Moutarde Cafe a worthy Kaimuki newcomer

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

Lia Okamura and Nate Alameda have lunch at Moutarde Cafe on Wai'alae Avenue. Breakfast and lunch are on the menu, and dinners will soon be offered as well. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser Moutarde Cafe 3458 Wai'alae Ave. 7 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays 732-5192 Good

Moutarde is poised to provide something just a bit different from most places you'll come across. It's a combination cafe (eat-in or takeout), bakery and gourmet market.

Owned by longtime food company Kahala Caterers, Moutarde's entry into the restaurant business should be an easy transition. With catering accounts such as the Navatek and the USS Missouri snack bar, the company understands how to cook on a large scale. This latest venture allows it to offer affordable, cooked-to-order foods for breakfast, plus pasta, sandwiches, salads, entrees, pizza and bakery items.

Inside you'll find several small tables. Place your order at the front and they'll bring your food on china plates, not Styrofoam (unless you've ordered takeout), making this a casual eatery for breakfast, lunch or a late afternoon snack. Within a month or so, the plan is to serve dinners as well.

Breakfast has been slow, but the operators hope that will change when people find out about the two-egg specials ($4.25, with cornbread and rice or garlic potatoes) with bacon, Portuguese sausage or link sausage. Omelettes range from $3.25 for plain to $5.25 for ham and cheese, Spanish style, or mushroom. If you prefer pancakes ($3.95) or French toast ($4.95) instead of eggs, no problem. Scones ($2.25) and croissants (75 cents) are available, too.

Lunch brings a large selection of sandwiches at $5.95: a turkey, roast beef, avocado club, chicken salad, ham, BLT, pastrami, tuna salad or veggie. For $1.30 more, you get a pasta salad or a potato salad and a soda.

I had the Reuben sandwich one day ($6.75) and enjoyed the flavors of the corned beef (tasty, but too thickly sliced) and sauerkraut with a schmear of Russian dressing on grilled rye bread. Even better was the French dip sandwich ($6.50) with tender, thin slices of rib-eye steak, sauteed onion and melted provolone cheese on a fresh ciabatta roll. On the side was a hot cup of beef drippings for dunking.

The quiches are noteworthy here. These are double-sized portions, a steal at $3.25. There's quiche Lorraine (ham and cheese), a tomato-basil choice, and one with spinach. The fillings were delicate and subtle, and the crust was a flaky and savory version of a very good pie crust.

There are two pizza choices, One is mozzarella and prosciutto ($6.95) with sauteed red onions flavored with balsamic vinegar and red peppers. The other pie, the Santa Fe ($6.50), has seared steak, chopped lettuce, tomato, onion and parmesan cheese, garnished with guacamole and shredded tortilla chips.

In addition to the regular menu items, Moutarde offers a daily blackboard of specials. The Pacific Rim chicken curry ($6.75) was average, creamy veggie curry (broccoli, carrot, onion, bell peppers) with a few chunks of chicken thrown in. Eggplant parmigiana ($6.75) was good, if a bit on the dry side, but I would have preferred more eggplant and a lot less linguine. The half-roasted chicken ($6.75) was quite good, served with rice or mashed potato, plus vegetables and gravy. Meatloaf loco moco ($5.75) was very good, moist and flavorful meat topped with gravy and a fried egg.

I can see that Moutarde's operators are gearing up to serve dinner with interesting-sounding dishes such as braised duck in demiglace ($8.75), rotisserie veal ($8.50), mussels marinara ($8.75) and potato pancakes with chicken-apple sausage ($7.25). I look forward to seeing many eclectic choices on the cafe's menu.

Moutarde Cafe is the new kid on the block where you can enjoy the familiar now while looking forward to the very creative.

With a bit more time, and a few small adjustments, this might someday be a hot spot for dinners. Right now, it's a worthwhile place for a casual lunch or an easygoing breakfast.

Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.