Today's contestant. Looks good, giving it a try with a couple of friends. Zaratez will be saved for another day, I wanted to give my friend Shannon a chance to experience it without so much on her mind.
Christie's Restaurant
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea
808-484-4511
http://m.yelp.com/biz/aXZaHU5EdTEWU6C3QGXouQ
The first thing I noticed about Christies is the parking lot. Yeah, its Waimalu Shopping center. And yes, its crowded and old, but the the Christie's location got a fresh coat of paint and a new attitude. And yes, its Vegas big. If you took the two Shiro's signs and put them together the Christie's sign still makes it look small. An interesting observation in the dinner party. The Color scheme was "Chun Wah Kam" ish, one sign screamed vegas, the other sign screamed "Korean hostess bar." It felt disorganized, and as a colleague said "schizophrenic". Like an establishment trying to find its niche.
Inside, much of the same, but a definite departure from the establishments in the area. A definte change of pace, which seemed exactly what they were going for. Large comfortable chairs, fine dining linen napkins, no tablecloth, gaudy nametags on snappy-chic black clad servers. The Walls felt sterile, boxy. It reminded me of a bargain "Kochi Restaurant" in its execution crossed with Zippys. It's rather large, with fairly simple decor. It seemed a bit forced. Once again, "conflicted". Part of me wanted to expect great things, visages of fine dining Honolulu and high end resort dining, while other parts of me wanted to see if Zippys chili was on the menu.
There are two private rooms and restroom in the back hallway. I did not evaluate the bar on this trip. We were greeted with the owner, I assume Christie (not having read any review by any previous person intentionally, I assume its her). She seemed very eager to please, almost too much so, but genuine in that she wanted us to be treated right. The staff seemed rather new at this, not able to make a quick decision on where to sit us. They decided on a table near the front after deliberating and going back and forth for a couple minutes. An interesting start, and Christie standing right there with a great smile thanking us for coming in nearly every couple seconds.
As soon as we sat down, the service was good. Drinks never went dry, multiple visits to the table to ensure everything was okay. And finally it was ordering time. As soon as we began to select, we were informed that many items on the menu were no longer available. not just for today, but permanently. It kind of made me wonder why a newer restaurant was changing out what seemed as 10 percent of the menu so soon. I think once again, "conflicted".
Fresh Island Poke, Market Price. I did not sample this animal, not my thing, but my friends said it was decent enough to justify itself. Having skilled kitchen friends is a benefit, as they pointed out that it indeed took a bit of skill to cut the poke and keep the consistency as they did, so props there.
Asian Style Fried Pork Dumplings Served with Siracha Aioli and Unagi Kabayaki Sauce, $8.50. Beautifully presented, if only the delivery was as pretty. I thought the dumpling wrappers were a bit on the thick side, for my taste, but yes-it had heft. At times I felt like I was biting into deep fried flour tortilla and the thickness insulated the heat, making making the first bite a bit of an adventure on the temperature side. Cut and wait was needed which is okay, but a more substantial dipping sauce to cool the physical temp might have been more appreciated than the fancy presentation.
Lemon & Thyme Roasted Chicken: Half-Roaster Chicken Marinated then Slow roasted to perfection. Served with Warm Cheesy Bread Pudding and Spiced apricot Chutney. $15.25
Sorry for the blurry picture on this one. Not sure why my camera did that to me. Perhaps since it was across the the table my zoom affected quality. Anyway, the chicken was delish, though as it went on it became apparent that it was slightly overcooked. The last few bites were on the tough side. The apricot Chutney was a garnish on top, but very tasty. I think that showed some promise, though I think it needed a bit more "spice" as it felt marmalade-y. Still it was delicate enough to allow the flavor in the chicken to come out. I thought it was a wonderful menu item, defintely something that I might try again to see if the toughness issue gets worked out.
I must point out that the steamed veggies were cooked to perfection. Just enough snap, warm, lightly salted, soft where it needed to be. Nothing to complain about there. Somewhat relieved.
Now, the cheesy bread pudding sounded absolutely fab on paper, but fell short in the mouth. One would expect a bit more cheese to accompany it. As it was, cheese croutons, not much accessory flavor, no "pop". If I was doing this myself, I might try a stronger flavored cheese as a drizzle sauce on top, something that has a bit of staying power with each bite. As it was, you could have put Mac and Cheese from the box out there and I might have enjoyed it better. Good idea, needs fine tuning just a tad.
12 oz Bleu Cheese Crusted Rib Eye Grilled and Crusted to Perfection. Served with Baked Potato Fries and Sauteed Vegetables smothered in a peppercorn @ horse Radish Pan Gravy. $19.95
Ordered medium, it was grilled to perfection. However if you look at the picture closely, it was hardly Blue Cheese Crusted. More like Blue Cheese topped. More like a paste, very little effort seemed to be taken in crusting the steak. So right off the get-go I was a bit disappointed. However the pan gravy delivered. Allowing myself a little bit of creative construction I was able to self-top each bite with blue cheese and the combination was excellent. The cut of beef was good, but not quite top grade. no matter, when you grill a steak right, even a marginal cut can taste better. On a personal note, if the blue cheese was not on the bite, it lacked a tad bit of salt, which showed me that there was a bit of thought put into the dish. The saltiness of the blue cheese mixed with a saltier brine marinade might have left my tongue drooling for water. But that's a personal observation. I tend to enjoy less saltier dishes anyway. Still, fabulous though, I felt it could have improved.
General Notes: The wait staff tried really hard, but inexperience and a bit of focus-lacking seemed the mood. The front of the establishment screamed "were better than everyone else." The Menu Screamed "were better than all the other places around us." The Decor screamed "were nicer, cleaner, and prettier than all those around us." But the service was still trying to get there.
I wasn't disapointed in the meal so much as I came in expecting more. Its kind of like the movie "the American President." At one point, a character said "Washington DC is the single greatest home court advantage on the planet." He was saying how everything was built up to give U.S. Politicians a psychological advantage. In this establishment, the expectations that they portend might have tainted my image of the establishment. Presentation, expectation of service, new, fresh, fancy menu, higher than average prices seen in the area. All of this led me to expect a full on fine dining experience, and it it fell a tad short of that, but still outclassed many restaurants in the area.
I think as the staff settles in, and the establishment finds its way, things will get better. So for now, they get my stamp of approval.
Ambiance: Nice, quiet, conversation capable. Needs: a bit more warmth. It felt Boxy.
Service: Technically adequate, but unrefined. Needs: to find out what level of service they want to give. The Menu and decor command "tablecloth" service. But it was more "down home diner" in execution. Which was fine, don't get me wrong. The level didn't match the expectation.
Food: I am going to reserve judgment on this one. Presentation was fantastic, certainly important date capable, but if the goal is the "quality of the meals" not the "act of dining", some refined pallets might find fault. Regardless of my above review, my pallet is more simple than my friends dining with me, and I was okay with it. But I definitely would want to sample other items on the menu to get a better feel for the place.
Cost: Adequate for what you get. I didn't see anything too out of whack on the menu price wise. Though I will point out that the menu implies a lot more than the cost. so for that, I can see where someone would call this a value location.
bottom line:
Check it out for yourself. Don't be afraid to take it for a spin. Its not terribly expensive, nor is there much in its class around the area. I want this place to succeed terribly as this side of the island is lacking in variety for strong date-capable establishments. To that end, I will actually bring a date for lunch sometime in the near future. Don't expect much pictures on that one :).
