GREAT EATS HAWAII: CAFE SISTINA

CAFE SISTINA

HONOLULU, HAWAII

CAFE SISTINA

1314 S. KING STREET

HONOLULU, HI 96814

808-596-0061

HOURS: Daily 5:30 PM - 9:30 PM

www.cafesistina.com

It has been over 15 years since I have been to Cafe Sistina. Could not remember my last meal here so we ventured back in search of some fresh pasta and a good Italian meal. Sorry to say but we found neither. What I did like was the hand painted artwork on the walls that was painted by the restaurant owner. We entered the restaurant from the parking garage from the First Interstate Bank Building on King Street. Parking is a flat rate of $3 in the evening here. We were greeted quickly and seated at a table that was near the bar and in the vicinity of the kitchen so every plate and waitress ran by us during our meal. Menus were presented by a nice waitress with very little personality. She provided the basics, said nothing and seemed a bit rushed. I asked her if they had any "fresh" pasta and her reply was "no, it comes from a box". I asked if there were any "specials" and she said "no, we don't do that". I wanted to ask her for recommendations but given her last answers I really did not care to hear anything else from her. We ordered an appetizer and asked for a few more minutes to examine the menu. Fresh warm bread arrived with butter as we mulled over the many menu selections. No fresh pasta I thought. Wow..that is why we came to this place. A friend said they make their pasta homemade and that is what I was craving. Fresh homemade pasta. Well, according to our waitress you won't get that here. The Antipasto Misto ($13.75) arrived and I was a bit surprised that it was basically meats and one type of cheese which was Smoked Gouda. There was a thinly sliced vegetable terrine on the plate that was a bit burnt on the edges. The flavor was ok. I ate one slice and did not want any more. The Antipasto platter in my opinion was missing something. Maybe some olives, peppers or something else to compliment the meats. I ordered the Veal Marsala ($25.50) and asked if it were served with pasta. The waitress said it came with a small bowl type pasta. I asked for Linguine and she said no problem. This was one of the most disconnected pasta dishes of my life. The Veal Marsala tasted like a flour and butter roux. Could not taste any Marsala. Basically thinly sliced pieces of veal with the roux and some mushrooms. The pasta was overcooked (mushy) and served with a tomato sauce that did not in any way go with the Veal. It was like two different dishes on one plate. I actually liked the tomato sauce on the pasta. Did not finish the Veal. The heavy roux taste pretty much ruined the dish. Why they could not integrate a nice Marsala sauce into the pasta is beyond me. If the chef would have tasted the Marsala sauce I am sure they would not be happy. Take a bite of the Veal and the pasta with two different sauces and they would know this dish was disconnected. The Lobster Ravioli ($19.75) was a large plate of pasta that looked pretty good. There were nice pieces of lobster inside the Ravioli but again the sauce tasted like a roux. Heavy flour taste that masked anything resembling a sauce. My wife took a few bites and left the rest on the plate. The Venison Ragu Papardelle ($21.50) was probably the best dish of the evening and my daughter seemed to love it. She finished off most of the pasta but left a lot of the Venison on her plate. The Venison Ragu was good but a bit dry and bland. We ordered two desserts. The Chocolate Spoon Ala Mode ($10.50) and Spumoni. The Spumoni was never brought to the table and we did not say anything to our waitress as it did not show up on the bill. The Chocolate Spoon was delicious. Tasted like a melted Hershey Bar. I put back a few glasses of Italian Chianti and admired the paintings on the wall. Impressed with the paintings but not the food or our waitress. Probably going to be another 15 years before we go back to Cafe Sistina. Oh...how I wish this place would have been good as we are looking for that "go to" Italian restaurant in Hawaii.