Town

«You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients» — Julia Child. Printed on the top of the menu and clearly their philosophy on food and cooking, Town proved that it serves the freshest ingredients in all of its creative dishes.
I dined at this cute eatery in Kaimuki for the very first time last Friday. We arrived at about 8pm with no reservations. The restaurant was busy but we were lucky to be seated right away. The host/​manager (?) took a minute to thoroughly explain the menu, which I greatly appreciated. There was a tasting menu for $ 65, an extra $ 20 with drinks. We quickly found many dishes that we liked, so we asked our waitress for suggestions and ordered based on that.
We ordered:
**Ahi Tartare — Served on risotto cakes with balsamic vinegar ($ 15). Our waitress said this was her favorite appetizer. The portions were small: 3 pieces, but it was very tasty and different. My boyfriend raved about it. It was just good to me.
**Salad — Avocado, roasted mushrooms, baby carrots, mizuna, pecans, buttermilk ($ 10). Loved this salad! Everything mixed together with fresh greens was simply delicious. The pecans were the best ingredient.
**Gnocchi — With sunchokes and capers in a lemon/​butter sauce ($ 17.50). This came highly recommended and it didn’t disappoint. We are not big gnocchi fans but we enjoyed this dish. The sauce was to-​die-​for! I had no idea what a sunchoke was but it reminded me of potato. Paired with the gnocchi, it was a very filling and «starchy» dish. But it is definitely a «must-​try» entrée.
**Monchong — Fish with local veggies, limu, with meyer lemon ($ 25). Definitely one of our favorites as we are fish lovers. The flavor was light with just the right combination of ingredients. Delicious!
**Sides — Baby Corn with paprika butter ($ 8). Our waitress said this was a new item. Cute, sweet and very easy to eat. I’m glad we ordered this side dish.
All our dishes were beautifully presented. We thought the prices were good for the food we received, and we liked the casual vibe of the restaurant. Our service was excellent. The kitchen was a little busy so our dishes did take some time but it was to be expected on a Friday night.
The only negative was the noise level. At times, it was so loud! I felt like I was sitting in front of the speaker at a rock concert. I could barely hear the conversation at our table. I dealt with it and maybe wouldn’t be so bothered had I’d been sipping on an adult beverage. Oh well, no biggie. Just a little annoying. There were tables outside that could’ve been an option had the noise level been too much.
An overall great dining experience. We loved the farm-​to-​table concept. Fresh and local are the best! As it says on the bottom of the menu: «Local first, organic whenever possible, with Aloha always…» Thumbs up Town!

Food is very good but the drinks are incredible! I have been coming to Honolulu for nine years and since Town opened it is a must go place when I come. They use fresh local ingredients for their meals. Their menu is not always the same and offers of variety of fish, meat, and vegetable items. They are famous for their Gnocchi and I am told it is very good but I like protein so I have never tried it. I usually get the Mussels appetizer which is very good. The mussels are always firm and supple. Last night I had the Monk Fish which is a thick cut piece of fish on a bed of vegetables. Monk Fish is a very subtle fish that even people who don’t like «fishy» fish would like. The more fishy the better for me. So the food is good but the drinks are ridiculous. The bartender is an award winning mixologist I am told and it shows. They will present you with a mixed drink list and wine list. I like wine but have never bothered because the mixed drinks are so good. Last night I had a drink with egg white in it that was like drinking silk. It was so smooth. I could have had 5. Mixed drinks are $ 10 which isn’t bad. You can get beer for $ 7 or $ 8. Not sure about wine since I never look at the menu. I would suggest sitting at the bar. You can meet people and see the mixing show. The bar and outside seating is first come first serve. I would suggest reservations unless you are going when it opens because there aren’t that many tables.

