11/30/08 - You never know in these days of economic uncertainty, but this self-standing establishment near the bottom of Waialae Ave. in Kaimuki, at the old Pizza Hut/Taco Bell location, sure looks destined, not only to just survive, but to thrive and possibly even proliferate. Fresh Catch is your classic, local-style poke house, with all the popular poke varieties, lots of fresh fish and seafoods, marinated meats to take home and cook yourself, tons of snackable goodies, sandwiches, salads, desserts, and a decent selection of hot plate lunches.
Now, I want you to forget about the diminutive, borderline preppy, Honolulu-urbanite kind of place, where people come in to pick up a half-pound of ahi here and a quarter-pound of tako there, and then rush back to the office with Perrier or bottled water in hand. No, no, no. Instead, muse on a more, uh, improper atmosphere, where every pretense is sacked, where everyone is on the same level, and where either howzit, how you, or bruddah is embedded into every greeting. Contemplate a place where a big-time, West-side-type, no shame 'em attitude and aura prevails, one that, quite frankly, we kinda needed here in town! Places out West not only have to be casual, but extremely party-friendly, and able break out giant trays and platters of sashimi, poke, and meats with reckless abandon. It's not about quaint-little apartment get-togethers with cheese, crackers, and wine; it's all about giant, yard-sized tents, rental chairs and tables, a bouncer or three for the kids, eight-burner gas grills, and enough grinds to satisfy a Konishiki family get-together!
Not that the owners here are from the West-side. I really don't know. All I know is that walking in here feels the same as, say, a Tanioka's or Highway Inn (poke side) in Waipahu, or Tamashiro Market or Young's Hawaiian Food in Kalihi (yeah, I know, Kalihi is geographically South-side, but attitudinally, more West-side than anything else, yes?). But don't worry, all you lunch-breakers with bottled water, I, myself ordered small portions of several varieties of poke, and received not one iota of condescension or resistance. The folks here are real laid-back, friendly, and engaging in a local-style way, especially the owner, Reno Henriques, whose voice can always be heard as he chats it up with customers like they were all high-school buddies, the pidgin running profusely thick and heavy every time.
I don't want you to think that this casualness means any less professionalism, though, as nothing, from the food to the service to the atmosphere, comes sub-standard or haphazard. This shot of the main display case and more reveals a clean, well-decorated environment with a cool-looking, uniform, nautical design that is both fun and attractive. Old sailors, aluminum warehouse walls, fishnets, blue crabs, marlins, mahimahi, and humorous signs kept us well-entertained through our entire lunch.
Even the park-style benches seemed to coordinate well with the over-all theme, and definitely add a touch of rustic charm. These large tables were part of the main dining area, with another separate section also available.
Getting to the real business of the day - food - let's talk about poke! As you could tell from the earlier pic, there are more varieties than you could ever hope to try in one sitting. I do appreciate when prices get down to the $6-$7 per pound range, but honestly, you'll never find the freshest fish at those prices, but instead, pre-frozen or of a much lower grade. The best poke stops use fresh fish, which usually run from between $10 and $12 per pound, as they do here. I hate to be a snob, but yes, I do prefer paying a few extra bucks for the good stuff!
On this particular day, wifey and I ordered two full-sized entrees, so we couldn't fit much more in our stomachs than quarter-pound portions of three different poke types, just enough to get the flavors down. These days, there are so many different varieties that the originators of this dish back in the 70's wouldn't be able to recognize their way around such fascinations as the abalone salad, which wifey was hungry for. Actually, I don't even know if this mix is even considered an actual poke type or not - it came with thin strips of raw abalone, which should qualify it as one, but who knows, or much less cares, right? Generally, poke is primarily made from a protein source, but I don't think the definition is so clear these days, with all the new creations out and all. Anyhow, this dish was not only pretty to look at, but also very refreshing, the bright-green seaweed, firm abalone, and crunchy-yellow eggs popping like a mini-fireworks show in your mouth. Wifey sure was happy...
At the fresh catch, one of their most popular dishes is the shoyu salmon poke. An interesting mix, it combines a sweet shoyu sauce with lots of nori and sesame seeds, which tasted a lot like furikake, which it quite possibly could have been. Though wifey loved it and the owner says it fly's off the shelf like batteries and toilet paper before a major hurricane, I found it a bit too sweet for my tastes. Well, he didn't really say it in that particular way, but you get the picture...
