 |
 |
Therapy, a closer look
6/10/10 Up-date: Therapy now closed!!!
Aloha!
4/14/09 - There's a new kid on the block out in Hawaii Kai, with the Shack no longer being the only place to hang-out after-hours for drinks and pupu's. No, Therapy isn't a place to get massages or a manicure, but it is a great spot to relax and get the battery's re-charged after a hard day's work or play, for sure. Located just makai (ocean-side) of Zippy's at the Koko Marina Shopping Center, this multi-roomed Sports Bar/Grill is a welcome addition the the East-side scene, with all kinds of activities to keep the party going - pool tables, dart boards, video poker, karaoke, plasma television screens on every wall, even a mini-basketball hoop!
It's definitely a spot to check out during any of the big fights or sports events, as Therapy is gracious enough to pay the exorbitant costs of running these pay-per-view showing's in a commercial venue, which can border on ridiculous, believe me. All told, the many avenues of entertainment combine for quite the happening place, as they’ve spared no expense putting-in just about anything you could ever imagine for a local-style night-spot. The well-stocked bar is there to greet you as soon as you walk in, followed by a main dining area, while out-of-sight and around the corner is where you’ll find more seating and the two pool tables, where tournaments often bring the game out of many a skilled stick artist.
My good friend Dean the Moke and I came just as they opened at 12 pm, high-afternoon, when the place doesn't quite look as it does when the really big crowds arrive well into the evening. By then, the neon lights, the after-work crowd, and throngs of people in general are looking to throw down a few cold one's and hopefully relieve some of that pent-up stress built-up from long, responsibility-filled work day's. And you know, the more I think about it, the more I start liking the name of this place and begin realizing how fitting the title actually is! Though the set-up may sound conducive to a hard-core bar, Therapy is surprisingly kid-friendly at the same time, with entire families sitting down for hearty meals any time of the day or night - except maybe on nights when BJ Penn is fighting, that is! Yeah, the bruddah's get a little punchy on those occasions, whether it's here or anywhere else, for that matter! Today, however, it was all about the grindz, which Therapy does happen to know a thing or two about, lemme tell ya!
The menu here leans heavily local but does abound with a wide variety of other choices, as well. You’ll not only find the heavy pupu’s of huge proportions that local bars are known for, such as edamame, garlic chicken, fried rice, fried noodles, rib steak, and kalbi, to name a few, but also such meals as plus-sized hamburgers, fries, onion rings, hotdogs, nacho's, and a whole lot more. There's even a $1 taco night on Tuesday's, where Dean the Moke tells me that the dynamite chicken taco is crazy-good and a must-try!
One of the specialties here comes from almost two full pages of new-wave sushi choices, all spectacularly-presented on showy platters definitely high on the Wow factor. In fact, when it comes to new-wave sushi, I can’t think of a better place to boast of more variety, more creativity, and a general sense of local-style sushi art, with insane rolls featuring names like Sandy Beach, 19th Hole, Big Hanapa'a, Rainbow Warrior, and even a Hawaii Kai-friendly Kaiser Cougar Roll! Go Cougars! And no need to get all competitive with all the other schools out there, since Kaiser can't compete in the biggest sports like they did back in the 70's and early 80's anymore, right? Uh-oh... I'm gonna get it now from some young upstart...
Sorry, boyz', but I just remember the hey-days of my alma mater and Cougar pride (most of which was actually before I even got there!), when guys like Jeff Lum would take one offensive lineman in each hand and man-handle them like a puppy playing with Barbie and Ken dolls, Boyd Yap would turn the corner and leave every defender trippin' over his own feet, Derrick Kaneshiro would run over guys like a Mack Truck, Sid Fernandez'd throw heat that no hitter could ever hope to deal with, and Tory Windward would beat-down and destroy every other heavyweight wrestler on the island with impunity! Those were the days when our football team could actually compete successfully against schools like Farrington, Waianae, and Kahuku, even winning the Prep Bowl one year - imagine that!
Anyway, I better get back on-track. As I was saying, Therapy has some of the best new-wave sushi rolls out there, all backed-up by the fact that they use the best rice regularly available on the market here in the islands - Tamaki Gold. Don't even think about competing without a high-quality grain like this coveted and pricey standard-bearer. With it, they do-up creations like this Therapy Dynamite roll, which is a California roll covered with a special aioli, sweet chili sauce, and unagi glaze, then baked to perfection and finished with sesame seeds and kaiware sprouts.
We'll check out another roll and text-visit a few others later, but for now, let's shift focus to some non-rice-related items that Therapy can also proudly boast of. Being from the neighborhood, Wifey and I have already been here a few times previous, sampling a few pupu dishes each time. One of the big barometers of a true local haunt is revealed through their garlic chicken - I mean, mess up on this one and you may as well pack-up and go home! The funny thing is, it wasn't always on everyone's menu, say, fifteen or twenty years ago, at least not in the form you'll most often find today. Nowaday's, they fry boneless chicken, skin's still on, to a golden brown, then dip it in a sweet garlic/shoyu sauce. Once upon a time, however, most everyone marinated their chicken in the garlic and other flavors, forming a kind of mochiko-like batter, which was then pan or deep-fried and served without a post-cooking dip.
