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3660 on the Rise, Aloha Tony's Look
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Aloha Tony is a part-time guest blogger and fellow foodie who is one of the top Real Estate Professionals on the island - for all your RE needs, check out his excellent site and blogsite at www.alohatony.com - whether you're looking for a home, just inquiring, or wanting to educate yourself, contact Tony personally for all your RE needs!
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2/9/10 - Last month’s Honolulu Magazine revealed that 3660 On The Rise is one of Hawaii’s best restaurants, so I made it my mission to head there before too long. And since my daughter goes to school with the Chef’s daughter, we were anxious to pay him a visit and try out his critically acclaimed menu. That’s Lydell there, a friendly guy with local culinary training from KCC. He was recruited out of the school to work at 3660, so I guess you could say he is a prodigy!
You could drive down Waialae Ave for 10 yrs and never notice that the restaurant is right there on the East corner of Wilhelmina Rise. I know that’s true because I only noticed it last year, and Lydell said it’s been there for 17 years!
Once you enter, it’s easy to see that it’s a upscale establishment, if for no other reason than that it’s always packed full of successful looking people, mostly an older crowd.
The menu at 3660 On the Rise isn’t all that large, which is actually kind of refreshing. I’m getting a little tired of menus that take an hour to read through. Still, there were plenty of tasty looking choices, from seafood to steak to greens and desserts.
While you’re deciding, the server will bring you this great basket of taro rolls. My wife doesn’t usually like taro rolls (I do) but this time she was really impressed and even asked for seconds. It’s a little crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with that unmistakable purple tint that only taro can add. Pad on a little butter, and you’re off to a great start.
We were treated to this great little starter, a plate of short ribs and shiitake mushrooms that was not on the menu.
Plump and juicy, full flavored and rich, you might have trouble eating more than a few bites of this, but it’s brilliant. Buttery just from the fat and meat itself, then the mushrooms give a nice firmness and add the distinct shiitake flavor.
The wine list is nearly twice the size of the menu, with several bottle priced as high as $120. We went for a middle of the road Shiraz for $44. It was so unique, a taste that none of us could place. We tried a few sips several times to try and figure it out, but by the time you’ve had an entire glass, it’s hard to taste anything other than the grapes. Suffice to say it was a great red wine which we all enjoyed.
Our first appetizer was the “3660 Sampler Platter.” With crispy garlic scallion shrimp, honey chili aioli, fried calamari, toasted garlic roasted tomato dip, short rib and foie gras tortellini, , shichimi seared ahi, and Asian slaw. We opted against the foie gras for moral reasons and asked for extra shrimp, was turned out to be a great call, as the shrimp were the highlight of this plate.
In the picture it’s hard to see the ahi under the sauce, but believe me it’s there and it’s great. The calarmari was nice and tender, as good calamari always is. Fresh equals tender when it comes to squid. If you find yourself eating chewy squid, it’s probably been sitting around too long.
Once that giant plate was done, we enjoyed the Ahi poke (again, an off menu item) with onion and seaweed. The generous cuts of Ahi were quite tender, and the sauce was light enough to not overwhelm the fish. The trick with Poke is to make it flavorful but to not over sauce it so that all you taste is shoyu. This was a perfect blend, and for only $10, it was a steal!
Our main course was this mouth watering (quite literally) New York Steak Alaea, cut pupu style since we were sharing. Pan seared with garlic, Hawaiian salt, butter, and crisp onions on top. It also happened to come with some sushi rice rolls, which didn’t seem to fit the steak very well for my taste. They were fine, but didn’t seem to complement the steak very well. A near miss I think, and my only complaint of the evening.
But let me say that the steak was excellent! Cooked to a perfect pink inside, and as juicy as steak can ever be. There just isn’t anything like a well prepared steak, and this one didn’t disappoint. Take a bite and it fills your mouth with flavor and juices that can’t be compared to anything else. Succulent, full of pleasure, the kind of steak that make you close your eyes and drift off for a moment to experience it without interruption.
We finished with the crème brulee, which I must admit, I was too full to eat. My wife was glad to help, especially since it had some chocolate in it. Just a perfect ending to a fantastic meal.
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