Resto blurbs

NEW AND NOTED

The Whole Ox
327 Keawe St. between Ala Moana Blvd. and Auahi Street, Kaka‘ako
Bob McGee is one of the most conscientious chefs on the island. He gets whole pigs (Shinsato of course) and sides of cattle and uses it all,  in things from paté to the most beefy-flavored hamburger on the island (it’s dry-aged for a month!). Instead of fries and cole slaw, sides here are roasted potatoes and watermelon salad. It’s a deli for the 21st century.

Cactus Bistro
767 Kailua Rd at Hamakua Drive, Davis Building (same complex as Mu‘uMu‘u Heaven), Kailua; 261-1000
Chef John Memering left Kalapawai Café to open O‘ahu’s first pan-Latino restaurant. Well, pan-Latino as interpreted by the California native. Wild boar empanadas, goat cheese croquetas, duck “carnitas” (actually a pretty good confit) are menu favorites. A nice change of flavor pace for the island. Reservations a must. Noise level: Don’t bother trying to talk.

Prima
108 Hekili St, next to Foodland, Kailua; 808.888.8933
My favorite O‘ahu restaurant. Yeah, I said it.
I wrote about it for Honolulu Magazine’s Biting Commentary blog when it first opened in 2011. The review.

WHEN PEOPLE ASK YOU FOR RESTO TIPS…

Hank’s Haute Dogs
324 Coral St between Auahi Street and Ala Moana Boulevard; 532-4265
Second location: International Marketplace, 2330 Kalakaua Ave; 924-9933
Who doesn’t love hot dogs? And from classic Chicago-style Vienna franks to a duck-n-foie gras sausage special, here you get the best.
Read my review in the Advertiser.

Himalayan Kitchen
1137 11th Ave between Wai‘alae Ave and Harding (second floor, behind Big City Diner), 735-1122
Three-quarters Indian, one-quarter Nepalese, affordable.
Read the review

Ichiriki
510 Pi’ikoi, between Kona and Hopaka streets, across from Ala Moana Center; 589-2299
Parking in lot behind restaurant
Japanese, mid-priced
Where I go for DIY, communal cooking. I like the spicy pirikara nabe.
Read my review in the Advertiser.

Kaiwa
Waikiki Beach Walk, 226 Lewers St, second floor, 924-1555
Sophisticated, contemporary Japanese in a hep setting; medium to expensive.
Read my review in the Honolulu Advertiser.

Matsugen
255 Beachwalk Ave., 926-0255
House-made soba, izakaya, affordable
Where I go for soba. An offshoot of Tokyo soba shrine. The owners are who Jean-Georges Vongerichten chose to partner with to open his own New York soba house.
Read my review in the Advertiser.

Mini Garden Orient Cuisine
2065 S Beretania St; 808-946-3828
I give up on trying to find good Chinese food in Honolulu (believe me, after a trip to Shanghai, you’ll say the same thing), so I go for the nostalgia factor. When I was really small, I ate a lot of shrimp Canton and sour cabbage from McCully Chop Suey. Those were my haole Dad’s favorite dishes (always a little white takeaway box of extra sweet and sour sauce). This no-frills Mini Garden (I don’t go to the Chinatown location cause last time I was there it smelled like a cat litter box was sitting next to me) has the best sour cabbage. Heck, it’s hard to even find that dish anymore. And when I work late, I swing by here for an order to take home. It’s good for a cheap, satisfying sit-down dinner too.

Soul de Cuba
1121 Bethel St, between Pauahi and Hotel streets, across from Hawaii Theatre, 545-cuba
Cuban, mid-priced
When this spot opened in 2006, I was lukewarm about it—I had lived in New York for 10 years and eaten a lot of Cuban food and just wasn’t that impressed. But it’s the only thing we’ve got! And they make great cocktails, have A-list rums, and have an all-around enjoyable vibe. I now have to go for a regular fix of ropa vieja, Soul de Cuba chicken, and guava empanadas. Cuban sandwiches and ceviche are pretty good too.

Sushi Izakaya Gaku
1329 S. King St, ewa of Keeaumoku Street, 589-1329
Japanese, mid-priced, SO worth it. Top ingredients used to make crisply executed dishes.
My go-to sushi and izakaya spot. Must-order: spicy hamachi tartar.
Read my review in the Advertiser.

Tai Pan
Chinatown Cultural Plaza (mauka end, ground level), 100 N Beretania St; 599-8899
Good dim sum, cheap
If you prefer Mei Sum, you crazy. Almost as good as Legend, and cheaper. In fact, some things are better than at Legend, like the way they top their silky look fun (I like them stuffed with scallop) with chopped Chinese parsley. Bone up on your sign language if you don’t speak Cantonese, and be prepared to share a table. It’s always packed.

Taormina
227 Lewers St between Kalakaua Ave and Helumoa Road; 926-5050
Upscale Sicilian by an Italophile Japanese chef. From veal parm to pasta con sarde, Taormina delivers a good facsimile of southern Italian cuisine.
Read my review in the Advertiser.

Town
3435 Wai‘alae Ave at 9th Ave, 735-5900
One of my favorite restaurants. Deceptively simple food—they claim the menu changes every day but so many people have must-have favorites that it’s hard for chefs Ed Kenney and Dave Caldiero to make any real updates to the menu. Signature ‘ahi tartare on risotto cakes are an homage to a Tokkuri-Tei dish, but these Mediterranean-accented takes outstrip their inspiration. Fish is always flawless.

Read my post.
Read why it has one of my five favorite HNL resto atmospheres in the Honolulu Weekly.

12th Avenue Grill
1145 12th Ave; 808-732-9469
Before there was Town, there was this contemporary American bistro, where chef-owner Kevin Hanney’s specials are always instant winnahs.
I voted this spot one of Food + Wine’s “places to go” (along with Town) in January 2006.

Salt Kitchen + Tasting Bar
3605 Wai‘alae Ave between Koko Head Avenue and 12th Avenue; 744-7567
Top-flight small-plates eating accompanied by bespoke cocktails and well-edited wine list. Read my review in Modern Luxury Hawai‘i.

Vino
Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd at South Street, 524-8466
Italian, Italianish, mid-priced
Two words: Keith Endo. Oh, two more words: Chuck Furuya. Together, the chef and master sommelier, make a winning team that combines eh-you local chahm with  wordly sophistication. Chuck may flick corks at your head and tell sixth-grader jokes, but he’s also our wine Yoda who hangs with Kermit Lynch and famous Euro winemakers and cooks whose names you wouldn’t know even if I remembered them. Endo’s take on salade niçoise, made with fresh ‘ahi, is one of my top 5 salads on the island. There is constantly new stuff to try on the seasonally changing menu. And as with Hiroshi next door, the specials are always worth trying. The oven-roasted Mary’s chicken in a pancetta-and-chicken jus is practically like milk-fed veal. You won’t leave one morsel of the housemade chitarra pasta tossed with bits of dungeness crab, jalapeno, basil, sweet corn, and lobster-uni buerre blanc. Lobster-uni buerre blanc (cue Homer Simpson moaning).