#liholiho

Glimmers of something special in each dish, but no dish felt fully materialized.  A few standout ingredients and preparations, namely the very tender beef tongue and soft and fluffy buns with the beef tongue baos and macerated kumquats topping their duck hearts dish.  Dessert was a complete miss, though – their photogenic Baked alaskan is overly sweet, lacking any of the acidity you might expect from a pineapple dessert, and failed texturally, with overset ice cream and a dry cake base.  Was expecting more from this award-winning spot.  Portions are generous, but you do pay a decent amount for them.  Hyper-popular restaurant but possible to get a seat at the bar if you’re persistent, even on a Saturday night at prime dining time.

Beef tongue baos in a steamed poppy seed bun with kimchi and topped with pickled cucumber, scallions, and sesame seed - the sauce felt like a mild Sriracha.  Not as bold of an overall flavor as I expected given the ingredients.

Duck hearts with preserved kumquats, pistachios, jalapeño, and frisse - the salad was excellently dressed and nicely bitter.  Kumquats were intensely sweet and sharp.  Duck hearts lacked flavor.  

Roasted octopus with raisins, olives, potatoes, and coriander - potatoes were tasty and had a nice crispy texture.  Octopus was tender but didn’t have a distinct flavor.  Raisins were a nice sweet touch.  Sauce was rich and creamy.  The most boldly flavored dish but a bit heavy.

Baked Hawaiian with pineapple ice cream and vanilla chiffon - the merging topping was too sweet, and the ice cream was hard as a brick.  Vanilla chiffon was dry and dense.  Flakes of coconut were tasty – wish that flavor carried out to the rest of the dish.