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The Weekly Eater Nadine Kam |
‘Big’ is the operative word
at nostalgic Big City DinerWatching too much television can be dangerous to your health -- not only because of the usual reasons, i.e. lack of exercise, loss of productivity and subliminal messages that warp your mind -- but because of all the advertising that fuels hypochondriac paranoia.
How many times have the litany of symptoms made you feel like reaching for Zoloft, Celebrex or Crestor, without even knowing what the drugs are supposed to correct?
One of those ads had me thinking I was a poor hapless victim of AADD (adult attention-deficit disorder), which would explain the journalism bug, an appetite for what's happening, out there, new and exciting, hence my frequent appeals to chefs to boldly go where no one has gone before in elevating the art of cuisine. Realistically, they have to address business issues as well, and for most, to be different in Hawaii is to fail.
If you are different, you have to try to at least look innocuous and send out reassuring, familiar messages. I can't help but think Gaucho Grill might still be around today if they had played down the Argentine back story and jumped on the Atkins bandwagon. All that beef!
Replacing Gaucho is a familiar name indeed, Big City Diner. Or is it? I've noticed that many tend to be a little slow in noticing establishments that are not in their back yards. How many'd heard of Assaggio's when it was strictly a Kailua business? Or Teddy's Bigger Burgers when it was just a little shop on Monsarrat? They're multiplying fast, and so is BCD. After conquering Kaimuki and Kailua, they're up to the Kakaako challenge.
Randy Tyau, manager of Big City Diner Ward, holds a Paniolo Chicken Salad. He says it's the most popular salad.
JUST AS IN the first two Big City Diners, patrons are greeted with old-time photographs of the area it calls home. In this case, black-and-white photos show Ward Avenue when it looked like a plantation town of dirt roads and simple shacks.
Menu and decor evoke nostalgic memories of ice cream parlors and burger joints. In Hawaii, that nostalgia also embraces such family favorites as pulehu steak and kim chee. "Grandma's Incredible Kim Chee" turns up on BCD's menu stirred into "Uncle Danny's" fried rice ($8.95) and topping a half-pound burger ($7.95). It's hard to get your hands around that one, with the chili pepper water splashed over pattie and bun. It's one of the rare burgers that requires you to do the civilized thing and use a knife and fork, and is well worth the effort.
Breakfast and lunch are available here, with many of the lunch entrees (not sandwiches or salads) running about $2 to $3 less than the dinner entrees.
Movie-goers are discovering it's an easy place to hangout before and after films, if not for a full dinner, then just for pupu and dessert.
It's best to start with a few items, because portions are big, to the point that one person cannot possibly polish off a salad solo. You might expect a citrus-grilled salmon salad ($9.95) to be a fairly delicate dieter's creation. But noooo, it's a stack of Upcountry mesclun, embellished with a couple of Roma tomatoes and about 12 ounces of fish, sprinkled with ponzu vinaigrette. The fish was overcooked, but the hungry will probably overlook it.
It will also take two to tackle the fiesta chili taco salad ($9.50), a stack of romaine topped with BCD's mild chili, plus red onions, roasted corn, green onions, black olives, shredded jack and cheddar.
Given the size of the salads, entrees of Mamasan's Monster Meatloaf ($9.95) and herb-roasted tequila chicken ($11.95) may seem like more than you can handle before a film. If you're in a rush, strips of New York steak ($7.95) and roasted garlic fries ($3.95) will disappear in no time.
Although chicken wings ($6.50) and baby back ribs ($16.95/$19.95 big slab) share a guava BBQ sauce, I'd pick the savory ribs any day over the more cloyingly sweet wings.
The immensity of it all carries over to desserts of a big Oreo sundae ($6.50), big brownie Bubbies pie ($5.50) and sinful double-choco bread pudding drizzled with Jack Daniel's caramel sauce ($4.95/$5.95 a la mode).
Maybe you have a bottomless pit of a stomach, but if I have dinner here, I can't have dessert. If I have dessert I can't have dinner. You might also have to pick one.
Ward Entertainment Center, 1060 Auahi St. / 591-8891 Big City Diner
Hours: 7 to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays
Food 
Service Ambience Value Cost: About $20 to $30 for two for dinner
See some past restaurant reviews in the Columnists section.
Nadine Kam's restaurant 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.
