New Restaurants to Report?

[tooearly]

NOt much activity on the Hawaii thread these days...no one has been wowed lately for new places or old ones turning the corner?

[SuzySushi]

Hmmm... I noticed the quiet, too but I'd been too busy with my blog to check out other threads!

One new (opened in November) place we visited and liked is Souvaly, a Thai-Laotian place on Kam Highway in Pearl City (near Flamingo, where the old Pearl City Chinese Restaurant used to be). Elegant atmosphere and delicious dishes. We went for the crisp roasted quail and the waiter's recommendation of Laotian-style pork chops; our daughter (age 10) had a satay appetizer as her meal. Those three dishes, plus sticky rice, several non-alcoholic bevs (they don't yet have a liquor license), and a sorbet and a fried banana dessert set us back $52 -- and we had enough left over for another meal! Veggies are fresh, fresh, fresh! We'll be back to try the seafood hotpot.

[gmi3804]

I'm just back from a week on Kaua'i. Look for an update in the Good Eats on Kauai thread. Not much new there, but some great meals nonetheless.

[tooearly]

Thanks for the Souvaly idea: never out that way but a great fan of thai food and will try it if I ever am....

[Tkrup]

Tried the new Indian place at the Discovery Center on Ala Moana Blvd. More fare for the tourists. Food wasn't bad, but it was expensive and the naan was extra. I'll probably stick with the place across from Star Mkt over near University and King.

[arni psito]

I was disappointed with Bombay, after the glowing reviews, and also prefer Maharani--although I thought the saag dishes at Bombay were definitely better.

[arni psito]

Two more I've been to recently, one new and one old.

New: the soba place on Beachwalk (I think?) where you can watch them make the noodles--I thought this place was fantastic. The fried soba appetizer was a nice surprise.

Old: Le Guignol is a place I've been curious about for the last few years. I finally went, and was pretty shocked by the contrast between the high prices and the low quality. It was a Sunday night, and I hope that might have had something to do with it, but I didn't even think the Bearnaise sauce was made from scratch, and ditto with the onion soup. I mean, c'mon! We all agreed that the food ranged from bad to mediocre. Anyone have a different experience?

[tooearly]

Agreed: the soba is just like Japan.

Le Guignol: walked by it the other night on the way to the opera: have not been there for 15 years: wondering how it is: now i know: thanks!

[oneidaone]

O.K. I'll give it up. For the past 3 weeks I have been to

Mariposa (lunch) twice

Mekong I (carry out)

Roy's Hawaii Kai

Town (lunch)

Ola at Turtle Bay (lunch)

Assaggio (lunch & dinner) Kailua

Ruby Tuesday lunch twice (Windward Mall)

Canoe House @ Mauna Lani

Roy's Waikoloa

Ruth's Chris shops @ Mauna Lani

and many other places in between.........The stand out meals are the places I

have listed. I have to say and I am shocked to do so, that Ruby Tuesday over

here is doing a fantastic job! The server suggested the lump meat crab cake

to which I was skeptical beyond belief and true to her description the cake

was awesome, just loads of huge pieces of crab, hardly any breadcrumbs

or filler, just amazing and fried perfectly. Their drinks actually feature fresh

juices and a delightful.

Mariposa continues to blow the crowds away during lunch with the popovers, consomme' that just rocks with the rich flavor from deeply slow roasted

bones, the lobster club remains in the hall of fame. Pair that with a Neiman

Marcus martini (sake, vodka, cucumber and pickled ginger) winners! Try their

Valhrona chocolate fudge cake, supremely sinful and huge.

Roy's, you can't beat the Flagship and Waikoloa gave them a run for their

money with mashed potatoes full of lobster. I don't watch it but my friend

say while we were going up the stairs Daniel Dae Kim from "Lost" was

asking about seating on the patio outside. Roy's remains my favorite place

here and the many I've been to in the empire.

