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Choice Cuts
Favorite Hawai'i restaurant • Alan Wong's
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| Alan Wong, characteristically upbeat, chats with his kitchen staff. Try his "tasting menu" if you have a culinary sense of adventure,
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser |
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What’s the story? Alan Wong’s Restaurant continues to attract, stimulate and satisfy us, as well as visitors from all over the planet who appreciate world-class cuisine. The food here combines the styles, techniques, and fundamentals of local cooking as well as French, Japanese, and continental cuisines. The service is gracious and unintrusive. The wine list is intriguing. And the “Wong way” keeps spreading: In July, Alan Wong’s Hawai‘i opened at Ikspiari, the new Disneyland shopping, dining, and entertainment complex in Japan. We can consider ourselves blessed: For us, Alan Wong’s is always just down the street.
What’s on the menu? Great appetizers include the ahi carpaccio and tartare with truffled ponzu sauce, and the warm California rolls filled with Kona lobster mousse. Two very popular entrees are ginger-crusted onaga, and macadamia nut-crusted lamb. Check out their “Next Generation Dinners” (full 4-courses) by up-and-coming, Wong-trained chefs. If you really wish to indulge and have a sense of adventure, try the “tasting menu,” a surprise succession of courses that’s different night to night.
FYI: Top floor, 1857 S. King Street; 949-2526. Dinner: 5-10 p.m. daily. Hawaiian regional cuisine; Reservations recommended. VS, MC, AX, DC, JCB. No checks. $$$.
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| Favorite new restaurant • Todai Restaurant Waikiki
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| John Cox, with a group of co-workers from Kaua'i Electric in town for training, goes through the buffet line at Todai. The seafood buffet brings diners back again and again.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser |
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What’s the story? This sprawling all-you-can-eat Japanese seafood buffet has really clicked with our readers, who love buffets in general and seafood buffets in particular. It’s part of a 15-year-old chain that has begun expansion in several Western states. They have perfected a formula: a serve-yourself system boasting a huge variety of quality dishes, primarily Japanese, Chinese and Thai, with seafood highlighted throughout the 160-foot-long buffet counter. Todai, by the way, means “lighthouse.”
What’s on the menu? Whether you’re hungry for sushi, shrimp and vegetable tempura, soups, steamed and fried dumplings, noodles, lobster, crab, chicken, pork, fish, salads, or desserts, Todai will have them waiting for you, freshly prepared. There is, literally, something for everyone here: finicky eaters, vegetarians, even children. And the price is right: Less than $16 for lunch, less than $25 for dinner (prices vary weekdays and weekends). The place closes early, at 9 p.m., and is always busy, so make reservations for 7:30 or earlier. You can’t do justice to this spread in just a short time.
FYI: 1910 Ala Moana (at ‘Ena Road and Ala Moana), Unit 5; 947-1000. Lunch: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily; dinner: 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations recommended for large parties. VS, MC, AX. No checks. $$.
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Cream of the Crop
Crictic's Choice • Tai Pan on the Boulevard
What’s the story? Executive chef Ernesto Limcaco was brought up in a restaurant family and is the driving force at this restaurant, which caters a great deal to resident Japanese nationals. “What I do here is European cuisine with Asian overtones,” he said, “a fusion cuisine.” The attention to detail, the comfort level, and many small touches make Tai Pan a superb dining experience.
What’s on the menu? Begin with the assiette charcutiere du chef (home-made assorted pates), Mongolian lamb spring rolls, or crab and taro cake in a spiced cilantro and roasted pepper aioli. Thai-style roast beef salad with honey-glazed pecans and the misoyaki butterfish salads are special. The seafood chowder is among the best I’ve tasted, and the cream of wild and exotic mushroom soup is to live for. The beautifully presented braided poached salmon and island catch is stuffed with scallop mousse and drizzled with sake and dill cream sauce. For dessert, order the extraordinary classic French apple tart baked upside down, long and slow.
FYI: 1680 Kapi‘olani Blvd.; 943-1888. Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily; dinner: 5:30-10 p.m. daily. Reservations recommended. VS, MC, AX, DC, DS, JCB. Checks accepted. $$.
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Crictic's Choice • 3660 On The Rise
What’s the story? Russell Siu’s food has only gotten better over the years — less fussy, more straightforward, focusing on honest flavors with a nice refinement in the sauces. The homestyle desserts of Lisa Siu are comforting, just like the family-friendly atmosphere of this Kaimuki spot.
What’s on the menu? Siu still makes the best ahi katsu around. Especially good are the seasonal items, such as soft-shell crabs, simply fried, and Copper River salmon, simply sauteed. Siu’s food can be simple yet sophisticated, homey but fine-restaurant quality. It’s consistently good with an ever-changing menu of interesting dishes.
FYI: 3660 Wai‘alae Ave.; 737-1177. Dinner: 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday-Thursday; 5:30-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Monday. Reservations recommended. VS, MC, AX, DC, DS, JCB. No checks. $$.
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Crictic's Choice • Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar
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| D.K. Kodama of Sansei Restaurant pumps aku at Garden and Valley Isle Seafood. Imaginative pupu and sushi creations are his forte.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser |
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What’s the story? Sansei kind of crept up on us a few years back, a strange little Maui eatery tucked into a Kapalua shopping mall (sort of a sushi bar, sort of a club, sort of an East-West restaurant) that had fabulous word-of-mouth. Earlier this year, owner D. K. Kodama, an O‘ahu boy originally, opened a Restaurant Row location to critical acclaim. Most of the time when we go there, we don’t even get to the entrees, we’re so satisfied by the pupu and sushi. We’re also fans of their professional attention and service.
What’s on the menu? Splurge on the seared foie gras nigiri sushi with caramelized Maui onion and dark, sweet, rich unagi demi-glace. The calamari salad is another favorite: crisp-fried squid, fresh local greens and spicy ko-cho-jang vinaigrette. More great stuff: mango crab salad roll, tea duck egg roll, Kapalua butterfly roll (snapper, smoked salmon, blue crab, veggies, coated in panko and flash-fried). You’ll have to return several times to try it all.
FYI: Restaurant Row; 536-6286. Dinner: 5-10 p.m. daily; pupu, sushi menu: 10 p.m.- 1 a.m.Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations recommended. VS, MC, AX, DS, JCB. No checks. $$.
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Crictic's Choice • The Contemporary Cafe at the Contemporary Museum
What’s the story? American regional, California fresh. Call it what you will, Noreen Lam produces honest, great-tasting food unequaled in Honolulu: contemporary presentations in a garden setting amid artsy surroundings. Island-born Lam, a longtime associate of San Francisco’s legendary Jeremiah Towers, is one of Hawai‘i’s hidden talents, creating food without a lot of fussiness and flamboyance.
What’s on the menu? Refreshing salads are creative, interesting, tasty (grilled vegetables on focaccia), and appetizers such as gravlax and hummus platters are mouthwateringly good. There are always interesting daily pasta and soup specials, and the desserts sparkle.
FYI: 2411 Makiki Heights Drive; 523-3362. Lunch: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-2 p.m. Sunday, Dessert menu: 2-3 p.m. daily. Reservations recommended for large parties. VS, MC, AX. Checks accepted. $.
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