Therapy's version, as most other places, is indicative of the newer-style of garlic chicken. This batch came piping-hot, with all those crispy skins absolutely exploding with, well, that crispy-skin flavor! They were light and airy, and infused with a garlicky, sweet shoyu sauce, all of which contribute for a winner combination. How's the barometer running so far? Pretty darn high, lemme tell ya...
Another popular dish Therapy knows how to do well is local-style fried noodles. I'm not sure anyone really knows the true origins of this dish, as a typical fried noodle in the islands seems like a combination of Japanese yakisoba, Chinese mein, Filipino pancit, and local dry saimin! Whatever the case, this one was delicious, coming with all the necessary and important ingredaments - Spam, kamaboko, green onion, and just a light touch of cabbage and bean sprout (last two not always necessary!), all in correct proportions to complement the perfectly pan-singe'd noodles.
Switching back to the lunch-time outing we began with, Dean the Moke just can't get enough of Therapy's version of hamachi kama, or the gill/collar area of a hamachi, otherwise known as yellowtail. It's funny how parts of a fish so looked-down-upon by certain cultures can be so highly-prized in other's. This sometimes-discarded part of fish is a main-stay at many an izakaya or sushi house, where in-the-know diners revere it for its super-tender, super-succulent pockets of meat. Though growing in popularity, hopefully it won't grow too fast, as there are, after all, only two cheeks on a single fish - not enough to go around, for sure, and if demand becomes too great, I wouldn't be surprised if prices one day become comparable with a slice of toro (fattiest part of the fish belly)!
For now, however, it's still reasonable. As you can tell from the next shot, there are some obstacles to contend with - fins, bones, gill plates, etc., but amidst it all there are large sections of amazingly rich flesh, all so soft that they are easily dislodged in large chunks with your fork or chopsticks. On the side was a bed of gourmet greens, carrot, beets, onion, ponzu sauce, and a chili-spiked daikon oroshi.
Dynamite chicken is another dish oozing with local-style charm, and something you won't find anywhere outside the islands, for sure! It's basically a fried chicken dish covered with a mayonnaise-based, or in this case, aioli-based sauce, like the ones found on so many of the new-wave sushi choices here. A sweet chili sauce was also added, along with a sprinkling of green onion and sesame seeds - perhaps not the most photogenic or sophisticated of dishes, but definitely full of heart and indicative of the modern, local-syle of comfort foods, and we're not talking Waikiki-local, either! This-here's the real deal!
And finally, we return to all those impressive rolls. How 'bout a Surf and Turf roll, with lobster salad, crab, and cucumber topped with slices of rib-eye steak, then drizzled with unagi glaze and Therapy aioli? Or maybe a Hanauma Bay roll, with crab, shrimp, cucumber, and kaiware sprouts topped with avocado, lomi salmon, and cilantro? Or perhaps the Mr. Yone's (no "J" there!) roll, which sounds destined to be a classic, with fresh ahi, hamachi, salmon, spicy tuna, and cucumber topped with ikura and tobikko - Wow!!! Meals in themselves, they are!
As stated earlier, there are many, many more rolls to explore when you get here, but we concluded our day with one of their more popular varieties, a Maunalua roll, named after the beautiful bay fronting Hawaii Kai. It comes with spicy tuna, crab, shrimp, cucumber, and kaiware sprouts, is then topped with hamachi, shiso leaf, tobikko, and green onions, and all the while sitting on a sketch-marked bed of Therapy aioli and finished with a drizzle of Therapy vinaigrette. Again - Wow!!!
Believe you-me, these amateur shots don't even begin to give this masterpiece the credit it really deserves! The serving dish itself must have been almost two feet-long, with so many different colors and flavors that it was like an entire celebration on-a-plate - part-sushi, part-local grindz, part-Hoolaulea block party and Mardi Gras all rolled into one!
Therapy Sports bar & Grill definitely has the moxy to rank right up-there alongside such places as Side St. Inn and Kanpai, with a huge and interesting menu that's done with all the hearty flavors and firm nuances that only a true local boy (or girl!) can recognize as home-grown. You don't have to be a local, however, to appreciate some really ono grindz, and Therapy is surely one place I wouldn't mind bringing an off-island visitor wanting to experience the islands. It's not the super-fancy (and super-pricey!) of Alan Wong's or 3660, but real, honest-to-goodness meals of substance that you can think about chowing down on every day. In other words, you'll find some really good stuff here, for sure!
Dean the Moke and I left that day with full, happy, and well-satisfied stomach's, and more than glad to know that we don't have to go all the way into Town, or at least to Gyotaku at the Niu Valley Shopping Center, to get our sushi-on, not to mention all the other specialties and the fact that they open daily till 2am! There are also a slew of nightly specials, such as the taco nights mentioned earlier, and Happy Hours right from the 12pm opening and up till 6pm. How many more reasons do you need to come out? You snooze, you lose...
In parting, I'll leave you with a last play-picture, just for fun. Yeah, it's all doctored-up and exaggerated, so don't take me serious on this one, allright?
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
Post a Comment or just say hello! Don't worry about leaving REAL names if you don't want to! Changing to Code names are fine, but just stay consistent with your code names, allright? Heck, you can even punch-in a fake email if you wanna stay completely anonymous (no e-mails will be posted without consent, either way)! Hope to hear from you all, even if you disagree!
