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Wolfgangs Steakhouse Waikiki, a closer look
 Wolfgangs Waikiki official page! |
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 Wolfgang Zweiner's Waikiki on Yelp! |
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Aloha!
8/4/11 - Ruth's Chris, BLT, Morton's, Hy's, DK's, Chuck's, Chuck's Cellar, Buzz's, Sizzler, Stuart Anderson's, Wolfgang's - there's no shortage of steakhouses here in the islands, for sure. Talk about the best of these classic, American-style steakhouses, though, and that's quite a different story. I'm not gonna bloviate on each individual spot, but what I will do is talk just a little regarding the handful of restaurants in the very top tier. It's actually easy separating the top tier from everyone else, as quite simply put, it all depends on two very key words. Find 'em both (either/or is not good enough!), and you'll arrive at the top tier. The terms USDA Prime and dry-aged are not the kinds of little details restaurants bury in small print or somehow forget, so if they "fail to mention" them somewhere on their menu or general literature, you can bet you ain't getting them! After all, USDA Prime, being the top 2 percent of all beef cuts produced in the US, is no small matter. At the same time, the temperature and humidity-controlled, drawn-out (typically 2-4 weeks), highly-specialized process called dry-aging, in which your meats can shrink by up to a third in weight (how's that for gobbling up profits!) while concentrating in flavor, is not a step introduced lightly, either! The first is a matter of grabbing the best cows; the second is a matter of preparing your cows in the very best way possible. Not having them is like a Yakiniku without Kobe or Wagyu; a noodle house without house-made noodles; a Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurant without fresh fish - you can go without, but not if you wanna compete for the best in your class. And yes, fortunately, Wolfgang's Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zweiner (not Puck!) does feature USDA Prime beef, and they do utilize a genuine dry-aging room right here on their Waikiki premises!
Being the head waiter at world-famous Peter Luger's Steakhouse in New York for many years, Mr. Zweiner's pursuit of a high-end steakhouse now includes several locations in New York, one in Beverly Hills, and now, one in Hawaii - specifically, the 3rd floor of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, near the Diamond Head-end.
One of the more immediately-recognizeable differences between Wolfgang's and most other upscale steakhouses around town is the bright, open, well-lit atmosphere. I mean, think Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Hy's, DK's. All are set in a pervasively dim, mood-producing aura oozing with a charming, old-school elegance. There's dark cherry woods, wide, leather-bound booths, Tiffany-style lighting, and generous tributes to old locomotives, downtown scyscrapers, tree and cafe-lined boardwalks, and major non-West coast towns like Manhattan, Jersey, or Chicago. You know, the kind of environment that could provide a set for an Al Capone or Lucky Luciano movie! This particular dining room, while still very much elegant, carries a much more simple tone. Perhaps it's a Hawaii thing:
Off to one side sits one of the larger wine cellars I've seen around:
And speaking of alcohol, a lounge area sits off to another side, featuring a lengthy, well-stocked bar as well as several tables, where Happy Hour is available on a nightly basis from 4pm-6:30pm, even on weekends! There are $7 martini's, $5 featured wine pours, and my favorite - 16oz. draft for a very reasonable $4!
Happy Hours also include a short list of pupus, all $5 each, and all of which we tried except for the steak sliders. Here's something real close:
Five bucks? At a fancy place like this? I'm in. Good burger sliders, good fries, and a good sauce along the way:
A bit like a light, sweet, tangy ketchup, we used it for fries as well as the complimentary, house-made chips above.
If you're in for dinner, and sometimes even heavy pupus, they'll also give you a typical bread basket:
The pupu list includes two types of tartar, the first shown here:
Despite its cost-accessibility, I can't say I wasn't a bit disappointed at the very presentation of this dish. I mean, the bright-red ahi was fresh, but the whole thing was rather visually unappealing and overly simple. I mean, it could have used hyper-thin or tiny cuts instead of relatively large blocks, and a quick drizzling or sauce would also have helped. Even the use of other ingredients, such as stale bread and cucumber without dressings - all except the ahi itself - was surprisingly non-creative for me. Maybe we're just spoiled with great ahi dishes here on the island?
Better was the beef tartare:
Aaah, a little more effort involved here! There was a diced pile of tomatoes, a diced pile of onions, a kind of mellowed caper, and a dollop of mustard, while all except the last was also mixed into the raw beef for a much better presentation over-all. Still, the hard bread wasn't inviting in any way, and I instead plucked all the toppings off and enjoyed them with another, much better type of starch - draft beer!
