26_HM_RestaurantGuide by Michael Keany

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HAWAI‘I’S MAGAZINE SINCE 1888

Restaurant 2013 ALL-ISLAND

. 43

Guide

Cheap Eats! We find 67 dishes under $15 PAGE 10

Stomped! The Noodle Story PAGE 50

What restaurants have to do to get a liquor license PAGE 29

Slow-roasted Shinsato Farm pork shoulder pernil from Cactus.

6 Tempting

NEW RESTAURANTS

Dinner & a Show at Chai’s ONE OF OAHU’S TOP 5 BEST RESTAURANTS HALE ‘AINA AWARD WINNER SINCE 1998

Brothers Cazimero

Jerry Santos

Danny Couch

HEF CHAI CHAOWASAREE of Chai’s Island Bistro and Singha Thai Cuisine is recognized as one of the best chefs in Hawaii. Chai’s Island Bistro is also the winner of the 2011 Chef’s Choice Award selected by Hale Aina Award Winning Chefs. Chai’s Island Bistro has been voted as one of the best restaurants in Hawaii every year since opening in 1998. Chai also serves as executive chef of Hawaiian Airlines. With Award winning cuisine, excellent ambiance, service and entertainment, Chai’s Island Bistro has

earned a stellar reputation as one of Hawaii’s hottest dining spots. Enjoy the bold flavors of Chef Chai’s Hawaiian fusion cuisine, from East to West. Using only fresh local ingredients. Chef Chai is also one of Hawaii’s premier caterers; a partner with Super Model Kathy Ireland on her properties in Hawaii. His clients include Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, prime minister and princess of Thailand to the King of Malaysia. Enjoy dinner and Hawaii’s best local entertainers like Jerry Santos, Danny Couch and The Brothers Cazimero.

For menu and information, please

Live Entertainment from 7 PM.

facebook.com/chefchai

twitter.com/chefchai

CRISPY WHOLE ISLAND FISH, S I LK EN TO FU SAL AD AN D PONZU SAUCE

paired with THE PERFECT SUNSET

Indulge more than your taste buds at Azure. Where new private cabanas, enticing views of Waikı¯kı¯ and our ambassadors’ inspiring stories behind each dish perfectly complement our chef ’s masterpieces, and truly engage all your senses.

B e yo n d S e a f o o d

- OCEANFRONT AT THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN, A LUXURY COLLECTION RESORT, WAIKI KI

RESERVATIONS: 921-4600

AZUREWAIKIKI.COM

Mahalo for your support! Hale Aina Award winner for best breakfast (gold hale aina award)

SBA Person of the Year Award for the City & County of Honolulu

Featured in Rachel Ray $40 A Day – Food Network

Kailua Chamber of Commerce Past President

As honored as we are by these accolades, our greatest reward comes from our work with the community Boys and Girls Club

Roman Catholic Church

Life Foundation

On Thin Ice – SHOPO

BREAKFAST: 7am–2pm Daily LUNCH:11am–2pm (except Sundays & holidays)

(808) 261-8724 www.cinnamonsrestaurant.com

contents

photo: nina kuna

RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

A macnut chocolate pie from Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop.

RESTAURANT GUIDE RG10 Cheap Eats: 67 Dishes Under $15

It isn’t hard to eat cheaply. After all, Hawai‘i is packed with plate-lunch places that serve up heaping clamshells of meat and rice. But what if you want to eat well? For you, here’s HONOLULU Magazine’s tour of cheap eats, from burgers to soft-shell crab to frugal finds with a view: fun and delicious meals you can afford to eat every day of the week (and would want to). by martha cheng, tiffany hill, terri inefuku, maria kanai, a. kam napier, david thompson

RG29 A License to Pour

RG32 Eat Here Now: Exciting, Delicious New Restaurants

For subscriptions, call 800-788-4230. E-mail us: letters@honolulumagazine.com. HONOLULU Magazine, 1000 Bishop St., Suite 405, Honolulu, HI 96813. Ph: 808-537-9500. Fax: 808-537-6455. For back issues, contact our circulation department at 534-7520.

by martha cheng

ON THE COVER: Slow-roasted Shinsato Farm pork shoulder pernil, from Cactus, see story on page RG32. Photo by Linny Morris. Food styling by Karen Jones.

It is a thrilling time to dine out in Hawai‘i. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting and appetizing restaurants that opened in the past year.

RG43 Hawai‘i’s Most Expensive Dishes

Sometimes, less is more. Other times, more is more. Here are seven decadent dishes (and one drink) that let you put your money where your mouth is. by maria kanai

A lot of time, effort and paperwork goes into that Chardonnay you swig with your dinner. Not your time and effort, the restaurant’s. Welcome to the ins-and-outs of getting a liquor license in Honolulu.

RG50 The Noodle Makers

by tiffany hill

by david thompson

For such a noodle-crazy town, surprisingly few restaurants make their own noodles in-house. We tracked down four spots that do, to see how they whip up bliss in a bowl.

(ISSN 0441-2044) All contents copyright © 2012. Published monthly by PacificBasin Communications. Advertising and business offices: 1000 Bishop St., Ste. 405, Honolulu, HI, 96813-4204. Phone: (808) 537-9500/Fax: (808) 537-6455. MATERIALS Publisher cannot be held responsible for care or return of manuscripts, photographs or art. Unsolicited material must be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope and return postage. Publisher reserves the right to edit letters to the editor and other material submitted. Periodicals postage paid at Honolulu, Hawai‘i, and at additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION: one year $20 / two years $36 / three years $48. Foreign: one year $37 / two years $65 / three years $93 (US funds). For subscription inquiries, additional rates, information, notification of change of address and subscription service, please call (800) 788-4230. POSTMASTER Send address changes to HONOLULU Magazine, 1000 Bishop St., Suite 405, Honolulu, HI 96813. Subscribers notify the same office. Please include new address and old address (mailing label preferred).

HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 3

Assaggio R I STOR A NT E

phone: (808) 537-9500 | fax: (808) 537-6455

Mahalo to the readers of Honolulu Magazine for your patronage and support.

Publisher, Alyson Helwagen

alysonh@honolulumagazine.com 534-7585

Editor, A. Kam Napier

akamn@honolulumagazine.com 534-7546

[ editorial ] Managing Editor, Michael Keany

mike@honolulumagazine.com 534-7556

Senior Editor, David Thompson

davidt@honolulumagazine.com 534-7545

Associate Editor, Tiffany Hill

tiffanyh@honolulumagazine.com 534-7551

Food and Dining Editor, Martha Cheng

marthac@honolulumagazine.com 534-7524

Contributing Editor

Sheila Sarhangi, writetosheila@gmail.com

Contributing Fashion Editors/Stylists

Brie Thalmann, briet@pacificbasin.net 534-7132 Stacey Makiya, staceym@pacificbasin.net 534-7139

Copy Editor

Kathy Reimers

Editorial Intern

Maria Kanai, mariak@honolulumagazine.com

[ web ] Digital Media Manager, Christine Hitt

christineh@honolulumagazine.com 534-7538

Web Producer, Christian Vetter

christianv@honolulumagazine.com 534-7126

[ design ] Associate Art Director, Cody Kawamoto codyk@honolulumagazine.com 534-7140

Come and experience the fine dining at Assaggio, where only the finest ingredients are used.

Contributing Art Director, Tiffany Below tiffanyb@pacificbasin.net 534-7161

Contributing Art Director, Mike Janowsky mikej@pacificbasin.net

A L A M O A N A C E N T E R • 9 4 2 - 3 4 4 6 ›› H A W A I I K A I • 3 9 6 - 0 7 5 6 ›› K A H A L A • 7 3 2 - 1 0 1 1 K A I L U A • 2 6 1 - 2 7 7 2 ›› K A P O L E I • 6 7 4 - 8 8 0 1 ›› M I L I L A N I • 6 2 3 - 5 1 1 5

www.assaggiohi.com

[ marketing ] Marketing Manager, Christi Young

christiy@honolulumagazine.com 534-7105

Events Manager, Jeff Alencastre

jeffa@honolulumagazine.com 534-7573

[ sales ] Advertising Director, Donna Kodama-Yee donnaky@honolulumagazine.com 534-7501

Advertising Executives

08-12 Assaggio 1-2v HM bleed.indd 1

7/17/12 9:52 AM

Donnie Ford, donnief@honolulumagazine.com 534-7131 Leah Ho‘okala, leahh@honolulumagazine.com 534-7532 Anne Lee, annel@honolulumagazine.com 534-7533 Caryn Yu, caryny@honolulumagazine.com 534-7588

Account Coordinator

Courtni Yagi courtniy@honolulumagazine.com 534-7145

Representatives

east: Free Agent Media

Jeff Greif jeff@freeagentmedia.com (212) 213-1155 40 West 37th St., Suite 704 New York, NY 10018 midwest: The Lyon Group

4 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

Annabelle Jacobson annabellejacobson@core.com (847) 256-6850 806 Lawler, Wilmette, IL 60091

Blending Hawaii’s unique cultures & flavors

Roy’s Restaurant

Roy’s Waikiki

Roy’s Ko Olina

Roy’s Kaanapali

Roy’s Waikoloa Bar & Grill

Honolulu

At the New Vibrant Waikiki Beach Walk

At Ko Olina Golf Club

Maui

Hawaii

(The Original Roy’s) At Hawaii Kai Towne Center

(808) 396-7697

(808) 923-7697

(808) 676-7697

Roy’s Poipu Bar & Grill Kauai

At the Kaanapali Golf Club

At the King’s Shops

At Poipu Shopping Village

(808) 669-6999

(808) 886-4321

(808) 742-5000

www.RoysHawaii.com

President Scott Schumaker scotts@pacificbasin.net 534-7541

“BEST MAUI RESTAURANT” Nineteen years in a row (1994 - 2012)

Creative Services Director Darin Isobe darini@pacificbasin.net 534-7548

“BEST SERVICE” 2010, 2011, 2012

Advertising Art Directors Odeelo Dayondon odeelod@pacificbasin.net 534-7514 Stephen Guzman stepheng@pacificbasin.net 534-7559

“BEST PLACE TO TAKE VISITORS” 2012 “RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR” 2012

Marketing Art Director

“BEST MAUI RESTAURANT” 2012

Contributing Art Director

“BEST SERVICE” 2012

Staff Photographer

Warren Daubert warrend@pacificbasin.net 534-7138 Janelle Kalawe janellek@pacificbasin.net 534-7531 David Croxford dcroxford@pacificbasin.net 534-7523

“BEST WINE PROGRAM” 2012

Circulation Director Chuck Tindle chuckt@pacificbasin.net 534-7521

Circulation Manager/Accounting Manager Gaylyn Laikona gaylyny@pacificbasin.net 534-7513

Distribution Manager John Quimino johnq@pacificbasin.net 534-7562

127 Lahainaluna Road, Lahaina, Maui, HI 96761 127 Lahainaluna Road ~ Lahaina, HI 96761 808.667.5117 www.lahainagrill.com 808.667.5117 www.lahainagrill.com dinner served nightly from 6pm Dinner Served Nightly from 6pm reservations recommended Reservations Recommended ESTABLISHED 1990 IN THE HISTORIC LAHAINA INN ESTABLISHED 1990 IN THE HISTORIC LAHAINA INN twitter: @lahainagrill I find us on facebook

JJ Bistro

01-12_LahainaGrill_1-2v_HN.indd 1

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Duane Kurisu

President and Chief Operating Officer Susan Eichor

Chief Financial Officer Bonny Amemiya

12/12/11 4:42 PM

& French Pastry

Home of the Chocolate Pyramid Lunch f Dinner f Private Parties Afternoon Tea from 11-4pm 5 course meals $28/person Open Daily

City & Regional Magazine Association

3447 Waialae Avenue

Take illiteracy out of circulation. ABC MEMBER

Private Rooms Available Reservations Recommended

739-0993 • 626-5368 • www.jjfrenchpastry.com 6 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

Hawai‘i Publishers Association

Audit Bureau of Circulations

Ice Drop Framboise

cut a bov e the rest.

wagyu new york strip, 14 ounces This Australian, kobe-style beef is farm raised with meticulous care. It is exquisitely marbled and extraordinary in texture. Masterfully grilled to draw out its remarkable flavors, this steak provides a juicy, tender and absolutely satisfying treat for your palate.

