Harbor Grill - Kawaihae, HI

 

When the Tsunami warnings were issued when we were on the Big Island, it basically screwed up our plans of having breakfast that morning at Harbor Grill in the northwest coastal village of Kawaihae (Ka-WHY-hey), just up the coast from our hotel in the Waikoloa Beach Resort.  Harbor Grill had come as a top recommendation for both breakfast and dinner from Rick, the concierge at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.  Since we couldn't make it for breakfast earlier in the day, we decided to go up for dinner instead that evening.  It was about a 15 minute drive from our hotel to Kawaihae on a beautiful Hawaiian evening.

The Harbor Grill is one of two sister restaurants side-by-side just off the highway coming into Kawaihae (see map).  The more casual Seafood Bar occupies the upper floor above a handful of small businesses just to the south of the Harbor Grill.  The Harbor Grill is the more elegant of the two with a somewhat antique nautical theme to the decor of the restaurant.  The owner of both restaurants - James "Popeye" Brisson - is sort of a local character around Kawaihae.  Brisson and his wife, Carolyn, have collected a number of old nautical artifacts and pictures and have done a wonderful job in incorporating them into a 1930's Hawaiian style building.

It was far from busy that evening at The Harbor Grill, quite possibly from the fall out of the tsunami warning earlier in the day.   The Harbor Grill had a few tables on an outside patio, but it looked more inviting inside.  We were seated at a table back in the corner and given menus to look over.

The chef and manager of the Harbor Grill, Darcy Ambrosia, features a number of fresh seafood dishes along with grass-fed Hawaiian-raised beef.   While the menu isn't extensive, it's interesting with pasta, steaks, ribs and, of course, seafood cooked in many different ways.

Our waiter came out and introduced himself.  I was sort of surprised when he said his name.  I asked again and he said what I thought he said the first time.  His name was "Lurch".  Lurch, like in the Addams Family.  I said, "Really?  Is that a nickname?"

He said, "No sir.  That's my given name."

I said, "Really?"  I didn't mean to be incredulous, but I'd never heard that name given to a person before.  I asked him, "Are you German?"

He said, "Well, I grew up outside of Cincinnati, but it is a German name."

Cindy said, "That's kinda neat!"

Lurch said, "Yeah, well, it's a great conversation starter with the ladies."

Lurch told us that he had been in Hawaii for 13 years.  He said that even though he gets back to the mainland from time to time to see his family, "this is home." 

We immediately ordered up a shrimp cocktail and I wanted a mai tai.  Lurch said, "We have the best mai tai's on the island.  Guaranteed."  I had to sign up for one of those.  Cindy wanted wine, so she ordered a glass of the Renato Pinot Grigio.

When Lurch brought the mai tai out, it was the deepest, darkest color for a mai tai that I'd seen on the island.   Cindy thought they put Grand Marnier in their mai tai, but it was the real 151-proof dark rum.  Lurch told me that along with the pineapple juice, they put lilikoi juice into their mai tai's.  It was absolutely as good as promised.  But you've really got to watch your intake with mai tai's.  This one was very good and a second one was almost ordered, but I decided to back off and get a Kona Big Wave Golden Ale after I finished the mai tai.

We were sort of stuck as what to get.  Lurch brought out the shrimp cocktail and told us of the special that evening.  They had a shinomo fresh-catch that evening.  Shinomo is sort of a broad-nosed swordfish that's lighter and more flaky than swordfish.  He said it could be grilled, steamed or grilled with cajun seasonings and served with stir-fried veggies and smashed potatoes.  That sounded pretty good.

Cindy was asking about the Red Thai Seafood Curry that was on the menu.  Lurch explained that it was a combination of a fresh-catch fish - that day it was ono - along with scallops, mussels and Thai veggies in a slightly spicy red curry sauce.  Cindy said, "Oh, that sounds good.  That's what I'm gonna have."

I was torn between getting a steak or seafood and I asked Lurch to re-describe the fresh catch special that evening.  When he got to the cajun seasoning part, I said, "Sold.  That sounds great." 

It was a 20 minute wait between our order and getting the food to or tables.  That afforded me another chance to have a Big Wave Golden Ale.  I was probably going to get a glass of wine with dinner, but the Big Wave Golden Ale was so light and refreshing as a beer that I couldn't pass up ordering another before the meal came out.

Lurch brought our meals out and I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the shinomo that was on the plate.  It was covered with tons of cajun spices - just as I like - and served with a creamy lilikoi sauce.  From the first bite to the last, it was just outstanding.  The taste sensations that exploded in my mouth were intense, but not overpowering.  The creamy lilikoi sauce knocked some of the spiciness out of the fish, but didn't detract from the overall taste.

Cindy said that her Red Thai Curry Seafood was equally wonderful.  We traded bites back and forth and I just loved that slightly spicy curry sauce they used on her entree.  The ono was light, yet had a lot of flavor.  We were in culinary heaven with this meal.

Lurch came out and offered us a dessert menu.  We were pretty full from dinner, but one thing caught my eye - a frosted lemon shortbread bar with a side of vanilla ice cream.  Cindy sort of protested, but when I reminded her we were on vacation, she said, "OK, bring us that and a couple spoons or forks or whatever."  And it, too was very good.  The lemon bar was very rich, but really had a great forward lemon taste.

Our meal at the Harbor Grill was one of the finest we had during our time in Hawaii, and we had a lot of great meals.  Not only was the food top-notch, the atmosphere was elegant, but relaxed, and our waiter - Lurch - was overly attentive, but knew when to leave us alone.  We did get one of their breakfast menus to take with us and I'm sort of upset that we never took the time to try out their Hawaiian sweet bread French toast with orange zest.  We'll just have to come back and try it at some point in the future, I guess.

(Update - In doing some research for linking some of the Road Tips entry to Urbanspoon, I found that Harbor Grill is now closed.  I hope Lurch found a job at another restaurant.)

Comments

[Lynn Shaughnessy]

Lurch? You're kidding me, right? No one has the name Lurch other than on the Addams Family.