Today, a selection of restaurants we have recently reviewed:

SERGIO'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT

449 Kapahulu Ave., third floor; 737-4462, www.sergioshonolulu.com

Dinner nightly

Italian fine dining in American-sized portions

Sergio's Italian Restaurant, which has moved into the third-floor Kapahulu Avenue location that once housed Sam Choy's, retains Sam's traditions of welcoming service and hearty dining. But rather than Island-influenced dishes, the menu offers a regional tour of Italy, with a strong leaning to the north and therefore light on seafood, heavier on meaty entrees.

Sergio's president, Gary Manago, explained that Tuscan-born executive chef Alfredo Lee is responsible. Lee, formerly of the highly praised Il Fornaio restaurant group, has been with Sergio's since 2007. He devised the menu along with chef Rodhel Ibay and sous chef Kerwin Sueno, both formerly of Formaggio Grill in Kailua.

Our favorites: a gigantic, exceptionally moist pork chop with mashed kabocha on the side; brick-smashed chicken, herb-crusted and oozing lemony juices, and bread salad, composed of Romaine, cucumber, thick slices of heirloom tomato, orange wedges, prunes, onions, shaved ricotta salata (a hard, salty ricotta cheese) and toasty cubes of bread topped with crunchy cresses and drizzled with vinaigrette. This is a dish that will bring me back to Sergio's.

— Wanda Adams

TWIST

Sheraton Waikiki, 2255 Kalakaua Ave., 30th floor; 922-4422

Dinner nightly

High-end Hawaiian Regional Cuisine and a trip around the islands

The 30th-floor aerie long known as the Hanohano Room has been reborn as Twist at Hanohano, with a spiffy modern logo and a sleek cocktail area featuring minimalist white furniture. If a breathtaking view is as important as what's on your plate, Twist is a good mix of both, with better-than-average, top-of-a-hotel food.

The Sheraton recruited Hoku's alum Ryan Loo to take over the kitchen. The restaurant's "philosophy" is about "synergy" and features food inspired by islands around the world — from the Seychelles to Sicily — that features local ingredients. Be sure to ask for a table on the Diamond Head side of the restaurant for the best view; the other has you staring at Donald Trump's construction site.

You choose a three-, four- or five-course Hawaiian Regional Cuisine menu (with or without wine pairings) from the regular menu and the specially featured non-Hawai'i island menu (recent destinations were Mallorca and Santorini). Then there are little delights that grab your attention, like the champagne cocktail with fresh blood-orange juice, and the must-order chili chocolate Catalan cream — a mix of that Barcelonan favorite, crème Catalan, and the best chocolate pudding you've ever had, topped with churros.

Our favorites: plump, sweet diver scallop, deliciously matched with a morel ragout, and creamy Kona lobster bisque thick with roasted cauliflower truffle. The kitchen shows promise — that's exciting for a the-view-is-everything room.

— Lesa Griffith

SONNY'S GRILL

717 N. King St., Kalihi; 842-9919

Breakfast and lunch daily

High-quality plate lunch (and breakfast), eat in or takeout

This is one of O'ahu's newest best places you've never been: Sonny's Grill, at the edge of Kalihi on North King Street. It's cheap (nothing over $6.95), it's clean, the people are friendly, the food is several cuts above average and servings are more than adequate.

In this economy, what more could you want?

Sonny's may be the only plate lunch place in Honolulu with an espresso machine. Well, actually, it's not their espresso machine. The Grill leases space from 3-year-old Island Brew, a tiny counter operation that offers espresso, teas, bubble drinks, frappes and the best darned Madeleine cookies (50 cents each) since Proust put pen to paper — plus pastries and a cold case of sandwiches, salads and such. Since good coffee is about as rare as foie gras on Styrofoam, it's a luxury to be able to have your Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice ($3.85) and your latte, too. (The Portuguese sausage was thickly sliced, of good quality and not incinerated; the over-easy eggs were just that, and there were two scoops of rice, as there should be.)

The menu includes, besides the standards (hamburger steak, $5.75; beef cutlet, $6; short ribs, $6 and a barbecue trio, $6.95), three specials a day. My favorite of these, and my husband's too, was a Saturday lunch saute of steak tips, mushrooms and asparagus ($6.95) — smoky, beefy, interesting and satisfying. But two other specials, furikake mahi ($6.50) and salt-and-pepper pork chop with brown gravy ($6.95), were also delicious. And the teri chicken was just right: moist inside, darkly caramelized outside.

— Wanda Adams

ZENSHU

477 Kapahulu Ave.; 738-2769

ZenShu bills itself as a sake bar, sushi bar, sports bar and fusion izakaya. " 'Shu' means sake in Japanese, so we called it ZenShu to mean 'the zen of sake,' " said Wilson Chan, who owns the restaurant, along with Jon Tsuda and sushi chef Ryuji Murayama, formerly of Yohei Sushi.

The menu is a blend of Japanese, Chinese, Korean and local pub fare, while the crowd is a diverse mix of old and young, dressy and beach-casual, and mostly local.

The Ahi Yukke ($10), was by far our favorite item. It's served like steak tartare, only it's seasoned ahi on a slice of cucumber, topped with a raw quail egg and pieces of Korean pear. This dish turns the mouth into a love fest of sweet, salty, nutty, fresh, crispy and chewy sensations.

— Metromix (Go to www.honolulu.metromix.com for the full review.)