| rev:text
| - I rarely find an oxtail dish that I don't like, which leads me to think that when you hear "best oxtail" you are in for a treat. Lets hold our oxes just a minute and discuss the cuisine of these dishes. Jamaican, Vietnamese, Filipino, African, Hawaiian. Not a single one similar to any other. Not a single reviewer even mentions the varieties.
The oxtail served here is a late-night graveyard dish usually on Fridays after 11pm. That is when I came. It makes no mention of style, just accoutrements. When you look at the menu being decidedly Hawaiian you sort of assume that if it's not specific this is the default and it is. Compare it to the curry styles or the African style or Filipino kare kare and this doesn't hold a candle to them. This is not bad, in any way, but it is it's own thing. A latenight broth. It's clean, on the clear side, salted, but not rich in umami which makes me think it's made separate from the likely parboiling of the oxtail. Carrots, celery were floating, but I didn't get the usual mirepoix most beef stocks start with, lacked depth. Sure the cilantro and ginger helped, but they were merely aromatics and not flavor enhancers. The tail chunks were huge, meaty, fall off the bone, no gaminess. It's messy, but to clean them you gotta get in there. Rather than do rice I saw someone order a side of ramen, that would be better if there was more soup, I'll try that next time.
Philippine Breakfast was blah, tocino only, no longanisa, sunny side egg was good, rice was good, but not GFR. No tomatoes or basically anything else. The bacon side was huge, the sausage side was portugese and not Filipino or American, though it was clean profile.
Steak & Eggs were hit and miss, 2 medium rare's and 1 was cooked correctly, the other medium well-well. That got sent back. I understand it's harder with these thin steaks, but we know it can be done. Even the correctly cooked one was a little tough. Eggs were good. Sour dough bread was ok, even better with a heavy spread of butter. Their latenight side offerings are limited and they don't readily substitute/accommodate.
Service is ok, they only serve alcohol from a casino server so that takes time. The service is usually packed at night and they are a little understaffed making refills an issue. Décor is meh, seats are not uncomfortable, smaller party sizes generally get seated faster or try the counter. Lots of people get theirs to go.
It's an ok spot with some good dishes, but certainly not the best Hawaiian food, Oxtail or service around. I'll give them the latenight and large menu, but if your most famous dish is that inconsistent and mediocre I gotta be just real close, late and real hungry. I'd recommend to anyone wanted lots of oxtail meat in a broth, not a stew that isn't Jamaican, African, Filipino or Vietnamese because it's good Hawaiian oxtail, but wouldn't last in richer seas. If you want Hawaiian food and it's before 3pm you are better off going to Aloha Kitchen off Decatur.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)