Izakaya Heaven

Shinn's impressive menu is both delicious and perfect for any budget

By Nadine Kam

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NADINE KAM / NKAM@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hamachi is served at Sushi Izakaya Shinn with a tart, salty yuzu sauce and a complement of vegetables and seaweed.

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In December, when the pace of restaurant openings was picking up, I got an e-mail from one of my restaurant faithfuls, who said he saw a new Japanese restaurant called Shinn and was going to check it out and report back to me.

Then, I never heard from him.

No matter, there's been no shortage of newcomers. Now that I've been to Shinn, I know why he didn't get back to me. Da buggah! If I were him, I wouldn't tell me either. Why spoil a new favorite restaurant — and that's what it is — by making it impossible to get into?

The new izakaya is as contemporary as they come. I love the way Japanese restaurants, no matter how sleek, always manage to introduce a sense of nature. Here, it's achieved through walls embedded with river rock, an earthy, textured accent to an otherwise stark palette of blacks and grays.

If it were not so popular, you would have a choice of four seating areas to suit your mood. There are traditional western-style tables, plus a robata bar, sushi bar and tatami area. Early birds can reserve a spot, but once the room fills, you'll have to go where the seats open, though the smoke-averse may not want to sit near the robata bar, where the grill is in constant demand.

The flow of people can seem overwhelming at the door, and Shinn could do a better job communicating with guests about when they might be seated. Workers can also be slow to take names and clear tables. Once you're seated, flow is good, but communication can be sketchy when certain dishes run out. You can be nursing a craving for a dish that never arrives, and it's only when you ask your waiter that he discovers the last (maybe yours) was just sent to another table.

SUSHI IZAKAYA SHINN 2065 S. Beretania St. » 946-7466 Food Service Ambience Value Hours: 5 p.m. to midnight Mondays to Saturdays Cost: $40 to $50 for two without alcohol Ratings compare similar restaurants:  - excellent  - very good; exceeds expectations  - average  - below average.

IT'S RARE TO come across a menu as vast as Shinn's that doesn't have its fair share of bad dishes. But this may be the only restaurant, ever, where I didn't have a quibble with regard to the food. I actually don't know how the restaurant does so much so well. You can get just about anything you want, tailored to fit both appetite and pocketbook. If you're running low on cash you can enjoy $2 to $4.50 skewers from the robata bar, whether it's three pieces of Berkshire pork ($3) or shortribs ($3.25), two pieces of shiitake ($2) or organic chicken tsukune ($3) brushed with a light housemade teriyaki sauce.

Or, you could enjoy a bowl of oden in a smoky broth, filling it with various fishcake such as chikuwa, hanpen or gobo-filled gobouten, octopus, potato and konnyaku, all sold by the piece, at $1.50 to $2.50 per item. It was the first time I'd tried kinkyakumochi ($2.50), an elegant tofu pouch filled with soft mochi, oozing out like melted cheese.

If money is tight, a warm bowl of oden and a couple of robata will send you on your merry way for about $15, but who can stop there, knowing there are plenty of sushi and kitchen specialties as well?

Beyond the regular menu you're handed a list of about 30 daily specialties. Don't faint if you see $36 bluefin fatty tuna sashimi. There are plenty of good things to eat for much less, such as hot starters of clams steamed in sake ($8.25) and kurobuta kakuni ($7.50), which made me think of Morimoto's and how this much smaller restaurant has managed to beat the giant in delivering the magic combination of both style and substance. Where Morimoto's pork was heavy and lethargic, here, it is a delicate, melt-on-the-tongue marvel.

Earthenware dishes in hues of brown, sienna, green and ochre present a warm environment that highlights the freshness and naturalness of the ingredients used. I appreciate the kitchen's lighthandedness throughout, allowing the food to speak for itself without the interjections of human ego.

Cold starters include the requisite ahi poke ($16) and beef tataki salad ($12). You'll also see Botan shrimp with yuzu gelee ($13.50), but you might also go straight for the hamachi yuzukoshou ($14) prepared the same way, dotted with a tart, salty yuzu sauce. Pure heaven! It's served with vegetables, ogo and onion, but I'd stay away from the latter overpowering ingredient because the fish and sauce should be enjoyed in their most elemental state.

