The Weekly Eater
SECURITIES ADVISERS still cling to the notion of diversification as a means of protecting investments. How quaint, and how old-fashioned. In a global marketplace there is no such thing as a safe haven. We all rise and fall together, across all industries and across all nations. Newly renovated
Mini Garden reaches
beyond noodlesThis became all too obvious when we watched the stock market start its long descent, and since Sept. 11's terrorist strikes, our already sagging economy has already resulted in personnel layoffs in the travel industry.
None of this is happy news for island businesses, including restaurants that were already struggling and waiting for a turnaround which now seems even more distant.
Depressing times for sure, and what do we do when we feel depressed? We eat. Invest in Hershey Co.* now! Just kidding.
Times like this do call for friends, family, chocolate and some sort of comfort food, however, and Mini Garden was on top of my list as a 29-year-old local institution that keeps moving forward. The restaurant is looking glossy and clean since its summer renovation. The mustard-and-brown paint job is drab and sedate, but that pretty much sums up the mood of the country.
I thought the changes were purely cosmetic, so the updated menu came as a surprise. Sure, tried-and-true favorites such as thin, housemade, Hong Kong-style egg noodles served with pearly shrimp won tons or roast duck (either choice $4.25 in soup, $5.50 stewed), still fill a page, but now there are additional pages full of entrées, a move that acknowledges customers' growing sophistication.
MINI GARDEN NOODLE HOUSE
Food 
Service Ambience Value Address: 50 N. Hotel St., Chinatown / 538-1273
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily
Cost: $12 to $25 for two
This granddaddy of a restaurant has also turned hip in its old age, adding colorful fruit smoothies ($2.45, the lychee is delicious!), shave ice ($2.65-$2.95) and bubble teas ($1.95-$2.65). Very cool, and I'm not talking ice cubes.
Even with all these new offerings, evening patrons seemed to be sticking with their favorite noodle dishes. If you do venture into entrée territory, you'll find the cooking equally plain and simple without torturous use of salt or gravies of fermented beans. Without the usual overdose of black beans or plum sauce, you'll actually be able to taste the chopped shiitake in a dish of pork and eggplant with garlic sauce ($6.25).
Fried pork chops ($6.95) are also accorded simple treatment. They are served in thin, panko-crusted strips, tonkatsu style, with a small dish of ketchup, rather than pan-fried and topped with garlic, ginger and onions as at other Chinese restaurants. I missed that relish, but the pork chops had a wonderful fresh and slightly sweet flavor. No ketchup necessary.Other entrées are basics such as lemon chicken ($6.95), beef broccoli ($6.25) and sweet and sour pork ($6.95). Where many Chinese restaurants have a tendency to focus on seafood, there are few ocean offerings here. That may change as new recipes continue to be introduced, but noodle and rice dishes will always remain No. 1 here, the ultimate comfort food being a big bowl of jook, or rice soup. It's served plain with just a sprinkling of green onions ($2.75) or with various additions, such as blackened preserved egg and pork ($4.25). It's just like Mom's cooking.
* In the interest of full disclosure, Nadine Kam does not own stock in Hershey.
See some past restaurant reviews in the
section online. Click the logo to go!
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 nkam@starbulletin.com
excellent; very good, exceeds expectations; average; below average.
