Honolulu Weekly

When 808 Kapahulu opened in 2004, with its warm light spilling onto the sidewalk and its sexy chestnut-brown interior (people would be lying if they said it never crossed their minds that the wall-to-wall banquettes could do double duty if the mood struck), the 55-seat restaurant almost secured its spot in this city as the late-night haunt for beautiful city folk with spooning on their minds. The place couldn’t keep up appearances though, and it wilted into the culinary background before being sold last year to Kazuhiro and Ayumi Maruko, who opened Shigezo last month, the first Hawai’i location of a Japanese sushi bar chain.

Though the warmth of the surroundings has cooled a bit in the transfer, the place looks almost as good as you remember. A few too-vibrant paintings have been hung on the walls and the projector that once flashed images–though subtle–of Hawaiian-Isle beauty now plays OC16’s Board Stories on a never-ending loop. And there’s nothing subtle about the surfing McNamara brothers. But the comfort of dark wood and soft benches is still there.

As a sushi bar, Shigezo doesn’t offer much more than most sushi joints in this city. Hand rolls and nigiri make up two pages of the three-page menu and though the rolls are fresh and sometimes innovative–a Hawaiian roll ($8) comes with yellowtail, avocado and pineapple–the prices are high for a city where Sushi King reigns supreme. Can Shigezo make it on its sushi alone? Probably not. But add to that its short menu of rotating specials, and there’s a chance the revival of the space on Kapahulu Avenue might be real and longlasting.

The standout ingredient here is soy. From the first item on the menu, garlic chili pepper edamame ($3) to the last, soymilk crme brulee with a ginger soymilk sauce ($7), and spots in between, it’s the chef’s use of soy that makes this menu work.

Start with the Fiber Salad ($8.50), an unfortunately named dish that comes piled high with fresh greens, asparagus, grape tomatoes and sweet pineapple drizzled in a balsamic vinaigrette and soymilk dressing. The dressing, though mild, is full-flavored enough to hold its own against the more distinctive veggies, such as fresh baby spinach. Other starters pale a bit in comparison to the salad. The Crab Crusted Tofu ($6.50), its name misleading, misses the mark with its large chunks of firm tofu topped with a too-creamy crab salad that adds little to the bland tofu–an actual crusted tofu dish would have worked well, a contrast of textures that is lacking in the soft-on-soft dish.

But when it’s time to serve the entrees, Shigezo gets it all right. The Tofu Kalua Cake ($12.50) is addictive with its salty, rich pork tempered so perfectly by the clean, bland tofu. The tofu comes scrambled with kalua-style pork and formed into two puck-shaped cakes that are wrapped in pieces of thick, smoky bacon. Lest we illicit the response that bacon makes anything taste good, let’s make one thing clear: This is a solid dish, its parts as good as the whole.

Though tofu is the stuff that anchors the menu, it would be a shame to leave the restaurant without the taste of the rib eye steak ($22) in your mouth. The tender meat comes cooked to a perfect pink medium and resting in a thick pool of rich sake butter. The plate is drizzled with a few teaspoons of teriyaki sauce–just enough to offset the richness of the sauce and to complement the char of the meat–and comes with two palm-sized rice balls, fire-roasted asparagus spears and a sprinkling of French-fried onions. If there’s a dish worth the trip to Kapahulu, this is it. Also good is the chef’s chirashi bowl ($25), with 10 kinds of sashimi layered over sticky sushi rice. The dish was offered Monday evening as a special, but with a sushi bar in-house, it might be available on an ask-and-see basis.

The kitchen hits and misses with its timing–on one visit the tofu cakes came long after everything else had been eaten, and on a second visit, the steak came long after the chirashi–and there are some inconsistencies, especially with dessert.

The soymilk crme brulee was, on first try, a silky smooth after-dinner treat that would make even the staunchest soymilk critics (present company included) bite their tongues. But on second try, it was clumpy, flavorless and too cold. Three good reasons to lament the deviation from the classic heavy cream version. The Vanilla Ice Cream with Haupia Triangle ($6), a scoop of ice cream accompanied by two deep-fried haupia-filled pastries was also disappointing. The haupia squares were frozen and tasteless and the won-ton-like wrapper was soggy and cumbersome to eat. But perhaps the desserts will strengthen with time. Though without them, you can leave satisfied–stick with the main dishes and go home happy.

Perhaps it’s still too early for Shigezo. There are signs–the attentive servers, the expert presentation of the dishes, the obvious attention to flavor–that the little place that was once the envy of all little places, can, at the very least, make a home for itself at 808 Kapahulu Ave.

Shigezo

808 Kapahulu Ave. at Winam St.
(737-8081) Sun-Sat 5:30pm-10pm
Recommended dishes: Fiber Salad, rib eye steak, tofu kalua cake
Payment: AmEx, Disc, JCB, MC, V