Mexican restaurant's fare rated lukewarm
By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
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| Maia Reynolds serves up lunch at Pacifico Grill. The Hawai'i Kai eatery includes a lanai dining area.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser Pacifico Grill 377 Keahole St. Hawai'i Kai 394-5555 Mondays-Thursdays: lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner 5-9 p.m. Fridays: lunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dinner 5-10 p.m. Saturdays: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
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The front entrance leads to an interior that is long and quite narrow, a virtual pathway to the backside waterfront lanai, the most worthwhile place to sit. There, if you wish to enjoy drinks — perhaps a beer ($3 for domestic, $4 for imports) or a margarita ($4.95 for a blended house version, $6.50 for a margarita cocktail) — this setting is enjoyable enough. It's just when you begin to add food to the equation that the experience diminishes.
Appetizers missed on both visits. Nachos grande ($6 for half-order, $8.50 for full) are the simple and standard version of tortilla chips topped with cheese, a choice of chicken, shredded or ground beef, refried beans, sour cream, guacamole and salsa. It arrived lukewarm.
The Mexican shrimp cocktail ($6) looked good, with a lot of small shrimp. However, they tasted waterlogged and bland.ÊThe accompanying salsa fresca (tomatoes and onions primarily) lacked any real flavor punch to perk up this dish.
Finally, the quesadilla suprema ($8.95) was drab and served at room temperature, a sin considering this dish is supposed to be melted cheese inside a hot tortilla, with some meat and guacamole.
To make matters worse, I found a toothpick in one of the pieces of quesadilla. Normally I wouldn't have mentioned the toothpick, but there were other telltale signs of a troubled kitchen that I simply could not ignore.
There were many small pieces of sharp bone in the carnitas entree ($14.95), a significant sign that the kitchen isn't cutting the meat properly. The pork, although tender, had little or no flavor, and even with a liberal sprinkling of salt and squeeze of lime it was a matter of too little, too late.
The fajitas ($16.25 for beef or chicken, $16.95 for shrimp) were not served on a sizzling cast-iron platter, as they seem to be everywhere else. The dish was placed on a plate instead, and once again lacked the necessary heat to make it a winner. At least the flavors were pretty good, with marinated and grilled onions, peppers and tomatoes, served with warm tortillas on the side.
Everything else I tasted was fair at best, including the tamale and chile relle–o plate ($11.25), and the enchiladas ($10.25).
When it came time for dessert, I figured that the kahlua flan ($3.50) would be a decent choice, but I was mistaken. I knew as soon I attempted to spoon into the flan that it was a disaster. The texture was stiff and sticky, lacking any delicacy. Our waitress took the flan away, returning a few minutes later to tell me that the owner agreed with us, that the flan was "awful."
Although billed as authentic Mexican cuisine, Pacifico is simply not. So many things are wrong about this place that you may wish to wait a while before coming here.
Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com with comments, questions and suggestions.
