Le Bistro Review 7-31-14

Tags

Bistro, Honolulu, Restaurant, Reviews

Le Bistro. Many images come to mind when I hear the word ‘Bistro’, simple, rustic, flavorful etc. to name a few. However I can assure you, none of those came to mind during my experience at Le Bistro last week. I had high hopes and great expectations for this restaurant stemming from stellar Yelp reviews and excellent personal recommendations. Sadly, I was very disappointed in what transpired. Though, I should have suspected as much. My reservation call was a prelude, a red flag in a string of gaffes that culminated in a disastrous evening celebrating my second anniversary with my beautiful wife. It began with a phone call, as mentioned, that went unanswered due to closing, for two days by Le Bistro, for some inexplicable reason (they did not specify on their answering machine).   I asked for a reservation on the 31st of July at 7pm, clearly spoke my name, number of patrons attending and left a contact number with a request for confirmation or notification if they happened to be full. I received a return call later in the day with instructions to call back because I had not left a name and I needed to confirm my time at 7:30pm. Strike one. I returned the call and to simplify things and not confuse the host I confirmed for 7:30pm. We arrived ten minutes early to an empty host stand and the first thing I noticed about the restaurant was the excessive use of wine bottles for decoration. Wine racks here, there and everywhere. I can appreciate a few for a rustic touch and for showing the selection available, but the amount present in Le Bistro was astounding. To make it worse, most were empty displays. Very tacky, and very plebian. In any event, we were quickly seated by a waiter (who did not end up serving us I might add) and were provided menus and water. Another waiter arrived and informed us he would be our server and then asked to recite us the specials, to which we agreed, and then proceeded in excruciating detail, to recite all of the specials (there were quite a few) in a very long-winded but refined manner. I almost fell asleep during his oral exposition, but in his defense he was very polite and proper albeit with a thick and lovely French accent. When he finished, for starters we ordered the Fresh Kahuku Corn Salad with Crispy Potato Chips. It arrived in ten minutes and the best word to describe this salad was ‘tired’. The corn looked deflated and the salad wilted, almost as if it had been tossed in a hot pan. It was most definitely not fresh. We tried to eat it but could barely spear a single leaf of baby greens. It was quite comical as we tried to get just a mouthful on our forks but felt very awkward and embarrassed as our salad kept falling off again and again. To put it simply, it was mush. The potato crisps were unexciting as well, being extra oily and bland that needed a good pinch of salt (which was to become a theme throughout the rest of our dinner). We left most of it on the plate and waited to order our mains. Our waiter returned in short order and we requested one of the specials le Quartet of Beef and the Twice Cooked Breast of Mascovy Duck. Now, let me highlight another decor solecism I noticed while we awaited our mains. First, above us, there was a light fixture, in the rustic flavor, that was completely encrusted with cobwebs. I am not sure when they cleaned it last but it had to have been months. It was appalling and throughout dinner I kept expecting a little spider to descend upon us and have a meal of his own. Thankfully, it did not. Secondly, in the restaurant there were four massive tree-branch centerpieces arranged in a square formation. I found this extremely distracting as they swallowed the room. One or two in the very center of the restaurant (Le Bistro is small) would have been fine. But four of them, combined with the excessive wine bottles and oddly themed large Italian landscape paintings (which I forgot to mention earlier) screamed cluttered and confused. Hardly reminiscent of a Bistro. But I digress. Strike two, back to our meal. The beef quartet and duck arrived in twenty minutes. The presentation was clean and modern and could pass as “Bistro-esque”. But there were blatant problems with our dishes. The duck was a complete flop. The skin was flabby and thick for being cooked twice (How hard is it to crisp duck skin?), the meat itself was dry and very tough, even though it appeared rare. And the accompanying sauce was almost flavorless while the breast was severely lacking seasoning of any sort and desperately needed salt. The paired potato gratin was also uninspiring and lacked depth of cheesey flavor. The biggest shock however, came a few bites in when I found a hair among the duck breast. It was short and black and both my wife and I have long brunette hair. Discovering hair or any other sort of body part in your food at $40 a plate is the ultimate gaffe and truly poor standard in the restauranting business. I notified our waiter and he seemed shocked since “The chefs all wear hair nets so I’m not sure where the hair came from.” but failed to notice none of the waiters wear hair nets (and rightly so-that would be odd). But absurdly, our mains were served by another waiter, not him. He did eventually leave after apologizing one too many times and spoke with the manager, returning to notify us we would not be charged for the plate. At that point he should have immediately cleared the contamination but instead asked if we “wanted to finish it.” Good heavens I was flabbergasted! I wanted to retort with “Would you finish that disgusting meal?” but held my tongue and said yes. Strike three. Was there any hope left? I would find out not. The beef quartet was rather weird. The Wagyu filet mignon was tender and flavorful but slightly under seasoned (again needed salt). And on the opposite end the Kobe beef slider with foie gras was intensely flavorful but overly salty. The ribeye was dry and tough with gristle still attached, completely bland and needed seasoning and the shortribs were tender but the flavors were muddled and nothing stood out. Overall, our starter and meals had a dry, flavorless theme, as if most of the plates were not tasted during preparation, and were then left sitting too long on the hot plate and dried out.   I sincerely looked forward to desert to lift my spirits after a pathetic meal but alas, misery is company and I was awash with it. I ordered the chocolate bread pudding for desert (pictured top) and received a burnt dish of sallow coloration interspersed with splotches of thick overpowering chocolate. The dish literally reeked of burnt food when it arrived, not lovely buttery pudding and chocolate notes. It was sad because apart for the heavy chocolate clusters and burnt top, the inside bits not marred were quite delicious and the texture was almost perfect for bread pudding. In retrospect, an evening that should have lived up to the hype did not. It most certainly, was not worth the $61 spent on a starter, main and desert. In the restauranting world, first impressions are everything and crucial to repeat business from customers. But in the end, Le Bistro failed to impress and flopped miserably in its signature dishes.

