yaokui: Alan Wong's Restaurant

Address: 1857 S. King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

http://www.alanwongs.com/

Phone: 808-949-2526

I wasn't too impressed with Alan Wong's restaurant when I first ate there several years ago. I thought the food was quite generic high end, and it lacked character. It wasn't too memorable as well. But something changed when I went back again in May this year. I noticed the food was more distinctive, with the use of more local ingredients and creations that are not commonly found in NYC fine dining restaurants.

We chose the 7 course tasting menu and among the dishes served, I really enjoyed the Soup and Kalua Pig Sandwich, Seared Kona Kampachi and Kona Abalone dish. Kalua pig, just in case you are not familiar, is a traditional Hawaiian Luau feast dish that is prepared by cooking a whole pig in an underground oven for hours to produce the most succulent pork. Alan Wong has succeeded in creating his own version of Kalua Pig Cuban style sandwich, served with the best chilled tomato soup I have ever tasted. The Kona Abalone was very fresh and had a nice texture and chewiness, and the Kona Kampachi was just plan marvelous. Both Kona Abalone and Kona Kampachi are trademarked produce from the Big Island Abalone Corp and the Kona Blue Water Farms at Kona Coast, Hawaii. It is amazing how state-of-the-art marine hatchery and water farms can produce such high quality seafood.

I'm glad to see that Chef Alan Wong is taking the lead in supporting/using locally produced ingredients and keeping his tasting menu a steal. Yes, for $95 per person for a 7 course Chef Tasting Menu, I say that's a Steal!