My husband had told the hostess when making the reservation that we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary so we were greeted with personalized menus that the restaurant staff had signed. It definitely put an immediate smile on my face as I was gazing over the selections.
Chef Alan's Favorite Beer & Virgin Passion Fruit Mojito
We actually weren't planning to drink since we had a flight to catch the next morning, but my husband wanted to try Chef Alan's favorite beer, a Koshihikari Echigo “Lager” from Niigata, Japan, and there was a large selection of non-alcoholic cocktails & drinks so I went for the non-alcoholic passion fruit mojito, which was a really refreshing blend of passion fruit, lime, mint, watermelon and soda water. Yum.
Since it was our first time at Alan Wong's, we decided that my husband would break from his pescatarian ways (who are we really kidding, I actually decided this ;) ) and order "A Tasting of the Classics" menu while I would order a few dishes a la carte. I eat more slowly than he does so I felt like my 3 dishes to his 5 would be fine, plus I figured that he had a "tasting" menu so he'd have plenty of room to help me with any leftovers I might have. This second statement was, in fact, far from the truth. Unlike most fine dining establishments where a tasting is a much smaller portion, Alan Wong's tasting menu is pretty substantial so for those of you checking it out, come on the hungrier side of fine dining...
By the way, before your first course arrives, you are served fresh warm house roles with a garlic aioli spread. They are amazingly good, but be careful not to plow through too many or you won't have enough room for your actual meal.
On to course 1:
"Soup & Sandwich" & Chopped Ahi Sashimi & Avocado Salsa Stack
These were my husband's starters from the tasting menu. The soup was a chilled Hamakua Springs tomato soup--a gazpacho--served with a parmesan crisp and a very fancy pig (foie gras & kalua pig) & goat dairy mozzarella grilled cheese sandwich. The soup was a pleasant counterbalance to the richness of the sandwich and I really loved parmesan crisp. The ahi sashimi was really fresh and the avocado salsa tasted like a pretty classic guacamole to me. Again, it was a nice balance of richness with lightness & a nice textural contrast between the fish & avocado and the crunchy wonton base.
Richard Ha's Whole Tomato Salad
As soon as I saw this salad in my preview of the restaurant from the web page, I knew that I had to try it and it certainly didn't disappoint. The blanched tomato is served on a bed of cucumbers with a Li Hing Mui Ume vinaigrette. The tartness of the vinaigrette with the sweetness of the tomato and the crunch of the cucumber was AMAZING, one of my favorite dishes of the entire trip. The dressing is like a haw-flake infused French dressing which I loved, but if you don't like French/Catalina dressings or haw flakes or if you're not into tomatoes (which are my favorite food in the world), I could see how this wouldn't be your thing. It was completely up my alley though!
Butter Poached Kona Cold Lobster with Keahole Abalone, Hamakua Heritage Enoki Mushrooms & Green Onion Oil
Next on the tasting menu was the butter poached Kona cold lobster which was delicious. Texturally the lobster was perfect--firm, not rubbery and the earthiness of the mushrooms was a really nice balance. It's always entertaining to watch the bonito flakes dance atop any dish and there was a savory, earthy, overall sense to this dish.
Kampachi Ceviche with Kaffir Lime & Chili Oil Granite
I'm a sucker for the kampachi/hamachi family of fish and of ceviche generally (I did marry a Peruvian) so when I saw this as the chef's special, I had to try it. I have to say that this is the one dish of the night of which I wasn't a super fan. It was extremely spicy with a lot of granite to very little fish. The fish that was in the dish was perfect texturally, but it's natural flavor was drowned by the spiciness of the overall dish. A little sad but definitely redeemed by my main course.
Oh sadness! The blurry picture!
Ginger Crusted Onaga (red-tailed snapper) with miso-sesame vinaigrette, corn & mushrooms
I just tried a bite of this and, unfortunately for you, dear reader, there isn't much of a review to go with the poor picture :( It was a very well cooked piece of fish, but I don't remember much else about this. When I asked my husband what he remembered, he replied, "yummy." (This is why I write the food blog.) He did say that the crumble on the top was savory, crunchy and tasty, but really I don't exactly know what that means. However, since it was my anniversary, I guess not taking notes during the meal is to be expected...
Pan seared Opakapaka with shrimp-pork hash, truffle nage, gingered vegetables & tapioca pearls
This was my main course which I ordered because it was a classic dish, not really knowing what to expect. What I got was absolutely amazing. I am Chinese-American myself and this dish brought me back to some of the favorite Chinese dishes that I've eaten. Generally, I prefer Japanese food to Chinese, particularly in the realm of fine dining, but this was a great change of pace. It was like the tastiest steamed fish (I've never had a non-whole fish that was so tender) sans eyeball and on top was the shrimp-pork hash which reminded me of a very tasty shumai filling that complimented the fish nicely. The truffle nage (or poaching broth) was also incredible--buttery and just a touch sweet. I could have eaten that with rice as another meal (but I was pretty full at this point so I didn't actually eat much of the rice). The vegetables were crunchy and while the ginger was present in the flavor, it wasn't overpowering. A really excellent dish.
Twice Cooked Short Rib, Soy Braised & Grilled "Kalbi" Style with Gingered Shrimp
I didn't try the shrimp on this dish, but the short rib was fantastic, both day of and as leftovers the day after. Because of the double cooking, the meat was very tender. If you are rewarming the day after (because your eyes were bigger than your stomach like ours were!), I'd recommend putting the short rib in a shallow bowl with a damp paper towel lightly draped over the edges to give it a little more moisture so that it retains the first day tenderness.
Although we really didn't have room for dessert, the tasting menu came with a dessert:
"The Coconut"
The coconut is a haupia (traditionally a Hawaiian coconut-milk based pudding) sorbet in a chocolate toasted coconut shell with yellow passionfruit (lilikoi) sauce and fresh fruit. This dessert was like the island on a plate. It was so refreshing and simple, a delightful finish to the dinner. While I was super full going into dessert, I couldn't help but eating more that I should have of the coconut because it was just so tasty. It wasn't quite as good as the Cherry Tobanyaki from Nobu, but it was definitely an excellent dessert.
Chocolate Cheesecake Anniversary Dessert
We ended up taking most of this dessert home, but it was such a sweet (pun intended) gesture to include not only the signed menu, but also this beautiful plate at the end of our meal to celebrate our anniversary. And before our check, there was a small plate of brittle coated macadamia nuts which we also ate the next day. It was such a memorable evening and a memorable dinner.
I honestly can't wait to return to Hawaii--the aloha spirit of the state was captivating--and the food was incredible. When we're near an Alan Wong's, we'll be sure to make reservations for another fantastic meal. If you only have time and/or budget for one fine dining meal on the island, my choice would have to be Alan Wong's--it is truly a Hawaiian experience worth having.
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