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The Weekly Eater Nadine Kam |
This steakhouse is all
about decadence
Replication seems to be the key to business success. Any would-be entrepreneur could see the wisdom of the "One Billion Chinese Rule." The thinking goes that if you can sell a $1 widget to one billion people in China, you'd pocket a billion dollars, less shipping, taxes, etc. Of course that was old wisdom; these days you could sell $20 or $100 widgets in Shanghai.All around us are examples of corporations that have taken this strategy around the world after perfecting the formula and marketing for selling anything from Coca-Cola to BMWs.
The rule holds true in the food biz as well. L&L Drive-In, once a locals-only institution is rapidly taking over the nation. So is Roy's.
There's safety in formula, so anyone who's watched D.K. Kodama's actions over the years has got to wonder what kind of daredevil he is. He's certainly not playing it safe, and his gambles are our gain as he continues rolling out new concepts and themes. His growing empire encompasses sushi and seafood restaurants, wine bars, a tapas restaurant (more on that later) and now, a steak house.
Could a limousine company, airline and hot-air balloon trips around the world a la Richard Branson be far behind? But to hear Kodama speak about the logic behind his enterprises would convince a banker to hop right into that balloon.
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HERE'S THE THING: In taking Sansei to the tourist market, he found a home in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (formerly Hawaiian Regent). But he felt the space was too big for sushi alone. As he was casting about for ideas, he thought of one of his buddies, Jon Kodama (no relation), who runs The Steak Loft in Mystic, Conn. And, as we all know, Americans love steak.
When it came time to do research, D.K. made the rounds of steak houses from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to Houston, Chicago and New York, saying "I loved it. I had such a great time. It was really fun research."
He's replicated his research so we can have a taste. In D.K. style, this place is more comfortable than formal. Even so, it's the kind of place that automatically raises feelings of guilt: "I can't possibly have an appetizer if I'm having steak."
Yes, we're talking food orgy, but do what I do. Leave some left overs and eat tofu and veggies the next six days of the week.
We couldn't resist a "Monster" shrimp cocktail ($11.95) with the usual half dozen baby-sized shellfish concentrated into three muscular specimens. A special of savory pan-seared scallops ($12.95), lightly sweetened by a salsa of caramelized Granny Smith apples, contrasted with its chilled and tart predecessor.
You can't go wrong with ahi sashimi ($11.95), and other choices include crab cakes ($10.95) served with a ginger-lime-chili-butter sauce and cilantro pesto or bacon-wrapped scallops. Or, go the healthy route and get the salad of vine-ripened tomatoes and Maui onions ($7.95). (It also features crumbled blue cheese, but you could always ask them to skip it).
I imagine many a steak house across the country may be losing money on side orders due to the carb craze. No more baked or au gratin potatoes, here $5.95 and $4.95 respectively. Sansei will get you with other sides, but you must also consider it's prices are lower than comparable steak houses in town.
I pounced on the asparagus Milanese ($7.95) that I'd sampled earlier at one of Kodama's other ventures, Vino. At the wine bar the dish is dainty, a few stalks drizzled with precious truffle oil, broiled and topped by a delicate quail egg. Here, the dish has been super-sized with a bundle of asparagus and chicken egg.
Kodama has always been a firm believer in offering generous portions, and the same goes for sides of sauteed garlic mushrooms ($6.95) and sauteed Maui onions ($3.95) cut to a half-inch thick.
At some point you'll get to the main attraction of the 22-ounce rib-eye on the bone ($32.95). The restaurant uses high-grade, corn- and grain-fed angus from the Midwest, dry-aged for 21 days before arriving at the restaurant where it's dry aged for another seven days and butchered to order. Those who want a different size from what's specified on the menu should call in their request 24 hours in advance.
Dry aging -- or exposing cuts of meat to cold air for two to four weeks -- results in a more tender and flavorful steak, and upon tasting this one, I won't argue with that.
Filets and New York strip steaks here are wet aged in vacuum-sealed plastic bags before being dry aged another seven days at the restaurant.
If you want to go fancy, you could get the filet mignon and crab Oscar, at $29.95, but for light eaters, the heavy bˇarnaise sauce will seem like overkill. Really, the steak is quite wonderful all by itself. A less fussy option would be to get the Sansei filet mignon ($27.95) topped with a shiitake mushroom demi glaze.
Dessert is where my tablemate and I had the biggest ordering dilemma. We could already taste the creme brulee ($7.95) and fried warm apple pie ($7.95), but in the end went with the melty, flourless chocolate decadence cake ($7.95). It seemed fitting in summing up the experience.
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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. |