The Weekly Eater Nadine Kam

What Lucy’s lacks in volume,
it makes up for in flavor

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In a bedroom community like Kailua, people do like waking up to breakfast, which I figured but took for granted until an early Saturday morning search for quick eats turned into an ordeal.

Stopped in at Cinnamon's. Standing room only.

Headed onto Brent's. Crowded.

Drove past the new entry, Moke's Bread and Breakfast. Full tables.

Drove past Boots & Kimo's. Long line out the door.

It was a very rude awakening because I'd grown accustomed to a Sunday routine that included a 1 p.m. search for food -- be it breakfast, lunch or brunch -- which is never a problem. At that late hour, the earlybird throngs are gone so breakfast ends up being a relaxing and leisurely affair, as it should be.

On that trying Saturday morning I finally found a table at Times Coffee Shop, but I also realized there's a huge market for breakfast in Kailua. So while the market share belongs to Cinnamon's for its sheer breadth of breakfast and lunch specials, and Brent's continues to court the deli fans, there seems to be room for all the players.

Just two weeks earlier, I had gone to Moke's late on a Saturday, and though it had already established itself as a bakery, I wondered how its breakfasts would fare due to the heavy competition within a mile's radius.

How could its tidy and compact omelets compare against Cinnamon's nearly plate-size "Decision" omelets overflowing with your choice of ingredients, and the rest of its oversized menu?

But it seems to be holding its own, with its cozy country-cafe ambience in soothing pale blue, appealing to those who want to escape the clatter of the bigger restaurants.

The menu is small but covers the basics of the two eggs plus meat breakfast ($6.25 to $8.95 for blackened rib eye which turned out rather pale), three-egg omelets ($6.95 to $8.50), pancakes ($2.40 to $4.75), and waffles ($4.50 to $7.25).

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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Executive Chef Frank Roldan holds a plate of belgian waffles topped with whipped cream and strawberries in front of Lucy's Bar and Grill, located in Kailua.

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Having grown out of a bakery, perhaps pancakes and waffles is the way to go, and you can also pick up the muffin of the day ($1.30), which might be anything from simple blueberry to a luxurious combo of mango, raisins and walnut.

What Kailua lacked was a Sunday brunch for more festive occasions or for simply pampering yourself on your one day off, if you should be so lucky as to be able to take a break from work, errands, and other obligations.

Lucy's Grill & Bar is doing its best to remedy this oversight by breaking out of its evening-only routine to offer brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Of course the first question people ask when told about the new brunch is, "Is it all you can eat?"

That just goes to show you how we've been spoiled by the Waikiki notion of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink breakfast buffet, forgetting that brunch is simply that interlude between breakfast and lunch for late risers and people who can't make up their minds.

It may be disappointing to settle for only one course for your $10, but it's so good, just make it your splurge of the day and forget about dinner -- eat cold cereal in front of your TV if you have to. You won't be disappointed by the rib-eye steak and eggs combination ($15) which seems especially sinful this time of day. The steak is divine, marbled throughout for tenderness and flavor enhanced simply with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Simple preparations throughout allow the flavors of the ingredients to shine, as with a seafood omelet ($13) au jus, mingling flavors of the shrimp, crab, mushrooms, onions and bell peppers inside the egg wrapper. I generally have a dollop of ketchup on the side to accompany omelets and scrambled eggs, but in this case, no ketchup was needed to perk up the omelet.

Also offered is the traditional eggs Benedict ($11), and a fish Benedict ($15) as well, made with mahimahi when I visited. It's billed with papaya hollandaise, but save for a tinge of sweetness, the papaya is barely there.

I miss the huge salad they offered upon introducing the buffet, but the menu continues to evolve. If for no other reason, the salad at least assuaged the guilt that accompanies feasting on Belgian waffles ($6) or luscious macada-mia nut sweetbread French toast, which is like candy once the butter has melted into it and it's been doused with coconut (or maple) syrup. So ono. The only drawback: You'll have to wait a week before trying it again.

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Lucy's Grill & Bar Sunday Brunch 33 Aulike St. / 230-8188 Food Service Ambience Value Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost: About $20 to $30 for two

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See some past restaurant reviews in the Columnists section.

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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:

	excellent;
	very good, exceeds expectations;
	average;
	below average.

To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to nkam@starbulletin.com

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