Just ate here tonight after reading and hearing so much about it. First of all the gnocchi was incredible the best I’ve ever had so soft absorbing all the flavors and sauce with the most magical potatoes. The pa’i’ai was like nothing I have ever tasted it was grilled with olive oil served with a very simple refreshing salad that didn’t overpower it’s taste. There was a little mixup with the chicken which was under cooked but shit happens and it’s about how the staff handles tiny mishaps like that that make the biggest difference. First of all the general manager was more than a gentleman he was empathetic, kind, and compassionate. Not only did he take the chicken back and cook it properly but in the meantime he threw in a salad to keep our taste buds happy and he comped two desserts! In addition he was overly apologetic and removed the chicken from the bill. I’m going to be honest the chicken wasn’t that great, and neither was our waitress. She was inattentive and spacey and could care less about us until the manager stepped in. But still, he saved the day and for the most part da food was ono!

This restaurant deserves a better rating, but I need to get someone’s attention. The food rates four stars, at least. The menu is interesting, and the food is prepared well. The portions are a bit on the small side, but that’s not a biggie to me. However, the noise level is oppressive. I got a headache just sitting there. There’s nothing but hard surfaces in this small room, and the tables are placed close together. I didn’t realize that here was background music until about twenty minutes after we were seated. After we finished eating, we left without considering dessert because we just wanted to escape.
Is this by design, to attract a different kind of clientele? If so, it’s not for us.

Love this place. Dog friendly with a great selection of beer, wine, and spirits. OH!!! And amazingly good food from chef Ed Kenney.

Great concept… Friendly people & cool atmosphere. The menu is well thought out but it’s always a miss for me when they execute. Each dish we ordered had something that wasn’t quite pleasant… For example we ordered the gnocchi with kombucha– the butter sauce was excellent however the texture of the pumpkin was not smooth and creamy… It was grainy and unpleasant to eat. We also ordered the risotto– it’s always a treat to see a risotto on any menu here on the islands so I ALWAYS order it– it was just ok for me, the cabbage in the risotto seemed like an after thought– cabbage is something you throw into a dish like this because it’s going bad and you don’t want to waste it. We also ordered the Mahi which was cooked perfectly– but the array of vegetables that accompanied the fish was not tasty, flavorful or pretty. Their flavor profiles didn’t compliment the fish or each other and they’re weren’t cooked very well.
Also they had a terrible burning streak– our fries… Brunt. My cappuccino was unbearably burnt– the foam was the only consumable part of it. And because we’re suckers for punishment we tried their dessert–
The banana cream pie although had a tasty filling had a crust that was so dry and over done that it flew across the table trying to cut through it.
This is the 3^rd chance we’ve given this place with the same end result– so we can’t blame anyone but ourselves lol.

Looking for a place to eat with SLOW Service and COLD food?
I came here for a lunch meeting with a few of my colleagues. The start of my experience was fine. We were seated right away, got our waters quickly, and got our orders in shortly after, and then for the rest of the time we had no contact from our server. The restaurant was half full, comprising of about 20 people, and by far we were the biggest group, but our server barely if ever check on us. To point out, there was only ONE server who did the hosting, serving, and runner for the kitchen, which I thought was poor scheduling. But let’s not start on the CON list until we get to the PRO first.
PRO:
1. Quick seating
2. … Need to get back to this
CON:
1. Lack of service: Waited an hour to get waters re-​filled and longer to get our foods. Did I mention salad was ordered? Yeah that took an hour + too.
2. Cold food: We order burgers we assumed would be hot and tempered as ordered, but we were so dead wrong. All burgers came out hard, cold, salty, and wrong tempered. I asked for medium well, I got overly well done that was rock hard. Had to drown it in ketchup to chew! We wanted to send our food back, but who knows when we’d eat! We were at a lunch meeting and had to get back to the office, so we suffered through… Oh and the salads, were underwhelming.
3. Poor management: not sure why there was only ONE server when it seems obvious there needs to be more. Also, how many cooks were in the kitchen? How long does it take to cook a patty? I grill when I BBQ and it doesn’t make more than 10 min to get a burger together, even less for a salad. I can understand the hour long wait if they went to catch the cow for fresh meat, but I highly doubt that’s the case.
THE AFTERMATH:
After the horribleness of the overall experience we complained and the gen manager comp our meal and offered us dessert as an apology. We got our waters refilled and had the attentiveness a restaurant usually gives their customers. I do greatly appreciate the kind gesture, but I am still very disappointed by this place. This was my 4^th time and I never had this bad of a time before. It may be a LONNGGG time before I come back, if ever. I gave ONE STAR, bc one I have to and two, the gen manager trying to make up for the poor overall experience.