Later, when I tried to order hamachi nigiri, I was disappointed to find the kitchen had run out of the fish. In fact, if you show up late — that is, by 8 p.m. on a Saturday night, just before the restaurant's one day of closure — it may have run out of lot of things. Gone when I visited: fish collars, Berkshire pork sausages and jumbo shrimp for robata. I was also tempted by the thought of grilled smelt but was told it's no longer on the menu.

After the hamachi ran out, Kona kampachi was offered as a substitute, to which I readily agreed. But as much as I like the local fish, there's no comparison.

Two recent specials that seemed popular enough to merit a place on the daily menu are grilled moi ($17) and a bowl of udon topped with thin slices of duck breast ($6). The dissected, flattened moi is not very pretty to look at, but delicious. The udon is not the bouncy variety that dominates the market here. Its soft texture makes it ideal for kids, which also makes it popular with parents. Speaking of which, Shinn has been drawing a diverse audience that wouldn't quite mix anywhere else: families, cool kids, foodies, couples, businessmen and old folks. Maybe that speaks to the comfort level Shinn offers, or maybe the food is worth giving integration a try. Imagine what this food could do for world peace.

All these goodies distracted me from the fish mainstays of the menu. Nigiri sushi is available by the piece at $3 to $7. You can get small rolls as well, about six slender pieces for $4 to $8. I tried the salmon avocado roll ($5) as an option to the more common California roll ($7) but discovered why salmon isn't usually used when the heavy salt flavor overwhelmed the avocado. Otherwise, I had more interest in the cooked menu than the raw.

For dessert, there's the no-miss, refreshing almond tofu ($5.50), topped with cubes of plum wine jelly and granita of frozen strawberries. Frozen berries warmed with a pour of grenadine are another option ($6.50).

Now, try to stay out of my way.

Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser.
E-mail nkam@staradvertiser.com.

Hawaii Mainland Chinese celebrate spring

Nadine Kam photos
Amy Zhang was one of two winners of a stuffed rabbit during the Hawaii Mainland Chinese Overseas Association's elebration of the Year of the Rabbit at Empress Restaurant.

The Hawaii Mainland Chinese Overseas Association marked the start of the lunar new year with its annual Spring Festival Banquet on Jan. 30.

About 700 people packed Empress Restaurant in the Chinatown Cultural Plaza for a four-hour dinner that included many speeches, lion dances and entertainment that ranged from martial arts demonstrations by the Hawaii Wushu Center, to opera by Bai He, a magic show by Reyn Nishizuka, piano solo by 2010 Narcissus Queen Angie Zhang, and folk dance by current Narcissus Queen Ningjin Miao.

The informal association marks a way for Mainland Chinese to commiserate about home while in Hawaii, and even though I started studying Mandarin, I didn't understand much of what they were saying on stage, but I'm sure it was all about health, happiness, luck and prosperity in the new year, the things Chinese—and perhaps others—everywhere prize.

 

A dish of shredded duck and vegetables in a taro basket was created to celebrate the spring season.

Peking duck skin was a brittle, crackling good treat, served with the requisite bao, hoisin sauce and green onions.

Business leaders lure lions with lai see in hopes of being blessed in 2011.

 

Empress owner Kenneth Lee presides over the banquet room packed with 700 people.

 

Chef Titus Chan with 27th District Rep. Corinne Ching.

Il Lupino officially open

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At the front of Il Lupino, melon slices were being wrapped in prosciutto.

After a monthlong soft opening, Il Lupino Trattoria & Wine Bar celebrated its grand opening Jan. 25 at Royal Hawaiian Center.

After a Hawaiian blessing performed by Kahu Cordell Kekoa, about 300 guests, including a who's who from the diverse business, entertainment and dining worlds, were treated to an evening of drink and finger foods, mostly various pizzas and crostini.

The restaurant is the second in Hawaii by Wolfgang Zwiener, who's followed up on the success of his Wolfgang's Steakhouse with a space devoted to Italian fare. The restaurant also marks the return of executive chef Nic Sayada.

Some Italians in the room took issue with the restaurant's name, saying "lupetto" is the true word for "wolf cub" or "little wolf" that inspsired the restaurant's name. I've seen both online and I'm not a linguist so I'm staying out of this!

 

Mushroom-topped crostini. Other selections were topped with tomatoes and basil, and red and yellow beets with goat cheese.