Now Open until 10:00pm A ﬁ ne steak. A ﬁ ne experience.

beachhousewaikiki.com • 808-921-4600 Complimentary valet parking.

Tempura, anyone? A New Era of Japanese Cuisine

Now, Shokudo Japanese promotes full flavor and good health by implementing internationally-patented, healthy fry plate, “Golden Fry Tech,” for our tempura. Golden Fry Tech is a safe, oil-preserving plate made of specially-processed titanium which decreases fat content and calories by 50%, tested and proven by Food Quality Lab.

1988 Chef Ken created “maki-age” style tempura, which is crispier and crunchier than the average tempura. This became the signature style of tempura at Suehiro’s Restaurant.

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

1998

FUJIO SUZUKI, Chef Ken’s Sensei

Legendary Chef, Fujio Suzuki was one of the few Kappo Chefs (*Kappo-traditional Japanesestyle cooking, free of fusion) in Hawaii and the owner of Suzuki Restaurant on Koko Head Dr., where Chef Ken established his foundation of Japanese cooking. For the royal family in Japan, Chef Suzuki was a member of the culinary team for then-Prince Akihito’s ascension ceremony to the throne of Emperor. Earlier in his career, he was issued a commendation by Prime Minister for fostering Japanese culture abroad through the culinary arts.

ALA MOANA PACIFIC CENTER | 1585 KAPIOLANI BOULEVARD | 808.941.3701 Shokudo Japanese

(B eh in d A la M o a n a Sh o p p i n g C e n t e r )

shokudojapanese.com

Shokudo

KEN CONKLIN Chef Ken Conklin was always fascinated by the happenings of the kitchen. With an extensive background in and knowledge of Japanese cuisine, Conklin merges Japanese tradition with modern flair in every dish he executes. Formerly of Suzuki Japanese Restaurant, where Fujio Suzuki was one of few exclusive Kappo Chefs (*Kappo - traditional Japanese-style cooking, free of fusion) and a former Vice Chairman of Hawaii Japananese Chef Association, Conklin initially began his remarkable career in the Japanese Restaurant Industry at Suehiro Restaurant, where he served as a chef and manager from 1988 until 1998. It was there that he created “maki-age” style tempura, well-known to be much crispier than the average tempura, which attracted many people to Suehiro’s restaurant. The tempura that Conklin created then became a

2005

2006

notorious signature dish for that restaurant. It is with his culinary education and experience in the Japanese food realm, Conklin has brought together the old and the new of Japanese cooking skills and methods to forge unique, innovative dishes at Shokudo Japanese Restaurant & Bar, home of Honey Toast™ and Innovative Dining.

Chef Ken joined Shokudo Japanese, merging old and new, to pave a way for unique and innovative Japanese dishes.

2010

2011

2012 NOW

Cheap

Eats! It isn’t hard to eat cheap. After all, Hawai‘i is packed with

plate-lunch places that serve up heaping clamshells of meat and rice. But what if you want to eat well? For you, here’s HONOLULU Magazine’s tour of 67 cheap eats, from burgers to soft-shell crab to frugal finds with a view: fun and delicious meals you can afford to eat every day of the week (and would want to).

by Martha Cheng, Tiffany Hill, Terri Inefuku, Maria Kanai, A. Kam Napier, David Thompson

10 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop offers a meat ‘n’ potatoes pot pie—soft chunks of braised short rib beneath an herb and cheese crust.

At this new, rustically-styled eatery, everything is under $15. Sandwiches can be simple and perfect, like the pastrami sandwich ($10.75), housemade rye bread piled high with pastrami. But you must also have pie—both savory and sweet. Try the meat ’n’ potatoes pot pie ($12.75), and to finish, the sweet berry hand-held pie ($5.25), which will remind you of childhood Hostess fruit pies, but so much better, with blackberries, strawberries and blueberries encased in a sugar-crusted flaky pie dough. » 820 Olowalu Village Road, Maui, (808) 662-3600, leodas.com

HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013 11

photo: nina kuna

Maui: Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop

Da Spot

Try the Egyptian baked chicken, saffron rice and Greek salad as part of a ridiculously un-mini plate ($6). There are also plenty of other options here: vegetarians and meat lovers alike will find sustenance in an Egyptian veggie curry or Moroccan chicken, for instance. For an extra $1.50, upgrade your salad to mango or a vegan Egyptian potato salad, to name just a few. Pair it all with a smoothie, such as the Pineapple Craze ($3),

pineapple and peach blended with lychee sorbet, and don’t forget dessert: freshly baked baklava ($1.50). » 2469 S. King St., 941-1313

mix into shao bing, somewhere between bread and pie crust. » 1088 S. Beretania St., 526-9522

Dew Drop Inn

Pork katsu at Ginza Bairin is not your $7 greasy plate-lunch affair. Here, kurobota pork loin katsu can run you $36, making the pork tenderloin katsu sandwich ($10) a deal. Juicy pork, fried light and crispy, is swiped with a plummy tonkatsu sauce and sandwiched between white bread (with the crusts cut off ). It’s served alongside a bottomless chiffonade of cabbage salad, with a choice of dressings, including a shiso ume vinaigrette that endows this homely vegetable with a delicacy we never knew it had. » 255 Beach Walk, 926-8082

Drop in? Don’t mind if we do, especially for the vegetarian bean skin ball on choy sum ($9.95), plump packages of shiitake and bamboo shoots wrapped in paper-thin tofu skin. Or order the ground pork and tofu in sesame shao bing ($12.95), and stuff the crumbly, hoisin-flavored

Golden River Restaurant Skip the line at Pho to Chau next door and ignore Golden River’s unfortunate name (lost in translation perhaps?). Have fun assembling your own rice-paper spring rolls with the banh hoi ($13.50), a big-enough-for-two plate of sugar-cane shrimp, pork meatballs, grilled pork and pressed, thin vermicelli. Take a round of rice paper and stuff it with meat, some vermicelli, mint and Thai basil, roll it up, and dunk it into a fish sauce and lime dip. It’s also easy to gorge on banh xeo ($9.75), a crispy, chewy rice-flour crepe overflowing with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts. » 198 N. King St., 531-1185

13 50

Ginza Bairin

Helena’s Hawaiian Food

Helena’s famous pipikaula short ribs are gratifying in their crunchy, chewy, beef jerkylike exterior, providing contrast to their thick, meaty insides. Dip them in chilipepper water and round out the meal with smoky kālua pig and salty lomi salmon, all part of “Menu C” ($14.95). Fixin’s also include poi, onions, coarse Hawaiian salt and haupia. » 1240 N. School St., 845-8044, helenashawaiianfood.com

Golden River’s banh hoi.

12 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

Be ready and waiting when Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas opens its doors at 5:30 p.m. to grab one of the 15 seats at the bar, then reward your taste buds with an hour of half-off regular menu prices. Not to be missed: the sizzling hamachi carpaccio ($6.25), paper-thin slices of fish, diced tomatoes and tofu in a pool of truffled ponzu. Bonus: Order off Vino’s menu when both restaurants are open—we

photos: martha cheng, mark arbeit

Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be bowled over at Lucky Belly.

Lucky Belly This new, stylish restaurant in Chinatown has old Chinese ladies dining side by side with the plaid and tattooed set. They come to slurp up ramen in bowls big enough to wash your face in. Both the Lucky Bowl ($8), with a perfect soft-boiled egg, green onion and fresh ginger, and the Shrimp Kimchee Bowl ($12), adorned with tempura shrimp, have a rich, porky, almost milky broth. Lucky belly, indeed. Âť 50 N. Hotel St., 531-1888

HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013 13

Kiss My Grits From the darlin’ blue interior to the welcoming “Y’all take a seat” sign, this small dining room fully embraces its local niche as a Southern-style restaurant. Dive right into crunchy, crusty goodness with the two-piece fried chicken plate ($8.95), which comes with hush puppies, coleslaw and a deviled egg. Pair your entrée with a buttery, moist cat head biscuit ($2.95) and slather on the homemade apple butter or jam. Down your morsels with sweetened ice tea ($2.50), served in a Mason jar. The Cape Fear crab-cake plate ($15.95) is also stellar—two large, deep-fried patties that go down as easy as pie . . . or, in this case, chunky bread pudding ($4.50) with bourbon sauce. » 1035 University Ave., 348-0626, kissmygritsyall.com

8 95

Kiss My Grits’ fried chicken plate, cat head biscuits and sweetened ice tea

recommend the oven-roasted Maine lobster ($9.50) with risotto, porcini mushrooms and smoked trout caviar bathed in a creamy tarragon buerre blanc. » Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., 533-4476

Ichiriki

Nabe and hot pot are everywhere these days, but one of the original and best places to go is Ichiriki, where all of the soup bases are tasty (in particular, though, we like the

pirikara, a spicy shoyu base). The lunchtime nabe ($11.95) comes with your choice of thinly sliced chicken, pork or beef, and a heaping plate of enoki and shiitake mushrooms, abura age (deep-fried tofu that soaks up all the broth like a sponge) and meatballs made with ground pork and chicken. After all that good stuff has helped enrich the soup, order ramen ($1.50) to throw in the pot and absorb what’s left. (Prices for latenight nabe, from 9:30 p.m. to

14 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

closing, are also under $15.) » 510 Pi‘ikoi St., 589-2299, ichirikinabe.com

ed sesame powder hidden in the powdery-soft ice. » 911 Ke‘eaumoku St., 943-6000

Ireh

Jawaiian Irie Jerk Restaurant

In the spicy kimchi sujebi ($9.95), the homemade sesame noodles arrive as wide, chewy shards, green and herby from sesame leaves, in a kimchi broth with plenty of vegetables. Make sure to finish with pat bing soo ($4.95), Korean-style shave-ice loaded with azuki beans, fresh fruit and mochi, with a bit of roast-

