I was pretty excited to try MW Restaurant as they have some excellent specials/deals if you come during lunch or later on in the afternoon. Famous as the two owners, Michelle and Wade Ueoka, worked at Alan Wong’s for over two decades! It’s not advertised on their website but they even have a three course lunch special ($25.00). I wanted to try their $5.00 small plate specials because how can you say no to that? Ah, to be a senior citizen when you can dine on a weekday between 2 to 5pm. Goals.
My sis couldn’t order from the Happy Hour menu as almost all of the dishes had gluten or was deep fried, so she went with the $25.00 lunch deal. I, on the other hand, stuck with the $5 small plates but should have ordered a mixture of items. I didn’t realize that everything was deep fried and heavy. It would have been okay if we shared but I was all on my own to eat my portion. Would have appreciated our waiter pointing that out, oh well, lesson learned for next time.
We came on a Wednesday afternoon and place was pretty empty. I’m sure it’s packed after work and during the evenings. Inside is very classy and modern. Cool that you can see inside the kitchen – pretty insane how many people they had working. There must have been a dozen and that was just kitchen crew. FYI, inside is weirdly cold so bring a sweater or scarf if you get cold easily.
Tahitian lemonade
Vanilla infused bourbon, simple syrup, lemon juice and soda. This one packed a punch on first sip.
“Spam musubi”
Mochi crusted smoked-pork-arabiki-meatloaf and quail egg. This was the best/classiest spam musubi I’ve ever had! It was incredibly delectable. If someone cooked me eggs like these ones, I’d be an egg lover converter. The combined mixture of meats was delicious and the mochi trust was icing on the cake – the perfect crunch, crispy texture. This one was my favourite hands down.
Ahi poke
The ahi poke was good but Ono Seafood can’t be beat in my books. This one I would say was aiming to be “high end”. They had these crispy rice cracker balls that gave it a nice contrasting texture to the poke.
Ahi poke mandoo
Hamakua eryngi mushrooms and garlic soy. These were decent but I’m not the biggest fan of deep fried mandoo. I’d skip it and try something else instead.
Unagi and butterfish arancini
Nori tsukudani and kabayaki mustard. You get 7 arancini’s, which is absurdly good value for $5. Just thinking back home where you get 3 for more than double that price. These were nice
3 Course Lunch ($25.00)
Trio sampler
Ahi cracker, lobster bisque and greek salad. Presentation was beautiful and a nice way to start my sis’s meal off. I ate two thirds of it though, haha.
Mochi crusted monchong-sickle pomfret
Somen noodles, assorted Condiments in a yuzu koshu soy vinaigrette. I had a bite of my sis’s fish and it was perfectly cooked. Super flavourful. It had the same mochi crust as my spam musubi – winner winner.
Kula strawberry “shave ice”
Haupia tapioca, strawberry lanten, mochi Ice Cream, strawberry-yuzu sorbet and shaved “hibiscus strawberry”. This dessert was BONKERS. The best shaved ice we’ve both ever had. This ain’t nothing like your mom and pop shaved ices you’ll find on the island. This is shaved ice 2.0. Or crack cocaine shave ice. Our spoons couldn’t get to this fast enough. The shaved ice was light and refreshing, the tapioca perfect bite size and best of all, I wasn’t expecting the sorbet hidden right in the middle! They generously switched this in so that my sis could eat dessert too. Great service!
MW’s weekday on-the-go menu sounds delicious. If I lived in the area, I’d be all over that. Seriously, how is it only $10.00!? But you can’t go wrong with any of their menus (seriously, so many options – lunch, dinner, on-to-go, small plates, Afternoon Tea ($35.00 Sunday once a month), 5 course tasting menu ($75.00) and chef tasting menu ($100.00)). Something for everyone. Definitely worth a visit!
MW Restaurant
http://mwrestaurant.com/
1538 Kapiolani Boulevard
Honolulu, HI
(808) 955-6505
CHERRY BOB-OMBS 