As for the regular, non-Happy Hour appetizers, there are a few - crab cakes, littleneck clams and oysters on the half-shell; lobster, crab, and jumbo shrimp cocktails - but shown next is the item grabbing most of the media attention:
Hmmm... This strip of thick-cut bacon was smoky-good and manly-hearty as it gets, but surprisingly, it was a shade on the dry side, at least in the non-fat sections. And once again, I wasn't particularly pleased with the presentation!
Like most fine steakhouses everywhere, steaks are ordered ala carte, with any and all sides coming at their own extra costs! When the menu says $50 for a steak, which is about the median price for steaks here per person, don't think that also includes a fully-loaded spud and a side of steamed vegetables, as well! Sides are priced between a few dollars and up to $15, and include rice, broccoli, asparagus, creamed corn or spinach, sauteed onions or mushrooms, peas 'n onions, lobster mac 'n cheese, and a few variations of potato. Here's an order of creamed spinach:
Moving right along, I don't have anything against button mushrooms, but I can't say I expected them here at a fine steakhouse like this. I mean, a little Shimeji, oyster, Shiitake, or enoki, perhaps, would have been a little more suitable. Oh, well.
On the brighter side, I did love their lobster macaroni and cheese:
Gotta say, though - I have no idea what a good lobster mac 'n cheese should taste like. And when I say "how it should taste like," I do mean how they do it on the East Coast - that's where it comes from, right? Heck, I don't even know if it's a Maine thing, a New York thing, a Virginia Beach thing, all the above, or wherever else! I just know it looks so good when Bobby Flay or Guy Fieri or Anthony Bourdain does it on TV!
At $15, lobster mac is the most expensive side on the menu, but it comes in a relatively large, deep dish, and there's quite a bit of fresh lobster claw meat. The sauce was much more creamy than it was cheesy, and even the cheese on the top seemed a little thin. However, the perfectly al dente macaroni, along with fresh lobster meat and smooth, white gravy, was enough to keep me happy, happy!
Speaking of lobster, we couldn't get enough of it, so we ordered a whole one!
Shoulda asked how it was presented before ordering. My bad. Cooked seafoods, whether it comes to fish, shrimp, scallop, crab, or lobster, are to me, much better hot than cold. I mean, picture a hot, steaming lobster or pile of crab legs, fresh from the pot, with a dip of drawn butter - isn't that much more impressive? The lobster itself wasn't too bad, but to make matters worse, the powerful, tangy cocktail sauce was, to me, way overpowering and bit insulting to the delicate taste of lobster.
But alas, it all comes down to the beef. You all know I'm a big Spencer/rib kind of guy, where it's all about the marbling. Kumi, on the other hand, has been on a leaner beef kind of binge. Thus, our last two visits to fine steakhouses like this saw us ordering New York at Ruth's Chris and here, a filet mignon:
We were actually thinking of a New York again, since it's usually cheaper while still being bigger. The menu, however, says New York sirloin. New York sirloin? What is that? I asked our waithelp about it, telling her that there is a New York cut, and there is a sirloin cut - so what's a New York sirloin? I'm trying to say this as non-smarkily as possible, but simply put, she looked a bit confused and answered by repeating exactly what it said on the menu - a New York sirloin! I then asked again, saying it was probably a sirloin done in a New York style, whatever that meant. She said, "yeah, that's what it is," but I don't think she really knew what was going on. Whatever the case, I didn't want to take any chances on a sirloin steak, a type of cut usually not even found at finer steakhouses because it is inferior to those usually included, such as Porterhouse, T-bone, filet (tenderloin), Spencer/rib, and yes, New York.
That being said, our tenderloin steak was done to a perfect medium and pupu-style (sliced), just as we requested, and it was a decent piece of meat. No complaints here, as it was thick, beefy, tender, and seasoned well enough - only, I really wanted my fat and marbling!
Though my responses to the various dishes here may seem lukewarm, Wolfgang's Steakhouse does have its merits. I wouldn't give the place a thumbs-down or anything. I will say, however, that I think Morton's, Ruth's Chris, and BLT have set the standards here in Hawaii, making it very tough for others to keep up.
And speaking of steak, I'll be throwin' a few on the fire in just a few short hours, so there will be no shortage of fat and marbling tonight, that's for sure!
Hope you're all having a great and wonderful week!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
Wolfgang's Steakhouse
Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki, 3rd floor
922-3600
Sunday-Thursday 11am-10:30pm; Friday-Saturday 11am-11:30am
Parking in Shopping Center lot
