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The Weekly Eater
FOR four years I've watched as Chez Michel quietly and dutifully served up fabulous meals that have gone unnoticed by local diners. Chez Michel prices
are no come-onAfter Pacific Rim fare was introduced 12 years ago, French cuisine virtually faded away. At Chez Michel, Japanese tourists took the place of locals, but that is generally the kiss of death for a restaurant as far as kamaaina patronage. The tourist market, true or not, has long been associated with high prices and poor quality.
Last fall, Chez Michel started faxing over a weekly Prix fixe menu at $19.95 per person for three courses, unimaginable for cuisine of its caliber. Ever the skeptic, I believed something had to be wrong. Maybe they changed chefs.
Nope. Ron Nasuti still presides.
Maybe they're relying on inexpensive items.
There's nothing conservative about a Braised Lamb Shank that similar restaurants would charge $25 for. With each passing week, I got hungrier. I had to know whether this was real or just a bait-and-switch ploy.
CHEZ MICHEL
Food 
Atmosphere Service Value
Address: Eaton Square, 444 Hobron Lane
It's real, all right. You can get, for $40 plus tax and tip, a wonderful meal for two that would cost double elsewhere.
IT'S true that the restaurant is far from trendy. Walking into the room is like a journey to the '70s, when all of Honolulu's "classy" restaurants had lattice decor and rattan chairs. Depending on your point of view, you may consider this cheesy or quaint.
There are always those oblivious to surroundings. All they're interested in is the food in front of them, and this food does not disappoint.
Some offerings, such as Linguine with Asparagus, Shiitakes and Spinach, may not, even with first course and dessert, be considered worth the $19.95 price, but the restaurant must consider its vegetarian clientele.
There are usually three choices of first-course dishes. Recent choices have included a salad of Nalo Greens and Bay Shrimp with Onion-Soy Vinaigrette; Portuguese Bean Soup (excellent, but there's only so much one can do to elevate this homey dish); and Roasted Escargot, a bit skimpy on the Garlic Sherry Parsley Butter.
If these choices are not enough, add appetizers off the regular menu, such as a rich, creamy, Old World-style Shrimp and Lobster Bisque ($6), Pan-Fried Crab Cakes ($9) and Char-Siu Babyback Ribs ($7.50) that outdo any pork in Chinatown.
Prix fixe entrees range from a Roasted Half Duckling with Sake Pink Peppercorn Sauce or Grilled New York Steak with a Whiskey Black Pepper Sauce, to a Spinach, Mushroom and Chicken Roulade.
Desserts are similarly wonderful, and may include Chocolate Decadence with Raspberry Coulis or a Baked Fuji Apple in Puff Pastry a la Mode.
What the restaurant needs now are independent diners who can say, "To hell with following the crowd." But anyone with any kind of a creative streak knows these kinds of people are all too rare.
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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com
