Honolulu Weekly

Chinese

Aloha Bistro

Along with the chopsticks and handle-less tea mugs, the restaurant offers few entrees over $20 and excellent service. The bus boy will zip over and exchange a half-full teapot for a fresh one, just to ensure piping hot tea throughout your meal. Presentation figures big into the bistro’s specialty dishes. The Seafood Taro Bowl: a medley of fish, squid and vegetables which comes in a delicate bowl of violet taro that soaks up the garlic sauce as you eat. Chinese tourists and islanders alike can find something familiar and comforting at Aloha Bistro: good food, good prices and a staff that shouts in Cantonese. –Rachel Brown (5/7/08)

Filipino

Marilou’s Restaurant & Catering

The allure of traditional Filipino cooking lies in the braising of meats slow-cooked for several hours to release the flavors. Each lunch/dinner combo comes with four items of your choice–pinapaitan, pinakbet (a soup with long green beans, few pieces of lechon-crispy fried pork, bitter melon, eggplant and tomatoes), dinguanan, pork guisantes, pork adobo, mungo beans or pork menudo. All items on the combo plates are savory. Banana lumpia and halo halo for dessert. Marilou’s is the place to go for a real comforting home-cooked Filipino meal. –Walter Rhee (3/5/08)

French

JJ’s Bistro & French Pastry

The food is so eclectic and the flavors so harmonious, that JJ’s transcends such labels as “French-Laotian” or “Eurasian.” There are two fixed menus offering soup, appetizer, entree and dessert. One such entree is the Fisherman’s Pot Pie with a dense, flaky crust that cradles a rich concoction of shrimp, scallops, salmon, zucchini and bamboo shoots, all drenched in a buttery cream sauce. The pastry display boasts a variety of desserts, including the famous chocolate pyramid, lemon honey cake, plum tarts and frou frou au chocolate. JJ’s provides world class cuisine in a chic setting at very reasonable prices.

–R.B. (6/18/08)

Italian

Baci Bistro

Don’t leave without trying the tiramisu. Where most places take on the traditional dolci as an Italian version of the Midwestern trifle, Baci treats it right: each layer separate, but all coming together perfectly on the fork. The ladyfingers are moist, not wet; the mascarpone layer is light, not cheesecake-like; the amaretto is complimentary, not overpowering. — Kawehi Haug (5/9/07)

Buon Amici Ristorante

Buon Amici has retained the tradition of making fresh pasta. The wide sashes of pasta danced between firmness and the slightest tenderness, a feat that only the freshest cooked al dente can achieve. When tossed with herbed Italian sausage, salty bits of pancetta and sweet strips of caramelized onions then bathed in a tomato sauce further richened by both wine and cream. Entrees include costoletta d’aggnello, grilled Australian lamb chops so tender that they’re worth smuggling across town to Wai’alae Avenue and salmon aneto, Atlantic salmon cooked in anise flowers, bay leaves, shallots and cream.

–Napua Leong (2/21/07)

Pasta Basta by Donato’s

Pasta Basta does brisk business for the lunch crowds that come pouring out of neighboring office towers around noon, and while ordering at the counter may seem unglamorous, it’s a smart way for the restaurant to maximize its lunch service. Handmade pizzas come straight from the oven, including spicy shrimp, margherita, napoletana and grilled chicken-portobello versions. If you like fresh pasta but want a simpler dish, there’s fresh spinach fettucine with Bolognese sauce, linguine with basil pesto or cappellini with sauteed mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and garlic.

– N.L. (4/25/07)

Taormina Sicilian Cuisine

With its reasonable prices, wistful outside environment and distinctive yet hearty food, this Japanese-infused restaurant is worthy of becoming a local date night institution. The uni (sea urchin) pasta is the perfect meal for the daring diner–however, it sells out quickly so be sure to request it when making dinner reservations! Although the menu items can be eclectic, Taormina also offers more traditional fare such as the Bucatini “Fresh Sardine”, bucatini (thick spaghetti) with fresh Japanese sardine fillets, garlic, saffron, pine nuts, tossed lightly in olive oil.

– Ryan Senaga (1/9/08)