Chef Cassie’s restaurant in Kaimukī resembles his old lunch truck with vibrant colors, reggae music and a relaxed vibe. His delicious Jamaican food hasn’t changed much either: Jamaican Jerk Chicken ($13.95) is falloff-the-bone tender, infused with Cassie’s overnight jerk

photo: mark arbeit

Join Us On:

OUTBACK.COM

SEASONED & SEARED

GRILLED

marinade. For vegetarians, the Jamaican ital stew ($10.95), a Rastafarian dish, has a variety of root veggies in curry coconut sauce. » 1137 11th Ave., 388-2917, jawaiianiriejerk.com

La Cucina Ristorante Italiana

Marukame Udon

You could call this fast-food udon—bowls are cheap (from $3.75 to $6.25), assembled via assembly line and come out fast. But there’s no denying each bowl’s long-lasting comfort. Noodles are made from scratch daily, topped with plenty of crunchy tempura bits and green onion, and dipping sauces come with fresh grated ginger. You won’t find a better bowl of udon at this price on the island. » 2310 Kūhiō Ave., 931-6000

Ming’s Chinese Restaurant

People come here just for the xiao long bao ($6.95), dumplings filled with ground pork and all their juices, one of the most perfect bites of food ever invented. You won’t go wrong with those, but sheng jian bao ($6.95) are also good, like mini, pan-fried manapua. Carbo-load further on the mantou ($6.95), slightly sweet, fluffy buns. There are 12 to an order, half are steamed, the others fried. continued on page 18

Salad as a meal

Vegetables and greens don’t usually fall in the realm of cheap eats; it’s far easier to find inexpensive fried chicken and burgers than salads. Here, we give you five delicious reasons to eat your vegetables.

Café Julia The Vietnamese-inspired salad ($12) is a traditional Vietnamese vermicelli bowl dressed up with impeccable ingredients (MA‘O Farms organic greens and pickled, thinly sliced radishes and carrots, tender, grilled pork) while maintaining all the flavors that make it great: fresh cilantro, mint and a chili-lime dressing to add vibrancy and bite. » In the Downtown YWCA, 1040 Richards St., 533-3334, cafejuliahawaii.com

Sorabol

We’re guessing Sorabol wants to keep this salad a secret to non-Koreans. How else to explain the hae dupbap’s ($14.99) demure translation as “rice topped with vegetables” when it’s actually a thrilling raw ‘ahi rice salad? A giant bowl holds chunks of ‘ahi, shredded seaweed and daikon, tobiko, and chopped green leaf lettuce. Mix in the spicy, tangy, sweet dressing, fragrant with sesame oil, and the bowl of rice that comes on the side. What you get: a simultaneously warm and cold salad, crisp and soft, and incredibly filling, especially

16 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

when you take into account the banchan and soup included. » 805 Ke‘eaumoku St., 947-3113, sorabolhawaii.com

Beet Box Café

Tucked in the back of Celestial Natural Foods, this little café (and its cooks) groove to their own beat. Any of the items on its menu will fulfill your veggie lust, but for your salad fix, get the Greektown salad with falafel ($14.50), crunchy balls of herby goodness. » 66-443 Kamehameha Highway, Hale‘iwa, 637-3000

Kale’s Deli

The Macro Plate ($9.50)

Cafe Julia’s Vietnamese-inspired salad, $12.

changes almost daily, delivering a vivid salad of diverse flavors and textures. Ginger miso slaw is heaped with a grain salad (miso barley and soybean one day, hoisin quinoa with jicama the next), roasted red beets and orange kabocha, and homemade pickles (anything Kale’s cooks can get their hands on—daikon, green papaya, or apple). » Inside Kale’s Natural Foods, Hawai‘i Kai Shopping Center, 377 Keahole St. #A-1, 396-6993

California Pizza Kitchen

New on the menu at the everpopular eatery is the caramelized peach salad ($13.15). You won’t go hungry after its mix of cool field greens, spinach, dried cranberries, red onions, toasted pecans and Gorgonzola cheese, capped with hot, sweet peaches. We tried it with bacon ($2 more), because ... bacon! But we have to say we’ve learned that bacon does not, in fact, go with everything. Go with chicken ($4 extra) or shrimp or salmon ($4.50 each) instead. » Multiple locations on O‘ahu, cpk.com

photo: courtesy cafe julia

In this new little eatery, there are many hearty pasta dishes $15 and under. One of our favorites is the trenette Bolognese ($15), in which the slow-cooked ground veal, pork and beef sauce works its way into all the crevices of the long, wide, slightly kinky noodles. » Imperial Plaza, 725 Kapi‘olani Blvd., Suite C112, 593-2626

Proud to be honored as the 2012 Hale ‘Aina Gold Winner

for Best Chinese Restaurant 11x Hale ‘Aina Award Winner

“Best Chinese Restaurant”

4x Ilima Award Winner

“Critic’s Choice”

Mahalo!

Little Village 1113 Smith Street Ph: 545-3008 www.littlevillagehawaii.com

• HEALTHY, • TASTY • ASIAN CUISINE

LUNCH

DINNER

Monday thru Friday

Monday thru Thursday

11am - 1:30pm

4:30pm - 10pm Last Seating at 9pm

HAPPY HOUR Monday thru Friday

Friday & Saturday

4:30pm - 6:30pm

5pm - 11pm Last Seating at 10pm

OPEN DAILY

Restaurant Epic

SUN. TO THURS. 10:30am–10:30pm

1131 Nuuanu Ave

FRI. TO SAT. 10:30am–midnight

Honolulu Hawaii 96817

DINE IN–TAKE OUT

tel. 808-587-7877

FREE PARKING FOR RESTAURANT PATRONS

www.restaurantepichawaii.com

Dip them in the sweetened, condensed milk they come with, and you’ve got dessert. » 1414 Dillingham Blvd., Suite 101, 841-8889

Opal Thai

The chef probably won’t let you order, preferring you leave the choices up to him. But if you do get a chance to pick your own menu items, don’t miss the fried, firm tofu ($7.75) with garlic sauce, topped with fried basil leaves, or crab stirfried noodles ($11.95), both dishes an addictive blend of salty, sweet, hot and sour. » 66-460 Kamehameha Highway, Hale‘iwa, 381-8091

Rajanee Thai

At what other Thai place can you get soft-shell crab on drunken noodles ($13), with deep-fried, crunchy and succulent crab, bedded with saucy wide rice noodles? Other deviations from the Thai curry and pad thai routine include crispy, battered fish dressed with yellow curry ($12). » 95-390 Kuahelani St., Suite 3C, Mililani, 853-4724

Serg’s Mexican Kitchen

Take a cue from the sign boasting “home of the famous flautas,” and order the flautas plate ($9.95). It’s one of the most popular dishes at the small Mānoa eatery for good reason: the beef is well-seasoned, the tortilla perfectly fried and crispy, all continued on page 20

Grapefruit bread pudding at Oasis.

The restaurant’s name lives up to its setting on the water. For Sunday brunch, soak in the sun and salt air while filling up on biscuits and gravy chock full of pork sausage ($12). Or answer the siren call of dessert-for-breakfast with grapefruit bread pudding topped with hibiscus anglaise and white chocolate-lavender gelato ($8, fruit varies depending on the season). 4-820 Kūhiō Highway, Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i, (808)822-9332, oasiskauai.com

18 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

photo: kicka witte

Kaua‘i: Oasis on the Beach

Refined Dining Award-winning Chef Ronnie Nasuti cooks up thoughtful, delicious dishes at Tiki’s Grill & Bar BY LAURA BERBUSSE

ward-winning Chef Ronnie Nasuti of Tiki’s Grill & Bar is a busy guy. In order to produce the signature dishes that Tiki’s serves to its 6,500 to 7,200 weekly customers, he goes through 175 pounds of local beef and approximately 450 pounds of fish per week. Despite his demanding schedule, though, Chef Ronnie’s top priority is Hawaii’s environment— both physically and economically. As a result, all of the aforementioned meat is obtained from local sources. “Buying local is huge to being green,” says Chef Ronnie. “‘Local’ means it’s beef that wasn’t shipped from the mainland. And because the cows were grass-fed, no corn was shipped from the mainland to feed them.” Chef Ronnie also sources produce from local growers like Nalo Farms and Y. Fukunaga. He even gets 25 pounds of green onions per week from one independent local farmer. “He’s been in business for many many years.” Chef Ronnie explains. “He’s an older guy, and he still delivers them himself.” As the former Executive Chef of Roy’s Restaurant in Hawaii Kai, Chef Ronnie is no stranger to the world of high-end dining. For over 10 years, he served as Roy Yamaguchi’s right-hand man, polishing his skills and forming his own unique style. He made his initial foray into the world of culinary arts in his high school days, when he completed a vocational program. He worked at Les Dames D’escoffier Society in Massachusetts and then Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston before moving to Oahu in 1990. The addition of Chef Ronnie to Tiki’s Grill & Bar last year has allowed him to unleash his passion for fine food, prepared and consumed responsibly. The Island feel for which Tiki’s has become well-known remains but with a twist that is uniquely Chef Ronnie’s. Already, he has revamped Tiki’s menu, adding such delights as the sizzling “roll-your-own” lettuce wraps (marinated beef ribeye, Maui butter lettuce, and marinated bean sprouts served with Nalo Farms honey and ko chu jang dipping sauce, sesame

glass noodles, and house-made kim chee) and the Island Ono “Poisson Cru” (Hawaiian Ono, Kula onions, Kahuku sea asparagus, and Kamuela tomatoes served with lime juice and coconut milk), a variation of similar Tahitian and Samoan dishes. Fans of certain longstanding favorites like prime rib poke (flash seared prime rib cubes with housemade pipikaula aioli and baby greens from Nalo Farms) need not worry. “I’d never get rid of that,” says Chef Ronnie. “People just love it.” Chef Ronnie’s hopes to not only introduce new culinary crowd-pleasers to Tiki’s patrons but also to redefine the Waikiki dining experience for locals and tourists alike.

Join us on facebook at facebook.tikisgrill.com

2570 Kalakaua Ave. • Honolulu, Hawaii 96815

Lunch: 10:30am-4pm • Dinner: 4-10pm • Drinks served from 10:30am-Midnight, usually later Email: events@tikisgrill.com • Phone: (808) 923.TIKI (8454) • Fax: (808) 922-5883

Look for this decal at your favorite restaurant.

topped with avocado salsa, fresh, diced onions, cilantro and cheese. A side of black beans and rice go along with the flauta’s fried goodness. Finish dinner with a fresh-made churro ($1.50). Even better, Serg’s is BYOB. » 2740 E. Mānoa Road, 988-8118. There’s also a location in Waimānalo: 41-865 Kalaniana‘ole Highway, 259-7374

Shochan Hiroshimayaki

Shochan’s Hiroshima-style pork okonomiyaki ($7.80) is the ultimate Japanese comfort food of hearty proportions at a reasonable price. It’s all about the layers. Watch the chef cook at his griddle as he piles on the batter, soba noodles, cabbage, pork, egg and, finally, a hefty slather of okonomiyaki sauce with mayonnaise and bonito flakes. So oishii! » 449 Kapahulu Ave., 225-0603

Support the restaurants that have made a commitment to sustainability.

