the Clams Florentina ($7.90), stuffed and baked with a touch of bread, spices and bacon, then splashed with wine. This dish would have been even better had the bacon been crisp.

The squid ink ravioli ($5.90) are filled with crab, scallops and ricotta. If you're squeamish about squid, the ink doesn't add any discernable flavor, just color.

Verbano does a good job with its soups. One day, the soup was house-made seafood chowder ($2.90), creamy but quite light, with good flavor. The ubiquitous minestrone ($2.90) is better than most, clean tasting and aromatic.

Caesar salad ($4.90) was enjoyable. Although the creamy dressing wasn't traditional, it was good enough to carry the fresh crunchy leaves of romaine. Topped with shredded parmesan, the salad was sharp and cheesy enough to pass with flying colors. (The traditional Caesar includes garlic, worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, a coddled egg, anchovies and croutons.)

If you're in the mood for pasta, you can choose the sauce for your spaghettini, in a small or large portion. Most small dishes of pasta are $5.90, large ones $8.90, except the clam or meatball/sausage ($1 more). For an extra $1, you can substitute penne, rigatoni, linguini, fettuccine or angel hair.

The marinara and meat sauces are good, the spicier sauces even better. Puttanesca adds to the standard marinara some garlic, anchovies, capers and black olives, resulting in big flavor. Arrabiata sauce contains garlic, ham, bacon and dried chili pepper. This one has a richer, meatier, fattier flavor, perked up with the heat of the dried pepper. And, of course, there's a nontomato sauce, carbonara style, a thick concoction of egg, cheese and butter with sauteed onion, bacon and ham.

An interesting entree is the Pollo Fantasia di Mare ($9.90 for the small portion, $13.90 for large), a combination of breaded chicken and eggplant covered with bay shrimp, cheese and mushrooms, sauced with a Marsala and butter sauce. The flavors worked well together, the sweetness of the wine offering a pleasant finish.

A simple but delicious dish is the Pollo Alla Shallot ($7.90 and $11.90), chicken topped with fragrant and crunchy fried shallots, served in a garlic sauce. I like to squeeze fresh lemon over it, along with a big dose of freshly cracked black pepper. If you're looking for something non-tomato to enjoy, this baby's for you.

Lasagna ($9.90), veal parmigiana ($8.90 and $12.90) and cannelloni ($11.90) are pretty much what you'd expect. They are very popular old standbys that everyone seems to enjoy, but I prefer Verbano's more unusual choices.

I can recommend the Osso Buco Cremolata ($16.90), braised veal shanks; and Fegato alla Veneziana ($7.90 and $11.90) — sautŽed chicken liver and onions in a tomato sauce.

Verbano's dining room is casual and cozy, with soft lighting. The menu is quite extensive, including meats, seafood and vegetarian items. I'd skip the desserts, though — and you'll probably be too full anyway.

Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.