12th Avenue Grill
April 6th, 2008 Posted by 
Dale in American, Contemporary, Reviews
Hidden within an old building just of Waialae Avenue, marked with nothing more than a simple white sign, is a surprising find. The 12th Avenue Grill doesn’t look like much from the outside, but a quick peek into the window reveals a finely decorated and lively little restaurant with a reputation of serving excellent food.
Winner of the 2004 ‘Ilima Award in the “Critic’s Choice” and “Casual Dining” categories, 12th Avenue Grill has built a fine reputation. As such reservations are highly recommended, as the restaurant’s seating capacity doesn’t match up to the demand.
The real challenge of eating at 12th Avenue Grill is finding parking. It shares the parking lot with the Kaimuki Professsional building, which also feeds the parking stalls for customer’s of two neighboring restaurants. This lot is meter parking so be sure to bring some change if dining early in the evening.
Bar Seating inside
One step in the door immerses you in the busy sounds of a popular restaurant. 12th Avenue Grill offers mostly table seating, with a few seats up at the bar. The nightly specials are posted above the bar on chalkboards, with “small plates” on the left ending with desserts on the right. Sitting on the bar gives you a straight view into the kitchen, where chefs and servers constantly shuffle about.
The restaurant itself is dimly lit, giving it a nice romantic air. The walls are decorated with large photos from around the world, adding color to your surroundings. Although from the outside the restaurant looks very nicely designed, the atmosphere inside is quite casual. Loud and friendly conversation carries on inside the restaurant, eliminating the “stuffy” feel you sometimes get with similar establishments.
We were seated quickly as we had reservations. Upon being seated our server came by to ask for drink orders and go over the specials of the night in detail. The 12th Avenue Grill does offer an extensive wine and cocktail menu, but we did not partake in any alcohol.
Having browsed the menu online before deciding to come, I knew ahead of time what I wanted to try as appetizers. We placed our order and soon after received our first few dishes:
Crab Cakes, $9.95
As one of the dishes pictured on their website, I could not pass up the chance to try this crab cake. This appetizer is a blue crab cake on Big Island fennel shoot and tomato salad with remoulade. Seasoned well and lightly battered for a small crunch, the blue crab was delicious. The cake itself is comprised mostly of crab (which I do like!). The garnish of fennel shoot and tomatoes goes well with the taste of the blue crab. This was a good start to the evening.
French Fries, $5.95
A far more casual dish than the crab cakes, we were interested to try 12th Avenue Grill’s take on this classic potato snack. The French fries are made of fresh russet potatoes with a tomato aioli sauce for dipping. The fries themselves were crunchy and well seasoned on their own. The tomato aioli was creamy, with a hint of garlic. Overall a worthwhile dish, but I think only for those who really love French fries.
House Bread
The food so far was great but the only sour note is service. While our server was very nice, she did forget a few times to bring us some bread as we had asked. We eventually had to ask another server for the bread, who brought it out right away.
In the complimentary bread basket customers are given a basic French bread, and a second square-shaped bread. The square bread was certainly the tastier of the two, with a hint of rosemary baked inside.
Pan Seared Grass fed Big Island Ribeye, $29.00
For my entree I elected to try the Big Island ribeye. The presentation of the dish was very well done, as one might expect from a restaurant like this. The dish itself included Truffle Potatoes au Gratin, Hamakua Mushroom butter, and a slow roasted garlic stuffed tomato. The potatoes were very delicious, creamy with a crunchy crust. The Hamakua mushroom butter added an extra layer of decadence to the meal, and the garlic stuffed tomato was a great compliment to the ribeye steak. The ribeye itself was well prepared, cooked to the correct temperature as ordered. The ribeye was well seasoned, but the true joy in this order was tasting the combined flavors of all the dish’s ingredients.
Grilled Pork Chop, $22.00
My fiancee decided to try the grilled pork chop, with features a 12 oz. marinated pork chop served with a potato pancake and an apple chutney stuffed apple. The presentation of this dish was excellent as well. The pork chop was very well marinated and perfectly cooked, retaining its juiciness while remaining hot throughout. Although the potato pancake was not quite as good as we had hoped, the apple chutney served as a great compliment to the pork chop. The sharp and sweet taste of the chutney was a great offset to the milder taste of the pork.
Strawberry Panna Cotta, $6.95
I am very partial to strawberry desserts, especially those that feature cream. The Strawberry Panna Cotta at 12th Avenue Grill features a “cooked cream” surrounded by smaller bits of fresh strawberries. Although I had high hopes for this dessert, sadly it turned out tasting much like regular strawberry ice cream. The freshness of the ingredients is still apparent, but the overall taste was not what I had hoped for.
Lemon Tart, $6.95
Fortunately for our dessert choices, the lemon tart proved to be quite good. Although perhaps too sour for some, the lemon tart does pack a punch. The very tart flavor of the lemon component is offset slightly by the crust and cookie that accompany the dish. The whipped cream topping adds yet another layer of sweetness which helps to offset the sour taste. If you like your lemon tart sour (as I do), then this is a good one to try!
Final thoughts: 12th Avenue Grill certainly did exceed my expectations on taste, considering its location and outer appearance. The food we sampled was well prepared for the most part with only a few minor drawbacks. The restaurant’s atmosphere is very lively, but still manages to be casual and semi-intimate at the same time. The only real disappointment I had was with service, which started out strong but seemed to wane as the night went on. We were left waiting for a check a good 20 minutes after finishing our desserts. However, 12th Avenue Grill is a noteworthy spot to try, as it does serve up delicious “contemporary American” cuisine.
| Service: |    |
Average + |
| Food: | |
Above Average |
| Atmosphere: | |
Above Average |
| Overall Value: | |
Above Average |
*Star ratings are based in comparison to similar establishments.
12th Avenue Grill
1145C 12th Avenue, Honolulu HI
Phone: 808.732.9469
Tags: Hawaii Food, Hawaii Food Review, 12th Avenue Grill review, 12th Ave Grill
Other Popular Reviews:
Leave a Reply