Thanks to COVID, I haven’t been on a plane since November 2019. So when my son Reid asked me to come to Oahu for a late Mother’s Day dinner, I wasn’t sure if I should go because the numbers are moving up again and I noticed people are done with masks and are just not wearing them. They are not even required to wear them on the plane, but I wore a double mask, just in case, although the plane’s air circulation system is one of the safest.
Reid had made reservations at MW Restaurant at their new location at 888 Kapiolani Boulevard, on the second floor, at The Velocity Honolulu building, across the street from the Neal Blaisdell Center. If you are shopping for a Mercedes Benz, Bentley or Maserati luxury car, you have come to the right place as the restaurant with all these dealerships is located in this building.
We started with an amuse bouche of chilled potato leek soup, then had unagi butterfish arancini over a bed of nori tsukudani and very thinly shaved katsuobushi and short rib wonton with kabayaki sauce. The waiter joked that the katsuobushi was alive as it quivered with the heat of the arancini. If there was one dish that stood out to me, the arancini was it. The flavors of the unagi and butterfish, which were quite subtle, matched so well with the nori tsukudani!
The Caesar salad with a garlic anchovy dressing was topped with crispy chirimen, or fried baby sardines.
Chef Wade’s signature dish is the mochi crusted Kona Kampachi on a bed of somen noodles, housemade banchan, and soy yuzu kosho vinaigrette but I had that dish at their other location, so I wanted to try something different.
We ordered the steamed monchong, Chinese style with ginger, green onions, sizzling peanut oil, choy sum and baby bok choy and the seafood bouillabaisse. The steamed monchong’s sauce was so delectable that if I could, I would have drank it from the bowl or licked the bowl up, at least!
I have been to Marseilles, France, where bouillabaisse was created and the memory of the flavors in the rich broth are still in my mind so it is fairly unfair of my standard of what the broth should taste like. The rich, umami flavors of stock that have been on the stove for hours; perhaps some lobsters, fish bones, possibly sea urchin, will probably never leave my taste bud memories.
MW’s bouillabaisse had Kauai shrimp, Bristol Bay scallop, clams, saffron and tomatoes in a seafood broth and served with toasted baguette.
When you go to MW Restaurant, you must always leave room for dessert as this is what Michelle does so well! The waiter said whenever it is mango season, the Makaha mango shaved ice is a must! She shaves frozen mango so it uses no syrup, and layers it with kaffir lemongrass panna cotta, haupia tapioca, mango sorbet for a most wonderful dessert.
The brulee is a dessert layered with lilikoi sorbet, a lilikoi square, which she calls “gummies,” haupia tapioca, tropical fruits, topped with a brulee custard.
The mud pie is made with Hibiki Japanese whiskey ice cream, Will and Grace coffee ice cream with chocolate ganache poured over it to look like a chocolate dome.
The MW candy bar is made with peanut butter crunch, Hawaiian sea salt, macadamia cut caramel, Valrhona chocolate ganache and served with sesame ice cream.
The banana cream pie is butterscotch custard, KoHana oak barrel aged honey lattice, caramelized bananas, served with KoHana rum ice cream.
With the absence of chefs Alan Wong and Mavro, I would say that MW Restaurant rates as one of the top restaurants on Oahu.
On the first floor of the same building is Artizen, also owned by Michelle and Wade Ueoka. It is casual style dining and open from 10:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday with brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. with dinner service from 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
Not only do they have an interesting menu, but they also have frozen meals called “Save it for Later” like 32-ounce homestyle hamburger curry for $16 or 32 ounces of oxtail soup with pork belly, corned beef and peanuts for $22, and even a gourmet meal for the four-legged pets, called Echigo, who is Michelle and Wade’s chihuahua Pomeranian.
Foodie bites
Wade and Michelle Karr-Ueoka are the executive chefs for Hawaiian Airlines and have a very impressive resume. After graduating from KCC’s Culinary program, Wade worked at Alan Wong’s Restaurant, French Laundry in Napa Valley, and Alex in Las Vegas.
Chef Michelle Karr-Ueoka attended the Culinary Institute at Hyde Park, worked at Daniel and Per Se in New York, and the French Laundry in Napa Valley.
Michelle and Wade opened MW in 2013 and were nominated by the James Beard Foundation in the category of Best New Restaurant in 2014.
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.
