GREAT EATS HAWAII: NEW EAGLE CAFE

NEW EAGLE CAFE

HONOLULU, HAWAII

NEW EAGLE CAFE

1130 N. NIMITZ HIGHWAY

HONOLULU, HI

808-545-2233

HOURS: Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Friday 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM (Summer Only)

Saturday 6:00 AM - 10:00 PM (Summer Only)

Sunday 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

www.neweaglecafehawaii.com

If you have ever watched one of those restaurant makeover shows on t.v. where the host comes in and rips apart the menu, food and decor, then please tell them to visit New Eagle Cafe on Nimitz. This places needs the makeover. The menu, food and decor could all use some help. We entered to find the floor filthy with what looked like dog tracks in mud leading around the entrance. Boxes empty and filled lay behind the cashier desk along with other stuff that just should not be in view of customers. If the front of the house looks like this, just think of what the kitchen looks like my wife said. Yikes....

We were seated at a booth in the back that allowed for privacy and a view of the main dining area. The restaurant is dimly lit and really has no atmosphere. I can see Restaurant Impossible coming in here and having a field day lighting it up and adding some kind of style that makes it feel more inviting. The waitress arrived with our menus and I was surprised to see a menu that was around eight pages long. Not all the pages or specials are shown here. There was more! Seems like the New Eagle Cafe is trying to be all things to all people with a menu that covers every food and nationality with the exception of Mexican. I cannot imagine how the kitchen looks with all these menu items. How can you possibly keep all of these items fresh and consistent. Hey, maybe they do. I have not been in the kitchen but after eating here, I think Restaurant Impossible would probably go through it and throw most of the stuff out. Lets start with the positive. We ordered the Fresh Catch Fish Sandwich with a Bowl of Soup ($11.95). Nice pieces of Ono fish served on a well buttered bun with lettuce, tomato and tarter sauce. My wife said the fish was good and enjoyed her sandwich. The Daily Soup served with this was Chicken and Rice. My daughter said it was "great". She did not however like her entree which was the Kids Teri Beef Meal ($8.75). Thin slices of Teriyaki Beef served with rice and corn. My daughter took a few bites and shook her head back and forth not liking it. I reached across the table and grabbed two slices. I took a bite and wanted to spit it out. I chewed on and found it to be old, chewy with a slightly sour after taste. We did not take another bite and left most of the Teriyaki on the plate. The biggest disappointment of the day was my Beef Brisket Sandwich ($12.95). The sandwich was served with a tossed salad and the entire bottle of dressing. I kind of liked having the dressing on the side so this was a positive. I added just enough to suit my taste and the Italian Dressing was not bad at all. The Brisket was served with Cole Slaw that looked a month old. Just looking at this limp, darkening cabbage made me have second thoughts about eating it. I smelled it first and it was raunchy smelling. I asked my wife to smell and she did. "That is old" she said "don't eat it". I took a taste anyway to see what it would taste like. Sour, bitter and disgusting. This Cole Slaw had to be a week old at best. I left the entire portion on my plate. The Beef Brisket Sandwich looked beautiful on the plate and I was anxious to dig in. I cut the sandwich in half so I could handle it easily and not make a mess. The sandwich was large with three thick slices of brisket, lettuce and tomato. I cut the sandwich so that there was 3/4 of it in one slice and the remaining 1/4 in another slice. I started with the 1/4 piece first. After the first bite I knew that the 3/4 slice would never be touched. The meat was tough but really sour and vinegar tasting. I ate the 1/4 piece because I was hungry and left the 3/4 piece on the plate. Actually left the place hungry and left more than half of our food on the plates. "How was everything" the cashier asked as we approached to pay the bill. "Fine" I said while we walked across the dog mud tracks on our way out. "Tell them what you think" my wife said. "No" I replied, "I will just blog about it". And so I have.