A New Place For Pizza And Beer
Friday - September 15, 2006
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Brew Moon GM Fred Gore with a
microbrew and wild mushroom pizza
Is there a food that inspires more passion and discussion than pizza? Perhaps - but certainly everyone has an opinion about how their perfect pizza should taste. There are so many varieties that even in Honolulu, a city not best known for its amazing pizza, it’s impossible to really say who has the best.
Pizza is truly a matter of personal taste. I, for example would rather eat a plate of pig’s ears (nicely grilled with a little sweet chili sauce on the side) than dive into a deep-dish, soggy, tomato-ey mess, but others swear that this “Chicago” pizza fits the one true definition. There’s an ad running somewhere right now that asks the question “Pizza or lasagna?” suggesting, I think, that their pizza is so thick it resembles the popular pasta dish. Pizza or lasagna! If the restaurant’s pizza resembles lasagna, I’m running as far from it as I can- and if their lasagna resembles pizza, then it’s been in the oven way too long.
But I appreciate that many people love the thick, doughy, cheesy versions that come mainly from the chain restaurants, so with that in mind, I’m recommending some very fine pizza I tasted last week - and hope that it matches your idea of a great pie.
Certainly if you like your pizza on the thin crust side, with gourmet-type toppings, then the new offerings at Brew Moon are extremely good.
“We have been looking at the menu closely,” says general manager Fred Gore, “and we asked ourselves what goes best with beer. The answer is really good pupu and pizza.”
Brew Moon, in case you’ve been living on another island for the past few years, is a microbrewery restaurant located at Ward Centre. Until recently they served a huge variety of food - but there was nothing you could really put your finger on when trying to describe it.
“It was a form of international, world cuisine, with dishes from a lot of different areas,” says Fred. “Now it’s food that you’d expect from a microbrewery restaurant.”
The menu has slimmed down considerably and now features interesting and tasty pupu, salads, sandwiches, a few specialty entrees, burgers and pizza.
The pizza is very good. At least the ones I tried were. The wild mushroom and basil one needs a bit more work, but the kalua pork and Thai chicken were really good. There’s a seemingly odd combination of Nalo Greens, balsamic vinegar and a little oil that works incredibly well - a bit like eating a gorgeous, freshly picked open sandwich. A new pizza oven and the hiring of an experienced chef from a nearby restaurant means the kitchen staff has been hard at work perfecting pizza dough for the past couple of weeks.
If you like your crusts ultra-thin and crisp, and enjoy toppings like garlic, goat cheese, truffle oil, spicy chicken or even salad, then you’ll love these. Paired with a cool beer from Brew Moon’s excellent selection, it makes the Ward Centre eatery more of a destination for food than ever before.
If you’re off to the movies this weekend, or want to take a break from shopping, then stop by and sample the new menu.
Of course, if you want your pizza to taste like lasagna, then you’d best look elsewhere.
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