GREAT EATS HAWAII: HOLOHOLO BAR AND GRILL

HOLOHOLO BAR AND GRILL

HONOLULU, HAWAII

HOLOHOLO BAR AND GRILL

2494 S. BERETANIA STREET

HONOLULU, HI 96826

808-369-7297

HOURS: Monday thru Thursday 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM (Bar Open until 12:00 AM)

Friday 11:00 AM -10:00 PM (Bar Open until 1:00 AM)

Saturday 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM (Bar Open until 1:00 AM)

Sunday 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM

www.holoholobarandgrill.com

Cruising through Moilili to pick up our Christmas Tree and saw the Holoholu sign. Decided to pull in and take a look. We looked in the window at first to find the entire dining room empty on a Saturday afternoon. My wife said it was empty so we should not go in. I paused and thought the same thing just before I was going to put the car in reverse and pull out. "Lets try it" I said. Could be a neighborhood gem. Since we had not read or heard anything about this place I thought it might be good to check it out. We entered into a bright and clean hallway and turned right walking to the main dining room. It was completely empty so we walked back and saw the sign that said the bar was open. The bar is on the left as you walk in. There were maybe three tables filled with people watching the USC vs Notre Dame football game. One table was large with about ten people and the others were 2-4 people just eating, drinking and watching football. The waitress approached us with a big smile which was nice. She quickly took our drink orders and came back with both Breakfast and Lunch menus. It was almost 2:00 pm so we went off the lunch menu. My wife immediately picked out the Sweet Potato Fries ($6.95) and ordered the Small size. Served what was called a Horseradish Aioli Sauce. The fries were not crispy at all and were cold. The Aioli Sauce tasted like straight mayonnaise with no flavoring. I don't like dipping anything into straight mayo so I passed on this dish. The Smoked Meat small portion ($14.95) was delicious. Thin slices of pork marinated and cooked to shiny perfection. Served with a bit of salsa and grilled onions. This dish is good and very smokey. The salsa helps the dish and I wish there were more of it on the plate. Also liked the onions and wanted more. This is the kind of dish where you want to eat a little of the meat and mix it up with something else. The meat is addicting but it is tough to eat an entire plate of smoked meat. Highly recommend having this dish to share. The Drunken Seafood small portion ($17.95) included Clams, Calamari and Shrimp in a sweet Beurre Blanc Sauce. Served with bread. We ordered a scoop of White Rice ($2.50) to go with the Drunken Shrimp. This really worked out well when you put the seafood and sauce all over the rice. The rice elevated the dish and made it a meal. There is a lot of sauce in the bowl and the rice was the perfect place to put it. Food and service were good here. I will revisit again to try some other menu items. The Steamed Fish, Kim Chee Dip and Kim Chee Teriyaki Burger caught my eye and I want to try them.