GREAT EATS HAWAII: 12TH AVENUE GRILL

12TH AVENUE GRILL

HONOLULU, HAWAII

12TH AVENUE GRILL

1120 12TH AVENUE

HONOLULU, HI 96816

808-732-9469

HOURS: Monday thru Thursday 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Friday and Saturday 5:30 PM - 11:00 PM

Sunday 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

www.12thavegrill.com

12th Avenue Grill was named 2015 Oahu Restaurant of the Year so I had to make another visit back to check out the food and larger new location. What I can say about this restaurant being named Oahu's best is "bullshit". My entire family agreed that this was probably one of the worst meals of our lives and the cost was over $200 with tip. Nothing was good here. Not the appetizers or entrees. Service was adequate but our waitress seemed not to care or just not be interested in making our experience special. She rarely smiled, provided very little information about the menu and really did a good job making us want to dine somewhere else. After less than one hour at our table and no mention of a dessert menu the rest of the staff circled our table like vultures waiting for us to give up our four top for the next group of people who hopefully will like the food better than wed did. We were seated just after 5:30 and we were out the door here by 6:35. I was not done with half of my entree when people started coming by our table trying to clear it. If ever there was an overrated award winning restaurant in Hawaii this is it. I cannot fathom how this place racks up awards year after year. It may be like our politics where everything is rigged and biased. I can tell you honestly tough this is not Oahu's Best Restaurant of 2014. In fact, it is probably the worst place that I would send you to spend $200 on a meal. Dinner began with a small basket of breads with a tin of butter. We started our meal with the Hawaiian Big Eye Ahi Tartare ($14) served with Crostini. The Crostini were soaked in butter and so rich that after eating one nobody at the table wanted to eat the last one. This dish was a waste of good fresh Ahi Tuna. The sauce masque the flavor of the Ahi. Why they put Celery Root with Ahi is beyond me. The root has no flavor and does nothing to enhance the dish. Next up was the Signature Appetizer Red Beet Gnocchi ($12). My goodness. We could not get beyond the rancid smell to eat this dish. The melted Stilton Blue Cheese overpowered the dish. One smell and all of us gasped for air. I tried eating a Gnocchi and it did not look or taste like any Gnocchi I had eaten before. Again I could not get past the smell of the cheese in this dish to eat anymore of it. We left 3/4 of the dish on the plate as none of us could eat it. My Daughter ordered the Soup of the Day ($8). It was some type of Bean and Ham soup but tasted like Beef Stew. Three of us tasted it and all came up saying "salty". The salty soup remained in the dish too as my daughter could not eat it. The Mac and Cheese side order ($11) was also a disappointment and again we left 3/4 of this dish on the table. The Mac and Cheese was a soupy mess. Just look at the photo below. I took one bite and was not interested in having another. Same for everyone at the table. The Hawaii Ranchers Ribeye ($36) was not bad according to my Wife. Served with Pappardelle Pasta and a burnt piece of Radicchio. If you are going out to dinner for a steak, stick to Ruth's Chris or D.K.'s. I ordered the Signature Entree which is the Grilled Pork Chop ($28). The Chop came to my table looking thick and delicious. I went to cut the Chop and found that it was hard as a rock. I poked at the top and it was firm as a board. Cutting into this was not easy as I had to place a lot of pressure on my knife to cut through it. This thing was like rubber. I was going to eat it but my Wife insisted that I send it back. When the waitress came over I asked her if the Chop was supposed to be this hard. She answered no and said it should be a little pink in the middle. She took my entree away and a few minutes later I was given a new plate with a new Pork Chop that had been cut into pieces. I guess the Chef did not trust sending it out again without cutting it up to see how it was cooked. I liked the flavor of the Chop but still felt that the entire thing was still too dry. The Crispy Potato Pancake served with the Chop was not bad but it was over sauced with Horseradish. I love Horseradish but there was a boat load covering the potatoes. The highlight of the meal was the Flourless Chocolate Cake ($9). This baby oozed chocolate and when combined with the Ice Cream was delicious. I was about to shoot a photo of all the food we were leaving on the table when hands came flying in to clear our plates. Lets get out of here I said to my wife. As we left our table the waitress was nowhere in sight. No goodbye or thank you. I always rate a restaurant on whether I would return again. The answer here for our entire family was no. In fact, my Wife commented that she would not return to eat here if the dinner were free and she would have preferred going to McDonalds this night. This is one of the harshest reviews I have done on a restaurant to date. Had to be totally honest and call it as I eat em.

Click link below to view previous post on 12th Avenue Grill:

http://greateatshawaii.blogspot.com/2013/02/12th-ave-grill-honolulu-hawaii.html