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4 Kings, a closer look
Aloha!
Update: Sorry, 4 King's now closed!
8/29/09 - Wow! What a response from the Town Hall meeting! But thank goodness - not one idiot or air-head more interested in causing trouble than in actually ascertaining truth - I'm thankful the folks reading this site are all cool and respectful, even when in disagreement! That's the way it should be - healthy exchanges make us grow as people; petty mud-slinging degrades us to kook-city.
And hey, didn't I tell you that by the time the previous Closer Look (Town Hall) came out, the store would be up? Well, I did not lie! I actually did throw it up just before the Town Hall, I just didn't say anything. And so, finally... the Island Flavors book is available on-line at the store, right now! Though you should be seeing it at Borders, Barnes & Nobles, Costco, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and more very soon, I do have a limited amount right now still available if you wanna get a jump on it. The cost is $19.95, and I'm not gonna charge tax or shipping at all for Hawaii addresses (sorry everyone else, but man, it's expensive to ship!), so you'll actually save a few pennies in tax and get it earlier than anyone else. However, although just about everyone will be charging $19.95, I hear Costco and maybe Sam's Club are gonna discount the price! I have no control over what they charge, so who knows how low they or anyone else will go. I'm already taking a hit on shipping charges, so I can't go any lower!
And that's enough about that. As stated in the Town Hall page, it was the Gooch and I who attended the meeting this past Tuesday, since wifey had to work. However, straight-afterwards, we did pick her up, and there's no better way to continue a great evening than with food, drink, and those we're closest with!
But you know, it's funny - as much as I'm supposed to be the one who knows where to eat, it's still not always that simple - the dreaded where do you wanna go; I dunno, where do you wanna go-thing still applies sometimes. Yeah, at least now I know my options, but aaah, finding the right restaurant for the actual moment, and for the changing moods of everyone in your party, on any particular evening, can sometimes be much tougher than it seems!
We were thinkin' maybe Ninnikuya, maybe 12th Ave. Grill, but as we were slowly scanning through Waialae Ave., a curious sight was there to behold:
Hmmm... Though you can't see it on the pic, written right under the sign is a sub-caption - Sushi Bar and Green Papaya Cuisine. What the...??? If anything, it was the open space right there on Waialae Ave. that sealed the deal, at least to quickly park and take a look-see into the shop, which was only steps away (otherwise, you'll have to swing behind, into the Atrium Shopping Center lot for a fee - but don't sweat it, cuz it'll probably be under a dollar, depending on how long you stay). Fresh in my mind were memories of a friend and I walking into the bar next-door one evening, and I swear, we felt as isolated as an Obama supporter at the Town Hall just earlier! After 15 minutes of strange looks and being ignored, we were out! If the two were connected, I surely would have suggested continuing-on to 12th Ave. Grill, instead!
But alas, all looked fine and well here. The place looked clean. The fish seen through the sushi bar panels looked fresh. And heck, it wasn't empty and void of customers, so why not give it a shot? Besides, this guy in the rice-paddy hat, behind the sushi bar, kept waving and inviting us to come in! He looked friendly enough to oblige, in a comical sort of way, don't ya think...?
How could we resist? Turns out, Hiro-san back there is quite the character, and this pic shows exactly what type of guy he is! Compared with the other Sushi Chef, Brent, who is soft-spoken, polite, and the mellower of the two, Hiro-san has a loose cannon, life-of-the-party kind of personality and attitude, and's a real joker, for sure. Both, however, were super-cool and easy-going - very fun to talk to. Chef Brent is no stranger to sushi, having been from new-wave Doraku in Waikiki, as well as a few other places. Hiro-san? Well, he's from Japan, right? Easy - I kid, I kid!!! Actually, I didn't even ask, but no worries, as both of them seemed like they knew what they were doing back there. They look pretty competent to me... no?
Open only for about six weeks, the sign on the door previously read Green Papaya, but owner Bill, wanting to attract a wider audience than those looking for Vietnamese food alone, implemented a bona-fide sushi bar, importing these two gentlemen above to run it. And boy, what a stroke of genius that was, as business has been much better since, and I'm sure it'll get even better as people start finding out about it!
It is byob right now, but they are currently applying for their liquor license and should have it in a month or two. You know how it is - you don't need no alcohol for beef pho and bun rieu, but sushi and sashimi without beer, sake, or shochu? Why, that's un-natural! I quickly ran across the street to 7-Eleven and grabbed some Sapporo before our first order arrived. And when it did, this is what we were so pleasantly greeted with:
And yes, it was as good as it looked, if not better! Lemme tell ya, although the deep-frying goes on in the back so I don't know who did it, all of us were blown away by the light, crispy tempura batter, and how moist, tender, and delicate the ahi inside was. I know Japanese tempura purists may get offended at the sweet kabayaki glaze, but hey, the Gooch and I were both completely blown away by it all, thinking the sauce only served to send this dish way over the top, local bruddah's that we are! Wifey? Yeah, she was impressed with the quality of the the dish, too, but I think, privately, she'd skip the sauce. Traditionalists, I tell you...
