The newest eatery at the Aloha Tower Marketplace started with an appetizing theme, but didn't follow through far enough.
Instead, they simply went for the one-note gimmick of serving buffalo meat.
This is good news for meat eaters. You can still have your burger, but it's much lower in fat. An ounce of buffalo meat has only 50 calories per 1-ounce serving vs. 96 calories in beef, and 2 percent fat in a 3.5-ounce serving vs. 28 percent in beef.
Most diners would never know the difference if the menu didn't spell it out. With less fat, the meat is drier than the usual burger, and its a little less meaty tasting, but certainly no soy or veggie patty would ever give you a comparable flavor or texture.
The beef burger is not altogether forsaken. A one-third pound all beef patty Western Burger is available for $6.50.
It's probably safest to stick with the buffalo or beef. Pork Ribs ($14.50) turned up bathed in a vinegary sauce, and topped with a sweet, tangy barbecue sauce as well, giving it a flavor more akin to Chinese sweet-sour pork than anything out of the Southwest. This may be fine for fans of sweet-sour anything, but trust me, the Chinese do it better.
WITH its sweeping bar, giant 16-screen video wall, stage and dance floor, Buffalo Bud's is geared more toward a bar crowd than foodies, but the prices rival those at any foodie hangout. A meal for two can easily run $60 with a couple of drinks.
More likely, bar-hopping types can try partying with appetizers of Crab Cakes ($9.75), but they're not very festive, encased in the sort of hard breaded shells common to seafood items fished from a freezer.
And don't mistake Buffalo's Bud's Wings ($6.75) for Buffalo Wings. The latter is the spicy chicken associated with the city of Buffalo. The former is simply deep fried.
OK, so once everyone has sampled some form of buffalo, then what?
Let's hope Aloha Tower really did need one more watering hole.
Where: Aloha Tower Marketplace
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. for meals; open until 2 a.m. daily
Prices: About $30 to $50 without drinks
Call: 536-6868
To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com- excellent;