7 80

Restaurants joining our program receive benefits including: Free Pick-up Service for used cooking oil ■ Reliable and convenient collection ■ Custom containment solutions ■ All grease trap waste is properly recycled ■

Emergency service 24 hours a day ■ Membership in Restaurants for Renewables ■

To become a member call

Oahu 808-851-7117 Maui 808-877-7718 Hawaii Island 808-935-7718

20 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

Shochan Hiroshimayaki’s pork okonomiyaki

Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar

The words “$12 steak” may not inspire confidence, but fear not— roughly twice a month, usually on a Thursday, Vino slashes the price of its $25 steak down to a mere dozen dollars. You get an 8-oz. New York-cut of antibiotic- and hormone-free, organic steak from Vintage Natural Meats, in a roasted shallot red wine demi glace, with broccolini and Tuscan mashed potatoes. Worth every penny at full price, twice as nice at half the price. Call or check the website for availability. » Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., 524-8466, www.vinohawaii.com

on the farm Everyone’s touting local these days—what better place to get farm-fresh than on the farm?

Kahuku Farms Give the shrimp trucks a rest and sink your teeth into Kahuku Farms’ vegetable panini ($9.50) at the Farm Café. It’s stuffed with grilled eggplant, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and fresh-pulled mozzarella, all dressed in a creamy, herby sauce and pressed between fresh bread. For dessert, indulge in the hot, grilled banana bread (bananas from the farm, naturally), doused in caramel and vanilla-haupia sauce ($5.50). Almost everything, even the vanilla, is grown and made on the farm. » 56-800 Kamehameha Highway, Kahuku, 628-0639, kahukufarms.com Kahuku Farms’ vegetable panini

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Sweet Home Waimānalo

Here, you’re not so much dining on the farm as you are under it. Sample baby greens growing on the rooftop garden in the FarmRoof superfoods salad ($12), loaded with avocado and tomatoes, dusted with hemp seeds and served with a raw coconut vinegar and mac nut dressing. For those needing meat, go with the combo plate ($13) and choose from the pulled BBQ pork, beef brisket, or honey-citrus chicken, which you’ll want to smother with one of the homemade sauces: smoky-sweet guava chipotle or beer barbecue sauce. Each plate comes with sweet, tender cornbread and choice of sides, which should absolutely include the bok choy slaw, a refreshing, crunchy change from the usual. Desserts are fabulous, whether a moist and chewy coconut butter mochi ($4.25) or fruit tart ($4.25), which might be a zingy ginger and mango tart or lilikoi. » 41-1025 Kalaniana‘ole Highway, Waimānalo, 259-5737, sweethomewaimanalo.com

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Kahumana Café

A stop at Kahumana Organic Farm and Café rounds out a perfect, sun-kissed day playing at westside beaches. Head toward the Wai‘anae mountains and sit in the café’s shaded lānai, from where you can overlook mango trees, rows of taro and other vegetables that might end up on your plate. The daily special ($12-$15) utilizes much of the produce from the farm: The last time we went, a fresh, juicy mango salsa topped sautéed ono, rounded out by okra and a heap of stir-fried tatsoi. » 86660 Lualualei Homestead Road, Wai‘anae, 696-8844, kahumana.org

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HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY

2199 Kalia Road

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Reservations: (808) 923.2311

HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013 21

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Burgers

These aren’t fast food burgers. The attention to detail and techniques borrowed from high-end kitchens make these burgers worth the price.

Kaua‘i: The Feral Pig The Feral Burger ($12) is worthy of its title. It’s an aggressive burger, with a patty made of Kaua‘i ground beef and housesmoked, ground pork, topped with thick slices of pork belly, sautéed onions, cheddar and aioli. Get it as sliders or a full sandwich. Either way, it’s a show (and heart) stopper. » 3501 Rice St., Līhu‘e, Kaua‘i, (808) 246-1100

The Whole Ox Deli

A burger for $11 may seem pricey, but The Whole Ox’s dry-aged, twice-ground, half-pound burger is certainly hearty. The dry-aging intensifies the beef flavor, which is left to shine with just a bit of caper aioli and grilled onions between thick

buns. Pair the burger with the amazing fried potatoes ($4), craggy, crispy edges giving way to fluffy, starchy bliss. » 327 Keawe St., 699-6328, wholeoxdeli.com

Morning Glass

Don’t think of Morning Glass just for individually-brewed

Stumptown and house-roasted coffees. Our order here always includes the Better Burger ($10.50) when available (Fridays and Saturdays). The highlights: freshly ground grass-fed, local beef and rotating selection of toppings like melted Gouda, crispy bacon, shimeji mushrooms and peppery baby arugula, served on a grilled ciabatta roll. » 2955 E. Mānoa Rd., 673-0065

Maui: Sure Thing Burger

Nowhere else in the state can you get a burger as envisioned by a two-Michelin-starred chef. Josiah Citrin of Melisse in Los Angeles has opened what his chef Josh Blain calls

“a chef-driven burger joint.” What that means: 100 percent Maui beef for the thin, handpressed patty between a soft, toasted bun. Everything, from the buns to the sauces and spice blends, are Sure Thing’s own recipe. But it’s not so much a gourmet burger as a classic one done well. There’s also a spiced pork burger ground in-house from pork shoulder and belly, topped with Kona barbecue sauce, slaw and grilled onions, and a juicy, flavorful turkey burger ground from whole turkeys, punched up with a basil-apple sauce. All burgers are $6.70 for kama‘āina. » 790 Front St., Lahaina, Maui, Suite I270, 214-6982

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The Feral Pig’s Feral Burger

22 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

photo: kicka witte

Kaisen-Don – Seafood Catch of the Day

Lunch Set – Chicken Karaage Teishoku

Chef Takanori Wada Stone-Grilled Ishiyaki – selected meats to grill at your table. Crispiness without burning and retains juices

Restaurant Wada

Upscale Izakaya | 611 Kapahulu Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815 | (808) 737-0125 | www.restaurantwada.com

SUSHI YASUDA 204 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017 | (212) 972-1001

Big Island: Big Island Brewhaus

While you could easily drink your dinner here, sampling the 13 house-brewed beers on tap, your night (and morning) will go much smoother if you get something to eat. Try the Baja fish tacos ($12.95), crispy battered fish on flour tortillas, topped with a creamy cilantro sauce, guacamole and fresh, bright salsa. » 64-1066 Māmalahoa Hwy. #A, Waimea, Hawai‘i Island, (808) 887-1717, bigislandbrewhaus.com

14 95

$ ’50s Highway Fountain

Big Island: Puka Puka Kitchen

In Hilo, Puka Puka Kitchen’s falafel, lamb and ‘ahi plates all hit the spot, but nothing satisfies there—or anywhere, really—quite like the fried oysters ($13.33). They come breaded in panko and served on a bed of garlic fried rice beside a mountain of mixed greens, with a delightful goatcheese balsamic dressing. For your BYOB convenience, there’s a KTA supermarket just around the corner, because nothing goes with fried oysters quite as well as cold beer (price varies). » 270 Kamehameha Ave., Hilo, Hawai‘i Island, 933-2121

Big Island: ’50s Highway Fountain

Pay your respects to the King in the Elvis Room, then sink into a booth and order some food. More authentic diners along Route 66 would have a hard time beating the freshness of Highway Fountain’s fish and chips ($10.95), ono encased in a light and crispy beer batter. For something more diner-esque, Big Island beef hamburgers ($6.95) have just the right amount of char, and a malted vanilla milk shake ($4.35) completes the picture. » 35-2704 Old Māmalahoa Highway, Laupāhoehoe, Hawai‘i Island, (808) 962-0808

Big Island: Lotus Café Southeast Asian and Indian food meet a natural foods restaurant in Lotus Café. The restaurant runs solely on solar energy, and the six-page menu touts its GMO-, dairy and gluten-free fare. Vegans and carnivores can dine side by side here, on spice-spiked meat and veggie dishes. A favorite is the Indian curry in a coconut rice crepe ($14.95), a spongy crepe folded over veggies cooked in Malabar curry, jammed with cumin, turmeric, tamarind, ginger and chili in a tomato base. A side of cucumber raita soothes the palate. » 73-5617 Maiau St., Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i Island, (808) 327-3270

24 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

photos: david croxford, josh fletcher

Lotus Cafe’s Indian curry in a coconut rice crepe.

Best Gourmet Comfort Food

Best Little Neighborhood Restaurant ly After 5:30 pm Award-Winning Dinner Served Dai

Restaurant! Mahalo Kailua, from your favorite Neighborhood

' & Deli Kalapawai Cafe 750 Kailua Road Kailua, HI 96734 (808) 262-DELI

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Breakfast

Start the day off right by keeping your belly and wallet full.

Sweet E’s

Jack’s Restaurant

East O‘ahuans know to ask for the special biscuit ($1.35), a fluffy, softball-size pastry, to be split, lightly grilled and slathered in whipped honey butter. Everything else, from the 11 different omelettes to the onion-and-gravysmothered hamburger steak and eggs (all for less than $10), is, well, gravy. Our pick: “Jack’s Breakfast” ($6.75), which comes with two eggs, choice of meat (ham, bacon, sausage or corned beef hash) and, of course, a biscuit. Live a

little and shell out for a side of fried rice ($.95). » ‘Āina Haina Shopping Center, 820 W. Hind Drive, 373-4034

Yogur Story

You’ll need a fork, knife and hearty appetite to cut through the Santa Monica Benedict ($10.95), two poached eggs perched on a mound of sautéed spinach, crisp asparagus, thick slices of ham and toasted bolilo bread, covered in a creamy garlic-basil hollandaise. Or find divine inspiration in the hurricane rice bowl ($12.95),

26 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

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Sweet E’s kālua pork eggs Benedict

a brunch-inspired bibimbap with heaps of shredded daikon, lettuce, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, cucumbers, and bean and radish sprouts. Mix in flavorful strips of prime rib, eggs and (oh, no, they didn’t) bacon kim chee fried rice, then top with a generous helping of chili paste. » 815 Ke‘eaumoku St., 942-0505

