LE GUIGNOL FRENCH RESTAURANT

LE GUIGNOL FRENCH RESTAURANT

HONOLULU, HI

After a delicious lunch at Le Guignol, I decided to go back to try dinner with our good friends Tom and Arlene. We arrived around 6:00 pm on Saturday and found that a very good jazz band was playing on the lanai. They were not too loud and added a nice touch to the dinner. One good thing about Le Guignol is that you can bring your own beer and wine. There is a $5.00 per bottle corkage fee for wine. Most everyone in the restaurant had bottles and bottles of wine on their tables. Of course some locals enjoyed some cold Heineken's too. Let me begin by saying the staff here is very friendly and courteous. They really made us feel welcome. You don't feel this at too many places anymore. The owner is the only cook according to his wife who is the waitress. Add a very helpful hostess that also helps serve the food and you have the most efficient 3 person staff in Honolulu. These people know how to do their jobs well. With the restaurant full by 6:30, they calmly got all the appetizers, salads and entrees out within a reasonable time. Never sweating, running or rushing. Just cool and calm. My hats off to the wife who is pregnant and taking care of each table like it was her only one. The cook was gracious enough to come out and say hi after the rush was over. I really like these people. Hard working, nice and professional. The food however did not live up to the service. Really wish it would have because I love this little place already. We started with an order of Escargot.  The snails were served with garlic and butter. Pretty tasteless. Needs more garlic. The Foie Gras was a tiny portion but full of rich silky flavor especially when you enjoy it with the sauce served. We also tried a Bone Marrow appetizer which looked good but again was tasteless. The dish was served with a spoon full of salt. Believe me you need the salt to add any flavor. I started with a tomato salad ($6). Served in a Martini glass was simply cherry tomatoes, bleu cheese crumbles and some honey dressing. This dish needed some red onion and fresh herbs.  This would make it way better. The House Salads looked a bit bland ($4.50). Two people at are table tried the Rack of Lamb ($29.95 half rack). While a half rack, this is a huge portion of lamb on the bone. Keli said it was delicious, but the adults thought it to be bland. I tried the filet of beef with bleu cheese ($27.95). The steak was cooked to perfection, tasted good but lacked any real big flavor. The Salmon ($23.95) looked good and my friend finished every last bite and said it was good. The Tiger Prawn Pasta ($23.95) looked like a mess and tasted worse according to Shirley. I loved the Chocolate Mousse ($5.95) and our guests liked the Sorbet ($4.95). This was a great evening at Le Guignol. Really like the atmosphere and service. Cannot say enough good about the staff. Truly amazing. Only wish the food would have been as good.
UPDATE:  THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED

LOVED THE LAMB