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Nobu at Waikiki Parc: It Took Some Time But Now It Simply Rocks

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 2233 Helumoa Road [map], Honolulu, HI, United States, 96815
July 9, 2008 at 11:30 AM | by ASalkever | 0 Comments

[Ed Note: Alex Salkever is the founder and editor of Hawaiirama.com, a travel blog covering Hawaii.]

Nobu opened inside the Waikiki Parc Hotel, a poor but not inelegant sister to the Halekulani, in June of 2007. Yet unlike the other Nobus across America, the food at this outpost got tepid reviews from local writers.

When I asked a friend who works there what the deal was, she told to me the chef was still feeling out the local purveyors and had not really localized the menu.

The restaurant had done well with tourists but locals took a lot longer to come around. So I waited and waited. And finally dove in two weeks ago. Verdict? Damn, that food is good.

Caveat emptor: traditional Nobu fare (that famous cod and miso dish) is no great shakes out here. Supermarkets were doing good renditions of this dish before it ever hit a Nobu menu.

But the new Nobu takes the old traditions and pumps them up a notch. The lobster tempura with curry and salt was to die for -- salty on the tongue, tender lobster meat (this is Kona lobster grown on the Big Island) with a nice curry bite.

Kona kampachi (you buy it in NYC but we grow it in Hawaii) with jalapeno was awesome. Mind you, this was a special menu and the chef can do one for you, too.

Nobu definitely ups the cool quotient in Waikiki, where its still sorely lacking, and we thought the bar to be very worthy of a place in NYC or LA.

My advice to Nobu foes and friends -- check it out and go locavore.

[Photo: Nicole Lee]

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