 

 

Le Bistro deserves 2 out of 5 stars.

Standouts for friendly service and extensive wine selection

Complaints on decor, dry flavorless dishes and hair in food

 

 

Verdict: A possible re-opening flounder, but won’t chance it again.

 

Le Bistro

Niu Valley Shopping Center

5730 Kalanianaole Hwy.

Honolulu, HI 96821

(808) 373-7990

Asuka Review 7-20-14 (5:15pm)

Tags

Nabe, Restaurants, Reviews, Shabu Shabu

Last Sunday I had the chance to visit Asuka with some family members (9 to be exact). We had reservations at 5:00pm but arrived fifteen minutes late due to car-pooling plans, parking etc. But before I recount our dinner experience, to be fair, I must say, I have eaten at Asuka twice before. I wouldn’t be going there for a third time if the food was not tasty so yes, if you’re in a rush and want a simple verdict, Asuka is very tasty. However, unlike my previous two visits I would like to highlight some misgivings I had following my last and most current dinner experience there. Since I am reviewing Asuka based on my last visit, I must be fair, unbiased and honest. First, even though our table was reserved and the restaurant seemed rather empty when we arrived, we still were required to wait 15 minutes to be seated. And for me personally, that is too long when you have reservations. Second, when we were seated, the floor around our table was very wet. So much so that I almost slipped and fell navigating my way into the booth (ours was the foremost table by the window). Upon examination, the floor apparently had been mopped recently but not dried properly. Though I’m not sure what good it did since I noticed vegetable and meat particles among the film of water on the floor. And it was most disgusting and felt positively gross under my slippers as I sat at the table. But it slowly dried and I chose to ignore it in anticipation of a lovely Nabe meal (for those that do not know what Nabe is-it means ‘one pot’ in Japanese-a soup base to which you add meat and vegetables and cook yourself). Next, our waitress arrived promptly with water and menus but then, the most curious thing happened. She disappeared for almost 25 minutes! Yes we had nine in our party, and yes, big parties tend to spend a little longer ordering, but we were ready in 10minutes and were left waiting for the other 15! When you’re hungry this is most displeasing. After we ordered, the food began to arrive and this is where the last upsetting gaffe occurred. I ordered their signature Asuka Nabe with the sukiyaki base, all pork for my meat, and a side of Kurobuta Pork Belly (which by the way, is the most heavenly variety of bacon available to man-also known as Berkshire Pork-extremely tender and mildly sweet-an absolute must eat on their menu). But alas, my order was wrong. They brought me chicken and beef. And I have no problem with a simple mistake in a large party like ours, but when our waitress returned they forgot to remove the Dango meat balls (pork and vegetable meatballs) per my request and add extra Teba chicken wing (also very lovely and worth a side order of). So my plate was sent back again! Once is fine, but twice is just sloppy. And I wasn’t the only one with an order problem. Two other members also had discrepancies with their meals and had plates sent back. The overall service and accuracy of our orders was very poor and delayed our meal (two of our group had almost finished eating by the time I received my correct order). But service aside, their soup bases are very tasty. The depth of flavor is complex and well balanced, extremely satisfying and somehow always manages to infuse the meat and vegetables in a short amount of cook time. I would venture so far as to say their Nabe is one of, if not the best on Oahu.