Town, drinks, mussels and fries always consistenly good, the carrot soup with

warm spice was just glowing with color and flavor.

Ola, an hour away for a pretty good lunch, really good kalua pork bowl and

ahi salad. This was the first restauant in ages that mentioned the need to

not 'stack' drinks (we had a cocktail and had ordered wine for the lunch, my

MIL was not finished with her drink yet so the server put her wine in front of

my FIL since he was drinking only iced tea) she said the liquor commission

is cracking down on that sort of service. First I've heard of this ever.

Canoe House - simply amazing food and the influence of new chef de cuisine Dee

Ann Tsurumaki is evident and welcome. The sunset was gorgeous and the meal

was certainly one to make the trip over more than memorable.

Ruth's Chris - a bit of confusion upon entering and no one seemed to be able to

figure out how to get us to a table but after that it was pretty smooth and while

I'd never been to one of them the food was what I'd would have expected. The

funny thing was the crab option at just under $32.00 and our server telling us it

would make a nice appetizer........Appetizers of the rich no doubt, we declined.

Assaggio continues to crank out huge portions full of flavor and consistency. The

tableside caesar salad is always a treat although on a busy Friday night they should

dedicate one person to making said salad as everyone orders them and the server

assigned to whatever section spends lots of time doing that and not being able to

fully handle the other responsibilites for the tables in her care. The opah we had

that night was cooked to perfection in both arrabiatta and caper sauce.

Mekong remains top of it's game especially for take out with everything tasting just

as good as it would have there after the long ride back over the hill, wish I lived

in town to eat there more often.

As said, there were other places but these stand out and make me thank heaven

for elastic waistbands.......a hui hou

[Tkrup]

Kiawe Grill is still the shiznikky. Had the Angus burger with bacon and cheese (and the electric shock paddles.) Some of my co-workers have been saying that their quality has been going downhill, but I don't see it. Still rocks as far as I'm concerned....a superior burger.

Baale has awesome hot and sour soup.

New Soba noodle place on Beachwalk is great.

Been to the new Yard House about four times. Great beer selection and the food is pretty good for a chain.

There's a new Katsu place opening on Beachwalk soon. Saw them doing the remodeling a few days ago.

best pizza on the island still comes from my oven.....

[oneidaone]

Oh, I went to Chai's too. It was a really great meal foodwise, he does a great

job. You've got to love that he even answers the phone and makes the

reservations. You've got to dislike that the great music of Makana was

so LOUD it was completely obliterating any chance of conversation and we were

way in the back of the room. I like his peanut dip with the taro roll to start.

We managed to trailblaze our way through several appetizers a salad and

everyone had an entree. To end we all had tea I had the tea that is picked

by monkeys which left me with lots to think about.

[arni psito]

I was at Gaku for their grand opening Friday. Thumbs way up.

Highlights: Yuba (not what I'm used to, more like very soft tofu with gelatinized dashi--probably tastes better than it sounds); geso; garlicky aona (greens); and wonderfully chewy cold udon.

Makana's "great music"? ... hmm

[oneidaone]

Yeah, I was being kind. I really don't like his music but the food

was good.

[arni psito]

Oh, that's good to hear!

[oneidaone]

Haleiwa Joe's a neighborhood standby, we only do carry out from there. It was

a bummeroo that I was so burned out from eating that I didn't get to order my

prime rib which they do a nice job on and is Flinstonian in portion so the dogs

get some after I rinse the salt off. Anyway all I wanted was an order of their

garlic mashed potatoes which were very good with my addition of a big swirl

of white truffle oil. Their calamari was pretty good and the spinach salad also.

Everyone ordered lots of things and it was a good represenatation of their

menu, if we did not live a few minutes away the food certainly would not

have survived the travel time as well as it did/does.

That meal just popped into my head, it's hard to remember everything

that went on those 3 weeks, much of which I would rather not!

Edited March 22, 2007 by oneidaone (log)