Next-up was another gorgeous and very classy dish, this time a platter of fresh hamachi:
I can see Chef Brents' experience at Doraku playing-out nicely in this dish, with a flashy touch of new-wave flair and a whole slew of different things goin-on. Quite frankly, I think Nobu himself would be proud! First off, the hamachi pieces were just ever-so-slightly cooked, the insides yet raw, accentuating the buttery fats of this already fatty fish well. Then, crumbles of tobiko, slices of chili pepper, slivers of daikon, a small mound of oroshi, and lemon wedge helped brighten the now-white fish. And finally, drops of a creamy mayo or cream sauce and pours of chili oil spiced everything up so pretty, I felt bad for tearing it apart! But pure hunger overpowered my feeble conscience, as the results of this one were pretty much the same as the first - yuuuuummmm'z....
Honestly, it'd be a tough call to pick a favorite out of the first two, but as more dishes began rolling out, things got even harder! Check out this sashimi piece right here, and try guessing what it is - you'll never get it without reading on!
And just to make you feel worse, it ain't no obscure Japanese name and fish you've never heard of before, at least for you all in Hawaii! This right-here is none other than the fish of King's, the most well-known of fish varieties that were once considered kapu, or banned, for anyone except royalty living in ancient Hawaii! And what if they caught a commoner dining on moi, or Pacific threadfin? Off with the head! Thrown in the volcano! Pushed off the Pali! Actually, who knows how they did it, but any kapu was a serious offense punishable by death in the old day's!
Whatever the case, the fish was top-knotch fresh, slightly crispy, and melt-in-the-mouth delicious at the same time! I don't know who determines what kinds of sauces are used for each kind of fish, but they were all different, and they all worked perfectly. This one came with a ponzu-like soy sauce, with garnishes of green onion, sesame seed, and a sweetened ume paste. Here's what the fish looks like down-below before they slice it up, in case you get shipwrecked off of Niihau or something, because there, they still have Hawaiians practicing the ancient ways there.
Just kidding.
But just for you out-of-stater's - the island is actually privately-owned by the Robinson family, and there, the only community of 100% pure Hawaiians resides - a huge thing, as chances are, you'll never meet a 100% Hawaiian on any of the main islands, except maybe for Kapono!
New-wave sushi and flashy platters aside, they still have the traditional stuff here, too, in the form of straight-up nigiri zushi. They pretty much have it all - hottate, amaebi, mirugai, hokkigai, masago, uni, and all types of fish, as well as hoso maki, shinko maki, hand rolls, and a huge array of specialty rolls, one of which you'll see soon.
Right now, check out this absolutely gorgeous bigeye tuna, and no, I haven't done any digital darkroom stuff at all - no contrast, no saturation, no curves, no levels, and no pre-set tungsten or flourescent settings on the camera, either!
How beautiful is that? I think bigeye is even better than the regular ahi, and definitely better than tombo ahi, in that it stays firm (not hard or tough!), yet melts when in your mouth when eaten, and keeps its color well, as you can see. Fresh stuff has this natural, bright-red, almost flourescent color to it. It's not the fatty-white of toro, but the red stuff also has an allure all to its own, and a special kind of appeal that makes them oh, so presentable for sashimi or sushi.
We only had one other type of traditional, nigiri-style sushi, in the form of a hottate, or scallop sushi:
My gosh. What can I say? This thing was unbelievable! The cut size was very generous, the presentation, about as zen-sophisticated as it gets, the rice, excellent, and the freshness? After a quick inspection of the flesh, which easily tore apart in clean, even sections, and then a small piece to taste, I was surprised not to see any muscle fibers still twitching! And yes, by saying that, I guess I'm also revealing that I'm not the hard-core guy who believes you have to eat nigiri-zushi in one single bite! No, not me. I almost always slice it apart with my chopsticks and enjoy it as sashimi first, and then eat the last slice or two with the rice, especially with larger pieces like this. Of course, if the Chef starts giving me the look, well, that's another story...
The thing about sushi is that freshness is always the biggest factor, and the tiniest degrees of separation leading to its final presentation - time, preservation, and ultimate care can separate good from amazing, even in the same dish, from the same restaurant, on any particular evening. But lucky us, on this particular evening, the stars were aligned perfectly, and I guess everything from the hook, dock, and auction to the purchase, delivery, and preparation were all spot-on, because both the bigeye and scallop were truly amazing! Wifey can eat raw scallop just about anywhere, because she just loves the stuff, but Gooch and I, we can only eat it when it's super-fresh, so just the fact that we were both considering another order was a testament in itself!