 

Asuka deserves 3^1/2 out of 5 stars.

Standouts for excellent Nabe, Kurobuta Pork Belly and Teba chicken wings

Complaints on dirty floor, poor service

 

Verdict: Do not bring a large party, two persons at most.

 

Asuka

3620 Waialae Ave.

Honolulu, HI 96816 USA

(808) 735-6666

Brasserie Du Vin Review 7-16-2014 (6:45pm)

Having heard nothing of Brasserie Du Vin, or even knowing of its existence, my wife took me there to dinner on my birthday. We sat outside in the terrace, which somewhat resembles a small restaurant alleyway in France. However the first noticeable difference from Paris is the stifling heat. Granted this is Hawaii and to be expected, but to not have a fan or better air circulation by some means made dinner much less enjoyable. We were seated and served promptly by friendly staff and were brought ice water immediately. Thank God. After reading the menu (which was a bit clunky and difficult to handle in the dated-folded three section style) we ordered Pomme Frits and Blue Crab Cakes to start. The fries came within 5 minutes and the crab cakes within another 5. I must say the Pomme Frites were excellent and memorable. Light golden brown, perfectly cooked and nicely seasoned, they were probably the best fries I’ve had in Hawaii to date. I was disappointed the accompanying ketchup and mayo were very unexciting and non-creative, but nonetheless the Pomme Frites had my undivided attention. The plate was sent back empty. The crab cakes arrived and we cut in and were greeted by soft mushy balls squashing under our utensils. They were much too thick, the batter was not crunchy and it was quite spicy. It was not for lack of flavor but I was expecting crab cakes.   They should have called it Cajun Seafood Meatballs and I would have enjoyed it. But I digress. A crab cake should be crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside and lightly seasoned to compliment the beautiful flavor of crab. But it was not. On to the main course! I selected Crispy Duck Leg Confit. It arrived within 15 minutes and was somewhat visually pleasing, contained nicely in a dessert plate. I dove into the bean and sausage stew underneath the leg and found it overly salty. Very flavorful, but too salty. I could not eat more than two bites. I switched to the duck leg and found flabby un-rendered duck skin. Didn’t I order Crispy Duck Leg? Nothing crispy here. Pulled the skin off, set it aside and tried the meat. It was succulent and nicely cooked but the flavors did not extend beyond salt and pepper. I made our waitress aware of the saltiness (but not the greasy skin) and she seemed genuinely disappointed and offered dessert on the house. A most gracious offer happily accepted. While we waited for desert the chef himself came to our table to apologize and ascertain our displeasure to which I repeated the saltiness issue but again left out the duck skin gaffe (I hate to be overly critical in person to persons who work very hard). I stated the Crispy Duck Confit was “Ok.” to which he replied they do not accept ‘ok’ meals and “…wished to please us in any way possible.”, and asked “What he could do to make our dinner spectacular?” Well I doubt Brasserie Du Vin was capable of making our dinner spectacular without overhauling their entire menu but I politely asked for desert and he repeated that it would be on the house. The Macadamia Nut Tart came quickly and was nice and light, not overly sweet, fresh but the crust was a tad undercooked and rather thick. It was the only dish we took home. Good enough not to waste, but not amazing enough to finish in one sitting. The glasses of champagne and wine we selected throughout dinner were both pleasing and nice selections by the house. Our total bill was $76 for two appetizers, one main and two glasses of drink. A very modest amount for dinner out in Honolulu. I would like to try Brasserie Du Vin again sometime in the future with hopefully a better main course and a spectacular dessert.

 

 

Brassie Du Vin deserves 3 out of 5 stars.

 

Standouts for service, staff friendliness and Pomme Frites

Complaints on uncomfortable heat, poorly executed dishes

 

Verdict: I will be back for a second tasting.

 

Basserie Du Vin

1115 Bethel St.

Hon., HI 96813

808-545-1115