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Uncle's, a closer look
Aloha!
7/26/09 - The boat says it all - Uncle's is all about seafood, fresh off da boat! And I can say that quite literally, as they are located only steps away from the Honolulu Fish Auction, where forget about delivery vans, all's you need is a hand truck or push-cart to grab the freshest ocean bounty the islands have to offer, and that on a daily basis, too (well except for Sunday's, when the Auction's not open)! I tell you, places like New York, Scandinavia, large parts of Europe, and other places around the world may have cutting-edge cuisine and top-of-the-line dining experiences, aaall-right, but when it comes to the bright-red, melt-in-your-mouth, raw pieces of fresh ahi tuna or the tender succulence of opah, mahimahi, opakapaka, and other types of ocean fish, you just can't deny the superior presence Hawaii commands! I mean, I hate to brag, but if a set of small islands set in the middle of the largest fish-tank in the world, the Pacific Ocean, can't deliver, than by-golly-Shazaam, noone can!
There's so much space down at Pier 38, I really do hope they build a nice boardwalk, more shops, and more restaurants. Right now, there's only a few fishing-supply stores and two restaurants, Uncle's and Nico's, the latter listed in the Kicked-Up Plate Lunch section. Both are open from early-morning, and both are popular with folks looking for fresh fish plates, with crowds from Nico's often spilling-out into the row of open-air tables lining the pier, for casual dining in the crisp morning air. Imagine what a few more retail and food outlets would do to a pier-side place like this, perhaps even with some swanky clubs or night-spot's - this place would be rockin' like the Ho'okipa Terrace at Ala Moana Shopping Center!
But the reason most people from Uncle's don't often flow-out into the sidewalks is because the inside of this restaurant is about as cool as it gets anywhere. No, I'm not talking about physical temperature, even though yeah, it does get hot outside on a warm Hawaiian day - I'm talking about cooool, as in righteous, cool. It's the nautical theme kicked-up to levels heretofore largely unseen outside of big-budget American Chain restaurants! I just luuuv the whole atmosphere about this place - it's casual and relaxed, yet classy and hip. Stylish and trendy, yet working-class and honest. Old-school and laid-back, yet modern and efficient...
I know not everyone can afford it, but I love when a restaurants' atmosphere is completely ordered. In other words, when every nook and cranny of the place, from floor-to-ceiling, is planned and structured from the very beginning, instead of just employing the same walls and roof tiles from the last tenant or using un-matching filler's throughout the room that resemble patch-work repair jobs from a weekend handyman, perhaps a distant cousin looking for side-jobs when he can get them. All under the table, of course.
No, Uncle's has got it all covered, from vintage fishing pictures to fish hanging on the walls to bright, shiny menu boards that are as artistic as they get, in a kind of graffiti-like way, at least. Hey, even the A/C ducts have fish swimming through them!
There are several flat-screen televisions floating high above the large dining room, but forget about ESPN or the latest news flash - here you'll find only tuna boats shown in black and white, where fisherman haul-in fish after fish from barb-less hooks, using only the hook itself for bait, cast into a writhing sea of over-zealous, fanatically-hungry ocean torpedoes whipped-up into a feeding frenzy of suicidal proportions! Well, that, along with re-run's of the beloved Let's Go Fishing televion shows, dating all the way back to Bruce Carter and Harry Kojima! Boy, those were the days, ey? Why, no affront to Ben Wong or anything, but that's worth the price of admission in itself!
One last shot of the inside may be getting a little redundant, but I couldn't help myself. I was having waaay too much fun catching different angles and aspects, like this closer shot of the full bar area. If the place was empty and I didn't have to deal with privacy rights, believe me, you'd be seeing a lot more, even!
But moving right along, it's kinda funny watching various groups of people entering the front entrance, looking for a host or hostess to seat them. Remember, folks, you ain't gonna find 'em! That's because here at Uncle's, you have to find yourself a seat and also order yourself at the counter, located under the giant menu board. Pay for everything there, then receive an electronic disc beeper sure to scare the morning or afternoon sleepie'z off you every time, after going off on the hard-laquered tables, vibrating loudly and spewing flashing red-and-green lights like your nephew's toy flying saucer from Wal-Mart. With the heart suddenly pumping a few beats faster, go-ahead and pick-up your orders back at the counter, just off to the side.