But I'll stop the sloppy googling and goggling now. It's just a dam piece of raw fish and scallop, for cryin' out loud!
Reverse sarcasm, I hope you know...
Our only fancy roll of the evening came from what Chef Hiro-san calls his favorite roll - stupid roll (just a punch-line he uses, I believe, not his actual favorite)! Along with an entire pages' worth of other elaborately-dressed rolls, there's a couple of smart rolls and couple of stupid rolls, but I have no idea what makes them either-so. Ours was the stupid roll #2:
This impressive piece of art is a local boys' dream - I think I could eat a kicked-up mayo sauce, kabayaki glaze, and sushi rice all alone! But to entice even further, there's a cooked whitefish under all that sauce, and a center of imitation crab salad and avocado, as you can see here from the back portion of the roll. Yeah, this thing was quite large!
As the night dwindled-down, wifey was in the mood for a steaming-hot bowl of pho, which many in the dining room were apparently ordering. It was probably also good for the Gooch, too, because he wasn't very familiar with pho at all, and he was getting kinda sniffly because the A/C was blasting directly in his face, and for some reason, he didn't wanna switch places with me. I luuuv a cold A/C, but I'm also 20-30 lbs heavier! Samurai, that one!
Great sushi, we knew this place had, but would it also have great pho? That'd be a coup! Well, like I said, this place was formerly a Vietnamese place exclusively, so it's only natural that they know a thing or two about traditional Vietnamese cuisine. Now, neither wifey nor myself have ever had a couple of beers before, during, or after pho, but for whatever it's worth and however that may have changed the situation, the pho was still pretty darn good, I must say!
Wow! The fusion of Japanese and Vietnamese! Never heard of it before, but somehow, someway - it works!
But before leaving, I had to venture into one more dish that sounded really interesting:
Gets better and better, doesn't it? But then again, maybe not. As beautiful as this dish was, it was probably the one thing from the Japanese side that didn't get an A to A+ rating! The intricate and gorgeous presentation was still an A+, no doubt, but the only thing that dragged it down was the eggplant base underneath. Maybe alone, or dipped in tempura sauce, it probably would have been great (they've already proven they do a mean tempura by their ahi tempura earlier), but this one, I dunno, the crust got a little soggy and didn't seem to go very well with everything else. Maybe a tender, delicate, steamed or baked eggplant, with no batter, underneath the delicious spicy ahi topping? Who knows? Hey, it wasn't a bad dish, but in the midst of so many other top-knotch dishes, this one stuck-out as the only bump in the road.
All in all, I'm really impressed with this place! You know, since I've already offended half the audience with my politically-minded views last time, I figure I'll offend more of you just for fun. Truth be told, there are subtle, but headlight-blaring differences between Japanese sushi and Korean, Southeast Asian, Brazilian, and local-owned or run sushi houses - maybe I'll think out loud further in a coming Closer Look, but for now, Japanese sushi, even new-wave Japanese sushi, such as fancy rolls, all carry a certain tightness, a meticulous, detailed look and taste that blends a kind of natural simplicity with a razor-sharp order and form, and I think you can already tell from the pics that these guys here at 4 Kings are definitely doin' it right. It's all tight here, ve-e-ery tight.
As always, though, I'm just one opinion - well, Gooch, wifey, and I combined, I guess that makes three, but in any case, just try this place out for yourself, and lemme know whatcha find. The positives, in the very end, are not always solely in the realm of how great everything tasted within the confines of our own personal likes and dislikes, but in the sheer pleasure of experiencing something new, if it be new at all, and the insatiable urge of conquering something just because it's there. Sushi bar and green papaya cuisine? I'd say that's something new for sure. Whether it's Japanese teishoku boxes of shrimp tempura, miso butterfish, and saba, or whether it's Vietnamese lemongrass chicken, tamarind shrimp, or beef pho, 4 Kings definitely has an interesting menu, and a whole lotta great food to back it up.
Weekends finally here, and it looks like great day out there! Have a safe and happy one!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
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Comments:
K.I (9/16/09) - Just read your review on 4 King's and it sounded like someplace to try. I love it when the sushi chefs are funny and personable. Makes the experience all the more memorable. Maybe I will recommend it to my uncle to try first since he loves sushi and goes out to eat more often than I do, especially in that area. I love moi sashimi! It's always on the menu at Yuzen and if you get the whole fish, the presentation is pretty sweet since the fish is displayed and you can see the chef's skill in separating the meat from the bones.
Aku (9/16/08) - Wow, another sushi place that sounds good (Yuzen), and I've not heard about it yet. It looks killer (just checked it out on Metromix, Yelp, and all the others that usually get stuff out before me!), and I'll definitely be making my way there, as I'm running out of sushi places I haven't tried before!
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