GREAT EATS HAWAII: SMITH AND KINGS

Monday, May 11, 2015

SMITH AND KINGS

69 N. KING STREET

HONOLULU, HI 96817

808-537-2222

HOURS: Monday thru Thursday 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Friday and Saturday 11:00 AM - 2:00 AM

Closed Sunday

Literally stumbled upon Smith and Kings in Chinatown while looking for a place to eat. We took a look inside and it looked clean and hip. There was a large hand written menu of beers, drinks and food over the bar so we took a peak at the menu posted at the entrance. Lobster Deviled Eggs, Burgers with Fois Gras Pate, Flatbreads and Pork Meat Balls caught my eye. My friend said "lets try it" so we went inside to find a few people at the bar and one table of people having lunch. There was what appeared to be a homeless person in a pretty messed up mental state at the bar that the staff was monitoring closely. After a few minutes the police were summoned but the lady had already left. Welcome to downtown Honolulu and Chinatown. At the moment we sat down, a smiling waitress approached our table and introduced herself. She was friendly and very polite. Always smiling and making sure we were happy. She really seemed to care about the restaurant and the guests. So refreshing to find employees like this especially in Chinatown. We were quickly given ice water and the waitress asked if we had any questions about the menu. We told her that there were a lot of things that sounded great. She said the food was good and she was right. We got right into ordering with the Lobster Deviled Eggs ($4). The rich creamy flavor was amazing and then the taste of lobster. I could eat a dozen of these eggs. Next up was the Charcutterie ($12) with Salami, Corned Beef,

Pickles, Pate and Mustard. When you put the Corned Beef, Pate and Mustard together on a piece of the bread you have a taste of heaven. This was delicious. What a perfect appetizer. Loved it!

I think my friend liked the House Made Pickles as I only got one piece. It was good.

The Pork Meatballs with Proscuitto Ragu ($9) served with Baguette bread was also very good.

The Meatballs were moist and very flavorful when topped with the Ragu. The Chopped Salad ($9)

missed the mark for me but my friend absolutely loved it. I thought it was overdressed to a point where it was soggy and not crisp. The dressing also was a bit too sweet for me. Again though my

friend loved it. The waitress was nice enough to split the salad into two different bowls. Even with two bowls of salad we had leftovers. The Heirloom Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Flatbread ($8) was light and fresh. I was just too full at this point to enjoy it. My friend went for the

King Burger ($14). This was a huge burger topped with Roasted BBQ Pulled Pork and Applewood Smoked Bacon. My friend said he liked it but at this point in the meal could not finish it. I tasted the meat and really liked the flavor. I also enjoyed a few the House Frites which were delicious. If only they could have been more crunchy. During our meal the waitress brought us a couple of refreshing drinks. They were a mixture of Lychee and Lemonade along with just a hint of Gin. One of the owners came by our table to ask us if we liked the food. We told her that it was really good. She explained that she met the Chef who is from Chicago and along with others bought what was a dive bar and cleaned it up. The place is clean and fresh. She explained that her passion was to bring back a speakeasy type place that celebrates the prohibition era with a wide variety of Gin. She said that Gin had a lot of history and she wanted to impart some of that history on Honolulu. She is very knowledgable and I wish her and her partners great success. I am not a bar person and would not come here to sit at the bar and drink. Just not my style. I WOULD however come back here to eat and highly recommend the food to my readers. Liked this place enough to want to take my Wife and Daughter here to eat on a future Saturday afternoon.