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The Weekly Eater Nadine Kam |
A Honolulu restaurant
critic hits the road,
unmaskedGOTCHA! It's not me that's going shadeless these days -- I'm as stealthy as ever, dropping into restaurants unannounced -- but my former competition at the Advertiser has gone public in a big way.
Since leaving his restaurant critic post about three months ago, Matthew Gray has started his own company, Hawaii Food Tours, conducting culinary tours of Oahu, and invited me to tag along on his Hole in the Wall tour.
I was all for it until I learned how much time was needed, nearly five hours from a 9:15 a.m. departure from the Ala Moana Hotel. The tour would hit four spots, but who could eat that much?
Hawaii Food Tours
» Hole in the Wall Tour: Offered 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily at $59 per person» Hawaiian Feast in Paradise: Offered 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays at $99 per person with a trip to Don Ho's Island Grill
» Gourmet Trilogy Tour for Food and Wine Lovers: Offered 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays at $149 per person, with visits to Sarento's for appetizers and champagne, Marbella for entree and wine, and The Bistro at Century Center for dessert.
Call: 926-FOOD (3663) or toll-free 800-715-2468
But Gray believes the time is right because of Hawaii's visibility as a destination -- in no small part to the new locally based TV series -- coinciding with high food consciousness. "Everybody loves to eat and people are always looking for new activities," he said. "I thought it would be a good combination."
Most major cities do have culinary tours and of all places, Honolulu is a natural for the concept. Our favorite foods are, in a word, unique. Where else in America can you find such a wide range of Asian cuisines, the delectable Coco Puff and the strangeness of poi and luau greens?
My reporter's instinct for asking questions and doing my own research before visiting a new city makes me an unlikely tour candidate, but I ended up having a good ol' time. What I thought would be a stressful round of restaurant hopping under the hot sun turned out to be a laid-back and leisurely vacation from the real world. It's amazing how stress-free life can be when someone else is doing the driving and parking.
Matthew Gray, left, guides Mike and Jennifer Lamb and others on his food tour through the lunch buffet at Zaffron restaurant.
PUNCTUALITY IS important when there are this many stops involved. I missed the van but caught up with the tour at the first site, Pho Nam, where our plates were filled with Vietnamese noodles, green papaya salad and summer rolls.
None of this was new to Niceville, Fla., visitors Susan and Bruce Shepard, who've traveled to 72 countries and sampled all their respective cuisines. They are also avid foodies who searched Web sites before swooping in with Shanghai Bistro, Chef Mavro and L&L Drive-Inn on their extensive list of restaurants to visit. They'd visited Chinatown markets on their own as well, and found in the company of two reviewers answers to their questions about opihi. By the end of their meal at Pho Nam, they were making plans to return in the evening. It's a restaurant they never would have discovered on their own.
"It's better than the food in Vietnam," Bruce raved.
"That's because you were eating fish heads and rice," Susan teased.
For both, the tour took their minds off worries about hurricanes back home.
On the opposite end of the spectrum Paul, Inez and Delilah Dominguez from Delano, Calif., rarely explore the world of food beyond their hometown's Mexican scene, but enjoyed the diverse experience.
At our second stop for Indian fare at Zaffron, Inez said she was afraid to try the food, but was surprised by how much she liked it, vowing to seek out Indian restaurants on future travels.
And while the Shepards learned about the link between bentos and Hawaii's plantation past at Sugoi, in City Square on Kalani Street, Paul Dominguez reveled in the discovery of crunchy mochiko garlic chicken, not something available back home.
All the while, Gray was the attentive host, available to answer questions, offer perspective on the foods served, and refill plates. He ate very little, a reviewer's trick for keeping food intake at a reasonably normal level. I tried to stop myself at Zaffron, but the buffet was so good I ate everything on my plate. By the time we reached Sugoi I was so full I took only a few bites. The good news is that at each destination food can be packed up to enjoy later.
Depending on the day, tours might end up for dessert of malassadas at Leonard's Bakery or Coco Puffs at Liliha Bakery. At Leonard's, we talked to a couple of Californians who had learned about malassadas the day before and returned for more. After hearing about the tour, they wished they had known about that too.
For me, it was fun playing tourist for a day, and the excursion had led me to two eateries -- Pho Nam and Sugoi -- I had never visited. Beyond discovering new restaurants, it's always fun to share a table and swap food stories with people whose experiences are different from your own. For locals, it's a good way to spend some time with out-of-town guests, and for those who need a little hand-holding at the big places, more elaborate evening tours await.
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.
