Lunch @ Mariposa

Whenever Ms S has an errand at Ala Moana Center, we also try to squeeze in lunch - if we're craving libations then we'll stop by Habitant in Nordstrom, if food is the drive then we'll stop by Mariposa in Neiman Marcus. However, since the pandemic, Mariposa was one of the last restaurants to restart dining in so it's almost necessary to have a reservation. So on this visit, we decided on Habitant... Oh boy! Every table taken and just one bar seat left. So I thought about just doing take-out from the food court but Ms S first wanted to see if there were any tables at Mariposa - I thought "yah right"... No immediate tables but if we could wait 5 minutes, we would be seated. Okay!

Of course, a round of cocktails are in order with the Afternoon Sunset with Aperol, watermelon, sparkling wine and sparkling Sicilian lemonade for Ms S...

And a Cucumber Gimlet for me with Empress 1908 gin, Tyku cucumber sake, St Germain and lime - both libations were refreshing but I gave the nod to my Cucumber Gimlet...

As usual, Mariposa starts you off with a demitasse of Chicken Consomme...

And their Popovers with Guava butter...

And we always order their Hurricane Fries which includes ketchup (for Ms S) and aioli (for me)...

We both selected from the specials with Ms S sampling the Crab Pasta with a nice portion of lumb crab meat...

While I had the Duck Leg which was fork tender over sliced fingerling potatoes...

But the piece-de-resistence was the Coconut Cake for dessert - I've had many variations including Halekulani's version but I think this was the best rendition to date...

We'll still try to get an occasional meal at Mariposa as long as the wait is reasonable...