Right from the very beginning, at the dawn of the new age - the poke age, that is, which was birthed in the 70's - ahi was King and Supreme. Of course, just about the only varieties you could find back then were ahi, tako, and imitation crab, but still... Today, ahi remains at the top of the heap, with many stores routinely featuring up to five or six different types of this particular fish. Why not, right? We got the best tuna in the world, so we may as well utilize nature's bounty as best as possible! My sister and hubby spend part of the year in Jersey, part in Norway, and part in Hawaii, and it is one of the things they particularly look forward to while in the islands. It is available in all three areas, but the freshness and quality here, comparably speaking, makes it seem like an entirely different product! Lucky you live Hawaii! Go out and buy fish!
On this day wifey and I had a simple shoyu ahi poke, which is not only one of the simplest, but also probably the most popular. This one was as fresh and delicious as it gets, coming in a beautiful, bright-red hue and touched up with the perfect amount of onion, green onion, sesame seeds, and chili peppers.
You probably forgot by now that wifey and I also had a full-sized entree each. Yes, there are a growing number of items avilable, such as beef stew, lau lau, pastele, real crab sandwiches, baked salmon, and even some hot pasta varieties. Daily specials are also popular, like Tuesday's tomato basil ono, Wednesday's teri furikaki salmon, Thursday's ahi casserole, and Sunday's clam chowder.
Wifey chose an oxtail soup, one of the regular menu items, which was excellent, coming with a very tasty, full-flavored broth and a surprisingly large amount of huge, beefy oxtails. Seeing the price at the supermarket for these particular cuts, I'm surprised that they can still keep the price under ten bucks, which is a few whole dollars cheaper than Kapiolani Coffee Shop's famous version. You can't see it from the pic, but this styrofoam container was much deeper than it was wide, so just believe me that the portions were indeed very generous.
My plate was a salmon with mushrooms. There was no mac or vegetable salad with this plate, only two scoops of rice, like a regular plate lunch, and another additional mound of rice directly under the salmon, which was large enough to keep me from even touching the two scoops nextdoor!
This salmon had an interestingly crunchy outer layer that was sprinkled with herbs and almost seemed deep-fried (though I believe it was baked), while the insides were as soft, moist, and flaky as salmon should be. The fresh mushrooms were layered on top, along with a very rich cream sauce that was absolutely redolent with butter and garlic. I couldn't help but think how great it would have been over angel hair pasta or linguine, and garlic bread on the side, as well! Throw in a bottle of wine, also, why not?
Being the type of place where you don't want to visit just once, sure enough, we were back after a few days for more poke samples, this time in slightly larger portions so we could take them home to enjoy over the next few meals or pupu sessions.
Another type of salmon they have comes flavored with Hawaiian salt and limu kohu, a soft, fuzzy-brown seaweed found in the islands.
Most locals are familiar with spicy ahi poke, but there is spicy, and then there is... fireball! This buggah will make you cry if you're not used to the heat, but luckily, wifey and I are quite well and prepared for this kind of fire. In the few short times here, I've heard two separate conversations about how customers couldn't quite handle this dish, but if this is your case, no worries - there is a regular spicy ahi, as well.
Quite possibly my favorite poke here was the smoked tako (octopus). The strong, pungent taste of smoke was highly apparent, and went surprisingly well with the creamy dynamite sauce and sprinkles of tobiko, or flying fish eggs. If raw doesn't appeal to you, be sure to try this very tasty dish.
And finally, as a kind of light side dish, we took home a little bit of sweet pickled onion with ogo, another type of Hawaiian seaweed. We used to find this seaweed all over our coasts, but like so many other natural products, have been overharvested to the point of ruin over the last several decades. It's a good thing we have a growing number of aquaculture farms these days, who supply us with ogo, algae, shrimp, abalone, moi, and so many other seafoods we would have otherwise had to import at a great loss to quality, or worse yet, do completely without.
As with the abalone salad, this may not be a poke dish, per se, but is one of a number of similiar items that are always found in the same display cases as poke.
Well, well - a star is born! Although owner Reno Henriques is a formally-trained Chef, he instead found that what we really needed here was a return to good, old-fashioned, full-flavored, Hawaiian-style foods, the kind you had at baby luaus and weekend parties all your life. I do believe his hunch proved right, as poke and large get-togethers are an island way of life, and he caters to both extremely well.
Hope you're all having a wonderful day and enjoying the Season's festivities! Keep it safe, keep it real, and keep it positive, as always!
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