Best for: "Modern Hawaiian", Special Occasions
Location: King Street (I still have no idea what neighborhood this is considered...)
Foodgasmic dish: Garlic steak, Maui Pohaku O Ka'anapali coffee, Waialua Chocolate Crunch bar, H.R.Caesar salad
Alan Wong's continues to be one of the best restaurants in Hawaii for any special occasion. Alan Wong is part of the Hawaii Chef Trinity (yes, I just came up with this term), along with Roy Yamaguchi and George Mavrothalassitis. [Sorry, Sam Choy.] Apparently these three joined nine other chefs, forming an organization to create a new cuisine called Hawaii Regional Cuisine. Thus, Alan Wong's style is considered "Hawaiian"; loco moco and kalua pig are found on the menu. However, his restaurant is a far cry from Ono's.
My parents asked where I wanted to have my birthday dinner, and I immediately said Alan Wong's, knowing that everyone would be happy. I guess I made our reservations relatively last-minute because, much to my parents' dismay, 5:00 pm was the only available time for us on Sunday. It was fine with me; I will eat at any time for a good meal.
When we arrived, the valet was just setting up his little stand. My dad absolutely hates doing valet (typical guy?), whereas I try to use it as much as possible because I'm both incredibly lazy and terrible at parking. We finally entered the building and rode the elevator up to the third floor. For those of you who haven't been to Alan Wong's yet, it's located on King Street and thus has a view of - yes, King Street. Because of that, I have never requested to sit outside. Street views are for New York; ocean views are for Hawaii. Got it?
Besides a somewhat undesirable view, I can't think of any other flaw. Even the complimentary sourdough is the perfect size and texture, and comes with some of the best garlic aioli I've ever had (and I've had a lot of aioli at Reed for Hot Turkey Sandwich Day every Thursday, which I miss tremendously, by the way). Service is impeccable, and the restaurant is warm and intimate (if not a little more cramped than one would expect with a place like this). Our hostess gave us an ipad featuring the extensive wine list and dessert menu. My brother was extremely disappointed that there weren't any games on the ipad, but he hogged it anyway.
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| looking up desserts and wines on the ipad |
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| personalized and signed menu |
Appetizers:
- Mini Loco Moco: three patties of mochi crusted unagi, sunny side quail egg, and wasabi sauce. The mochi was crispy (probably due to panko), the unagi was loaded with flavor, and the quail egg melted in my mouth. Quail eggs will always remind me of car rides in the Philippines because my grandmother always packed us a bunch of quail eggs and salt while we traveled around the Philippines for three weeks last summer.
- "Da Bag": clams, kalua pig, shiitake mushrooms, and spinach steamed in a foil bag. This dish is a crowd pleaser. Our server came carrying a large plate covered in a foil bag. He cut the foil in half at our table, releasing the steam and a mouthwatering aroma of local flavors. Other tables had turned to watch us. The clams and pork were tender and had a wonderful smoky flavor. The kalua pig is definitely the strongest flavor, but since I love kalua pig and don't get to eat it nearly often enough, I'd be the last to complain about any overpowering flavors.
- H.R.Caesar Salad: Maui romaine lettuce and kalua pig sitting in a crispy parmesan cheese basket, topped with creamy anchovy dressing, croutons and lomi tomato relish. The kalua pig was a perfect touch. Who needs bacon bits when you have shredded, juicy, salty pork? The anchovy dressing was nice and tangy, and the cheese basket allowed the dish to become a whimsical tower of architectural goodness.
- Richard Ha's Whole Tomato Salad: a horizontally-sliced whole tomato with cucumber slices, and li hing mui ume vinaigrette. Not sure who Ricahrd Ha is, but this was a creative dish, despite my inability to eat it because I hate raw tomato and cucumbers. The li hing mui ume vinaigrette was fantastic.
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| Mini Loco Moco |
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| "Da Bag", $15 |
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| H.R.Caesar Salad, $10 |
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| Richard Ha's Whole Tomato Salad |
Entrées:
- Seafood Duo: Kona butter-poached lobster and a cylindrical lasagna of shrimp, scallop, and spinach, resting on top of a creamy lobster beurre fondue, and garnished with asparagus and fingerling potatoes. We never cook lobster at home, so I usually try to eat it whenever I can while dining out. The butter-poached lobster tail was soft, and the cream sauce tied everything together.
- Garlic Steak: a 12-ounce Maui cattle company rib steak served over a bacon mushroom green bean salad, topped with garlic crisps. It came with a fried ball of cheese, which my dad so generously gave to my mom and me (he hates cheese), and the option of brown rice or mashed potatoes. The steak was thick and tender.
- Steamed Shellfish Bowl: lobster, crab, scallop, shrimp, clams, roasted garlic smashed potatoes, baby fennel, and chili pepper aioli cooked in a bouillabaisse style broth. As usual, my mom ordered a soup containing the treasures of the world (or, at least the sea). She said the crab was one of the best she's ever had, and she eats a lot of crab. The soup came with some thin slices of bread that were baked to a crisp and were perfect for dipping into the broth.
- Paella: Kona lobster, Portuguese sausage, Molokai shrimp, clams, and saffron rice. Of course my brother ordered the paella. I was too full to try any of it, but it must have been amazing because he didn't offer any of it to me anyway.
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Seafood Duo, $36.50
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- Waialua Chocolate "Crunch Bars": Layers of Milk Chocolate Macadamia Nut Crunch and Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse, Molten Hawaiian Salt Caramel Truffle, and Housemade Malasadas. I'm not normally a fan of glorified candy bars, but I ordered this because it was the only chocolate dessert on the menu (perhaps another flaw?). However, as soon as I took a bite of one of the chocolate rectangles, I knew this was no ordinary crunch bar. They had the perfect mixture of salty and sweet. Macadamia nut crunch is what crunch bars should be - none of the crispy rice crap. Two miniature malasadas decorated the corners of the plate: one custard, one chocolate.
- Kula "Strawberries Romanoff": Hawaii Island dairy goat cheese panna cotta, Kula strawberry-hibiscus consomme, and goat cheese sorbet. This dessert was a beautiful array of pink, red, and white, and was topped with a ball of white threads of sugar (cotton candy?).
- Pohaku O Ka'anapali Coffee: a rich, earthy blend from Kualapu'u Maui. My dad claimed he was too full for dessert so he opted for coffee instead. The coffee was served in an adorable silver container that held two servings, along with two wooden bowls for regular sugar and brown sugar. He always drinks his coffee black, but even my mom and I, who are avid cream-and-sugar-adders, would have considered it blasphemous to add cream or sugar to this perfect cup of caffeine.
Of course we had forgotten about my complimentary birthday dessert, so we ended up with way too many (and my dad had to "force" himself to help us out). Our waiter came up behind me and placed a beautiful dish of creme brulee bread pudding with a tall, thin candle. That's when two other servers came to our table and started singing. Oh jesus. The entire restaurant stopped to watch as I put on my best fake smile and pretended not to be completely horrified. A couple of tables even started clapping along to the song. Fortunately, my parents could sense my discomfort and gave our waiter that look that causes unwanted singing to be sped up about 3 times. All parents should learn that trick.
Alan Wong's is one of the few places that deserves the hype it receives. Enjoy creative dishes and quality service, but, more importantly, leave with the knowledge that you are supporting a talented local chef who dreams of putting Hawaii on the culinary map. I urge everyone to go to one of Hawaii's best restaurants for a dining experience they will cherish.