 

Pizza was also on the grand opening menu, along with deep fried orbs of risotto.

Guests, from left, Mie Kitahara, Dr. Alvin Chung, Terry Hubbard and Reiko Tokushige Rogers.

From left are Al Waterston, Nancy Bernal, Jordan Segundo and a friend.

Leilani Keough with Miss Hawaii International Leilani Soon.

Actor and entertainer Al Harrington with Rosa Navarro-Hoffman.

500-plus fill Jade Dynasty

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Enter the dragon! The grand opening of Jade Dynasty restaurant at Ala Moana Center's Ho'okipa Terrace was marked by a grand Hong Kong-style celebration featuring one dragon and eight lions.



More than 520 guests poured into the newly open Jade Dynasty at Ala Moana Center's Ho'okipa Terrace Jan. 18, for the restaurant's grand opening celebration.

When I arrived, some people were already leaving, claiming it was too hot inside the packed restaurant. People were clustered in front of the stage to hear the greetings and speeches, but at the entrance, there was room to mill about, and study the five roast pigs that were being set up at one of the food and drink stations representing the five corners of the world.

Looking at the crowd made me wonder how they were going to feed that many people in that standing-room-only audience, but once the speechifying was over, the crowd parted into their separate lines snaking toward the food tables, service was rather quick.

Some grabbed their plates and headed off to the smaller private dining rooms on the side, where there were chairs and doors to shut out some of the noise. In the room closest to the stage, I found designers Eric Chandler and Takeo holded up with 2011 Miss Hawaii USA Angela Byrd and 2011 Miss Hawaii Teen USA Courtney Coleman, as well as Avanti Fashion vp Jenny Hui, Blossom Tyau, Ed and Leilani Keough. When things got a little too hectic, restaurant co-owner Alan Ho's wife Sylvia also took a few minutes refuge there before braving the crowd again.

Other guests simply moved from line to line, eating while standing and waiting to get to the front for the array of pork, noodles and dim sum, which are among the restaurant's specialties. Some of my favorite dishes of the evening were the kau yuk, char siu, shrimp dumplings, honey walnut shrimp and roast pork bao.

The restaurant is a major addition to the center. The last time we saw a restaurant this big in the area was China House. It's an ambitious move for the Hong Kong based Paramount Banquet Halls, no doubt with an eye toward continued local banquet business, as well as anticipating growth in Chinese tourism in coming years. There's nothing like finding a familiar name (Paramount has 22 restaurants in Hong Kong) when you're in a foreign city!

Five roast pigs were featured at the food station closest to the restaurant's entrance.

Kau yuk, char siu and chow fun were being offered toward the back of the room, in front of the stage.

This table featured chicken, deep-fried tofu and honey-walnut shrimp.

At the dim sum table were crispy gau gee, shrimp dumplings and crystal taro dumplings.

Jade Dynasty partners Alan Ho, left and Ave Kwok, welcomed more than 500 guests to the opening.

Ave Kwok with his wife Sally, and Ho Ka Lok Benny, director of the Hong Kong-based Paramount Catering Group, which has 22 restaurants there. Jade Dynasty is the group's first overseas restaurant, and the group is aiming for further expansion.

Alan Ho with his wife Sylvia.

The lions finish their blessing outside the restaurant. A tourist who happened to stop by while I was getting some air outside said she was thrilled to have accidentally stumbled upon the cultural event.

New Year, DFS style

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Morimoto's offering was foie gras chawanmushi with wasabi. It was so good I considered going back for seconds.

DFS Galleria Waikiki hosted its inaugural Aloha Nights block party on Kalakaua Avenue on Jan. 3, and brought in some major names to feed those who stopped to hear Jake Shimabukuro, Keola Beamer and Raiatea Helm perform, catch a glimpse of
Japanese TV personality IKKO, or check out what's inside the galleria, including the largest cosmetics department on the island.

The community thank-you party also celebrated the launch of The Vault Collection presented by DFS. The collection showcases rare and exceptional products that have never been seen in Hawaii, and is being shown by appointment only, through DFS Platinum Services Club at 931-2820.

The collection includes rare time pieces, exotic leather handbags from Chloe, Celine, Salvatore Ferragamo and more, as well as Bvlgari Sapphire Flower Collection jewelry Van Cleef & Arpels Snowflake floweret diamond necklace.

