Paesano's Italian Restaurant - Aiea

Paesano's Restaurant
808-485-8883
98-1277 Kaahumanu St. #119
Aiea, Hawaii 96701
Daily
lunch: 11:00a to 2:00p
dinner 5:o0p-9:30p

After work on Saturday Nick and I wanted to have a good meal, good wine and relax. We had a rough day and wanted a relaxing place with some good food....we chose Paesano's in Aiea. The atmosphere was OK but the food...that's another story.

Before I begin this review i have to say that for me its hard to eat Italian food out. I come from an Italian family. My mom can cook really good Italian food and I learned from her. So as someone whop has had the best of the best for me its hard to judge Italian food. However, Nick who did not grow up eating Italian food like I did says he did not think this food was the best, it was not Italian and he probably would not go back.
We arrived at 5.15 and there was plenty of parking. A few tables all ready there. We sat in the back, it was private and lots of room. The restaurant was clean. The staff was super friendly and took pretty good care of us. Our food arrived in time and was hot.
So we decided we were going to have red wine...what is a Italian meal without wine. Our server did recommend a good American red wine that went well with our food.

We ordered Spideni appetizer. Which I have to say was not what I am used too. Nick makes this bread and what we got was not at all what we make. It was on very thin bread. Bread you can tell is frozen and par baked. The bread was brushed with garlic and topped with cheese and a anchovy. It was not attractive at all. And when we ate it all you could taste was salt. Way to much salt. We know parm cheese and anchovies are already salty but this was way to much. Left me very thirsty. Thank God for the wine!!

We then ordered the Cesar salad for 2. Hoping it would have been done table side it did not. The portion for 2 was not that big and it was just Cesar salad. nothing to write home about. The croutons looked and tasted like something from a box.
The service at this point is really good. They were on top of filling our wine and water. Although at one point our server, smelled like he went and smoked a cigarette. Not a good smell! I just hoped he washed his hands.
Our dinner arrived, very good portions for the price and it was hot.
Nick ordered the special of the day, Fillet cooked with portabella mushrooms and onions with a red wine reduction sauce, this came with a side of shrimp scampi and veggies.
The fillet was cooked rare, however the meat at some spots were very chewy and touch. but the wine reduction was oh so good!! The wine complimented this very well. His scampi was bland and the shrimp was over cooked. And for me the pasta was overcooked.

I ordered the Cioppino, the Italian seafood stew and by far on of my favorite seafood dishes. The portion was big, had lots of broth. The stew was filled with shrimp, lobster (which was cut from the shell) fish,scallops, mussels, and clams. The seafood was all cooked well. But the broth was not spicy and had not to much flavor. And I was taken back by the sugar snap peas in it. The side of garlic bread was very sad. Again very thin cut bread with butter and garlic powder brushed on it.

Time for dessert and of course we had to get a cannoli. In my search for a real cannoli here I was hoping yet again this would be it. Cannoli alla Sicilian, i am thinking this will be a REAL cannoli. We also ordered tiramisu. I judge a Italian restaurant by a few things and one is the tiramisu. We also ordered dessert drinks.
I usually do not drink wine with dessert but today i was feeling like I wanted a dessert wine. The server gave us the menu and i asked him about desserts wines. I guess he was as clueless as i was because he did not know anything about the drinks. He told me grappa was a wine so I ordered it. Then when it came out I actually googled it to see what it was because this was not wine. Grappa is actually brandy made from the residue of the grapes after they are pressed. Anyway, it was a way to strong for me so Nick drank it.

Back to these desserts...again for me being a Italian and a pastry chef...I am expecting the highest quality desserts! The cannoli actually looked good. The shell was really good. Not like most places that buy them from the same company. But the filling...it was NOT a traditional cannoli. Very American, with ricotta cheese. But it was very grainy. Not smooth at all for a cheese filling. Iam still in search of the traditional cannoli!
The tiramisu - which in Italian means The Pick Me Up Cake, because of the sponge cake soaked in coffee. Nick hates this dessert because he does not like coffee and he liked the tiramisu. Do you see where I am going? The cake was not soaked at all in coffee. You should not see white cake at all. it should be saturated with coffee syrup. And the whip cream on top was from a can. Really? How hard is it to make fresh whip cream?
I was disappointed and this place is nothing to write home about. When we left there were only 5 table full, now I know why.