BluWater Grill

We admit, this restaurant isn’t known for its cheap eats, but come brunch-time on Sundays, all entrées include

an all-you-can eat mini pancake bar. We only wish those tiny addictive rounds, studded with blueberries, macadamia nuts or chocolate chips, were cooked faster. Instead, we savor our bites of smoked ham and cheese omelette or juicy kiawe-grilled chicken panini with salty notes of crisp fried capers (both $14.95), then sit back, soak in the restaurant’s view of the marina, and wait for the next batch. » Hawai‘i Kai Shopping Center, 377 Keahole St., 395-6224

photo: monte costa

Try Sweet E’s stuffed French toast ($8.95), in which three fat slices of French toast envelop blueberries and cream cheese, for a dish that can’t make up its mind if it’s dessert or breakfast. If you’re not up for a sugary morning, the kālua pork eggs Benedict ($12.95) is a savory alternative. Paired with a perfectly poached egg, the English muffin holds up well, and the shredded, smoky meat melds beautifully with the hollandaise sauce. Use your choice of starch— rice, hash browns, potatoes or fried rice ($1.50)—to mop up the last of the runny egg off your plate. » 1016 Kapahulu Ave., Suite 185, 737-7771

Honolulu Magazine’s Silver Hale ‘Aina Award Winner Best Big Island Restaurant, 2 Years in a Row

15-2969 P a h oa V i l l a g e R oa d P a h oa , i s l a n d o f h awa i i 808-965-5600 w w w . k a l e o s h awa i i . c o m

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Where do you wanna go…

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1450 Ala Moana Blvd. #2096 • Mall Level • Honolulu, HI 96814 • (808) 942-9102

Take-out Available I Open Daily from 10:30am I Serving Lunch & Dinner HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013 27

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A lot of time and effort went into the wine you drink with dinner. Welcome to the ins and outs of getting a liquor license in Honolulu. By Tiffany Hill | Illustration by Vidhya Nagarajan

oing out for a nice dinner, pairing your meal with a fine wine, is one

of life’s simple pleasures. As a restaurant patron, when it comes to alcohol, it usually doesn’t get more complicated than deciding which cabernet sauvignon goes best with the grilled lamb chops. But for owners, getting permission to pour you a glass of that cab is an arduous process, involving stacks of paperwork, public hearings and hefty filing fees. Sometimes lawyers even get involved. There are 15 major types of licenses, says Greg Nishioka, the Honolulu Liquor Commission administrator, depending on the type of establishment. For example, Chinatown bars have licenses allowing them to serve alcohol until 2 a.m. Some Waikīkī establishments and strip clubs with cabaret licenses can serve until 4 a.m. Hotels have their own liquor license class, as do dinner and

HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013 29

Best Neighborhood Restaurant

Mahalo!

g Gettisned Licen

Seven Time Hale Aina Award Winner

In order to get a liquor license, restaurant and bar owners have to have money, patience and a knack for document filing. There are different types of licenses, but the process is about the same. Here are the major steps for new applicants:

Fill out the application, and pay a $250 filing fee. A temporary license, good for 120 days, costs $275.

Submit the following paperwork: financial statements, criminal background clearances for owners and stockholders ($20 per person), a zoning clearance ($50), a floor plan, a copy of the lease agreement, a tax map, a liquor liability insurance certificate and more.

12th Ave G R I L L 732.9469

Give your local neighborhood board written notice (via certified mail) of your intention to get licensed. New applicants must also notify, via mail, all registered voters within a 500-foot radius of the bar or restaurant. Photo: Christopher Cook

Fork over $2,000 to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser to publish notice of your public hearing before the commission. (The newspaper more than doubled this ad rate in 2010, from $700.)

Attend two Liquor Commission hearings. The second is open to the public; giving people an opportunity to oppose the proposed license.

3605 Waialae Ave.

Reservations 744.7567 30 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

Renew your license every year.

booze cruises, and caterers. Ditto retail establishments that sell beer and wine, such as The Wine Stop or HASR. See how it can get complicated? For a new restaurant, the easiest, cheapest route to a liquor license is to acquire an existing license by taking over a space previously occupied by a licensed restaurant or bar owner. But a transfer is not always guaranteed, and in any case, it’s a lot of paperwork, says Serena Hashimoto, owner of Downbeat Diner on Hotel Street. She successfully transferred a license in January of 2011, when she and Josh Hancock opened Downbeat in the former Miss Siam Bistro space. Hashimoto says a lot of people told her to hire an attorney to handle all the paperwork. “Frankly, we didn’t have the money, so I decided to do it myself. I was told it wasn’t possible. I had a lot of people tell me horror stories.” Turns out, it was possible without a lawyer, and Hashimoto found the commission pleasant enough to work with, paperwork and all. “It’s a very detail-oriented process,” she says. “I had to go to like six different offices to get everything.” In all, Hashimoto says it cost a “couple thousand dollars,” for that piece of paper allowing Downbeat bartenders to serve alcohol. But she says she’d encourage other owners to do it themselves. Given the high number of noise complaints for the area, Hashimoto says she and her colleagues sometimes deal more with hostile neighborhood residents than the commission itself. “I haven’t found them to be unfair,” she says. For new restaurant owners who can’t transfer an existing license, a more challenging path awaits. That’s what Dusty Grable, co-owner of the recently opened Lucky Belly (next to Downbeat) went through this summer. He, too, was warned of the liquor commission’s difficulties, and, urged to get a lawyer. But he too, ignored the stories and skipped the legal fees. “What really worked to our advantage was that we were open,” he says. “We want to be part of the community.” Grable says he and his partner Jesse Cruz went the Chinatown Neighborhood Board meetings, to introduce themselves. It’s not

required for new applicants to visit their local neighborhood board, but it can certainly help, says Nishioka. The hearings in front of the liquor commission are open to the community and thus, open to public opposition. “It went extremely smooth,” he says. It also helped that Lucky Belly is a “restaurant, first and foremost,” says Grable. Given that the small neighborhood is already chock-full of plain old bars, the fact that it serves food made a difference to the surrounding community. Grable adds The Manifest owner Brandon Reid was similarly well received since his bar doubles as a coffee shop during the day. Grable may have survived unscathed, but his wallet is now $6,000 lighter. “It’s not cheap, but it’s well worth it,” he says. “We’ll specialize in sake, we want it to be approachable for everyone.”

Enforcement The Honolulu Liquor Commission has two functions, licensing and enforcement. Once an establishment has a license, it may expect an unannounced visit, making sure the owners are following the rules.

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Eat here now

Hawaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;i is a great place to eat, and it seems to get better all the time. Here are six of our favorite new eateries that have opened in the past year.

By Martha Cheng 32 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

Bob McGee of The Whole Ox Deli demonstrates how to eat the halfpound dry-aged burger. You're gonna need that napkin, Bob.

HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 33

photo: matt mallams

watch!

see vid bob mcgeeoeof chef ing down breaka GO TO HONOLULU pig. M NEWRESTAURAAG.COM/ NTS

T IS A THRILLING TIME TO DINE OUT

in Hawai‘i. Eating spaces have gotten more casual—hell, some of them aren’t even permanent or fixed, as in the case of pop-ups and food trucks—as fanaticism over ingredients has replaced table linens and formal service. Everything we eat and drink these days has gotten better: coffee is brewed to order at new cafés such as Morning Glass and Beach Bum Café, gastropubs such as Real and Pint + Jigger serve craft beer from Hawai‘i and around the world, and, while local meats and produce used to be the provenance of high end restaurants such as Alan Wong’s and Roy’s, they are now also being served by prepared food vendors (i.e. The Pig and the Lady) at the farmers’ markets. Here is a look at some of the most interesting and appetizing restaurants that opened in the past year.

IN THE GRAND WAILEA, 3850 WAILEA ALANUI DRIVE, WAILEA, MAUI, (808) 891-3954, WAILEARESORTDINING.COM/ALAN-WONGS-AMASIA THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, ALAN WONG opened

The Pineapple Room with a three-page pūpū menu. This was before Jose Andrés popularized small-plate dining in the United States, before tapas popped up

on every menu, even before izakayas became mainstream. It lasted three months. People thought the portions were too small, they didn’t understand that plates were meant to be shared and “people were looking for the entrée,” Wong says. Now, Wong’s revitalizing his old concept with Amasia at the Grand Wailea, offering a menu of 65 small Amasia's interior conjures up a Kyoto teahouse.

photos courtesy grand wailea

Amasia

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Amasia's Kona kampachi tiradito with liliko‘i.

plates and larger ones meant to be shared family-style. Dishes come from the raw bar, sushi bar, robata grill and main kitchen. There are Alan Wong classics, like a whole tomato salad with li hing dressing and soy-braised short ribs with ko choo jang sauce. Wong and his kitchen crew change the menu frequently, but new dishes have included a grilled Greekinspired sausage on cardamom yogurt, topped with pickled fennel, and even some plates with “Spong,” a housemade Spam (the word itself is a mash-up of Spam and Wong). Sushi chef Jeff Ramsey, who had

a stint at Jose Andrés’ Minibar in Washington, D.C., has come up with some inventive sushi rolls, like the “lū‘au,” with grilled ika, a coconut-milk lū‘au sauce, and a cube of pressed l‘ūau leaf. Of the larger, family-style plates, there’s a whole chili-garlic Dungeness crab. The beauty of Amasia’s menu is that you get the whole spectrum of Wong’s cuisine, from the more local-style comfort food of The Pineapple Room, like a kimchee fried rice, to the rarefied dishes of Wong’s flagship restaurant, such as the “soup and sandwich,” a chilled tomato soup and a grilled cheese, kālua pig and foie gras sandwich. You can have it all at Amasia. You just have to share.

Cactus

767 KAILUA ROAD, KAILUA, 261-1000, CACTUSBISTRO.COM CACTUS COLLECTS THE FLAVORS OF LATIN

and Caribbean cuisines and, like a spice trader at a market, lures you in with bright tastes and smells. There are wild boar picadillo empañadas, cumin-

scented ground meat folded into corn tortillas and deep-fried; Argentine fry bread, rounds of fried dough somewhere between a biscuit and a doughnut, accompanied by a pineapple and chile jelly. These are from the small-plates section of the menu, a nod to current trends, perhaps. Mostly, though, the menu is dedicated to generous-size entrées, like a big hunk of pork shoulder roasted and sauced with tamarind and fresh mango. Pork and clams go together like beer and fries, and there’s all of that in the fideos, similar to a loose risotto, but made with vermicelli noodles. Here, they’re in a rich broth of Dos Equis lager, lemon and chile. The aforementioned pork and fries? They’re crisp, airy chicharrones, or fried pork skins. John Memering, the chef of Cactus, spent six years helming the kitchen at Kalapawai Café before he moved right across the street to open his own place. (“That was incidental,” Memering says. “They have sore feelings about that.”) He’s brought with him the same style of comfort food—nothing too crazy or unusual, hearty portions—but instead

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HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 35

Kona Kai 2535 COYNE ST., 594-7687 TOWARD THE END OF THE NIGHT at Kona

Kai, the server sits down at the sushi bar and the chef asks what she wants to eat. “Fish,” she says. The chef makes her a special chirashi. “They pay me in fish,” she says. “The money is just bonus.” She could hardly have picked a better place to work—not many have as wide a variety of fish as Kona Kai. James Matsukawa, the sushi chef, carries four types of tuna (Spanish bluefin, yellowfin, big eye and albacore), two types of ika, or squid (broad fin and spear), two different live shrimp (Santa Barbara spot prawn and New Caledonia blue shrimp), and many more, including fresh Hokkaido

tako. When Matsukawa first brought in the tako, he hoped to serve it live, squirming tentacles and all, as is done in Japan, but his shipment came with a letter from the FDA warning against the practice. So now he cooks it and massages it for 45 minutes with daikon. (One suspects the tako of having forged this FDA letter.) Kona Kai is for “people who want serious sushi,” Matsukawa says. But he named his restaurant Kona Kai instead of something like Matsukawa-Tei to appeal to locals instead of Japanese. “There are lots of Japanese sushi

bars with Japanese sushi chefs,” he says. “They mostly tend to cater to the Japanese customers because they’re more educated about sushi. This is a place for local people who have more of an advanced sushi palate.” The details: Matsukawa washes the ikura several times to take out some of the saltiness, then marinates it in dashi— when presented, instead of clumping together as a sticky mass, each orb glistens like a jewel. Translucent slices of tai (snapper) are topped with rainbow trout caviar, yellowfin ‘ahi is brushed with a reduced mix of temari shoyu (the

Omakase at Kona Kai might include tai with rainbow trout caviar and lightly torched bluefin tuna.