But a majority of those milling around Kalakaua were more in a more primal mode, figuring out what was for dinner at booths manned by Alan Wong's, Azure, Chai's Island Bistro, The Beachhouse at the Moana, Kai Market at the Sheraton, Morimoto's, Nobu, Roy's Waikiki, and Wolfgang's Steakhouse, which was serving a hamburger slider with chips for $5. There was a lot of beef all around, so I was hoping Wolfgang's would be offering their thick slabs of bacon or crab cakes.


As for how primal? Well, it just goes to show that locals know how to behave and keep a natural flow going at street fairs, by studying the signs from a distance so as not to get anyone's way, ordering quickly and moving aside to get out of the next person's way. But tourists came darting in at every direction, standing right at the table to study the signs for unduly long intervals, and there were a lot of Japanese tourists getting shoved by their larger Western counterparts.

The food was great though, and if DFS brings this back next year, maybe more locals will attend to show these tourists how it's done!

Robbyn Shim of Roy's Restaurants shows a plate of sous vide pork belly and roasted Hamakua mushroom baos that the restaurant was offering at $6 for three pieces or $2 each. This was before the varied toppings and sauces went on. Guests could help themselves, and they pretty much helped themselves to everything, which is partly why the line here was so long.

The pork was broke da mouth tender and though the mushroom doesn't look like much, it was super ono and tender as well! A nice man behind me in line thought I looked hopeless juggling camera and all, so he offered to help me with the toppings.

I started at the Ewa end of the food tents, where The Beachhouse at the Moana presented slices of grilled flat iron steak with apple wood-smoked bacon, sitting atop Surfing Goat cheese & macaroni, and topped with Kahuku corn jalapeno relish and gogi berry port wine demi, all for $5.

Tonkatsu specialists Ginza Bairin also offered chicken curry and had several takers rush up when they called out their last orders.

Azure restaurant offered an Alaskan crab claw with mustard creme fraiche and caviar, for $5.

The simplicity of ahi poke, Nobu style, was also appreciated.

Eateries rolled with comfort cuisine plus a dash of innovation in 2010

By Nadine Kam

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DENNIS ODA / OCT. 15

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Masaharu Morimoto, in glasses, brought his "Iron Chef" persona to Morimoto Waikiki.

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Whenever the economy tanks, I always worry that I'll run out of new restaurants to talk about. That hasn't happened, proving one axiom of business: No matter how tough the times we face, the one certainty is that people gotta eat.

And eat we did, so there was no lack of new places to discover, though it was not a year big on innovation and excitement. Instead, the uncertain economy and the large number of unemployed sent people looking for inexpensive comfort.

Just as last year, basics of burgers and pizza were big, touching on another trend of connoisseurship. Because even if diners are scaling back, they want to be assured they're getting the best that money can buy.

This was history repeating itself. During the throes of the late 1980s-early 1990s recession, I predicted that the day of the large, middle-market restaurant was over, and what would emerge would be smaller niche specialists. My rationale was twofold. First, diners were growing more sophisticated and unwilling to put up with vast menus of mediocre fare. Smaller entities allow food purveyors to focus on the one or two things they do best, whether cupcakes, tacos or shrimp.

What I didn't predict was what form some of these businesses would take. Although Hawaii has had a long history of lunch wagons, I didn't think businesses could get any more streamlined than offering a simple menu of plate lunches, but even on the road, specialists emerged so that 2010 can officially be called The Year of the Food Truck.

Plate lunches were deemed passe in light of their sexier new counterparts, which sold everything from tacos (Gogi Korean BBQ, Shogunai Tacos, Zaratez, T.A.S.T.E.) to pizza (Impossibles, Inferno's) to classic grilled cheese sandwiches and patty melts (Melt). The aim, I suppose, is to eventually put down roots. Soul Patrol made the leap, with Sean Priester now serving up his style of Pacific soul cuisine at Soul Cafe at the base of Waialae Avenue.

