Chief's Hut offers tranquility, tropical tastes
By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
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| A garden and waterfall make for a peaceful setting at the Chief's Hut restaurant in the Outrigger Reef Hotel. Chef Jerome Ranos begins the day by offering eggs with grilled or sauteed mahimahi, steak or pork chops. For lunch and dinner, there's mandarin orange chicken salad, pizza, chicken sate and Hawaiian-style fish and chips.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Chief's Hut Outrigger Reef Hotel 2169 Kalia Road 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily 924-4992
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The Outrigger Reef Hotel has a different business model, though. The three restaurants on the property are separately owned concessions, so to speak. Little-known Chief's Hut, the well-known Shore Bird Beach Broiler and the more recent addition, the fancier Ocean House, engage in a quiet dance of culinary free enterprise.
Chef Jerome Ranos is at the helm at the Chief's Hut. His background includes stints at Trader Vic's (as executive chef) and the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago. Once here, he worked with chef Onjin Kim at her former Hawai'i Kai restaurant, Hanatei Bistro, and also with the team that started the Ihilani Resort and Spa restaurants at Ko Olina.
Ranos' philosophy about resort food is pretty much giving his guests what they expect. We all have preconceived notions about cuisine, it seems. When people visit Hawai'i they dream about great fish and tropical fruit. Ranos knows this and endeavors to please.
I enjoy the setting of the Chief's Hut. It's near the front entrance to the hotel, near the pool and the Aloha Lounge. A tranquil garden setting with cascading waterfalls nips up along the edge of the restaurant, offering a pleasant only-in-Hawai'i diversion.
Breakfast begins at 6:30. Substantial and meaty early-morning meals can be had here, along with lighter fare. I enjoy the mahimahi and eggs ($8.95), offering grilled or sauteed mahi; steak and eggs ($9.25) will get you a flame-grilled, petite top sirloin steak; and pork chop and eggs ($8.95) is another popular choice. These breakfasts include two eggs any way you like, toast and jelly, along with jasmine rice or home-fried potatoes.
The kama'aina breakfast wrap ($6.95) is a fun way to begin — a spinach flour tortilla is filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, jasmine rice, salsa and guacamole. Buttermilk pancakes ($4.99-$6.99 with macadamia nuts) are fluffy and tasty, Belgian waffles ($4.99-$6.25 with strawberries and whipped cream) are thick and crunchy, and the French toast ($4.99) is made from Hawaiian sweet bread.
The lunch and dinner menus are fairly extensive, with several appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches and entrees to choose from. Lunch is traditionally a lighter meal, and here you can get a mandarin orange chicken salad ($9.50) made with a marinated and grilled chicken breast atop mixed baby greens, cucumber, green onion and tomato, dressed in a sweet-and-sour sesame dressing. The Thai chicken Caesar salad ($9.50) is a perky change of pace because of the sweet Thai chile sauce used.
The Waikiki wrap ($7.95) is the best-selling item in the sandwich category, stuffing a mild chile tortilla with grilled citrus-marinated chicken, Thai peanut sauce, ginger slaw, pickled onions, and jasmine rice.
Personal-sized pan pizza is available. The one I enjoyed most was the zesty chipotle barbecued chicken ($8.95), but old favorites pepperoni ($7.95) and Hawaiian ($8.95; with ham and pineapple) also are offered.
Dinner appetizers include crab Rangoon ($6.95), deep-fried wontons filled with crab and cream cheese. Much better was the chicken sate ($6.50), bamboo-skewered chicken pieces served with peanut sauce; and the Hawaiian-style fish and chips ($6.95) made with panko-crusted mahimahi.
Tropical-style mahimahi ($13.95) is grilled with a honey passionfruit glaze before being topped with papaya-mango chutney and toasted macadamias. The fresh island catch ($17.95) was 'ahi on the day I tried it, but the cut was a thin fillet and was a bit too well done for my taste. The veggie noodle stir-fry ($10.75) is a big bowl filled with sesame-flavored noodles, onions, broccoli, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, celery, snow peas, cabbage and bean sprouts.
Dessert includes a specialty called chocolate indulgences ($4.95), a treat made from crumbled fudgey brownies combined with chocolate ice cream and frozen onto a macadamia crust. It is then smothered with hot fudge sauce.
The Chief's Hut is pleasant and staffed by a nice group of people. You can enjoy an affordable meal here, be it for island-style cuisine using Hawai'i seafood and produce, or for traditional American fare. Nightly entertainment in the Aloha Lounge includes a trio and hula dancers, and helps make your experience that much nicer.
Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com with your comments, questions and suggestions.