Wifey and I had quite the large order on this particularly fine day, filling-up on two full-sized entrees and one of their must-try specialties here, the poke tower. Probably the most special of the specialties, this creation stands tall and very substantial, and it sure better, as at $15.95, it's on the high end of the pupu scale, price-wise.
Was it worth it? Yeah, I'd say so. The ahi is definitely fresh and sashimi-grade, with a layer of cubed ahi poke and another layer of chopped, shredded ahi poke, almost like a negi-toro, only not diced nearly as fine. Both are pressed together with a bottom layer of white rice, another layer of guacamole, and a final topping of tobiko, nori, and sesame seed. The combination works very well, except I don't know about the tortilla chips served alongside - they were kinda stale, first of all, and furthermore, I was kinda thinkin' more along the lines of won ton strips, maybe? But, eeeh... was aaaalll good - I still ate everything, anywayz!
At $21.95, the most expensive item I saw on the menu was an Uncle Lester's opakapaka, which, of course, I had to sample. At a local Hawaii restaurant specializing in fish, fresh ahi is a no-brainer, but when it comes to a classy, cooked fish dish, there's simply nothing better than opakapaka, otherwise known as crimson or pink snapper. And we're not talking about the cheap, small, taape-like snappers, grunts, and porgy's that usually line the freezers of grocery stores everywhere, but the large, deep-water snappers that are the cream of the crop when it comes to white-meat (white after cooking, that is!) fish. They are full of huge slabs of mild, sweet flesh, with very little in the way of small bones to get in the way.
Here's one from Tamashiro Fish Market in Kalihi, right before being placed in the steamer and done Chinese-style, with a hot-oil finish:
And here's how it turned out back at Uncle's - see how moist, delicate, and clean the flesh is?
The actual opakapaka plate is sauteed in a delicious garlic-butter sauce, then topped with mushrooms and fresh chunks of lobster - wow! And like fish, crustaceans also come fresh here, something my wife duly took note of, as I found very little of it left by the time I came back from the bathroom! Great opakapaka, great lobster, great sauce - fabulous dish, any way you look at it!
And last-up was the dish seafood houses must have, not only in the islands, but anywhere in the world! The seafood combo basket, at $15.95, is enough to fill-up any normal person to satisfaction, with a mix of fresh catch, jumbo shrimp, calamari, and chips (fries). Orders also come with two separate dips of creamy tartar and cocktail sauce, along with a small container of cole slaw.
The portions were pretty darn decent, with three large pieces of fish, two large and very succulent pieces of shrimp, and several meaty, huge strips of squid, which were as soft and as fresh as they get here in the islands. I've had them before with leg (or is it arm?)sections, complete with suction cups, which I love, but this time they were all in clean, white, very tame sections.
One curious thing about their seafood baskets are that they always come in a panko coating. Having so much loved battered fish 'n chips from New Zealand, Europe, and the Mainland, I kinda wish they'd have a battered option, as well, something I've often heard muttered-out-loud from many a food writer about this place. But in the end, it's the freshness of the fish that matters the most, and Uncle's doesn't disappoint in this regard, for sure.
But the fish on this day, which changes according to the daily catch, was ono (wahoo), and since it was buried somewhere down-deep in the basket, I guess I'll have to oblige you another shot:
So next time you find yourself down by the pier, make sure you stop and see Uncle for the freshest catch. With other fine dishes like seafood chowders, seared ahi salads, wok-seared fish tacos, seafood sandwiches, fried oysters, pastas, and even turf items like hamburgers, hibachi chicken, and ribeye steak, this place generates some really decent, and apparantly, very satisfied crowds. When we got there at around 11am, only a handful of tables were occupied, but by the time we left, just about every table was filled, and there was a line at least fifteen-deep! They gotta be doing something right!
Well, it's the weekend, and it's time for more good eats! Been checking out a couple of neighborhood-type Chinese restaurants, with some pretty darn decent results. Goodness, there are so many Chinese restaurants around that I've actually been pretty selective with the ones I've placed on the main guide pages of this site, sticking mostly (I said mostly!) with the more higher-end choices. But slowly by slowly, I'm gonna continue adding the more humble, more modest places, the ones that are usually a bit cheaper and have larger portions than the fancier spots. After all, these are the kinds of places I grew up with and have loved so much as a kid! They definitely deserve their place in the spotlight, too!
Have a great weekend, and I'll catch you next time!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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