Pineapple Room, located in Ala Moana Center (in Macy’s) is the “little sister” to the restaurant Alan Wong’s. Doing some research on Zagat, I found the rating to be good: Food: 25, Decor 19, Service 23 . I thought this would be a nice lunch destination for my wife’s birthday.
View toward the kitchen from our table.
Restaurant has a nice modern decor. Seating and location was very comfortable.
Soup and Sandwich
My wife ordered the “express lunch”, which started with the soup and sandwich. The soup was an interesting Indian Chicken Curry. Let’s get a closer look at that sandwich…
Kalua Pig BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato)
Sometimes close up photos of food can look messy. In this case you can see the gravy soaking into the bun. Don’t miss the big tomato slice on top and grilled onions underneath. Where did the “L” in BLT go? The lettuce decided to go separate as part of the salad.
Onaga on the Menu
I decided to order the Onaga, Chinese Style. I was planning on cooking this and wanted to see how the “Fancy Restaurants” do it.
Onaga "Chinese Style"
Here is a close up of the Onaga “Chinese Style”. It’s steamed. The big red thing on top is Lup Cheong (Chinese Sausage). I asked for “No Starch”, since I am a “Low Carb” guy. The fish was cooked perfectly. The sauce was well balanced, not too sweet or too salty. But the Lup Cheong was salty and a bit overpowering.
Onaga cooked "Chinese Style" with Wine
Here the Onaga is paired with some wine. This was my chance to get advice on what wine pairs well with this dish. Our waiter asked the experts and recommended a Riesling.
Alan Wong's own Riesling
The wine was slightly dry of medium. It was not too sweet as a typical Riesling. I felt it paired perfectly with the slightly sweet “Asian” soy-oyster sauce flavor of the Onaga. I would definitely recommend this paring again. Now time for dessert!
Brownies with "House Made" Vanilla Ice Cream
My wife enjoyed the dessert. I thought the star fruit added a nice touch.
Frech Press 100% Kona Coffee
Since I had to abstain from the tempting dessert (being low carb), I thought I would splurge on coffee. How could I not go with “Chef Alan Wong’s Favorite”?
Coffee
Coffee was excellent. From a scale from 1 to 10, I would say 9.5. A nice way to end the meal.
The Bill!
Here is the damage! It’s a bit pricey for lunch, but it was my wife birthday.
Overall, I would recommend this resturant for lunch. I would definately come again.