First time there, food was good, service was good, seating was quick.
Average price was about 20 – 23 bucks.
Recommend!

We went here for my birthday. The food was excellent, so tasty and it came out very fast. We order the tomato soup and the beet salad as appetizers which of course came with a complimentary bread basket with butter and olive oil.
For our main courses we order the gnocchi and the seared Ahi plate. The Ahi was seared to perfection and basically melted in my mouth. The gnocchi was really tasty and filling as well. We will go back again someday.

I thought this place was overall okay. It wasn’t amazing by any means but it was bad either. It was just okay. The menu itself had an array of different things and if im not mistaken I think they change it quite often.
We had a few appetizers a couple drinks, our main courses, and a dessert or two. A bit pricier than other similar spots in the area (Im assuming because of the menu items) but not overpriced. The food was just okay nothing really blew me away but there wasn’t anything that I did not like.
Im going to give this place another try in the near future and maybe itll change my mind

We had friends who flew in from the mainland and wanted to give this place a try. I hadn’t been here, but decided «why not?» The reviews were mixed, and they wanted someplace they could set up last minute reservations. Points for easy reservations!
It isn’t hard to locate although parking was a little cramped in their back lot. Not a big deal, but a lot of people were hanging out in the lot and double parked so maybe try to find some street parking instead.
First impressions: they have a strange combination of decorations but the ambiance is nice. It wasn’t too loud, and they had both indoor and outdoor seating. We sat inside, and had drinks brought to us promptly. Our server was friendly and answered questions easily. She also gave us ample time to decide, so points for that!
Food took a really long time to come, so at least the bread and focaccia on the table held us over. I ordered the rabbit ragu while my boyfriend had the steak. My rabbit ragu was decent, but the pasta was extremely overdone and came out mushy. No big deal, it was still okay. My boyfriend’s steak was supposed to be med. rare, and came at less than rare (it was bleeding way too much). Sent it back, got another, still a little rarer than he liked, but he was willing to eat it.
The problem was: you could distinctly taste that it had been cooked right next to some mahi mahi (which my friend ordered). The fishy taste was extremely strong and since the boyfriend is allergic it became a concern to me. I brought it up with the server who told me the distinct mahi mahi taste was roquefort butter and waved me off (yes she literally waved me off with a ‘whatever’). No. I think not. The last time I had steak with roquefort butter it did NOT taste like fish! I was ready to point it out to her but the boyfriend just shook his head so I let it go. Minus points for that (and yes, he ended up with a small reaction and noticed the taste was only on half of the steak). Also minus points for the toughness of the steak. I do not think it was the cut they said it was…
The fries are delicious though. Get the fries!
Dessert: we all shared the banana bread pudding. It comes smothered in chocolate and with a scoop of caramel gelato. The boyfriend got gelato on the side; vanilla. It came in a little mason jar and was too cute. Loved it! The banana pudding came warm and contrasted the gelato nicely. It’s a kind of rich dessert but it was DELICIOUS. Definitely a sharing dessert though! This is the only reason this is a 2 star rating instead of a 1.
Overall: server was friendly but completely unconcerned with my boyfriend’s food allergies which made me upset and negated her friendliness. The food that we had wasn’t worth the time we waited or the money we paid, except the fries, dessert, and maybe the table bread which I did enjoy.
We probably won’t be back if it’s our decision.

I still don’t get it. I first went to Town years ago. In my group of 4, we ordered 2 appetizers, 4 entrees, and desserts. Nothing was terrible, but nothing, and I mean nothing, was great either.
On a recent visit, I once again tried several different dishes, and once again, I left decidedly underwhelmed. The highlight of the meal was my first course, the Ma’o salad. It was a good, well-​dressed salad, but I mean, it was a salad!
I would have considered trying the gnocchi again, but since they serve a very limited number (12) of these each night, someone else on our table got the last one. I opted for the risotto, which was decent.
Service is pleasant but SLOW. For the money, I’d rather go elsewhere (like up the street to Twelfth Avenue Grill). Overall? I’d say meh.