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36 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

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Mon. – Sat. 2 pm to 2 am Happy Hour 2 pm to 6 pm

Waipahu Shopping Plaza 94-300 Farrington Hwy., Suite F-1 Waipahu, Hawaii 96797 801 Dillingham Blvd. (next to Costco Iwilei) Honolulu, Hawaii 96817 Tel. 808-951-MAXS (6297)

photo: martha cheng

of the pan-European fare at Kalapawai, he’s punching it up with chiles and spices from other tropical climes. It’s food that belongs here, according to Memering, with “the brightness of lime and mango and pineapple and coconut and chiles.”

shoyu equivalent of extra virgin olive oil) and mirin. The shoyu at the table isn’t just shoyu—it’s cut with dashi so it doesn’t overwhelm delicate fish. The wasabi is fresh, of course. Matsukawa is 30 and has worked at Japanese restaurants all over town— Tokkuri Tei, Sasabune, Jimbo’s. His menu reflects this: It has the esoteric sushi of Sasabune, but also Americanized sushi, such as the Kona Roll, a California roll topped with spicy ‘ahi, tempura flakes and a pineapple chili sauce. It can seem incongruous, but so is the space—tucked above and behind Rock Bottom Sports Bar, Kona Kai is a place where you can enjoy exquisite sushi as people below play beer pong.

Nuuanu & Manoa: Mon-Sat 10:30am-9pm Sunday Noon-8pm

Nimitz: Mon-Sat 11am-9pm Sunday 11:30am-8pm

RED CURRY WITH BROWN RICE

MANGO S ALAD

PAD T HAI N OODLES

Prima

108 HEKILI ST., #107, KAILUA, 888-8933, PRIMAHAWAII.COM IT'S HARD TO CLASSIFY PRIMA’S CUISINE,

and you get the sense that the young chefs here don't want you to. They're saying to hell with boundaries, and so the menu jumps from Italian-styled dishes to

MANOA 2955 E. Manoa Rd. 988-0212 Take-out or Dine-in

NIMITZ 900 N. Nimitz Hwy. #110 536-8570 Restaurant

NUUANU 1627 Nuuanu Ave. 585-8839 Take-out/Self-service

Phone orders welcome at all three locations. WWW . BANGKOKCHEFEXPRESS . COM

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Lunch, Dinner & Reception Packages Available Or Customize Your Own Menu!

(808) 545-1115 events@brasserieduvin.com www.brasserieduvin.com

Manoa Marketplace

808-988-4310 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 37

Indian spices to panang curry, all of it reconstructed in unexpected ways. Take the pappardelle Bolognese, which seems straightforward enough. At Prima, however, there’s a wink of curry in the meat sauce and it’s topped with crispy, fried curry leaves. Panna cotta is served as an appetizer, paired with fennel marmalade and coffee salt. A tandoori preparation does away with meat; instead, half a pear is blackened with warm, Indian spices and cooled with yogurt, grapefruit and mint. These are dishes like no other in Hawai‘i. The presentation alone will tell you that. What sounds like a simple mushroom salad is presented like a creature from Prometheus, though the tail, a swoosh of cauliflower puree, causes a wide swath of gustatory satisfaction, rather than death and alien procreation. Prima will source ingredients as carefully as Alan Wong’s, but this is Roasted maitake mushroom, pickled hon shimiji and a technique-driven restaurant; what’s cauliflower puree at Prima. more interesting than where the food and breakdancers sobering up at 3 a.m. came from is what the chefs have done Maybe it’s the $20,000 Stefano Ferrara with it. oven, or Prima’s more refined interior, but One section of Prima’s menu that hews the pizzas here seem better. They are the traditional, however, are the pizzas, perfect complement for the menu’s series Neopolitan-style with thin, chewy of small plates, to round out the meal, and crusts. The Prima chefs made a name for the crusts the perfect utensils for sopping themselves with their pizzas at V-Lounge, up any of the sauces, from the poached egg which were devoured by gourmands, and chicken jus to the panang curry left families who eschew Chuck E. Cheese over from the clams.

watch!

pr a che make dim ishes lifs k other in hon e no GO TO HONOLULU olulu. MAG.COM/ NEWRESTAURA NTS

At Prima, Kevin Lee pulls a pizza out of the kiawe-fired oven, which the Prima owners tiled themselves. 38 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

Mexican Grill & Cantina

Just Tacos is dedicated to providing impeccable service within a comfy “ﬁesta” ambiance bringing the warmth and generosity of Mexico to your table. Here at Just Tacos, everyone is family!

Takanori Wada at work in the kitchen, where the cabinets are made of the same cherry wood as the dining room tables.

Wada

“Best Tequila Bar” Honolulu Magazine

611 KAPAHULU AVE., 737-0125, RESTAURANTWADA.COM SEIJI KUMAGAWA, THE CHEF OF SUSHI

photos: monte costa, o livier koning

SASABUNE, came into Wada one night

and ate at the bar. As Takanori Wada, the chef of his eponymous restaurant, tells it, Kumagawa said the food was very good, but with time and instruction, Wada could be an even better restaurant, like Sushi Sasabune. Wada didn’t think much of the comment (“His rice is too warm,” Wada says). I don’t think he’ll be seeking Kumagawa’s advice anytime soon. Wada’s more of an I-can-do-it-myself type anyway. He’s worked at Man Ray, a nowclosed French restaurant in Manhattan, and Sushi Samba, both in New York and Chicago, and now he’s doing his own thing. The menu is his, of course, and so is the design of the restaurant, from the kitchen to the tables to the cherry-wood walls. (The wood panels run out about three-quarters of the way through the restaurant, due to a miscalculation.) Wada even makes the ceramic dishes, which tend to have simple, organic shapes. They cradle some sublime combinations: duck slices and yuba, soft, fresh beancurd sheets in a thickened shoyu sauce; fried mozzarella in a light dashi. The sashimi here is impeccable, the quality rivaling Honolulu’s top sushi bars. But don’t expect sushi; there’s only one, with raw Washugyu beef (a cross

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between Wagyu and Angus) and uni. Much of the menu is unfamiliar. You’ll need a sense of adventure to try shuto ae, basically fresh, raw seafood in fermented fish guts, or fried-squid cartilage with steamed Manila clams. But the ishiyaki hirami is a crowd-pleaser: tender nuggets of beef and a mound of garlic, onions and mushrooms cooked quickly tableside on a stone grill.

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40 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

{ IWILEI } 888 N. Nimitz Highway #101 | Honolulu, HI 96817 808-697-5000 OPEN S-T 10am-9pm / F-S 10am-10pm

The Whole Ox Deli

327 KEAWE ST., 699-6328, WHOLEOXDELI.COM (OPEN FOR DINNER THIS MONTH.) THE WHOLE OX HAS PERFECTED THE

porchetta sandwich, each bite yielding tender pork, fat and crackling skin. A touch of fennel marmalade brings a light sweetness to this composition. The porchetta comes at the sacrifice of a pig, deboned, brined for three days in brown sugar, salt and fennel seed, rolled up like a log and cooked slowly over the Labesse Giraudon rotisserie, until the skin is crispy. It is just one of the satisfying sandwiches at The Whole Ox, an eatery where Bob McGee, formerly of Apartment3, 12th Ave Grill and Salt, hopes to “save the world, one sandwich at a time,” he says. He uses whole, local animals for his meats, which is no small feat—the process needs a lot of refrigerator space as well as butchery know-how and patience. Patience in waiting for the brisket to cure for two weeks and transform into pastrami for the reuben, patience in collecting all the meat bits (non-steak cuts and innards) to press into terrines. Andrade Ranch on Kaua‘i supplies the cows for Whole Ox’s dry-aged hamburger, Malama Farm on Maui the pigs for breakfast sausage and Canadian ham, Shinsato the pork for the porchetta. Honolulu artists Satoro Abe and John Koga were so taken with The Whole Ox's philosophy, they have placed in the restaurant's care some of Jerry Okimoto’s last sculptures: a cleaver and chef’s knife, each made with pressed plywood, each over ten feet tall. Abe thinks the sawdust from Okimoto’s woodwork is what eventually killed him, just as I imagine McGee’s meat-heavy, delicious sandwiches will be the end of us. But what a way to go.

WHERE HIGH CUISINE MEETS BAREFOOT LUXURY Tickets available for the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival Enter the Modern Dragon: Morimoto & Friends Signature Event September 6 | www.hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com

WWW.THEMODERNHONOLULU.COM 1.866.406.2782 | 808.924.6543 | HOTEL 808.943.5800 HOME TO MORIMOTO WAIKIKI | LOBBY BAR ADDICTION NIGHTCLUB | SPA AT THE MODERN HONOLULU TheModernHonolulu

@ModernHonolulu

The Kahal a Hotel & Resort Presents

BOUNTY

OF THE

SEVEN SEAS SEAFOOD BUFFET Oceanside dining at its finest All You Can Eat Seafood Buffet A new port of call every week!

Friday & Saturday Nights 5:30 – 9:30 pm

Sample menu salad selections

mixed greens • caesar salad • potato salad • greek salad with feta cheese • watercress • spinach • seafood salad • chinese chicken salad • salmon tofu salad • tomato, cucumber, ogo salad • fresh fruit salad • 3 house made dressings • croutons and bacon bits delectable seafood

ahi sashimi • ahi poke • tako kim chee poke • nigiri, maki, inari sushi • shrimp cocktail • mussels and oysters on a half shell, cocktail sauce, lemon and lime • smoked salmon and condiments other items

steamed white rice • hot soup: chef’s soup of the day • cold soup: gazpacho wok seared eggplant • asparagus • domestic and foreign cheese board • fresh baked assorted breads • assorted fruit platters carving station

keawe broiled top sirloin • hamakua mushroom sauce, horseradish cream action station

shrimp • mussels • lobster • zucchini roasted mushrooms asparagus • penne pasta • marinara • garlic cream capers from the chafers

seafood jambalaya • sautéed fresh catch with lemon butter caper sauce • sautéed summer vegetables • grilled beef with morel cream sauce • butter poached seafood dessert station

Executive Pastry Chef Michael Moorhouse’s Sweet Endings

Reservations are recommended: Call 739-8760 or email restaurants@kahalaresort.com

Adults $55.00* Children (6-12) $27.50* * Tax and gratuity not included. Show your Kama‘aina residency ID and receive 15% off.

