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Mariposa in Neiman Marcus, a closer look
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Aloha!
8/8/11 - Don't you wonder how they clean all those dancing butterflys? Or do they just allow dust to build up, even after all these years? Who knows - maybe there's no maintenance required. Maybe inside the rich-girl's playground of Neiman Marcus at Ala Moana, the air is so rarified and Hepa filter clean, it's as dust-free as a surgery room. Me, I think it's amazing how much women are willing to pay for clothes, shoes, and handbags, but then again, if I stretched a bit and went through sensitivity training, I guess I could also be amazed how much men are willing to pay for their toys, as well. I say a punching bag, a jet ski, or a boat are much more useful and legit for anyone in their right mind, but I guess women say the exact same thing in favor of Lanvin, Nina Ricci, or Valentino instead, yes?
Mariposa is located on the top floor of this sprawling uber-opolis of Neiman Marcus, but lucky us, its prices are not quite as expensive as items in the store itself! Not that it's cheap or anything - food is still right about in-line with other Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurants, meaning, roughly $15 for appetizers, between $15 and $25 for lunch, and between $25 and $40 for entrees at night - but compare that with $700 shoes and $2,500 dresses, and maybe you won't be feeling all that bad. Relatively speaking...
Here's a shot from right outside the restaurant:
Despite how large the dining area is, they still manage to pack the place in, at least during lunch. After all, it's prime-time for ladies out on the prowl (for designer items, that is!), and as you can see from the next shot, they comprise the majority of diners within:
In fact, it was so crowded, we either had to wait for a seat or sit at the small bar, the latter of which we promptly did. Elbow room was definitely at a minimum there, but it was much better than waiting!
Having not dined here for quite a while, I was trying to remember if they've always carried popovers as a pre-meal freebie. These poofy, light, mostly hollow breads have been showing up at a few different spots around the island, such as BLT Steakhouse and Sushi-ii.
I had hoped the popovers would be served warm, but they were room temperature and obviously left sitting for quite a while. The strawberry butter was novel, and both my wife and mom loved it, but I'd probably have preferred a regular whipped butter instead of all that sweetness. What was, however, simply outstanding, was the tiny cup on the side, which held a golden-brown but relatively transparent broth absolutely exploding with pure chicken flavors. And we're not talking bouillon, either! There was a strong saltiness inherent, but the overwhelmingly dominant factor was a super-concentrated essence of chicken, pure and simple, as if the drippings from a whole bird were de-oiled, then reduced. And reduced. And reduced.
Mom decided upon the only sandwich north of $18, a lobster club sandwich, at $24:
Also including bacon, roasted peppers, lettuce, avocado, and mayo, this sure wasn't anything close to the lobster rolls made famous in East Coast states, like you see on the Travel Channel or Food Network. Being in Hawaii, of course, there's no way we'd be able to pack a bun with that much pure lobster meat and not break the piggy.
For what it was, it was ok. I mean, the ingredients were fresh, presented nicely, and matched together well. At $24, however, I'd shave ten-fifteen bucks off the top and settle for smoked turkey!
Why, even my main entree platter, a roast pork tenderloin, was financially easier and perhaps more appropriate, at $20:
Interestingly, our kind bartender/waiter asked how we wanted our pork done. Uh... did you say "How we wanted our pork done?"
Yes, it turns out that pork, once so full of pathogens that well-done was the only option, is now deemed safe by the US Food and Drug Administration. Even rare pork is fine today, although I can't say I'd do it, as I prefer medium over rare even for beef! Wonder when chicken will be safe here, considering they've been eating raw chicken in Japan for a while now? We even had some on our last trip to Japan, while playing around in Fukuoka.
Here at Mariposa, I asked for medium, but my filet looked almost well-done:
And if it looks dry, that's because it was. While looking as gorgeous as a fancy plate can be, and while the spinach/sun-dried tomato orzo, red onion/bacon jam, and port wine balsamic reduction helped quite a bit, the pork itself was lacking in both taste and texture. The exact same set-up, minus pork, would have been much better with a simple roasted chicken side or quarter instead.