Let me start by stating I wish Unilocal allowed half star ratings — for I would give Town a solid 3.5 stars. Now with that out of the way — on to the review.
Hawaii is quickly becoming a foodie destination and Town has helped to lead the way! Town has been around for 10 years — which is a big feat for any restaurant, especially one in a tourist town like Honolulu. That was a big draw for me to want to go — and one of the reasons I didn’t rate it higher.
Although the menu sticks to its locavore (farm to table) roots — the overall plating and food presentation could use some attention from the kitchen. I think the lack of focus on the table presentation is a function of its ten year tenure.
Here’s an example of what I mean — My pork chop was overall tasty and had a nice brine-​infused flavor — it was, however, dry and came to the table plated with a vegetable and starch side and looked like something you’d get at a truck stop diner. My table mates were a bit more adventurous and got the gnocchi and the lobster soup. Again, the flavors were really nice but the presentation lacked.
One thing that stood out for us was the service. Our server was super kind and very friendly. She was just getting accustom to the nights menu when we arrived (we dined early at 6) and she was digging along with us.
Equally kind and deserving of accolades was then host. She was awesome and made our night helping to get us a larger table with a bench seat for our daughter to sleep.
All and all — I’d say Town is a solid place that deserve a visit. The best part of Town for me is the staff — they’re awesome!

This was my first time eating at Town and I had a great experience! It was a bit crowded when we got there for dinner, but I was excited to try their set menu of small portions and we also did that with the wine pairings. Each portion was small but packed with flavor! They picked the favorites from their menu and paired these small portions with wines to compliment.
Our server was very friendly and I appreciated her description of a white wine being «very light and bright». I could tell that Town really cares about using organic, local ingredients and they pay attention to all the details that go into a dish like taste and textures. The only downside was that the different dishes came out a little slowly so for the last couple of courses, I was taking only a bite or two and having her put the rest in a to go box for me. But on a positive note, I got to eat good food the next day for lunch! Town has great tasting food in a cool, hipster atmosphere. Check it out!

Love the concept of this place! Our waiter was awesome, knew the menu and how to steer us in the right direction.
I feel like eating here is kinda like a Top Chef episode. You have random ingredients and they are challenged to make something creative, impressive, and delicious. I recommend ordering things to share so you can experience a variety of tastes. Luckily my lunch date was of the same mind.
We shared some appetizers that included ingredients like beef heart, pa’i’ai, limu, okra, eggplant, tomatoes… just to name a few! Things I would never imagine to put together on a plate, but surprisingly they all seemed to work together. The fresh hand cut pasta was delicious, and had a nice kick of spice to it. We shared a delicious chocolate pretzel tart for dessert: decadent, rich without being overly sweet, and we nearly licked the plate clean.
I hear the menu changes often, so I’m not sure if what we had will necessarily be available the next time I return but if you’re bored with most of the food scene or wanting to stimulate yourself I recommend a visit.

Sorry, Town, you lost a star.
There are some really good things about Town. But there are also some bad and I feel at this point the bad are getting worse.
We spent our anniversary at Town because we wanted a nice place with good ambiance and good quality dishes.
The waitress was great. She was busy as heck, but did a great job in visiting the table just enough to make sure we had everything we needed and that all was to our liking.
BUT…the bar was exceedingly slow. We ordered two cocktails to start and it took 15 minutes to get them. What the??? You cannot be THAT busy. I’ve bartended in NYC and no two drinks take that long no matter how busy your bar. And I could see the bar, they weren’t that busy.
We ordered the bruschetta and dandelion greens for appetizers. The bruschetta was ok but the greens were the cause of some pretty big laughs. The flavor was good but you needed to chew each bite for about 5 minutes before sending it down. They were stringy and probably should have been chopped.
As for the main dishes, I got the gnocchi and husband got the risotto. The gnocchi were good but very salty and the risotto was poorly done. It was soupy, and in fact came in a soup bowl which is simply not how it is supposed to be. Alessandro is an expert risotto chef so he was disappointed. I should point out that we know that risotto is hard to make in a restaurant setting because it just takes so long to make, but the flavors were also a little too untraditional for our taste. When it arrived at the table it looked like a bowl of cream of wheat.
We moved to dessert and coffee. The coffee appeared to be from an espresso machine and was watery (a good pot of coffee is not hard to make, people) and the pretzel tart, while tasty, was so hard we could not get a fork through it. Seriously, we were stabbing at it and the dang thing would not break! Ultimately, we took huge bites because small ones were impossible. This too, was laughable, but not in a good way.
At the very least, a place like this should be able to make a good pot of coffee. Big disappointment and I think that is the last time we will go to Town.

