ELEVEN — Restaurant in Honolulu

The world food tour duo made a return visit to Eleven inside Foodland at Ala Moana Center. We like this spot because you can get interesting cocktails and a varied assortment of small plates. This time we opted for a bottle of wine … They have yet to expand their wine offerings; we selected the sole red wine available by the bottle, a 2020 Bourgogne Pinot Noir from Nicolas Potel ($54). It was light and smooth (for a 2020); a modicum of red fruit … perfectly acceptable wine for the food we planned to order.

We started with the “must have” House Fried Potato Chips accompanied by a dish of Worcestershire aioli, the Beef & Brioche and the Prosciutto Asparagus. The chips are thick and crispy and the aioli is the icing. The asparagus dish was fine; I still think they should wrap the prosciutto around the asparagus instead of leaving in a pile on the side of the plate. This was the first time we tried the Beef & Brioche; I expected it to be tartare atop a slice of brioche … It was a mini sandwich of nicely flavored tartare (shiso, serrano chili and truffle oil). I should ordered two dishes!

Once we cleared the initial set of plates, we ordered Bacon Candy, Hamachi Carpaccio and Bone Marrow. I loved the bacon; nicely cooked slices of apple smoked bacon comes in a glass with bourbon Molasses; it’s meat candy and probably my favorite of the evening. The Hamachi Carpaccio was a disappointment; we’ve had this before and this time the Yuzu Kosho overpowered everything else; all I could taste was salt. A little goes a l-o-n-g way. My palate was numbed by the kosho so I cleansed it with wine. The bone marrow was a mixed bag; it came with two nice pieces of bone marrow but the chive pistou was seared too much; it was almost black and I couldn’t taste the chives. The marrow underneath was fine so it was still an enjoyable dish.

I topped the meal with a French press coffee; it was brewed too light for my taste but I will always take a French press coffee.

Final thoughts? Our second visit was not as successful as the first. I would like to see a more subtle hand on seasoning of some dishes and an expanded wine list. One bottle of red is just not acceptable. However, the venue is appealing and the prices are reasonable. For that, a guarded recommendation … order well and...

The room is small but that adds to the energy. I’ve passed by this room many times while shopping but never had the chance to stop In. After learning about the Brunch Buffet, We had to plan for this day because reservations are HIGHLY recommended!

Sergio, the host/“guy in charge” greeted us with smile and welcomed us to the restaurant. We arrived early and was able to get seated right away, then informed that there is a 90 minute time limit. Don’t get upset at that time limit! That is ample time to enjoy the food.

Jin, one of our servers, greeted us right away and made sure we got our Pineapple-Honey Mimosas. The room was clean and inviting and the buffet line smelled like heaven. After coming up with a game plan, it was time to get that food!

Today’s line included (and these are not all the items) sautéed asparagus, Hong Kong Fried Rice, spring garlic and mushroom scramble, miso salmon, & breakfast meats just to name the items on my first round. My buffet technique is to always start with small taste portions and try everything. After completely enjoying my first 2 tasting rounds, I totally forgot there was a carving table with Prime Rib… yes… Prime Rib… with Sergio’s recommendation of the chimichurri sauce. Total heaven.

Sam, our 2nd server, was also very helpful and made sure my 2nd Mimosa was on its way. By the time I got to my forth serving, I stayed with the prime rib and garlic mushroom scramble. No lie, that chimichurri sauce was awesome!!!

So, if you are looking for cheap eats… that’s not what 11 is about. Most buffets start at $30 but if you want quality food, this would be the place to be! The drink menu is great as well but we chose to focus on the food.

We definitely will be returning after we recover from the kanak attack that happened after brunch. Everyone needs to plan a meal there, just make sure you make...

Okay, so I have been here a couple times and so far the bartenders here are really nice. Not the fake nice, they seem to be genuinely nice, and overall professional compared to a lot of bartenders in town. If you have been working your butt off and have been going to bars a while, its just nice to be somewhere like this; a perfect place to unwind and relax.

I wanted to do a video of the smoked old fashioned, and she did a very nice presentation just for the video, even added the whiskey bottle I was using to make things look extra bougie. Even though its a bit pricey, I feel this place deserves my hard earned money.

Only downside is that the days I went, some of the patrons seemed a little "high browed", and the drinks were on the pricey side (they do make the drinks very well). In the end I have no complaints because it is what you can expect coming to a place like this.

Overall great experience and felt very comfortable being there both from the workers and from the ambience. Definitely had speak easy...