Kumi's dish was one of the most popular lunch-time items here, a seafood laksa curry ($22):
And I see why. The popular Southeast Asian curry/soup was redolent with curry spice and coconut milk, with a creamy, silky, elegant consistency, while the fresh black tiger shrimp, clams, fish, and eggplant were all done to perfection. The fish pieces in particular were outstanding, with both the white fish variety (don't know exactly what kind) and salmon coming amazingly soft, luxurious, and fall-apart tender:
For those fancying jeans or surf shorts, you don't even have to pass through the Neiman Marcus store itself if you don't want to. I know some people who are uncomfortable doing so, myself included, depending on what I'm wearing. There's actually a back door straight from the parking lot facing Ala Moana Beach Park to slide-in below the radar:
As you can see above, Kumi and I returned at night because we couldn't resist trying their expanded dinner menu. This time, we had a seat outside and were surprised to find, instead of popovers, a couple of bread muffins:
I definitely preferred this bread over the popovers, as they were served nice and warm, with a light, snow-white, pillow-soft center and a browned, yet still-light crust. The same strawberry butter I din't care for much during lunch fit much better with these buns, and even more so with a bottle of Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc, Sonoma County 2010. At $32 per bottle, it was one of the cheapest wines on the menu, but was by no means a lightweight. Though it was over-all a tad on the simpler, less sophisticated side, it was harmlessly sweet, super-crisp, and hyper-clean, and paired with the strawberry butter, warmed buns, gorgeous views, and good company, we both felt like Hawaiian royalty of the extremely spoiled and pampered kind!
We both sat in awe at the amazing natural canvas, one that was changing with each passing moment:
It just got better and better:
Spoiled rotten, I tell you. How lucky are we?
Ever since eyeing the menu during lunch a few days earlier, I had my sights set on one of their appetizers, a braised pork belly and scallop dish ($14):
Underneath was a bed of pickled watercress and sweet onions that matched perfectly with the surf-turf combo, while a lilikoi browned butter was drizzled all over. The thinly-sliced scallops were probably the weakest link here, as they were a bit over-done. The fatty pork was absolutely delicious anywhere in the centers, especially in regards to the melt-in-your-mouth fatty ribbons, but there was an inedibly hard, dry, very much burnt crust outside on a couple of pieces that spoiled the otherwise perfection. If possible, I woulda ditched the scallop altogether and went with a few more mouthfuls of braised pork!
Another appetizer was a King crab cocktail ($14):
This beautiful tower sat in a moat of chilled basil cucumber soup, and was built from diced cubes of watermelon, avocado, hearts of palm, and, on-top, shelled King crab and a garnish of sprouts. At first, we gingerly plucked tiny bits from the tower, as we didn't quite know what to do with such a beautiful construction. In time, we just broke the whole thing down and tossed it all in the delicate, herby soup. It was a classy and refreshing salad-starter, for sure!
Entree choices include items like seared diver scallops, garlic-roasted tiger prawns, opakapaka in Thai lobster sauce, lobster spaghettini, roast pork chop in shallot porcini jus, and our choice, a ginger orange-glazed halibut ($26):
If it looks a little small, that's only because without saying anything, they kindly split our dish in two separate portions, which we appreciated very much. With thin glass noodles and a tasty soy-based, slightly sweet broth, it carried a distinctively Asian persona. I kinda expected a thick glaze around the fish, but it seemed instead simply dusted and seared, not that I'm complaining. The flaky, white-meat halibut was almost as soft and silky as a butterfish!
And finally, I was really interested in trying their popular corn chowder, which seems to have long been garnering quite the rage here at Mariposa:
Wait a minute! That's not corn chowder! Before I knew it, a tower of cheesy-goo'ed ham and macaroni sat in the middle of a shallow bowl before us, our waiter then pouring an asparagus soup around it to create an island. With that kind of presentation, Kumi and I debated whether we should send it back in favor of the corn chowder we actually ordered. We decided to eat three-quarter's of the dish first, then send it back for our real one. Just kidding. We did keep it, but outside of the kicked-up macaroni island, which I really enjoyed, the soup itself was pretty standard fare.
I really wish Mariposa at Neiman Marcus included a Happy Hour menu. With these views, I'd definitely return if the drink and pupu menu was right. Doesn't seem like they need economically-minded folks like us, though, as they always seem to fill their very spacious dining room more than adequately. Here's a final shot as we departed, with a glimmer of sunshine refusing to give up the ghost:
Next time, another restaurant nestled neatly in a high-end, designer department store, but with a bit of a different personality, menu, and price tag! Yes!
Till then, take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
Mariposa in Neiman Marcus
Ala Moana Shopping Center
951-3420
11am-9pm daily; Sunday brunch 11am-3pm; Sunday High Tea Time 3pm-5pm
Parking at Ala Moana Center
