SAM CHOY'S BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND CRAB

Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch and Crab
www.samchoy.com
580 North Nimitz Highway
Honolulu, HI 96817-5916
(808) 545-7979
Open Mon-Thu,Sun 7am-10pm;
Fri-Sat 8am-10pm
Rating system: **1 - 5 cake tiers**, 5 being the best

Our rating for this restaurant - **2 tiers**
We arrived at the restaurant on Friday at 5.20. We pulled into the parking lot and All they have as far as parking is Valet, however it is free but you should tip the guys! They work hard.

We have been here before to deliver a cake but never to eat. When we walked in the first thing we noticed was the large ship on the right side with tons of lights on it. The atmosphere is Hawaii meets east coast beach and rustic, in a warehouse.

About 15 tables were occupied so it was not to busy.
We waited a good 5 -6 minutes before anyone even said to hello to us and there was a server at the register. Once we were greeted the hostess was extremely nice. She walked us through the specials which were plated for display. Now, we eat with our eyes first so looking at food that has been sitting for awhile and its wilted and old, uh...not a great first impression!

Once we sat we noticed the kitchen was open and off to the side of the restaurant is Big Aloha brewery tanks. Big Aloha Beer brews and serves 5 of their own beers. They also have an extensive wine and drink menu. We did not try the beers but we do hear they are popular.

Appetizers - there are a lot of items from local fare to fresh fish and ribs.
Salads and Soups - there were 3 salads and different soups.
Entrees - range from crab legs and lobster to oysters on half shell, fresh fish, steaks and chicken and even a vegetarian item (which I should have ordered).

I ordered a Mango Mojito which came quick and was super yummy. Just the right amount of spritzer and rum. It could have used more mint but in all it was good. I was also given a glass of water water.
WHAT WE ORDERED
Appetizer
Crab dip - came out hot with toasted bread. The flavor was OK, we thought it had to much spinach in it and not enough crab. It was seasoned well and had the perfect amount of cheese on top.
Pot of Shellfish (yes, this is what it is called) - I was excited about this because one of my favorite dishes is Fish stew (french and Italian made). Once the bowl hit the table I thought for an app there was a lot of food in it. But once I ate it I was not impressed at all. The broth which was lemon white wine sauce had no flavor. It was extremely bland. And it was not hot. The mussels were cooked perfect and they were big and juicy. The shrimp and scallops were way overcooked and rubbery.

Soup
Clam Chowder, Nick's Favorite seafood soup. This soup was not hot at all not even warm. Good Portion but again very bland. The soup tasted like it was made with some sort of aromatic, I think rosemary? Nick did not even finish it.

Entrees
Fish of the day, MahiMahi stuffed with Blueshell Crabmeat and mushroom cream sauce serves with steamed veggies and garlic mash potatoes.
OK, so the fish was cooked perfectly. The filling was mediocre but a good amount of crab. The garlic mash potatoes were good and I did like the spinach in it. The vegetables are another story. They were straight out of a bag and way over steamed. There is nothing worse then mushy veggies...and they had no flavor.

Kalbi Butterfish with steamed veggies and garlic mash potatoes - the flavor of the marinade was to strong for the fish. The fish was cooked perfectly and flaked right apart. Mash Potatoes were good although Nick wondered why there was spinach in them. No veggies ever came out on the plate(not that he was missing them)

We were so unimpressed that we did not order dessert, again we eat with our eyes first and the plated displays seemed like they were there for awhile.

Half way through dinner live music started. I did not catch the name of the band but there were good. The sat us right in front of the speaker so it was to loud. Me and Nick could not even talk to each other.
Service was good, they checked back a few times, cleared our plates on time.

We spent $104 plus tip on this meal and we think it was way overpriced for the meal we got.
As we walked out we looked around and noticed (and this is no offense to anyone) but besides us and one little girl we were the youngest people in there. This restaurant attacks a lot of older people. And then we realized why the food maybe tasted so bland.
If asked if we would return we would say NO!

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