Alan Wong's Pineapple Room

During my trip to Honolulu, I desperately wanted to visit Alan Wong's on King Street and sit at the chef's counter. However, busy happy family things took precedence over decadent meals. As a substitute, on our last day there we ate at the more casual Alan Wong's Pineapple Room at the Ala Moana mall. The food was shockingly delicious. Maybe even better than the food at Mariposa. It didn't have the same atmosphere or view as Mariposa, but yes, I think I agree with myself, the food kicked ass.



D started with this amazing tomato soup. I have no idea what the exact enticing and very savory ingredients were in this, aside from tomato and the big shrimp on top, but we seriously scraped the sides of the bowl.



We shared this unusual preperation of eda mame. These were sauteed Chinese style, the way long beans are done at one of my favorite Chinese places in Los Angeles, Mandarette. It was nice to have soy beans done this way. They were very garlicky, and worth every moment of compromised breath.



For an entree I ate the shrimp & crab Caesar. Again, emphasis on garlic but this time balanced nicely with anchovies. Here, like several other of the restaurants on this trip, the menu explicitly listed the provenance of much of the local flora and fauna featured on the menu. The menu had a nice balance of surf and turf, something not always seen in Hawaii with the obvious typical emphasis on seafood.



On the way back to the car I stopped to say hello to the beautiful koi. Hello fishies!

A Special Lunch

After a very long swim up and back Ala Moana beach, a special lady treated us to a special lunch at nearby Longhi's. Lunch tends to be my favorite meal of the day when on an active vacation. I am surprised I had never been to Longhi's on one of my many trips to Honolulu. It was delightful!



The interior has a deep-South meets tropical paradise kind of feel. The wide open plantation shutters give it a breeziness. The cane chairs are slightly distressed. The slowly rotating ceiling fans and checkerboard floors made me crave a mint julep on the front porch while waiting for Ashley's afternoon visit.



They start everyone off at lunch with irresistible pizza bread. There is nothing like water sports to elevate your appetite to monstrous proportions, and we literally devoured all that bread in about 10 minutes. I focused on the one with jalapeno and jack cheese.



For lunch I started with a beautiful artichoke that was unfortunately soaked in butter. Swimming, potentially drowning. Delicious yes, but a little OTT, if you text messagers know what I mean.



D started with a hearty salad of Big Island grown lettuce with bleu cheese, red onions, Maui tomatoes (safe from the recall, dontcha know?), and green beans.



Next we shared a massive BLT on toasted wheat bread with cheddar. A nice melty twist on the classic.



Anyone who has been to Hawaii know about all the beautiful little birds. The majority of them are fairly unafraid of humans.



Because the walls were basically open shutters, a few birds would flit in and out seeking any errant crumbs on the checkerboard floors. Luckily the restaurant was pristine in its cleanliness, so they didn't stick around long.



Add to that the fact that I was serene from all the swimming and blissful from being on vacation, and you might deduce that I was charmed rather than grossed out. That, and they make for beautiful photographs.