ironchef
Executive Chef
So on Halloween night, one of my friends and I decided to have dinner at this restaurant before walking into Waikiki to see all of the different costumes that people wear. For those who don't know, Waikiki turns into a huge block party on Halloween night with thousands of people wearing as many different constumes as you can imagine. The hotel is off the main strip of Waikiki, so it was a good place to eat at and park at since we wouldn't have to deal with all of the traffic.
The W Hotel is a trendy, contemporary modern hotel which caters to a younger crowd (20-30 somethings). This was the third time that I've been to this restaurant, but the first under their new chef. While the flavor in the food was there, presentation I thought was a little disappointing. Prices were in the $9-18 range for apps/soups/salads and in the $23-40 range for entrees. So here's what we had:
First up was their ahi tartare ($15), which consisted of diced big eye tuna, and chopped nicoise olives, capers, shallots, and tomato. It was finished with minced chives and extra virgin olive oil. The flavor and the quality of the ahi was good, but it was overpowered somewhat by the saltiness and brineyness of the olives and capers. The good thing though was that the olives and capers weren't in every single bite. I probably would've incorporated the olives and capers into a vinaigrette, drizzled that around the tuna and let the guest add however much they wanted to every bite of the tartare:
The second course we had was their Frito Misto ai Fruitti di Mare ($13), which is basically a mixture of lightly battered deep fried seafood. It's an Italian inspired dish, and their twist on it was that they served it with grilled lemon. Grilling lemons are supposed to concentrate their sugars, and give a more mellow and sweeter flavor. The seafood in the frito misto contained shrimp and calamari, and there was also fennel which was a nice contrast. While I wasn't too blown away by the ahi tartare presentation, this one was worse. Flavor wise, it was probably the least favorite of the dinner, although it was in essence the easiest and the simpliest to make:
For our third course we had the foie gras ($18). I think I order foies gras in every single restaurant that I go to if it's on the menu. This was probably my favorite dish of the night, and the best executed by the restaurant. The foie gras was simply pan seared, served a top a warm salad of grapes, shallots, and pancetta, with a drizzle of white truffle oil and a raspberry port reduction:
For the main course, we both ordered the scallops ($33). At this point I wasn't expecting anything from them presentation-wise, so I wasn't disappointed when
the dish arrived. The scallops though were perfectly pan seared to medium doneness, and we're sweet and tender. The dish also camed with braised lentils, braised napa cabbage with bacon (under the foam), and a lemon-tarragon foam. My one gripe is that the lentils were watery. I'm not sure if their intention was to serve it that way, but I don't usually make or get lentils in a restaurant that's swimming in a broth. Overall the dish was ok, but I could definitely make a better scallop dish in the dark with one hand.
For dessert we shared their sampler platter ($20), which was my second favorite dish after the foie gras. That's actually not a good thing for me, because I'm not really a dessert person as it is. My favorite was dark chocolate pyramid on the left, as well as the mini-creme brulee. The other desserts are a cheesecake with berry compote, mango sorbet in a shot glass, and raspberry mousse with ladyfingers.
Overall I would only recommend this restaurant for purely the ambiance and service, which is a shame because their food under their previous chef was really good. I can see what they're trying to do with menu, but both the flavors and presentations need to be tightened up and tweaked. Besides the foie gras and the desserts, the other dishes could've actually been really good, but flavor-wise there was either something missing or there was an abundance of another ingredient that shouldn't have been there. For food, I'd probably give it a 5, service an 8, ambiance a 9, which gives it a 7.5 overall. Decent, but not that great for $200 (food, wine, tax, and tip).
The W Hotel is a trendy, contemporary modern hotel which caters to a younger crowd (20-30 somethings). This was the third time that I've been to this restaurant, but the first under their new chef. While the flavor in the food was there, presentation I thought was a little disappointing. Prices were in the $9-18 range for apps/soups/salads and in the $23-40 range for entrees. So here's what we had:
First up was their ahi tartare ($15), which consisted of diced big eye tuna, and chopped nicoise olives, capers, shallots, and tomato. It was finished with minced chives and extra virgin olive oil. The flavor and the quality of the ahi was good, but it was overpowered somewhat by the saltiness and brineyness of the olives and capers. The good thing though was that the olives and capers weren't in every single bite. I probably would've incorporated the olives and capers into a vinaigrette, drizzled that around the tuna and let the guest add however much they wanted to every bite of the tartare:
The second course we had was their Frito Misto ai Fruitti di Mare ($13), which is basically a mixture of lightly battered deep fried seafood. It's an Italian inspired dish, and their twist on it was that they served it with grilled lemon. Grilling lemons are supposed to concentrate their sugars, and give a more mellow and sweeter flavor. The seafood in the frito misto contained shrimp and calamari, and there was also fennel which was a nice contrast. While I wasn't too blown away by the ahi tartare presentation, this one was worse. Flavor wise, it was probably the least favorite of the dinner, although it was in essence the easiest and the simpliest to make:
For our third course we had the foie gras ($18). I think I order foies gras in every single restaurant that I go to if it's on the menu. This was probably my favorite dish of the night, and the best executed by the restaurant. The foie gras was simply pan seared, served a top a warm salad of grapes, shallots, and pancetta, with a drizzle of white truffle oil and a raspberry port reduction:
For the main course, we both ordered the scallops ($33). At this point I wasn't expecting anything from them presentation-wise, so I wasn't disappointed when
the dish arrived. The scallops though were perfectly pan seared to medium doneness, and we're sweet and tender. The dish also camed with braised lentils, braised napa cabbage with bacon (under the foam), and a lemon-tarragon foam. My one gripe is that the lentils were watery. I'm not sure if their intention was to serve it that way, but I don't usually make or get lentils in a restaurant that's swimming in a broth. Overall the dish was ok, but I could definitely make a better scallop dish in the dark with one hand.
For dessert we shared their sampler platter ($20), which was my second favorite dish after the foie gras. That's actually not a good thing for me, because I'm not really a dessert person as it is. My favorite was dark chocolate pyramid on the left, as well as the mini-creme brulee. The other desserts are a cheesecake with berry compote, mango sorbet in a shot glass, and raspberry mousse with ladyfingers.
Overall I would only recommend this restaurant for purely the ambiance and service, which is a shame because their food under their previous chef was really good. I can see what they're trying to do with menu, but both the flavors and presentations need to be tightened up and tweaked. Besides the foie gras and the desserts, the other dishes could've actually been really good, but flavor-wise there was either something missing or there was an abundance of another ingredient that shouldn't have been there. For food, I'd probably give it a 5, service an 8, ambiance a 9, which gives it a 7.5 overall. Decent, but not that great for $200 (food, wine, tax, and tip).
Maybe a lemon/tarragon mayonnaise?