AT THE KAHALA HOTEL & RESORT 5000 KAHALA AVENUE | HONOLULU, HAWAII 96816-5498 TELEPHONE: 808.739.8888 | RESERVATIONS: 1.800.367.2525 www.kahalaresort.com

Put your money where your mouth is, with some of Hawai‘i’s most expensive dishes.

By Maria Kanai | Photos by Olivier Koning

After exploring Hawai‘i’s cheap eats,

we’d like to introduce you to the other end of the food spectrum. From highquality steaks to rare sea snails, here are seven extravagant dishes (and one drink) available on O‘ahu and Maui.

A flight of sustainable caviars – Chef Mavro’s Who wants just one type of caviar when you can get three? A flight of sustainable caviars ($190) serves 10 grams each of Russian Golden Osetra, Siberian Osetra and White Sturgeon. The caviar is arranged on a block of ice, and prepared tableside by the server into individual, rectangular portions on special motherof-pearl spoons. You also get a table mat with caviar labels so you don’t forget what you’re eating. Chef George Mavrothalassitis took the dish off the menu 10 years ago, when wild sturgeon became an endangered species. After eight years of searching, he finally found farm-raised caviar in Uruguay, Bulgaria and California that met his standards. The taste had to be fresh, elegant and not too salty. Most important, Mavro says, “When you eat caviar you must feel like you are king!” chefmavro.com, 944-4714

We’ll egg you on—try the caviar! HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013 43

and up, Wagyu beef -Nobu’s Restaurant Wagyu is such an expensive breed of cattle that farmers are known to feed them red wine and even give them massages to aid digestion. As a result, we get rich meat filled with unsaturated fat and intense marbling. At Nobu’s, Wagyu beef ($52 and up) from America and Australia is served five ways: shabu shabu, steak, toban, tataki and “new style” sashimi. At $26 per ounce, each style has a different minimum order of two, four or six ounces. The two-ounce tataki beef is seared on the outside and raw on the inside, served with ponzu sauce, shiso leaves, chopped garlic and grated spicy daikon radish. Chef Robin Lee says he sells about a pound and a half every day. noburestaurants.com, 237-6999

California Estero Bay Abalone – Michel’s Thank world pollution for the price of California Estero Bay

Abalone ($75). This sea snail is a dying breed; many varieties are already extinct. According to chef Hardy Kintscher, Michel’s is the only restaurant on O‘ahu with big, steaklike abalone from Santa Barbara; most places serve baby Kona abalone. Kintscher prepares two pieces “Parisian style,” finished with macadamia-nut white-wine sauce and served with spaghetti squash, egg-shell pasta and wok spinach. “The flavor is meaty, though delicate,” says Kintscher. “It’s very tender. A little bit more like chicken than fish.” michelshawaii.com, 923-6552

You’ll shell out a lot of clams for the abalone at Michel’s.

Spiny-lobster sashimi Mitch’s Seafood The spiny-lobster sashimi ($65) at Mitch’s is so upscale that master chef Masakazu Murakami refused to answer our questions. “You won’t understand if you haven’t tried it,” he says. “I don’t want to talk about it.” We had better luck with the receptionist: Mitch’s is the only place in Honolulu that serves lobster from New Zealand—other restaurants use Maine lobster. He told us that New

Kiawe-Broiled, Perfectly Prime.

Honolulu’s Award-Winning Restaurant!

A Specialty House House A “USDA “USDA Prime Prime Beef” Beef” Specialty Since 1976 1976

2440 Kuhio Ave., 1st Fl.

Reservation • 922-5555 44 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

HONOLULU HONOLULU Magazine: Hale ‘Aina Award — Best Steak ZAGAT ZAGAT SURVEY: SURVEY:One One of of Honolulu’s Honolulu’s Top Top Five Restaurants WINE WINESPECTATOR SPECTATOR MAGAZINE: MAGAZINE: Award Award of of Excellence

Zealand is the only country that grows lobsters in natural, warm seawater instead of cold, and therefore they are “more stable and pure.” The chef will bring out the 1.5-pound rock lobster alive, serve the tail as sashimi and place the head in miso soup. mitchssushi.com, 837-7774

A Cardinal Sin – Rival’s Lounge A cocktail that’s worth $250? Well, sort of. A Cardinal Sin comes with a night at the ‘Ōhana Waikīkī Mālia hotel and a pizza to share. The Scotch in the cocktail is aged for 21 years, so the drink alone is worth $90. It all began when bar owner Michael Kawazoe joined resources with his father, Fukuyoshi, owner of the hotel, to showcase the Glenfiddich 21 and Disaronno Amaretto. “The smooth oak flavor from Scotch and the sweet flavor of the amaretto mix well together,” says bartender Eric Stegg. The drink has been ordered twice, but it’s never been served. The first time, Stegg didn’t have enough Scotch. The second, he had to refuse the order because the customer was too intoxicated. rivalslounge.com, 923-0600

Get a room! You will, with a Cardinal Sin.

CHOCOLATE CRUNCH

MISO BUTTERFISH

Ingenious small plate offerings to delight the palate paired with the liquid artistry of our innovative cocktails transform happy hour to blissfully refined social dining. O C EA N VIEW L O U N GE

683-7777

•

trumpwaikikihotel.com HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013 45

Maui:

Claw your way to the top of the food chain with the spiny lobster.

Bone-in ribeye - Duo’s Steak and Seafood Dry-aging meat is a complicated process. “Aging of the meat relies on the humidity of an air-controlled room,” says chef Roger Stettler. “The meat dries out, loses water and, as soon as it Tanaka_Honolulu Mg. Restaurant G12.pdf 1 11/12/06 16:42

CMY

46 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

photo: john edwards

and up, Hand-caught Hawaiian spiny lobster Humuhumunukunukuāpuaa Restaurant The hand-caught Hawaiian spiny lobster ($58 per pound, two-pound minimum) is an interactive affair at this Grand Wailea Resort restaurant. After you order the dish, the server will take you down to the restaurant’s saltwater lagoon, where the lobsters are grown. After you pick one, you decide how you want it cooked. Grilled or steamed? Seasoned with butter? Deshelled? Any requested condiments go on the side, lest they distract from the meaty, already-buttery flavor. The biggest one ever served was a massive five-pounder, for $290. wailearesortdining.com, 888-6100

Honolulu’s “See and Be Seen” Pre-Club Hangout…

Asian-American Cuisine is a “Smash Hit”… A delectable tasting of seafood, beef, pork lamb, poultry and delightful desserts. It’s a “box office smash” that have enjoyed a long run to the pleasure of Honolulu’s “foodies-in-the-know”. Whether its lunch or dinner, we invite you to savor a Stage Restaurant performance. Call 808.237.5429 for reservations. Convenient location with free parking.

Stage Restaurant 2nd flr Honolulu Design Center Call 808.237.5429

StageRestaurantHawaii.com

With a flirty personality that lures an attractive after work clientele, Amuse Wine Bar has evolved to become Honolulu’s popular pre-clubbing social hangout. Wine dispensing kiosks makes every night a wine tasting party along with crowd pleasing appetizers from Stage Restaurant and live music from some of the best local talents. Come and let Amuse Wine Bar ease you into a good mood. Enjoy the free covered parking

Amuse Wine Bar 2nd flr Honolulu Design Center 5p to closing Mon. thru Sat.

AmuseWineBar.com

Honolulu Design Center 1250 Kapiolani Blvd. Honolulu, Hawaii

HonoluluDesignCenter.com

P HOTO : P AC W EST S TUDIOS

photo: nina kuna

loses water, the price goes up, because the weight specification is different.” At Duo’s, the 24-ounce bone-in ribeye ($56) is grilled, seasoned with salt and pepper, and flavored with house-made herb butter. Served with fresh Kula corn, Stettler describes the meat as a “more intense, grassy beef flavor that’s stronger than a normal piece of meat.” fourseasons.com/maui, 874-8000

Capische? Oh, we get it, all right—ribeye steak!

Gold label bone-in ribeye steak - Capische Available only a couple times a month, the gold label bone-in ribeye steak ($200) is American wagyu shipped from Snake River Farm in Idaho. Chef Christopher Kulis, like many chefs, prefer Snake River meat because “it’s not as fatty as Kobe beef and still has lots of marbleization.” The wagyu is cooked sous-vide for four hours in a vacuum-sealed bag with extra virgin olive oil and rosemary, and then pan-seared at high heat. According to Kulis, most people can’t finish the dry-aged, 48-ounce steak, so plan to share. Served with light and crispy Tuscan potatoes, sweet aged balsamic vinegar and garden arugula salad, the rich meat has a “nice, caramelized finish all around the outside.” capische.com, 879-2224

48 HONOLULU restaurant guide 2013

IL U A ,

A H A W

I I‘

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Restaurant News and Reviews from

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Weekly Newsletters -the hottest dining news in tasty bite-sized portions.

At Shige’s Saimin Stand, the noodles never stop.

50 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

HONOLULU’S

FRESHEST

NOODLES Meet the noodle makers rolling out the Island’s nicest noodles by hand ... and foot!

OMPSON BY DAVID TH YSE BUTLER PHOTOS BY EL

HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 51

FOR A CITY THAT LOVES NOODLES AS MUCH AS HONOLULU DOES,

it’s surprising that more eateries don’t offer the genuine, fresh, made-fromscratch variety. But there are a handful of places where such a noodle is the norm, and HONOLULU went behind the scenes with the noodle makers to see how it’s done.

SHIGE’S SAIMIN STAND

SHIGE’S SAIMIN STAND in Wahiawā makes its

saimin noodles from scratch because that’s the way the Shigeoka family has always made its saimin. Ross Shigeoka’s grandparents sold saimin for 25 cents a bowl at the Hale‘iwa saimin stand they opened in the 1950s. As a kid, Ross saw his grandfather produce batch after batch of noodles from a little, Japanese, tabletop noodle-making machine. Shortly after Ross and his wife, JoAnn, opened Shige’s Saimin Stand in 1990, they found a vintage 1950s noodle-making machine. It is almost identical to Ross’s grandfather’s, only much larger. It stands on the floor, as big and sturdy as an engine block, and it makes considerably more noodles at one time. A batch of Shige’s noodles begins with eggs, water, a 15-pound bag of Gold Medal allpurpose flour and JoAnn’s small but powerful hands. She plunges into the ingredients up to

52 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

her forearms, working and kneading until she’s got a wheel of dough shaped like the flat bottom of her enormous mixing bowl. She then flattens the dough so that it’s long and thin enough to feed into the machine for even more flattening. Instead of a rolling pin, she uses a heavily weighted piece of black plastic plumbing pipe, which is longer than she is tall. Ross’s grandfather used a bamboo pole at this stage, but modern plumbing material is far more durable. Years of making dough this way have left JoAnn with nicely toned arms and shoulders. “People always ask if I go to the gym, and I say, ‘No, I make noodles,’” she says.

