October 13, 2007
Alan Wong's Restaurant
Alan Wong is one of the founders of the Hawaiian-Pacific fusion food movement along with Malvo and Merriman. One of the finest restaurants in Hawaii is located in an unassuming office building along the street, away from the bustling spots of both downtown Honolulu and Waikiki Beach. The inside is classy but casual with a Hawaiian touch, although it was a bit dark for our tastes, i.e. made it a pain to take pictures. The seven-course tasting menu looked great but was a bit too much. So we went with a Five-Course Menu Sampling (with wine) and an extra entree for the SO.
As for the food, the menu can speak for itself:
- Appetizer Duo
-
Soup & Sandwich
Chilled Vine Ripened Hamakua Springs Tomato Soup with Grilled Mozarella Cheese, Fie Gras, Kalua Pig Sandwich -
"Poke-Pines"
Crispy Won Ton Ahi Poke Balls On Avocado With Wasabi Sauce
-
-
Butter Poached Kona Cold Lobster
Shrimp, Honda Tofu Cake, Jalapeño Tokyo Negi Sauce -
Ginger Crusted Onaga
Organically Grown Hamakua Mushrooms and Corn, Miso Sesame Vinaigrette -
Twice Cooked Shortrib, Soy Braised and Grilled "Kalbi" Style
Gingered Shrip, Ko Choo Jang Sauce -
Beef & Foie Gras
Grilled Maui Cattle Company Beef Tenderloin
Curried Root Vegetables & Pomegranate Port Wine Reduction
(Extra order) -
Dessert Duet
Chocolate "Crunch Bars" and Coconut Tapioca
All perfectly paced to allow us to share the preliminaries but still offer the two entrees at the same time. They offered us an extra order of dessert so we'd each have a plate, although we were so full that we would've been glad to share one dessert at that point. The Asian flavors actually made the fusion dishes more familiar for us. What could be more homey than a bowl of white rice (which came with the Kalbi short-ribs)? Really top notch.
Alan Wong's Restaurant
1857 S King St # 3
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 949-2526