Oahu - Hawaii with Kids - page 108

excellent. They will always make a plain cheese sandwich for your little ones.
The special Saturday-night desserts draw a brisk post-movie business.
3565 Waialae Ave. & 808/735-7717. Most items less than $8. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Sun-Mon and
Wed-Thurs 10am-10pm; Fri-Sat 10am-11pm.
EAST OF WAIKIKI: KAHALA
Hoku's PACIFIC/EUROPEAN Elegant without being stuffy, and cre-
ative without being overwrought, the fine-dining room of the Kahala Mandarin
offers elegant lunches and dinners combining European finesse with an island
touch and is a wonderful place to bring the kids. The ocean view, open kitchen,
and astonishing bamboo floor are stellar features. Reflecting the restaurant's
cross-cultural influences, the kitchen is equipped with a kiawe grill; an Indian
tandoori oven for its chicken and nan bread; and Szechuan woks for the prawn,
lobster, tofu, and other stir-fried specialties. Hoku's Sampler, the chef 's daily
selection of appetizers, could include sashimi, dim sum, and other dainty tast-
ings, and is a good choice for the curious. Your kids may not be as curious and
they can order off the kids' menu, where hot dogs and pizza are king.
In the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 5000 Kahala Ave. & 808/739-8780. Kids' menu, highchairs, boost-
ers, crayons. Reservations recommended. Main courses $20-$33; prix-fixe dinner $65; kids' menu $6.50-$10.
AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Mon-Fri 11:30am-2pm; daily 5:30-10pm; Sun brunch 10:30am-2:30pm.
Olive Tree Cafe GREEK/EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN Delec-
tables at bargain prices stream out of the tiny open kitchen here. Recently voted
“Best Restaurant in Hawaii under $20” in a local survey, Olive Tree is every
neighborhood's dream—a totally hip restaurant with divine Greek fare and
friendly prices. There are umbrella tables outside and a few seats indoors, and you
order and pay at the counter. Larger parties now have an awning over the sturdy
wooden tables on the Koko Head side. The mussel ceviche is fabulous, and the
creamy, tender chicken saffron, a frequent special, always elicits groans of pleas-
ure, as does the robust and generous Greek salad, another Olive Tree attraction.
We also love the souvlaki, ranging from fresh fish to lamb, spruced up with the
chef 's homemade yogurt-dill sauce. A family can dine here like sultans without
breaking the bank, and take in a movie next door, too. Kids will find plenty to
eat, especially the popular chicken souvlaki. Adults can BYOB.
4614 Kilauea Ave., next to Kahala Mall. & 808/737-0303. Main courses $5-$10. No credit cards; checks
accepted. Mon-Thurs 5-10pm; Fri-Sun 11am-10pm.
EAST OAHU
HAWAII KAI
Roy's Restaurant EUROPEAN/ASIAN This is the first of Roy Yam-
aguchi's six signature restaurants in Hawaii (he has 2 dozen all over the world).
It is still the flagship and many people's favorite, true to its Euro-Asian roots and
Yamaguchi's winning formula: open kitchen, fresh ingredients, ethnic touches,
and a good dose of nostalgia mingled with European techniques. The menu
changes nightly, but you can generally count on individual pizzas, a varied appe-
tizer menu (summer rolls, blackened ahi, hibachi-style salmon), a small pasta
selection, and entrees such as lemon grass-roasted chicken, garlic-mustard short
ribs, hibachi-style salmon in ponzu sauce, and several types of fresh catch. The
separate kids' menu mainly features pasta. One of Hawaii's most popular restau-
rants, Roy's is lit up at night with tiki torches outside; the view from within is
of scenic Maunalua Bay. Roy's is also renowned for its high-decibel style of din-
ing—it's always full and noisy. Other Roy's restaurants in Hawaii appear in

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