Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
knowledgeable about the dishes. Even more unique for the area, parking is offered in back!
It's BYOB, but the excellent wine store just around the corner (the staff will point it out to you)
delivers to the restaurant.
1113 Smith St.
&
808/545-3008.
www.littlevillagehawaii.com
. Most items under $15. AE, DISC, MC, V. Sun-Thurs
10:30am-10:30pm; Fri-Sat 10:30am-midnight.
To Chau
★★
VIETNAMESE The two stars are strictly for the pho (noodle soup), which
many think is the best in a city studded with pho (pronounced fur) houses. You'll have to
stand in line, ambience is nil, and service can be brusque. But that's all part of the charm at
this no-nonsense Formica-style restaurant, located in Chinatown in a stone building along a
river and marked, without fail, by a queue of Asian diners. The anticipation is heightened by
the view of diners relishing their steaming, long-awaited orders, visible through the windows
as you wait your turn on the sidewalk. The menu includes shrimp, spring rolls, and chicken
and pork chop plates, but we've never seen anyone order anything but pho. And what a soup
this is! The broth is clear, hearty, and marvelously flavored with hints of cinnamon and spice.
You can order it with several choices of steak, and it comes with a heaping platter of fresh
bean sprouts, basil, hot green peppers, and an Asian green called boke (bo-kay). It's worth the
wait, and so inexpensive.
1007 River St., Chinatown.
&
808/533-4549.
Reservations not accepted. Pho $6-$8. No credit cards. Daily
8:30am-2:30pm (or until they run out of food).
Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar
★
ITALIAN Two Japanese guys, D. K. Kodama (chef and
owner of Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar; and d.k Steakhouse) and Chuck Furuya
(Hawaii's top master sommelier, also of d.k Steakhouse and Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas) teamed
up to create this culinary adventure for foodies. The cozy room includes murals of a vine-
yard and a kitchen with barrels of wine on the walls. Among the mouthwatering Italian cre-
ations, we'd recommend any ravioli on the menu. Signature dishes include roasted peppers
with grilled focaccia, tender crispy calamari, seared foie gras, and petite osso buco. Don't pass
up the house-made gnocchi or the daily pizza. Furuyu has put together an amazing array of
wines by the glass, dispensed from a custom-crafted 20-spigot wine cruvinet.
On Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd.
&
808/524-8466.
Reservations recommended. Tapas $8-$28. AE, DISC, MC,
V. Wed-Thurs 5:30-9:30pm; Fri-Sat 5:30-10:30pm.
Yanagi Sushi
★
JAPANESE We love the late-night hours, the sushi bar, and the extensive
choices of combination lunches and dinners. But we also love the a la carte Japanese menu,
which covers everything from chazuke (a comfort food of rice with tea, salmon, seaweed,
and other condiments) to shabu-shabu (Japanese hotpot) and other steaming earthenware-
pot dishes. Complete dinners come with choices of sashimi, shrimp tempura, broiled salmon,
New York steak, and many other possibilities. You can dine here affordably or extravagantly,
on $10 noodles or a $36 lobster nabe (cooked in seasoned broth). Consistently crisp tempura
and fine spicy-ahi hand rolls also make Yanagi worth remembering.
762 Kapiolani Blvd.
&
808/597-1525.
www.yanagisushi-hawaii.com
. Reservations recommended. Main courses $9-$36,
complete dinners $21-$26. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Daily 11am-2pm; Mon-Sat 5:30pm-2am; Sun 5:30-10pm.
