Honolulu Weekly

The bustle and din at Mix Cafe belies its smallness. Six tables for two and one table for six turn the long, narrow space into a cafe that, at capacity, seats fewer diners than most people here have family members. That’s not to say that the daytime eatery on Beretania Street is congested or cramped. Even when every seat is filled, the lemon-lime walls and the large mirror that doubles as a grease board for the menu, make the place feel like a wide-open space, which it isn’t. What it is, is a constant, comforting hub of activity that seems as if it’s coming from a place three times its size. Stop in between the breakfast and lunch rushes and be greeted by four staff members ready to take and make your order.

Though the full staff–warm, friendly and charming, all of them–is always at your beck and call, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get your food fast, because here, the activity doesn’t always translate into efficiency. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering the nature of Mix Cafe. That is, one gets the sense that this Euro-style eatery is sort of meant to be a slap in the face of fast food. Kind of like France’s filth is a slap in the face of idealistic tourists. Of course, patrons won’t see it that way–the leisure of eating is lost on we who have full schedules. And full schedules are the norm in the business district, where Mix has its home. Perhaps it’s not the most ideal location for the deli that behaves like a bistro, but smart diners–even the ones with full schedules–will pencil in a longer lunch hour for the chance to sample Chef Bruno’s good, fresh fare.

Bruno (he just goes by Bruno) is the man behind the Mix. The seasoned restaurateur has owned restaurants in New York City and Waikiki, and though his latest venture can’t rightly be called a restaurant, you wouldn’t know it by the way he runs things.

Mix Cafe opened three months ago with everything in place. The clean and complete decor; the to-go boxes emblazoned with the cafe’s logo; the T-shirts (they read: ‘mix with boys’ and ‘mix with girls’); and the full menu were all bold indicators that this wasn’t Bruno’s first go at operating an eatery. And the food? Well, the food, though neither fancy nor complex, is, from the breakfast waffle ($4.75) with berries and unsweetened cream (note: don’t ruin the dish with syrup) to the pasta with house-made sausage ($7.50), stand-out, shining fare in a sea of hastily prepared lunches that only satisfy because they can be ordered, prepared and chewed before your next meeting.

The hand-written menu alludes to an ever-changing menu, but a few months of observation proved that both the breakfast and lunch menus basically stay the same, though with a few inconsistencies here and there. On one visit the roast pork sandwich (likely the best pork sandwich on this island) came on a white Kaiser-style roll; two days later it was served on a whole-grain, two-fisted roll. Maybe that’s part of the home-style feel of the place, but the whole-grain bread was a let down after falling in love with sandwich on the white roll. Still, it’s the filling that ultimately makes a sandwich and this filling can’t be beat. The just-thick-enough slices of super tender pork, caramelized onions, a melange of roasted veggies (whatever they happen to have that day), topped with Stilton cheese, all make for an incredible sandwich ($6.50). For the pig-shy, the roasted turkey sandwich ($7) that comes topped with aioli, Gouda cheese and chunks of moist freshly-roasted turkey (Bruno roasts a turkey fresh everyday to make the sandwiches) is a worthy alternative. Order the sandwiches with a side of country salad ($5.50), potatoes and roasted veggies tossed with oil, vinegar and salt and pepper and you won’t miss the fried starch–chips, fries–that we normally pair with our sandwiches. Besides, these aren’t your typical New York-style sammies, heavy with layers and layers of meat and dripping with condiments. These are simpler. Purer. Bread, meat, cheese and a maybe few veggies. There’s no need to weigh them down with extra stuff, like potato chips.

But if you’re going for weighty, try the pasta dishes. The pasta, like the bread, changes at the whim of the kitchen, but the sauces stay the same. Choose from three house-made sauces: spicy crab, creamy Portobello or sausage. The spicy crab ($8.90) could use more spice and when we tried it, the pasta was undercooked. The creamy Portobello ($7.50) was, on two separate occasions, consistently perfect. The meaty mushrooms and the al dente pasta (once it was penne, another time it was farfalle) provide texture for the smooth, rich cream sauce. But both dishes pale in comparison to the house-made sausage pasta ($7.50). The sausage, its irregular shapes a testimony of its hand-crafted origin, is incredibly mild and full of flavor. Tossed in with the creamy red sauce, it’s the best hot lunch available for the price.

Though the cafe does most of its business during the lunch hours, its breakfast menu is certainly worth waking up for. The amazing waffle mentioned earlier is in good company with Bruno’s signature omelette ($5.75), a fritatta-like dish that’s chock-full of fresh veggies and the most surprising breakfast sandwiches that threaten to make an addict out of anyone who discovers them. On the menu under the non-descript title ‘mini bites,’ these half-sized croissant sandwiches are filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, gouda and a schmear of strawberry jam. Like the first time you discovered that your pancake syrup is the perfect condiment for your bacon, these little sandwiches ($1.50 each) are a discovery you’ll wish you made before you got hooked on McGriddles.

For now, Mix Cafe is a weekday joint, but Bruno says he plans to add a dinner menu, as well as a weekend brunch.

Mix Cafe

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7am-7pm.
Recommended: Roast pork or turkey sandwich, waffle, mini bites
Payment: AmEx, Disc, Mc, V
Other details: Public parking in Chinatown