Nibbling back through a few restaurant reviews
Editor's note: Helen Wu is on vacation this week. Here are excerpts from restaurants she recently reviewed. Wu returns next week.
By Helen Wu
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
HIROSHI'S EURASION TAPAS
Restaurant Row
533-4476
5:30-9:30 nightly
1/2 Good
White plates are the canvas for chef Hiroshi Fukui's work here. His food exhibits controlled balance in color, texture and taste. An otherwise ordinary salad of baby spinach greens ($6.75), for example, becomes distinctive when all the elements (mustard-sesame vinaigrette, greens, soft crumbled eggs, tsukemono, bacon bits and sweet Hau'ula tomato) are combined in just the right proportions. A classic dish of misoyaki butterfish ($15.95) with just a scattering of tangy lemon-ume plum jelly exemplifies careful restraint.
However, Fukui's talent deserves a dining-room gallery better suited for his work than this nondescript space. Predominantly small-plates menu ($5.59 to $21.95). Exceptional wine list by Chuck Furuya.
DEB'S RIBS AND OLD SCHOOL SOUL FOOD
130 Kailua Road, No. 112, Kailua
262-3327
Lunch: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays and Mondays
Dinner: 4:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays-Mondays
Good
Debra Hopkins has a good thing going on: barbecued ribs based on a family recipe. A sweet, tangy sauce with a mild peppery kick coats the baby back ribs, which are slow-cooked, then grilled, producing meat that is succulent with a bit of lacquer-like caramelizing on the outside. Crispy fried chicken ($4), fried catfish ($5.50) and soul-food sides are offered, too.
SPADA BAR AND RESTAURANT
999 Bishop St., Suite 150
538-3332
11 a.m.-9 p.m. weekdays
1/2 Good
Spada Bar and Restaurant's chef Alfredo Lee is helping awaken townie taste buds with exposure to some of the nuances of Italian cooking. Portions here aren't skimpy. Antipasto de la casa ($8.95) is a bargain — the large, colorful assortment of cold delights is a profusion of sunny Mediterranean flavors (salami, shrimp, caponata, mozzarella and a handful of mixed greens with balsamic dressing). Piadina, an unleavened flatbread, is a specialty of the Emilia-Romagna region, served here topped with salad: $9.95 for a choice of chicken caesar or grilled vegetables on baby greens. A third option of decadent smoked salmon ($10.95) with fresh dill sauce would be great with champagne.
The menu is being revamped to include more Emilia-Romagna specialties. Service friendly but sometimes slow, unpolished.
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| Kevin Dee, with a Cobb salad in hand here, presides as chef at the Grand Cafe on Pauahi Street. On the menu are such entrees as bacon-wrapped meatloaf and house-cured corned beef.
Advertiser library photos |
31 N. Pauahi St.
531-0001
6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays; 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays; closed Sundays
Very good
To describe the Grand CafÚ as charming would be inadequate. The place reflects the kind of simple sweetness embodied by a loving grandmother in the kitchen baking cookies. Try pastry chef Samantha Choy's handiwork, such as freshly baked apple pie ($4.17 a slice), creamy blueberry cheesecake ($4.17 a slice) and a hefty chocolate-chip scone ($2.34).
Chef Kevin Dee has addressed the challenges of producing homey, appetizing classics particularly well in dishes such as a bacon-wrapped meatloaf ($8.75) of beef, pork and veal with a red wine au jus, an exceptional grilled reuben ($8.50), made with house-cured corned beef, and, for vegetarians, the roasted vegetable Pauahi sandwich ($7.75) filled with tapenade and an atypical but deeply satisfying assemblage of pesto-marinated veggies.
This restaurant experienced an over-busy opening that resulted in service glitches, but things have calmed down.
SHOKUDO JAPANESE RESTAURANT AND BAR
1585 Kapi'olani Blvd.
941-3701
5 p.m.-2 a.m. nightly
Good
Shokudo, just a block from the Hawai'i Convention Center on Kapi'olani Boulevard, is both a testing lab and a model for a revolution that's already begun here in the booming izakaya (Japanese pub) explosion.
One of the most stunning and dramatic dining rooms on the island features a vermilion ceiling with neutral beige and wood tones below and tiered seating in the central bar. The modern aesthetic appears in fusion dishes and presentation and a well-constructed and informative drink menu. The menu resembles a shopping catalog, with vivid color photos and English translations.
Wide-ranging menu, but stick to Japanese standards, where less fusion makes better flavors. Knowledgeable staff; service can be irregular during busy dinner hour. Reasonably priced sumo portions.
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| Town's offerings include fresh lemonade with honey, mint and parsley juice. The Kaimuki bistro's menu changes daily. |
3435 Wai'alae Ave., No. 103 at 9th Ave.
735-5900
6:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays
Continental breakfast 6:30-11:30 a.m.
Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Gap menu 2:30-5:30 p.m. (limited selections)
Dinner 5:30 p.m. to closing
1/2 Very good
Town is delivering up-to-the-minute style — something the island has lacked — in what chef-owner Ed Kenney calls an "unpretentious neighborhood American bistro." The kitchen crew pumps out solidly tuned dishes backed up by no-attitude, mellow, urban-girl waitresses. However, service wobbles.
Town's menu features well-priced, down-to-earth dishes with punch enough to evoke a "Wow!" Most of the menu changes daily. The cuisine has a simple, dreamy, fragrant quality. Flavors are bold without being brash, as in a succulent half-chicken, with torn bread, roasted grapes, tatsoi (a dark green Asian vegetable) and pancetta, in a verjus preparation ($13 at lunch minus tatsoi, $16.50 at dinner).
Must-try dishes include soups of the day ($4/$6 at lunch, $6 at dinner); black mussels with cavatelli pasta, tomato and fennel in Cinzano broth ($12); and any frito dish (around $7.50 to $8.50).
Reach Helen Wu at hwu@honoluluadvertiser.com.