~ EXQUISITE DINING~ UNPARALLELED VIEWS

Dining, from a traditional buffet to an elegant dinner, is a feast for the senses at The Plaza Club. To inquire about membership or to plan a special event, please call 808.521.8905 or visit www.ThePlazaClub.com.

ALL EVENT INQUIRIES WELCOMED. 808.521.8905 or www.ThePlazaClub.com for more information or to inquire about membership opportunities.

“The Plaza Club’s sweeping panoramic views, excellent cuisine blending East and West, and attentive service make it my favorite place to dine downtown.”

Dennis M.H. Pang Principal, Dennis M.H. Pang and Associates Servco Insurance Services

Ross Shigeoka spends four or five hours a day making noodles for his family-run restaurant. His vintage 1950s noodle-making machine rolls the dough and slices it into strands, but the final cut is done by hand.

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An Intelligent, not so fast food, mostly Greek restaurant in Kahala 737-0303 Ilima Award - Best Mediterranean Restaurant 14 Time HONOLULU Magazine Hale ‘Aina Award Winner – Best Restaurant Under $20 2 Time Zagat Survey Award Winner – For the best money can buy and for Best American Excellent Restaurant Best Greek Restaurant – Honolulu Star-Bulletin HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 53

The Shigeoka’s noodle-making machine predates the age of putting finger guards on dangerous machinery, and ever since the machine crushed three of JoAnn’s fingers, she has left the next step in the process to Ross: feeding the dough through the machine’s rapidly spinning rollers. Ross runs the dough through the rollers more than a dozen times, until he’s got one very long, noodle-thin strip rolled up on a spool. He then affixes a cutting attachment to the machine, feeds the dough through the rollers one final time and uses scissors to snip the emerging strands down to noodle length. The bucket Ross fills with snipped noodles then goes to the sorting table, where Ross’s mother and father are stationed, with their television. The elder Shigeokas separate the noodles into threeounce, ready-to-cook servings, never seeming to take their eyes off their Korean soap operas or game shows as they work. Ross once experimented with a cutting attachment that creates a thinner noodle, but his customers complained that the saimin didn’t taste the same. He hasn’t messed with tradition since. The customers Noodles from Jimbo. seem to like it that way, just as they

must like Shige’s time-warp prices: $4.25 for a small bowl of saimin, $2.10 for a hamburger, $1.80 for a grilled cheese sandwich. Some of Shige’s regulars are second-generation customers, the children of people whose own parents brought them there when they were kids. Shige’s is in such an out-of-the-way location, with zero street visibility, that if it wasn’t for this kind of loyalty, nobody would ever eat there. As it is, that isn’t a problem. “We could put this place in a gulch,” Ross says, “and people would find it.” 70 Kukui St., 621-3621

JIMBO RESTAURANT

THE SIGN ABOVE JIMBO RESTAURANT,

the popular udon house on South King Street, reads “Fresh Noodles Daily,” and it’s not kidding. Jimbo makes udon by hand seven days a week, though, since the traditional way to prepare udon involves stomping the dough, you could also say Jimbo makes udon every day by foot. One of Jimbo’s cooks dedicates an entire eight-hour shift to producing the ropey, white noodles that lunch and dinner customers slurp down by the bowlful.

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The dough has just two ingredients: salt water and wheat flour. The flour has a high gluten content, but if it’s not prepared just so, the udon won’t have its characteristic chewiness. The stomping process is, pardon the pun, a key step. Skip the stomp and the noodle won’t hold up to the bite. Stomp too much and you might be chewing it forever. So after the dough is mixed and left to rest, but before it’s rolled and cut into actual noodles, the cook slides a five-pound blob of it into a plastic bag, drops it on the floor, and gives it a stomping. “For him, five times step,” says Jimbo proprietor Naoki “Jim” Motojima, referring to his 200-pound Micronesian cook, Martine, who gives his dough precisely five good stomps. Smaller cooks have to stomp a little more. Motojima opened Jimbo in 1994, after spending two years in his native Japan learning how to make udon. He started as an apprentice to a master udon maker, who, Motojima says, was brilliant with noodles but had a wicked temper and a horrible gambling habit. After a few months of verbal abuse, and wondering if he would get paid, Motojima went to work for a big Japanese chain that specializes

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in udon. In his spare time, he embarked on a quest to expose his palate to Japan’s many udon variations, and find what he liked best. As with ramen, each region in Japan puts its own spin on udon. Motojima ate all of it, identifying the subtle variations and developing opinions. The differences throughout Japan can be extreme. The city of Ise, for instance, makes a noodle as fat as a thumb and so soft you can gum it without teeth. Kagawa Prefecture, on the other hand, makes a noodle so chewy it wears out your jaw. Motojima prefers the middle ground, chewy but not too chewy. “Too soft I don’t

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at Dave & Buster’s right now! Jimbo Restaurant makes its udon the traditional way, which includes stomping the dough. Among the wide variety of dishes it serves is nabeyaki udon, which comes in a hot clay bowl (page 54). Udon noodles are typically fat, but Jimbo makes a skinny variety, too, called hoso. Fried udon is made by tossing hoso in a wok (above).

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like, but I don’t want to 36 times bite one noodle,” he says. “My teeth is not strong.” Motojima says that his udon is most similar to that of the island of Shikoku, where udon is eaten every day. His broth resembles the Osaka style, though it’s not as sweet. His dipping sauce, for cold noodles, is most influenced by the black dipping sauces of Tokyo and Osaka. In effect, Jimbo’s udon is unique unto itself, a South King Street hybrid. “For me, my target is udon to make happy for Island people,” he says. 1936 King St., 947-2211.

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be able to produce better than anything we would be able to buy,” says Dave Caldiero, Town’s chef de cuisine and head noodle maker. Caldiero brings to Town the pasta pedigree of an Italian kid from Queens raised on his grandmother’s homemade noodles. While he was too young at the time to pick up any pointers from her, he did sleep on the couch for the cause. “When my grandmother came over she wouldn’t have anywhere to dry her pasta, so she would dry it in the sheets of my bed,” he says. While the cut of pasta on Town’s menu changes nightly, the recipe for the dough generally remains the same: equal parts coarse semolina flour and fine type 00 flour, one egg for each cup of flour, extra virgin olive oil and water. After the dough’s mixed and rested, it’s fed through a shiny stainless steel electric pasta machine, which, after several passes, produces a single band of dough several yards long. Using a knife, the chef slices the

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60 HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013

noodles directly from this band. The width of the cut depends on what the noodle will go with. If it’s something hearty, perhaps roasted eggplant and dandelion greens in a chili-flake tomato sauce, the cut may be about a centimeter in width, creating a fettuccinelike tagliatelle. If it’s something delicate, like a bottarga made from the roe of mahi-mahi, then an angelhair-thin tajarin might be in order. In the fall, when the ragu and bolognese sauces appear, the one-inch-wide pappardelle noodles do as well. Whatever the case, the pasta noodle at Town is no mere starch component. It’s the star of the pasta show. “The main thing that you’re eating pasta for is the pasta,” says sous chef Alika Chung, one of Town’s regular noodle makers. “Sauces and condiments are the supporting actors.” With the joy of fresh pasta also comes a certain challenge for diners—eating it all while it’s still hot. Fresh pasta soaks up sauces more quickly and thoroughly than dried pasta, and, if it’s not eaten right away, the dish can turn bricklike. “It’s not like eating other pasta,” Chung says. “It’s a completely different experience. It’s a sin to let pasta get cold. When it’s served, the best thing to do is shut up and eat until your pasta is gone.” 3435 Wai‘alae Ave., 735-5900, townkaimuki.com

Y IN G L EO N G LOOK FUNN

AS THE NAME IMPLIES, THE YING LEONG LOOK FUNN FACTORY makes look funn, the broad,

flat rice noodle. This is the only noodle the factory produces, although it does it in three different ways: plain, with green onion and char siu, or with green onion and dried shrimp. Ying Leong’s look funn is served at nearly 100 Chinese restaurants around Honolulu, including Legend, Fook Yuen, and the Panda Express at Ala Moana Center. There’s a good chance that, if you’ve eaten Chinese on this island, you’ve crossed paths with this noodle. The noodle making here is old school and labor intensive. It involves four to eight workers, all from China and mostly women. They start at 4:30 a.m., setting four cauldrons of water to boil, preparing orders made the day before for delivery, and making the cheong, the milky slurry of rice, water and corn starch from which that day’s look funn will be made. They

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A thin tajarin, a broad tagliolini and an even broader tagliatelle are among the cuts of pasta in rotation on Town’s menu (left). Before it’s sliced, the look funn at Ying Leong Look Funn Factory resembles flattened burritos (above).

HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 61

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work in hairnets, white aprons and wellcoordinated flurries of activity. “They’re all synchronized,” says Daniel Chee, son of the factory’s long-time director, Foo Ying Chee. “Basically, they’re like a running machine.” The only actual machine involved is the industrial grinder that pulverizes the raw long grain rice that goes into the cheung. Workers ladle the cheong onto sheet trays slathered with melted Crisco, then stack the trays into tall towers over the boiling cauldrons. A hood resembling a grain silo hangs by a rope-and-pulley system over each cauldron, and once the trays are stacked the hood is lowered and left in place for 15 minutes. After the trays have been thoroughly steamed, the workers roll up the rectangular sheets of look funn, brush them with more melted Crisco (who says a noodle can’t be a fat bomb?), and pile them up like so many extra-long burritos. Unless a restaurant requests otherwise, the look funn is delivered like this, to be sliced into noodle widths just before going into whatever dish it’s destined for.

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Meet your noodle makers. Workers at the Ying Leong Look Funn Factory produce the look funn served at nearly 100 Chinese restaurants on O‘ahu.

The factory’s output ranges from about 800 to 1,200 pounds per day, with individual restaurants placing orders for anywhere from eight pounds to more than 100 pounds of noodle at a time. You can also buy look funn over the counter, $1 for plain or $1.40 for the char siu or dried shrimp. When the factory opened in the 1940s, it was located around the corner on King Street and it had a different name. Foo Ying Chee took over in 1968, when the original owners grew too old to continue, renamed it after himself and his father, and moved to the current location in 1973. When illness sidelined Chee last November, his wife and son stepped in to run the operation. They don’t plan to make any changes. “A lot of people say, ‘Why don’t you get a machine to do this?’” says Mrs. Chee. “But that’s not as good. Our way makes it more tasty.” 1028 Kekaulike St., Chinatown, 537-4304

HONOLULU RESTAURANT GUIDE 2013 63

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