I’m not sure exactly when it happened, probably sometime
as we approached that 4th decade in life but it started with simple
expressions such as “these kids now days”… or “when I was your age”… That’s
when you realize that you’ve become your parents. Shopping early in the morning
to avoid the crowds. And eating dinner when the sun is still shining. But there
is an advantage to sitting down to an early evening meal, happy hour.
Happy Hour
Since most restaurant staff report to work well before
dinner service begins, a lot of restaurants start their evening service with a
“happy hour” offering reduced priced beverages and food from the early afternoon
until dinner service starts. Sometimes it’s simply to make extra revenue since
most of the staff has already reported to work, sometimes it’s to lessen the
dinner rush as the happy hour crowd had already wined and dined. And for the
T’s, it’s the perfect time to indulge in dinner when we normally would eat
anyway!
The Standby
Though we’ve only been to Moku Kitchen once for dinner,
we’ve been here on several occasions for their Happy Hour which runs from
3:00pm to 5:30pm. During this time, all libations are reduced by $4 and all
aperitifs by $2.50 and any beer normally less than $9 are $2 off while those $9
or more are reduced by $3. Along with their libations, all small plates (except
the poke) is 50% off and all pizza are $10 saving you $5 to $9.
We usually sample several aperitifs like the French 75
(gin, lemon, sugar, Prosecco), the Americano (Cocchi di Torino vermouth,
Campari, soda) or the Aperol Spritz (Aperol, prosecco, soda) all for $6.50 then
I usually move to their craft microbrew beers on tap – they usually serve at
least 30 different microbrews on tap. For munchies, we always order the
Szechuan Stir-Fry Green Beans with Mac Nuts with ginger, chili garlic and
oyster sauce ($5.50 during happy hour) and the Garlic Truffle Oil Fries ($4.25
during happy hour) and since it’s served with both mustard aioli and house made
ketchup, it pleases both of us (the Mrs. loves ketchup, I love any mayonnaise
based sauce). Sometimes we’ll opt for the pot stickers ($6.50 happy hour) or
the deviled eggs ($9 happy hour) but we’ll always order a pizza, usually the
Hamakua Wild Mushroom with white sauce and truffle oil ($19 regular price but
reduced to $10 happy hour). And with the parking structure at Salt, parking is
never an issue and we’re usually leaving just as the younger crowd is starting
dinner.
The Hustle and
Bustle
During our last stay-cation, we actually braved the
hustle-and-bustle that is known as Waikiki specifically to sample a new menu
item that originally was just for their holiday Happy Hour. Located at the top
of International Marketplace, Stripsteak is one of the many restaurants opened
by part-time Hawaii resident and celebrity chef, Michael Mina. Between 4:00pm
and 6:00pm, Stripsteak features several happy hour prices for cocktails, beer
and wine along with a limited food menu. What interested the Mrs. was the $40
12oz New York strip served with their duck fat fried French fries, garlic
spinach and tuna hand roll. Forty dollars? While that might not sound like a
happy hour bargain, it’s the same 12oz New York strip served at dinner for $60
ala carte. Add the tuna hand roll and sides and you have at least $71 of entrée
for $40. Of course, since we “saved” $31 at happy hour, the Mrs. splurged
toping her steak with seared foie gras ($30).
The four cocktails offered at
happy hour were also just $7 – the regular menu prices for cocktails range from
$15 to $19 so I sampled the Le Chiffre with shochu,
lavender and Dolin Blanc while the Mrs. sampled the Gala Brand with Aperol,
passion and Prosecco. Both were very refreshing and paired nicely with the tuna
hand roll and my Negihama hand roll
($4). I also sampled the Truffle Duck Fat Fries ($7), the Loco Moco Sliders
topped with a quail egg and black truffle gravy ($9) and the Baked King Crab
Dip ($14) along with a glass of white wine ($7). If you do want to sample the
Happy Hour at Stripsteak, you probably want to just stick with happy hour
selections as the regular prices of their regular wine by the glass range from
$15 to $35 per glass and specialty beers going for $10 to $35.
A Rediscovery
We previously sampled PAI Honolulu both during a regular
“date night” and at the Chef’s Counter with the usual wine gang. But we never
sampled their Happy Hour which occurs between 5:00pm and 6:30pm that features
several dishes only offered at Happy Hour. Therefore we ordered almost every
selection other than the Nduja Baked Oysters – nduja is a spreadable spicy
salami which would’ve caused copious precipitation from my noggin’ so we
passed. But the Katsu Adobo Headcheese Bao ($4) was very rich and unctuous and
the Furikake Tater Tots ($5) were as
creamy as the best gnocchi (potato dumplings) and the Mrs. still talks about
the Smoked Saba Cabbage Salad ($6) featuring smoky mackerel balanced by crunchy
cabbage and thinly sliced onions with a pleasing ginger vinaigrette. And though
an $18 Creamy Clam Dip doesn’t sound affordable, one person could literally
make a meal of this one selection with the crostini, house made potato chips
and shrimp chips.
And we didn’t miss any of their $8 cocktail specials
including the PAI 55 with gin, St Germain (a litchi flavored aperitif), lemon
and sparkling wine, the Hawaii Five-O with gin, rum and vermouth and the When
Pigs Fly with scotch, Prosecco, Combier (orange liqueur) and lemon and because
all three cocktails had a certain degree of citrus, paired nicely with our
appetizers.
Closer to Home
Featuring a Happy Hour that lasts from 11:00am until
6:00pm and all day long on Mondays and Thursdays, Gyu-Kaku has a regular spot
on our rotation of restaurants. And it’s a very convenient 3 minute drive from
our house. So as you can guess, we either get all of our orders in by 6:00pm or
we visit on a Monday or Thursday. Most of their regular food items are reduced
by $1 to $2 during Happy Hour and though this doesn’t seem like a lot, when you
order 6 to 10 different dishes, the savings can add up. Plus my favorite
beverage at Gyu-Kaku, their nigori or
cloudy sake is reduced from $14 to $10 for a half bottle and the slight
sweetness balances the spicier flavors in some of the dishes. The only downside
is that the one meat dish we always order – the Harami or marinated 21 day aged skirt steak is always $9.75, happy
hour or not but we’re always willing to pay full price for this selection.
And if you have a sweet tooth like the Mrs., desserts are
always full price though I simply select a sweet libation like the Mango Smash
($5 happy hour) with Jim Beam whiskey, mango puree, ginger and lime or the Fuji
San ($5 happy hour) with Jinro
(Korean liquor almost like shochu or awamori), apple schnapps, Amaretto
(almond liqueur) and apple. And since there are six location on Oahu (and over
700 worldwide), there must be a location in your neck of the woods.
Happy Aging
Comments