Menu fights with setting for attention

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

Sauté cook Tommy Chiles works up one of the many Chinese-inspired dishes at Jackie's Kitchen. Action star Jackie Chan opened the Ala Moana restaurant, his first in the United States, last year. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser Jackie's Kitchen Ala Moana Center 943-2426 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays Until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Good

Video screens play Chan movies on an endless loop, while music thump-thumps over the sound system. And if that's not enough of an assault on your senses, the bartenders juggle and spin bottles and cups endlessly, dropping them to the floor with unfortunate consistency.

I visited a few times and liked many of the appetizers, wok dishes, entrée specialties and salads. The offerings are varied, for the most part Chinese in flavor and design.

About 20 appetizers are offered. Ying yang crab cakes ($11.95) are made with sweet blue crab and dusted with a light coating of panko before being pan-fried. Although a bit limp, the flavor was pleasing, and the mustard butter sauce worked well.

Crab won tons ($6.95), although suggested by our waitress and described as a very popular appetizer, didn't quite hit the mark for me, most likely because of the addition of cream cheese, which overpowered what would be an otherwise nice combination of crab, water chestnuts and green onions.

Better was the chicken satay ($6.95), grilled and juicy, with one of the best peanut dipping sauces in town. Steamed Manila clams ($10.95 for a half-pound) are succulent in a pool of black-bean sauce.

Shrimp dumplings ($7.95) are steamed, with a firm noodle exterior wrapped around pieces of bursting shrimp. This one's served with a soy-vinegar dipping sauce. The coconut shrimp ($8.95) are breaded with crisp coconut, fried and served with sweet chili sauce for a crunchy, sweet and spicy presentation.

Salads are fresh and presented well. The Thai beef salad ($11.95) combines seared steak, mixed greens, onions, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Warm duck salad ($9.95) is arranged over spinach, with fresh mango, mac nuts and sweet onion. A better duck choice would be the tea-smoked duck entrée ($16.25), a half-duck served with bao (buns) and hoisin sauce. Filet mignon ($24.95) is a half-pound hunk of grilled tenderness, served with a soy-wasabi butter sauce. Lamb chops ($18.95) are marinated in a Chinese five-spice flavoring, along with shoyu, chili, garlic and hoisin, before being grilled.

Sometimes there's nothing better than a simple entrée of roast chicken ($14.95), a half chicken spiced up with lemongrass, ginger and garlic. Miso glazed salmon ($15.95), braised short ribs ($17.50), and a wok-fried Dungeness crab ($28.50) in black bean or curry sauce round out the entrée choices. All the specialty entrée choices include a choice of rice, baked sweet potato or garlic mashed potatoes, and fresh veggies.

I loved the side order of Chinese green beans ($2.95), crisp-tender, sweet, salty and kicked up with a liberal addition of fresh garlic. The baked sweet potato is a welcome addition to the starch choices.

I was disappointed with the orange-peel shrimp ($14.25) because it lacked the zing most Chinese restaurants apply to this dish. The shrimp were on the small side, looking quite different from the image on the menu. The house special fried rice ($6.95) was decent, with lup cheong, char siu and green onion added for contrast. Better is the roasted garlic fried rice ($6.95) with whole garlic cloves, spinach and egg.

Sandwiches seemed to be popular; I would guess it's because they are lower-priced than much of the other food. An eight-ounce pao-pao cheeseburger ($7.95) is exceeded only by the twin dragon burger ($12.95) for a whopping pound of ground-beef bliss. Other sandwiches include the "drunkin' fish" ($8.95) and a grilled portobello mushroom sandwich ($6.95).

Sweet endings include the Shanghai sundae ($5.25), correctly described as a warm, gooey mac-nut brownie topped with Bubbie's ice cream, hot fudge, caramel and whipped cream. Poached pear won tons ($5.95) are unusual — the filling is poached in plum wine with golden raisins and pine nuts, spooned into won ton wrappers and fried.

Without the distractions described above, I think Jackie's Kitchen could be a worthwhile eatery. Right now, though, you'll have to decide for yourself if you'd like a side of kung-fu fighting with your meal.

Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.