Here's a look at some of the other ways we ate in 2010:

>> Cocina Mexicano: In addition to taco trucks roaming the streets of Oahu, Mexican restaurants put down roots across the island. Among the welcome additions serving comfort fare from south of the border were Luibueno's in Haleiwa, Mexitlan Grill in Kaimuki, Pablo's Cantina at Ward Centre and El Charro Mexicano in Aiea. Meanwhile, longtime Kaimuki neighbor Jose's Mexican Restaurant drew old friends in marking its 37th anniversary, and many a diner discovered the joy of paletas, Mexican-style savory frozen treats, via OnoPops' menu of local-flavor paletas, like Ume-Thai Basil and Caramel Shoyu. If you haven't discovered these, look for them at Blue Hawaii Lifestyle at Ala Moana Center, Whole Foods Kahala, Kokua Market and Muumuu Heaven in Kailua.

>> Dining in the dark: If what's on the table wasn't very new, restaurateurs had to drum up excitement in other ways. Over in Kailua, Formaggio Grill created a stir with its "Dining in the Dark" format of blindfolding diners and allowing them to put their sense of taste to the test. Those who typically gobble their food without tasting had a hard time, but those to take time to savor each bite had no problem identifying the mystery foods, even when chefs tried to fool diners by wrapping fish in prosciutto (squishy texture with pork flavor)!

>> Openings of the year: One other way to stir up excitement is to introduce a star chef, and "Iron Chef" Masaharu Morimoto certainly fit the bill, making a splash with his lavish new restaurant in The Edition Waikiki Hotel. Even if you have to be rich to eat here regularly, the curiosity factor kicked in, and all foodies had to try it just once.

Longtime favorite Boulevard Saimin (now Dillingham Saimin) led the way to another family operation, Tanaka Saimin, which opened in the former Weyerhaeuser building on Nimitz Highway. It's a palatial, glossy restaurant, but at its heart, its food and servers are pure old-school local, local, local.

Over in Waipahu, there were equally huge crowds and lines for the recent opening of Jollibee's, a Philippines-based fast-food chain, serving up American-Filipino style spaghetti, burgers, fried chicken and palabok.

>> Locavore goes mainstream: The push to eat local produce started with farms and Pacific Rim restaurants more than 20 years ago. It continues to evolve with a focus on using all-local ingredients, difficult in a state that must import such staples as flour and cooking oils, excluding our own macadamia oil. Even the most ambitious practitioners, such as chef Darren Demaya at Kai Market at the Sheraton Waikiki, believe 80 percent local is currently the highest goal we can achieve.

For the most part, the locavore dream is an ideal at the high end of the marketplace. But this year the movement came down to earth with the opening of Honolulu Burger Co., serving burgers made only with Big Island-raised beef, topped with local produce. It's not 100 percent locavore either, but it starts the conversation on the street level.

This comes at a time when shipping costs have gone up, leading many to start thinking about how our food supply might be cut short, considering that 80 percent of all we consume arrives via ship. In a recent interview I had with Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and one of the world's leading voices on recycling and sustainability, his advice for Hawaii was, "Grow taro."

>> Healthy eating arrived: There's long been a dearth in healthy choices in the marketplace, but with an aging population and with more people starting to call themselves vegetarians or vegans, a handful of restaurateurs have responded. This year saw the openings of macrobiotic restaurant Peace Cafe, two vegan Loving Huts and Simple Joy.

The latter two employ soy and yam root products that are getting better at mimicking meat and seafood, but what I really long for is a restaurant that can be creative with fruits, vegetables and nuts, the sort of gourmet raw vegan cuisine made by 'Licious Dishes' Sylvia Thompson on a weekly meal-plan basis. It takes a big commitment and learning curve to turn out the kind of fare she makes, which is why most people don't eat that way. I'm hoping she can open a restaurant one day.

I'm also hoping Waianae's Kahumana Cafe will be able to open a second branch in Honolulu, or that some other restaurateur will follow their example in bringing simple, farm-fresh fare to the table.

>> What's coming: Two decades ago, we worried about "turning Japanese" when every new business in Waikiki sported a Japanese sign. Well, now it looks like we're turning Chinese. Basic chop suey doesn't stir much enthusiasm these days, but new entries to the dining scene seem primed for an influx of Chinese visitors to the state. Just open at Ala Moana's Ho'okipa Terrace is Jade Dynasty, offering dim sum and a full lunch and dinner menu.

And set to open next month is Jin Din Rou (near the newest Panda Express on King Street) which will introduce many a diner to the joys of xiao long bao, or Shanghai soup dumplings.

Oh, heart be still! Not a bad way to start 2011.

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Nadine Kam's restaurant columns run Wednesdays in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.