Honolulu, HI
Located in the lower level of Ala Moana Mall, Assaggio's is a local favorite for Italian food. I have been there many times and always liked the food. When friends invited us for dinner at Assaggio's, I didn't know if I could stick to my low fat diet. After studying the extensive menu that includes pasta, fresh fish, steak, veal and seafood I settled in on one of my all time favorites. The home made cold Antipasto salad ($8,90) as an appetizer. This salad includes Prosciutto, Salami, Cheese, Anchovies, Marinated Vegetables and Olives over a bed of romaine lettuce with home made vinaigrette dressing. Since we were sharing this salad, I ate only the lettuce, vegetables and anchovies. The dressing and marinated vegetables are fantastic. Others at the table enjoyed crab cakes, fried calamari, garlic bread and fresh clams scampi style ($12.90). All of the appetizers were served with a small amount of the marinated veggies which I devoured. They are great. I did not eat any of the fried foods or garlic bread but did consume a few of the fresh clams. They were big, thick and perfectly cooked in white wine, garlic, olive oil and butter. I avoided the sauce and just went for the clams. Could be the best fresh clams in Hawaii. At this point I was getting full and probably could have went home satisfied. Since everyone was ordering an entree I decided to go with the Linguine Vegetable. This is mixed fresh vegetables sauteed with olive oil and garlic and served with a light tomato sauce. I ordered a small portion ($15.90) which is not small at all. It is a big plate full of pasta that probably could have served two. I ordered the dish "spicy" too. The pasta was cooked to perfection and spiced perfectly for my taste. The sauce was delicious and the fresh vegetables were cut thick and still a little crunchy. There were a lot of onions in the sauce. This was great because I love sauteed onions. This dinner was simply perfect. Probably had a little over the 15 gram of fat allowed on the diet but was worth it. Others at the table enjoyed the same dish and loved it. Our friends enjoyed the Pan
Grilled Scallop and Jumbo Shrimp dish and the Ossu Bucco. I give Assaggio's the big thumbs up for Italian food in Hawaii. A few side notes. We had a table for eight which was located in a small room set up for larger parties. This room has no atmosphere and is out of the main eating area. Our dinner ran several hours as we were enjoying some wine and waiting for one of our friends to arrive. Before our entree's arrived the manager approached our table and politely requested that our table move to the main dining area so they could accommodate a large group of 26 people. She offered us a bottle of wine for the inconvenience. We moved to a great and larger table in the main dining room. The staff quickly moved all of our drinks and appetizers. The manager was there to make sure we were happy. Everyone was happy with the move. Our entrees came quickly and the manager offered everyone at the table a free dessert. I passed on the dessert but did enjoy the free bottle of vino.
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