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The Weekly Eater Nadine Kam |
Momomo’s vast izakaya
fare leans toward
global fusion'Write about that," my friend said while we were waiting to be seated at Momomo.
"What?"
"That," he said, indicating a little boy who had emerged from the restaurant with a skateboard. "I've never seen that before."
"Geez, how sheltered," I thought before refocusing my attention on what was really important, the fashion show! Of Pucci-print pants and equally colorful and graphic asymmetrical tops. Were we in Japan? It's rare to find a local crowd looking this trendy at any restaurant.
Inside, Momomo -- named after an elderly woman who sold tofu from a street cart -- is done up from floor to ceiling in stark, Big City black, with a few accents of red and wood marking off tatami niches. I was informed that traditional Japanese dining often features black bowls with red interiors or red bowls with black interiors. Aesthetically, the colors of the food pop out against the stark background.
I might have guessed from the exterior that it might look different from the usual glass-and-light decor of most of the other contemporary restaurants in town. Just driving up to the space formerly occupied by the Chinese restaurant Eastern Garden at the base of Waialae Avenue, I missed the building completely. I was looking for the familiar light-colored building, but what was there was a giant black box that disappeared into the night sky. It was just as well that we missed the parking lot, because it was full.
Restaurant staffers describe it as an izakaya, offering an equal measure of libations -- right in front of the menu, the restaurant emphasizes 31 sake options -- and pupu to suit any mood or craving. Even so, the dishes look more exotic than what we recognize as izakaya fare. Our server rattled off a list of top five dishes that included grilled beef tongue ($6). Where's the steak and onions and chicken karaage?
Momomo's tempura looks like any restaurant's, but presentation is updated with green tea and curry salts.
EVEN WITHOUT the sake, it's easy to get carried away while ordering, especially when you can pick up several little items for $5.50 or less, though if it's meat you're interested in, you'll more likely pay $6 to $9. The full range is from $2.50 boiled soybeans to $11 for mixed tempura. Two people could probably get their fill with five or six of the little plates, without leaving the table feeling overstuffed.
Now, about that tempura. The batter-fried shrimp and veggies, including a slice of lotus root is familiar, but the presentation is not. In place of the usual dipping sauce are a couple of dry seasonings: salted green tea powder, and salted curry powder, plus pureed daikon. I would have appreciated it more without the salt, but you owe it to yourself to try it at least once for novelty's sake, even if you do go back to the old way afterward.
A better choice, I thought, would be the shrimp with mayonnaise sauce ($7). I know. Mayo. Ugh. But you're probably thinking about a cup of the white goo. But here, the mayo is squeezed from a bottle to form thin cross-hatching over plump, juicy batter-coated fried shrimp that are much larger than the tempura's anemic specimens.
Start with the marinated tuna carpaccio ($8.75), sashimi soaked in ponzu sauce and layered with Maui onion to impart subtle flavor, adding up to a milder form of poke.
This New Wave Japanese cuisine draws from cultures East and West to arrive ever closer to a universally understood culinary language. From Vietnam comes the idea of the summer roll ($7.50), packed here with shrimp and veggies, but without the noodles. From China there is crab meat egg fu-young ($6.50), a fluffy, delicate omelet that is pure comfort food. Forget the dim sum ($5.50), which is steamed at your table, but is equivalent to frozen-food gyoza and shumai. For this, you have to stick to Chinese restaurants.
Similarly, the meatballs in a dark spicy stew ($6) of bean thread noodles and beef left much to be desired. I feared for my heart with a dish of pork sparerib cubes ($7) that included blocks of fat that I scraped away. Some would find it as delectable as the tender, slow-cooked pork sweetened in a sauce of soy and mirin, but sometimes short-term pleasure isn't worth long-term pain.
Because there are so many dishes, you'll need to order by numbers. We tried to give the names of dishes and as a result, received deep-fried chicken with rice-cracker crust ($4.50) instead of grilled chicken wings ($3.50), another of the top sellers. But, I'm not complaining; I did enjoy the crispy cutlets that was accompanied by a curry aioli.
For dessert, a neighboring couple ordered both creme brulee ($4.50) and fresh fruit ($6.50) surrounded by strawberry sauce. I wanted to try the chocolate and banana crepe ($4.50), but alas, they were sold out. However, I do have it on good authority that they are delicious.
3008 Waialae Ave. / 737-6666 Momomo
Hours: 5 p.m. to midnight daily except Tuesday
Food 
Service Ambience Value Cost: About $35 for two without drinks
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.