Just Wonderful!
FOOD:
I think the food is consistently fantastic. I appreciate that they strive to bring local ingredients into the restaurant, and they prepare the food wonderfully. I
SERVICE:
I have always found the service to be great. It’s best to make a reservation, but even on nights where we’ve just stopped by the staff has tried very hard to accommodate us.
One night a group of us come later in the evening for cocktails and apps, and they were just as kind and attentive as if we were ordering a full meal. That’s excellent service.
PRICE:
A little pricy, but I think the food is worth it.

I liked the hip design of the place, the patio and especially the service. However, there do come up short on overall delivery. First, my beer came out warm (their cooler was acting up, but I shouldn’t have to ask to put it on ice). We had a martini, and while good, it tasted watered down – the result of warm vodka in a warm shaker, I’d guess). They were out of several of the items or ingredients we tried to order, and we felt bad for the waitress who kept having to bring us bad news.
I will say we loved the side salads. The beet and burrata salad was excellent and well-​priced, and so was the avocado with pineapple salad (supposed to be avo/​mango, but they ran out of mango – because so few of those in HI). The bruschetta was good and risotto decent, but not memorable. If they can work out a few kinks at Town, I’d probably really like it. But other local places are doing similar things better.

My boss treated me a lunch today. Town restaurant is opposite to my office so we didn’t hv to go far in heavy rain and flooding today.
I ordered their hand-​cut pasta. The portion was really really small. It’s like a snack size. I couldn’t get full from that… Other than that, the pasta tasted really good. Rich in flavor and and perfect match with the roasted egg plant.
The restaurant was really busy and the service there was slow, we waited for 15 minutes to get water from them and another 20 minutes for food.
I think I would come back here to try their burger and fries, I heard they are very good!

Nominated for a prestigious James Beard Award, 2014 Best Chef: West, I placed Town on my «must try» list. The food was «meh. I’ve experience better,’ definitely not worthy of a James Beard Award nomination.
Service was decent, our waitress, while attentive, was tending to too many tables at once. To no fault of her own, I felt lost in her circus juggling act. The amount of time that lapsed from placing to receiving our initial drink order (beer and wine) kept us from ordering a second round.
While the fresh pasta was rolled and cooked perfectly, the quantity did not match the price ($ 19), as the ‘Bolognese’ was sparse, very… very…sparse.
The Aku tartare ($ 15) was served on crispy polenta. While crispy (polenta) and flavorful (tartare), the polenta was slightly larger than a half dollar and the tartare must have been measured using a melon baller.
The polenta bowl, or was it Bowl ‘o Polenta, was hardly memorable. Bland and uninteresting are better adjectives to describe this lackluster dish. The addition of mushrooms, hamakua are local, would have elevated this dish.
Black Mussels. Absolutely delicious. Fresh, juicy, succulent, with an absolutely delicious broth made the mussels the dish of the night. If the order came with twice as many mussels as it did they would have been even better. I gave serious consideration placing another order.
The kitchen seem disorganized. Our initial order of mussels and polenta were delivered together and we decided to order two more appetizers and an entrée, to share. This is where kitchen dysfunction reigned supreme. The remainder of the order — tartare, pasta, and charcuterie board — came out in that order, each ten minutes after the previous. Who eats a charcuterie board after their entrée? Bueller? Bueller?
As a James Beard Award nominee my expectations for Town were lofty, and the restaurant missed the mark. At least it’s pet friendly, as long as you don’t mind being crammed between other tables.