We had a very untraditional Thanksgiving lunch at the new Wolfgang Steakhouse at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. As I explained in my earlier post, we found this place after aimlessly searching for a dining alternative to the mysteriously closed Cheesecake Factory. I though the restaurant was another Wolfgang Puck joint but Oscar the Grouch explained that it was actually the brainchild of a Wofgang Zweiner, former chef at Peter Luger's Steakhouse, a venerated NY place that he spends hours waxing nostalgic about to all of us. The kids were not impressed until they realized that every Travel Channel chef from Anthony Bourdain to Adam the Man vs. Food guy features Peter Luger when they go to NY.
It was a very beautiful and classically chic restaurant but without any sense of snobbery. We were dressed in our usual boroboro splendor - jeans, t-shirt, toothpaste on the corners of our mouths, makapiapia in the eyes - yet we were welcomed warmly by the staff. In fact, everyone was dressed pretty casually - nice than Zippy's but not as nice as Alan Wong's. There were a large number of local families with kids there too. That was a surprise.
As we looked at the menu, we felt bad that the Professor wasn't with us. We knew he would LOVE to eat there. So, we decided we would take him a menu and our leftovers.
The lunch menu featured soups (clam chowder or lobster bisque), salads (meat and seafood heavy), appetizers, 3 kinds of sandwiches, all kind of dead cow entrees, grilled chicken, rigatoni bolognese and aingel hair pasta with pesto (the only vegetarian entree). The least expensive entree was the pasta ($17) and the most expensive was the cajun rib eye and the petite filet mignon ($28). The beef included one side dish from an incredibly extensive list including cream corn, spinach done three ways, asparagus, steak fries, jumbo baked potato, sauteed mushrooms, onion rings, and lobster mac and cheese.
Oscar had the cajun rib eye ($28) and I had the NY sirloin steak sandwich ($20). We chose creamed spinach for Oscar's side and also ordered the German potatoes which the waiter described as "hash brown"-like sauteed in butter, onions and garlic. Oscar also opted to have a bowl of clam chowder instead of the lobster bisque. He had a glass of the house red (Coppola at $13 which is the cost of a bottle at Safeway) and I had a glass of the house riesling which wasn't as sickening sugary sweet as I usually like. It was very smooth though.
They brought out a bread basket with slices of french bread and some soft and fluffy onion rolls that I would kill to get more of. Oscar is usually not someone to pig out on bread when we go out to dinner but even he raved about the onion rolls. I kept thinking how great it would be to have those rolls with a bowl full of loco moco gravy to dip it in. So local, huh? The only bad thing was the onion pieces that fell off the bread and looked like squashed black ticks on the pristine white tablecloths.
Oscar's chowder came and it was huge. It would have been a meal for anyone alone. It was very chunky with big pieces of clam. The Diva would have LOVED it (and probably would have had two bowls).
When the dead cow came to the table, we were totally in awe. The portions were huge! There was a platter of German fries - not a plate but a big platter! There was a good 2-3 cups of spinach and I must have had 4 or 5 potatoes full of fries along with four gigantic onion rings. Good crispy non-greasy onion rings with sweet onions. Even the lettuce and tomato for my sandwich were extremely fresh and crisp. Oscar ate them separately from his sandwich since they were so good. The creamed spinach was also onolicious with a creamy mouthfeel but without any heaviness. It was surreal since it felt so filling but wasn't fatty.
The steak sandwich was gigantic. I gave 1/2 to Oscar and only finished 1/2 of my 1/2. There must have been about a pound of steak. It was so flavorful and soft. I don't think I said a word, just moaned out loud like Meg Ryan in the Katz' Deli scene in "When Harry Met Sally". It wat that good. Did I have even a tinge of vegetarian guilt over consuming one of Buddha's creatures? Hell to the no, it was that great.
Oscar's cajun rib eye was very tender and again, key word was soft. We couldn't help saying, "It was like buttah...." because it was! It just melted in your mouth. You almost didn't have to chew and you kind of didn't want to. You just wanted to keep it there for a while to enjoy the taste and texture. What was amazing is that Oscar had ordered it medium-well since I don't like it bloody and usually, we end up with something charred and tough. But this was as smooth as silk. We only ate about 1/4 of the rib eye and didn't even make a dent in the German potatoes but the spinach was a goner.
Our whole family are creme brulee devotees so even though we were stuffed we ordered dessert. At first I thought there was dirt on the bottom of the creme brulee container but Oscar realized it was real vanilla bean! Every bit was heaven - a mix of the brulee, a slight hint of citrus and an end note of vanilla. Wow. We even thought about asking for a doggy bag for the leftover dessert to share with the kids but then, got greedy and ate the whole thing.
Our total for lunch with drinks, appetizer and two entrees was $105.00. When we all go to Genki Sushi we usually end up spending between $60-70 and an hour later, the kids are asking for saimin. So this was a deal. Plus, we have enough food leftover for anyone who doesn't want turkey tonight.
We are already planning to take the kids for dinner - maybe for Christmas or near New Years. I can imagine it would be great at night since the restaurant looks out onto Kalakaua.
We'll just go to temple in the morning and ask Buddha to forgive us for our indiscretions....
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