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No diet cops at
Ruby Tuesday

Human beings are highly adaptable when it comes to dining habits. I just got back from New York, where my diet changed completely.

Instead of plate lunches and veggie stir-fries as here at home, I took up grazing on salads of mesclun, hazelnuts, blue cheese and beets; fig bars and tarts; shrimp-and-avocado crostini splashed with olive oil; and tapas of peppers stuffed with black rice, shrimp and calamari, and shrimp sautéed in garlic, white wine and parsley. It was a painless adjustment compared to the two days it took to learn to walk 10 to 12 hours a day. (Funny how all the foot pains disappeared each time I stepped into a clothing boutique.)

Alas, the difference between there and here is that Manhattan has such a vast number of restaurants and gourmet shops offering healthful alternatives to full, fat-laden meals that it's easy to stay on track.

Now it's back to the same old grinds, and malihini Ruby Tuesday, all the way from Tennessee, fits in with our meat-centric landscape. I'd been to the Mililani restaurant when the chain debuted in Hawaii and read with amusement in a smaller publication another reviewer's assessment of the newer Ala Moana site. He said he didn't get it.

What's not to get? The most snobby gourmet should be able to understand everyone has different tastes, and there are and will always be a lot more people who like -- and "get"-- the attraction of steak and potatoes, no matter how they're prepared, than there are people who "get" the allure of figs, olives and hazelnuts. I'm sure there are a lot of people who think of the latter only as food for birds or small rodents. Enough people get the Ruby Tuesday formula for the chain and its franchisees to add six to 14 new restaurants across the nation monthly.

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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Abigail Langerak, left, and Lisa Hefner are among the smiling hostesses at Ruby Tuesday, at Ala Moana Center.

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COMPARED TO the Mililani shop, getting into the Ala Moana Ruby Tuesday is a breeze. Maybe because there are so many more dining choices in town, there isn't a line or wait.

At front and center is the restaurant's famous salad bar, which means you really can eat light here if you want to. Just as at Mililani, it starts out with lettuce and mesclun with sides of pasta, bean and potato salads, and an impressive array of toppers such as diced ham, bacon bits, beets, sprouts and crumbled hard-boiled eggs, all for $3.99 with entree purchase, $9.99 a la carte.

As for the rest of the menu, Ruby Tuesday seems to inhabit a parallel universe in which dwellers never heard a bad word about fat, cream and cholesterol. The only concession it makes to diet trends is to offer a handful of low-carb entrees. So, you can scratch the rice, but in its place they offer creamy cauliflower. The vegetable is good for you when steamed but I question the nutritional value of that cream.

Appetizers alone probably represent an adult male's full allotment of calories. There are tender breaded chicken strips ($7.99); fried cheese sticks with marinara dipping sauce ($6.99); cheese fries with melted Jack and cheddar, crumbled bacon, sour cream and ranch dressing ($7.99); and if none of this seems to be enough, there's a sampler of bland fried shrimp, chicken tenders and french fries.

If you want a more substantial salad, you might try the peppercorn salmon Caesar ($11.99) with or without seasoned croutons, depending on your carb sentiments, or cobb ($10.29) or grilled chicken ($9.79) salads.

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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Patrons file in for a mix of meat and build-it-yourself salads.

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On my way into the restaurant I was forewarned not to order one of the dry burgers ($8.49). That was a good reminder because I had forgotten I had said the same thing about my Mililani experience.

What Ruby Tuesday does best, I think, are ribs. The Classic ($19.99 full rack, $14.99 half) would rival anything you could produce in your back yard.

Otherwise, many of the dishes represent overkill, such as a perfectly fine New Orleans seafood dish ($15.49) of snapper topped with garlic shrimp, which would be fine if not drowned in Alfredo sauce.

A 10-ounce sirloin steak is topped with mushrooms and Alfredo sauce ($16.99), which again, is one layer too many. Perhaps the intent is to mask overcooking and maybe they are able to fool some of the diners most of the time.

After all the gluttony involved in dining here, a lengthy array of desserts would provide a fitting grand finale, but I guess the staff can't imagine anyone would be hungry after the main course. As a result, there are only four dessert choices: a low-carb cheesecake ($4.99), Oreo or strawberry tallcake ($6.99), Blondie cookie covered in caramel sauce and topped with vanilla ice cream ($5.29) or brownie drenched in chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream ($5.49). If your brain hasn't grown sluggish by this point, it would probably tell you to pass.

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Ruby Tuesday Ala Moana Center, third floor. Call 943-2525. Food Service Ambience Value Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Cost: $40 to $50 for two without drinks