Floating a romantic idea for Valentine’s Day
Friday - February 09, 2007
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With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’ve been looking at restaurants with a slightly different eye these past few weeks. I’ve always thought that romance is more a matter of “who you’re with” rather than “where you are,” but there’s no doubt that the right kind of atmosphere helps even the simplest of dates.
And I’ve been looking for romance in all the right places. Not only in fine dining steak and seafood places, but in local favorites like Pagoda, one of the oldest and best-loved hotel/restaurants in Hawaii.
Originally founded by H.T. Hayashi in the 1960s, Pagoda was built in response to hotels and restaurants in Waikiki that seemed only to accommodate tourists.
“Mr. Hayashi saw the opportunity to cater to local residents and to Neighbor Island families who wanted to come to Waikiki, but didn’t want to pay the ‘tourist’ prices,” says the hotel’s general manager, Ed Saunders.
Pagoda, with its Japanese water garden, koi pond and floating tea rooms, is as much a base for locals today as it was more than 40 years ago. And most of its guests are customers who’ve been coming for years.
“Most of our customers are regulars,” says restaurant manager Tracy Yadao. In fact, about 75 percent of Pagoda’s guests are regulars - many of whom have been coming for a couple of generations.
“We see lots of families who came here as children who are now bringing their own kids,” says Saunders. He’s seen more than a few families grow up around Pagoda - he started his career in the food and beverage industry by answering a job ad in 1985.
“I saw this fish sign on a hotel and an ad for a bellman,” he says. “I walked in, applied for the job and the rest is history.”
Pagoda has that effect on its staff. “People stay here for a long time,” says Yadao.“We’ve got staff who started in the beginning and we’ve got several people who’ve been here 30 years or more.”
One of those valued staff members is Nathan Kina. He’s the executive chef and he’s the guy who creates most of the buffet dishes Pagoda’s customers come back to try over and over again. Fried rice, special eggs, French toast - they’re all signature dishes that Kina and his team have made their own.
“People love our fried rice,” the chef says of the starch that accompanies almost every buffet.“We think the reason they like it so much is that we throw in all of the best leftovers from the night before, so for breakfast you can have fried rice with prime rib, Portuguese sausage, ham, green onions, eggs, green beans - you name it and it’s probably made it into Pagoda’s fried rice at some point.”
It’s no surprise that rice is among the biggest sellers on the menu.
“We go through hundreds of pounds of rice a week,” says Kina, “it’s definitely our most popular item.”
If you had to define comfort food - or certainly food that makes the people of Hawaii comfortable - then you could probably describe the buffet breakfast and dinner at Pagoda. But really the experience here is more than just the food. Go for breakfast and enjoy buffet choices that include French toast, fresh fruit and waffles, while you watch hundreds of orange, speckled koi seek shade from the heat of the morning sun, creating a spectacular vision of shimmering color.
The Japanese garden adds to the relaxing atmosphere around the restaurant, and its tearooms and waterfall provide ambient sound that drowns out any noise of city traffic. As the early morning sun casts its rays into the pond and the smell of freshly brewing coffee permeates the air, it’s easy to see why this charming restaurant has remained a favorite through the years.
Breakfast is served, Pagoda style, in either the floating tea-rooms or the restaurant, daily from 6:30 a.m. with brunch on Sundays.
Specialty dishes are chef’s special eggs, French toast and house special fried rice. Other breakfast items include fresh fruit bowls, garden greens, tsukemono, pastries, breakfast meats and miso soup. The daily breakfast buffet is $9.50. If you want to get your Valentine’s Day, or any day, off to a romantic beginning, book breakfast at Pagoda, sit in a tea room, watch the fish swim underneath and relax in one of Honolulu’s hidden spots.
Pagoda Hotel and Restaurant 1525 Rycroft St., Honolulu 96814 www.pagodahotel.com
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